I spent the weekend with the boys. It was just me & Erica with Nathan & Spencer. Cassidy had a dance competition in St. George and Cali went to Disneyland with her ‘father’ for a week of fantasy, fun and overindulgence.
I took some pics this weekend too. Enjoy!
Nathan got a mood ring
Erica got a pedicure
She’s beautiful
I got Erica some roses
The weather was great so we went to the park
Me and the kiddoes made a visit to the Clark Planetarium in downtown SLC for some recreation and a little education. They have a gift shop with all kinds of crazy contraptions and science geek toys to capture the fancy of young and old alike. They have mood rings too.
The kids took a ride on the moon gravity simulator unit. I love watching them laugh, I can’t really think of anything better in life. Have a look at some pics from the day.
Cassidy doing her best Ozzy Osbourne…”Shaaa-ronnnn!”
Spencer kickin’ it old school on Mars
Spencer kickin it old school on the Moon (he gets around)
Nathan discovering an interest in the planets
Spencer geeking out
Some gravity contraption – very cool!
Spencer strapped in
Cassidy’s turn
Nathan takes a spin around the room
A view from their house that night while dropping them off
At the end of February Erica and I took a 10 day trip to NYC. We stayed in Manhattan the whole time. I’m short on words right now but I have a bunch of pics to show. In short, I loved every minute of it. I’ve posted some good ones below but if you want to see a good slideshow of our trip click here.
A view from the Empire State Building
I was surprised the pigeons actually flew up this high
The Empire State Building from the ground
These chicas were modeling something at Macy’s
Times Square
I don’t know this guy but he needed to be photographed
Erica
Robin and Vaughn
A freak on the subway. He said he is the last prophet
Grand Central Station
Park Avenue
The Brooklyn Bridge
Ground Zero
Waiting for the A Train
Me and Samuel L
Bike chained up, they are everywhere
Times Square
Hard Rock Cafe
A night shot from our hotel balcony
Times Square
The fire escape outside our room
I’ve been working on this drum kit for over 2 years now. Can you believe it? I started it just after my divorce was final and then things progressively went down hill from there. Of course, the drum building slipped off of my priority list and my pal Jason was left in waiting. He was more than patient during the entire time and the waiting has finally paid off. I’m so happy with the way it turned out!
I built this kit for Jason Thompson of Massacre at the Wake, a local SLC metal band. You can check them out online or at Club Vegas here in SLC. They play a version of metal that definitely raises the bar and many eyebrows.
We put the kit together and he gigged with it this past weekend. Last night we went to the practice space and took some pictures. This kit sings, it’s absolutely gorgeous in looks and sound.
I’ve been building drums now for about 8 years. It started when I removed the wrap from my Tama Swingstar kit and re-finished it. I built a lot of snare drums and several kits over the years but have sold all of it. One of my drums is owned by Dan Whitesides of the band The Used who I met while he was playing with The New Transit Direction. He is now sponsored by C&C Custom and my snare is probably collecting dust somewhere.
A few years ago we were talking and I told him that if he ever happens to get the opportunity to have his pick of all the custom builders out there to go with C&C. I don’t know if what I said had anything to do with his choice but I’m glad to see he is with them. The Cardwells make amazing drums.
Around the summer of 2001 I helped in starting what has become the greatest online drum building site in the world – www.ghostnote.net. If you have any interest in drums or making your own, definitely check out the forum and tell them I sent you.
We took a drive up the mountains toward Park City last weekend. We hoped to go much further but the snow plows only go so far, then they just let the road pile up for the snow mobilers. Erica and I took some nice pictures but unfortunately we didn’t get to go up as high as we’d hoped. Enjoy!
I took some pictures from my balcony late one night. I think they turned out pretty cool, take a look.
Peace ~
How you doin’? It’s good to be back on the blogosphere. I took a bit of a hiatus to focus on life issues. They seem to have cleared up with a little help from my friends. My house is closing Thursday and the proverbial attached strings are finally being cut.
We had an incredible Thanksgiving weekend with the kids. For the first time in a long time I was able to have them for somewhat of an extended stay. They were with us from Wednesday through Sunday and every moment was precious. Erica isn’t exactly used to a house full of chaos and exuberance but she did an amazing job of adapting and being a wonderful ’step-mom’ (in quotes because while she plays the role very well, it is titular only at this point).
We even had the neighbors over on Friday night for a couple adult beverages and a rousing game of Beyond Balderdash. I really like them. They brought their kids over and we sent them upstairs and downstairs while we socialized and the night culminated in a sleepover for the little ones. They had a blast and we all made some new and better friends out of it.
We spent a lot of our weekend putting together our new acquisitions from IKEA. Beds, tables, chairs, picture frames, clocks, lamps, rugs, bedding, light fixtures…we splurged and decorated the shit out of our new home. Cali got a new bedroom fit for a princess and Cassidy got to move to her own room in the basement. Next weekend the boys get their new bunk bed!
Now for the pictorial. We made a mess with finger paints this weekend. The kids got their creativity on and globbed gooey finger paint all over their hands, their feet and the floor. We let the art dry and framed it for them to hang in their bedrooms. They are thrilled and so are we as our home comes together.
The kids all got together for the annual October pumpkin massacre. We had such a great time! Cali had her first shot at actually doing some damage, she poked the tools into any and every pumpkin surface she could get her hands on.
Spencer and Nathan carved their very own designs this year but poor little Cassidy was sick. She made an effort but had to bow out about half way through her design because she started feeling sick so her enthusiasm was a little low this year. Get better sweetheart, we love you!
I can’t describe the gratitude I have for these sweet children in my life. They make me so happy and give me so much to live for and look forward to.
Thanks Erica for the awesome photos!
I took this at Sugar House park yesterday and I think this is just a great picture. I do have larger versions on my computer that look much better but the blogosphere gets the 400 pixel version. I may even frame this one.
I got my first cold of the season and took a day off of work last Friday. While I was home I got a call from Lance and we decided to cruise on downtown to Big City Soups, a perfect meal for the sniffles. The chipotle black bean soup was superb.
I had my camera and a couple of hours so we drove east through the mountains for some photography. The day was clear and spectacular and I got some really nice shots. The aspens have amazing character and with a touch of photoshop they really make some nice framed art. Please enjoy.
Breathtaking, literally. Try doing a couple squat thrusts up here!
A little photoshop action to the same picture
Tiny Homer made an appearance. Doh!
