The Fair. The End of Summer.

The SD State Fair has a special place in our family's heart, after all it is one of the reason we moved to Huron from Wessington Springs back in the mid-70's, as dad was the State Fair Manager.

Yesterday was the big kick off of the end of summer celebration, and in typical family fashion I was there from about 7am to 11pm...working our booth, emcee duties at the Freedom Stage and we hit the bullriding last night.

I don't know what it is about the fair that I love so much, but I also, in a way, always hated the fair because it marks the end of summer. The nights are cool and the days are shorter and school REALLY starts after Labor Day.

It seems like Fall is here and the clock on "lake time" is ticking...anyone want to help get the boat lift and dock out of the water...before the water gets colder?

Just like the fights at our house...

Guest Blooger Brent S. sent this video to me from the movie Never Back Down...it must have been shot from a camera phone during the taping of the movie.

Reminds me of the fights at our house. Maxim will do all these cool Jedi and Kung Fu Panda moves...then Brecken just slugs him and walks away.

Happy B-Day to my Aunts.

My aunt Gloria and Linda have birthdays only a year and couple days apart...makes me think that Grandma and Grandpa had pretty busy schedules 60-some years ago right up until about Christmas day...if you do the math.

So today Gloria is celebrating her 2nd anniversary of her 30th birthday...which used to seem old, but now that I'm 30-something 60 is the new 40....so Happy 40th Aunt Glo.

Hard to believe these 2 young looking, hip ladies are another year older...their 2 brothers on the other hand....NOW THOSE DUDES LOOK OLD, AND WRINKLED AND 1 OR 2 STEPS FROM THE NURSING HOME!

11 year reunion

The summer after college I went to Alaska to help my sister and brother-in-law at Echo Ranch...a great opportunity and time well-enjoyed in Alaska turned into a couple of lifelong friendships thanks to the Internet and e-mail, one buddy in England and the other in Canada.

One of those guys was Donovan Epp from Canada. We hit it off from the start and have been in touch on and off through the years. Trading pictures of weddings, kids, and life event type stuff.

We hadn't seen each other since I left Alaska and somethings had worked out over the last couple weeks, that Dono and family were going to be in the area. So after a couple hitches in the schedule we finally hooked up in Mitchell on Wednesday night.

The visit was cut short by some unfortunate circumstances, but we had a blast and even though our wives or kids had never met, it was like everyday friends getting together for a little pizza.

There is one picture of Dono and I from Alaska that we both have and it has sat on every desk I have ever worked at...he's in my cowboy hat, and chaps and I have this killer thrift store shirt of his on...don't ask what led up to this photo, but it is a classic.

So we took another pic in the parking lot of the hotel on Wednesday before they got back on the road to celebrate our little reunion...here are the 2 photos.

Kindergartener

The whole first day of school turned out to be a pretty big non-event for Steph and I. I walked him in, dropped off his backpack and turned him loose on the playground. He found a buddy and was GONE. Didn't even wait to give me a hug or anything.



Here is the first day of school photo, and yes that is another black eye. His right eye just healed up and is no longer black, and on Saturday night he ran into some lumber. I promise that is how it happened...I am seriously worried about people thinking we beat the kid, but both incidents happened at Grandma Penny's so I guess she has an unsafe home.


So starts the journey....oh yeah, Grandmas...you can click on the picture for a BIG version of it.

First day of school.

NEMO - First day of school! First day of school! Wake up, wake up! C'mon, first day of school!

MARLIN - I don't wanna go to school. Five more minutes.

NEMO - Not you, dad. Me!

NEMO - Get up, get up! It's time for school! It's time for school! It's time for school!It's time for school! Oh boy! Oh boy!

--Taken from the Disney/Pixar movie Finding Nemo--

______________________________

Why do I have a feeling that this will be the exchange between me and Maxim on Monday? You mean to tell me I have to have the kid at school before 8:30! I think I can do that. No more working on Montana time for me!

Yep, kindergarten starts next week. He could care less. The only long term planning he has right now is Friday's opening of the new Star Wars movie The Clone Wars. He's been talking about that since May.

I feel sorry for his teacher, she had better brush up on her Transformers, Star Wars, Dinosaurs and Army Guys. I would love to be a fly on the wall for his first week of school.

I'm not sure he knows how long this whole school thing is. I think he is expecting a week or two of activity-based fun with buddies. Reality will set in around March, when he is still going to school...then in 5th grade it hits you...that you aren't even half done with your education.

Then when you are in your 30's you start thinking about going back to get your Master's.

Every 4 years...

Those of you who were in grade school in the '80's with me...do you remember your teacher telling you that you were going to learn the metric system of measurements, and that it would replace the English Standard Measurements in a few years.

What happened to that? I'm still filling up with gallons of gas, driving in miles at miles per hour and trying to contain my weight under 200 lbs. (I would much rather be weighed in Kilo's or stones...sounds a lot better)

With the Olympic in full swing I am doing a lot of conversions in my head trying to figure out what something or someone weighs. It's really annoying to think that I could enjoy the Olympics without doing a bunch of math in my head if my teachers would have followed through a bit.

I feel that the push to continue to turn America from English Standard to the Metric system got lost somewhere in the Clinton administration's "to do list".

I wonder if the American athletes that compete in events using different measurements bother to do the conversions. I think it would be good mentally to not do them...for instance if you were in weight lifting...67 Kilos...Ohhh I lift 67 pounds all the time.

It only worked in track and field, everyone know how far meters are, until you do the 5K.

For the record, I am in the running to win a bronze medal in Olympic event viewing.

Somewhat Old Music Day...like 4 Non-Blondes old

Since I entered the digital music world a few years ago with my first MP3 player, I have found that I rarely take any CD cases with me on road trips or day to day activity. While it is super nice to have 3 CD cases full of music on one little device, I realize that I seldom listen to some really good non-current music that I have in my collection.

Like music from my college days...I just never ripped it to my computer and downloaded it to my MP3 player out of sheer laziness. Last month I put 2 of the most definitive albums of my generation on my device, Pearl Jam's "Ten" and Nirvana's "Nevermind". It had been months if not years since I had listened to either album.

So over the last couple weeks I have been pulling some "college music" out of the case and giving it some rotation on the MP3 player. A couple of old U2 discs, They Might Be Giants, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Material Issue, Rush, Seven Mary 3, Gear Daddies, The Nixons, a 2 disc Johnny Cash gem, and House of Pain.

Now when I have the player on "shuffle" and an "old song" comes on, it's like new music to my old ears...try it this weekend. Dig way back in the cd library and pull out that old 4 Non-Blondes CD...it will take you to another time and place.

Maxim vs. a doorknob

Let this be a lesson to all children reading this blog...never run away from your parents when they tell you to put your pajamas on.

But if you do run away, make sure you are looking forward not back at your parents or you will jack your eyeball on a door knob.

Last Night...right after the incident.

This morning...Brecken keeps looking in mirrors to see if something has grown over his eye too.

YO, Adrian......

Canton, SD...North Dakota's Dirty Ashtray.

Yeah, I've been away, sorry. But I do come back funny. I love Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central...every once in a while he makes fun of places I've been to, like the Butte, MT episode and last night he made fun of Canton, SD. I actually can't think of anything in Canton except the cop that trys to bust everyone going through town.

So here is the clip...MOM, sorry about his potty mouth, but they do bleep it out.

Win-DDDD

I spent the last half of the week working in the Aberdeen and and Webster area...on early Thursday morning they got hit with a pretty nasty storm. 112 mph straight line winds for an extended period of time.

We had power out at several different towns, but Webster was the worst hit, and some customers are still out today (Saturday). Being in town right after the storm reminded me a lot of Spencer's tornado. Everyone was just walking around looking at broken stuff. (I'd put pictures up on the site, but I'm too lazy)

I actually like the emergency communications side of my job, there is a lot of energy and the days go super fast...but I don't get to see my family.

So on Friday night when I got home the boys wanted to wrestle and play...Steph had set up the slip-and-slide, and within 5 minutes of pulling in the driveway I had a swimming suit on and was flying down a sheet of plastic filled with freezing cold water. A great way to start the weekend off. The boys loved it when I threw them down the slide like bowling balls. We ate at the lake restauraunt with Papa Penny, as Brecken would call them...they are kind of like one person to him. Today is their 40th wedding anniversary. The prime rib was stellar.

We hung out on the deck for the rest of the evening enjoying some natural air conditioning, and capped the night off with a skateboard session on our halfpipe with Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda watching the boys show off.

We have some friends coming from Sioux Falls this evening, so should be a party for the rest of the weekend.