No more excuses

Okay, so I've been making excuses about not having my own camera and that's why I don't post as much as I should. Well, I got a new camera for Xmas so I'm out of excuses.

A couple of pics to shut Devin up (sorry Devin, but Dani has recently been promoted to sainthood so I will not soon be dogging her on my blog):

Mara loves this horse she got for Xmas from Grandpa and Gramma

Ellen's not sure she's in the Snap Crackle and Pop mood this morning.

It has been a pretty fun winter so far. I'm truly pleased and amazed at how much Mara likes playing in the snow. It's great to see. We're pretty sure Ellen is going to be our beach bum, but after she sees Mara out there having fun, she gets the snow pants on and goes out.

We made a couple of trips in January. One was up to Clear Lake and one was to the suburbs of Kansas City. Both were for Kehrt family events and were good times. We got the whole fam damily together at the Oberle house in KC just last weekend. Bruce and Sara played host once again (and did a damn fine job of it too) for what is realistically the last time we'll all get together for a long time. For one reason my brother's fiance's son (I'd love to call him my nephew Chuck and Rox, but you gotta seal the deal first) is moving to Brazil for a couple of years. But the other reason is our family has gotten pretty big for one house. The next couple years will be interesting. Either way, it was a good time as always.

It was a crazy January and as enjoyable as it was I'm glad to have the Xmas season behind us. I am looking forward to doing nothing for a few weekends and then we have some events planned.

First will be the Kite Festival in Clear Lake on February 19th. We did it last year and the girls had a good time. So we think we should do it again. Plus, chances are if you come up with a reason to go to Clear Lake and drink beer chances are I'll think it's a good one.

Next up after that is the CIRREM race in Cumming, IA. It's a race by definition, but mostly I just want to go ride bikes on gravel roads with some friends. Now, those of you who are aware of my recent (very recent actually) ass over elbows bicycle crash / ambulance ride / stage 3 AC separated shoulder incident probably think I'm crazy. I'm not. Crazy people don't know they're stupid. That's what makes them crazy. I'm just stupid. That and my love for riding far outweighs my fear of getting hurt from it. Besides, I'll just take it easy. Plus, i have this tire on the front now which makes riding across an icy spot a pretty darn low consequence adventure. Yep, that's 240 steel studs with carbide tips.

Either way, I won't ride unless my doctor and my physical therapist friend says I can. But all indications are that it won't be a problem. Besides, if you come up with a reason to start and end a bike race at the famous Cumming Tap, chances are I'll think it's a good one.