Trying this out

I haven't attempted this from my phone yet.  Thought I'd experiment a bit.

Ellen has seen Santa twice this year and has been consistent on her requests.  Santa appreciates consistency.

Ellen and I went out for a bike ride on Saturday afternoon and ended up at Thomas Park.  A grand time we had indeed.  

Dancin Dancin Dancin

Last year we tried gymnastics, and that was okay, but this year we tried dancing.  It's getting harder to find things for both girls to do together that they both like.  I don't anticipate this working out forever.  They have very different personalities.  I see Ellen getting into sports soon, and Mara will be in the chess club.  Whaddya do?  Moving on, after many months of dance practice the time for a recital came.  The kids liked some of the dances and some of the costumes, but not all of them.  Below is one they liked.

Ready for action

I sat in the front row of dress rehearsal, which I thought was more fun than the recital.  Now, when I say fun,  the relativity theory must be applied.

Dress Rehearsal for martian hop

 As you can see in the photo below, Ellen is not happy.  Now, I put this photo in here for a reason.  I like many others, blog about my kids and post photos on facebook to show how wonderful and cute they are.  BUT, I think it's high time we started communicating the reality of the fact that from time to time, kids can be real shitheads.  Why don't we talk about that?  I am yet to meet a kid that doesn't melt down from time to time and that's the real shit I think we should all include once in a while amongst all of our "look at my perfect little  child" posts.  Makes me wish I would've taken a picture of the time Mara blew her diaper out at Red Robin.  Poop all up her back and on the high chair.  That's the real stuff and that dinner is one I'll not soon forget.

Ellen with her pout lip out

 Both sets of Grampas and Grammas came to the recital.  We spent Saturday galavanting around town and Saturday evening just hanging out.  Saturday included a ride for both kids in Grampa's beloved Corvette.  Yep, a booster seat fits just fine in those bucket seats.

Mara rides in Grampa's car

 Strange to see such a Hot car sitting in the driveway.  Gotta wonder where you'd put a bike rack on a car like this.  I got a ride in it too.  It's actually a very nice riding car and has some power for sure.  It's great to see my folks enjoying the fruits of all of the years of hard work and sacrifice.

Grampa's newest toy

Easter Sunday. Better late than never.

 Okay, so I'm a bit behind here.  Okay so I'm a lot behind here.  But I've been facebooking, which I can't believe I just said.  I know some folks don't do that and/or won't do that so I thought I'd better post some pics here.  Now that I'm done with class, I'm out of excuses.

Below are some pics I had on my camera from Easter.  Mom and Dad Kehrt came down to visit and it was a grand old time.  We ate, we drank, we colored easter eggs, but we didn't get in a game of chickenfoot, which I will go on record as saying is a bunch of shit.  I wanna play some damn dominoes.  Anyway, on to the photos (not in chronological order).

Mara and Ellen got up and found their easter baskets without bothering to wake anyone else.  

Grampa K supervising the coloring of the easter eggs and explaining  why the color orange takes longer to permeate the shell of an egg than the color blue.

More egg coloring

Ellen working on the color blue

Gramma K and the girls

Ellen took Grampa around the block

Chocolate Bunnies.  Mara of course points out that the bunny won't be able to hear after she bites its ear off yet proceeds to bite them off.  Ruthless she is.

SNOW!!!

These photos are from earlier in the year. Just getting around to posting them. I have no excuses. Just lazy.



Ellen sledding on the little hill.




Mara doing the same.


Mara insisted on going down the big hill. Normally that would be a feat attempted by the fun loving and fearless Ellen, but this time Mara was leading the charge. Once at the top she hopped on her sled and bolted down the hill. She was going fast. She was going "oh shit" fast but I could here her giggling the whole way down. Ellen soon followed with the same results. They did the big hill twice and got tired of climbing up.


After that we went home and played in the snow.


My fatbike hasn't seen much snow, but has been getting ridden.




Cool bridge on a gravel road.

Paul Schaefer (sp?): I have a new challenge for you.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!!!!

I'd have to say our Xmas season has been about as perfect as we can ask for. We started out with a trip up to Clear Lake on the 22nd. We hung out at Grampa and Gramma K's until Xmas eve and then we headed home for our own little family Xmas. We had a nice family dinner, just the four of us on Xmas eve. We had ham, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. The kids scarfed down the ham. The sweet potatoes got mixed results, but Stacey and I love them. The kids then set out cookies and milk for Santa along with carrots and pizza sticks for the reindeer. I don't think I've ever seen Ellen so excited for the entire weekend. She was super fired up to get to Clear Lake and was super fired up for Santa. She was whooped when it was all over.

Shared gift.

Stocking stuffers. Yum!!!

Yeah, I have pictures of them in their cute little Xmas dresses looking all pretty and cute. But to me, for the kids anyways, Xmas is all about maximizing the amount of time spent in pajamas. Regardless, here's a couple with the dresses:

Ellen relaxing with Daddy.

Mara is missing her two front teeth, but that's not all she wants for Xmas.

One thing that I'm definitely missing is snow. I'm one of those folks that's truly a midwesterner at heart. I love the change of seasons for all kinds of reasons. My new bike is built to ride in snow and so far, I've been shutout. But I'm still getting some riding in.

Graffiti under a bridge on a cinder bike path

The Pugs on some singletrack near our house.

Finally, I'd like to close with a new years resolution that made me laugh until beer almost came out of my nose.

Dancing, Beer Snobs, and Fat Tire Bikes

Lots going on since my last post, which was a long time ago. I apologize for that.

The girls are in dance class and are digging it so far. Figured we tried gymnastics, now we'd try dance. They have the whole get-up. Tap shoes, ballet, and tonight they did hip-hop. Stacey's probably gonna break out her old Bel-Biv-Devoe CD's.


Hanging out after class. They get a sucker when they're done.

Stacey, much to my delight, has been delving in to the world of quality beers. She went to a tasting with a friend and came home a bit tipsy. Ever since then, the occassional six pack shows up in the fridge. We have different favorites still, but she's picked out some good brews by Empyrean from Lincoln Nebraska.


The Neophyte Beer Snob enjoying an Aries Marzen Oktoberfest.

I recentlymade an irresponsible decision and picked up a new toy for myself. I've been wanting a Surly Pugsley for a few years, but just could neither come up with the cash or the motivation to purchase one. Well, turns out my buddy was selling one and shot me a helluva deal. One I couldn't pass up. So I sold a bunch of shit out of my garage (biking stuff) that previous to this deal were items I could not feasibly have survived without. That about covered it but not quite. So let's just say that if you have the inclination to purchase any gifts for me this year for the purpose of Christmas or my birthday my wife and kids deserve it far more than I.


Stacey trying out my new ride

I sold the bike I used to hook the tag-a-long up to, so now it's hooked up to the Pugsley

I've had her out on a few spins. The Pugsley's purpose behind the 4" tires is to ride on snow, sand, and ungroomed ground. But it's still fun to just ride around. Took it out on the Sac and Fox a while back.

Check out the rear end on that bike. Cool fenders too.

On that same ride, I stopped to take a pic of this train bridge. Something you may not know about me is that I hate bridges. Especially going under them with trains moving up above. It would take something special for me to go under that bridge while the train is moving above me (peer pressure, money, beer, naked woman).