2010 Budget Chart Book

A little different post tonight.

Guy next to me on my flight shared this with me. For anyone into stats and numbers, you will find this incredibly interesting and depressing. Came away feeling the need to pray and pray hard for our country.

Check Out the 2010 Budget Chart Book–New and Improved! | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

Cannon Beach, Oregon Part ... who knows?

News flash. I have been horribly disorganized, not motivated, and very busy this summer. I'm sure that you have missed the consistent blogging of days gone by. Ok, not really, but I have been really busy and it seems that blogging just took a back seat. Not that I haven't had cool and fun things to share...it's just taken a back seat.

We're going to finish up the Oregon trip and move on to the rest of the summer, which is actually over for us. James officially started 7th grade today. He does still long to go to school, but is hopefully beginning to really understand why he is homeschooled. Maybe a post for another day.

This is rather famous rock formation off the coast of Cannon Beach, OR. You may have heard about Cannon Beach because in the '60s a huge tsunami hit in that area of northern Oregon. (Or, it could have been because that was the focus of our honeymoon years ago. Focus because we didn't stay anywhere long, but that was the main place Keith wanted to go. Another good post idea.) This rock is called Haystack Rock. The first time we went, you could actually climb up on the rock. Just a few years after that, they had quit allowing people on it so you have to enjoy it from afar.

To me, what's really cool are all the rocks around it. James had heard about tidal pools from a friend earlier that day. He was a man on a mission to see tidal pools at low tide. God was really watching out for us that day because did we not only make to Cannon Beach with daylight, we made it just at low tide!

So, at low tide you can see (and touch) all the interesting vegetation on the rocks. All kind of slimy stuff...the stuff boys love.

Yes, it was cool there. This day had been fairly overcast and misty all day. Even when the sun was out, I think it was probably upper 50s. Any way, back to these rocks.

Not only was it fun to poke at the vegetation and the volcanic rock....

There were critters to touch. We had been given instructions at the aquarium earlier that morning about how to touch the anemones without hurting them. Very cool. They felt a lot like Velcro.

I love this place and I think the boys did, too....

...even if it was windy and cold (and we all got colds).

Maybe one day I'll get the videos we made posted. (I have to download them first....told you I am fairly behind on everything.)

I am pretty sure we have a picture of this old guy in all our honeymoon pictures. Looks pretty good for the wear.

We finally headed on to Astoria, but we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset. Thanks, God, for paying attention to all those details.

Gwinnett County Swim Meet

About halfway through the swimming season, Christopher decided he really likes swimming. A lot. He made it a goal to make it to County next year when he is 10 (he is in the 9-10 group so is one of the very youngest in his age group). He worked hard and really improved this year, shaving seconds off every meet.

He took a few lessons and briefly considered year-round swim team, but decided that would cause too much issue with baseball. Nevertheless, I think we're looking at year-round lessons.

All this background to say it was very exciting when we got a call from the lady that heads up our swim team to ask if he would be willing to help round out the 11-12 relays. We were short two boys and Christopher and Ethan were two of the 9-10s they thought could swim "up" so those two guys could go swim at County. He was so happy.

We went and signed up for one more lesson to work on flip turns and dives and just to get some time in the pool. Since he was swimming up, he would have to do two 50s instead of his normal 25s. Fortunately, he was going to do the free leg for the medley relay. We were feeling pretty good about things until we walked into the recreation center at Georgia Tech. Immediately the nerves hit.

The very thing that made this exciting was the very thing that made it so scary. It was big. It was full of people. And, it was the home of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games swimming events. Talk about intimidating.

He settled down and before long our two-hour wait was done and it was time swim. (I acknowledge the pictures aren't great. I thought basketball and cycling were hard, but at least in those you are either close or you have good light. Here neither. You'll just have to deal with it.) Christopher and I both really like this picture. It takes me right back to the moment when he dove off the blocks. My entire universe was centered right on him and the top part of his body. Everything else around me was a blur. I held my breath, hoping and praying he didn't hit belly first. I wonder if that's what he felt. (He didn't...not his best dive, but it wasn't bad at all.)

In the end our two 9-year-olds did phenomenal. Our team came in 7th in their heat...our two little guys had good solid Relay C times....for 11-12 year-olds.

Austin, their coach, was sooo proud of them. He was so encouraging all through the season. Christopher really enjoyed having him as a coach.

Soon it was time for the next relay. Christopher would be the anchor leg. I suspected he would be the last one in the pool...I just hoped it wouldn't be for long.

He stretched and got his goggles ready.

Then, he was in the pool. We were in dead last when he started. (There were some mechanical issues on the first leg. Poor Ethan's googles were slipping - very distracting for him.)

He swam his little heart out. As I watched I saw that he wasn't losing any time. I think he even made up some time on some of the slower lanes.

In the end, we did come in last but he wasn't that far behind. What a great experience, especially if he's still loving swimming next year as much as he is this year. Swimming in the Olympic pool...how cool is that?

Oregon Coast Aquarium

The Oregon Coast Aquarium was pretty nifty. You wound your way inside and outside through different exhibits. I really liked the way it was laid out.

It had the expected touching pool, but a little intimidating since not only did they have sea stars, a.k.a. starfish, but other spiky things. Seeing this and getting a text from a teammate made James very focused on finding real tidal pools. Easy enough since there is a lot of rocky coastline except you have to be there at low tide. That started a day of trying to time arrival at some rocky coastline at low tide. You have to keep following the trip to find out if we made it. (Hint: Some of my favorite pictures came from that quest.)

This was a pretty cool exhibit. I should stop and ponder sometime why the jellyfish (or is it sea jellies?) are always my favorite exhibit. They're always so pretty.

The cool thing here were the multiple tunnels where the fish were all around you. Made me dizzy looking at them, but very, very neat. Christopher took it all in...he just loves animals and watching them.

No words to do it justice. (I know hard to believe.)

Oh, wait. They weren't an exhibit. Nice smile from James who says he doesn't really know how to smile for pictures.

If you ever get to the Oregon coast, you should definitely make time to see this aquarium. Worth every minute (and dollar).

Structural Sights

Ok, I promised lighthouses and you will get lighthouses, but I also included some other architectural/structural sights. There's a ton more on the site, but maybe this gives you a flavor of the kinds of things we saw.

Sandy Creek covered bridge. Also, the site of a few Todd races from the car, down the path, across the bridge and a bit further on the path on the other side. Until there was a dispute about exactly where the finish line was. Still, it was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

Staircase at Yaquina Head. Intimidating. There could only be a few people at the top at once so we had to stand in line. Long enough for those of us afraid of heights could get ready anxious.

By the top, he was very anxious. This pic is actually on the way down when he was not so focused on the steps that he could stage a pose.

Survive was about right.

Yaquina Head...the view from outside.

Could just eat them up. Don't they just look the most loving brothers?

Yaquina Bay.

Christopher was very particular about getting this picture exactly the way he wanted it.

Love pictures with me and my little men.

Umpqua Lighthouse

Oregon Coastline. Nice shot by Keith.

Heceta Head. I originally thought I would put a bit about each one, but honestly, I don't remember. They all started running together. Neat nonetheless.

Next stop will be the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. I think you'll like that stop.

Back to Vacation - the DUNES

I found another "to do" as I was pulling pictures for this post. I apparently haven't downloaded the pictures from my point and shoot camera because I just have a few up on candisnaps. I consciously only took a few with my "good" camera because the sand was blowing everywhere because we were on.....

the DUNES. This was the part of the trip that actually enticed Christopher to want to come. Keith had gone to them on our honeymoon and one other trip. They really are fun - roughly 200 foot high sand dunes that you can romp and play in. He had high expectations.

It's really hard to explain trying to walk in sand that you literally sink into up to your knees on one side of the dune, but then the other side is firm. These guys would roll down the dune and then fight their way back up. Fortunately for all of us, the dunes met expectations and maybe even exceeded them although I'm not sure we would ever get this concession.

It was just plain fun rolling, playing, sliding.

There was one area that was slighly more marshy as you got closer to the actual coastline. I assume they had had some rain because I don't remember this much moisture from my previous trips; it made some kind of neat little pools of water.

We had a good time just tromping through the water. It was hard to be ready to go, and the hike back to the car of roughly half a mile was pretty brutal. The hike in was fairly shady, but we decided to go back the other way. Not so shady. Long story short about halfway to the car, James realized he didn't have a prized key that he uses to help himself focus before a race. So....guess who treks back with him. Remarkably we found it on the path amidst all that sand. (Needless to say, the two of us opted to go back the shady way.) Some good mother-son bonding time.

Next stop lighthouses.

Georgia Games - Crit

Yesterday I told you we were taking a break from the excessive number of vacation pictures to bring you the races from this past weekend. The Crit this weekend was really fun, and scary. Fun and scary all wrapped into one because James raced his first Category 4 race. I don't think we covered Categories in our primer mainly because I am not sure at that point I really understood them. (There is sometimes bliss not knowing what you don't know.) Any way...

Categories....who can guess what doesn't belong in the picture above? Well, in fairness they belong but they don't look like they do and many of the other guys in the picture don't think they do. When a guy first begins racing, he is a Category 5 and races against other "Cat" 5s, a.k.a. newbs. These guys have no experience and our juniors are not allowed to ride with them until they have "catted" up to Cat 4. (You never knew cat could be a verb, did you?)

You "cat" up by earning points and to move from 5 to 4 is easy. You get a point for each race you do and once you have 10 points you can cat up. For our juniors, the coaches won't let them cat up until they are comfortable the kids can handle themselves with these guys. When I submitted James's resume, he had about 30 races on it so he is more than qualified, but tell that to some of these behemoths. (We'll deal with moving from Cat 4 to Cat 3 later. A little more complicated.) (This race had 4 juniors participating in case you are like me and were never good with finding the items that didn't belong. And, if you're really bad, they are in the blue, black and white kits.)

The strategy was for him just to get out there and get some experience. It's not uncommon to not finish the race the first time or two since you are going from 20 minute races to 45 minute races so we were prepared for him to make a just a few laps since he had been sick. He just hung around the back (taking advantage of an incredible draft - he said sometimes he hardly had to peddle) until the end.

As a mom, you look at this and pray there's not a crash where the guy next to him falls on him. He said one of the guys he talked to was pretty nice. Upon further probing it sounded like there was a lot of chatting going on. In the juniors races, they go all out for the 20-30 minutes. After hearing the debrief, I decided the guys take it easy until the end. Chatting? During the race?

In the end, he finished in the pack, which was his dream finish, in 15th place out of 23. Very proud of him.

Back to vacation soon.

Georgia Games - Road Race

We interrupt the never-ending flow of vacation pictures to bring you the two races from this weekend. The Saturday race was the Georgia Games Road Race, a 16+ mile race on country roads near White, GA (a very tiny town in Bartow County).

As usual, there was a little anxiety; perhaps a little more warranted than usual. He didn't ride while we were on vacation and he was on two different inhalers with congestion, coughing, general yuck.

He seemed like he was in good shape when they left. For road races, you often don't see them except at the start and finish so you have no idea how they're doing. He came across the line for all 10-14 year olds second, first of all 10-12s. The strategy was to get Gage (a new friend from Dothan) across the line first since this was his first race with the team. (Yes, he's coming from Dothan for some practices and races....no more complaining from me about the drive. Ok, maybe some complaining, but with more perspective.)

The 10-12s swept the podium. How fun!