Kids and Their Toys

I remember when I got my first set of Lincoln Logs for Christmas. Not even sure if Legos were on the scene yet, but those became a big part of my life as well. My nephew Max has a Lego addiction that I admire and support.

Fast-forward to today where the toys have become incredibly sophisticated, digitized and social. My daughter Sydney, about a year ago, was begging for us to purchase her a Nintendo DS-I (the one with internet capabilities). It took some convincing, but I showed her how, for about $100 more, she could have an iPod Touch (8 GB) and have the best of both worlds. She agreed and has since made it her daily tool for all things music, chat, multimedia (yes, video production) and games. She gets to download free games from the iPod store and paid games with our permission. She has thousands of games at her disposal (I can’t imagine the money we have saved from buying individual cartridges for the DS-I).

The other day she showed me this free app where you can take advantage of the video camera on the iPod and render the movies backwards. Today, on the Eve of her 11th birthday, she plopped down in the chair next to me and showed me the video below. It was recorded the other day at her cousin Max’s house. It really made me smile because of its creativity, but also the fact that it was “Old School” (Legos) meets “New School” (iPod) in the toy department.

Game On!

A Bucket List Swimming Adventure

For as long as I can remember, my daughter Sydney has been PASSIONATE about dolphins. I don’t really remember what inspired her love of these creatures, but it’s a fact that she’s got Flipper on the brain.

We recently took a trip to Florida as a family to do the whole Walt Disney World, Epcot, Universal Studios and Sea World thing. All Sydney could talk about was going to Sea World and getting a chance to see the dolphins.

I’ll be the first to admit that without my wife’s organization and planning, this trip wouldn’t have taken place (or been as memorable and fun). While planning, she came to me one night with an idea that she received while talking to some friends of her sister. She showed me a website for Discovery Cove. This is a place where Sydney would get the chance to actually swim with the dolphins. I immediately agreed. So Shonda, Sommer and Sydney reserved the dolphin swim package, while I opted for the bystander pass so I could capture the moments on video and pictures.

Long story short, the Discovery Cove day was by far the BEST day of our trip and the one that left the most memories for us. We were all able to snorkel in the man-made reef with the stingrays and other fish. Incredible. The girls and I had a chance to to the Sea Venture which allowed us to wear scuba-like helmets and walk on the bottom of the reef for about 25 minutes. Unforgettable.

It was a day of walking on white sand, sitting in beach chairs, snorkeling, floating down the lazy river and feeding exotic birds with our hands. We will absolutely return back there some day.

Below is the video that was shot by the Disovery Cove staff that we purchased. I smile every time I see the smile on the girls face as they interacted with “Rose”, their new dolphin friend.

Sydney and the Just For Kix Winter Show

Every time I watch my girls perform, I marvel at their talent and appreciate the long hours they have spent with their coaches, instructors and mentors to get ready for these events. I’m proud of all the girls out there, actually! It’s impossible for me to watch one of these performances without a smile on my face!

If you would like to see other performance, you can visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ourwildfamily.

Enjoy!

The Best Choir Performances I’ve Ever Heard

This is one of the greatest choir experiences I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life. Period.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching my daughter’s perform in many choirs. I am often brought to tears as I watch them share their passion with the audience.

In July of 2011, my daughter Sommer and I had an opportunity to travel through 7 European countries in 16 days as part of the Northern Ambassadors of Music Tour.

The choir is a combination of students from North Dakota and Montana and was directed by Larry Swingen.

This song, “Oh Lord, Please Hear My Prayer” by Moses Hogan was always the highlight song for me. I was moved to tears each and every time I heard it. This recording was from the St. Oswald’s Church in Seefeld, Austria.

I am grateful that I could be there to witness this.

If you would like to see other performances from this concert, you can visit our YouTube.com channel at www.youtube.com/ourwildfamily.

The Austrian 9 Mile Tunnel

During our July trip to Europe in 2011, Sommer and I had a lot of chance to see some amazing scenery on our coach (driven by “The Amazing Alfred”). We even had chances to hold our breath from the beginning to end of each tunnel. This became an increasing challenge in the alps as the tunnels could stretch out over a mile or more.

Then we hit a NINE MILE tunnel on our way to Innsbruck, Austria! Here it is in all its glory, only instead of the 12+ minutes it actually took us to navigate it, we are going to let you experience it in only one minutes.

What’s the longest tunnel you have ever experienced? Leave your comments below!

Sydney and the Large Mouth Bass

In July of 2011, while Sommer and I were cruising around Europe as part of the Northern Ambassadors of Music Tour, Sydney and Shonda were in Minnesota spending some time at the lake with the Shields family. Here is a video of Sydney hauling in one of her first fish and it was a nice large mouth bass!