Boat Day

The kids went boating yesterday with a bunch of friends and they had a wonderful time! The did a pyramid on the tube and even Coach Cindy got in on the action.

A special thanks to Shooter's mom for having everyone out on their boat. We know it's a lot of work and everyone appreciated it and had a great time!

Pedometer

I am doing a fitness challenge at work that is called "walking across America". Basically you use a pedometer and walk at least a certain number of miles a week.

One of my friends had the brilliant idea to put the pedometer on Ahi and see how many steps her little legs take in a day!

So, it's strapped on her harness and counting! Will keep you posted on the number of steps at the end of the day.

Journey into Dyslexia

I have been waiting for this documentary to come out on DVD. I just purchased it and can't wait to see it.

JOURNEY INTO DYSLEXIA presents profiles of dyslexic students and adults who share their experiences of struggling in school and then succeeding in life. Academy-Award winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond examine the complexities of this differently structured brain and debunk the myths and misperceptions about dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a specific leaning disability that is neurobiological in origin and typically manifests through difficulty in reading, writing, spelling and math. It has nothing to do with intelligence, birth defects, or a mental illness of any kind, the home environment, level of education or economic status.

Dyslexia persists throughout one's lifetime and is prevalent in every culture in the world. In the U.S. it affects as much as 10% of the population.

Surprisingly, however, Journey into Dyslexia reveals that many adult professionals who once struggled to learn in school consider their dyslexia a unique gift and the defining reason behind their success.

For more info: http://videoverite.tv/pages/film-JID-about.html

Uncle Richard

Jim's Uncle and his wife and grand daughter were in a terrible auto accident a couple weeks ago.

Richard's foot was crushed and they just did surgery on it on Friday -- this is the result. He is going to have a long recovery.

His wife broke her back and is in a brace. She is at home and doing ok.

Thank goodness that the grand daughter only had a concussion and went home the day after the accident.

They are so fortunate to be alive.

Dogs R Us

In the last month we have babysat two dogs in our home and rescued another dog! Not to mention Murray who comes for day care about once a week! Here is our latest charge, Lucy. She was very sad that her family left her so we let her do whatever she wanted!

Doo Gro

Gracie has a friend who is biracial. Drew finds her "black" hair fascinating and we find it fascinating that he is so intrigued by it.

He is forever asking questions:

1. Why do you oil your hair?

2. Why do you wear a "doo rag" (AKA: scarf)

3. How can you not wash your hair everyday?

4. Why do your bangs stick straight up?

Her mom always responds with...."because she is black!"

So last nite, I got this pic from her mom with the text "Tell Drew its oil nite at our house!"

We cracked up that the oil is called "doo gro"!

We are not sure but think that Drew wants to be a "black hair" hair dresser!

As Tina says to him....."Drew, stop being so white!"

Fishing

The boys went out fishing today. Got some good fish for fish tacos!

GIANT Flat Stanley

This is a giant Flat Stanley that Gracie made. It was sitting in spots all over the house and just getting in the way. So I hung him on the door to the garage.

Now, every time I see it, it freaks me out! I keep thinking its someone standing there!

Chip

Chip the Chihuahua was reunited with his boy this morning!

After we found him last nite, we drove around the neighborhood with a friend who had some ideas on where he might live. But nothing panned out.

Then she found a flier with a pic of a dog that looked just like te one we found. So we called the number and at 10 pm, a guy came and looked at the dog. I knew it wasnt his because the dog barked at him immediately.

So we settled him in for the nite in Ahi's crate. He barked at first but then settled down all nite.

This morning after I went to the gym, I called the animal shelter. My intent was to have them come out to pick him up. I was hoping he was microchipped. I waited on hold for 25 minutes and then finally hung up.

Before I could call back, I got a call from a friend who said her neighbor lost a dog that looked just like the one I found. The neighbor was a little boy!

So she took the little boy to my house. He walked in - called the dog "Chip" and "Chip" ran over and jumped in his arms!

Just like a Disney movie!

Found!

Gracie and I went for a walk tonite and saved this dog from getting hit by a car. Problem is....now we have him in our yard!

Girlie Cousins

Gracie (11) and Mimi (5) with matching braids.

Toes

Toes....inspired by Mari.

New type face for Dyslexia

A team from the University of Twente, in the Netherlands, has developed a new 'Dyslexie' typeface, designed to help dyslexic people read more easily.

It's based on the notion that of the 26 letters in the standard Latin-based alphabet, as used in English, many of the letters look similar - such as v/w, i/j and m/n - thus people with dyslexia often confuse these letters. So by creating a new typeface where the differences in these letters are emphasized, it was found that dyslexic people made fewer errors.

Video (no audio):
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/06/30/dyslexie-a-typeface-for-dyslexics/

Project website (in English):
http://www.studiostudio.nl/en/project-dyslexie/

Giant Boy

Giant boy on crutches!

Hair cut

Got some of that long hair cut off - this is much better!

Farming in Suburbia

My continued attempt at gardening is going really well this summer. My tomato plans are lush and my pumpkin plant is growing and growing!

Broken Boy

While we were gone last week, Drew was home alone for summer school and football practice. Unfortunatley he had a little injury! He tore (a small tear) his achilles tendon. Luckily my trusty, all purpose girlfriend, Auntie Debbie, was on duty and stood in as his other mother. She took him to the doc and cared for him for a couple days! (Thanks Auntie Deb!). He will be on crutches for a couple weeks and then we will see what happens.

Family Portrait

The Manriqi Family on the lake - the best family portrait ever!

Goofy friends

This is a pic of Kayla and Drew from last weekend at the lake. They are so goofy together!

Murman

Murray learned to swim over the last couple weeks. He still is not a strong swimmer

but gives it a good try if we coax him out into the water. Even if he is not a strong swimmer, he is a handsome beast!

Kayak Time

Spent some time kayaking at the lake. Perfect place to fish for blue gill and take the doggies for a ride. There was also a lot of standing up on it and paddling like a paddle board.

Log Fun

One of the activities while at the lake is hunting down a log and dragging it back to our camp to play on. It is the same log every year. We have to go around the lake, find it, drag it out of a wood pile and pull it home with the pontoon boat. It takes a good hour, at least, but leads to hours of fun.

More Cherry Pics

Welcome to the cabin

My mom got this goofy bear at the same rummage sale where she got the find of the year (the tent cot). The bear is huge! We have had a great time chasing the dogs around the house with it, dressing it up and putting it in places to scare people.

Currently, we are looking for an Elvis costume for it.

Cherry Trip - 2011

We are back from our 4th of July week trip to Cherry and it was a great time. The weather was perfect and the water where we were was warm...enough! The water coming down the creek was roaring from the snow melt. Trout fishing was awesome! Food was great - ribs, fish, chili dogs, pasta, etc!

But the best part was the matching swimsuits for the men. Mr C earned the new nickname: Cookie. They were hilarious playing around with the giant faces on their swim trunks. And Mr C also got the most awesome Mr Potatohead boxers because of the giant stache that matched his giant stache!

Bug and Grace also got special packages from their buddy, Ry. They got "happy camper" undies and a "weenus" a device that "allows women to urinate standing up. It's hygenic, portable, discreet and reusable"! Ry's mom carries a "weenus" around in her car because she "doesn't do public restrooms". The girls were always fascinated by the device so she got them their own. Goofy!

Bug used the weenus and gave it a two thumbs up. Grace is still considering opening the package!

Tired dogs

After a day at the lake, the dogs enjoy a quiet start to the day today.

Ouchee Mama

Not a great pic but it shows my injury from yesterday. I was getting off the back of the boat into the water, going down the latter, while holding Ahi and a giant set of waves came and knocked me over. I had to pitch Ahi into the lake to prevent from crushing her. And I hit my arm on the metal handle on the boat.

Ouchee - it hurts!

Don Pedro

It was 103 degrees at Don Pedro yesterday! Perfect for jet skiing, fetching sticks and floating around in the water.

4th of July

Daisy Mae sporting her 4th of July eyebrows and stache!

4th of July

The 4th of July at the lake is straight out of Beaver Cleaverville! We went out on the boat and swam and then took a trip around the lake spraying people with squirt guns. Good clean fun!

Mom of the Year Award

My mom gets the best mom of the year award this week....look what she got us at a rummage sale! This is cabelas camping cot complete with tent on it. They retail for 200 to 300+ dollars and my mom got it for us for $40! It was used once and is in brand new condition. You know how much we love gear and this is like the cadillac of camp beds! We are even having fun with it just using it at the cabin. Yesterday Mari took a big fat juicy nap in it and Grace and I laid in ot to read. Last nite, Jim slept in it!

Thanks MOM!!!

Friends

Mad Dog and Kayla are at the cabin with us this weekend. They have been friends with Drew and Grace since they were all babies. Everyone should be lucky enough to have this good of friends!

Soccer Friends

Grace was in a summer soccer camp last week with a bunch of team mates. I took this pic the first day before it all started. I wish I had the "after" pic, because they were all beat!

Driver's Training

Drew completed his first session of behind the wheel training today. He drove around for two hours at the height of holiday commute traffic. Great intro!

Now he can drive with us.

Turf Toe

We are on our fourth set of cleats for Drew and it has only been two weeks of football practice. His toes look worse than ever! He is going to give them 4 days of rest and then start with the new cleats next week,

Hope that helps!

Snuggle Bunny

Here is Ahi surrounded by all her babies! She carries around stuffed animals all the time and usually has one in her bed with her. This time, I surrounded her with all the ones just laying around the family room!