Jude earned his yellow belt

Jude earned his yellow belt about five weeks ago, but his teacher kept forgetting to bring it in. Finally got it today and he was so happy. We are so proud of him!

Not only is Jude taking karate classes every Saturday, but he and Kerrigan will also be taking a three week (every day) Tae Kwan-Do program in September. They are both super excited and I know they will have such a great time.

Our Rock Band

Brett now a Jet... wow

I could write for a while regarding the whole Favre off-season debacle... in a nutshell: I love Brett, but I love the Packers more. I think Brett realized after he retired was that he didn't want to spend his time mowing the lawn in Mississippi when he knew he could still throw the ball better than most in the NFL.

I think the Packers were done with Brett's indeciciveness over the past few seasons and they were set with the direction that was set in motion when Brett announced his retirement at the end of last season.

Who wins and who loses?

The Packers win, because they are still in the same position they were initially: with Aaron Rogers at the helm plus a draft pick to boot. Also, Brett is moved not only out of the NFC Central division, but the conference all together.

Aaron Rogers wins, gold medal for handling this situation better than anyone could have hoped.

Brett Favre wins: he gets to play football again, albeit not for the Pack. Isn't all he wanted anyway? I still love him, but lost a little respect for the way he handled things. I do respect that he passed up the 20-25 mil payday for NOT playing... I think that showed that he just wanted to play, regardless of where.

The Jets win big: they had nothing to lose, and their draft pick they traded for is only dependant on Brett's performance. If Brett does poorly, they give up a 4th rounder. If Brett does well and leads them to the playoffs, they give up a 1st or 2nd rounder. They win, and I think Brett may stick around past this season... maybe as many as three seasons. I see him there for a while.

Anyway... that said, chances are I'll get a #12 Packer jersey before I get a #4 Jets jersey.

bye, Brett; hello Aaron

Gideon Pictures

Welcoming Gideon to the House

I wish I had a photo to upload here, but I hope to post it soon... We brought home a beautiful Golden Retriever today. He's 2 years old and has a pretty cool story.

Since Amy and I have been married, we had wanted to someday have a golden retriever. Having lived in small apartments or small houses, along with Kerrigan being quite allergic to dogs, kept us from ever seriously considering getting one.

A few months back, we started giving the thought more attention and looked for a way to find one that Kerrigan wouldn't have a reaction to. We occasionally came across families that were giving away their goldens but either Kerrigan would bust out in a rash or the dog would be a little too crazy.

A few days ago, Amy came accross an ad on Craigslist from a family giving their golden away to a good home, so we called to see if we could stop by and visit. The family was very nice and they loved their dog, Gideon, very much, but they realized they couldn't give him the attantion he needed and they didn't want him in the house because he was too... aggressive isn't the right word, but he was just a puppy and was into stuff and jumped up a lot and they wanted him outside... Anyway, we came by to see him and he was in a pen out back and was the sweetest looking guy we'd seen, and he was very excitable. Although Kerrigan had no allergic reaction to him, we were a little unsure if he was going to be mellow enough for the kids, because he was a ball of energy! I went in his pen and hung out with him for about 30 minutes and he chilled out a little. Even though he was a bit more wired than we were looking for, there was something about him that made us both want to bring him home.

The owners were amazing and not only gave us their dog for free, but also gave us his dog house, a bin full of food and another bin full of dog bicuits, as well as a leash. Anyway, we loaded him up in back of the CR-V and we all drove home together, the kids cracking up the whole way home because we couldn't believe we finally were bringing a dog home. We stopped at Petco on the way to get him a tennis ball and some dog shampoo. When we got home we walked him around the yard and he met our neighbors dogs, which he got along with better than expected... they barked at him, but he just sniffed aound :)

After the small walk and meeting his news buds, we all came outside and gave him a bath and dried him off in the sun. This is when we began noticing that Gideon didn't seem to be the same dog we left with not long before. After drying off and running around some more, we brought him inside. Amy and I just looked at each other in amazement all afternoon as we watched him interact gently with the kids. We thought he was going to start his stay here outside and ease him in to sleeping in the house, but as I'm writing this, it's nearly 1AM, Amy is sacked out on the couch and Gideon is asleep on the floor between me and Amy.

Maybe he just needed a little attention? All I know is that we have a wonderful dog in our family now and I can't wait to post some pictures of him with this kids.

Welcome to the family, Gideon!

Just an Update

Sorry for the delay...
Lots happening and the few chances I've had to post I've spent doing other things.
So, what's happened in the last month?

* Mom came down for a visit from Wisconsin and drove up to New York with us for Tasia's wedding in mid-June. She was married on my birthday and it was a fun trip and a special wedding/reception. Dave and I got to sing five songs at her reception and had a blast. Dave even recorded them... wish I could post them here, but I don't think I can post mp3's. Any, Upstate New York was beautiful and Eric is a great guy for Tasi. Pictures of the wedding should be posted soon at the photographer's website soon... Click here if you want to check it out. Near the upper right hand corner of their website, there is a link that says, "Click here to view your photos online".

* Mom is still here and will be here through the weekend. We've had a really good time and have watched a bunch of movies... The Bucket List, August Rush, Talladega Nights, and a bunch of episodes of The Office.

* The kids are growing fast, but especially Kerrigan at the moment. Her front two teeth are loose and she got earrings last weekend! Mom and Amy took the kids to the mall and asked her if she wanted earrings (everytime in the past, she had vehimently said NO because she was a little scared) and she said OK. Mom and Amy were suprised and she went through with it. They were very nice and pierced them both at the same time. Kerrigan was very brace and looks very pretty with new earrings. -sigh-

I'll try to get some new pictures posted soon as well.

Pictures are IN

We finally got the pictures in that we had taken at Joy Hamilton Photography last week. We are so happy and can't wait to frame these and put them up on the wall.

Thanks to Joy!

Family Pictures

Last weekend, we had family pictures done at Joy Hamilton Photography.
We'll be getting the pictures next week sometime, but Joy called and said she posted a couple on her website... You can check them out here if you want to see a sample. You may have to scroll down a little, but they're there. :)

Karate Tournament

Jude had a karate tournament today and did so well!
I have video and a couple pictures, but will have to post them another day...
He had three different events he was judged on: Punching/Kicking, Escaping from Strangers, and an overall knowledge performance. He won 4th place in the Punching/Kicking event and even though he didn't come in the top five for the other events, he did super great and we were so proud of him. He was so confident and really did great.

Can't wait to post the video clips from all three events.

Great job, Jude :)

Trip to D.C.

At Easter-time, just aftet our visit to see Amy's family, we made a detour on the way home to stop by Washington D.C. and show the kids the sights. We 'warned' them that it was going be more like a museum and not so much like a 'park', and they were both geared up for the trip. So, we took a train from Vienna to the heart of D.C. and the four of us toured the hot spots between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

It had been about five years since the last time we came to D.C. with the kids. Kerrigan was literally a baby and Jude wasn't quite 2-years old. Since that time, the World War II Memorial and the Korean War Memorials were built and we were looking forward to finally seeing them as well as the other monuments we've seen before. Jude is especially interested in presidents, soldiers, wars and history. He was so into the trip... I'm so glad he was not disappointed. Even Kerrigan was totally into all the monuments and never complained once.

The picture above is of the ... uh, never mind.

Not so obvious, this picture is also of the WWII Memorial, though all you can really see of it is the fountain. The memorial itself is totally impressive and we spent more time there than at any of the others, I think. You can read more about the WWII Memorial here if you want.

The picture above, in case you didn't see the reflection in Kerrigan's sunglasses is at the base of the Washington Monument.

The Lincoln Memorial was one of Jude's favorites. Not only because Abe is one of his faves, but also because he bought a flip-card set of all the presidents in the gift shop :)

Now his favorite presidents are George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren... you get the picture. He was telling me all about Grover Cleveland the other night and how he was the only president to serve two inconsecutive terms in office... way to go buddy!

The Korean War Memorial was my favorite; if not from simply an artistic perspective, the power of the soldiers in the garden made the whole atmosphere very hushed and somber.

Even the picture below as from the same memorial. Much like the Vietnam memorial, the stone was very reflective and the kids were in awe.

When we got to the Vietnam memorial, Jude and Kerrigan both looked at all the names written in the stone and said, 'that's a lot of people that died.'

'Yes it was', we told them. It sure was.

Even though we didn't get to go to the White House, the Capital Building, the Jefferson Memorial, any of the art museums, the Holocost Museum, National Archives, et al... we told the kids we'd grab them next time. They can't wait for the next trip.

It was by far the best D.C. visit Amy or I have ever had.

Easter visit to VA

Eric had so much fun with his cousins at the park.

... especially when he was with his daddy.

Eric seems to be the only one not quite into this.

Amy with Eric.

The cousins headed for the pond to feed the fish.

Jude couldn't get enough of Eric. He was always wanting to be with him and hold him.

On the hunt for Easter eggs...

Relaxing after the hunt.

Another blog

At the request of my beautiful and wise wife, I am going to discontinue my beer posts on this site... however, to the one or two (or none?) of you still interested in my venture for 200 brews can keep pace with me at a different blog, Doug's Beer Knurd Tally!

I'm glad that Amy is supportive of my quest for the gold plate, albeit with rolling eyes. :)

Look forward to seeing you there.

My Favorite Picture

I think this is the best picture I've ever taken of the two of them.

New Pictures

Three more...

Three more beers to add to my quest for Flying Saucer immortality:

Wells Banana Bread was the first. Like I mentioned in my last beer update, this one was a keeper. I had it again this time to count toward my total. Smithwicks Ale (pronounced 'Smiddicks') was my second not the best of the three but decent enough. Brooklyn Monster was my third and was served in .

Wells Banana Bread

Container: Bottled

Style: English Ale

Brewer: Charles Wells Pub Co.

City: Bedfordshire, England

Country: United Kingdom

Desciption: Pours a clear amber body with a small creamy head. Aroma of "surprise" banana bread. Flavor of banana, mild hops, and nuts with citrus-peel bitterness in the finish.

Smithwicks Ale

Style: Amber Ale

Brewer: Guinness & Son Co.

City: Dublin

Country: Ireland

Description: This beer is imported from Dublin, Ireland & has been well sought after in the US. It is dark amberish red in color with a nice thick head. Very well rounded beer with some hops and roasty malts toward the finish.

Brooklyn Monster

Container: Bottled

Style: Barley Wine

Brewer: Brooklyn Brewery

City: Brooklyn, NY

Country: United States

Description: This classic Barley-Wine Style Ale, pours a deep copper color with a thin amber head. Aromas of apple, raisin bread, and a brief flourish of hops follow thru in the flavor with some bready and earthy malt notes. The high alcohol is hidden well in the lingering finish. It is vivacious when young, but will age gracefully for many years, becoming more complex over time. 10.8% abv.

What a Weekend

We just got back from a weekend trip to Boone, NC where we went snow tubing and went to the top of Grandfather Mountain.

The weekend started early with a suprise day-off on Friday. So I spent the day home with the kids while Amy went to work (ha-ha). The kids and I had a blast together and took a nice long walk together to the closest convenience store (about a 3-mile round trip) that took up a couple hours of our morning. By the time we got home, Amy was here waiting for us and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together, then got our stuff ready for us and the kids for the out-of-town trip the next day.

We pushed off for Boone the next morning, and made it there mid-day, going straight to Seven Devils (just South of Boone) for our snow-tubing excursion at Hawksnest. I am so proud of the kids! It was cold and windy, but I didn't hear a single mumble from either of them! We played and sped down the hill several times before our time was up and we all had a blast! Jude went by himself the whole time (except our first run, where he went down with me but was bounced off when we bumped the side berm pretty hard. We both were laughing pretty hard at that and he jumped back in for the rest of the ride down). Kerrigan took turns riding down with me and Amy. What a great time. When we were done, we grabbed some chow at a great local diner (Troy's 105 Diner), then went straight to the hotel and after winding down in the pool we gave the kids a hot bath and we all crashed out.

We had planned to come back to Raleigh the next morning, but when we were in the city of Seven Devils snow-tubing, we could see Grandfather Mountain and remembered talking with Dave & Tari about meeting there sometime and knew we had to check it out.

So, the next morning, we set off for Linville (which was under and hour away) and had a beautiful trip there. Instead of taking 105 straight South (which would have been quicker), we went around the East side of the mountain on 321, then 221 slowly winding our way though the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains until we happened upon the entrance to the Grandfather Mountain. We first took the kids to the Animal Habitats where we saw cougars, a bald eagle, a black bear (from a distance) and several deer including a buck. We also took them to the natural museum where we walked around for a while. After that, we drove further up the mountain to the peak of Grandfather Mountain where we walked across the mile-high swinging bridge (which, according to the website, is the highest in America at over 5,700 feet altitude). Once we all crossed the bridge, the paved path stopped and only rocks continued. Amy and Kerrigan waited while Jude and I hiked on a bit. I was so proud of him. He was fearless! The sights were awesome and inspiring. We went out a ways, took a few pictures, then turned back to get the girls and headed back down the mountain.

On the way back to boone, we stopped again at Troy's 105 Diner, since it was so good the day before, and grabbed a bite before our drive back to Raleigh.

What a great time. We're already planning a ski trip back to Boone next year!

Updates

A few updates:

Jude had been taking Karate classes for the past few weeks and Kerrigan has been taking ballet classes as well.

Amy and I are preparing for a fun weekend coming up... we're taking the kids to the mountains to go inner-tube sledding! We are all really excited about going. I'll be sure to take some pictures of that one.

NC State at Duke

I scored amazing tickets the other night for the NC State/Duke basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Front row, right behind NC State's bench. I grabbed a bunch of great shots, but I'll only post a couple, plus a video I shot.

I was hoping that NC State could have won this one, but they were no match for Duke.