Camping

We're camping this weekend with my brother Dan and family down in Ohio at Maumee Bay State Park. This is our first time camping as a family, but it should be fun. There's rain in the forecast, which adds to the experience.

NYC Cabbie

I'm in the back of a cab, sitting between two guys, stuck in traffic, all of us about to vomit from car sickness. This guy drives, brakes and weaves like he's drunk.

Pickle Phobia

My brother Jon posted this cute video of my niece Libby eating a video.


After seeing this video on Maury of what a real pickle phobia can lead to, I'm a little worried about Libby.

NYC

I got up about 4:30 this morning to get to the airport to fly into New York City. I worked during the day and then went to one of my top 3 favorite restaurants in the world. It's a Brazilian restaurant call Churasaca Plataforma. It starts with the most amazing smörgåsbord's, followed by 30 skewers of meats that they keep bringing until you tell them to stop. I didn't know there were that many kinds of meat in the world. They start with the cheap stuff, so you have to stay strong and resist until skewer #20 comes out with the good stuff. Full and bloated, Bill, Ron and I walked around Times Square for a while watching the lights and the people. Some wild people and sights to see out there. I brought my camera gear and got a chance to take some great pictures which I'll post when I get home on Thursday.

Maddie's Birthday

Today is Madeline's 8th birthday. She was greeted this morning by a roomful of balloons and her favorite breakfast of carmel pancakes with whipped cream. I took her to lunch and then she and I went clothes shopping, which was fun. I asked her who was better to shop with and she said, "Mom, because she doesn't have a budget." We finished it up with a visit to Cold Stone Creamery for Ice Cream.

Faith

Faith leads us beyond ourselves
-Pope John Paul II

The Larger Story

The great use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it
-James Truslow Adams

Jay

I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith, his writing, his storytelling and his movies. This is a very interesting 7 part story from Kevin's blog on Jason Mewes's (who plays the Jay half of Jay and silent Bob) journey in and out of drug addiction told in a pretty graphic way. The story is told from Kevin's perspective and it shows a pretty amazing friendship, one that sticks by a friend in some very tough times and shows some very tough love.
(Warning: Kevin Smith tells the story pretty graphically and the story's content is not for everyone. The message of the story is phenomenal, but you may not be able to get past some of his language.)

Backyard Campout

We're going camping with Dan and Kris next weekend, so we decided to setup our tent to make sure we had all of the parts and could actually fit everyone into the tent. Cathie and the kids decided to sleep out there last night for the fun of it. At one point two raccoons (Cathie told the kids they were cats) were screaming and fighting in the yard, but otherwise, it was pretty uneventful. Doing things like this is reason #333 that my wife is the best Mom in the world.

Swingset Olympics

Nate wanted me to make a video of him doing a back-flip on the swing. Not to be outdone, Madeline wanted to do it bigger and better. Emily and Nate's friend Austin figured he would contribute his own talent:

Crossroads Mudbowl

We had our 11th annual Crossroads Mudbowl yesterday and today. Yesterday was the junior high mudbowl (with about 15 kids) and today was the church-wide mudbowl. We started this back as a youth group event and eventually it became a church-wide event. We had the local fire department come out yesterday and hose down the dirt so it was good to go. I missed the first youth group one ever, so I made up for it today by participating in church-wide one today. I'm still picking dirt-boogers out of my nose and big-old dirt-balls out of my hair.

You can see the rest of the Mudbowl pictures here in the Kurt Family Gallery.

Tags: Crossroads Community Church, South Lyon, Mudbowl

Father's Day/Maddie's Birthday Party

After the Relay for Life we went to Cathie's parents house to celebrate father's day and Maddie's birthday. We swam for 6 hours straight, without the kids getting out of the pool except to eat and pee (at least I think they got out of the pool for that part). We swam, dove and floated - having a ton of fun. We had this giant hamster wheel that we used as a target, so I'd toss the kids through the air to land in the hole and then we'd dive through the thing from way out.

Even though it was Father's day, we got pictures of the Moms.

We all ended up getting fried, but Dan was kind enough to take care of Will with lots of lotion and oils.

The whole day was a blast. Our families played, laughed, ate and drank all day, having a great time. Maddie put it best when she said, "Dad, our family sure knows how to have fun." You can see the rest of the pictures here in the Kurt Family Photo Gallery.

Relay for Life

Today my Mom and Dad walked in the survivors lap of the Relay for Life, part of the American Cancer Society. The whole family was there with my parents, along with her best friend Sherry. My mom was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in October and she just has finished her last round of chemo and radiation. In 1992, my dad was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. He had surgery and radiation and has had no problems since.

The Relay had teams of people walking over the course of 24 hours to raise money. dThe whole family walked with my Mom an Dad in the survivor lap and it was really moving. The kids marched ahead of my Mom carrying a sign and Sherry followed behind pushing the wheelchair just in case my Mom needed a break, but ended up pushing various sets of the kids for a couple of laps.

The last part of this brought a tear to my eye as people applauded my Mom and Dad as they walked to the end of the lap. It was awesome being there with my Mom for this.

You can see the rest of the pictures in the Kurt Family Photo Gallery.

Tags: Relay for Life, American Cancer Society

Good News

Last Tuesday all of my Mom's counts were way down. Yesterday she got something in the mail showing that all of her counts were critical. She got a call from the doctor today saying that all of her counts are up, which is great.

On a side note, it's been amazing all of the people that have come around my Mom as she's gone through her cancer treatments. She's had total strangers bring meals and sending her notes of encouragement. This week while my Dad was out of town she had all sorts of people helping out, including her best friend Sherry and Noel's mom Linda. It's neat to see how many people are willing to go out of their way and give of themselves to help out a fellow human being.

We're going to see my Mom walk in the "Walk for Life" cancer walk. This isn't what it sounds like. You do not actually GET cancer by walking in this, nor do you get any kind of additional life by walking in this. Either way, we'll be there to cheer my Mom on. I may even skip or stroll if I'm feeling a little wacky.

He's Back

The woodchuck is back. Riley loves to sit on the deck with me in the morning and keep the yard safe from squirrels, rabbits and woodchucks. She's never done anything more than chase them and bark at them. She's been looking for this woodchuck for a while. He was heading back under the deck and Riley took off after him and this time, she finally caught him. She stopped for a second and then realized she had no idea what to do with it. She let it go, and then sat back down. He's freaked Cathie out a couple of times as she's been planting flowers, and stolled out by her. I'm not sure if I should feed the thing and teach him tricks, kill him, trap him, or just leave him be. Maybe I should name him?

Emily had a rubbermaid container full of rollie-pollie bugs she'd found outside, along with some grass and whatever else she thinks makes up a bug terrarium. They were sitting on the table, everything dead. No you need to understand that Emily loves animals, bugs, you name it. She loves them to death.

Maddie: "Emily, all of your rollie-pollie bugs are dead"
Me: "Emily is the rollie-pollie killer"
Emily: "No, I'm the rollie-pollie lover."

Cathie and the kids went to her parents last night to see her Grandparents off. I had to work late and couldn't make it. The kids had a blast swimming and playing. Nate got a chance to teach his Grandpa a few moves on the football field.







Cathie's grandparents have been in town for the past couple weeks and are getting ready to head home shortly. I've known Cathie's grandparents for about 17 years, and they're great people, treating me like a part of the family from the beginning.
They're both awesome, but Cathie's grandpa in particular is an amazing guy. Both of my grandpa's passed away when I was young and from the beginning, Cathie's grandpa treated me like one of his grandsons, which is really special for me. He's a great guy who knows something about everything and has a great sense of humor.

Soap

Emily ended up getting her mouth washed out with soap (a tiny drop of liquid soap on the end of her finger into Em's mouth) yesterday as a result of something she'd done. Nate's buddy Austin was over and saw this happen and explained to Cathie that he'd never gotten this punishment before, but wanted to try it. It went something like this:

Austin: "My Mom's never done that to me. Can I try that?"
Nate: "Austin, trust me, you don't want to try that."
Austin: (Putting soap on his finger and in his mouth):"Hey, this isn't bad. It's tastes like watermel...oooh, that tastes bad. Yuck! (spit/spit) Get me some water. Ewww..."
Nate: "I told you it was bad Austin."

Life Saver

Thanks to Marko for this piece of genius:

apparently, a new study shows that herring can escape killer whale attacks by farting. yup. i’m not making this up. to quote:

Norwegian killer whales slap their tails underwater to disorient and kill herring, which sometimes defend themselves from the assault by disappearing under the cover of their own bubbly flatulence, according to a new study.

The study is one of two papers presented at the recent Acoustical Society of America Meeting in Rhode Island that addressed some of the clever techniques whales employ to catch their dinner.

While whales often are successful, some herring escape. The study’s authors perhaps say it best: “Farting may save their lives.”

Family Values

Cathie and I went on a date tonight. Nothing fancy: Dinner and coffee. Most of the times our dates are just a chance to get out, be together and talk about life and reconnect as husband and wife. Tonight we spent a lot of time talking about our family and what we think our kids are learning about what family means and what we want them to look like in 10 and 20 years.

1. Family is big. Our family isn't just Cathie, myself and the kids. The kids spend a lot of time with their cousins, my brothers/brother-in-law, my sister/sisters-in-laws and our parents. Cathie, the kids and I just started attending the family reunion in Iowa to try and expand it.
2. Family is connected. My whole family (Brothers, Sisters, Parents Brother/Sister-in-laws) all talk to each other weekly if not daily. We communicate through our blogs, through e-mail and on the phone all the time. If we're watching a movie or TV show and see something funny, we call each other. We genuinely like each other.
3. Family is inclusive. One of the things that my family does a great job at is including people that aren't blood relatives into the family and make them feel connected. Those friends that are an extension of our family (Will, Kasey, etc) are welcomed into my larger family when we get together for holidays, birthdays, etc.
4. Family spends time together. We get together with my family any chance we get. Memorial Day, Birthdays, Holidays - you name it, we get together for it. We just enjoy hanging out together.
5. Family helps each other. In my opinion, there's no greater love than helping someone move. When someone in the family (or extended family) is moving, we're all there. Whether it's building decks, roofing a house, whatever it is, we all pitch in. Even those of us without skills in the handy-man arts(me).
6. Family shares. My brother Jon is a great example of this. If he has something laying around that he's not using, like a TV or piece of furniture, he finds someone who can use it in the family and gives it to them.
7. Family celebrates. My family has this awesome tradition around birthdays. We get together and have a birthday party for every nice, nephew, aunt, uncle, brother and sister's birthdays. The other great part of this is that on your birthday, you must receive a phone call from every member of the family, no matter where you are or where they are. If you don't make the call, you'll be shamed for the rest of the year. It sounds goofy, but if it's your birthday, it's fun.
8. Family has traditions.We have all these goofy traditions (like the birthday phone calls) that are too many to name, but you quickly pick up on them after hanging with the family for a few minutes.
9. Family is accepting. We've got a diverse family with lots of people with lots of flaws. We're committed to each other for the long haul, though, and we're able to take each other's flaws in that context. If you're commited to someone and know you're "stuck" with them forever, you take their flaws and deal with them, knowing that you're not perfect as well.

Now I don't claim that we're perfect or that we always get this right. It can be tough to prioritize some of this stuff and we can end up spreading ourselves too thin at times. Having a close, connected family is really important to Cathie and I, and become even more important over the past year with my Mom's cancer. I've seen other families that are disconnected at so many levels and it makes me appreciate the level of connection that we've got with each other.

The more I look at how we define family, the more I see ties into what church looks like. Cathie and I have been at the same church for 12 years and watched people come and go for different reasons. I think part of the reason we've stuck it out is because we approach church with a lot of the same values that we approach family. I want our kids to see the church as a extension of family, to understand we love each other where we're at, we're committed to each other, and we love and give as need exists, like the early church described in Acts 2. I think that's part of why I've taken it so personally in the past when I've seen people bolt from our church for petty reasons, because it feels like someone leaving a family. In the end, we have a group of diverse people at our church that my kids have grown up around and seen that we're committed to each other through thick-and-thin, just like family.

Firefox Cheat Sheet

Great Firefox Cheat Sheet for power users. I guess if you're really a power user, you already know these. I only know half.

Mornings

What a great morning. I love summer mornings, especially when I'm not traveling and I can get into a normal routine. I've been getting up at 5:30, going to the gym and then coming back and taking some time for myself. After the gym, my morning routine involves grabbing a cup of coffee, sitting on my deck and spending time reading, journaling and praying. I've been reading two books right now (The Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoffer and The Bible Jesus Read by Yancy) and going through 1 Corinthians. Once I get in the rhythm of doing this, missing it kills me, although I'm always amazed at how easily I can fall away from this. Sitting on the deck in the morning, I get to hear the birds chirping, watch the squirrels run around and spend some of the only quiet, technology-free time in my entire day. Occasionally, my kids will wake up early and come sit on my lap outside for a while, which I love. Sometimes they'll ask about why I sit out there, other times about what I'm reading and sometimes we'll just sit their quietly and listen to the birds.

Life, the Universe and Everything

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
-C. S. Lewis

Happy Father's Day

These are the Free Funniest Father's Day Cards ever.

The First Rule of Fight Club

Nate got back from basketball camp on Friday afternoon, sporting his new hair-do, thanks to my sister Sooze and brother-in-law Kevin. I still dig it. My Mom's comment, "It could have been worse."
The boys got home and decided to put the boxing gloves on and go at it for a while in full-force. You can see more of the pictures here.

Father's Day

I had a fantastic father's day. The day began with breakfast in bed and some awesome gifts from the kids. Each one of them made me something - Maddie a poster, Nate a garden stone and Emily a video, which you can see below:



Maddie's Poster, The 10 Best Thing about Dad:

10. He taught me how to ride my bike.
9. He likes to swim with me.
8. He plays games with me.
7. He plays outside with me.
6. He cheers me on at competitions
5. He likes to take me to build-a-bear
4. He helps me with stuff
3. He takes me to camp sometimes.
2. He knows how to make me laugh
1. He loves me!

Nate's note to me:

Dear Dad,
You are the best! You play video games with me, you go to the movies with me. I love you so much Dad. If all of the dads were lined up in a row I would choose you, Dad.
Love Nathan

Tent Service

We had our first tent service yesterday at our church's property, which was a blast! It was cool to have the service at the location of our new building, which starts going up shortly and to imagine what it will be like. We also recognized our graduates, which was bitter-sweet. Some of these kids who graduated were a part of my youth group back in sixth grade!

After church we had a big pancake breakfast as the kids jumped in the bounce-house thing. I got in for a while, and didn't hurt a single kid! You can see more picture here.

Piling on

For better or for worse, my friend Will is considered part of the family. To the kids he's "Uncle Will", and to my brothers and sisters, he's one of us. The upside to this is that he gets to be part of the sarcasm that comes with the membership. A great example is here in this post where Will pours his heart out, and one-after-one, my brothers and I respond with the standard brotherly love.

Great News

My Mom just finished her last chemo and radiation treatment yesterday! She had a Dr's appointment today to find out some of the results of the blood work they'd done. One of the tests checks the levels specifically around pancreatic cancer. The results were excellent! Those levels were just slightly above where a person without pancreatic cancer's levels should be! My Mom was thrilled to hear the news and so are we.

Thursday, Lynn completed 6 1/2 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy, receiving very good reports from both oncologists. That means NOT going to the Cancer Center daily and 11 fewer pills each day.

Emotionally, Lynn is flying high with this great news. Physically, she remains very tired, but this will improve as she begins to heal from the treatments. She can't wait for her appetite to return and food starting to taste better, so she can start putting on some lbs. The docs are very hopeful and encouraging, but will monitor her with regular blood tests and CT scans. She is happy that her next appointment is not until the end of July.

We are very thankful for the great doctors and hospitals that the Lord steered us to. She has spent more time than you can imagine in doctors offices, hospitals and treatment rooms over the last 9 months. She has been an inspiration to me and the rest of our family for her positive outlook throughout. And she went through this ordeal without complaint. She is truly a remarkable person.

On Saturday, July 24, Lynn will be walking in the Survivor Victory Lap at the Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Nine of our grandchildren will be routing her on, along with most of our kids. (Jon, Beth and Libby won't be able to make for good reason.) She is excited to be able to do this.

One of Lynn's favorite quotes is: "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much." Mother Teresa

Templar

I just finished the book The Last Templar. If people thought The DaVinci Code was controversial, this book is way out there. It's a very similar story line, but this goes even further out there to beat down the concept of faith and the Christian as the root of the world's evils. The bottom line is that it's a fiction book that leans pretty heavy on one side of the story and misrepresents history pretty hardcore. The reality is that the Gospel is strong and has withstood the ages. Hopefully someone reads the book and decides to dig into the truth behind it. If you want to hear a good, historical explanation of some of the truth behind The DaVinci Code, check out Noel's message from a few week's back here.

The Izzone

My brother-in-law Kevin took the boys to the MSU All Star game last night after basketball camp. This isn't the greatest picture ever, but here's part of Matthew,Nate and Gabe with Tom Izzo, the basketball coach for the world champion Spartans.

Dan and Keanu sitting in a tree

My brother Dan loves Keanu Reeves so much that he put together this list of The top 40 reasons Keanu does NOT suck.

Update: The Jay has asked that I explicitly call out the fact that Dan is incapable of writing this article and that Dan's name is clearly not Jay, plus Dan doesn't refer to himself in the third person - but should.

Super Dave

One of the questions that keeps me up at night is this: If I were given the option for to have one super power, which would it be, and why? This web site has really helped me think this through.

Cool collection from SI of award winning photos. Phenomenal pictures.

Hitler Cats

As of today, the internet officially has everything, including a web site devoted to cat's that look like hitler.

Dad, you broke my favorite branch on that tree. You broke my heart when you did that.
-Emily

Overheard Conversation

Friend: "We have a church night at our church for people who aren't saved. Are you saved?"
Maddie: "Saved from what?"
Friend: "You know, saved"
Cathie: "It means have you asked Jesus into your heart"
Maddie: "Oh. "

Growing in Community

Together Yet Separate from Relevant Magazine:

Currently, we could hardly say that man is alone. There are about 6.5 billion people in the world. Nonetheless, walking into that lounge, I discovered that even in the midst of multitudes, it is possible for man to be alone. As long as we are unwilling to connect closely with people, to be vulnerable and transparent, to confess our sins to each other, we will and ought to experience loneliness. We may excuse this loneliness with a “higher spirituality” (i.e. "I don’t need people as long as I have God"), but once more, God did not consider that to be good.

Flippin Off the Couch

My Son the Punk

As I was driving back from Lansing, I got a call from Nate, saying, "Dad, Aunt Susan said I have to call and get your permission for her to give me a mohawk." I thought for about 1/2 a second and said, "Sure. Cool. I wouldn't call Mom and ask, though." Here's Sooze's description of the cut.
Before:

After:


I let Cathie figure it out by seeing the pictures on my sister's blog. Her first words were "You better not have." The second words out of her mouth were, "I'm not mad at Susan. I'm mad at you. She at least thought to have Nate call you. See, look at the second picture. He doesn't even look happy." I stand by my decision. I think it's cool.

Dentist

I've been having these jaw problems for a while so I decided it was about time to see the Dentist. My Dentist's office is about an hour away in Okemos. Why would I drive an hour to the Dentist. As my sister Sooze describes here, Dr. Currier isn't just a Dentist. He's been our family Dentist for 27 years. He's been at all of our weddings and everyone in the family goes to him. He's the best. I figured that while I was getting my jaw looked at, I'd scheduled a cleaning. I arrived and they explained that they hadn't seen me in a while. I replied that it must have been almost 3 years by now. Nope. It's been seven. Only one cavity though, but over seven years on a tooth that already had a filling, and now I need a crown, just like my big brother Dan has all throughout his mouth.

Big Brother

This is cool. Verizon's Chaperone service
allows you to track your kids via their cell phones.

How to Crop Images

This is a great article for digital photographer: How to Crop Images

Nate

Nate and my nephew Matthew are away at basketball camp this week staying with Susan and Kevin. We were talking yesterday about the similarities between our boys. Apparently my son follows in my footsteps. Here's how Susan puts it:

It is sooooo hilarious having my brothers kids here....one is just like his dad. The other is just like his dad.

Here is an visual example for you.....

#1

Here is Dan's son's suitcase. Everything is nicely sorted. Still folded. When he goes through his stuff, he puts it all back where it was. All of his dirty clothes go in the dirty clothes bag.

#2

This is Dave's son's stuff.....thrown all over the floor. What is not on the floor in Allie's room is all over the rest of my house. His dirty clothes go next to or on top of his dirty clothes bag.

Please Pray for Noah

Please take a minute right now and pray for our friends the Girards. Their son Noah has been diagnosed with a rare uretha problem and is seeing a specialist at Children's Hospital tomorrow. Please pray for healing, their piece of mind and for the Doctor's to know what to do.

Update: The doctor said that Noah's condition looks more related to an injury than to the congenital disorder that the first urologist diagnosed. He appears to have an injury to his urethra which requires surgery (scheduled for July 10th) and he will know more about the extent of it when he performs the surgery. He said that with urethral strictures, there is a 30 percent chance of recurrence which will require a repeat surgery; however, unlike the first diagnosis of "posterior urethral valves" there is not the same concern about kidney damage, infertility, etc. This is great news. Thanks for your prayers. How'd you like to be nine and have to have surgery on that portion of your anatomy? Ouch.

Sunday continued

While Nate and I were helping Monaca move, the girls went to Kensington to see a new baby horse that had been born a couple of days before. They had a picnic, went on a nature walk and enjoyed the beautiful day. That wife of mine is one phenomenal Mom.
Last night Cathie and I were sitting on the deck when Riley start barking. It looks like the Woodchuck/Gopher/Groundhog is living under our deck. He popped his head out for a second and Riley went after him. A few minutes later, Riley took off again, this time after Mom and baby raccoon, which she drove up into this tree.

Monaca's Move

Today Will's girlfriend Monaca moved from her place in Lansing to her new place in Haslett. There's a Kurt family tradition that when someone in the family moves, everyone shows up and helps. Kevin, Gabe, Dan, Matthew, Nate, my Dad and myself all showed to help Monaca move (Will was there, but he really had no choice). It was a fairly painless move and we all assumed our roles. Dan was the packer. My brother Dan is the best packer you'll ever meet. He knows how to pack like you wouldn't believe, seeing how he worked for a moving company one year in college. He always wears this harness and doo-rag. It wouldn't be a Kurt family move without it.


One of the Kurt family rules for moving is that if you don't want people to see it, move it yourself. As Will exhibits in the picture above, we have free reign to mock any of your possessions, like this Tony Little Gazelle that Monaca loves (and has since grown her hair out to be like his). We had fun making fun of paintings, underwear and exercise gear without batting an eye. It's also a great time to get free stuff, like a couch that doesn't fit in the back room because the architect was drunk when he designed the hallways. The Crossroads Youth Room now has one more couch to add to it's collection thanks to Monaca's generosity and lack of ability to measure.

Dan and I brought Nate and Matthew down to stay the week with my sister and brother-in-law. Kevin coaches basketball for East Lansing and they're putting on a basketball camp this week that the boys are going to. We brought their bikes, and when I transferred the stuff to my Dad's car, he decided to ride the bike over instead, hence the picture.

Coincidentally, Monaca's old apartment overlooked Sharp park, which happened to be the park where I asked Cathie's Dad if I could marry her (his answer, seriously: "What in about 10 years?"). I shared this fact with Monaca and her Dad, but in no way was trying to allude to the fact that Will might ask the same question of her at some point (but it would have been a convenient time, with Monaca's dad in town from Florida and all). It's also worth noting the fact that the Kurt family almost never does a full family move like this for those outside the family, so this speaks volumes as the family's acceptance of Monaca and her acceptance into the family. We feel like Will should ask us for permission as well as Monaca's dad when the time comes. Coincidentally, I first got to know Will when he was dating/engaged to Cathie's cousin back 14 years ago. Wow, lots of coincidences. Just that kind of day, I guess.

Tent Raising

After the retreat, a bunch of guys headed over to our church's property to put up a gimungous tent for our service over the next 3 weeks. We borrowed this from some church in Kentucky and none of us had ever set up a tent like this before. We made lots of mistakes, but in the end, we think we got it up right. We laid it out, threaded the pieces together, and then started pounding in the stakes and putting the poles up. There were about ten of us helping out, and it took us about 2.5 hours to do. This training now makes us official carnies.

I faked this picture of me hitting the sledge hammer. If you saw the final picture - it shows me missing the metal post completely. In reality, it was more like how Nate and I are pounding the stake in above.

Here's the final tent. It's huge. 120x80 I think. I can see why they need elephants to put up the middle posts in the circus tents. You can see more pictures here.

Crossroads Men's Retreat

On Friday we had a guy's retreat this weekend at the St. John's retreat center in Plymouth. The place was an old Catholic Seminary that they'd redone and turned into a golf-course, hotel and retreat facilities. The place was nice - but no TV's or internet access in the rooms - going with that whole 'retreat' theme, I guess. The whole gig only lasted about 24 hours, but it was a great chance to get away, switch my brain into a different gear and do some reflection. There were about 25 of us - a really diverse group. From 20 year old guys, to really, really old people like Brad. The theme of the retreat was on what our mission in this world is, so Joe would teach for a few, we'd get some time on our own to reflect, and some time to talk through stuff as a group. The best part about the retreat was connecting with a really diverse group of guys - all ages and all walks of life. I learned stuff about the guys that I would never learn by just seeing them on Sunday. I found out that one guy is a licensed pyro-technician who owns a fireworks company. He invited me to come help him setup for one of his upcoming shows. I never told him the story of how I burned down my room my senior year in high school by trying to create my own fireworks.

At about 11, Tony showed up with 4 giant pizzas from Toraminos. This is a rare shot of Mr. Kirk Vickers (aka Mr. big-shot top 100 trainer in the country, according to Men's Journal) eating something without any redeeming value. We hung out from about 11-1 playing euchre. Eli and I got smoked by Brad and Kirk 3 games to 0.

On our floor, we discovered this laundry shoot. Being on the third floor, it seemed like a good idea to climb in and lower myself all the way down to see where it went.

Matt and Zach (formerly in my youth group for 7 years) and now older and wiser, helped me lower myself down the chute, with a bed sheet as a safety net. I learned the hard way that the chute was not built to support a 200lb man pressing his arms and legs against the sides.


I thought this picture was an interesting contrast in almost every sense of the word.

After the retreat some of the guys went golfing and a bunch of us went over to Hines Drive to play Frisbee golf. This was the first time I'd played in a long time and we had a blast. It's free, which is nice, you're outside, and you're in a nice area. Judging from the rest of the crowd playing, we were some of the few out there not reefing down. In order to be good at this game, you have to be able to throw a frisbee very straight, for a very long way. I can do the former, just not the the latter. You can see more pictures of the retreat here.