First Place!

Emily entered her keychain collection at the local Dixie Classic Fair. Her grandma Rita gathered many of the keychains from her friends & family, and sent them to Emily. Notice the blue ribbon in the photo - Emily won first place in her age group!

Recent Photos

5 photos from recent weeks...

1. David's first Halloween, with big sis Caroline
2. Jackson at school
3/4. Jackson & Emily's first time behind the wheel (scary!) at Nascar Speedpark
5. J&E at a pumpkin patch.

Link to AOL photos

Trip Report - Myrtle Beach

The family spent 3 nights at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina last weekend.  We drove down Friday morning, arriving around 2pm.  Pretty dead this time of year, given the chilling weather, and the fact that most of the shows were dark this week as they change over to their Christmas productions.

 

Lodging – Beach Cove Condos

Stayed at Beach Cove condos in North Myrtle, just north of the Tanger Outlet Mall.  A sister property to Ocean Creek, right next door, where we stayed last year.  Beach Cove is right on the beach (whereas Ocean Creek was set back more than 100 yards), consisting of 3 15 story towers.  We were in a 2-bedroom condo with kitchen, laundry, etc.  The room was decent, not as big as last year’s and not as nice, either. 

 

The property is about 15 years old, but it’s still in nice condition.  Unfortunately, the indoor pool was closed for repairs, and the outdoor pools & lazy river were too cold to use.  One pool was heated, but not enough for me to bear.  The kids didn’t mind, though.  We also enjoyed the outdoor hot tub. 

 

Entertainment & Dining

The first night we went to Medieval Times.  It was quite the memorable (and wallet-busting) experience.  The kids were enthralled by the spectacle of a show, with jousting knights, sword play, evil traitors, soaring falcons, and a swooning princess.  They were less enchanted by the meal, served on metal plates sans silverware (as the server announced, “this is your fork, and this is your knife,” as he held up each hand in succession).  Emily & Jackson barely touched any of the food, even though the serving boys and wenches called the bread “Dragon Tongue”, and the baked potato “Dragon Toes”.  They went bug-eyed when a whole roasted chicken was plopped onto their plate.  All in all, a good memory, but i can’t see doing it again.

 

On Saturday, we ate yummy hamburgers and fries at River City Café, then raced go-karts at the Nascar SpeedPark.  Dinner was sandwiches in the condo, followed by board games and North by Northwest on tv.

 

Sunday, we went to Broadway at the Beach, and walked around the shops, fed the lake-fish, and steered remote-controlled boats.  A gondola ride around the lake would have been fun, but it was closed for the winter already.  We ate lunch at the ridiculously over-priced Key West Grill, although we had a nice outdoor table overlooking the lake.  Had dinner at a different little hamburger joint by the condo, and then took in the tourist-trap (we know this now) Ghost Show at Barefoot Landing.

 

Beach Time

While the temperature was a bit chilly, the skies were totally clear the whole time, and so it was still nice enough to hang out by the ocean.  The kids waded in just a little, up to their knees (well, somehow, Jackson managed to get soaked practically head-to-toe).  We flew kites.  Emily & Jackson dug in the sand until they were completely dusted.  Caroline wandered around looking for kids her age (and succeeded, of course).  David is still too young to enjoy the beach.

The Best Album in Years

Knowledgable observers are shocked to learn that the new switchfoot album, Nothing is Sound, is only #2 in our countdown.  Only about a month old, how could it not still be on constant rotation?

While a very fine album, and probably the best thing being played on mainstream radio today, NiS is not up to the very-high standards that have been set by my favorite band.  Not as good as The Beautiful Letdown or Learning to Breathe, both 5-star albums.

Even if it were 5-stars, would it be enough to topple the CD at #1?  Probably not.  That CD is A Collision, by the David Crowder Band.  This album shocked me by how good it is.  I mean, DCB has been an above-average modern worship band, but would i have even noticed them if they weren't Baylor grads?  So when my good friend Shane started in on his one-man PR campaign about this one, even before it was released, i was pretty ho-hum about it. 

Then Shane sent me a review (which i posted on Amazon on his behalf), and i was finally intrigued enough to buy the thing.  I was blown away!  I'm not sure i've ever heard anything quite like it, so it's hard to categorize or describe musically.  Modern worship, to be sure, with a rocking edge in the vein of Delirious?.  But mixed in with poetry & Hank Williams & a panoply of sonic art. 

This one has my highest possible recommendation.

I've even managed to get the kids interested in it, something Shane portended but i really didn't believe was likely.  E&J now request track 18 (We Win!) all the time.

Here is commentary from the band about this album...

here is a snapshot of a small number of things that toppled into one another, resulting in our latest cd ­ a collision:

a book from the early 60's, neils bohr's model of the atom, the arabic numeral 3, the arabic numeral 4, a television show on the rural farm delivery network, cancer, a tsunami in east asia, the eschatology of bluegrass, an episode of columbo, country music legend/historian marty stuart, a jacket, a bomb, the barn behind my house, a conversation with a very intelligent acquaintance of mine who is currently finishing up phd work in super string theory, and who happened to mention, in very whimsical tone, one sunny texas afternoon, that we were, and i quote, "walking around in the sky." he said, while pointing to nothing in particular, "you see, there is the ground and there is the sky and we are somewhere in between. we're walking around in it. our feet are on the ground but..."

themes: an eschatological statement regarding death, mortality, good and evil, the second coming, the raising of the dead, oppression, deliverance, hope, bluegrass music, hiroshima, springtime, the quiet waiting that comes just before the loudest sound ever.

More on Eisley

This is probably one of those things that nobody cares about but me, but Eisley's lyrics are just so good that i wanted to share some from their new album.

He was throwing grain into the ground below, ground below
With dreary circles of his arm, going slow, very slow
His cap pulled down roun' his ears to
hide the smile and watery tears (Memory)

One day I slowly floated away
All the war horses wore rubber bands
to hide their hooves from sinking sand
The commander in charge was hoping that
The destiny was not to die...

And in the corner chair
soft and soap-scented
my darling cries apologies
We foresee the mercy
That's been shown my young limbs
Will not go unthanked or unseen (One Day I Slowly...)

And oh my love
We can live on the sun
And wouldn't we be attractive
Riding in our shiny motor cars
With eyeglasses full of stars
And plenty of paper for scenery paintings
'cause we found all entire dreams
Of men and machines and
Turned them all around to
Enjoy them and benefit ourselves
Our paperback books, our charming looks
Our indentical hands
Composing our commands (Plenty of Paper)