Laudaga 2008

This year the Laudaga weekend was held during the last weekend in October. For the first time in 18 years, Aldas was unable to attend so the group was one of the smallest we've seen in some time. The weather varied from warm and sunny to cold and rainy, but there was ample opportunity to get outside and have some fun.

The kids had fun rebuilding their fort by the swings, and enjoyed a "GPS course" as well. The GPS course is a cross between geo-caching and orienteering. I set up a course, and hide a playing card at each location. I then mark the location on the GPS, and come up with a witty clue to describe where the card is hidden. The GPS will get them to within 20 feet or so, at which point they have to use the clue to figure out where the card is hidden. (It's amazing watching them wander off 100-200 feet from where the GPS said the card is hidden as they forget that component and focus solely on the clue). The orienteering component comes in because the GPS points in the direction of the next card, but they need to figure out the best way to get there. Last year, I was amazed at how well they did this - they were popping up and walking along the road, then zipping back into the woods to get to the location. Very efficient. I commented on this, and Gytis (I think) pointed out that he was just following my path, which was still in the GPS as a dotted line. I.e., he was tracing my footsteps. I quickly erased that from the GPS memory, leaving them with only the actual marked locations and surprised looks on their faces.

The log chopping contest was won by Aidas this year. Aras took 2nd, and Senelis won the bronze. The card game (tukstantis) was a bit more interesting. Since only 3 of us were playing, we opted to give Aldas the points for the cards being dealt. This is how the game is played with 4 players, with the dealer position changing after each hand. The first game was won by Aidas, and Aldas took third (out of 4). Since the first game was over quickly, we opted to play a second game, which was won by Aras. Yet, once again, Aldas took third. In both games, it actually hurt one of the players to be at the table using their "strategy". Fortunately, both players also won a game so ego's were not bruised beyond repair.

Official group portrait from this year:


Click here for full set of photos (42 photos).

Stages of Man's Life

My father crafted a series of plaques depicting the different stages in a man's life. The plaque below is the one closest to my current stage. Granted, I have not made the jump to a mini-van, but I do enjoy driving around with a happy son in the back seat.



Alex is not quite at this stage yet, but I do think this plaque does a good job of capturing the joy a little boy feels riding his tricycle:


Click here for a link to the full set of plaques (10 photos).

Alex pics in early fall (doing toddler stuff)

Some new pictures of Alex taken in the last month or so. I took these with my super compact Olympus SW850. This is a camera the size of a cellphone, so it's very easy to just slip it into my pocket in case a photo op presents itself. All of the pics below were from opportunities presenting themselves - I would not have brought one of my larger cameras. It's not always about having the best equipment to take the shot - sometimes it's simply about having the equipment available!




Click here to see all pictures in this gallery.

Alex in the Park

We went to Central Park today to check out one of the larger play areas in our part of town. Expecting to see almost no one when we set out, we were quite amazed to find out a fundraising event was in progress. We even bumped into our neighbors there.

In any case, what started out as a fairly brisk morning (45), turned into a beautiful day. Alex had a lot of fun climbing around, and exploring the area: