Posting Schedule

Just a quick "administrative" update. My posting schedule last week didn't work out, so you will now see several new posts that appear today, but were dated before Christmas. Please take a look at the posts starting last Monday, 12/22 because there are some good ones (if I do say so myself). :)

Christmas Cookies

On Friday night after the gym, Sarah got the great idea to bake some Christmas sugar cookies. Sarah did the baking and we all had a great time decorating.


Here's a quick video:

Gymnastics Class

On the Friday before Christmas, we took the girls to Miyagi Gym in Auburn. They teach gymnastics for people from 18 months to 18 years and I think even older. We went to the Parent and Toddler class, which is 18-36 months. They are four week sessions. The first time you go, they let you "tryout" for free. Friday's class was the last one of the year and the end of that 4-week session.

The class started at 9:15 am and went for 45 minutes. Sarah and I went together. There were probably 6-7 other children in the class. There was one other dad. We recognized one of the mom's from Placer High School. She was a grade or two above us. I think her name was Tina May (Sarah remembered her more than I did). It took our girls the typical 15-20 minutes to warm up, but then they were playing like everyone else.


The first activity was a warm-up, which was just running around the mat on a white line. After 3-4 laps, they began what I would consider the more structured activities. They had the children run an obstacle course that involved climbing up pads, hopping down, crawling through tunnels, riding a see-saw, and walking two different directions on a balance beam. The girls still weren't totally into it, but they had fun.

Next was another, more involved obstacle course. The children had to climb up a ladder, hop onto a pad, run up a padded ramp, go belly-first onto a hexagonal "log," roll along the log and do a somersault off, hop backwards about 5 feet, then climb across horizontal bars. It was great fun, especially the backwards hopping. The girls did a Great job. I was surprised at how well they went up the ladder and across the horizontal bars. We have some video of them hopping backwards, too.

Emily:

Ella:

After several laps for each child, the teacher brought out a parachute, and we played various games, all of them involving balloons. At the end of the parachute games, the children got about 5 minutes of free play. Here's a quick video of Ella (white and pink) and Emily (blue and grey) playing with the balloons on top of the parachute.

And here are a few stills from the class.

Grandpa Bud's and the Piano

We went to my dad's house on December 14th for a few hours. The girls had a great time playing with the piano.

Christmas Lights & Parade

We put up Christmas lights the weekend after Thanksgiving and then went to the Holiday Light Parade in Auburn. It was cold, but we had a great time.

Here are a couple shots, and more to come

Because I promised to add some pics this weekend, here are a few teasers, but I have more updates coming this week. Here's what's coming:

• Christmas lights and parade
• Grandpa Bud's and the piano
• Gymnastics class
• Making cookies

And there will be some short videos, too. I'll have these updated and posted by Christmas Day.

Country Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pictures coming this weekend

I will have some more pictures coming this weekend. One cool update is that both Ella and Emily can recite practically the entire "Night Before Christmas" story by heart.

Disco Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My Review of Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ Reflector Telescope

Originally submitted at Telescopes.com

Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ Reflector Telescope

Good beginner scope

By PapaTripleJ from Auburn, CA on 12/2/2008

 

4out of 5

Pros: Comfortable Eyepiece, Accurate

Cons: Unstable

Best Uses: Astronomy

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

This scope is exactly what I expected for the money. A good beginner scope. I haven't used any other telescopes, so I have nothing to really compare with, but this does what I wanted. I've had it for about a month and spent several hours with it. I mentioned it was unstable, which is referring to the fact that the scope has slight jiggles. Not so bad at low power, but noticeable at higher power. It isn't like the whole telescope is unstable or going to tip, just that with an inexpensive telescope, I hear the manufacturer often skimps on the tripod. I'm planning to get some more powerful eyepieces to see the planets, so I am a bit concerned about the jiggling. Even when I am not touching the unit, just peering through the eyepiece, it still jiggles.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoy this scope. It's my first, and I doubt it will be my last. I'm getting some new eyepieces, filters, and more so I can expand my use of it. I would recommend this to anyone getting into astronomy.

Here is a photo I took the first night I got it.

Full moon on first night with scope.

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)

Christmas Tree Decorating

This weekend we started putting up Christmas. Sherri came over and helped Sarah put up houses on Friday. Sarah and I put the tree together on Saturday, and we decorated it on Sunday. Sarah and the twins got up early on Sunday to make their first garland. This one was out of paper.