Sunset on Champion Fields

We drove by Champion Fields on the way home from Alex's band concert tonight, and man was the sunset behind it beautiful. I think the camera came very close to capturing its essence. I'll try to get pictures up from the band concert later this week, this one just couldn't wait.

 

Pool Construction

This is the construction taking place at GJ Mecherle park where a new pool is going in. The target date is about a month from now, and we can't wait.

Update 5/23/2007
These photos have been circulating at work, apparently someone got some aerial shots of the pool. Now we are really getting excited, can't wait for opening day!

 

 

Here is a more recent shot of the Pool House.

Jim Aylesworth

Today we went to the public library to listen to children's book author Jim Aylesworth speak. He was invited as part of the Young Authors program, and directed his talk specifically to the Young Authors in attendance. I was impressed with Mr. Aylesworth's ability to connect with the children, he was very entertaining. He talked about his many years as a first grade teacher and of how it inspired him to start writing. He also read from a couple of the 30 children's books he has written, with two more on the way. We purchased two of his books (Naughty Little Monkeys and Old Black Fly) and had Mr. Aylesworth sign them. Here are some of the photos taken at the event.

Wind Farm

If you leave Bloomington driving East towards Gibson City, you will probably notice the huge wind farm being set up near Ellsworth. I hadn't driven out that way for more than a year, so today I decided to investigate and get some pictures.

I assumed they would all be bunched together in a way that would allow me to get them all in one picture, but I was mistaken. From what I could tell, there must have been a hundred or more, and they were spread out over a vast area, over many square miles. It was impossible to see them all at once, and it's possible I may not have even seen them all. I tried to position myself so that I could get large group shots, but even with that it is hard to appreciate just how many there are, since in each of these shots I am totally surrounded.

 

 

 

 

Friday Cat Blogging

It's Friday once again, which means it's time to put the spotlight on our cats. Here are Sam and Dolly displaying their hierarchy of dominance.

to see more cats, go on over to the Modulator and climb aboard the Friday Ark.

Flashback 1967

Here is a picture of my brother Steve celebrating his 8th birthday. That's me in the cowboy hat, er I mean the red one.

Challenger Learning Center

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff. Out of that terrible tragedy emerged an idea from the families of the Astronauts killed that day. They decided that instead of building a single memorial somewhere, why not do something to inspire kids and get them interested in Space Travel. This gave birth to the Challenger Learning Centers that sprang up across the country. They "offer realistic mock-ups of Mission Control and an orbiting space station".

Alex and his classmates went on Monday of this week, and had a blast. I was present as a foreign ambassador, basically my purpose was to stay out of the way and keep my mouth shut. The kids mission was to continue the mission the Astronauts from the Challenger mission would have done had they made it into space. That mission was to rendezvou with a comet, and send out a probe to analyze the dust coming from its tail. The kids learned the value of the teamwork necessary when attempting to accomplish something as complicated as space exploration.

I'm pretty sure it was a day they will never forget, and thankfully, I had my camera along.

 

 

 

 

Happy Hour

Another farewell bash for Munjal, first it was Japanese cuisine, now a night out at Buffalo Wild Wings. I stuck to plain beer, while others indulged in shots.

Here are some photos of the outing. Enjoy!

 

 

 

A girl at the table next to ours flirts with the camera.

Munjal and the triplets.

This last shot was a bit of a surprise. A couple of girls at the table next to us seemed interested in looking at my camera, so I let them take a look. I noticed they were shooting some photos with it, but what I didn't realize was, they were leaving me a bit of a surprise...


So not only were we exposed to a set of triplets, we also got to see a set of twins :)
 

Kobe

 

One of my lunch buddies is being re-assigned to Tampa Florida, so to say farewell we took him out for Japanese Cuisine. Here, the chef is heating things up just a little.

ISU Baseball

Today we attended an ISU Redbird baseball game, courtesy of Alex for getting straight A's this last semester. All of the straight A students were recognized at the game. When we left during the 7th inning, ISU was on top 1 to 0 over the Evansville Purple Aces.

Alex and Nick posing in front of Redbird field.

Here are some other sights from the game.