Liam's First Swimming Lesson

On July 21st Liam had his first official swim lesson over at the YMCA, and after starting out a little nervous with out his mommy or daddy in the water he did a great job. He is in a kiddy pool so he can actually touch the bottom, which he likes and doesn’t need to where his float suit. I do feel a little bad for him because he got stuck in a group with all girls, but hey nothing like a group of girls at the pool to help find a few prospects.

During the part of the lesson where she was having the kids go under water Liam answered the question wrong and got a little surprise. The teacher asked him if he had been under water before, and he answer yes which was true. What he failed to mention was that he didn’t want to go under water and the next thing he knew after grabbing his nose was being submerged and coming up coughing. After getting over the initial shock and cleaning the water out of his eyes I gave him a thumbs up which seemed to pacify him for the moment.

They played a game where she would get them to jump in the water however none of them would just jump in, instead they all had to take her hands. I do have to say that we need to work on his jumping ability, because all the little girls seems to be able to get a bigger splash then he did. He seemed to do better at the second lesson, especially with going under the water which was good to see, but he still needs work on that jump.


Saturday we got him some goggles and took him over to the Y on Sunday while Mary Ellen worked out. With the goggles he actually decided he wanted to go under water and kept doing it the whole time we were there. After her workout was over Mary got in with us and we worked on his jumping, and now he will actually jump in without taking a hold of our hands. It does look like he is having fun and it is good to see him doing some organized activity with others his age.

Moon Beams

All the way through grade school to college I have always followed the space program, not as much of late but I still keep a keen eye to news coming out of NASA. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of humans walking on the moon I can’t help to think, what the hell happened? We have been spinning our wheels in space ever since and I just don’t like it.

I know it is hard to justify the big expense especially when we are in hard economic times, but look at the excitement and technological advances we made during that push to the moon. Humans are built for adventure and exploration and something has got in our way. Greed, wars, politics and a general lack of a common purpose has been staring us in the face and we have been so busy listing to our iPods, surfing the Internet or just caught up in our own financial struggles we have ignored the obstacle. I say it is time to break out it is time for us as a human race to find that inner adventurous spirit and do something that is positive.

Let us dream to explore once more. Let us sore to new adventures. Let us do what we need to do in order to advance our race, and put our petty differences aside and strive for a common goal. It could start with space and spread into other areas; environment, religious understanding, peace, who knows but we have to start somewhere and space/science is a good common ground.

Vacation & Father's Day

I was lucky enough to get a whole weeks vacation from June 15th thought the 19th which was badly needed. The best part was taking Liam to King's Island and the Great Wolf Lodge over in Cincinnati, Ohio for the first time. He wouldn’t get on the bumper cars after talking about them for the whole week before, so I got worried at first that this might not have been a good idea. He did get on this helicopter ride with Charles and then he rode the guided cars and had fun on those.



Before he could really see the Fairy Odd coaster (that used to be the Beastie for us older King’s Island people) we got him in line. As we took off he started holding his ears because he thought it was too loud, and then we got to the hill. Liam eyes got big when we started going up, and I though for a moment that he was going to freak out, but then we went down the hill and up the next I looked down and he was smiling while still holding his ears. He then turned to me and said, “Daddy this is awesome”! He then rode it three or four more times that day.

Great Wolf Lodge was pretty cool, we got a room with that had bunk beds set up to look like a little cabin. The indoor water park was really fund as well with lots of slides and a wave pool. We tried taking Liam down some of the slides, but he wasn’t really into it, but after we got back home he told us that he liked it. He defiantly wants to go back to both places epically King’s Island.

Father’s day was a good time because we made Liam wear his Tony Hawk shirt and put product in his hair. This all started at our last barber trip well he keep trying to push my hair down, so I told him if he did it one more time I would make him wear product with his hair up. For all those who don’t know Liam says he hates product and absolutely hates for his hair to be up, he likes it straight down. Needless to say we were able to get a picture before he rubbed it all out of his hair, and he looks really good with it done. We’ll see maybe we can get him to start doing it more, but I doubt it.

My 2009 Smoky Mountain Trip

All I can say is just wow! This trip was one of my favorite of all times and now I can only think about going back for more. Greg and I left on a raining Thursday, but once we got to Knoxville, TN it started to clear and we got good weather to put up our tent and cook our first meal. The campsite in the park was great with running water in the background and trees upon trees. The only problem with the campsite is the fact that there are not any showers.

On our first full day there we decided to tackle the rugged Chimney Tops Trail which is quite a hike up a mountain. The view is just great with all the running water coming down from the top, green trees and the rock filled trail itself. The round trip of this trail is just over five miles but the going is fairly slow with the grade and tough terrain. When you hit a tree that has a lot of it roots sticking out of ground you have made it to the pre-summit then you are just a rock climb away from the top. Greg and I made it most of the way up, but we had our large hiking boots on and felt it was not a good idea to go all the way since we could not feel the rock with our feet.

The following day was pretty busy because we tracked more distance but the trails were not as tough as the Chimney Tops. We hit the Laurel Falls which is just simple beauty. Even though the grade is steep the trail is paved all the way to the falls so it is pretty easy going. The falls itself are sixty feet high and as the water comes down it branches off on each side to give you a really calming view. Next, since we were so sore from the Chimney Tops hike, we decided to skip the Rainbow Falls and just hit the Grotto Falls. This is another popular trail but it is not paved and takes a bit longer to get to the falls. It is in the Mt. Le Conte area so it is pretty steep. You can actually walk behind this twenty five foot falls and feel the cool water as it comes down the mountain. Finally we had some time to kill before the end of our second day so we decided to drive up the Clingmans Dome Road and hike the very, very steep half mile trail to reach the summit of the tallest mountain in the park and on the Appalachian trail. It has an observation tower at the top and the view is just outstanding. Someday I would really like to hike my way to the top to be able to say that I actually climbed it.

Finally it was time to leave, and leaving was awful due to the fact we had to pack up and take down the tent in the pouring rain. Next time Greg and I will have to do some research on where to buy Yuengling Premium as we found copious quantities of Yuengling Larger, Larger Light & Black and Tan. Greg had his taste buds set for Premium and was pretty bumped about not getting any. I also need to remember to take my bag with all my clothes it so I don’t have to make a Wal-Mart trip!

Visit my website to find pictures and YouTube video links:
My Smoky Mountain 2009 Trip

Hot Dog Bun

Well we had another food breakthrough with Liam getting him initiated to boyhood. Last night Mary Ellen and Liam were having hot dogs with Liam having his cut up on the plate and Mary Ellen eating hers in a bun. So Liam looks up and says “What is that?” Mary replied “a hot dog bun.” His next question was, “Well what is it for?” I told him it was like bread for a sandwich so you can eat the hot dog with your fingers, and he really seemed to like that idea. Then he wanted a bite of his mother’s hot dog with the bun and proclaimed "this is good."

After a few more bites of his mother's hot dog he decided that he liked it so much that he wanted one of his own. This was of course as he was just about finished with the one he had on his plate, and Mary and I never thought he would finish it but we gave it to him anyway. Well, the boy inhaled the whole thing and told us that he never wanted a hot dog again unless it came with a bun. So now once we get rid of the warm milk when he first wakes up in the morning I think we can graduate him to full fledged boy.

Folk Music Review: Levon Helm

Continuing my journey through folk music I come to a man many of you probably heard in his earlier years with The Band, Levon Helm. The Band had such hits as “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Dixie Down,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” and more. A think a lot of Southern Rock, which is what you would categories The Band as, has some roots in folk music just without all of the strings.

In 2007 Levon Helm released a new solo album called dirt farmer that has a very strong folk base to it. In an interview I saw on Amazon.Com I believe he talked a little bit about the album and how a lot of these songs were sung as a child on the farm. With great string guitar playing and Levon’s rough voice this album really seems to take you back in time. The melodies and blending of instruments with the back ground vocals gives one a sense of sitting out in a field late at night with your buddies drinking beer. I also love Levon’s story telling in his songs you really do feel like you know these people and are going through their trials and tribulations with them.

My favorite song on this album is called “Train Robbery” and I guess my drawl to it is again history. I love railroad songs and this is a railroad song about Jesse James’ gang robbing the train. Some other good tunes on this one are “Calvary,” “Anna Lee,” and “The Blind Child.”

In my next installment I will continue my tour of folk music with a modern, up and coming string band out of Tennessee.

Levon Helm's Official Site:
http://www.levonhelm.com

Folk Music Review: 2nd South Carolina String Band

Call me a throwback, un-hip, un-cool, etc. but I really enjoy good old fashion folk music. While I’m not an officisianado on folk music I thought it would be fun to at least give my layman’s perspective on some of the folk bands I listen to. I’ll break this out into four blogs so each band will get their own segment and not make this too terribly long.

I’m going to start this series with probably the least known of the bands the 2nd South Carolina String Band. They are a Civil War reenactment group that performs music from the period as authentically as possible. Since I am a big history buff especially when it comes to the American Civil War I really enjoy this group and listen to it quite a bit. I currently only have one of their albums “Hard Road” that has a good balance of both Union and Confederate favorites. The last time that Greg and I went to Gettysburg back in September of 2007 we would sit around the campfire at night, drinking beer and listen to this music which really added to the atmosphere.

Battle Cry of Freedom is an excellent rendition that still will get your heart pumping for the Union with its strong banjo and the other strings that really brings the chorus to life. Then you add the patriotic lyrics on top of that and you get a great song. They also do a rousing version of When Johnny Comes Marching Home that will get you pumping your fist in unison with the music. For all you rebels out there the band does a superb job with the Bonnie Blue Flag. Then you also get a lot of the old school folk standards such as; Buffalo Gals, Oh! Susanna, Ring de Banjo and more.

2nd South Carolina String Band Official Web Page:
http://www.civilwarband.com/