High Sierra Century

We rode the High Sierra Century last weekend. It was amazingly beautiful. Here's a picture of the girls (Darrin rode too) at the end of the ride. We were missing two of our regular riders due to surgery recovery, but we all plan to be there together next year!

School Supplies

"Someone on the school board must work for Office Max"

~James McNeice, 21 August 2011

We don't have to purchase too much, but there was a request from his teacher that we buy some ruled note paper. Prompting the quote above.

17th of August 2011. First day of 4th grade - 2011/12 school year.

Happy Fourth of July!

We celebrated the 4th with two evenings of fireworks. Kirkwood staged their event on Sunday and we enjoyed them with some friends and family. Not too crowded and sweet fireworks. On Monday we joined our friend and neighbor on his boat and watched the South Lake Tahoe event on the water. The finale was truly amazing. What a treat!

Happy 9th Birthday, James!

James celebrated his 9th birthday at the local pool again. He loves the slide and diving board. The Darth Vader pinata only survived ONE whack with the light saber, but I don't think the kids minded too much. We ate his ice cream cake before the pizza so that it wouldn't be liquid cake.

Last day of school

James had his last day of school on May 27th. He is excited to have the whole summer off. He plans to stay up all night tonight watching television to celebrate. Next year he will be in 4th grade. There is a great teacher that we hope James gets next year. She teaches a 4/5 split grade that lets students learn at their own pace. James will love the self-paced math and I am sure we will hear about how many modules he has completed compared to his friends. But for now, let the fun begin!

James relaxing on a rock outside the Te Papa museum in Wellington NZ.

Chile in Summer

In February we went to Chile for a week. It was a long, 10 hour flight from Dallas to Santiago. We drove South from Santiago through the vineyards and agricultural area which is very similar to the central valley in California. No wonder we get all our fruit and veg from Chile in the winter. We stayed near Lake Villarrica in some small cabins and went hiking, swimming, and exploring during our week there. We plan to go back next year before our visas expire.

Snow Boarding at Home

We had a few inches of snow on the ground on Wednesday so James tried his snowboard. Here is a video of him going down the hill below our house. He is doing very well with a 10 dollar snowboard.

I can not seem to get the movie to load on Blogger, so here is the link.

Go Ski Racer, GO!

New Hat!

Little Chef

Ski Jump

James is doing well on the slopes. Here is a video of him going over a jump. Unfortunately you can not see the little side kick he does in the air. Maybe once I get better with the camera one day. The weather in November and December was fantastic. We got a lot of snow. Then January came and we got very little. We have slowed down our number of ski days till we get some more snow. The good news is both Jaimie and James have more than 10 days on the hill.