Running Update ....

I guess it will be another couple of weeks before I can try out my running shoes again. The Doctor said things are looking good but he wanted me to start on a treadmill and I cannot run on a treadmill - especially when it is so beautiful out - so instead next week I will start some leg strengthen exercises and then start running in a couple of weeks. The good news is I should be running in June and that should mean the fall running season should be good.

I guess I keep riding my bike instead for now :-)

.... cu

A wet start to the week ....

A rainy Tuesday after Memorial day is not too bad I guess - unless you try and go out only to find road after road blocked due to flooding. I will not complain too much as it was a great long weekend - Saturday with Kris at the Torpedo Factory and Sunday with all the girls at the Finnish Embassy.

Kris had been wanting to go to the Torpedo Factory again ever since one of the potters that has a studio there came to her school. So this Saturday afternoon we took her and Brie down. Turns out Brie had never been there before so it was a nice treat for her. We had the opportunity to meet lots of artists along with seeing their work. We stopped into a couple of other shops on the way as well to see some more art, handmade jewelry and some ice cream.

Sunday myself and my girls all went to the Finnish Embassy in Washington to see an exhibit called My Helsinki. The premise was that the Mayor of Helsinki and the Ambassador from Finland had invited 12 Washingtonians from different walks of life to experience Helsinki and then to document their trip. There were environmentalists, educators, chefs, students and others involved. The first pleasant surprise was how beautiful the embassy was. The exhibit was wonderful spanning 12 different aspects of Helsinki. they had food and drink as well to refresh us. After the embassy we went to DuPont to eat at Teaism and then off to bowl. I have good days and not so good days when I bowl - this was the latter and Tika handily beat us all - but we all had fun.

You would think that the rest of the weekend would be boring - well not so. I found a new trail to bike on and took my Mountain Bike out on Monday morning and rode down a few miles of it to find Lake Accotink. It was absolutely gorgeous early in the morning. Not a ripple. After a relaxing day we went to the Museum of Natural History to catch the new Ben Stiller movie in iMax. The movie itself was good - seeing it in iMax is great. Seeing it in iMax at the museum - VERY cool. Afterwards pizza and beer at Ella's capped off a great weekend.

I hope yours was as fun.

.... cu

Tika's Talent

I like the alliteration there ......

So when I stopped by to pick up Kris and Bree yesterday to make them dinner Tika was working on a new drawing. When I first glanced at it all I could think was "WOW!". Now looking at it all I can think is - the girls got talent.

I hope you like it as much as I did

....cu

Sam's Guitar Concert

Much like her sisters Sam took up Guitar in Middle School. This past Wednesday was her 7th grade guitar recital.

Myself and Tika had gone out for dinner prior to the concert - some nice Thai food in Lansdowne so we got at the concert just as they were starting. Sam was in the second half of the concert so she was sitting in back as we walked in. After the first few performances including a solo and a quartet Sam's group came up. Sam was sitting right up front as you can see in the pic on the left. OK you can not really see her as my cell phone washed out all the faces with the way the lighting was done but she is in he middle of the frame - you can tell by all the blond hair.

Myself and Tika did have to mention to her that when she is up front she cannot wince when people miss a note.

They did great of course - Mrs. Edmundson is a wonderful teacher. Below is a short video of one of the pieces, Green Holm Jig. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Tika!!!

Happy Birthday Tika! 17 years old - YIKES! One more year of high school and then off to college.

So for Tika's birthday we did go to Dane Cook last Friday. I was hoping I would have a video of it to post but given the chance that someone under 17 may see the video I better hold-off posting it. As I mentioned before Dane Cook is not what would be called "family-friendly". So instead I am posting a pic of the US Sloop-of-War Constellation that we took while there. We had a bite to eat at the Inner Harbor right next to the last surviving ship from the Civil War.

The other thing that I wanted to post is a video from the tournament last weekend. This video is of Tika and Kris sparring. This video shows a bunch of things - how mature Tika has become - you can see how she is pushing Kris to make her better but not overwhelming her. To me that is the true sign of a great teacher. You can also see how good Tika is. I will say I was very proud of how Tika handled this match but I was also proud of Kris stepping up and scoring a point on the 2008 National Champion.

I will be out the next few days but will post some new stuff when I get back.

.... cu

Busy Weekend ....

This was a busy weekend - especially after just getting back from 4 days in Miami.

Friday night I took Tika out for her birthday. We got to spend the evening in Baltimore and went and caught Dane Cook live. He had two guys open for him - both funny - one Roger Kelly not very family friendly but then again Dane Cook is not either. It was fun though - we had dinner beforehand and then went to the show which was about two and a half hours. I always enjoy taking Tika to concerts - it gives us a chance to talk about all kinds of things - politics, school stuff and more. I have some video from the show - I will have to see how it turned out and to see how "family appropriate" it is before I post.

Then on Sunday the girls competed at a small local tournament. better than 90% of the competitors were from their Dojo but it was fun. It was the first time that the girls competed against each other - all together in Kobudo. Tika and Kris competed against each other in Kata and Kumite. The results are below. I also have some video from the tournament and will post that when I get it transferred from my phone to my laptop.

RESULTS

Tika

Team Kata - GOLD
Kobudo - GOLD
Kata - SILVER
Kumite - GOLD

Kris

Kobudo - DNP
Kata - BRONZE
Kumite - SILVER

Sam

Kobudo - DNP
Kata - 4th
Kumite - BRONZE

This will be a busy week but looking forward to a weekend in Ottawa which is coming up. Have a GREAT week

..... cu