2009 Ski season

Second ski season for Colin and Sidney. The snow conditions were good for the majority of the season until March came along. We witnessed a couple of late winter snow storms which extended the season by a few weeks. All in all, we managed to go skiing 12 days. The boys made good progress. Colin is either trying to test his limits for speed or catch air time. His quest for adrenaline comes to the detriment of his technique. I guess that's the age... Sidney is still on the steep part of the learning curve. Going on the back side to do some hard blues toward the end of the season was a testament to his hard work. Got to keep up with brother!

2009 Ski Season at Bogus

Colin's second grade class

From Colin's Second grade class

A spatial moment...

Today, we drove down to the Boise State University campus for the annual Engineering Day. Colin, Sidney and I witnessed a lot of experiments: Launching catapults, seat belt demonstration, 15,000 volt board, electricity transfer, vacuums, wind turbines... But, by far, the most exciting part of the afternoon was the presentation by NASA Astronaut Barbara Morgan. She shared with us a slide show of her time at the International Space Station and some incredible out of space anecdotes...

BSU Engineering day

Later in the evening, we stepped out in the backyard hoping we could see the International Space Station fly over our house. With clear skies and a little help from technology, the expectations were high. According to NASA, the station was scheduled to jet across our part of the sky starting at 7:08pm for 4 minutes. Sure enough, a bright dot appeared in the North-East on time. The ISS perfectly followed the predicted trajectory. It was quite inspirational to witness with our naked eyes an object the size of roughly two football fields race in space at 5 miles per second (8kms/sec).

Kevin Kirk concert

Friday night, I had the chance to attend a Jazz concert at the Egyptian theater in Boise. Thanks to Lynn, I was able to witness a great performance by Kevin Kirk & Onomatopoeia from a front row seat. In addition to being talented musician, these guys are great performers. They were accompanied by the Treasure Valley Youth Symphony orchestra and the show was filmed by Idaho PTV and will air in May. I only wish Laura and the boys could have attended...

Above the clouds

Boise has been drowned under a gloomy cloud cover for the last 5 days. Locally, it is commonly referred to as an inversion. Due to topography and weather patterns, Boise is occasionally subject to wintertime inversions. Colder and heavier air settles into the valley while warm air sits above. This causes air stagnation as the cold air and accumulating air pollution is trapped. The local sources of air pollutions such as wood burning smoke, vehicle exhaust, and local industrial emissions will build up under the inversion until a strong weather system moves through and mixes the air. Boise annually endures these winter inversions for an average of 20 days. As bad as it is to breath in the smog, a quite beautiful byproduct of the inversion can be found if one drives up Bogus Basin road to the local ski resort. This is exactly what we did this Sunday. At about 5,500 feet high (1,676m), the fog suddenly cleared up to blue sky and bright sunshine.

Above the clouds

We were literally standing on a mountain island surrounded by an ocean of white clouds. It was very tempting to dive onto that fluffy looking blanket... Laura, the boys and I enjoyed a great day of spring-like skiing in the middle of January. Once again, our Church of the Wilderness was a great inspiration.

Happy New Year...

Dressed in the year of our birth, we partied like it was 2009 with Andrew & Rachael, Jeff & Melissa, and a bunch of tight asses!!! Happy new year everyone...

Happy New Year 2009

BONZAI !!!!!!!

First day of the season at Bogus!!! With 31 inches of new snow in the last 5 days, the call of the great white was just too irresistible. The great snow conditions were a nice compensation for the fog, slight breeze and 15F (-10c) temperature. Sid picked up right where he left off last year with some nice measured turns on blue runs while Colin was just out of control straight down the hill, BONZAI !!!

The Boys at Bogus

Ho Ho Ho.....

Guess what Colin and Sid received from Santa? Here is a hint: the Lego company is not going out of business any time soon...

Ho Ho Ho.....

Air time

Laura went sledding with the boys and the cousins by Hilltop cafe on Highway 21...

Air time

Claus n Paws

Off we went to the annual "Claus n Paws" at the Boise Zoo. Today, Santa was just a fixture as Colin and Sidney were way more focused on the animals. Sidney was very impressed by the new giraffe, Julius Longfellow. Julius, a 3 year old male, is replacing Shingo who unexpectedly died last month. Luckily for Joseph, the other giraffe at the Boise zoo, a companion was quickly found and transported from Ohio in order to keep him company. It is very important for herd animals like giraffes to have a friend. Colin particularly enjoyed the Snow Leopard and the Red Panda. Here are the few photos that turned out.

Clause and Paws

Science night at Liberty

On Monday, Colin, Sidney and I went to our first "Science night" at Liberty. It was organized by Mr. Taylor, the science teacher, and the students of the Science Club. The object of the contest was to build the highest standing structure with 30 straws and one meter of tape. The building could not be taped to the ground or could not lean on anything. First, we brainstormed some ideas on the different shapes our edifice could take with the advantages and drawbacks of each layout. Then, we drew a preliminary plan on paper and finally we attempted to deliver our brainchild. In 30 minutes, we managed to build a self-standing tower measuring 194 cm (76.38 inches or 6 ft and 3.38 inches). The winner's tower reached an impressive height of 217 cm.

Happy Halloween...

For this Halloween, Colin decided to dress as a "pirate" and Sidney as an "Ambulance man"... Well, that's before he switched to a "Police man." Luckily, we still had Colin's police costume from last year.
While drinking our traditional pumpkin soup for dinner, we handed out some bouncy balls and pencils to the early knockers (Laura's idea). Then, it was our turn to ravage through the neighborhood like wild predators in quest of our next prey. Eventually, the boys collected enough candies and chocolates to open their own candy store. Unfortunately for them, the junk food Nazi struck down. Laura only allowed them to keep 15 pieces each. The boys happily obliged and after a few minutes of careful deliberation, they reached the magic number. Without a fuss, they witnessed the candies' fateful ending. Yes, our boys are clearly brainwashed. Luckily for us, they are not able to compare their 15 meager pieces of candies with the mountains other kids get to keep. Otherwise, we'd probably have a little revolution on our hands.

Halloween

Laura's vegetable garden

Laura had a pretty successful vegetable garden. She planted and harvested tomatoes, lettuce, mache, green onions, carrots, cucumbers, zucchinis, string beans, red and yellow beats, peppers, parsley, and thyme... Here are some early July photos:

Laura's vegetable garden

Fall soccer

This Fall, Colin played in his second soccer season with his "Thunderbolts" U8-9 team. With eight games and just about as many practices, the nine boys improved tremendously. The team had a French rookie assistant coach who did not contribute a lot but, he greatly enjoyed the experience. In an effort to have all boys play an equal amount of time, the coaches rotated the boys from goalie to defender to striker every games. Colin scored a total of five goals in those eight games.

Harrison Classic

Sidney ran his second Harrison Classic one mile run. Colin decided to skip the race this year. He was probably feeling a little tired from a long soccer season.
The whole weekend had been such a deluge with snow on Friday and a storm on Saturday. Then, 30 minutes before Sidney's race on Sunday, the clouds parted, the sun showed up and we enjoyed a great afternoon on Harrison Blvd with temperatures in the 70s.

Harrison Classic

Sidney ran a great race and did not stop until the finish line. He was focused on his competitors and consistent in his stride. We think he reached the finish in about the top 5 for his age group (5 to 6 year old boys).
Finish Time: 9:00:18 for 1 mile.