March for Babies

I know that I have mostly turned this site into an entertainment blog - but I thought I would post a note just in case anyone that visits this site is willing to donate.

Every year my family walks in the March for Babies (March of Dimes) which raises money to help children and families of babies born premature or with birth defects - and also hopefully eventually stop both from happening in the future, so every child is born healthy.

This particular cause is very close to my family - my aunt and uncle have gone through a few premature births with their family, and sadly lost their son, Jonathan, due to birth defects.

We were hit even closer to home when my wife and I experienced it first hand. My son, Kasey, was born almost nine weeks premature. He spent four days with a breathing tube and a whole month in the NICU until we were able to bring him home.

It's thanks to the doctors, nurses and the support of the March of Dimes that so many babies that are born premature still have a fighting chance at a healthy and fulfilling life. My son, who is now two, has had no lasting effects from being born so early - and is a healthy, rambunctious boy.

I am posting two website links that lead you to basically the same site. The first is my link for raising money, and the second is for my wife. It doesn't matter which one of us you would like to donate to, because in the end the money goes to March of Dimes, and everybody wins. But, we always have a friendly competition each year to see who can get the most money - so PICK ME.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to donate to this wonderful organization.

My site: http://www.marchforbabies.org/steel11kane

My wife's site: http://www.marchforbabies.org/elr6182

GH: WT/DVR Issues

Well, Guitar Hero: World Tour appears to be everything I thought it would be.

My wife spent part of the day yesterday learning how to play the drums, and she is way better at them than I am. When I got home from work, I came in to see my son jamming on them (he is probably better than I am too).

We played a six-song set with me on guitar and her on drums - both on easy mode. The game seems pretty fun, and there is so much more to it that we haven't even dove into yet. We just played the quickplay mode, but I am sure when we have more time we will jump start our careers.

After dinner, it was my turn on the drums. I had tried once or twice to play drums at my friend Mark's house on his Rock Band - and failed miserably. I did get into a pretty good rhythm during our second six-song set. The orange symbol, however, and sometimes the pedal really gave me fits.

All-in-all the game looks to be super fun, and if we hadn't just come back from vacation in late Sunday night - I am sure we would have played a lot longer last night.

But, we have about a week's plus of shows to watch from being on vacation, so we decided to dive into it last night.

Which leads me to my DVR issue.

Last night when we looked at our recorded shows, we were completely out of recording space. The good news is, we only missed two shows, as they were cut short on Sunday night only 19 minutes in.

I quickly went through and deleted everything we weren't going to watch to make room for last night's shows (which we ended up lucking out and not having many due to the baseball game). Then we dove right in and watched a good three hours of shows to clear even more space.

This is one reason why I absolutely loved my TiVo when it was working. Although the DVR's the cable companies have do their jobs for the most part - the TiVo was way beyond anything they have to offer.

I miss the larger hard drive for recording space, plus the nifty little folders that grouped shows together for a nice clean look. Plus, the few second jump back when fast-forwarding really sped up the show watching.

But, I think we are set now, and with not much going on this weekend we should be able to knock out most of the shows and get in a few jam sessions on our new Guitar Hero.

Guitar Hero: World Tour

My wife has picked up Guitar Hero: World Tour and I am anxiously waiting until I can get home and jam with her.

Check out this commercial that aired yesterday featuring just a few of today's popular athletes:

In case you didn't pick those out: (Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps on guitars, Tony Hawk on drums and Kobe Bryant on the mic).

Week Without Internet

This past week my family and I were in Disney World (if you want to read about the actual vacation, please see Kano's Kogitation II).

The weird thing about this entire vacation, is I was sort of out of the loop in terms of internet. I must admit, I am pretty addicted to visiting my certain sites every day (most likely visiting them multiple times in case of updates).

But, there is something to say about not hitting the internet. It was a peaceful week, but today I am definitely catching up on blogs I have missed, updated sites, etc.

I have missed an entire week of television, which I will be trying to catch up on in the coming weeks. Plus, I only watched a few movies (bits and pieces) this week. So I have no real update in those terms.

Hopefully something will come to my mind in the near future.

I did realize, however, on my Disney trip that it has been ages since I have actually watched a lot of those films. We have purchased each Disney film on DVD when they are released (not those stupid direct to DVD sequels, but the real movies) but I don't think we have actually sat down and watched them in a good long while.

Although, I have seen Cars about 27 times now - since my son absolutely loves it. After one viewing, it wasn't very high on my list in terms of Pixar films, but on viewing 15 or something around those lines - I have grown pretty fond of it (and thank goodness I did).

Anyway, more updates and things to come in the near future. Sorry for the lack of blogs this week. Check out the other site if you are interested in news from our vacation - something should be up by later tonight.

Ciao.

Apologies

My apologies for the lack of blogs this week. I have been major busy this week.

I am just finishing up something at work, I had midterms this week (plus an additional week of homework to finish because of next week's vacation), oh and getting ready for vacation too.

Anyway, I might have time to watch a movie tonight, so I should get a quick blog in tomorrow. I should have some free time now that this job at work is finishing up.

Just a few more things for school to do and some last minuted things around the house.

Can't wait to go on vacation - it's long overdue.

News & Such

I have decided to make Kano's Kogitation, or what you are reading right now, into a full-fledged movie/television/sports blog.

I am going to abandon the family and life stories on this particular blog and focus on blogs about movies, television and sports.

However, I have started a brand new blog Kano's Kogitation II that will now be used for only updating all who are interested in family news & notes.

A new blog about the past weekend should be up there by the end of the day. So, if you are interested check out the new site. I will do my best to stay current with both sites, but felt it was a good idea to separate the two blogs.

Thanks.

My Wife the French Fry

This past weekend my wife was asked by a local restaurant if she would be interested in picking up a few hours as a waitress. The restaurant was in dire need of help a few times during the weekend hours, and with a few vacations, Kasey's birthday and Christmas right around the corner - my wife agreed it was in both parties' best interest.

So, on Friday she went in for 'training' which ended up being 'here's a notepad, get to work' sort of training. Friday apparently had a little more customers than they were expecting, so the training was thrown out the door, and she was thrown right into the fire.

She has worked in retail before, so has dealt with customers, but she had never been a waitress or even in the food services. Apparently, however, she is doing wonderfully. I guess there isn't much to it, as long as you aren't spilling things all over the customers - and you make sure they are happy, they 'should' compensate you.

The money will definitely be coming in handy as we head to Disney World at the end of October. And it's always nice to actually have a little spending money in your pocket.

The move, however, means a little less time I get to spend with her - and a little less time she gets to spend with Kasey. It will probably not be a long experience, unless of course she wants it to be, but for now she appears to like it.

She has only been in twice so far, but both times has come home smelling like french fries - and I have to say, it sort of fired me up. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I just want to say that I respect her very much. I tried to get back in with the newspaper I used to write for some extra cash, but it didn't pan out - so she stepped up. She works extremely hard and I admire her for that.

Voting

Well, it finally happened. After being married to a person who knows politics for three years, and with her for over eight, I have finally registered to vote.

It only took 10 years after I had become eligible mind you.

I, however, do not believe in the system that is given to us for voting. This whole electoral college and super delegates and all that crap - it makes no sense to me.

When you have a vote in almost anything, what makes someone win? The most votes. Well, that is exactly what should happen when voting for a president. Count up each vote that is cast from each person in the entire United States and the winner will be our president. It's that simple.

Politics has never been my thing. Honestly, I just don't care who the leader is. The way the United States is setup, there almost always needs to be a consensus vote for all decisions made. The president, in my opinion, is just the face of the country - he isn't always pulling the strings.

But, as bad as things have gotten these past eight years, I have decided that even though my vote does not count I will be voting for the next American president.

This could also be bad, however. In the past, I have always taken pleasure in being able to bad mouth the president for the terrible job being done in the country. I have been able to do this because I did not vote for that president. Now, if the person I vote for wins, and does a horrible job - well I voted for him.

I write this today because I finally received my form the other night - stating that I am in fact a registered voter. I can't wait to start receiving all of the forms in the mail now from politicians looking for my vote. I have been so jealous of the amount of 'junk' mail my wife has been getting all these years (please note my sarcasm).

I apologize for the lack of blogs this week - I have not had anything come to my mind to write about - and I am still rather busy with school/work. I promise to do my best with better, more interesting blogs in the future.

Bowling

This past weekend our friends from Arizona made a visit to our area and we decided that a group of us would go bowling.

We usually end up bowling about once or twice in a given year, so my skills are not as great as a professional - although I definitely can pretend.

After becoming a parent your life is basically consumed with playing trucks, reading books and watching Elmo videos. So, every once in awhile, it is nice to get out with real adults and interact.

We try to do this at least once every other week, whether with a game night, or this past weekend's bowling extravaganza.

Well, as usual, it was boys against girls (excuse me men against women) and again as usual, the men prevailed in both games. Although in the second game, the closest person I know to a professional bowling did defeat me. I bowled a 115 in my first game, and a gentlemen's 100 in the second.

My wife, God bless her soul, is more of the Wii bowler. Despite her very odd, and sometimes scary delivery while playing Wii, she has pretty much mastered the game and dismantles me basically every time.

Real bowling, however, is not Wii bowling - as most of us have proven.

All in all it was a nice night - and I definitely look forward to our next outing. I absolutely love playing with my son, but every once in a while it's nice to have an adult night.

Getting the Hang of Things

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about my returning to school to get my master's in elementary education.

In order to get into the program I had to take a handful of undergrad classes, thanks to not taking the right path when I was originally in school (and a few classes I did take not being able to transfer). Anyway, this semester I am taking three classes - two online and one in class.

After the first week, I found myself a little behind. It was more difficult than I had originally anticipated. I wasn't ready for the amount of work being mixed with my actual job, spending time with my family, eating and sleeping.

For instance, the math class that I am taking online requires quite a bit of downloads to actually get through the course. I am unable to do most of the work for this course at home because I use my wife's computer, which I am not allowed to download anything on. So, time is sort of hard to come by.

After falling a bit behind, I worked pretty hard to get caught up - which I did. Then, I think I did something pretty smart - I made myself a due date guide. Basically, I went through each class and put when everything is going to be due. So far, my math class only lets me know what is due in short bursts - so I don't have the entire year mapped out - but for the other two classes I know everything.

And you know what - it is actually working. I find myself ahead in most of my classes now. Which when the time comes, will leave me with more time for some studying.

I have a small thing I am worried about with each class. In English it's the reading in front of the class - I have always hated talking in front of my peers, which is one of the main reasons I am going into elementary education - but, I have gotten a lot better in terms of this over the years, thanks to my job as a journalist. In Science it's the lab reports. I am having such a hard time with the 'Proper Lab Documentation', so I have yet to put anything in the book - but I am going to be taking care of this by the end of the week. And finally, in math it's the midterm and final.

In Science all of my work, including tests is done by myself - I am never worried when it comes to English, but I am a bit apprehensive about the math tests. I have to take them in front of a proctor, with just my calculator. Trying to remember all of these equations is insane - especially since I haven't taken math in like eight years.

But, I am hoping to come out of this unscathed. I look forward to finally getting into the master's program - and in a few short years being an elementary school teacher.

Labor Day Weekend

So, the weekend was both productive and somewhat relaxing at the Kano household.

On Friday I went to a bachelor party with both my father-in-law and brother-in-law. It wasn't anything over the top. Just a BBQ and a quick stop at a bar near the end of the night. By the time the end of the night rolled around, however, most parties were pretty much out of it anyway.

As most of you know, I am no longer the drinker, so I pretty much just relaxed and joked around with my father-in-law and a couple of his buddies. Which was pretty fun.

The whole night got me thinking about my own bachelor party, and the last time I got drunk beyond belief. The party started out at the local Elk's Club (I say started, but this is where it also finished for me). A lot of my high school buddies, friends, parents friends, etc. were there to toast away my bachelorhood. I was given a cup when I first walked in, which my 'friends' would not allow to get below the halfway mark before filling it up again. I was also forced to take a shot every 20-30 minutes, I am not sure.

Well, one final shot did me in and my night was over after a couple of reversals. The party was supposed to head downtown, which it did without me. A friend of mine took me to his house to crash. This is where things get a little foggy for me. I thought I had at least made it to 10 p.m., but stories have said that it was more like 9. I also don't remember throwing up in his truck, but I was told that I did. Finally, after stumbling into their house and only recognizing their dog, I woke up on an air mattress, sleeping on a towel and in a pair of shorts. I also don't remember changing into the shorts.

This bachelor party, was a little more tame than mine - not that mine was over the top by any means. The groom-to-be did get sloshed and appeared to be pretty out of it by the time we did make it to the bar. But, at least he made it there.

On Saturday, Erika painted our bedroom. I did help out a little, but painting is not really my fortay - and this was abundantly clear. I did, however, get the walls covered enough that she would only have to do some touchups. The room came out pretty well, and our cracks and nail holes have been fixed.

Sunday was my day to get things done. We were having people over at 2 p.m. for a little get together, so I did a little flight of the bumblebee and managed to get all of the work around the house done before they came up.

We had a pretty good time. Playing games, chatting, having some pizza and of course taking a trip to Gino's for ice cream.I hadn't laughed that hard in a really long time, and it was definitely worth it.

Monday was a pretty lazy day. We had done most of work for the house, so we sort of lounged around and played with Kasey. I took a little time to work on my online courses while Erika took Kasey for a walk. we finished the weekend with dinner with my parents.

I purchased Kasey this bop bag on Sunday, I figured it would be fun for him and his buddy Jack to play with. And it was pretty fun to see them smack it around. Kasey also loves to jump on it, I just hope he doesn't pop it.

Well, that was my weekend - and unfortunately it has come to an end and I am back to the grind.

Did manage to watch a pair of movies, reviews coming soon.

College: The Return

Well, I am now about a week into my second stint as a college student. Last week I finally got registered for the three classes that I am taking - Environmental Science, Children's Literature and Finite Math. I, of course, got enrolled on Wednesday with the final day being Friday - I am always pretty late when it comes to those things.

Anyway, I am taking my Environmental Science class and Finite Math class online, so I technically only have to go up to school twice a week for my Children's Literature class.

My online classes didn't get going so well, as it took a few days for my login to actually start working. And when I got into the website, I only had my math class available. Once they added my science class, I again couldn't login. But, they fixed it again and so far I have been able to login everyday with no problems - keep your fingers crossed.

The online classes are pretty nice. They have all of your assignments mapped out for you, so you can take them at your leisure as long as they are in by a certain date. So far, I am caught up on most of my online classes, but I purchased the wrong lab notebook, so I have not been able to do my first science lab yet - hopefully this weekend.

My Children's Literature class meets on Tuesday and Thursday during my lunch break from work. So far it seems pretty good. I am, of course, one of if not the oldest person in the class. Today we had our first group assignment, where in the past I have been pretty hesitant, but today I felt right at home.

I think this is going to be pretty decent as long as I can continue to find time to work on my studies, and stay motivated - which my wife has already shown me she is going to keep on me to stay motivated. These two semesters will be the toughest for me, as I need to get either an A or a B in two science classes and two math classes - and a C or better in four different literature classes. But, I think it can be done - and should be smoother sailing once I am finally in the master's program.

Week One is pretty much in the books, and I feel pretty confident. I was a little nervous on Tuesday - or maybe I was just winded from climbing four flights of stairs - but I felt a little better today.

The Future

Well, I made a pretty important decision about my life over the past few weeks. I have been thinking about it for awhile now, and finally this week I took the plunge.

I have registered for a few classes at Clinton C.C. in order to get the criteria needed to get into the Plattsburgh State elementary education master's program. Yes, I am planning to become a teacher.

I have already graduated once with a B.S. in communications mass media and a minor in professional writing. And, I absolutely loved writing for the local newspaper (loved the writing part, hated everything else about it). But, my family always comes first in my life, so when it became apparent that my night hours was wearing on my family I took a day job in the mechanical contracting field as an estimator.

There were rumors that I would be groomed to take over the office down the line - so I was kind of excited about that. But, nearly a year since changing careers - I have come to realize that there is no way I can do the job of my boss - nor do I even want to, this job is definitely not my cup of tea.

So, for most of the summer I have been researching and talking with numerous people to figure out if I should get into the teaching field - and I am pretty excited about it. It's been nearly five years since I have taken an actual college class, so I am a little apprehensive, but I think I will do alright.

Anyway, wish me luck as I journey into my new career.

EXTRA: Last night was my last summer basketball game. Our team, which finished third during the regular season with a 6-2 record, won our first playoff game last week. This week, however, we were down two players - and the other team had around 12. So they really ran us down and we fell in the semifinals. Still, finishing in third place isn't so bad with the competition in our league. We shall see if I will continue on in this league next summer or not. Time will tell.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

So, just after getting my Wii last year at Christmas time, my birthday rolled around and my lovely wife purchased me two games for my Wii system.

One was the Lego Stars Wars: The Complete Saga, which I had seen but never played - but was very interested in getting into.

At this time, however, I was very much engrossed in Mario Galaxy - so I never played the Lego Star Wars game when I first got it. Next came my obsession with Super Smash Bros., followed by Mario Kart Wii ----- and you see where I am going with this.

Well, I actually tossed the game in a few weeks ago, and it blew me away. It is so much fun to play and it seems neverending. I am nearly through the Episode VI and am still only at around 30% complete.

The game obviously revolves around the Star Wars galaxy, and basically follows the movies pretty closely. Throughout the game you slowly start to collect more and more characters from the films in your entourage.

Last night, even my wife decided to play - that may be because I have played the past two or three nights and she wanted to hang out with me, but either way she seemed to have actually enjoyed playing.

I look forward to unlocking even more of the games magic in the coming days. It is certainly holding me over as I wait for Star Wars Unleashed and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Now, I know this isn't a movie, but the same grading system applies. Just relate it to the gaming world.

Grade:

Fantasy Football

I have been playing fantasy sports for a multitude of years. It all started in college when my roommate got me started in a fantasy basketball website - and I was immediately hooked.

Over the years I have tried almost everything: basketball, baseball, football, hockey, car racing, college and pro pick 'em, golf, etc.

But, slowly each one started to fade away. The only one I am truly still engulfed in is Fantasy Football.

A few years back my family started a league - and also we give out a trophy at the end of the season to the winner. The trophy is a miniature helmet with our league name on it, and with each season victory the champion will initial the helmet and place the year he/she won on it.

I was victorious during the first year that we held the league. My uncle (who lives in Kansas City) was champion during year two - his son claimed the title in our third season. And last year, my uncle from Pittsburgh came out of nowhere to grab the title.

Our league is pretty simple - we have two starting quarterbacks, four starting wide receivers, two starting running backs, a tight end, a kicker and a defense.

We held our online draft last Sunday, and I was stuck with the last pick in the first round.

Here is the rundown of my draft picks:

First round, 10th overall: Randy Moss, WR, New England Patriots.
Second round, 11th overall: Marion Barber, RB, Dallas Cowboys.
Third round, 30th overall: Plaxico Burress, WR, New York Giants.
Fourth round, 31st overall: Derek Anderson, QB, Cleveland Browns.
Fifth round, 50th overall: Thomas Jones, RB, New York Jets.
Sixth round, 51st overall: Santonio Holmes, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Seventh round, 70th overall: Marc Bulger, QB, St. Louis Rams.
Eighth round, 71st overall: Chris Cooley, TE, Washington Redskins.
Ninth round, 90th overall: Cowboys Defense.
Tenth round, 91st overall: Bernard Berrian, WR, Minnesota Vikings.
Eleventh round, 110th overall: Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Twelfth round, 111th overall: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers.
Thirteenth round, 130th overall: Adam Vinatieri, K, Indianapolis Colts.
Fourteenth round, 131st overall: Sidney Rice, WR, Minnesota Vikings.
Fifteenth round, 150th overall: Jaguars Defense.
Sixteenth round, 151st overall: Rob Bironas, K, Tennessee Titans.
Seventeenth round, 170th overall: Zach Miller, TE, Oakland Raiders.
Eighteenth round, 171st overall: Ricky Williams, RB, Miami Dolphins.
Nineteenth round, 190th overall: DeSean Jackson, WR, Philadelphia Eagles.

I made a couple mistakes in my draft, however. I did not notice the bye weeks for my two starting quarterbacks - who actually have the exact same bye week - so for that week, I will have to pick up another quarterback.

In our league, if you have a good defense, kicker and tight end - eventually you will only need one. So once the bye weeks finish, the extras are usually dropped for running back, quarterback and wide receiver depth.

I took a few gambles like always: I always select at least one rookie who I believe may get a chance to grab some points. In this draft, I took both Mendenhall from Pittsburgh and Jackson from Philadelphia. Mendenhall should see time as Willie Parker's backup, as well as on goal line plays. Jackson could develop into a go-to-guy for Donovan McNabb, who has lacked talented receivers.

My final gamble was on Ricky Williams. Williams has been out of the league for a long time before finally making his return last year - only to get injured in his first game. This training camp, Williams has been praised for his workouts and play. So hopefully, he will also see some time and prove to be the player he was in the past.

My main concern on my team is quarterback, which it always seems to be. Picking 10th, all the top-tier quarterbacks were gone: Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger - so I went with the receiver and then the running back. After another round Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck were off the board - so I went with Anderson, who broke out last year. My only hope is that he can repeat that performance - and that Bulger returns to his previous form as well. Rodgers has looked sharp in the early going, but replacing Favre will be hard. He may be a wild card that I was lucky enough to select, because there is some talent on the Packers.

Well, wish me luck. It' s been three seasons since I have had the coveted trophy. And it would sure look good on my desk again.

Breaking the Habit

I guess I have been lucky. I have never been addicted to anything that is too bad for me.

I am not innocent, I have tried cigarettes. I have tried a couple of different drugs. I even started drinking at parties at the age of 15.

Lucky for me, though, I didn't enjoy smoking cigarettes. Drugs just never worked for me, in fact they were pretty much worthless. And I pretty much got drinking out of my system by the time I turned 21.

There has always been one addiction I have had that, although not terrible, is difficult for me to give up.

My name is Keith, and I am a sodaholic.

I don't enjoy drinking water, and making iced tea is always such a hassle. So, I drink soda. And I love drinking soda.

However, I have noticed a rotund object growing around my body. Oh wait, that is my body. Yes, I have gained a little more weight than I would have liked to.

So, in an effort to drop a few extra pounds I have decided to give up my precious soda. I gave myself an out as to not give it up cold turkey: I can drink soda during football on Sunday, and on that day only. But, if I am doing well I may try to steer clear of falling off the wagon even on that day.

After my trip to Outer Banks finished, I swore of the golden nectar and have been clean for a week and a day so far.

It's pretty difficult to do when you think about it. I go out to lunch every day for work - and usually have a Pepsi with my meal, but I have been searching for alternate methods of thirst quenching. I have even surprised myself and been drinking a lot more water than I am used to - and so far it isn't so bad.

I know this is by far not as bad as battling cigarette, alcohol or drug addiction - and my prayers are with those people trying to kick those habits - but for me this is a difficult process, one that I hope I am able to conquer. At least until I feel a little better about my weight.


NOTES: Just wanted to say how saddened I was about the loss of Bernie Mac. I never really got into his show, The Bernie Mac Show, but I really enjoyed his character Frank Catton in the Ocean's Trilogy as well as his bit part in Transformers. Another talented actor lost way before his time. R.I.P.

Return of the Kano

It has been over a week since my last posting. I have been away on a much needed and far too short vacation.

Every other year my family gets together in the Outer Banks for a semi-family reunion. I say 'semi' because not everyone is always able to attend. This year my sister and my cousin weren't able to make it because of their jobs.

The house we rented this year was pretty nice, but definitely not as nice as the homes we had rented in previous years. I did enjoy my room and bed, however - despite not having our own bathroom (which really didn't end up being a problem). The bed was very large and comfortable, and for the hours I was able to sleep each night, I slept pretty well.

I thought the overall layout of the house was pretty nice, but a few tweaks may have made the house even better. The pool, for instance, was way too small for the size of the family we have. In years past we were able to jump into the pool, horse around - but this year you would be looking for a serious injury. In fact, I smacked my foot on the ladder once just trying to turn around in the pool.

Also, the night that we all get together two of my uncles head out for a massive grocery shopping. In years past, we have always had an extremely large fridge, or perhaps two fridges. This year, we had one medium sized fridge, which wasn't large enough for everything that we had purchased.

But, those were my only negatives of the trip - that and that it takes so long to drive there and back (more on that in the conclusion).

Kasey had a blast on his first trip to the beach. He truly has no fear - which is nice, but also scares the crap out of me. He ran right out into the ocean each time we took him to the beach. He also believes that the sand is for swimming, because he constantly did full body dives in the sand. When we were in the pool, he loved 'jumping' in to our awaiting arms. Jumping wasn't really the word, as many times it was a side step which almost smacked his butt on the pavement.

He got along really well with everyone there, and I think they all loved him as well. I have another cousin who has a son, Grayson, and my aunt has a six-month old daughter, Kelly. He got along very well with each of them - which delighted me because he doesn't get to be with young children that often.

Kasey was amazing the entire trip, and it just cements how lucky we are to have a kid like him. We had another exciting day where Erika had to go to the hospital, and was diagnosed with a kidney stone - still waiting for that to pass - but she was a trooper and didn't really let it bother her week.

It was difficult to leave as we had a very nice time there - and we both knew that work was lurking around the corner.

We left on Saturday at around 9 a.m. and traveled the entire trip home - arriving at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. Again, Kasey had a pretty solid go at it - being in the car for 16 hours will make anyone crabby, but for a 21 month old, it could be dreadful. But, he only had a few meltdowns, the last of which was because he was so tired and could not get comfortable in his car seat. The only other setback was that he peed through his diaper twice on the trip back - which also meant his car seat got wet and his pants. But, we made it work and we made it back in one piece. I was so glad that car trip was over.

Overall, the week was amazing. I don't get to see my extended family too often as they have spread out all over the country - I have relatives in Houston, Seattle, Kansas City, Chicago, San Antonio, Pittsburgh and Plattsburgh (us). Also, it was my first vacation in over a year - and it felt great. But, the trip back took a lot out of me so I am exhausted again.

I need a vacation.

P.S. - While I was away Nick at R2D2 has marked me for the 12 Movies Meme - and although I am not a complete movie blog, I do delve into my thoughts on movies from time to time - so I will give it a whirl and have something within the next few days. Thanks for including me R2D2.

Family Reunion Vacation

Unfortunately, for my millions-upon-millions (read: three) of devoted readers, I am off to the great state of North Carolina and the Outer Banks for a full week of fun in the sun.

Every two years my grandmother rents a huge house in the Outer Banks for my entire family to get together for a family reunion-type vacation. This week will be the third time we have traveled to OBX.

The first trip happened in 2004, I had just graduated college and was working in Plattsburgh, but Erika had to stay in Pittsburgh for her final semester. So, my travel arrangements were to fly into Norfolk, Va and my parents were picking me up for the rest of the car ride to our rented house. It was a fun week, despite having to sleep in bunk beds.

The second journey to North Carolina was a much longer one - Erika, my sister and I traveled the 14-plus hours via car. The longest part being stuck in New Jersey during rush hour. Being from such a small town - traffic and I do not get along too well. But, we made it and had another exciting time - and we even got our own room. Kasey was just a few months away from being born.

This year will be Kasey's first experience (outside the womb) of Outer Banks. I am looking forward to seeing how enjoys such a big house, the beach, swimming for a week, etc. He is so fun when he is experiencing new and exciting things - so the week should be a fun time with him - I expect to be even more tired after vacation than before. The trip down, starting tomorrow, I hope works out - we are traveling 10 hours tomorrow to Virgina, then the final four on Sunday. Hopefully, we won't have any hiccups along the way - I am hoping he behaves himself for the trip. He'll have toys, books and movies - but for 14 hours, it'll be tough to keep him satisfied.

So until August 4th (unless I sneak onto a computer during the vacation, which is doubtful) you must survive with out the ramblings of one Kano.

Here is a countdown to help you through this difficult time:

Fair Time

The Fair has come to town again. I remember a time when I used to love going to the fair, but I can't really remember why.

The rides were always so terrible, and it costs an arm and a leg to get into the place, let alone eating something, enjoying the rides or playing any games.

I hadn't been in a few years, but last night we took our son to the fair for the first time. It still isn't the best time in the world - but it was nice to see him enjoy himself.

We started off with a little hot dog dinner before heading over to the 4-H building to see the various animals. Kasey enjoyed the cow the best. We went back to view the horses (which there didn't seem to be any) and actually found some elephants and a few camels instead. Kasey really enjoyed the elephants.

We stopped off for some fried bread dough, Erika and Kasey had some, and we got some cotton candy and candy apples for later.

It was nice to get out of the house and walk around a little. And I believe Kasey enjoyed himself, so it was worth it.

The problem is, the fair brings out the worst in people. I have to assume that most of these people don't actually wear the kind of outfits they wear to fairs during regular business days. Is there a sign at the front of the fair that won't allow people in unless they are wearing skin tight pants and a tank top?

I am sure now that we are having children that we will be going back year-after-year, but I wish they would get a few more attractions that sensible adults would enjoy. A man can only take so many cows. Even if they were kinda cute.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

This was a very laid back weekend at the Kane household. There was absolutely nothing on the schedule for the weekend, which might be the last time for a good month.

It was nice to spend some time with my wife and my son without anything having to force us out of the house. It was very peaceful.

And, we were able to catch up on some movies.

We watched a trio of movies this weekend (well more than that, but these were three we put into the DVD player). The first of which was National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

I had started watching the first National Treasure film a year or so ago, but the DVD which I was watching it on had a glitch - and I had not finished the film until just a few weeks ago. So, it was pretty fresh in my mind when watching this sequel.

For most people out there, Nicolas Cage is a terrible actor. But, I am not one of those people - while I will admit he is not anywhere close to a great actor, he gets no ill-will from me. I can actually deal with him.

That being said, I really enjoyed National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I thought it flowed very well, and of course a lot of the things that happen are very unbelievable (it is a movie), but it is highly original, which I like. And, it kept me interested throughout.

The whole idea about clues hidden on or in historical documents leading to treasures or more historical documents is amazing. I love treasure hunt movies, and this one was very good.

Things start out as Ben Gates (Cage) and his father Patrick (Jon Voight) are giving a lecture about how Patrick's great-grandfather (or perhaps grandfather) Thomas Gates hid the location of the City of Gold from the Knights of the Golden Circle and John Wilkes Booth.

After the lecture, a man named Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), whose relative was a member for the KGC, shows them a part of Booth's diary with names of the members of the KGC - including the name of Thomas Gates.

So, in order to preserve their family name, Ben and Patrick, along with Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) set out on a second journey, this time to find the City of Gold.

There were a few things I did not like - for instance the oil lamp near the end of the film that just happens to be there, it reminded me a lot of the first movie, which could have been avoided - but, I guess I am just nitpicking.

Grade:

P.S. - In the future, I am hoping to have a certain tie-in to the movies I watch during the weekend - that is, when I am able to watch movies on the weekend. Something like a 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon'-type thing.