Zilker Kite Festival 2009

Zilker Park Kite Festival Austin TX is a really big deal.

It is a good excuse to show off your bling.
If you take the CPR course, you get a free kite!!

The Yellow Cab of Austin is one of the sponsors.

Big Kites and weird people who like their picture taken. I charged him 5 buck for a copy.As you can see, the squid is chasing the purple monster and is about to eat him.We also have big caterpillars here in TX.Olivia is a "Super Star!""This kite business is a piece of cake.""Lets see... I don't think I need this stick thing..."A Plethora of Kites"The Kite Festival is so FUN!!"Biggest Kite Contest"Man I wish I could run out there during the demonstration."Seconds before the eminent collision...
I can hardly believe my eyes! They are not fighting! :)An Old Car Picture for Grampa

As you can see, I did not get any pictures of my kids "flying" thier kites. It was a strange wind day. It would blow for about 2 mintues and then die for about 5. It did this all day so I spent most of the time trying to get the kids kites up in the air and by the time I had 1 or 2 of them up, the wind would die and we spent the next 5 mintues finding and winding up the kites. Just when you get them all ready to go again, the wind picks up and you have enough time to let out the string and hand it to a kid before you start over again. Lots of fun. Seems to do this every year. The kids enjoy it though.

Sketchup Is the Best.

Just thought I would post my favorite FREE cad program. Sketchup is the best CAD program I have used. It is open source, and a lot of people write Ruby scripts that expand the abilities of the program beyond that of any other 3d cad program. This is the tutorial that started it all for me: (Tutorial by Gary Katz)

As a result of viewing this video I created this computer desk in about an hour:
I now do all of my projects in Sketchup before I realize them. Here is where I post all my ongoing projects:
ThePalsRus Sketchup Projects
I only wish that I could manufacture the project in as little time as it takes me to create it in Sketchup. I understand they are making some headway in 3d printers, but I think there is still a little work to do when it comes to printing good hardwoods. :-)

Levi's New Treehouse Bed

I am debating on whether to put a small roof on it or not. Problem is that if he stands up on his bed, the ceiling fan will decapitate him. And I just installed a metal fan with razor sharp blades. If I raise the fan more than 6 inches, it will hit the sloped ceiling in his room. He is really excited about the new bed.

This is the ultimate design for his room. The benches are replacing his dresser. Fake campfire just in case you were concerned. :)

BSIT Finished!!!

Wooo Hooo!!! I have finally finished my BSIT degree program with University of Phoenix. Now I do not have any excuses left for not finishing up that "Honey-Do" list. First item on the docket is finish Levi's tree house bed. So I am off...

Honey Do List:
Clean Garage
Levi's Tree house Bed
Clean office
Install coat hooks in front closet
Office furniture
Deck Part 2
Install 2nd floor on house and a 3 car garage or detached workshop

Stoned Carving ;-)

Some Stone Carving that I have been working on.

Kids Playdate Cards

I thought it would be a good idea to make some play-date cards for the kids to give to their friends at school. My kids are kind of loners like their parents so need any advantage they can get. I had a good time "helping" them make these cards. Maybe next year, I will let them come up with the designs.

Ryan and Becca Visit - Make a Square

This has been a fun week. Becca and her Husband Ryan came down from WA for a visit. We stayed up late catching up on Sunday. I am just now catching back up on my sleep. It is no fun getting old. On Monday we woke up early and walked the kids to school worked out at the Rec Center for an hour. Ryan is abeast and really pushed me during the workout. I wish he lived closer by, he would have a good work out partner. Of course that would mean admitting that my current work out partner is not adequate. I should probably just stick with Emma and not complain. :) After cleaning up, went to the Zilker Botanical Gardens and took some pictures. Then we came home and picked up Levi and Taya from school and went to the Salt Lick to stuff ourselves silly. I sure like it when people come down and visit, it gives me an excuse to put on a few pounds. The kids are still a little rowdy for a restaurant, but they did keep their voices down for the most part so they are getting better. Taya and Levi did not get to spend much time with us, but I think Olivia really enjoyed hanging out with Rebecca. The ask when they would be back to visit us again when they drove off. At our current intervals, I figured about 12 years. Not sure the kids will remember the prior visit if 12 year is the case. It is always fun to connect with friends again. We sure enjoyed the visit, it was good to catch up with Becca and meet Ryan her husband. Ryan is a great guy and I am glad he and Rebecca hooked up. We had a lot of fun and wished we could find friends like them a little closes to home. Seems like whenever you find some people that you really get along with, they up and move. I like how Ryan put it, "Finding friends you both like and that live close by is harder than aligning the planets."