New Toy

Chris came over the other day, I think it was when he and Courtney were dropping off Greyson, and showed me a "surf" camera on-line. Well, I found a really good deal on Ebay and bought one. (see below). It is a Go Pro 5MP Wide Angle, waterproof to 100 ft. It came with hardware to mount to a surfboard. It takes great pics and video. I have also upgraded the firmware so it will take a single video up to 4GB (Approx. 2 hrs) and can handle up to an 8GB SDHC card.


I find it hard to believe that something so small can perform so well. It also has numerous features, like: continuous shooting pics every 2 or 5 seconds, self timer, upside down image (just in case you have to mount the camera upside down), three shot burst photo, to name a few.

This is the camera out of the water housing.........

Working out details for a kayak and other mounts. Hope to have all helmet/adventure cams ready for Cabo.

Another Weekend Gone

Due to Veteran's Day and the November Nor'easter I haven't been to work, except for three hours on Friday, in five days. Wednesday was Veteran's Day and the office was closed. Thursday work was canceled due to the weather. Friday the power was out. I went in to work to the power out condition. Without power, the computers won't work, and without computers we can't work. I did have to put in about three hours clearing the water out of our largest clubhouse because it was rented for Saturday. The place floods every time we get heavy rains. Guess I'll have to figure out a way to correct that problem. The good news was that Gail was off Thursday (she couldn't get into work due to the flooded roads) and Friday. They were closed because the roads were still flooded. So we both had long weekends.

Saturday, Chris and Courtney went up to D.C. for a basketball game and we had Greyson from about noon on Saturday until about 4 PM Sunday. Great fun. He is a trip. He loves the dogs and plays with Ozzie, Lobo and Peanut. He and Nugget still don't get along.

Check out G & Peanut, then he hams it up..........


On Sunday, we took a trip down to Sandbridge to see the barge that ran aground during the nor'easter. What a zoo. It must have been the biggest attraction around. The road was blocked near the Coast Guard Station so we parked along the street and hiked in as close as they would allow.

The barge was loaded with containers and got pretty close to the pier........
It was definitely beached............
Surf on one side..............
Sand on the other..................
Line up of looky-loos...................
Check out the beach.............
Greyson and Grandma...............
Greyson and Grandma fed the ducks and one of them tried to snatch the bread out of Greyson's hand and got his fingers.



Afterwards, he was a trooper...................


After Mom & Dad picked him up, Grandma and Grandpa had to rest up from the weekend. He really keeps us busy, but we really like spending the time with him.

Quick Nor'Easter Report

Just a quick update on the November Nor'Easter. We got a lot of rain, about 11 inches so far, with more to come later today and into the night. As you can see, the water level of the lake has risen quite a bit. It is almost to the shed, and into the back yard.


A short video of the storm......


These trees are normally right at the edge of the lake.....
Pretty nasty out........
Gail tried to drive into work, but all the streets through Norfolk to Coopervision were flooded, so she came back home. I got a phone call this morning, so I didn't have to go into work. I only drive two miles and got to stay home, but Gail has to drive over twenty miles and they were open, Go figure!

Two shots of the back yard......


I'll keep you posted should we have additional information.

Sunday, Greyson, and FOOTBALL

Spent the afternoon and evening babysitting Greyson. Chris and Courtney went to a wedding. The high point of the day was that the Charger - Giants game was televised. (Good news - Bad news) Greyson and I watched the game in between coloring, playing with cars, etc.

Check out the newest Charger fan and the "Rivers intercepted look"........

Alas, when Rivers threw the interception with four minutes remaining, I could not take anymore. My BP probably went through the roof. I turned the game OFF. Greyson is still too young to hear that kind of language, and I had gone ballistic. So, I found out the Bolts had won from Chris went he got home. I had to watch the replays. How can a GAME cause that type of reaction? I'm not what you would call a rabid sports fan, and yet!

An Afternoon With Greyson

Courtney had some studying / homework to do so Chris brought Greyson over for the afternoon. We had fun, especially out in the garage. He got into everything. Check out the pics.


Socket & ratchet as a hammer.......
What's this......................
OOO tools..........
More sockets...............
How does this work.............
What's in here ............
How does this come out..............
Look, more tools..............
What's up there................
Every boy needs his Duct Tape............
Climbing the ladder, mallet in hand............
Now I can see more.................
What's in this drawer..................
Afterwords, some computer time............
Then.......................

It was a busy day.

I May Have Spoken Too Soon

Yesterday it was around 80 degrees. This is what we woke up to this morning. 60 degrees and windy.


I might have jinxed the rest of the year with my comments yesterday.

It's That Time of Year

I guess Fall is here, at least the trees seem to think so!


This is a tree I see every day at work. I have watched the leaves change, but......

TODAY IT WAS NEAR 80 DEGREES!!! GUESS WHAT WE DID. That's right, we went kayaking. A couple of weeks ago, the contractor mowed all the reeds along the Davinci Canal, so..... we decided to head out. We got up late, around 8:30 and took our time. Before we got ready, Chris stopped by to return some tools he had borrowed, so we hung out and BS'd for awhile. He went out surfing this morning but it was really messy. High winds turned it to mush. I talked him into helping move the treadmill from the garage to our bedroom, so maybe it will get some use.

Back to kayaking. The wind was coming up and we almost decided to scrub the mission, but said screw it and headed out. Glad we did. Our trip down the canal was great. Fall is having its effect on the trees there and some of the surface is covered with leaves. Really quite beautiful.

My usual view, bringing up the rear.............
Once I did get in front, this was the view.........

We paddled all the way to Lake Tecumsah again. This time we were prepared, we had fishing gear. I had a pretty good time, but the "Captain" got skunked. One of the few times that I caught more than her. I got seven small bluegill. I threw them all back, too small for a meal.

Here's one..............
One other reason for going was to try out the helmet cam. Gail thinks it looks kind of dumb. I might just have to agree with her.

I will have to make some adjustments to the mounting. It is aimed a little high. Got to be ready for Cabo.

Gail in full fishing mode................

The clouds started to roll in between two and three, so we decided to head back. It wasn't too bad, but around here the weather can go from partly cloudy to thunder storms in a matter of minutes.


All in all a great day. Our little kayak trips are the best stress relief in the world, so peaceful and quiet. Hopefully we will have a few more opportunities to go out before winter rears its head.

Grandpa & Grandma

Been playing the grand parent role lately. We have had the opportunity to babysit Greyson. Chris and Courtney went to Hallow-Scream at Busch Gardens yesterday, so we had a day and part of the night with the Monkey. He was so good. After they left, he ate lunch, then he and Grandma took a 1 1/2 hour nap. About 6, we ate dinner, later it was bath and bed. In between, we did a lot of coloring and played with his "go-goes".

Coloring is serious work..........

Until I see the camera .... what a ham.............
Check out the curls....and the "go-goes"..........

Mom and Dad didn't get home until about 11, so for us it was straight home and in the sack. 5:30 came really early this morning, but it was well worth the lack of sleep. We really enjoy the little monkey.

Another Weekend Gone

Kind of a busy weekend. Saturday I played duck and run with the rain / thunderstorms trying to get the trim around the shed door done. For the most part I was able to get that done. Later, we went over to Chris and Courtney's to babysit Greyson while they went out to dinner. He is really funny. We watched Backyardigans episodes and another series he likes. He really gets into his shows. You can't help but play along and sing, etc. Of course we couldn't get him to settle down. After his bath we must have read him a dozen books. I had just gotten him settled and almost to sleep when Mom & Dad came home. We got chewed out for not following the rules. He was supposed to be asleep. Oh Well......

On Sunday we went to Homearama with Chris and Courtney. It was pretty interesting. They have scaled down the number, size and price of the homes due to the economy. As usual, I got chastised for pointing out all the poor workmanship. Gail saw a dresser she liked, so I took a picture. We'll probably try to locate something like it.

Check it out.........
Breaktime........

Other than that, we're in training for Cabo. Check out the refer...

Modelo Especial..........
Also, got the helmet cam finished. Plan to get some water shots surfing and kayaking, as well as shots of zip lining.

Side mounted................
Top mount..................

Not much else going on. Later

Work, Work, Work

There hasn't been a lot going on here lately. Since the news that Coopervision will be shutting down, we have been discussing potential plans for the future. You know, selling it all, getting a motor home, or fifth wheel & truck, and just traveling around for a while. Must be the gypsy in us!

So, instead of playing on the weekends, we are working. Repairing , painting, sprucing up the place just in case. All the things we put off so we could play. Being a responsible adult sucks. Saturday was spent mowing the lawn and replacing most of the trim on the shed out front. Getting ready to paint all three sheds. (Gail says she'll do the painting. Yeah! Right! We all know how that works out!)

Anyway, Chris and Greyson came over to help on Sunday. Gail won't let me climb up on the roof, or even to the top of the ladder, so Chris gets the high work. We replaced the wood trim on the chimney and did some painting as well.

My two helpers......

Look at me..........I'm going UP.........

The drill really works, and he knows how to use it................

Reach for the sky........

It was a pretty good day. Greyson is a trip. When he gets in his goofy mood, he is perpetual motion, and laughs & giggles constantly. He really cracks himself up.

Labor Day Weekend

SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

We awoke to a beautiful morning on Saturday. We decided to load up the kayaks and head out. Since the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and Labor Day crowd would create a traffic nightmare to the north, we decided to head south, back to Horn Point and the Back Bay. Gail wanted to try some fishing, but only wanted to take one pole and no fishing gear. Space management in a kayak can be a difficult task. So, I packed up both ultra-lite rigs and off we went.

Horn point launch point from the first duck blind we fished..........
My Captain fishing duck blind #1..........................
A closer shot.................
Hooray, first fish of the day, after just fifteen minutes....Check out the smile......
A better shot of the fish...a hand sized bluegill..............
As I mentioned earlier, we only took one pole each and no extra gear. The first bite I got bent the pole over and as I tried to land it, the line snapped. No replacement hook. My day was over.

After about twenty minutes without a nibble, we moved to another duck blind.

My turn to fish.....with Gail's pole........
Another bluegill...................
After I caught one, I gave the pole back to Gail. She hooked one right away, but just like my first hook up, her line snapped also. It was weird. Both lines snapped just where the hook was attached to the line. I guess whatever we hooked had some sharp teeth.

With no more fishing to do, we decided to just go for a paddle. We headed up Hells Point Creek Creek, toward Lake Tecumsah. We didn't really intend to go all the way to Lake Tecumsah, but that is where we ended up.

Near the start of our journey.............
Heading up Hells Point Creek..............
We paddled past Indian Cove Resort, under Sandbridge Road, past Hells Point Golf Club, into Ashville Creek, all the way to Lake Tecumsah. I would estimate the distance at right around four miles. So, considering the approximately 2 miles of paddling we did prior to heading up Hells Point Creek and the return trip, we put in a solid ten miles plus of paddling. I guess we did the major portion of eight miles in about three hours.

The golf cart bridge at Hells Point Golf Club.....about half way...........
The entrance to Lake Tecumsah.............A view of the lake...................
My trooper on the way back......beat but paddling on............
On the way home, we plotted our plan of attack for the next day. I gathered up ALL the fishing gear, we went out and got a supply of snelled hooks, picked up some red worms and meal worms, and checked and re-checked our equipment. We were ready............

Sunday, September 6, 2009

We slept in a little, but were up and on our way fairly early. When we arrived at Horn Point, we were greeted with some rather strong winds and about a one foot chop on the Back Bay. Not the most ideal conditions, but we were ready to catch some fish. We paddled out to the second duck blind we had fished the previous day. Between the chop and wind, sitting tied up to the duck blind was pretty miserable. Gail got broke off again. I had two fish follow my bait to the surface but didn't bite, and then I got broke off. Considering that we were getting beat up by the weather and there was little success, we decided to move into a more wind protected area to fish. Unfortunately, we had little luck. All I hooked was a two inch menhadden. Not worth the effort. When I turned to check on Gail, she was nowhere to be seen. I started to paddle over to where I had last seen her when I noticed a kayaker way out at one of the duck blinds. Guess who? We had left the walkie talkies in the truck since we would be fishing so close together. Never again!

Earlier, The Captain working the reeds along the shore............
A closer view of my fisherwoman...............
As I reached Gail, she had just caught a small bluegill. We decided that we would head in, since the only place we caught fish was out in the wind and chop. So we threw him back and headed home. Two weary kayak anglers.....................

Monday, September 7, 2009 - An afternoon with Greyson

About noon, we went over to pick up Greyson for the afternoon. We brought him home, had lunch and he crashed. Right after I finished cleaning him up, he climbed into my lap, leaned over and fell fast asleep.

The "G" man fast asleep....................
I had to start dinner so I put him in the big chair and he continued his nap.........

Greyson just loves the dogs, especially Peanut. He hugs Lobo, Ozzie and Peanut. The only one who doesn't really want any attention is Nugget. She just doesn't like kids. Lobo is so mellow with him. He lets Greyson hug him and even chases his toys when Greyson throws them. "G" chases Peanut all over the house, but she is still quicker than him.

All and all, a busy weekend. Tomorrow it's back to work for me, but Gail has a "spa-day" she got as a birthday present from Chris, Courtney and Greyson. After that, she will be watching Greyson. Should be a fun day all around.