The Bittersweet of Life

For those of you who didn't hear on facebook, I'm officially an Aunt for the first time. My little niece is named Katherine Vanessa, or Kathy, and she's adorable. She weighted in at 7lbs 11ounces, and has a head full of hair like her mother's (and like my husband's). I'm very proud of my new little niece, and plan to spoil her rotten.

In other news, the same day my niece arrived in the world, my grandmother departed. This is the first grandparent I've lost so I've taken it a bit hard, and Grammy Wilson was always very close to my heart. I'll miss her a lot, but she was very ill and is now in a much better place. I was also very fortunate to get to see her less than one month ago on my way out to Colorado. We're leaving today for the funeral, and will be back after the long weekend.

All's Fair at the Fair

Today we went to Colorado's State fair in Pueblo. I had the most fun checking out the craft arts display, which included food (cakes, canned goods, cookies, etc...), quilts, dolls, and clothing. I didn't find any historical entries, and there didn't appear to be a cake decorating contest, much to my dissapointment.

Perhaps the most interesting discovery this year was "Mutton Bustin." This is apparently a common rodeo and fair sport where parents willingly let their 3-6 year olds get bucked off an unsuspecting sheep. Seriously -google this! None of the kids we saw actually rode the full six seconds, but there were a surprising number of 3 year olds that made a good showing. I counted at least four. There were also a few kids that bailed out once the got on the sheep and realized maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Finally, we of course ate the mandatory fair food. This year's fattiest foods that we spotted were the fried oreo cookies, fried twinkies, and fried snicker bars. We opted out of those, but did go for a bratwurst with saurkraut and the mandatory funnel cake.

Caly the Movie Star

In the spirit of the Look-Alikes Blog, I'm posting the following comparison:

Caly Post-Haircut



Totally Looks Like Falkor From The Neverending Story

Thanks to our neighbor Nate who we can always count on for random 80's pop culture references and who first pointed out the resemblance.

-Dave

Nudist Dog

It's been awhile since we've posted anything so for you consideration I present the following:

Calypso: A Before and After Pictorial Review

BeforeAfterBeforeAfterBeforeAfter

The differences are subtle, so don't feel bad if you're having a hard time spotting them.

-Dave

People with way too much time on their hands...

• Being a big enough geek that your wife knows you'll actually appreciate a Lego Star Destroyer set: Check
  
  
• Being a big enough geek to think it will be fun to make a stop motion video of the construction project: Check
  
  
• Being a big enough geek to spend over three hours editing together the final video including time spent researching what character sets and colors to use for the opening scroll: Check
  
  
• Having a wife who is a big enough geek to appreciate (and participate in) all preceding items on this checklist: Priceless
  

-Dave

Side Saddle Video

This is Melissa riding side saddle on Sandy several weeks ago. She's still alternating weeks between riding astride and riding aside and her instructor isn't quite ready to put her aside on a thoroughbred, but she's improving each week and is hoping to move off of the "kiddie" horse soon.

Right now her instructor's greatest fear with moving Melissa onto a younger horse is that her hands will rise up and cause the younger horse to either stop or bolt. Personally, I think her instructor should just put Melissa on a younger horse now. All it will take is that horse bolting once and I guarantee you Melissa's hands will never rise up again.

I know. My concern for my wife's safety is inspiring. They should give me an award.

-Dave

Welcome to Chocolate Heaven

I really, really, really love Hershey Chocolate. When I was living in France as a kid, and people would ask what they could bring me from the U.S., I would beg for Hershey chocolate bars (they didn't have them in France). So, imagine my delight when I got to visit Hershey Pennsylvania this weekend!
There were some amazing chocolate products at Chocolate World, including the world's largest Hershey Bar (5 Pounds of chocolate!).
10 Gallon containers of Hershey's Syrup (yes, they're actually for sale).
The Largest Hershey Kiss, stuffed with Hershey Kisses (almost 3 pounds of chocolate).
Bars, and bars of giant chocolate bars (these are the really big ones you find in the candy and baking aisle). This show reminded me so much of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
Finally, Dave, Katie, and Missy all check out their loot while sitting in front of Cocoa trees in Chocolate world.
Next up was Hershey Park. We decided that Missy had to double check the height requirements for the extreme rides - she just made it! Not that the tall people would rub it in or anything.
Here we are getting ready for a ride on the Comet roller coaster.
As per our theme park tradition, we finished the evening with a ride on the carousel. Missy and I had a great time picking the horse that was 'just right.'
Katie and I snuck out early on our last day for a trip to the Hershey Spa. Here is our 'after spa' shot. A Raid Shower, Milk and Honey Bath, and Cocoa massage all contributed to this blissful state.