Perseverance

You know those motivational posters..."Leadership", "Teamwork", etc. Here's how Cosmic Boy viewed the hike we went on Sunday (Yosemite Mist Trail). Click the picture for more other (de)motivational posters.



However, towards the end of the hike, when I was dead tired and asked "You boys want to stop?", he and Philip said "No!". Here's a picture of him at the top of Vernal Falls after we persevered to the end, past the complaining, earning the reward.


We also hiked to Wapama Falls the day before (seen in the background), about 5 miles. Click the photo for some info about the falls.


We were blessed to spend some time with some great people, I should make them all superheros, especially Orla for putting it together this year. Thank God for a time of fellowship with other believers, for an extended trip with the Trembaths, and for a time for Cosmic Boy to be with Mr. Incredible on his own. For some other pictures of the trip for those so inclined, go here or a video here.

Travis Buck Bobblehead day cancelled

A real bummer for the awestruck ladies who were smitten by his swagger. The good news is that they've rescheduled the event with the A's #1 fan. Click the picture to see him dance and listen to the music!

Wild kingdom part 2

I refilled the bird feeders this morning since I'm workin' at home and enjoy a little action. I don't know what drugs the feed companies put in the sunflower seeds but the competition gets fierce. Survival of the fittest at it's best. The little birds chased by the bigger birds chased by the blue jays chased by the squirrels chased by the cat. Nobody's around now at noon, so I guess they all got their fill. Was good to see Princess chase after the squirrel, tho I think my shotgun would be more effective.

Too bad Miss Piggy isn't a superhero...

Didn't the Muppets go to outer space? Does that qualify as a superhero? Is it possible for a superhero to change their alter-ego? We haven't crossed that bridge yet, so guess she's still Dynagirl for now, but Miss Piggy could become another code name.

I didn't get to go...

A insider visit to Pixar. Or did I? Watch the hand Mr. Incredible. Who is that imposter?

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall....

...Humpty Dumpty had a big fall....Well actually it was Dash. While riding back from Alamo (Safeway, Blockbuster, Thrifty Ice Cream, yum) on the Iron Horse Trail, Dash got a little too close to Mr Incredible and fell full speed, pretty much right next to me. Now the thing about this fall is there was very little blood...a little scuff on the forearm and some minor scrapes on the side...that's because he fell straight on his HEAD, the first thing to hit the ground. This wasn't one of those wobbly falls, it was BANG-BANG, straight down. Mr Incredible was pretty impressed with Dash's bravery, a few tears and some magic juice (Gatorade) and we were ready to hit the road. Looks like we'll need a new helmet since he CRACKED this one with his head, a first for the members of this hall of justice. Hopefully the dain bramage won't be permanent! I don't think I need to add any sort of "plug" for helmets for kids, this saved a certain concussion, large goose-egg, and a probable trip to urgent care.



Now we could have gotten going a lot faster after the crash, if Dynagirl hadn't gotten a bug in her eye AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME. Now again, to add to the uncharted territory for Mr. Incredible, I've never seen a bug stuck in quite this fashion; I could see it...it was big...but it wouldn't come out. I flushed, I poked, I huffed, and I puffed but no cigar. So, poor Dynagirl cried the whole way home, probably 2 miles or so. Her little finger was able to get it out once she had a mirror (and the tears for the 15 or 20 minutes probably helped loosen it up, who says crying doesn't help anything!)

Believe it or not, I think everybody had a good time, but I think the ride started a little better than it finished :-)

No ants in my pants

Now, granted, we're not exactly in the "in the sticks". But on our 17000 square feet of earth, the homestead ends up with it's share of critters.

One of the critters that hasn't come in full force inside the house (yet, knock on wood) is the ants. Mr. Incredible remembers lots of ants in the house as a kid, but so far they haven't been a problem. It's become a family joke as to what is keeping them away. Mr. Incredible always points to the doomsday of them "coming" but so far he is a false prophet.

The Energizer, eager of course to get to the bottom of the matter, has done some research and was told that termites keep ants away; we have a lot of fun giving tribute to these destructive little creatures for keeping away the harmless ants, hopefully it's not true.

Now there have also been a lot of spiders so they're starting to get some mention as the possible defender against the tiny troops. Wonder Woman barely goes in the bike shed anymore after entering a large black widows lair while trying to get out a cooler. I thought the spider was beautiful with it's full hourglass redspot, but somehow the wonder of God's creation was lost in her eyes.

Lately, we've been running into a lot of wolf spiders. Cosmic Boy seems to be able to find them on demand, and lately I've seen them at least 1X a week. Tonite, I almost accidentally stepped on 2 of them (1 outside and 1 inside). I'm guessing sometime back an eggsack with a gizzillion of these buggers must have hatched. Last year I was able to grab one by the leg with needle nose plyers and pull him out of the wall in the garage which tells you how strong their legs are. Not quite a tarantula, but close.

So, is it the termites or the spiders? Or maybe the ants are repelled by Dynagirl's electrical powers? Maybe the asbestos is still floating around from when the popcorn was removed from the ceiling and it keeps them away? There's plenty of room for the optimist or pessimist theories, take your pick or come up with one of your own; for now, we're just happy to be ant-free.