OmaHeck: Sled Your Pants Off!

Thirty degrees and sunny with 6" of fluffy, white powder. What are 3 red-blooded American men to do? Hit the city park, dang-it!

By the time we took care of chores and got our gear together, the sun was casting some sideways shadows, but the clear skies helped keep the hillside warm.

Adventurer (and complusive water finder) that he is, Tate found some really great views of the creek, a bridge and trees freshly adorned.

At some point, he took a walk on the "frozen" part of the creek. Oh, so that's how he got so wet. Don't tell Mom!


What goes up...

must inevitably come down, and that's the really fun part of sledding!

"Hey, Dad, that looks like ice. I bet we could slide down without a sled, right on our snow pants."

"Hey guys, if you slide on your snow pants, you might wear them out too fast, and bump your bum in the process."

OmaHeck: Hoops and Heights

We're fortunate to get to see some good hoops here in Utah. BYU's team has been especially good so far (we'll see what happens come March, but for now there are no eyes on this horse's mouth). My company has season tickets to the Utah Jazz as well. These come with a few bonus events, like an autograph night where you can bring an item and stand in line for your favorite Jazz players, coaches and mascots to sign. We thought Dane would be all over it, but he went chicken and wouldn't have anything to do with the players. Tate, on the other hand, was all over it after he saw the Dippin' Dots stand (unfortunately idled for the evening).

Tate can't believe his eyes (is that why they are closed?) He's about to get an autograph from Bear (and Andrei Kirilenko, who pales in comparison).

My favorite Jazz Fans:


If you ask Tate, the best autographs were from the Jazz Dancers :-). They were signing posters with all of the dancers in action. In his most polite manner, Tate approached their table, offered his Jazz calendar, told them "No thank you" when they offered him a poster, and said, "Sign this, and have a good day." The gal misunderstood, so she winked at Tate and said, "How 'bout I sign it 'Have a GREAT day?'" Tate blushed...

Recently, we all hit the Marriott Center for a BYU vs Colorado State basketball game. It was family day, so there were about 15,000 kids there (no joke, it was overly kid-ish, even for Utah County). We only decided to go the game that same morning, and didn't want to pay a service fee for tickets online. So by the time we arrived, pickings were slim. We ended up on the top row (but in chairs). It was a great view, and we had a good time. Adding to the fun was an old-fashioned romp! BYU won 91-47.

I kind of forgot that I had the camera until the game was over, but since we let the crowd clear out before we left, I was able to snap some pics... but there was no one left to take a shot of all of us together.

My favorite Cougar fans:

OmaHeck: Tate's Take

Here's another edition of our new column: Tate's Take. Today's entry comes from an email he sent home during school:

Mrs. Brown said I was goofy because I did things that changed the subject. I
learned that Pez were first used for adults and after their creation they were
used by children.

I found out that barracudas and sharks love shiny
things. Mrs. Brown once got chased by barracudas because she wore shiny
earrings.

I went ice skating today and didn’t get hurt at all. Mrs.
Brown was my partner for a while, but I didn’t need her help at all after a
while. I love ice skating!

... and that's Tate's Take

OmaHeck: Who Are You (and How Old)?

That's right, Who are you?
C'mon, sing with me:

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
...
I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

70's supergroup The Who will be playing halftime at the Buperbowl February 7, and this is cool if you are a fan of their music (count me in).

Since the advent of approximately one version of CSI for every dollar of US National Debt (currently surging past $13 Trillion, but I digress), songs by The Who appeal to a larger, and increasingly more diverse audience. Case in point: my MIL, who likes both Country and Western music genres, but little else, was excited to learn that you could find the CSI theme songs on iTunes, and was impressed that they were already on wife's iPod.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Les Moonves and company along with the Superbowl production team has chosen Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, etc. to entertain us during breaks in watching the halftime commercials.

But let's be honest with ourselves at the same time. Since Janet Jackson's *ahem* incident, folks have been leery about what happens on live TV. And that means The Who has entered a special class: groups our parents wouldn't let us listen to on an album in our rooms, that their peers will now expose your children to on Live TV. Translation: they are SAFE.

No one wants an FCC fine, no one wants bad publicity. Nothing's gonna happen.

So here's a most compelling consideration: what if the Cincinnati Bengals make the Superbowl? I think having The Who play a Cincinnati festival would be just too much... at least it isn't in Cincinnati. So here's to the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets.

OmaHeck: Disney Vacation

Would you believe years of planning? Even years of saving? With the deals Walt and Co. were offering, it was clear our time had come. Kids are 11 and 8, so we couldn't ask for a sweeter spot to hit.

What follows is a sampling of our trip, with a little commentary. The pics loaded in reverse order, something I knew, but didn't think aobut until htey were all loaded, and I don't have the patience to move them around. So forgive the stream of consciousness, William Faulkner would be proud.

The weather presented a couple of interesting opportunities. The first few days were overcast, and then rainy... we are the proud owners of 4 Magic Kingdom ponchos (screaming deals notwithstanding, those were a bit pricey!)

We didn't really need the ponchos more than a bit, and the drizzle we were willing to endure kept both the crowds and temperatures down. By our last day, the clouds cleared and we saw Sunny California and 82 degrees. Fortunately, we can really carry off the "I'm sweaty" look while eating frozen lemonade:

Indiana Jones was one of the first rides we hit (and we hit it several times). The first go-round was a little nerve-wracking for our spawn, but they rose to the challenge, and were mighty archeological adventurers.

Long about the end of September The Haunted Mansion and a few other rides get decked out for the season. Jack Skellington and friends from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" come to town.

Never shying away from a fight (or a Star Wars opportunity), we hit the Jedi Training School. Neither of our Padowan were chosen for the academy, and parents got nervous as we saw one small friends get a bit angry. However, the anger passed as a flock of Jedi and Sith hit the stage.

We got some close-up with the Sith in the Lego shop.

It took us until Day 4 to find our way to the "Small World". Ironically (or maybe not), after we left the Small World ride, we ran into someone we knew for the first time! It is a small world, after all!

And speaking of Small World, our fellow BYU fans really represented. My sampling wasn't random, I only saw you if you were where I was while I was there. That said, after local fans (Angels, USC, and maybe the Dodgers), the biggest fandom was probaby the BYU Cougar Nation. The Y fans were easily on par with USC, Arizona schools and teams, and maybe even the Dodgers.

We saw an entire family in various forms of Cougar gear. Cyndie says to me, "Is something going on? Why are they all dressed like that?" We have very different views of fandom, she and I.

Our Disney package included a couple of Character Breakfasts. We were able to eat with both Chip & Dale, and Lilo & Stich. What a blast!

Look, Ma! No hands!!!

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

On the set at California Adventure.

Look, if we don't help Buzz Lightyear save the universe, who will?

Emporer Zurg, you better watch out!

The Dumbo ride was a surprising success. Tate and I learned a bit about centrifugal forces work: SQUISH!

Here's breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. They taught us to dance, and hung out with us for a while...

... celebrating our 15th Anniversary!

Pluto also stopped by to congratulate Cyndie on putting up with me for 15 years :^P

Stich was jealous. He likes Cyndie! Notice the duck doll in the photo. Wingnut is the mascot of Tate's 6th grade class. He goes on trips with class members, and they make a book of his wild and crazy adventures.

626 hitting on my 10.

Look Dad, Dumbo the Elephant made from a bush!

Boys playing with Teacups... this is as close as this crowd gets to a tea party!Getting ready for the Matterhorn. Will we see the Yeti?

Wingnut and Tate at the Magic Kingdom!

OK and here are the last photos of the trip. Work with me here. Take a look at Cyndie and tell me what fictional chocolatier she reminds you of?

Put a top hat on her, and maybe you'll get the picture... if not simply scroll down.