Nate & Misha's July Adventures: International Medalist!

July was busy with more swimming for the kids, but the big news was Nathan & Michelle's trip to Nashville: Music City USA for the International Barbershop Harmony Convention and Competition! Nashville was great, and Nathan's chorus, Voices In Harmony, came home with the 3rd place Bronze Medal!!! What a rush up on stage in front of 10,000 people at the Sommet Center! The videos are no longer posted online, but some great pictures of our action-packed performance can be found here (in the red Zoot Suits!): http://public.fotki.com/danp2000/bhs/2008/international/chorus-2/page3.html.

We also enjoyed some sight-seeing: the Grande Ole Opry, Andrew Jackson's Home - the Hermitage (fascinating and rich history of a Southern icon!), the Parthenon replica, and of course plenty of BBQ food and street music!

Being back in the midwest/south sure made us miss visiting family in Illinois and Kentucky! Michelle did get a chance to meet up with BFF Coleen in Louisville, KY, and we made sure to visit a Stake-N'-Shake and watch some fireflies!

After returning home, we enjoyed a family weekend of camping in Henry Coe Redwoods, Santa Cruz mountains. We also visited the beach and boardwalk -- and somehow, Matt was swallowed by the sand!!....

June 2008 Review: Gymnastics, Swimming, Tar Pits and more!

OK. So we got pretty behind in updating our busy summer activities. Matt graduated from kindergarten, and a few days later Sarah was off too for a long, fun summer at home with Daddy. Matt and Daddy went to visit G'ma and G'pa Staples, and went to visit the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum of Natural history in LA. Matt had a great time [except with the smell of the Tar Pits -- look at the expression on his face! :-)], and a couple of very close encounters with some very large prehistoric creatures.

Meanwhile, Mommy and Sarah had a great time learning to ice skate, and exploring and learning at the SF Exploratorium. Sarah was also finally old enough to go with Mommy to "bring your child to work day", and learn about lab research and DNA technology.

The Sarah and Matt had a blast as summer started, continuing gymnastics and taking swim lessons almost every day. Matt is learning to use the pommel horse (already doing leg-cuts!), and Sarah is working hard on her bar skills.