Obiwan and Mickey Mouse.

Certainly, my status within the family has been significantly downgraded with the arrival of the kids. I totally understand this situation, it's not unlike what happens within most family homes with pets. For the most part dogs just aren't allowed to go everywhere and anywhere they please, even if the family wants me to tag along. I feel happy that I was able to go to Sechelt with the family, but now with the trip to Disneyland on the horizon I know I'll miss the family a lot during their absence. At least I don't have to stay in a kennel or with some other strange family. I'll get to stay home with Grandma and Papa, keeping them company during the five days everyone is away. I guess in some respects we're lucky the weather has cooled down, I can't imagine more hot weather now. I have trouble enough as it is, wearing this fur coat 24/7. Well, I do with them well, I'm sure they'll all have a great time at "the happiest place on earth". I can't wait to hear about it.

The portrait above was taken with a 50 year old camera, a Koni-Omega Rapid 6x7 Rapid. It was shot on Kodak VC160 and lit with a SB900 mounted with a small umbrella camera right.

Surprises.

It's been a busy weekend. Roger participated in the 12x12yvr photomarathon on Saturday. It was a day of 12 film exposures in 12 hours of 12 distinct themes. Tracey and the kids met Roger in Vancouver to help with a few of the themes. Let's just hope they all turn out ok. We'll all be waiting till the evening of the 22nd to find out.

On the home front, there have been some challenges with respect to the kids. Melody in particular is resisting going to sleep. We're all hoping that it's a short phase, but for the last several nights evenings have been tough. Lots of crying and complaining. That same old phrase starts running through my head: "No-one said raising kids was easy". It's less than a week to go for the family trip to Disneyland. After months and months of planning, it's actually coming to fruition in less than 7 days. Roger and Tracey have decided to wait and surprise them. They've told the kids that they're going to Seattle, but in fact will spring on them that they're going on an airplane to Disneyland. Roger's hoping to capture the reaction on video. They're excited enough to go to the PNE every year, now we'll have to wait and see how they'll react to this.

Here are some images that Roger took with his new 70-200VRII lens. It's amazingly sharp.

Malcolm lost his first tooth.

A couple of days ago Roger and Tracey noticed a small abscess developing above Malcolm's left central incisor. A quick visit to the dentist revealed that there was a small infection at the root of his baby tooth. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the infection will not affect the adult tooth (which is  still deep inside). The worst case scenario is that the tooth will be discoloured, but again we'll have to wait and see. We're all very proud of him, he was tough during the procedure having three needles administered and all. It's the first major work he's had done. He's been very lucky so far with zero cavities and good overall oral health. The dentist said that the infection probably stems from some sort of trauma, but the last time he's had any significant bump on the mouth was over a year ago. Well the family is happy that it's over, I think that Tracey and Grandma especially were concerned for him. He got to have a pretty special day filled with popcicles, ice cream and other soft foods to help ease the pain.

20 years of Jay Hockey.

Roger's been playing ice hockey since he was in his twenties, yes he was kind of a late starter. He never played as a kid, playing full contact at the age of 11 wasn't so appealing considering the late start and his small stature at 11. Anyway, he started playing in an adult league in 1994 called Hockey North America and has been on the ice at least once a week ever since. In 2001 he was lucky to join a group called Jay Hockey out of 8 rinks. Really a good group of guys who started playing together in 1992 (Thursday nights). Thanks to Bill for introducing him to the group. Over the years there have been some tussles, even a taser incident, but mostly filled with good times and  lots of laughs. The group is pretty diverse with ages ranging from 15 - 60!

So to mark this special anniversary occasion Barry the organizer decided to put on an celebration in Whistler. Let's just say it was a jam packed weekend filled with many testosterone charged events including golf, shooting, hockey, card games and libation consumption. This trip made him realize how much he didn't know about the group he's played with for over 10 years. That's the great thing about the group though, or perhaps indicative of how well guys get along despite their varying levels of familiarity. Here's a picture of the group that came up to Whistler:



Congratulations to Barry and the crew for all his hard work in organizing such a successful event and his perseverance in keeping the Jay Hockey group going all these years. Thanks Barry. A special shout out to Steve for refereeing the game.