Gotta See the Regatta

Recently we hosted the Page Balloon Regatta. Now a "Regatta" is defined as: A sports event consisting of a series of boat or yacht races. So the fact that we had hot-air balloons which didn't race at all makes the name choice very clear. We did get to see a couple balloons crash into things so perhaps Page Balloon DERBY might be a better descriptor. Parker aka "Sonic" wanted more than anything to go up in a balloon. He wanted me to get up at 6am to go get in line for a balloon ride. Of course the night before was Halloween and so between the excitement of getting boatloads of candy and the excitement of eating boatloads of candy and the consequential hyper-exciting rush of liquid sugar coursing through his veins meant that PJ got to sleep at about 3am. So being the dope, I mean, Dad that I am we arrived at the event a little after 6 only to discover that there weren't any more rides available. He and Shark Bait loved it anyway and got to stand right next to them as they inflated. That night, after the glow of Halloween and the Balloon Derby had faded away PJ told us: "Thus ends the greatest weekend of my life." Classic. Anyhow here are a few pics of the event:






Here's the troop on Halloween: Notice that Marcus is carrying a sword. He is also a Lady Bug. We received several comments about his costume. Comments like, "Oh, is that a sword?" and "Is he a lady bug? Why does he have a sword?" What? Don't ALL lady bugs have swords? Sheesh.

Say Cheese! Please?

There is one rule to follow when trying to take pictures of your children: Don't. Many a state hospital is filled with seasoned photographers who went crazy trying to get a child to "Look at the fuzzy ball and say 'Cheese!'" And while I'm on the subject, why Cheese? What is it about saying cheese that mysteriously makes kids smile? My kids are not particularly crazy about cheese and so when we say it they don't smile, but get sort of a pained, "Do we have to eat that stuff again" look on their face. Here's two classic examples: #1 Place: The Cabin. Task: To get my son Alex (aka Shark Bait) to stand next to his cousin and smile. Results: Why do I even bother? Alex seems to take it as a personal challenge to keep us from ever getting a normal shot of him. So far he's winning. Big time.







#2 Place: Our House. Challenge: To get Marcus to smile for a nice happy shot. Extra Challenge: He sleeps in the same room with Shark Bait. Results: Dang it. Shark Bait beat us to him.