Finally had time to get back on the motorcycle today! I feel, due to weather and other restrictions, that I am riding less this year than previous years. I hope that changes as the summer goes on. Riding is one of the few things that helps me to relax and de-stress. Looking back, it appears that this is the first ride since April 29th, that’s almost two months! It was real nice to be back on it though and the 68.1 mile ride was very nice. I don’t have a map of this particular trip though, as I honestly do not remember the route I took. I need to save money and get a GPS that allows me to upload map overlays so I will be more easily able to keep track of where I have gone. Putting the maps in by hand (which is what I normally do) is very time consuming and tedious, additionally it becomes a big problem when I don’t remember the full route like today. It’s hard to remember the route though when we are exploring roads we have never been on before.
First Central Air Day
After Soccer today Melissa and I went to Patrick’s (my buddy Chuck’s son) Graduation Party for a few hours. It was nice to hang out and have a drink with a bunch of really nice people. The food was great and the company was super. The only problem was the heat. It turned out to be incredibly hot today, and even though the party was mainly held in the shade of Chuck’s garage, the heat was still quite oppressive. So much so that as soon as we got home we closed the windows and turned the central air on for the first time this year. Judging from how the days have been though, I have a feeling this is the first of many uses this summer. There goes the electric bill. 🙁
Soccer Showdown
This week was a special week for soccer as today was the only day that Kylie and Delaney’s teams played against each other. The girls were both excited to play together, though they were both seldom on the field at the same time. It was nice to spend the entire time of soccer on one field and be able to watch both girls play. A little sad though because now we only have one week of soccer left for the season. The girls both did very well however, and as usual they had a blast!
Saline Music Festival
Tonight Melissa and I went to Saline to listen to the Saline Fiddlers play as part of the Saline Summer Music Series. The Fiddlers are all students from Saline High School and have toured the world. The show was simply amazing! I have always enjoyed violin and fiddle music, and this group was amazing. They had Violins, Violas, Cellos, and a rhythm section pertaining of Mandolins, Guitars, a Bass and Drums. In addition to playing music they sang some very wonderful songs and even did a few dance routines. I would love to see this group perform again as they put on a wonderful show and the music was fantastic. The fact that this group is entirely made up of Saline High School students is even more incredible.
Special Day at School
This morning was a special morning for Kylie and her class. Today Mommy came to class and showed everyone her violin. She told them all about the different parts and what they do, and she even let those who wanted have an opportunity to play it. Kylie was very happy and proud to have her Mommy show her classmates something new and exciting. A video of the event can be found here, but be warned it is 14 minutes long.
New Videos
I just finished adding three new videos to the site. Two are of Kylie practicing drills with her teammates on the first day of soccer, and the third one is of Kylie’s reaction at seeing her newly painted bedroom at Mommy’s house for the first time. They can both be found on the video page with all the others.
Tonsillitis?
Instead of going to soccer this morning we had the joy of going to the doctors. Last night Kylie was seeing and at one point she turned to face Mommy just as she opened wide to sing “la” when Mommy thought she saw something odd. She asked Kylie to come closer and to open her mouth wide and say “ah” so she could look at her throat, and when she did she got one heck of a shock. Kylie’s throat was red and her tonsils were so swollen that they were almost touching her uvula. As is typical Kylie was not acting sick at all and had Mommy not noticed her throat while she was singing, we most likely would not have known anything was wrong. So first thing this morning we made an appointment to go and see the doctor. When we got there Kylie was still acting perfectly normal, bouncing around and playing and laughing as usual, and this continued on into the exam room. They performed all the normal checking; she weighed in at 48.5 lbs and her temperature was 98.8. The doctor looked into her ears (which showed no sign of infection) and also looked at her throat. He said that her throat is red and her tonsils are slightly swollen, but the strep test they performed came back negative, though they will know better by Monday morning if the full test grows any cultures. At this point he suspects that Kylie simply has a viral sore throat and that it will go away on its own, and that as of now we should simple treat her symptoms and make sure she drinks plenty of fluids. I guess we will just need to wait and see what the next few days bring.
One (maybe two) Down, More to go
Today I completed one of my new year resolutions, and I think that may be first for me. At the beginning of the year I listed out a few things I wanted to accomplish this year and some steps that I was (hopefully) going to take to achieve those things. Today I am proud to say that I have fully completed one of the goals that was actually measurable and had a solid ending point. This morning I finished reading the Bible; not only have I caught up (I was about a month behind at the beginning of the year) I have finished a day early. By no means did I understand and comprehend everything I read, nor do I now consider myself a biblical scholar, but I did learn a good deal of theology. Along the way I had some very good conversations with some friends (namely Rick Hale and Steve Thompson) that have and still do study the Bible, both Old and New Testaments and gained some interesting perspectives. Now that I think about it, this may actually count as two resolutions, the second being learning something new. Sweet, a two-for! In any event, it really was a good read, a very long and typically dry (to me) read, but good; there’s lots of information and wisdom in the Bible. Now that I am done with this maybe I’ll start on The Book of Mormon, or perhaps The Quran (Yes, I own copies of both).
Her First Recital
Tonight was Kylie’s first Ballet Recital, and we couldn’t be more proud of her! Kylie’s class was towards the end, so watching all the other kids perform their recitals (Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop) was a nice treat but really just kept me in suspense. I have seen Kylie and her class do their routine before, but not in their costumes and under the lights on stage. When it was finally Kylie’s class’ turn they were amazing! You could tell they were excited to be on stage and were having a blast. Afterward we waited in the hall while Mommy went to check Kylie out (security with the children was very strict to ensure the safety of all the kids, I was very happy about this), and as soon as I saw her I ran up to her and gave her a big hug and kiss! 
I did not get to see her before she went into the back (due to security once she was checked in she was not aloud back out until after the show and only the parent who checked her in could check her out, additionally no one was aloud in the back except those in the recital and those working it) because she was so excited for her “becital” that she said she wanted to go back and be with her class, of course I got there just a few minutes after this. So I was very excited to see her and tell her how proud I was and how wonderful she did. She received a lot of flowers, and even though Daddy’s wasn’t the biggest bouquet (Daddy knew she was going to receive a lot of flowers, so he kept it simple) those were the only ones she wanted to hold. That made me feel very very special. After recital we (Kylie, Mommy, Daddy, Melissa, Aunt Sissy, and Mimi) all went to Stroh’s for some very yummy ice cream to celebrate. I am very proud of you Kylie, and love you more than words could ever express.
Soccer, day two
Today was the second day of soccer for the girls, and it was not as nice of a day as last week. This morning it was sprinkling the entire time the girls had practice and then their games. It didn’t seem to bother any of the children though. When Kylie was on the field she did great, always running after the ball and kicking at it when she could. We still need to work on her aggressiveness and willingness to get into the cluster and try to take the ball. When it was her turn to be off the field she stood under Daddy’s umbrella and wrapped a towel that Mommy had brought around herself to stay warm and dry off some. A couple of times Daddy skipped over to the field next to ours to check on Delaney and see how she was doing. After a shorter bought of her shyness she appeared to be having a blast as well. It was surprisingly a lot of fun even though we were standing in the rain. Due to the holiday (Memorial Day) there will be no soccer next week.