Thursday is here. What does that mean for the Wildwood DeVries? Well, the morning should hold a full work load for me. I have a project starting up that needs to finish by August 15th, which coincides unfortunately with Lee and Jim and Laurie's visits. Oh well. I'm glad I've already had several vacation days during that time approved! Cyndie and the kids will likely head to the lake or pool for the morning to enjoy the water and nice weather ... although its supposed to get hot over the weekend ... mid 90s. Lee will be arriving around noon, and after that we'll (hopefully me included in that "we") will hang out and show him around and just relax. Tonight will be worship practice here with a BBQ beforehand.
That's our Thursday!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Busy-ness starting
We've had a pretty eventful day so far. It started with Cyndie and the kids working some to paint Cyndie's new craft room (the smaller storage room in the basement). They got quite a bit done. Our friends Scott and Judy got here about 11. We've enjoyed hanging out a bit with them, including lunch. Cyndie, Scott, and Judy are on a walk on the lake trail now while I work and the kids are in quiet time. We also received a call from Lee that he's on his way here and should get in late tonight, so that will be very nice. To top all that off, Cyndie has her normal sailing event this evening.
A busy day.
A busy day.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Dragon's Lair Pictures ...
Okay, so I went out and took some pictures of the Dragon's Lair this morning, and as I was finishing up, Cyndie and the kids got home from MOPS, so I took some more . Here are the best of the bunch ... I'll try to add a little descriptive here and there so that you can make sense of all the woods you're seeing. The Dragon's Lair has really turned into a fun play area and the kids are spending more and more time out there!
This is the view from the deck/house. There are three platforms, front and center, to the left and back, and then directly behind the first one is the last one. The first is about four feet tall, then six feet, then seven or eight.
Here's another angle of the first platform. It has a rock climbing wall up, a ladder up, a short slide down, and then a walkway over to the second platform. That is a balance beam in the foreground.
This is the monkey bars which are Emma's favorite part. She's been climbing all over them and is spending a lot of time hanging out on top of them lately. Timmy does pretty darn well on the monkey bars too, but is lacking in confidence. I think he could go the whole way across by himself if he really wanted to! In front of the monkey bars is the fireman's pole which is off the walkway between the first two platforms. You can also see the "adult's area", the bench.
This is from the other side (away from the house from on top of the mound system). You can best see the second and third platforms and the swing set. We still have the taller swing set on the other side of the yard. You can see that the second and third platforms are connected by a yellow tunnel.
This is the rope ladder up to the third platform. Emma really likes that one too. It took Timmy a bit, and he's not 100% confident yet, but he's getting better about getting up and down the ladder.
This is the back side of the third platform. There are a series of platforms which the kids can climb from one to the next to go up and down from the third platform.
This is just another view of the third platform and platforms to get up to it. This is taken standing on the first platform.
Here's Emma rocking the balance beam.
Our little monkey.
Tim on the fireman's pole ... he's a big fan of that part.
Working the swing set.
Emma on the rope ladder. It is attached to the ground so that the kids don't swing too badly on it.
In the tunnel.
Cyndie working the adult area and Timmy up on the monkey bars launch area.
Emma on top of the monkey bars.
So there you have it. The Dragon's Lair as it exists today. I'm sure we'll end up adding some more, but as of now, it is extremely "usable" and fun.
This is the view from the deck/house. There are three platforms, front and center, to the left and back, and then directly behind the first one is the last one. The first is about four feet tall, then six feet, then seven or eight.
Here's another angle of the first platform. It has a rock climbing wall up, a ladder up, a short slide down, and then a walkway over to the second platform. That is a balance beam in the foreground.
This is the monkey bars which are Emma's favorite part. She's been climbing all over them and is spending a lot of time hanging out on top of them lately. Timmy does pretty darn well on the monkey bars too, but is lacking in confidence. I think he could go the whole way across by himself if he really wanted to! In front of the monkey bars is the fireman's pole which is off the walkway between the first two platforms. You can also see the "adult's area", the bench.
This is from the other side (away from the house from on top of the mound system). You can best see the second and third platforms and the swing set. We still have the taller swing set on the other side of the yard. You can see that the second and third platforms are connected by a yellow tunnel.
This is the rope ladder up to the third platform. Emma really likes that one too. It took Timmy a bit, and he's not 100% confident yet, but he's getting better about getting up and down the ladder.
This is the back side of the third platform. There are a series of platforms which the kids can climb from one to the next to go up and down from the third platform.
This is just another view of the third platform and platforms to get up to it. This is taken standing on the first platform.
Here's Emma rocking the balance beam.
Our little monkey.
Tim on the fireman's pole ... he's a big fan of that part.
Working the swing set.
Emma on the rope ladder. It is attached to the ground so that the kids don't swing too badly on it.
In the tunnel.
Cyndie working the adult area and Timmy up on the monkey bars launch area.
Emma on top of the monkey bars.
So there you have it. The Dragon's Lair as it exists today. I'm sure we'll end up adding some more, but as of now, it is extremely "usable" and fun.
A couple of pictures ...
I'm taking pictures off the camera, so I guess I may as well share a few!
Here's Cyndie and I on a date down by the Riviera at Lake Geneva.
Emma and her friend Anna after Anna's dance recital.
Emma and Timmy "playing" Guitar Hero ... they really don't know what they are doing!
The gang at the most recent Caspari visit.
The older girls watching a movie together.
Here's Cyndie and I on a date down by the Riviera at Lake Geneva.
Emma and her friend Anna after Anna's dance recital.
Emma and Timmy "playing" Guitar Hero ... they really don't know what they are doing!
The gang at the most recent Caspari visit.
The older girls watching a movie together.
Progressing
There's not a whole lot to report today. Yesterday was pretty low key culminated by a trip to the library followed by a walk on the beach. We bumped into a classmate of Emma's there who was swimming with her family, so the kids ended up doing some "heavy wading" which means that by the time we were done, they were soaked.
Cyndie has been working on turning the smaller of the two storage rooms in the basement into a craft room. Mostly so far, she's just cleaned it out. We're trying to do that on the cheap too, so she's looking for ways to get the materials she needs/wants for free. More updates on that as it progresses.
Today's activities are MOPS this morning for Cyndie and the kids, and then a trip to Farmer Katie's this afternoon to pick up this weeks vegies.
Excitement, excitement, excitement!
Cyndie has been working on turning the smaller of the two storage rooms in the basement into a craft room. Mostly so far, she's just cleaned it out. We're trying to do that on the cheap too, so she's looking for ways to get the materials she needs/wants for free. More updates on that as it progresses.
Today's activities are MOPS this morning for Cyndie and the kids, and then a trip to Farmer Katie's this afternoon to pick up this weeks vegies.
Excitement, excitement, excitement!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Start of the week
Here it is, another Monday and the start of the week.
We had a nice weekend. Saturday the Casparis came up and we hung out for most of the day. The kids really played well together all day. We spent the morning mostly out at the Dragon's Lair*. Then around 11:30 or so (after the kids had eaten some PB&J) headed over to the pool to swim.
*Yes, I know, I promised pictures of the Dragon's Lair ... they'll come, eventually.
Oh yeah, we also hit Auntie Karen's art show over at her place in there too. In the later afternoon, the adults made Lasagna, led by Chef Dave, and the kids did more playing. It was a fun day. After Casparis left, we stayed up late and went down to the lake to see the fireworks that a rich guy put on for his birthday. Here's a link to the coverage of his birthday party last year. We heard that this year's theme, for his 66th birthday, was Route 66. Anyway, as rich people are prone to do, the whim was have the supposedly 9pm fireworks at 10:15, so we didn't last that long. It was still fun to hang out at the dock for a while though.
Sunday was church, then after church we had a potluck at camp and a silent auction for camp scholarships for church kids. It was a big success and the better news for the DeVries was that Emma, and especially Timmy, were able to swim at the lake front and enjoy themselves there. We had a kind of slow rest of the day, complete with a thorough straightening of Emma's room, which desperately needed it.
This week should start slow and then gain momentum. Midweek we have some friends from church in Fountain Valley stopping by for a couple of hours on their way through town, then sometime on Thursday, Lee will be coming to town* for several days, so that will be a lot of fun!
*Lee (and Kim for the first part of the trip, though she had to fly back home for the start of school) drove across the country for Jon's graduation from the military school he's been attending. He's learning about power plants and how to set them up and has really done well!
We had a nice weekend. Saturday the Casparis came up and we hung out for most of the day. The kids really played well together all day. We spent the morning mostly out at the Dragon's Lair*. Then around 11:30 or so (after the kids had eaten some PB&J) headed over to the pool to swim.
*Yes, I know, I promised pictures of the Dragon's Lair ... they'll come, eventually.
Oh yeah, we also hit Auntie Karen's art show over at her place in there too. In the later afternoon, the adults made Lasagna, led by Chef Dave, and the kids did more playing. It was a fun day. After Casparis left, we stayed up late and went down to the lake to see the fireworks that a rich guy put on for his birthday. Here's a link to the coverage of his birthday party last year. We heard that this year's theme, for his 66th birthday, was Route 66. Anyway, as rich people are prone to do, the whim was have the supposedly 9pm fireworks at 10:15, so we didn't last that long. It was still fun to hang out at the dock for a while though.
Sunday was church, then after church we had a potluck at camp and a silent auction for camp scholarships for church kids. It was a big success and the better news for the DeVries was that Emma, and especially Timmy, were able to swim at the lake front and enjoy themselves there. We had a kind of slow rest of the day, complete with a thorough straightening of Emma's room, which desperately needed it.
This week should start slow and then gain momentum. Midweek we have some friends from church in Fountain Valley stopping by for a couple of hours on their way through town, then sometime on Thursday, Lee will be coming to town* for several days, so that will be a lot of fun!
*Lee (and Kim for the first part of the trip, though she had to fly back home for the start of school) drove across the country for Jon's graduation from the military school he's been attending. He's learning about power plants and how to set them up and has really done well!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Blast from the Past -- 2003 Second Half
Here are some more random cute pix from the second half of 2003. Stay tuned for Timmy making his debut in 2004.
In St. Lucia.
The Saturday that was Friday
So today seemed like it should be a Saturday ... last night Holtes and Angel Fischer were over to BBQ and then practice for Sunday worship* and just hang out, so the kids stayed up late and it just felt like a Friday night. Fortunately, the kids slept in until 7:30 (Emma) or 8 (Timmy). The really needed that.
*We (or at least I) have a great time playing last night. It was a little less formal and we just had a great time jamming and playing music. I played my guitar with them for the first time which was a lot of fun too.
Today should be pretty low key. With some swim lessons and normal day to day stuff. Hopefully it will be a nice adjustment back to normal Fridayhood.
*We (or at least I) have a great time playing last night. It was a little less formal and we just had a great time jamming and playing music. I played my guitar with them for the first time which was a lot of fun too.
Today should be pretty low key. With some swim lessons and normal day to day stuff. Hopefully it will be a nice adjustment back to normal Fridayhood.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wall-E
The Setting: Showboat Theater in Lake Geneva ... sparsely attended, with high school whisperers who couldn't get into the sold out Dark Knight showing sitting up behind us.
The Attendees: Cyndie and I on our anniversary (14!) date.
The Impressions:
It was a pretty good show ... but left us with the strange reaction (both Cyndie and I) of that was "interesting". Interesting in a good way for the most part. It was far different than any other Pixar movie. And, though rated G, I would not call it a kids movie per se in that with so little dialog, I think the kids would have gotten bored, at least my kids. Here's a synopsis, so I won't get into that. The story was good, not great, not entirely novel, but told from and different perspective than most of its predecessors. The production value, like most Pixar flicks, was top notch. There were 10 or 15 times when both Cyndie and I laughed out loud, so there was definitely the standard Pixar comedy element. It also was somewhat though provoking, though Cyndie felt like it preached a bit too much. Overall it left me thinking ... that was a good movie, but couldn't quite get over the hump of greatness.
The score: 4.0/5*
*The Complaint: From my brother-in-law Gow ... "Here is what I would like to know:
- What is your criteria for your movie rankings?
- Why in the world are you using a scale of 1-5?
- How in the world are you getting point-nines and point-fours???...must be some detailed test that you run all your movies through, eh?"
The scoring system because otherwise I'd have to write ten paragraphs trying to explain my general feelings on the movie. I'd rather just write a few blurbs and a number. I know, I know, it's pretty random, but then too, what movies anyone might enjoy can be pretty random. I'd much rather sit with someone and talk about a movie for 15 minutes or more, but that's not always a possibility.
Movies I've seen this year (in the theater):
Iron Man - 4.2/5
Wall-E - 4.0/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
It's been a couple of days ...
Well, it's been a couple of days, and since I'm not feeling the greatest, I'm not going to run down all of life. It's been pretty "typical"* summer, something that we're enjoying and hoping for more of the next month and a half. Tuesday night, for our anniversary, we went out. Went to Scuttlebutts, a restaurant down by the lake that we've enjoyed the couple of other times over the years that we've tried it. After that we went to see Wall-E at the local movie theater (review to be posted later), and walked by the lake a bit. It was a nice evening.
*I'm not sure there will ever be a "typical" summer day, but so far that kind of looks like me working while the rest of the fam heads to the pool or the beach or errands or a play date, then lunch together, followed by quiet time, a little playtime around the house/chores. Then dinner and hanging out as a family for a bit. Lately, we've really been enjoying spending time together out by and on the Dragon's Lair.**
**Pictures to come sometime soon, I promise.
Yesterday was pretty busy with various activities, and since we had already celebrated our anniversary the night before, we kind of took that "off". Cyndie and the kids were busy at Holte's house helping Jeannine get ready for the church silent auction this Sunday.
Today should be a bit lower key ... the kids and Cyndie are headed off to a dance recital thing for Anna Holte in the morning, and then in the evening we're having a worship team BBQ here at the house and then practice afterwards.
*I'm not sure there will ever be a "typical" summer day, but so far that kind of looks like me working while the rest of the fam heads to the pool or the beach or errands or a play date, then lunch together, followed by quiet time, a little playtime around the house/chores. Then dinner and hanging out as a family for a bit. Lately, we've really been enjoying spending time together out by and on the Dragon's Lair.**
**Pictures to come sometime soon, I promise.
Yesterday was pretty busy with various activities, and since we had already celebrated our anniversary the night before, we kind of took that "off". Cyndie and the kids were busy at Holte's house helping Jeannine get ready for the church silent auction this Sunday.
Today should be a bit lower key ... the kids and Cyndie are headed off to a dance recital thing for Anna Holte in the morning, and then in the evening we're having a worship team BBQ here at the house and then practice afterwards.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Dark Knight
So I saw The Dark Knight on Saturday evening with the usual moving going gang (Ryan Hyphen, Dave Hinz, Eric Anderson ... guys from church). It was a fun event. That gang is a good one to go see a show with since we're all movie buffs to one degree or another who are roughly the same age, so we have similar backgrounds when it comes to what we grew up with.
So the movie ... I'd give it 3.9 out of 5. It was a very good movie, top notch special effects, but there was just nothing that made me go "wow". I felt like it was a bit too long (I think around a 2:30 run time) for the amount of story that it had to tell. Heath Ledger was good as the Joker, but got a bit annoying after a while as his whole schtick was the same, never changing (which, in truth, was probably true character). I think in the end, it was a combination of my anticipation for the movie (and it not living up to that anticipation), and just a general lack of originality (or that "wow" factor I mentioned before). Nonetheless, I'd still recommend seeing it!
On the way out of the theater, we saw 6 or 7 people dressed up like Batman characters ... I guess freaks like that are not limited to just SoCal!
Movies I've seen this year:
Iron Man - 4.2/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
So the movie ... I'd give it 3.9 out of 5. It was a very good movie, top notch special effects, but there was just nothing that made me go "wow". I felt like it was a bit too long (I think around a 2:30 run time) for the amount of story that it had to tell. Heath Ledger was good as the Joker, but got a bit annoying after a while as his whole schtick was the same, never changing (which, in truth, was probably true character). I think in the end, it was a combination of my anticipation for the movie (and it not living up to that anticipation), and just a general lack of originality (or that "wow" factor I mentioned before). Nonetheless, I'd still recommend seeing it!
On the way out of the theater, we saw 6 or 7 people dressed up like Batman characters ... I guess freaks like that are not limited to just SoCal!
Movies I've seen this year:
Iron Man - 4.2/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
Back in the swing of things
So we're at home and back into the swing of things.
We had a fairly low key day yesterday ... church, then around the house for the rest of the day. Right now Cyndie and the kids are out getting groceries in order to restock after vacation. I think they'll probably hit the swimming pool later on if the weather is nice enough (which it looks like it will be).
The next several weeks should be pretty normal ... for summer. I don't think we have any "major" events coming up. Starting around the 5th of August, our friends Jim and Laurie will be visiting from SoCal for a week. That will be fun, and should mark the last big event of the summer.
We had a fairly low key day yesterday ... church, then around the house for the rest of the day. Right now Cyndie and the kids are out getting groceries in order to restock after vacation. I think they'll probably hit the swimming pool later on if the weather is nice enough (which it looks like it will be).
The next several weeks should be pretty normal ... for summer. I don't think we have any "major" events coming up. Starting around the 5th of August, our friends Jim and Laurie will be visiting from SoCal for a week. That will be fun, and should mark the last big event of the summer.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Vacation Pix ...
Here's some pictures from the trip to Chicago ...
The kids with a monkey at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
The kids monkeying around!
The Chicago Field Museum.
More at the Kids Museum.
So that was our trip ... it was a blast!
This is the main level of the house we stayed at (the second level, above the garage and sitting area and below the bedrooms).
The kids with a monkey at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
The kids monkeying around!
Family photo op.
Oops, I'm not sure why this didn't get rotated, but this is eating at the Italian style pizza place a couple of doors down from where we stayed.
Timmy with part of our appetizer.
Em and Tim sharing a malt at the Folk Festival that we happened upon.
The Chicago Field Museum.
Eating a snack with our friend the Brachiosaurus.
At the Field Museum ... looking toward the city.
The kids were fascinated by these globes at the Field Museum.
More at the Field Museum, this was an underground exhibit where you were supposed to be an 1/8th of an inch tall (or so).
Now at Millennium Park ... the weird beany mirror thing.
This was the big fountain thing at Millennium Park that the kids loved.
Buckingham Fountain.
Emma riding the El.
This is at the Kids Museum on the Navy Pier ... the kids building their own fountains.
More at the Kids Museum.
Digging for dinosaur bones at the kids museum.
This was a fountain thing the kids could play in at one of the parks close to the house.
Lake Michigan beach.
Emma trying on hats at Cracker Barrel (breakfast stop on the way home).
So that was our trip ... it was a blast!
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