Sunday, April 20, 2008

Orioles and Red Sox Opener was Saturday!

Blake started us off with 3 hits and 3 runs for the Orioles. Rounding the bases in his black pants, he was the cleanest player on this team.
He played third and short stop, his favorite positions. At the end of the game he announced, "I am really good at baseball!"




Between games, Kim, Adam, Dave, Amy, Hunter and Blake had a tailgate with gourmet sanwiches, juice and Extreme Pringles. At the end of the day we had Pumpkin Bread.

Next up were the Red Sox. Hunter was a super star out in left field. He took two grounded and several flies, rocketing the ball back in field for a couple outs and a couple really close calls. During the last plays of the game he got a single and made it to first.
Dave's company sponsored the team Hunter was playing



Blake's best friend Adam was on the team Blake was playing
A good time was had by all despite the lower 50s and overcast conditions.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Shake, Rattle and Roll

So I (Adam) was awakened early this morning to the subtle rumble of an Illinois earthquake. It was a surreal, dreamlike feeling as we don't often have earthquakes in the Midwest and this one felt much closer than it actually was. There was a very low, subtle rumbling feeling with a sound to match, much like thunder in the distance. We are happy to say all our pictures were still hanging on the wall, there is no structural damage that we know of and our cat did not seem to feel any ill effects.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Because she can can can



Recently Kim and the architect firm she works with, DLR Group, were involved in a rather interesting charity event at the Science Center of Iowa, Canstruction. The subject of their creation, "READY FOR LaUNCH", is a hunger seeking missile made of cans of chili with a smoke trail of marshmallows. The sculpture earned the "Juror's Favorite" award.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Images of Egypt and Jordan (via New York)

Well, we are almost over the jetlag and figured it was time to get some pictures on the blog from our trip to New York, Egypt and Jordan. The trip was fantastic and we had a lot of fun. We highly recommend travel to Egypt as it extremely safe. The government protects the tourism industry with a passion and the locals are very friendly. The images were kept small to ease the load time, click on a picture to see the large version.


Times Square on the first night.











Kosovo declares independence and the entire nation is in Times Square to celebrate.







Lady Liberty











On the Today Show







The Bull on Wall Street










The Nile in Cairo at night. This is the view from our hotel while we stayed in Cairo. Note the heavy traffic.







The same picture during the day.








The insane traffic in Cairo. The drivers are constantly honking at eachother, long into the night.





The obligatory camel ride at the pyramids.








The Sphinx and the "Second Pyramid".









Our Nile cruise boat, the M/S Tulip. She took us from Aswan to Luxor.








Two boys paddling in a homemade boat along one of our Feluccas. They would sing songs in different languages until someone recognized it and gave them money.





Feluccas on the Nile








This is the pylon at the Temple of Phylae which is on an island in Lake Nasser.






Abu Simbel








The unfinished obelisk at the Aswan quarry.







The Temple of Kom Ombo lit up in the early evening.







The Temple of Horus in Edfu.







A statue of Horus (the falcon god) at the Temple of Horus.











The outside of King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Sorry, no pictures inside :(. It's actually very small but the paintings are very well preserved. His mummy was on display in the tomb while we were there.




The Temple of Hatshepsut








The Colossi of Memnon near Luxor








The front pylon at the Precinct of Amun-Re at the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor.








A statue Ramsses II in front of the Temple of Luxor.










Some of the huge statues inside the Temple of Luxor.








A mosque was built on top of the Temple of Luxor before it was excavated. The temple was hidden by silt from the Nile at the time the mosque was built.








A Roman mural painted over the walls at the Temple of Luxor.








The view of the promised land (as viewed by Moses) from Mount Nebo.








The Madaba Mosaic Map; the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land. Dedicated in 542 AD.








Kim and Adam floating in the Dead Sea. We were originally not going to do this, but we were happy to try it out. The water is extremely salty, hard on the eyes, and had an oddly oily feel to it.





The Siq (the shaft) to the Lost City of Petra. After the amazing walk through this canyon you come upon the fantastic Treasury of Petra.











The amazing Treasury of Petra. I waited a while to finally get a picture without anyone in front of it. Note the three men inside to give a little perspective of the scale. It was even larger than I (Adam) had imagined it would be.







This is one of the carved tombs in Petra. If you look closely you can see the many colors of the rock.








Peeking at the Treasury through the Siq.











Is this New Mexico or Jordan? Our hotel near Petra looked like it belonged in the Southwest US and most of our fellow tourists agreed.

Thanksgiving Guests At Our Table