My New Toy

Ok - you may be wondering how this came to be.
Laura started it (you ask her - its her fault) as a "birthday present" that got a bit out of control.
She said it was OK - (eventually)
and yes - we always wear helmets when we ride
(note there are no keys in the ignition in any of these pictures)

Its AWESOME on sunny days - and spends most of its time under a cover in the Garage when its windy, cold, rainy, or otherwise less than perfect weather.

The 4-runner has been banished to the driveway (bummer)....




The original configuration (as a single seater). The addition of the stock seat and sissy bar came after for the co-pilots and a bit of a safety feature.



What can i say?? boys and their toys...











For those who are wonding the details
2003 Honda Shadow American Classic Edition
Dark Candy Apple Red - 750cc V-Twin 5 speed
Chrome accessories (swing arm, covers, mirrors)
Drag pipes make it rumble.... ohhh so very nicely with re-jetted carbs....

Summer Construction

Finished Counter





so... while Laura and the kids enjoyed dallas, I was busy at home lowering our "way to high" counter top. Here is some work in process

Fourth of July - Mason - with Styx

On the 4th of July - we went to the Mason Celebration with some friends, the Smiths, the Englands, and us. Here are just a few picture of the fun we had. Facepainting, Magic shows, rock-climbing walls, and when it got dark, STYX performed (domo-arigato Mr. Roboto), and then when they were finished, a huge Firew0rk display. It was a lot of fun.

Audrey's facepainted -with Swans

Gabrielle's Patriotic Facepainting



Jakobs Face Painting - A very Patriotic Red, White and Blue!




Celebrating Glowing with Friends -
Whitney, Gabrielle, Tate, Porter &
Josh

More Tennessee Pictures - continued....

Here are some more pictures of our trip into the Smokey Mountains... they have a historic village with a blacksmith shop (pic below), settlers cabins, a grist mill, stables, barns, etc. it was a lot of fun to explore for the kids.
Jakob and Audrey had custom made nails made for them at the blacksmith shop. It was very hot and smokey in there.
This is a picture of Jake & Aud in front of one of the oldest houses in the park, they were over 100+ years old.
This is Jake playing TARZAN on a vine hanging from a tree in the forest. We had fun goofing around on this vine for about 30 minutes, and it didnt even break when Chris tried it (whew).
The 3 of us (thanks to the camera's automatic timer)

One of my favorite pictures from the trip ;-)

Dad & Kids Trip to Gatlinburg Tennesse - June '06

Jakob Racing At the NASCAR park in Pigeon Forge, TN

Jakob & Audrey at the NASCAR entrance

Audrey Racing the M&M Mars car at NASCAR

Jakob and Audrey Horseback riding in the hills of the Smokey Mountain National Park

Audrey mounting her faithful steed - note she's a bit nervous of how to drive a live animal ;-)

First, I have to apologize for not keeping up with the blog. Ive really had some good intentions here, but its been a busy summer. I finally downloaded a bunch of pictures onto our computer from the flash memory, so now I have some material to work with. Ill post a few, today, hopefully.

So, end of June, when Gabrielle and Laura went to Orlando for the Jumprope nationals (she won a 7th place ribbon for double-dutch freestyle -woo hoo), I took Jakob and Audrey on a short trip to Tennessee.

Here are some pictures of the trip !