We also got to see several places where they were shooting the next Transformers movie (#3). Large parts of Michigan Avenue were shut down and they had a car dangling off of the Michigan Avenue bridge.

All in all, it was a great day. Summers in Chicago are really the best. You can find the rest of the photos on SmugMug.

The first stop was SuperCuts downtown where she met Sherri, the woman that’s been cutting my hair for over 12 years now.

Then we went for a walk outside since we were downtown in Chicago. Sydney told me the sun was a bit bright so we kept the walk short.

Next stop was the Apple store in Oak Brook, where she was clearly just as excited as I was to be there.

On the way home she asked if she could have some ice creatm, so we stopped at DQ for a special treat. She didn’t eat the whole thing so I had to finish it off.

Finally at home, she passed out. I like to call this photo “Creepy Sleepy” because she’s sleeping with her eyes open. She does this all the time.

All in all, it was a great day with my little princess and I can’t wait for our next date together.

Love you daughter.

For a quick video tour, click below.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Sydney Australia, Darling Harbor

The photo above was taken from my room and is a good representation of the view that I have (click on it for a larger version of the photo). The others were taken while doing a night walk around the harbor. Keep in mind it’s dark by 5pm here, so you don’t have to wait long to go out and get some shots after dark. It’s hard to get good night shots without using a tripod.

The rest can be found on Flickr.

On the way back from the shoot, our gracious Lions hosts/travel guides gave us a tour of the local beaches as well as the downtown area of the city.

Below are a few of the photos, the rest are on Flickr.

I slept here and there on the flight, but probably not more than 7 hours. Of that I’m sure it was not really quality sleep. My butt was so numb I had to keep getting up to walk.

But all in all it was a good trip and I’m glad to be here. I’ll be here 13 nights before I head back home.

After being outside close to an hour with the boys and Sydney we started to bring them into the house since it was past their bedtime and they still needed baths. While Brenda was holding Sydney and trying to convince Andrew why going in the house was a good thing, I carried Max into the house through the kitchen door that connects to the garage. I plopped him on the floor in the kitchen, made sure that the basement door was locked and pulled the kitchen door closed behind me.

Brenda and Sydney were about 20 feet away from me as I pulled the door closed and we swapped places as she went to take Sydney into the house and I headed for the yard to continue negotiations with Andrew.

That was mistake number 1. Never leave a 2 year old on the other side of a door that can be locked.

As I passed Brenda I joked “I hope he doesn’t lock us out!”. And only seconds later Brenda was yelling from the garage that indeed, we were locked out. There are two locks, one on the handle and a deadbolt. Max had turned the deadbolt.

Over the next 30 seconds we realized the following in rapid succession. We did not have house keys on us, the hidden set from the garage was missing (and probably had been for a long time), there were no keys in the vehicles, and we had no cell phones on us to call anyone for help.

So I start to talk to Max through the door and ask him to unlock the door. We can hear him on the other side playing with the lock and babbling so I’m feeling somewhat confident that if he locked it he can unlock it. I hear him playing with it and as I’m turning the door knob back and forth I hear a click – and now the bottom handle is locked too. The likelihood of him unlocking both and letting us back in seems rather unlikely now.

Now Brenda is kind of, shall we say – losing her mind. She looks through the kitchen window to see what he’s up to but can’t see much because the counters are taller than he is. Since it’s now clear that we are helpless to fix this situation alone I decide to run to the neighbors house and see if we can use someones phone to call 911, not really knowing what the police can do.

I went to 3 different houses and nobody was home (or I looked to crazy to answer the door). As I was getting ready to go to a fourth there were two women walking down the street with their dogs and I ran up to them and asked if either had a cell phone I could use to call 911. One of them did and she handed it to me.

As I was on the phone with the police, luck finally turned our way a bit and a police car was coming down the street. I waved the officer down and explained the situation quickly through the passenger side window. She explained that she could help but the only thing the police can do is break down the door. Now it was a matter of choosing what door to break down. Great!

This is not our actual house, in case you were wondering.

The officer comes up to the house and we start to discuss what doors to break down. I wanted to do the garage/kitchen door since it’s in the garage and nobody would see the door damaged. But that door is a strong metal door, so we start looking at the front door. The inside front door is open, but the outside screen door is locked. At this point you might be wondering why we did just jerk open the screen door and go into the house. We tried! It’s not the typical screen door, and is made even better than we thought. I pulled on it with all my weight and force only to have the handle start to bend, which would do no good.

Then the officer had a good idea. If we could get the top glass pane down (it’s a sliding glass top) we could just cut through the screen and unlock the door. So that’s what I did, and less than a minute later I had the door open and ran into the kitchen. What I found was Max standing on the kitchen chair and sipping diet coke out of a McDonalds cup. This is of course a nice treat for him since we don’t give the kids pop.

So all is well that ends well, but it was a pretty uncomfortable situation to be in and we are trying to take some lessons away from it.

Lessons Learned

• Never walk outside without keys to the house if the house is left empty, even if the doors are unlocked.
• If you ignore the first rule, have extra keys available in other locations. We now have 3 extra sets of keys hidden in various locations that only we know the location of (and no, it’s not one of those “key rocks” so don’t come over and look).
• Keep your cell phone in your pocket when going out to play in the yard. It was very rare that I didn’t have mine, and it was only because my phone was dead from using it all day in the city.
• Never underestimate what a child can do. It never occurred to me for a second that Max would lock the door on us. I won’t make that mistake again!

Thanks for keeping things interesting Max, but don’t do it again!

This time next week I’ll be on a plane heading to Sydney Australia. I’ll be home on July 3rd just in time for the holiday.

It goes without saying that I’ll be posting some updates during my travels. You can also find my travel itinerary on the blog.

On this trip I’ll be doing the usual editing for Lions Clubs International, but I’ll also be taking some behind the scenes production stills that may be used on the Lions website or newsletter.

Except for it being a 20+ hour trip, I’m looking forward to going. I’m not so sure Brenda is as excited though.

The rest of the photos are on SmugMug as usual.

More on SmugMug

A new park just opened up this weekend, and the best part is – it’s on our property. Sure it’s a little sparse at the moment, but there are no membership fees, no hours of operation, and many hazards to be discovered (boys, just keep an eye our for that teetering pile of bricks next to the beehive!).

Life has reached the point of pretty much every minute of every day being scheduled, so I’m a bit behind on doing posts. Next month when work slows down a bit things will change. So here is a quick photo post.

The boys had there first “school day photos” taken this week. While we don’t have those pictures form the school yet, we did take a few photos of them all dressed up.

You can find the rest on SmugMug.

Our first family trip to the city, and it was a great time. We did a lot of walking and enjoyed the weather.

You can find the rest on SmugMug

It’s amazing when I think about what our visits were like just 3-4 years ago vs now. The whole focus of our visits have changed, not to mention simply exhausting.

There are a few photos here, you can find the rest on SmugMug.

I’m still amazes at how fast time is flying by, and how little time I have these days. Between the boys being more and more “mobile” and pushing the boundaries, and Sydney needing more then just a bottle and diaper change, it just seems like the walls are closing in sometimes.

Proof of that? I’ve been working on a video for Sydney since she was born in November but have not made much progress, I more or less stopped doing blog posts, and I keep saying I’m going to take more photos of the kids yet weeks go by without me getting the camera out (there’s either no time or I’m too exhausted when there is the time).

So I finally forced the issue of at least taking photos a few weekends ago and we took the kids into the basement to play and take some updated photos. We still need to take some nice family photos, but now that the weather is getting better maybe that will be possible.

You can find the rest of this series on SmugMug.

I don’t know what database has me listed as retired, but I’m constantly getting mail like this. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with being 65 or older, but let me take my time getting there please.

As much as I like the occasional travel job as a change of pace, change of scenery… there is also a down side. Once I commit to a job I’m pretty much there for the duration, almost no matter what. That can be tough when your family needs you. This was one of those weeks that if I had the option, I would have left the job early or had somebody else take over for me, things that would have been possible had I been working here in Chicago.

We have all been trading colds for the last several weeks, but when I left it looked like the worst of it was behind us. As it turned out, the worst was yet to come. Sydney ended up getting a cold on top of a cold, which is annoying when you’re a adult but very serious when you’re 7 week old baby and unable to be treated with any type of medication. After 3 trips to the doctor throughout the week, Brenda ended up taking her to the hospital on Sunday night after she turned pale and appeared to stop breathing.

Long story short, Sydney is doing better but is still in the hospital and probably will be there until at least Wednesday. She’s improving but her oxygen levels are still dropping too much, especially when she goes to sleep. Brenda is staying with her around the clock and has only come home to pack some clothes and other daily items.

Andrew is home with me today because he’s still pretty sick and has a fever, Max is at daycare (thank god for only having one today!). I’m very sick and so is Brenda. So all in all, it’s just a little slice of “heaven” around here. It sure makes you appreciate the simplicity of just being healthy.

But I am very thankful that we live in a city that has access to great doctors and that Sydney is in great hands. I’m very confident that we’ll all be doing a lot better in the upcoming weeks.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

One for the plane, one for the RedCarpet Club. I’m out the door at 6am sharp tomorrow.

It’s going to be rough to leave this cold Chicago winter, but next week I am booked on a job in Anaheim CA. I have a 7-Day gig at the Anaheim Convention Center for the NAMM show. This is a good start to the new year and is hopefully a good sign of things to come.

I’ll be posting updates during the trip and hope to have time to take some photos of the event itself. You can find my travel details on this site by clicking here.

I’ve been VERY slow to get anything done that doesn’t involve changing a diaper or sleeping, but I finally posted the photos from the first few hours after Sydney was born. Once again I had my friend Mike Younger stop by in the morning and take some photos since I knew I would have my hands full.

You can find the rest on SmugMug.

Click on the image for a larger version. The actual printed size of this will be 30"x20"

Aunt Toni with Sydney

As any parent knows, there are easy days and hard days. Our day today (including last night) falls under the category of OMG nobody told me it would be like this!

It started Friday night.  While eating dinner Brenda noticed that Andrew was looking a bit pink in the cheeks. We took his temperature and it was nearing 103. So we gave him Tylenol, took his shirt off and put a cold wet rag on his head. After an hour or so his temperature was down to just under 100 and he fell asleep on the couch with mommy.

Overnight he was up once because he wasn’t feeling well again, so we sat up with him until he was feeling better and then he was back in bed.

Sydney was also being fed throughout the night, about every 3-4 hours. The last time I went back to bed after a feeding was around 5am.

At 6:30 both boys wake up and as usual they sat with us on the couch in the living room for about 15 minutes. This is the one time of day that they like sitting and being held, as they slowly wake up. Brenda was holding Andrew and I grabbed Max and had him sit next to me. Right away I realized that he needed a diaper change based on the smell that consumed me when he sat down, but I was so tired that I sat there holding him with my eyes closed trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

Mind you, the smell was way worse then usual. So much so that it was hard to breathe through my nose, but I was just soooo tired that I actually started to fall asleep even under these conditions.

After about 20 minutes Brenda decided she could no longer take the smell and grabbed him to go get changed. As she was walking out of the room I realized the side of my shirt was a bit wet. Then when I put my had down to feel it I realized it was more then wet. Now, suddenly a lot more awake, I open my eyes and look where Max was sitting and see a huge wet stain on the couch cushion and back pillow. I look closer and realize that it’s a huge stain, and the stain has thickness to it.

As if quickly realizing Brenda was about to defuse a bomb, I jumped up and said “WAIT!”. But it was too late. She had already discovered that he not only had diarrhea, but it was all over the inside of his clothes and half way up his back. It was everywhere and smelled like sin.

Brenda immediately declared this a code red biohazard emergency and decided a simple diaper change was not going to cut it. So I ran into the bathroom to start the bath and in the mirror realized that not only was my shirt a lost cause, but my shorts and underwear were also soaked with large brown stains. So while I’m running the bath water, I realize I have to get totally undressed and quickly wipe down myself just to avoid wanting to throw up. So I disrobe and start wiping down with a towel and a few minutes later naked little Max comes wandering into the bathroom for his bath. He’s cute, but still stinks like pooh!

So I finish wiping off, quickly throw him into the bath to start soaking his nasty areas and run into the bedroom to grab something clean to wear. I get back to the bathroom and spend more time then usual making sure Max is very, very clean.

In the mean time, Brenda is running back and forth between the kitchen and living room trying to get the couch cushions as clean as possible, but by now it’s really soaked into the material and is surely going to smell no matter what she does to it.

So by 7:15 in the morning, Max is bathed and re-dressed, and the couch cushions are wiped down but had to be removed from the room until we figured out what our real cleaning plan was.

I thought I might take the cushion covers off and wash them in the washer, but when I read the tags on the couch it was very specific in saying not to do that. It seems only a professional can clean our couch, we’re not qualified.

Then I remembered that when we purchased the couch there was some sort of spot removal service included with the purchase. So I run down and pull the receipt/paperwork from the filing cabinet only to find out that our type bodily function stain is not covered. Even if I tried to push it through the using the warranty service, they don’t open until 9am on Monday, which means I would have to wait 2 more days with our biohazard situation. Not a good option.

Now it’s 7:45 and I search on google to find somebody that can do the job, and do it NOW! We end up calling and scheduling Stanley Steamer to take care of it, and they agree to show up between 9 and noon. I’m just hoping they’re better then the cable company.

They surprise us and show up before 10am, while I’m in the shower. So Brenda takes all 3 of the kids into their little bedroom and hangs out  (I join them after my shower) while the Stanley guys pull the couch apart and systematically clean every fiber inside and out. They not only clean it, they deodorize it and add a protective coating as the last step. So after about an hour and $340 later, they’ve cleaned it all including the throw pillows. We are instructed not to use the couch until the next morning so that the couch has time to dry.

They leave and I realize that since the room is in such disarray already, it’s a good time to clean the floors and vacuum up all of the dust bunnies, goldfish crackers, lost toys and missing puzzle pieces. That takes me the better part of a half hour as I move all of the furniture around and clean up with the garage shop vac. It’s perfect for this job. By 11:30 the living room is back in order and the kids area allowed re-entry.

All of this, and it’s only 11:30! I remember when we would sleep until 11:30. No matter how much people warn you that having children will change your life, there is just no way to truly communicate the depth of that change without actually going through it.

But when I ask myself would I change anything, the answer is always the same. Not a single thing. Even a day like this is well worth going through for the love of our little family.

It’s Sunday now and both boys are doing better. We figured out that Max has a really bad reaction to dairy (what we didn’t know is that it takes a few days to take effect) and Andrew has been in a good mood while still fighting a slight fever.

It’s with great pleasure and joy in my heart that I introduce to you our newest special gem.

Sydney Etheena Tomchak

Sydney joined us in the outside world at 9:43am this morning (November 27th 2009), and weighs in at a healthy 7 lbs, 4 oz. and measures 20.75 inches. Mom and baby are doing fine and Brenda is now in her room resting up.

We’ve known since the beginning (even before the boys) that if we did have a girl, some part of the name would be Etheena, named after Brenda’s oldest sister Tina who passed away in 2004. Tina’s legal name was Etheena, but friends and family called her Tina for short. The first name is a name that we both really liked after many weeks of throwing names at each other like darts. It was not unusual to just walk into the room and yell out a name, and the other person automatically knew what you were “asking”.

While it’s true that we would have been happy with a boy or girl, we’re extra happy that we have a girl to round out our family. I’ve said right from the beginning that I really wanted to have a “Mini-Brenda”.  And I know how happy Brenda is that she now has a little girl to go shopping with and do all of the girl things that she misses out on with the boys.

Speaking of shopping, we have a little confession to make. We’ve known from the 20 week mark that we were having a girl, but decided to keep it a surprise for everybody else. We just couldn’t wait to find out this time – we were both pretty confident that it was going to be a girl. The day that we found out, we actually went shopping at the mall and Brenda bought her the first outfit. See the video below for our documented trip.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

We have been in love with her for awhile now, so it’s nice to finally meet her!

More updates and plenty of photos in the days to come.

Click on the image to get a more detailed look.

My sister Dawn, who couldn’t make the trip from Detroit for the birth of #3, sent along a care package for the family. It includes a variety of interesting and useful items for all of us.

Most notably, she thought she would help with the “timing” of any future children, since the timing of this one was not totally of our choosing.

Kind of a conflicting message here.

Thanks Dawn. I love you baby sister.

But, I would argue that pregnancy can be very beautiful even if you don’t feel beautiful. After all, it is the miracle of life that’s being created. Pregnant women often have a glow to them that’s quite beautiful. I’ve seen this in Brenda, and what’s funny is when I’ve complemented her on it she’s always shocked.

Recently I had an idea of how to shoot a photo of Brenda, making it very clear that she’s pregnant, but in a more artistic way. Let’s say, to try and capture the beauty instead of focus on the discomfort of her condition. I got the idea from another photo I had seen recently in an ad that I really liked. What I did was a bit different, but inspired by that photo. I also captured a few candid moments along the way.

On Tuesday of this week I took the day off of work, and as soon as the boys were dropped off at daycare I cleared out the living room and setup a small studio to capture my “artistic vision”.

So with permission from the mother to be, here are the only photos that I liked in the bunch. It was a bit of an experiment for me so I took a lot of really bad photos before I ended up with a few that I actually liked. And while they fell a bit short of what I wanted, I’m still pleased with how they came out. After all, photography is all about trial and error and learning as you go.

The photos in black and white are the ones I planned on doing. The ones in color were a last minute thought based on where the couch had been moved and the light coming in at the time. Looking at them I already know what I’ll do different next time to improve on the look.

I hope you enjoy them. I think in years to come we will be very glad that we did this.

The baby is now 5 lbs 12 ounces, head is down and all of the body measurements were normal. The baby is also moving a lot more as time goes on. Brenda said a lot more then with the twins (probably because they didn’t have all that much space).

If the baby grows at the usual half pound per week, the birth weight should be between 7 and 8 lbs.

We’re getting excited! I have a feeling the next few weeks will go by fast. We can’t wait to meet our little guy/girl!

We thought maybe they would cry when we left, but they did not. They didn’t even realize we left.

We thought they would have trouble eating there without high chairs and with a group of kids, but they did great.

We thought they would both have trouble taking naps at a place that was unfamiliar, but they both slept close to 90 minutes.

We thought being surrounded by strangers would be hard for them, but they seemed to just go with the flow and get along with both the adults and kids.

So while it was hard to leave them because it was hard to admit how fast they were growing up, we knew it was the right thing to do. At the end of the day when we picked them up they were happy, exhausted and ready to come home.

It’s great to know that they’re getting the things they need most right now, and as time goes on I think we’ll see the benefits.

More photos on SmugMug.

This past Saturday we didn’t know what to do with the boys. The weather wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. We had spent the previous weekend at the mall since the weather was so nasty, but didn’t feel like being indoors again.

Maria was hired before she even left the interview after spending 2 hours talking and caring for the boys while we asked questions. We could tell just from her interaction with them that she would be a great caretaker for the boys. In no time at all she was in love with them as if they were her own. Even now, just saying “Maria is here!” gets the boys running to the front door looking for her. She has not only been great taking care of the boys, but most days she helps clean the house, do the boys wash and makes us dinner. What’s not to like!

So now the boys are almost 2 years old, and we’ve realized that hey need more help then we can give them on our own or even with the help of a Nanny. They need more stimulation, more challenges, more interaction with other kids and need to be more engaged in general. We recently found a school (a pre-preschool) that seems to have a great balance of all of these. We knew after our first meeting at the school that this was what they needed. We did one trial day with the boys at the school to see how they liked it, and it was clear that we were doing the right thing.

So starting next week, the boys will be in school from about 9-5 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This gives Brenda time to relax and start “nesting” for the new baby, and sometime next year if she chooses to, it gives her a chance to continue her career, something she’s still very passionate about.

Maria is still weighing out her options and may continue to Nanny or pursue some other opportunities that have come her way recently. One thing is clear, if she continues to Nanny she will not have a difficult time finding a new job, even in this economy. She is second to none, and the only bad part about having her help out is that any other caretaker after her will just not compare.

So while she’s no longer our Nanny, she will always be a great friend. We love you Maria.

You can find the rest of the photos on SmugMug.

The boys really loved it and we ended the trip with a ride on one of the Fire Trucks. All and all a great way to start the day! The rest of the photos can be found on SmugMug.

The Chicago Pin Heads Bowling Team. We sucked, but it was a blast every Tuesday night.

It’s hard to believe it, but this month makes 18 years that I’ve lived in Chicago. I’m always reminded of the anniversary because every year they hold the Chicago Marathon, which took place of of the first weekends after I moved here. This years race was today.

While I can’t remember what I did yesterday, I can remember very clearly moving to Chicago and what it was like at the time. I was only 24 years old and moved to a city where the only person I knew was a guy that had also moved to Chicago from the same company I was working at in Detroit.

I remember being excited with no reservations about moving. I quickly gave notice at work, put my car up for sale and started packing. But once I got to the airport and my parents dropped me off, the reality really hit me. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with emotion and it got the best of me. But even then I knew I was doing the right thing.

I moved into a nice neighborhood (known as the Gold Cost) that was 2 blocks from the lake and walking distance to my new job. It was a very exciting time of my life and the first two years were especially fun since pretty much everything I did and everywhere I went was new. Within a few months of being here I had a great apartment, great job, new girlfriend, new responsibilities at my job and was surrounded both at work and my apartment by people my age. It was awesome!

I would spend my summers riding my bike or rollerblading along the lake and was introduced to all kinds of new activities (new to me) like going out to see local bands at the bar, heading up to Wisconsin to go mountain bike riding, relaxing in small coffee shops (pre-Starbucks) just to hang with friends, seeing independent plays in the park and watching movies that were not considered main stream at the Music Box Theater. It was ALL NEW and I loved it.

So 18 years later what do I think? While I’ve had good and bad years here, it’s been overwhelming good – and I can’t deny that I’m happy with the way things have turned out. I have an awesome wife that’s given me two beautiful boys and has another in the oven, we own our own small post house, we’re close to Brenda’s family and a easy 5 hour drive from most of mine, and I have a really great network of family, friends and clients all rooted right here in Chicago.

What a great journey it’s been so far, and I feel like in some ways it’s only just begun.

Having the boys (and soon a new baby) has really made it much more important to me as well. When I spend time with the boys I realize how much I love them, but also how much I still have to give to them in the many years to come. I want to be sure that I’m here to do that. The most important thing I will ever do with my life is to be a father, I really feel that in my soul.

Last but certainly not least, having diabetes raises the importance of diet and exercise. Because of my condition I am more at risk for some serious health complications, but keeping things in check severely reduce that risk almost to the point of being a non-diabetic.

Earlier this year I made an attempt and eating better and did great for a few months until I had what can only be described as a mental melt down (I’m fine now though). At that point I didn’t care about my diet anymore and just said “screw it”. I felt like a smoker that kicked the habit, but then had to have just one more because of a rough day. Since then it’s been very difficult to get back on track.

But, I’ve decided to try again. I only fail if I stop trying, and that I will not do.

I’ve joined a health club (again) but this time I’m making it less optional and more part of my life. I’m going to go 5 days a week (M-F) and really mix up what I do. For example, this week I ran one day, used the stair master another, and tomorrow I have my first ever spin class at 5:30am. I think through variety it will keep things from becoming mundane, which was a problem in the past.

I’ve also signed up for a few classes with a personal trainer. I’ve never had this and it will help me form a more serious plan instead of just making one up as I go, which is what I’ve always done in the past.

As for diet, I’ve given up all unnatural sugars (fruit sugar is OK, Twinkie sugar is not), caffeine, and have limited my choleric intake to 1200 calories a day until I get down to my long desired weight (about 20 lbs. away from where I’m at now – all in my stomach). I’m going to eat mostly fruits and vegetables, but also some lean meats.

Because I’m a geek, I’m also using some geeky tools to help me out.

First off I purchased a heart rate monitor that I can wear when working out. This is important because as I recently learned, keeping your heart rate within a certain range helps burn fat instead of sugar. Also for me, I’ve learned that keeping my heart rate in this “fat burning” zone keeps my blood sugar from rising while I work out.

I use the iPhone and the Nike+ software to keep track of my workouts as I run or walk. This keeps track of my distance, calories burned and time, and creates a nice report of how you’ve been doing. It even allows you to set goals for yourself and then tell you how you’re doing.

Finally, I started using an app on my iPhone that is indispensable when trying to count calories. It’s called “Nutrition” and helps you track your daily calories, work outs and weight loss. The part that really helps is the fact that it has lists of most restaurants and their menus, so if you do go out to eat you can see what the nutritional values are of each food.

Part of me sharing all of this is because first it makes me feel like the commitment is a bit more real and serious, and second because as we all know telling people puts more pressure on you to stay with it. I also hope that if I do well with it, maybe others are inspired to make changes in their own diets.

I’ll update later!

We had an awesome day downtown with the boys. The weather was great, and love him or hate him Mayor Daily sure knows how to create a beautiful public park. There’s always something to do down there, even with our little guys.

Here are a few photos, and the rest are on SmugMug.

Another great saturday downtown with the boys. Not many days like this left, summer is nearly gone!

However, the ones I did get came out pretty nice. Below are a few highlights, and you can find more on SmugMug as usual. I’ll have the rest posted by next week.

Their room was not really totally child proof, since we really never let them play in there. We had plenty of things that they could get into – like old fireworks, open paint cans and a case of “easy strike” matches. So, we had to make some changes. All of those things are now in the bottom drawer of their dresser.

They now have toddler beds (cute little beds from IKEA) that can be adjusted as they get taller. On the surface it wasn’t all that expensive, until you doubled the price for everything since we needed 2 of them.

How have they done? It’s been a challenge, but they’re getting better. The first several nights they screamed, cried and spent an hour jumping on the beds and sometimes hitting the floor. Now they’re much better. The crying time is less then 15 minutes and for the most part they sleep through the night.

So now the room is all setup for the two of them plus #3, and their new sibling due to be here in just 12 more weeks. Then the real fun begins.

Here are a few early photos from my very proud Aunt Darlene (and Grandma). More photos will be posted on Scott and Lisa’s FaceBook pages over the next few days.

Here are a few photos from this week, and you can find more on SmugMug.

Went for a walk this morning. The weather has been great.

Great little Breakfast Diner.

We had a great Japanese dinner on Wednesday night.

And, a little video from the event. Not all that interesting, but I was playing around with the camera to get some practice. It’s not the easiest thing to take video with.

More photos can be found on SmugMug.

2001 Drivers License – In shape, at ideal weight.

2009 Drivers License – Face is now fat and round, and I’m 35 lbs. over weight (I misreported my actual weight this year, but don’t feel guilty about it)!

I’m not one to celebrate my Birthday. In fact since my late 30’s it has become a day I really don’t look forward to anymore. Why celebrate that I’m even older then the year before? It’s not like I’m trying to be of legal driving age, drink or get into strip clubs in Windsor Canada (I’ve heard some guys do that). I can rent a car without a cosigner, vote, buy liquor without being carded and represent myself in a court of law should I chose to do so.

SO… what exactly am I to celebrate?

In recent years I have become more attuned to my age, and at one point last year I woke up in the middle of the night freaked out by the realization that most likely, I’ve already lived more then half of my life. Up until that moment I had always thought “Ahhh, I have my whole life in front of me”, and suddenly I realize that a good chunk of my life is now behind me! How did that happen?!

I’m not really as bothered about my age as this post may have you believe. I’ve made peace with it for the most part. But the subject does bring me to a great book I’m currently reading. It just made sense to share it on the celebration of my 15,330th day of life on this earth. The books is called “Younger Next Year”.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher.

Announcing the paperback edition of Younger Next Year, the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller, co-written by one of the country’s most prominent internists, Dr. Henry “Harry” Lodge, and his star patient, the 73-year-old Chris Crowley. These are the books that show us how to turn back our biological clocks–how to put off 70% of the normal problems of aging (weakness, sore joints, bad balance) and eliminate 50% of serious illness and injury. The key to the program is found in Harry’s Rules: Exercise six days a week. Don’t eat crap. Connect and commit to others. There are seven rules all together, based on the latest findings in cell physiology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and experimental psychology. Dr. Lodge explains how and why they work–and Chris Crowley, who is living proof of their effectiveness (skiing better today, for example, than he did twenty years ago), gives the just-as-essential motivation.

Both men and women can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, then continue to live with newfound vitality and pleasure deep into our 80s and beyond.

It seems as you grow older staying healthy and at a reasonable weight (notice I didn’t say ideal weight) gets more and more difficult. Gone are the days when I could eat absolutely anything, do nothing and feel healthy with no weight gain. This book really brings this problem into focus in a way that leaves you more educated on exactly what is happening in your body as you get older.

While this book speaks to men 50 and older specifically, it’s obvious that the advice given is good for men and women of any age. I’m only about 25% through the book but I’m finding it very inspirational. If you’re looking for something to give you a good kick in the pants where your health and fitness is concerned, this might be just the ticket.

If you’re interested, click on one of the links below. In both cases you can find reader reviews and get even more information.

Younger Next Year, Audio Version

Younger Next Year, Paperback Version

Now get off that couch and do something!

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

We left on Saturday at 10am, went to see a movie, checked into a nice hotel downtown, had lunch and then just relaxed in the room and ordered room service. We didn’t return until Sunday at 1pm and then spent the rest of the days with the boys at the park.

So a few weeks ago I decided to do a test, and see just how far I could drive on a full tank of gas with the Prius. I wanted to find out, definitively, how far I could drive once the “add gas now” warning started to flash. Here are the details.

The tank holds 11.9 gallons, but from what I’ve read online it’s difficult to fill the tank completely. There is a bladder inline between where you fill the tank and the tank itself to prevent fumes from escaping. The down side is you end up only fitting about 10.9 gallons in the tank.

The Details
I used regular unleaded, 87 octane.

The miles are 90% highway, since the vast majority were on the drive to and from the office, which is just short of 50 miles round trip every day.

On the highway I would use the cruise control and set it to 55. The Prius seems to be tuned to get it’s peak mileage at 55, and the cruise control does a much better job and managing the overall mileage then if you try to do it yourself.

I had a one gallon tank of gas in the trunk, ready for the refill once I ran out.

So, the results?

After almost 2 weeks of driving, I coasted to a stop having drove 587miles, but not the 600 I was shooting for.

The computer said that my fuel mileage was 53.8 for that tank, but if you do the math based on the 11.9 gallon tank it’s more like 49 mpg. Again though, taking into account that it really only holds 10.9 the mileage is 53.8, exactly what the computer reported!

No matter how you cut it, it’s a lot better then the 16mpg I was getting on the Toyota Sequoia (but I will admit that I LOVED that truck).

Some More Math
So, what’s the difference in gas cost over a year?

I know that I drive about 20K miles per year. If on a year round average I get about 48 mpg on the Prius (mileage in the winter is usually in the high 30’s, not the 50’s) and 16 in the Sequoia (which was the same year round), what would the difference in cost be based on the current price of $2.88 per gallon?

Over 5 years, you will spend $6,000 on gasoline for the Prius, and $18,000 on the Sequoia. That’s $12,000 ($200 per month) more out of your pocket and directly to the oil companies! I don’t know about you, but I can think of better things to do with my money.

And this does not even take into account the high likelihood that gas prices will continue to rise. Do the same math at $4 per gallon and the gap gets even wider.

I’m sharing this last part because it’s this calculation that made me realize we needed to trade the truck in for something better on gas. Just seeing the numbers on paper was enough for me to know immediately that something had to change. When gas was less then a dollar a gallon I didn’t care, but now I really do.

The good news is, that in 5 years the overall mileage of cars in general should be much better, and hybrid vehicles will be a lot more common.