Swim Lessons

The kids are taking swimming lessons again this summer. This year they are taking lessons at the Springfield Racquet & Fitness Center. They are taking the lessons with their friend Mason again this year. They enjoy the lessons and are getting better every week.

They took lessons last year from a person who gave lessons at her house, but we weren't able to get a hold of her before the summer this year. Since we didn't have a blog at that time last year, you can see some pics from last year here: album or slideshow. Also, you might recognize their last year's swimming teacher from here.

Jury Duty!

I have spent the past week fulfilling my civic duty by serving on Jury Duty. I was scheduled for the week of our vacation to begin with and called and got it deferred to the week of the 16th. I didn't have to go in on Monday, but had to show up on Tuesday. (Interesting fact: They say that 25% of those called do not show up for jury duty. Our pool was 70 people, which less than 50 showed up.) After a day and a half of jury selection, I was chosen to be on the jury. It was one of those things that I didn't want to be on the jury, but I also didn't want to be rejected thinking something was wrong with me. The trial ran from Wednesday afternoon to the following Tuesday. It was a medical malpractice case taken by an employer, on behalf of itself and the patient, against a neurosurgeon. We found in favor of the neurosurgeon. I'm really surprised that the case had enough merit to make it to trial. The make up of the jury was interesting. Of the 14 jurors (12 actual and 2 alternates) it was 10 women and 4 men. Of the 14, 10 would have been under the age of 23! I felt like an old man on the jury (which I was the only male over 23). I guess that the summer has a lot of college students on them since they get deferrals until they are off in the summer. I'm now off the hook for at least two years of having to serve on a jury in the county. You may all feel better about your odds of not getting me on a jury in the county now!

Brandon Gets His Fourth Yellow Stripe

Last Wednesday Brandon earned his fourth yellow stripe on his karate belt. He had missed one class due to our vacation and he needed to learn his 1st Kata. We practiced at home all week and he went to a make-up class on Saturday to work on it a little more. On Wednesday, he did it well on his own and got his fourth stripe. His instructor is pictured above adding the stripe to his belt. He was very proud and we were too.

The Turner Tribe Trek

The Turner Tribe left the reservation and headed to Florida earlier this month. We left early Saturday morning and made it to Macon, Georgia the first night. On Day 2 we made it to Orlando early in the afternoon and went to SeaWorld. We had a great time that first night and got to see the fireworks at closing. On Day 3, we went back to SeaWorld and finished seeing everything else at the park. We left in the late afternoon and started to Daytona before some rain fell. On Day 4, we went to the Kennedy Space Center in hopes to be able to watch a rocket launch. However, once we got there we found out that launch had been cancelled. We had a great day exploring the center and would like to go back when the kids are older.

The morning of Day 5 we toured a chocolate factory in Daytona and dove down to see Florida's tallest lighthouse that is located South of Daytona Beach. The lighthouse was really interesting and had other buildings original to the lighthouse keepers. We spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach and collecting sea shells. Day 6 was dedicated to the beach. We spent part of the day checking out some of the shops during the heat of the day and playing miniature golf that was located in the hotel. That evening we went to the "Dive-In" Movie on the large inflatable screen down at the pools. We all got up to see the sunrise on Day 7 and took a stroll on the beach one last time before we had to check out. After a couple of stops along the way, we made it to Dalton, Georgia that night. Day 8 was the final leg of our trip. We made a couple of short stops and one long one in Marion to visit with some of our family. (We knew we were back in the Land of Lincoln when we saw the weeds along the interstate and roadkill!) We finally made it home at 11:00 to complete our 2,200 mile trip. The slide show above shows some of the 1,100 pictures we took along the way. You can see a larger version of any of the pictures in the slide show by double-clicking it. You can see the whole album here, to see a full screen slide show click here.

This year's vacation followed a similar route as last year. Last year we "did Disney" and stayed on the grounds and did three days at Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom) and went to Universal Studios. After that we went and spent two days at Daytona Beach and watched the Space Shuttle launch from the beach. Since we didn't have our blog up and running at that time last year, you can see the photo album from last year's trip here, to see a full screen slide show of the pictures click here.

Alanis Morissette Trivia

Click here to buy the new album

Alanis Morissette has a new album out and I was selected to be able to host a contest on our blog to give away a nice prize package [Flavors of Entanglement CD, The Collection CD/DVD (Hits compilation), and Coupon for a free pint of your favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream]. To be entered in the contest, you must fill-in the missing song lyrics and answer the trivia below by June 29th. I will select one winner from all the correct entries.

1. Ironic - 1996

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought "____ _____ ____ ____...

2. Hand in My Pocket - 1995

What it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is _______ _ _______

3. Who was Alanis named after?



Email me your answers so I can contact you if you are the winner. Good Luck!!

Happy Birthday Angie!

Happy Birthday!!!! Today she is a year older but as beautiful as always. It seems like we have been busy since before we went on vacation, so hopefully she will take it easy and enjoy her day. Angie is pictured testing out her birthday presents, her new laptop and cellphone. We love you!

Evening Sunset

It seemed like we went a while with storms coming every day or so. Here was a sunset one evening after a few storms rolled through. Besides helping the grass grow, this was another benefit that we received.