Picnic at Hanging Rock

Inspired by a recent post from Sandra M Gr-ski I just watched "Picnic at Hanging Rock". Afterwards, despite her warnings I looked up the excised final chapter of the source novel to find the "solution". Said solution is best forgotten.

A Week at Sea, er, Lake

At Camp Alice Chester dropping YaYa off for a week of yachting on Lake Superior

Stephanie Kwolek

RIP Stephanie Kwolek, the Polish- American chemist who invented Kevlar. She was 90 years old.

Thanks for the help Lu!

Lu not only climbed up on a ladder and cleaned out our gutters,  she waterproofed one too  Alas her hands were black with tar that wouldnt wash off until a half hour had passed lol thanks LuLu

Softball Camp

@ Rufus King High School watching Oj and GC at softball camp

The End of the 2013/2014 School Year

At the end of the 2012-2013 we jumped ship, abandoning the Catholic school the kids had attended since YaYa was in K-4 and signing up for the local public school. The reasons were many, and I can't say I was completely on board with the decision, which was largely Lisa's - but in retrospect, I was I had been. It's been a blessing for #TeamSlap.

Here's a pic of the kids on the first day of classes. You'll recognize this as a traditional shot for the family. Man, they were happy not to have to wear uniforms! LOL

We dropped them off because we needed to help them carry in the many supplies that were required. And because, me being me, I wanted some pics of the first day!

In this next shot you can (barely) see Lu , near the back in the white shirt and black vest. 

Lisa left the school that morning very upset. YaYa had sat in the corner and seemed very anti-social, and it seemed like she had squandered a perfect opportunity to start over. 

Boy were we wrong! She made friends instantly and has blossomed over the last nine months into a social - if occasionally grumpy - preteen. I don't think that would have happened at her old school. She even had her first boyfriend!

Smiley was blessed with a great teacher, Mr. Byrnes, who believed in and inspired my boy. 

LuLu, like all the kids, struggled slightly at first academically (so much for that high falutin' private school) but by the end of the year notched grades that were above her grade level in English! Socially, she never had a problem. Oh, and she loved having dyed hair at school.

Junie started off the year rough academically, and couldn't read a lick. By the end of the year, under the tutelage of a great teacher (Mrs. Eisemann) she was occasionally reading a 3rd grade level and had changed her allegiance to her new school, proudly announcing she liked it better because "I like learning and I learn there". 

Here we are picking them up after school. Looking back I can see they all lost a few pounds during their daily walks to and from school, yet another benefit of the change. 

Good decision Lisa!

Fox Sports is reporting that former running back Marion Barber was taken into custody Sunday and sent to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.

Want

A Visual Guide

Bird watching in the Obama era . .

RIP Tony Gwynn

I was just startled - and I mean that literally - by the news that eight time NL batting champion and Padres legend Tony Gwynn died today of salivary gland cancer. He was only 54.

What a loss, to MLB, to the fans, and most of all to his family (I used to enjoy watching his son play in the Brewers organization in the mid-aughts)

Fun Tony Gwynn fact (courtesy of Fox Sports): He faced soon-to-be Hall of Famer Greg Maddux 107 times. He hit .415 & didn't strike out. Not once.

Wonderful to see that almost every tribute to Tony Gwynn mentions that he was a great hitter, but a "better man". One of the nicest guys to grace the sport. I still can't believe he's gone.