Previously on LOST

LOST is over for another season. I thought this season was much better than last season, though I wish they would have extended the season into the summer a little longer (since they stopped production due to the writer's strike earlier in the year).

Anyway...I found this recently. Pretty much sums up how we all feel sometimes watching the show...

This is getting rediculous

I got some gas this morning, and it was my first venture into the world of $4 gas. Unbelievable.
My Xterra gets average gas mileage at best, but fortunately I only have to fill up my tank about twice a month. We've considered getting rid of the Xterra and getting a more gas-friendly sedan, but my car is paid off. If we were to get a new car now we'd have an additional car payment, and would thus negate any gas savings. So I think for now we're going to stick with the Xterra.

Wow! $4.07 a gallon for gas. I can remember in high school paying around .80 cents a gallon.

SUPER FRIENDS

As Ben and I continue to wait for the Speed Racer cartoon from Netflix, I rented the 1977 SUPERFRIENDS show for us to watch in the meantime.

Ahhh...what great memories. I used to watch these cartoons all the time. I thought this would be a fun one for Ben to watch. Superman...Batman and Robin...Wonder Woman...Aquaman...they're all here. His favorite of course seems to be the Wonder Twins and Gleek the monkey...which were add-ons to the show for comedic effect.

Anyway, we're both having fun watching these classic cartoons. What I forgot about these shows are all the added elements. Each episode contains not only 3 stories, but also health tips, safety tips, and even magic tricks.

Best of all...who can forget the classic line: "Meanwhile...in the hall of justice!"

At The Movies

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL - We saw this over the weekend. We both liked it. It's entertaining, it's fun, and it brings back a lot of good memories of growing up. I have to admit though, there were moments here that left me shaking my head and rolling my eyes. The script gets pretty rediculous in some places, and starts to unravel at times. But I think we all expected that. I won't spoil any of the story here, but there are moments that the story gets a little too "alien" for me...no pun intended. Mixing aliens and Indiana Jones is like mixing water and oil. Just doesn't work. The movie is good, but nowhere near as good as any of the original three. Just doesn't compare.
But when it comes right down to it...it was fun to see the whip and Fedora in action again after 19 years. Harrison is of course great as Indy, and it was fun seeing him ham it up with Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). I'm not a Shia LeBeouf fan, so I'm skeptical whether or not he could carry a new Indiana Jones franchise (if they so intended). But I have to admit...if they made a 5th one I would definately go see it.
Jenny and I are now going to re-watch the original trilogy and enjoy the memories.


SPEED RACER - Jenny and I have talked about this movie quite a bit because Ben loves the Speed Racer cars, and has been wanting to see the original cartoon. (We're currently waiting for the disc to come from Netflix.) Should we take Ben or not? Would he like it or not? Well...the answer to both is no. Not until he's around 8 or 10. This movie is way too intense for him I think.
As for me, I was really interested in seeing this one because I of course remember watching the original cartoon as a kid. Every guy I know remembers like me being 10 and running home from school to catch Speed Racer.
So here we go...the "re-imagining" of Speed Racer, from the Wachowski Brothers (THE MATRIX Trilogy). This movie is all glitzed up with lots of eye candy. It's visually stunning and way over-the-top. The action sequences and car races are just mind-blowing and seizure-inducing. I have to admit, I liked this one more than I expected...but I have one big question: Who is the audience here? People like me who grew up with the cartoon might like this new tricked-out version, but I'm not so sure young kids will. And seeing all the Speed Racer toys at the toy store, all the Speed Racer cars at McDonald's, it's clear to me that the studio wants kids to get involved. One of the big problems here is eventually the story gets all tangled up in corporate power struggles and falling stock prices. Wait a sec...I thought this was a kid's movie? So perhaps getting the Wachowski Brothers on board was not a good call. What we're left with here is a very entertaining movie that may get more acceptance on DVD than in the theater.


IRON MAN - I've always thought that comic book characters don't translate well into movies. Though I have seen exceptions to the rule, (BATMAN BEGINS, X-MEN) I've seen more bad ones than good ones. Even the mega-popular SPIDER-MAN movies have left a bland taste in my mouth. So I went into IRON MAN with very low expectations. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. This is a very good movie. Robert Downey Jr. is great as the Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. The movie perfectly blends the action of ROBO-COP and maybe even TRANSFORMERS, with the "techi-ness" of BATMAN, and the humor and charm of THE ROCKETEER. There are already plans for a sequel and maybe even more after that. Man I hope so. This was a fun and entertaining movie. A great surprise.

Happy Birthday!

The other day was Jenny's birthday as you all know. We had a nice day. We went out to dinner, we all got her some nice presents, and Ben and I made her a birthday cake which we all enjoyed.

Say hello to "Robby"

Everyone...meet our newest member of the family.

Meet Robby!

He's one of those robot vacuum cleaners that you may have seen at the store. He scoots around the floor vacuuming up who-knows-what, and gets the floors pretty clean.

But more importantly, he seems to entertain Ben. Ben loves running around pretending Robby is chasing him. He also mentioned last night that Robby was his new brother, and that he wanted Robby to sleep in his bed.

Uh...we'll have to see how "attached" Ben gets to Robby. But in the meantime he's getting the floors clean for us.

Spanish Class

This past week all the parents were invited to sit in on one of the kid's spanish sessions. The children practiced counting to 10 in spanish, naming various animals in spanish, and other basic spanish words.

More fun in the bath

The kids definately have a lot of fun in the bath at night. Almost every night Jenny and I find ourselves wiping up the bathroom floor because of all the water that spills out of the bathtub.

The Cup

In honor of the end of the Stars season, here's a cool NHL commercial I came across...

As one who makes commercials, I can only imagine the time and energy it took to produce this.

Playing with Play-Doh

Ben's going through a Play-Doh phase right now. We have a set that allows you to build Play-Doh people, complete with arms, eyes, legs, etc. Play-Doh aliens are his favorite.

More photography from Ben

You know your son takes a lot of pictures when you watch him switch the camera from snapshot mode to viewing mode, or from snapshot mode to video mode. How did he figure that out?

Anyway...here's some of Ben's latest photos. I like the "self portrait." Notice how he managed to get Megan in the shot as well. Very creative.

Our new and "improved" study

We finally got some new furniture for our study. We got two matching chairs to go by the windows, and one additional chair to face the opposite way. All the colors finally pull the room together.

Megan weighs in...

Megan went to the doctor today for a checkup.

She weighed in at: 18 pds 10 oz

She measured at: 28 3/4 in

Everything looked great and as it should be. She got a clean bill of health.

Fun at the Home Depot

Never would I have thought children could have so much fun at Home Depot. But ever since Ben saw the "Nascar" carts at Home Depot he's always insisted on riding in them. Jenny and I have always rolled our eyes and just tolerated it. Better to go with the flow than encourage a tantrum.

So the other night when we all made a trip to Home Depot, it was the first time Megan has experienced the excitement of the "Nascar" cart. She was absolutely ecstatic. She was making just as much noise as Ben...giving off her high pitch squeals. Anyway, it was so funny I just had to pull out my phone and grab some pictures.

Outside enjoying the day

For the most part spring is finally here. However, every now and then we get a day or two that's cold and wet. So the cold is still trying to hold on for a little while longer. Anyway, today was one of those "great weather" days, so after lunch the kids and I walked to the small park near our house. Ben had fun riding his bicycle, and the kids had fun playing on the swings. Megan is starting to really enjoy the swing. She gets all excited when she starts moving on it.

Music time at school

Ben's class had a little concert last week. They all sang some songs and displayed some musical abilities to all the parents. It was fun.

Wave hello!

Megan is starting to learn how to wave.

Here we are one night at the dinner table getting Megan to wave, and we realized that behind us Glacier was waving also.

Garage Sale

Last weekend we held our first ever garage sale. Midland holds a city-wide garage sale twice a year, where everyone who wants to hold a garage sale does so...and all the bargain hunters come out in full force and drive around town looking for bargains. So we thought it would be a good time to get some of our stuff out and see what we could get rid of.
We were able to sell a lot of things we don't use or need anymore, as well as some hand-me-down furniture that we've somehow accumulated over the years. Our biggest seller was all the kid's clothing. All in all, we had a successful day. We were able to get rid of most of our stuff...and we came away with over $400. Not bad when most of the things we were selling were a couple of bucks each. We had a pretty good turnout for the day. We got started around 8 am, and finished around 2 or 2:30. After that I took all the items we had left over to the Salvation Army. At the end of the day we got rid of a good amount of stuff...so I guess it was worth it in the end. It was a lot of work though.

Sleepless in Seattle

Jenny recently went to Seattle for a business trip. I was teasing her when she got back. She was there for 3 days or so, and the only picture she got of Seattle was this. In her defense she only had a couple of hours to actually walk around downtown. She liked the city...what little she was able to see.

A happy baby

Megan loves to smile. She smiles almost all the time now. She smiles at us. She smiles at Ben. She even smiles at total strangers. They're always so surprised when they see her smile at them.
And when she's not smiling you can easily make her smile. She's very photogenic.

More photography from Ben

Here are some of Ben's latest photographs. Some of these I think are kind of interesting. My favorite is the reflection in the glass. I thought that was kind of cool.