Back To Normal....(Almost!)

Today was Megan's 3 week checkup on her broken leg, and good news - the doctor removed the cast. The doctor said her leg healed "exceptionally fast," and he was overall impressed with how everything looked. He did advise us to keep her from doing things like running and jumping for 2 more weeks, but the leg is now strong enough for Megan to walk on, swim, and even ride a bike. Other than being a little "cautious" about things Megan is almost back to her old self. When we got home she was a little skiddish about using her leg without the cast. All day she's been walking slowly with a limp. But that's normal. She just needs to build up her strength again and restore her confidence. But she's doing well today. She even rode her bike up and down the sidewalk a little bit...so that was great to see.

Oh Hogwarts!

Ben has recently started reading the Harry Potter books. A few weeks ago he and Jenny started reading the first one together, and Ben was instantly hooked. A while back he expressed an interest in watching the movies, so we told him he would have to read the books before he saw the movies. We helped him get started by reading the first part of the book with him, so he would know all the names and terminology. He took it from there and finished the book on his own. In fact, Jenny asked him to slow down so they could finish it together, but Ben secretly read additional chapters every night on his own in bed with a flashlight and eventually finished it. Throughout his time with the book we would constantly quiz him about what's going on, just to see how well he was retaining the story, and he could recall just about everything. So now he's onto book 2. It's pretty cool to see him so excited about longer books at such an early age. He reads a lot of short chapter books which are at his age level, but this is the first time he's read a book that's over 200 pages and no pictures. So it's been exciting to see him progress.

Tawas Point State Park

With our big "Grand Teton camping trip" now 3 weeks away we decided to take a quick camping trip up north at Tawas Point State Park. Tawas Point (pronounced Tow-es) is a very crowded, but cool park on Michigan's Lake Huron side. We got to climb to the top of Tawas Point Lighthouse, the kids played on the beach, the kids put on "skits" by the campfire, and we cooked an awesome dinner (campfire calzone, grilled bananas with chocolate and marshmallows, hotdogs for the kids, and smore's.) We had a good time just relaxing outside. Ben rode his bike all around the campground something like a dozen times. He had a blast. Best of all, the trip was a good excuse to go through all our camping gear and make notes on what needs to be replaced before our big trip out west.

FOOTNOTE - Jenny's mom bought us our tent about 12 years ago when we lived in Colorado. After all these years of use it's still in tip-top shape. Not a single tear in it. Thanks Jackie!

























Campgrounds in Michigan State Parks are oftentimes crowded...no...JAM PACKED with RV's, pop-up campers, and trailers. We always have fun camping, and the kids love it, but sometimes we feel a little cramped at some of these campgrounds. At Tawas the campground is usually very crowded. As you can see below the campground is literally wall-to-wall campers and RV's. Campgrounds around here oftentimes look like some kind of commune.

Happy Father's Day

Last weekend we celebrated Father's Day with a hike at the nature center (my choice.) Megan got a nice ride through the woods, and she and Ben got to hunt for frogs at the pond. The cast has been an annoyance, but it hasn't stopped any of us from doing our normal summer things. Best of all, Megan has been a good sport about it. She just limps around and never complains about it. Also, Ben has been a big help to me and Megan with the whole cast thing, so that's been great. Soon it will come off and life will be back to normal for all of us.

Life At Random

Megan is a couple of days away from her first checkup on her broken leg...and if we're fortunate enough we'll see her cast come off Wednesday morning. While the cast has slowed her down a little, it hasn't stopped Megan from having a fun summer so far. She went to "church camp" at our church, we've taken walks at Dow Gardens and the Nature Center, and this past weekend we even went camping. She's been a real trooper.

From The Shelf

HOMESTEADING SPACE: THE SKYLAB STORY - Written by David Hitt this a detailed history of Skylab, the first American space station. For those of you who aren't familiar with Skylab the story is a very interesting, and oftentimes forgotten one. On the heels of the successful Apollo missions in the late 60's and early 70's, NASA's next step was to "homestead" space. Skylab's chief purpose was to see how astronauts perform and live in space over long periods of time. Over a brief period of time between 1973 and 1974 there were three manned missions to the space station (which was simply a modified Saturn V rocket left over from the Apollo missions.) During its brief time Skylab was extremely successful. But like all things NASA, it eventually comes down to money. Facing budget cuts, and an upcoming new "Shuttle" program, NASA decided to scrap the program after its third mission. The most interesting part of Skylab is its demise. NASA basically decided to let it fall to Earth and "burn up" in the atmosphere. The big joke around the world (and this is the only thing I actually remember from my childhood) was "where would Skylab land?" People all over the world were a little frantic about the possibility of a big chunk of machinery falling on their house. Skylab eventually broke up over the Indian Ocean and remote western Australia, so little damage was done, but for a time it was a little dicey. The book here gives a detailed history of the program, from start to finish. The origin and demise of Skylab are the most interesting parts of the story, and the middle portion of the book is rather dry. Still though I found this to be an interesting read.

Best Father's Day Present - EVER!

It's been about a week now since the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA championship...and I'm still buzzing about it. I still have the final game on my DVR. I'm not ready to delete it yet. I'm guessing I'll be watching it once or twice more over the summer.

I've been a die-hard fan ever since the team's inception in 1980. I've seen the playoff years, and I've seen the "God awful" years. My friends and I went to all the draft parties downtown every year, we went to games wearing paper bags over our heads, and we would even sometimes attend the "player introductory" press conferences for new players after they were drafted. In the early 90's we would even go to the training camps when they were held at Moody Coliseum at SMU (often times we were the only ones in the stands.) Seeing the team hoist that trophy Sunday night was pretty special for me. It was worth the wait.

Ben and I watched the "celebration parade" from Dallas today online. That was pretty cool.


Seeing Dirk on the cover of Sports Illustrated is pretty awesome.


This is just plain funny.


And seeing the team host the "Top 10 List" on David Letterman last night was just...well...surreal.


So let's see now. That's 5 championships for the Cowboys, 1 for the Stars, and now 1 for the Mavericks. I'm looking at you Rangers. You're on the clock.

Still can't believe the Mavs are NBA champions. Best Father's Day present...EVER!

"Your 2011 NBA Champions are.....

...the Dallas Mavericks!"

Wow! I still can't get used to the sound of that. As I mentioned a few weeks ago the Dallas Mavericks were 4 wins away from their first NBA title. As a long time "die-hard" fan I've seen this franchise go through all its peaks and valleys. From the team's inception in 1980 to its first NBA title last night...I've seen it all. What I saw last night was...well...something I never thought I'd ever see.

For those of you who haven't been following this year's playoff run...this is why it was so magical and unbelievable - it was totally unexpected. Many national experts (and fans like myself) never thought Dallas would even get out of the first round this year, let alone make a significant playoff run. Dallas beat Portland in the first round 4 games to 2. They beat the defending champions L.A. Lakers in a 4 game sweep. Then they beat the young and ultra-athletic Oklahoma City Thunder in 5 games. Then they met up with the much hyped Miami Heat in the finals (a self-proclaimed "super group" of 3 all-stars) and beat them in 6 games. Like I said...no one saw this coming. That's why this playoff run was so magical.



To help all of you casual sports fans understand the significance of this victory think of it this way. This is like David vs. Goliath, Rocky vs. Apollo Creed, Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader. This is a true storybook ending of the underdog achieving victory. Here's how it all happened:

GAME 1: Mavericks lose Game 1 92-84. Afterward many experts predict the Heat winning in 4 straight games.



GAME 2: Miami goes up by 15 in the 4th quarter and Lebron James and Dwyane Wade begin to celebrate in front of the Dallas bench. In a stunning turnaround Dallas goes on a 24-5 run and wins the game on a last second layup by Dirk Nowitzki...95-93.




GAME 3: With the series headed to Dallas the Mavericks let one slip away as the Heat steal Game 3...88-86



GAME 4: Playing with a 101 fever Dirk finally gets help from his teammates and Dallas ties the series with another last minute win...86-83.



GAME 5: Momentum begins to shift in the series as Dallas takes a commanding 3-2 lead in the series with a 112-103 victory. The Mavericks are 1 win away from the title.



GAME 6: In a game where Dirk shoots poorly the entire Mavericks team steps up to help their star. Mavericks win 105-95 and Dallas gets its first NBA title. Afterward Dirk Nowitzki is named Finals MVP...unanimously.