Burning up the blog!

Now that my vacation is over, I can actually blog about the vacation.

And I've been uploading video and thrashing out some blog entries, so there are some significant updates here.

I'm trying to keep the time and day sequences in lined with when things actually happened. Hence, the July 4 dates when you know that I didn't post until today.

Anyway, ENJOY!

The wedding!

A few tech-savvy folks have already found the wedding videos, so I’m posting the video here, sans my blogging commentary for the moment.
A few videos are still missing because they require some editing work. Those’ll come later. I promise.

All disclaimers apply: This is just an amateurish attempt by a print journalist by training to use a tiny point-and-shoot video camera that's not capable of zoom. There is also, with obvious repercussions, a lack of lighting and video.

But it is what it is and as far as I know, it's all that is out there. So enjoy.

Serenade


Fatherly speeches


Wedding vows


First dance


Dancing with their parents


Dancing to the viola


groom takes the stage


A greeting

Video update

At last I have Internet service, but it's slow and I don't want to strain the system with too much video.

Hopefully, I'll have a moment to visit a Wi-Fi spot on Park City and there I'll post the video.

So I hope you enjoy the text-only version for now.

Reunion

One of the main reasons we made the trip was the chance to vacation with family members who are spread all around the country. In particular, the boy has a favorite cousin and aunt from North Carolina that he always loves seeing. Unfortunately, with the distance, we have only a few get-togethers a year. Fortunately, they’ve bonded well through the years and so my son absolutely adores his cousin and she is a lovely girl, who enjoys playing and taking care of the boy. She’s very responsible with him, so I’ve taken a little bit of a break from the constant watch.

For the week we’ll be in Utah, we’ll be living with the Carolina folk and with Nana in a comfy Park City, Utah rental, designed for the influx of ski tourists that descend on the town each winter.

So far we’ve seen several of these relatives during an amazing array of social events, arranged and planned by my husband’s aunt, who has a knack for organizing and entertaining crowds. Conversation drifts from the current updates on work, lifestyle and health issues to memories of past family gatherings.

Meet Lo-Fi Breakdown

Another highlight of our vacation was an outdoor concert featuring Lo-Fi Breakdown, a bluegrass band with Park City roots (and family connections!) that now calls Asheville, N.C. home.
Now to the videos:
The opening song


And another


And the closing number.


Of course, every band has its groupies, though one travel-weary 4-year-old from Florida missed part of the show. But he still gave the band rave reviews, especially the guitarist who is, as the boy says, his best friend.

Technical difficulties

I have more blog entries, but the Internet connection at our Park City condo is slow. I'm hoping to get a WiFi place in Park City and I'll upload videos then.
And I'll post more to the blog

Independence Day in Park City

It’s hard not to like a parade, especially ones featuring camels and belly dancers.
And lots of dogs.

That’s what we got on Independence Day in Park City, as well as some jazz, a mariachi band and a good-old-fashioned high school marching band.

Before the parade, we enjoyed some alpine horns.


Park City loves its dogs and my son kept humming the theme for this parade group throughout our vacation.


Another fun float, besides the math institute which I didn’t video, was this Park Silly group.


Happy July 4th to you all.

Crisis

We settled into a comfortable routine at our Park City rental. The Carolina aunt brought groceries and we settled into our respective bedrooms, unpacked and eased into our vacation.

That was the first night. Trouble greeted us the next morning.

I guess each of us discovered the problem during our morning wakening. You rise and shine and make a trip to the bathroom. I completed my routine and had a fistful of soap when the faucets creaked dry.
It was 6 a.m. Mountain Time, but 8 a.m. for us East Coast folks and we discovered that somehow we had lost running water. The water pressure the night before had been fair, but it was there and it was sufficient for a shower.

Now we found only the downstairs bathroom still had a dribble of water.

My son woke up while I was downstairs discussing a game plan with my relatives. He woke us and did his bathroom routine. I walked in as he scowled at the toilet’s failure to flush.

“Mommy, the toilet is dumb.”

I couldn’t agree with him more.

Collectively, we agreed to try calling the condo’s owner at 7 a.m., realizing that although it was a Wednesday, it was also the Independence Day holiday. A group made a trip to the nearby relative to use the bathrooms.

Then we called the owner to report the problem. While on the phone with her, she offered some instructions on how to switch the main water valve. That’s when my husband discovered a related problem – the stank 8-inch layer of water sitting in the basement.

To their credit, the owner sent her husband over from Salt Lake and called the Park City utilities and within an hour, we had a pair of men, running around the house and investigating what’s gone wrong.
They figured out that the main running into the house had busted, explaining our lack of water.

By the next hour, we had packed up and headed to a different rental, this one, just a few blocks off the main downtown area. Our new house had few bathrooms, but the advantage of Foosball, airhockey and a ping-pong table in the basement.

And most importantly, it has water.

Traveling

On the morning of our departure, we waited until the last possible minute to wake up the boy. He rolled out of bed, excited that the long awaited day was finally here.
We were going to Utah.

Just a month shy of 5 years of age, my son is already a seasoned traveler. He knows all about rolling bags, check in lines, taking off your shoes at the security checkpoint, and of course, all the amenities available on a plane.
Lucky for me, since it was often the two of us traveling, he usually slept on the plane.

But not this time.

He was too excited about the trip, too eager to see everything, to experience the flight. But he’s easy to entertain, especially when there’s a cool jungle gym playset and a perfect corridor for running during our 2 ½ hour layover.



And when Mommy has a cool video camera for experimentation.



And the cross-country flight featured personalized screens, where we could pay for a $1 animated featured or play in a trivia tournament for several hours.

We finally arrived in utah, to a scene of majestic mountains and a burnt red and brown landscape, with scattered patches of sage green. The boy was thrilled to see the mountains. He asked me if we could climb them. He decided that should be a goal of our trip.

Then he finally petered out, falling asleep on our drive from Salt Lake City to Park City, just as we were driving the highway around the Wasach Mountains.

T-ball moments

I wanted to post a few moments from the boy's last T-ball game - May 12, 2007.

Here is his first at-bat


Here is his second at-bat


He comes home to score (note the hat trick)


And here is the boy with his awards, for his participation and for good sportsmanship

Skating lesson

Now that I'm inspired to restart this blog, I thought I'd offer a few videos before our trip.

Here is the boy, trying out ice skating for the very first time. It was a birthday party and they all tried out skating, by pushing around traffic cones in the rink.

Reopening the blog

After a 1-year hiatus, the blog will be reopened.
Vacation comes again soon.

However, I may post a couple of fun videos in the mean time. For your viewing pleasure.