where I talk with my inside voice
As I mentioned back in January, we have been planning a trip to California to drive the PCH and see some of the other sights. We just got back, and what a trip it was. We drove 1300 miles, took over 2000 photos, and shot over 4 hours of video. A small sample of the photos is now available in...
Well, okay, it might not be our last one. But our piano teacher is getting married next month and moving away, so it will be the last one with her. The kids both did very well, considering the difficulty of the pieces and the fact that they both memorized them and didn’t use their music while playing. We are going...
We did a overnight campout at Roaring Spring Ranch. The place is beautiful — it’s about 2600 acres that is owned by one of the families in Noah’s Cub Scout Pack. The kids got to ride horses, go on a hayride at night, and hike through the woods. The ticks were unbelievable, but it was still a good trip.
Yeah, I had never heard of it either until last fall when Noah and I went camping with the Boy Scouts. Then Noah told Dixie about it and they bought the game for Noah’s friend Graham for his birthday. At that point, Dixie became obsessed with it, even though she had never played it. Then it turned into a trip...
I’m proud of my little girl. Her arms aren’t quite long enough to hold the rifle properly, but that hasn’t stopped her from hitting the target. She finished up the requirements for her Shooting Sports badge for AHG by hitting 10 water balloons. Way to go, Josie!
We spent today celebrating our little girl turning eight years old. It’s hard to believe she’s eight already. She wanted a bird theme so Dixie decorated the cake with pictures Josie took on her camera, along with several other bird-themed snacks that were all yummy. We spent the morning at the World Bird Sanctuary because today also happened to be...
We enjoyed our first snowfall of the year today. It was probably less than an inch, but it was enough for the kids to get outside and build some mini-snowmen, and have a ball, and for Dixie to get a few great shots of the birds. Photos are up in my album.
It was time for our annual Minecraft marathon, where we spend the better part of a day immersed in our “world” building things. They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I built a Mayan pyramid! It is on an island far to the west of my kingdom, unspoiled by the whimsical constructions of my children. I think that...
Hey, what do you know? The kids got Legos for Christmas this year. Even though this is the first year they no longer believe in Santa, it certainly doesn’t diminish their enthusiasm for the little plastic bricks. This was a big set too – almost 2500 pieces – but they did a good job working together. Noah was also happy...
I tested out my new quad-copter’s camera while the kids enjoyed a late summer day paddling around the lake.
We spent a long weekend in Chicago doing all the touristy things. Photos are available in my album, but here’s a quick video of the highlights. The kids had a blast, and keep asking when we’re going to go back.
What started out as an impulsive addition to my son’s list of Christmas presents, has morphed into an addictive and all-consuming passion for crafting. I’m of course talking about the insanely popular video game for the PC called Minecraft. I must admit I didn’t fully grasp what the game was all about before I bought it. But after watching my...
This is our eighth annual Pipes Family Christmas card! Can you believe it? We let the kids take over this year, and they want to wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!
We just got back from two weeks in Great Britain. We took a Trafalgar tour that took us from London, through southern England, northern Wales, the Lake District, and finally to Edinburgh, Scotland. We saw some amazing sights and some truly beautiful scenery. The weather was perfect and the people we met on tour were great. It was an awesome...
There’s only one magic ticket swirling around in the booth — and it’s worth 1,000 tickets — but Josie made it look easy, snatching it within seconds. She was so thrilled, and just as surprised as the rest of us!
