Happy Easter and JJ Heller

I had the chance last weekend to take some time on Saturday and head out on the bike and I was not going to miss the chance.  Off I went down towards Lewiston ID and the ever famed Spiral Highway.  This is a old highway that has 65 turns in 10 miles and climbs some 2000' in elevation.  Well, the highway was deserted and I had it all to myself.  It was so smooth and nice I almost got to drag the pegs on the GS and that is a feat in itself.  After 6hrs on the bike I was cured of the work week blues and was smiling from ear to ear.

There is nothing like getting out in the fresh air and sun to set you mind right.  I had a blast and have a great woman who lets me out of the house whenever I need it.

This is what a typical morning is like for me these days.  James wakes at about 6am and we both get up and sit at the island for a bowl of cereal.  He is such a card and I really don't mind getting up when I get to eat with him and have a good time.  Kids do grow up fast and I think it is nice to savor the times when they are this age, even if I would like to sleep in a bit.

Who would not like waking up to this every morning.

Easter had arrived and my Parents graciously accepted our invitation and drove all the way out for the weekend.

Saturday it was time for a Easter egg hunt.  We went to one of the local big churches last year and it was a nightmare.  I vowed never to go back to one of those again so that required us to have one at the house.  It is nice to have an event at the house where if anyone at it sees a kid not sharing or acting inappropriately, they can step in and  parent as appropriate.  All the kids were awesome and they had a blast. 

I finally got to christen the drink cooler and it worked out pretty well.

Look at that adorable face and tell me with a straight face that your heart is not melting.  Although Matthew was a little small for the event he did find a few of the eggs.

James did awesome.  He was so excited at the beginning.  He kept running between the eggs and dropping the egg he just had picked up on the way to the next spot.  It was so adorable it just makes me laugh and really love this time in his life.

Matthew finding the eggs of the girl who is on the jungle gym...it is a dirty trick, but when candy is at stake there is no rules to the game.

There were a lot of eggs and everyone had a great time.

James was running so fast in between eggs he fell a couple of times.  Priceless...unbelievably priceless.

Tell me that Matthew dragging the singing horse my parents bought him across the yard is not the most adorable thing on the earth and I will place your name next to the definition of a liar in the dictionary.

The playground was a favorite hiding place.  Unlike those big Easter egg hunts, we actually hid the eggs and made the kids search after them.  Now James wants to search for eggs every day.

James has been hitting milestones and this week is no different.  He has finally figured out how to pedal and is tearing around the neighborhood on his bike with the training wheels.  We are so very proud of this milestone and am glad we no long have to push him.  The pushing was getting hard on my back.

He is such a ham.

 

Thursday we had a chance to go to benefit concert and it was quite serendipitously that we got invited to go in the first place.  A friend of ours overheard Brenda talking about JJ Heller and wanting to see her but the concert was sold out.  They happen to be going and knew the guys who sponsored the table in the VIP section and got us a seat at the table.  We were quite honored to go and see the great singer.  I had not heard to much of JJ Heller, but it was awesome.  The venue was small and may not have had the best acoustics, but that does not matter when you are JJ Heller.  Her voice was really awesome and was actually better live then in any of her CD's.  We had a blast and Brenda got to meet her and talk to her (and her husband)for a few minutes after the concert.  If you don't know about her, look her sings up on youtube and take a look.  If you get a chance to see her in person go...you will not be disappointed.

Life on the Farm

It has been a time of off and on again down at the in-laws.  It is really nice that when I do have to work out of town I get to go with the kids and the wife to the in-laws and spend some time relaxing. 

Two weeks ago when we were down there the wind was quite strong and I thought that it was a good excuse to get a kite.  James liked flying kites in Sioux Falls last year so I thought it would be good to give it a go down here as well.  He did like flying the kite, but the wind was a bit strong for the kite and when it is like that, they tend to nose dive into the ground.

I was doing some work on a dairy and one day I had some time to kill so I got the kiddos and headed to the only local all organic dairy in the valley.  Here are the kids trying to figure out if they want to pet the cow or run for their lives.  Matthew opted for the former and James for the latter.

Here are the two kids in awe of the baby cows.  They had a great time and having their hands covered in cow poop did not matter to Matthew.  He still kept sucking his thumb.  It is good to get a little bacteria in you to jump start your immune system once in a while.  I am sure we should get him checked for ringworm though, just to be sure.

James loves bath time.  He is wondering why this creepy guy taking pictures of him though.  Squirting bath toys up the walls is always a favorite thing to do and then it tends to escalate into squirting daddy.  It generally degraded from there into me telling him to stop, him continuing to do it, and then discipline...the old familiar cycle of life.

Look at the awesome BMW...the possibilities are endless with this bike and I could ride for days on this thing without getting tired.

The Palouse is awesome to ride this time of year.  Empty roads, green hills, and plenty of sunshine has made this past week a banner spring riding week.

James is having a good time hitting the ball over the fence at our neighbors.  He then hands the bat and the tee over to Jack and then Jack hits it back.  This is what the generally do when the mean parents wont let them play together every second of the day.  James is actually pretty coordinated but is a one handed batter at this moment.

Is this a great shot or what.

Matthew loves climbing.  He climbs up ladders and the will go right down slides without any reservation.  His mother on the other hand is very nervous with good reason.  He has fallen off the top stair of the playhouse and we do not want that to happen again.  James usually keeps an eye on him and lets us know when he is in danger.  Matthew seems to have little to no fear.

Matthew has such a hard life...getting all the food you can eat can be so rough.  He has had a fever, teething issues, and a nasty cough so I actually do feel sorry for him.

On this past Sunday I was able to take the cafe racer out for a ride an she performed flawlessly.

For my first built motorcycle I think it went pretty well.  There are certainly some things I would do differently, but it runs and drives so that is all you really need.

Poetry in motion.

There are a lot of photo ops around Spokane and the hardest part of riding around here is trying to ride and not stop to take photos.