Simple minds, simple pleasures

So Drake begged me to do the "marble game" with him, and so we put this contraption together.  Needless to say, the two of us spent all morning today "racing" our marbles down and seeing who would win.  The first one in usually doesn't make it down the fastest, surprising enough.  There is too much going on with the swirling dishes of chance up above.  The first marble to make it through the second purple swirl wins.  A lot can happen from the initial drop to that point.  Fun stuff.  I think Drake could have played it all day long.  Why is it that such simple things can be so much fun???

Monster Jam part II

Wow, talk about some red-neck, white trash, yehaw kind of a night.  We sure had fun, though.  It was fun to watch the trucks launch off all the jumps and go crazy.  A lot of the trucks broke or got put on their back after a short time on the track.  A few of them were able to go the whole time and then into the bonus time.  I am including a video of some of the highlights.  Enjoy...

Gabs and Drake are already begging for tickets for next year.  We went with some good friends of ours put the street.  It might have to be one of our own little traditions.  :)

Monster Jam Las Vegas

I had a blast taking Drake to monster Jam last night. We got some sweet tickets from our neighbor friends. The cars would race down and then jump at the end. The winner would advance just like a tournament bracket.  We are going again tonight for the derby and the crashing. I guess they drive the trucks till they quit or are trashed. Good times.  I can't wait for tonight. 

It's the little things...

So our home network has been sputtering along lately. Computers would hang up. Movies wouldn't load. Netflix would be iffy. I would constantly have to reset the router all the time. I finally decided enough was enough. I ordered a new one from Amazon with all the bells an whistles. It came today and I had everything up and running in less than an hour. To test it, I had my security cameras, iPhones, iPads, three Netflix movies playing, a computer downloading a movie, and surfing on two other computers all at the same time. It handled it all without a hitch. YESSSS!!!!! I love it when things work.

T-Ball

I think parents sign their kids up for sports half-way so they can just have pictures of their kids in fun uniforms. Hopefully the kids learn something along the way. Drake looks great in his new duds.

Camping with the Scouts

I had a great time camping with Drake and the scouts up Red Rock Canyon yesterday. We cooked tinfoil dinners and made s'mores. Billy Palmer showed the boys how to make brownies out of a hollowed out orange wrapped in tinfoil. Everything was great until bedtime. Then the wind decided to kick up. I bet peak gusts approached 40 to 50 mph. I took our gear and threw it in the bed of the truck. Drake slept like a baby through it all once we got out of that noisy tent. I don't think any of the leaders got more than an hour or two, though. So grateful for a warm, comfortable bed right now.

A NEW CHAPTER…

Well, it's hard to believe, but I have a daughter who is old enough to drive.  Madison, of course, wanted to go to the DMV the absolute day she was legal to get her driving permit.  All of her friends have taken the test and are either driving or have the permit themselves.  As an added bonus, they all failed the test the first time through.  That helped Madison, because they were able to tell her things they didn't study that were on there.  For example, she studied all of the numbers and facts associated with getting a DUI, even though she would have skipped it if her friends hadn't told her that a TON of questions came from there.  

I didn't have any doubts about it, though.  I knew she would do great.  Of course, she passed it the first time through, so it was just a matter of waiting.  Even that wasn't that bad. All in all, we spent about three hours at the DMV.  I think that is a record.  Pitiful that it is like that every day and they don't do anything about it.  In any case, it was a bitter-sweet moment giving her the keys to my truck and letting her drive home.  She did great.  Hopefully she will be a fantastic driver.  She even went on the interstate.  I don't see the big deal, but Heather was freaking out about that.  I guess all of her friends hadn't gone on the interstate for months and months after getting their permit.  Heck, if anything, I think the interstate is easier than side roads.  

It is hard to believe that she is driving already.  It seems like yesterday when I was getting to leave work early because Heather had gone in to the hospital.  Madison isn't my little girl anymore.  Little by little, she is spreading her wings.  It won't be long at all before those wings will be strong enough to experiment with flying on their own.  I can't wait, but then again, I could wait forever.  In the meantime, I will have fun for these next six months driving with her every chance I can, pointing out gotchas and trying to help her be a more responsible driver than I was when I turned 16.  Perhaps I can save her the pain of getting a license revoked and having to take the bus everywhere.