Phone Booth

This has to be one of the last remaining working phone booths in Boise. You rarely see these anymore. If you do see them they typically don't work. I found this one and sure enough it works like it's brand new. Of course I had to get a picture. Plus this was Timo's chance to get a gig as a phone booth model.

Jumpers

106. The official documented high temperature in Boise yesterday was 106 degrees. The previous record on July 18th was 103, set in 2003. Now you know in case it comes up in some sort of trivial pursuit game in the future. Our best strategy to beat the heat was to swim at the Boise River. This place has fun written all over it. One of the most popular things to do in Boise in the summertime is to float the river. As you can see, it's a favorite summertime activity.



If you don't have tubes or rafts or any of the other floating equipment, floating the river can be somewhat pricey. So we tend to jump into the river instead. Not only is it free, it's a blast. Becka and I have done it several so far this summer, but yesterday, Eric did it for the first time. There's two spots we mainly jump from. First is a concrete pump right beside the river. It's eight or nine feet high. Here's Eric jumping off. I think it was his second or third jump of the day.



Also, there is a bridge that crosses the river used by bikers and pedestrians. The bridge is a lot more fun to jump off. The jump from the bridge into the water is about 12 feet or so. Not real high, but high enough to make it fun. Here's Eric's second jump off the bridge. You can see Becka jump in shortly after Eric, just in case.



Eric jumped several times throughout the day, drawing praise from spectators and other jumpers each time. He was beaming with pride by the time he was done.

Timo also worked up the courage to jump off the concrete pump. However, I wasn't ready with my camera (because I was convinced he wouldn't do it). Timo was too nervous to make the leap again so unfortunately I have no evidence. What I do have, is a picture of Timo jumping off a little grassy hill.



Next time, I will be camera ready.

Cheap Swimming...in Fountains

I mentioned soemthing a few posts back about staying tuned for a post with water fountain pictures. When the boys want to swim and we don't feel like making the drive to our other coveted swimming holes, we go to the water fountain in downtown Nampa. The best part is, it's free and it keeps our boys busy and happy for 30 minutes or so. Some may call it "ghetto" or whatever but you can't beat FREE!


Noah still isn't comfortable with running through the entire fountain yet. He walks up to a spot where some of the water is spraying up, touches the water, then runs back to us as fast as he can screaming like a wild man...every time. In the picture he looks like he's making a made face but believe me, it's enthusiasm.


(Timo is really afraid of water. You can see this in my post from a few days ago. "Swimming" in a water fountain is perfect for Timo since there is no pool...meaning, no life vest or pressure from the entire family to actually swim. However, we still had to talk Timo into running through the middle of the fountain, not just the outside. He gets better every time.)





Sometimes, Eric and Timo bring footballs to hold onto as they run through the fountain. It's as if the water is some type of defense they bust through every time they run.


Mikey usually chill-axes on the sideline making cute faces at us.

Recent Pictures

As always, one way I keep busy is taking pictures. Lately we've been going to a lot of parks and doing bike rides and such. Yesterday, my seven year old Eric went on a 17 mile bike ride with me! We rode along part of the Boise Greenbelt. I kept asking him if he was sure he wanted to keep going. He adamantly said YES every time. He finally burned out the last mile or two. Anyway, here's some random pictures from the last few days:

Here comes Timo!!



Noah peeking around the corner.



On Eric's second to last day of school, he had his field day. He was very excited about this. Here he is clearing a hurdle on an obstacle course.



Mikey keeps busy at the park by examining things such as my water bottle.




I always encourage the boys to jump off of random things. It's something both Eric and Timo love to do now. So, here's two pictures of Timo jumping. I think the shadow looks pretty cool.



This is the hill, or the camels back, from camels back park in Boise. The steps don't look quite as intimidating as the steps at The Great Wall of China, but if you're on the husky side it can feel that way.


As you can see, we've been pretty busy the last week or so. I have many other pictures I could post but I figure I'll spread them out a little.


In Other News:

I shaved my goatee yesterday. My chin is completely bare. If you know me, this is almost as rare as a lunar eclipse. Becka tactfully informed me my chin hair was getting too long and "out of control." It's too bad because I was going for the world record. I could take a picture of my new round hairless chin and post it but I don't want to scare the women and children.

Bike Jumps

Good afternoon.

There's a bazillion and a half kids that live in our apartment complex. Most of the boys that live in the complex spend good portions of their day riding bikes. Many of those boys spend a lot of their time jumping off their easily constructed bike jump which consists of a skateboard with missing wheels gently lied onto a curb.

Eric and Timo love this jump. I've watched the boys do this jump several times and I've noticed they have vastly different styles. Example:




First we have Eric. Eric is pure concentration as he makes this jump. His body is positioned well to brace himself when he lands. Eric seems to be in total control.




As you can see, Timo isn't quite as composed. He is still trying trying to master the art of coordination. This picture sort of sums up Timo with him being out of control and all. Every time Timo lands, it's with a hard thud and he lets out a huge, "oooohhh!"


I laughed so hard when I uploaded those pictures on the computer and looked at them. To see the difference between the two always gives me a chuckle.

To be fair, what you don't see in this picture is Timo is incredibly athletic. One of his favorite superheros is the Incredible Hulk. This makes perfect sense because Timo so strong for such a little kid. Every once in a while I remind Eric to be nice to Timo because in a couple years when Timo becomes more coordinated he may throw a mean punch in Eric's direction.

Those are my two bike jumpers. As always, if you want the full effect, click pictures to enlarge.

Hike to Table Rock in Boise

Today, Eric, Timo, and myself hiked up to Table Rock in Boise. I've done this hike a few times before with relative ease. In the past few months I've eaten too many twinkies and jumbo shrimp (not together) and consequently gained a lot of unhealthy weight. I was reminded of this when I was gassed halfway up the trail. So much for "relative ease." Before we started I was a slightly concerned about little Timo having the stamina for the entire hike. I quickly realized I was the weak one while both boys probably could have ran the whole way. Anyway, I kept hydrating, caught my second wind, and had a blast as usual. Here's some pictures.

Here's where our trail begins. You can see table rock at the top of the hill in the distance. At 3,700 feet, table rock is only about 1,000 feet higher in elevation then downtown Boise. With the winding, zigzag trails, you can safely assume it's at least a mile hike.

On the way up, you walk right by the Old Idaho State Penitentiary. The prison was open for slightly more than 100 years until it closed in 1973. Also, the prison is rumored to be haunted. Reality TV show, "Ghost Adventures" aired an episode they did at the prison a few months ago. In my opinion these ghost shows are bogus. Despite that, the rumored hauntings at the prison are well known in the Boise area.

After sweating out 55 gallons of water, we reach the top. When this huge cross is lit up at night, you can see it from several miles away.

Eric and Timo, with the greater Boise area in the background.

This lizard was hanging around at the top too. Look at the mosquito next to it!

Check out those scales!!

Eric and Timo inside on of the small caves at the top.

On our way back down now. How about these two picture posers?

More Nature Shots

Here I am, taking pictures as usual. It turns out I really enjoy taking pictures of nature, especially during spring. I'm easily entertained by bright colors.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm proud of some of these. I strongly encourage you to click on the pictures and view them enlarged.

I walked down the street to take a look at a house for sale. No specific reason, I was just bored. As I'm studying the outside of this empty house I notice a lot of bees and wasps buzzing around. Here's a close-up of a wasp building a home of his own. In the original picture the wasp is upside down. I flipped the picture around just for kicks. I think the wasp looks cooler this way.



I took this picture at the same house. It's a dandelion showing it's "seed-baring parachutes."



A simple focus of a tree that's still going through the budding process. I don't know the name of the tree but while the leaves look like little flowers they give off a distinct smell. I'm still trying to figure out if the smell is good or bad.



This is my personal favorite. It's the same tree but with the bright blue sky as the background. This bright blue is my favorite color. Also, this picture makes a stellar background for your computer.

This post has been approved by Timo.

Bright Blue Eyes

Now these are some bright blue eyes. Can anyone guess which baby this is??

If your guess is correct, Ed McMahon will present you with a check on your doorstep!!

Double Post Saturday with Springtime Sprinklers

It's a nice day today. It's about 55 degrees with blue skies. A nice relief after the steady dose of rain we've been getting lately. It's not just 55 degrees though. The sun feels extra radiant today. You know, when you can actually feel the warmth against your body when you're in the sunlight.

With todays extra radiant sunshine, Eric and Timo were convinced it's plenty warm enough to play in the sprinkler. Swimming trunks and all. Of course I explain to them that even though it's warm, it's not warm enough to play in the sprinkler. Of course they look at me like I'm an idiot. I mean, what do I know, I'm just the parent right? And they are 7 and 5, so they must be baby genuises or something.

Finally, I oblige. Not because they begged. There was no other way they were going to believe me. I took a video after they had already ran through the sprinkler one time. Take a look:

Picture Outtakes

I take a lot of pictures. I may have mentioned that a few times before. You could call it a hobby I guess. Of course, one of my favorite things to photograph is my boys. Normally, I'll take some pictures, then if I decide I want to blog a picture or two of them I'll sort through all the pictures till I find a good one to post. If you have kids (specifically little kids) you know how challenging it can be to get them to all look at the camera at the same time. Yesterday, we went to the park and I naturally brought the camera. It was very bright outside. Also, Timo and Noah are battling colds right now. So, today as I sort through the pictures I took at the park, I decided to do something a little different with this post. Instead of finding the perfect picture to post, I'm going to post some of the "bad" ones. I find these pictures a lot more entertaining.
















You can see Timo was struggling the most. His eyes are really sensitive as it is, then you throw the sickness in there and it's the perfect storm for a miserable and monotonous five minutes of fake smiles for a picture. As always, Timo was a good sport.

I did however, get a good picture of him before that.

Seattle Skyline

I don't miss the weather, but I really enjoyed taking pictures of Seattle's skyline.





Speaking of taking pictures, this is the look you start to get when you make your kids pose for too many pictures.

Eric Rigby: Future Bronco

Eric, one day wants to play football for Boise State. I went ahead and got started promoting this 7 year old phenom by making a highlight video while playing some backyard football with the family. OK, actually we were just having some fun today.

It's important to note that I could probably use some of the outtakes and create Timo's own football highlight video.

A new look with new bikes!

Well, I think I'm content with my new template...for now anyway. I'm about as fickle as a teenage girl with most things. I feel the constant need for change since I analyze, then over-analyze pretty much any thought that crosses my mind. It's exhausting at times but it blends well with my mostly conservative nature. Anyway, I'm steering way off course here. I hope the new template looks okay on most monitors and browsers. Feel free to look around.

In other news, Eric and Timo got new bikes today! I get excited for them because I remember how exciting it was to get a new bike. Let's all thank Uncle Sam for Eric and Timo's new bikes.



Notice Eric's proud look in this picture. Maybe with some arrogance sprinkled on top. Also, notice Timo in the background. As I was turning on the camera, Timo wiped out on his bike right behind Eric. If I had been ready 10 seconds earlier I could have captured a hilarious picture. At Timo's expense of course. Sorry Timo.



Here's a rugged looking Timo showing off his new wheels.

Eye See

I was fooling around with the camera this evening and I took some cool eye pictures.
Take a look:

Here's Eric. Even with the shadow around his eye, I still like the way it looks.

Here's Timo. I envy Timo's blue eyes.

My left eye and Eric's right eye.

I realize this isn't an eye picture like the others but it's my blog and I can do whatever I want with it. Actually, I love this picture too so I thought I would include it.

Sacraficial Timo

                                                                  (You know the drill, click to enlarge)

You may have noticed this picture on the right hand column of my page. Brent pointed out to me how funny Timo looks in it.
The picture was taken in September 2007 at a place near Mt. Rainier in Washington. The family was walking around and I noticed a circle of rocks. Of course the first thing I think of is devil-ish, hence the title "Sacraficial Timo."
If you notice Timo wasn't really sure what to think when I made him lay down in this sinister looking circle. I assured him I was just taking a picture and nothing evil would happen. I should point out that (Eric reminded me of this earlier today) moments before I made Timo lay down we spotted a snake slithering around on the ground not far from where the picture was taken.  It's possible that contributed to the sour look Timo was giving me.
Anyway, this picture has reached the status of one of my personal favorites.

"Timo, meet wall. Wall meet Timo."

Today, I learned doing a "fumble recovery drill" in our living room is a bad idea.

Just ask Timo.

While chasing after a fumbled football, Timo ran, and let me emphasize RAN, into the corner of the wall. Poor kiddo.



In other, and less painful news, Mikey is getting cuter every day!