Kids and Dogs and Cars

Cole waited many years to become a water dog, but better late than never. Of course, the line of treats on the edge of the tank is the difference between walking and just letting the treadmill turn him to the left and lay back against the back of the tank.

 

 Very tiring.

 

The kids started another school year. I've taken many of these walking away pictures of the two of them, one day maybe I'll create a montage. But for now, you'll have to be satisfied with just this one.

 

 

We celebrated like we celebrate everything. Going out to eat! Is Eva headed for a career in fine cuisine? Her creation:

 

Dad flew to Peru for a couple days. Supposed to be three, but ended up spending an unexpected night in Knoxville after a diversion. Thankfully the second night flight ended up making it, although the view from the left side of the plane somewhere over the Caribbean was pretty cool. Looking down on lightning.

 

I can this one Moon Over Miami. Because, you know, it's the moon over Miami. 

In Lima the tasting menu included fish. That's not surprising. What is surprising is that one of the fish eats wood, and another one is a type of piranha. The third one I don't recall.

 

Aerials continue, this year again outdoor at Woodland Park.

 

 Late summer means pools, and pools mean those dragonfly dealies. Landing on heads all over the place!

 Marching band season kicked off with a big bang. The official pictures:

The sky is foretelling the story of the season. First picture is from the football game the night before the first competition. Second is from the break before the final shows at the first competition. 

 

I say foretelling because the show is fantastic. Closing the gap between the state champion from last year from 6.5 points to only 1.25 points to kick off the season. I hope the cheering section helped.

 

The radio show also marches on with the 80s Odyssey through the Fall. I made a series of collector cards. Trouble is I forgot to print them up, cut them, and package them up with some bubble and sell 'em for 25 cents.

 

The day after the competition, how did we celebrate? Well, by eating out, yeah. But there's more! A trip to the bookstore, followed by a trip to the car dealership. Right around the same timing that my dad and I went to Riverview to look at cars before my 16th birthday. But there were two differences. One, we didn't even consider a Chevette. Second, the place was open on Sunday so I didn't need to try to backdoor thing my dad did at Riverview. You see, back then you could go on the lot on Sunday but the dealership was closed and it was illegal for any salesperson to be on the lot. But the owner, John Fleischmann, lived right next door. Despite the backyard being empty, so my dad yells over fence "Hi John!" No response, but still, very cool.

 

Could a second family van be in our future? The same make and model, one year newer:

 

 

Eva would say not exactly the same.  First, she delightedly exclaimed "the sliding doors work!" Sure, but I bet no one was trying to get into this van during that deep freeze this past Winter. This one also has a remote and headphones for the second row screen, and even second row "butt warmers." We'll see.

 

 

 This is a preview of things to come.