tech savvy

"There is no hope of us being more tech savvy than our kids." said Roy after I informed him that Sophie bought a movie on pay per view. In the 15 seconds it took for me to go outside, close the gate, and let the dog out, Sophie had bought 101 Dalmatians for $3. As Roy said, at least it wasn't 101 Dominatrix.

Sophie plays this game on the computer, often without help, and has no trouble navigating with the mouse as long as we turn off the right click.

Nowhere is her ability to use technology more apparent, however, than with the iPhone. She knows where the applications to color are, how to pull up and watch Cinderella, and she loves going through the music on my iPod. Her favorite ap, though, is the camera.

Here is a view of the world from my daughters perspective. (I have deleted the many photos where she covers the lens with her finger.)

In other news, our summer is progressing beautifully. Last night we went to a pool party at a friends house that did not disappoint. The kids - oh who am I kidding - we all had a blast splashing around in the pool, playing monkey in the middle and Sophie did so well that I think I'll put her into swimming lessons in July.

My hanging tomato plant is covered in yellow flowers and I have my first little green tomato beginning. I am so happy to have found a way to garden in my small space. We have enjoyed lettuce and fresh herbs; the mint is taking off in the container by the fence, and I think I still have time to put in a pepper plant. It's more than enough for us and there's always more to share with the neighbors.

We still have a couple of trips in the works - we're hoping to go to North Carolina in July to see the area where Roy's Grandma and her family are from, and then there's South Dakota in September to meet the newest addition to the Waltner clan, due to arrive in just a few weeks.

I'm giddy with anticipation for the bounty to come!

Festival of the Bluegrass No. 36

My shoulders and nose are tinged with pink. I can't seem to wash off the grime of being outdoors for a week. And my feet, the tops of which resemble the tops of my sandals, are killing me.

The 36th Annual Festival of the Bluegrass was, I think I can say, a success. This year was very, very different for Roy and I as we were much more involved in the pre-planning. As I like to put it, we worked so hard we weren't even on the work schedule. As you'll see from the pictures to follow, there are none of camp because we were almost never there. By the time we arrived Saturday night to walk to our familiar spots - the Wireman camp, into Hippiehill (our camp), through Wooville, up to the Heathens and into the Ragheads - it was 2AM, we stumbled from exhaustion running only on adreneline, and the camera was the last thing on my mind.

Still, there were some real gems in this weekend. Here are some highlights.

We did some early promotion at the Southland Jamboree. Sophie was quick to leave with two of her favorite people.

From Festival 2009

We were plagued with rain Monday through Thursday. Sophie didn't seem to mind.

From Festival 2009

Life is just more fun when Bret's around.

From Festival 2009

From Festival 2009

Lots of family.

From Festival 2009

A killer open stage.

From Festival 2009

And the main acts weren't to shabby either.

From Festival 2009

There was ice cream a'plenty

From Festival 2009

and our annual Sophie picture on stage.

From Festival 2009

This was a good year and now begins the planning for 2010. June 10-13. Want to come? Shoot me an email. I won't even put you to work... this year.

My Songbird

We have, in the last few weeks, turned off the radio. From the back seat of our car comes a serenade of all the things going on around us. We know when we pass a red truck, a church, a tree, a bird, a man, a dog... you get the picture.

I caught Sophie in a rare exhibitionist mood and she sang song after song into the camera. This is the best one... and the one that didn't have anything to do with butts.