Biking Revisited

Shortly after the odometer on his bike reached 2000 miles, some minor surgery necessitated that Paul take a break from biking to work. After several bikeless weeks, Paul used some of his paternity leave time (yay California!) to introduce James to the wonderful world of bicycling. The trailer and pink helmet (both borrowed from our neighbors in exchange for some PVC cutters) were such a hit with James that he requested three encores around the block before Paul had to pry him, kicking and screaming, from the trailer.

Two Thousand Miles

This post honors the fact that Paul rides his bike to work nearly every day, simultaneously saving the environment and his health and lots of money. According to the odometer on his bike, he's ridden over 2000 miles. Check out the approximate savings of 18 months of being a 1-car family:

• $3000-$5000 of car payments
• $200 of fuel
• $200 of licensing, fees
  
• $400 of insurance
• $400 of gym membership

Grand total: a lot. Rock on, Paul!

Balloon Birthday Bash

In honor of Paul's birthday, Amy made piles of his favorite desserts and invited many friends over to celebrate. During the usual socializing and eating, one of our friends suddenly donned a pocketed apron and revealed out of the blue that he had been a balloon artist during high school and that he would make Paul a special piece of balloon art. After creating a fantastic piece of birthday headwear for Paul, he continued to make various animals for our guests, to the delight of all. Thanks to Jon, our meager gathering became a real party, and Paul successfully turned 28.

Drill Skillz

In exchange for a mouthful of free dental work and several waterski trips, Paul revisited his former life and became an electrician for a day at Uncle Rick's house, finally justifying his ambitious tool-purchasing binge last March. In a matter of a few hours, he happily massacred Uncle Rick's ceiling with his fancy cordless Skilsaw and installed more than a dozen cans with wild abandon. What everyone's dying to know is, why is Paul such a good worker?

Paul the Event Planner

This weekend Paul proved his amazing organizational skills by planning a church camp out. According to our research, 100% of the attendees considered the event a success, never mind the rain and that Amy and James had to eat all the pancakes themselves because no one else showed up. The fall leaves and views of the ocean made it all worthwhile. Plus, James learned to set up the tent, and Paul got to use our new electric griddle.

Pajamaed Piano Players

Since learning Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, James and Paul continue to spend some time together at the piano every day, often in their pjs and always with Beethoven lovingly overlooking their progress.

Fortunately and Unfortunately

Unfortunately, the FedEx man twice attempted to deliver our new camera while we were not home, so Amy and James pledged to stay home all day Tuesday in order to greet him on his third and final attempt. Fortunately, he showed up shortly after lunch, so we were able to go swimming in the afternoon and still leave time for blogging. Unfortunately, Amy wasn't sure we had taken any blog-worthy photographs quite yet. Fortunately, Paul insisted that certainly this choice picture merits its own post.

Magic on the Beach

On July 21st, 2007, Amy had the silly idea of taking the whole family to the beach with a bunch of friends. James ate plenty of sand and showed off his new, slightly less girlie hat. Amy built some cool castles and enjoyed boogie boarding. While Paul may have been there physically, there is reasonable doubt that he even noticed we were at the beach. He was oblivious to the hour-long drive and hardly acknowledged our friends who met us there with boogie boards and a barbecue. The many jokes about his oblivion didn't penetrate his brain. The man is tenacious about his priorities, and nothing interrupted his devouring Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Last week, one of the friends who witnessed Paul's devotion to JK Rowling sent me these pictures to commemorate the day.

Good Karma

"What should we do today?"
"Something fun."
"Like what?"
"I don't know."
"Me either."
"Maybe I'll just take a nap . . ."

Uncharacteristically, on Saturday morning Amy and Paul had no plans for a weekend adventure, a dilemma made even more embarrassing by the fact that it was Memorial Day Weekend, a time when even the weakest among us take adventurous initiative. Fortunately for us, the powers that be were already conspiring in our favor. Within an hour of the above conversation, we had received two exciting invitations, one effective immediately, the other for Monday.

Our first piece of good luck, courtesy of our friends Amy and Jon, brought us to Rinconada Pool (that's Spanish for Cornered Pool, which is ridiculous, since the pool is shaped like a five-petaled flower and has more rounded angles than corners). This magical place is a watery heaven for kids, since the pool ranges in depth from 1 inch to 3 feet and includes a fountain, a slide, and bikes that have pedal-powered waterguns on the handle bars. Paul found this last feature especially delightful. He joyfully pedalled while aiming his watergun at other like-minded adults who had also kicked innocent children off the bikes.

Our second piece of good luck led us on a journey north that will have to be documented at a later date. Good karma to be continued . . .

Loss

Amy and Paul are so grateful they took this picture in the Vegas airport; it is now an irreproducible part of history. This is the last photographic documentation of Paul's Smith Toaster Sunglasses with Di-electric Blue Mirror Lenses. Now they are somewhere in between Silverthorne and Vail, Colorado, a casualty of our recent road trip from Denver to Provo.

Paul's Happy Place

For the week following Christmas, Paul was often seen bearing this euphoric and awe-filled expression, the result of piloting a remote controlled helicopter that Amy's dad received for Christmas. If you are wondering why Santa would bring a remote controlled helicopter to a 51-year-old, you obviously haven't met Amy's dad. And clearly even Paul, who is half that age, found child-like joy in this Christmas toy. Lucky for him, his birthday is just around the corner, and Amy knows exactly what to get him.

Paul and James play Revolutionary Etude

Paul and James play (and sing) Revolutionary Etude

The best part about this video is that Paul didn't know Amy was taking it, meaning that this is actual footage of how Paul and James practice the piano. Side note: last Friday while Amy was at a church function, some friends stopped by our place for a visit. Through the door they could see and hear Paul practicing the piano with his trusty metronome clicking away, but he was oblivious to their doorbell-ringing and persistant knocking, so in the end they left him to his happy piano world.

Sunday Afternoon Wrestlemania

After church on Sunday, Paul and James decided to have a wrestling match. Although Paul started out on top, James pulled out his signature eye-clawing trick, which quickly led to a reversal, and then he began a brutal nose-twist. The match ended in a tie, however, because although James's guilty facial expressions revealed that he knew his moves were illegal, the judges had to take into account the huge weight discrepancy between the two contenders.

The next Arnold Friberg

Check out the 21st-Century version of the flannel board! For Family Home Evening, Paul decided he would illustrate a scripture story on the computer. Can you guess which story he chose? (Paul is especially proud of the fluffy sheep.)