Mark, Rose and Jenna

I put up a batch of pictures from our trip to Columbus for the 4th of July… included are a new batch of fireworks pictures.

Sunday we went to the Indians game against the Cincinnati Reds. We lost and we got a little wet as some light rain came in and out during the game, but we had a good time.

It was Slider’s birthday, and we were lucky enough to be standing under the bleachers when Slider and all his friends walked by us. Jenna game them hi-5’s and got a kiss from Slider and another mascot that was there for the party. Jenna wanted to follow Slider and was bummed when we couldn’t… but we convincer her that since it was his birthday he was very busy. Just before we left she asked if Slider had a birthday cake, and I told her that there were to many people so he was probably having a small cake with his friends after the game. Well, Slider proved me wrong… as we walked out of the game there were tables set up with cupcakes with bright pink icing for people to have… it was a sweet treat to the end of the day

I put some new pictures up of the motorcycle… I’m really enjoying the bike and I’m commuting regularly on it now to and from work/school.

In the pictures you may wonder what this thing is hanging from my bike…

It’s called a Gremlin Bell. My RiderCoach from my saftey class gave it to me after I completed the class, as they are more lucky if they are given by a friend insted of buying your own.

That little bell is more than decoration, it serves a very important purpose – it wards off gremlins, also known as evil road spirits.

You see, there are motorcycle gremlins that LOVE to ride, but they are also mischievous little devils and they cause all sorts of problems for you while you are riding. Some say they are responsible for that old lady in the minivan not seeing you and cutting you off in traffic. Or, you may be having trouble shifting smoothly, your battery goes dead, your turn signal suddenly refuses to work, an oil spill appears out of nowhere, you hit a patch of black ice, etc – you get the idea. Those little gremlins look for trouble and try to steer your bike towards it.

Now, once you get a bell on your bike– it wards off these attacks from the little gremlins, not allowing any more to get onto your bike. If you already have some gremlins riding with you, they will get trapped in the hollow of the bell, and the constant ringing will drive them insane – causing them to lose their grip and fall to the roadway.

When they fall… it makes potholes

One week in to my math class and we had our first test… I love the summer classes because they are fast paced, but I was worried about the test so early.

I shouldn’t have worried.

I got an “A” …and not just an “A” but a 100% “A+”

Yeah me!

Yesterday after I got home I was giving Rose a hug and apparently we hugged a bit to long as Jenna walked in the room shes said “Get off each other!” and the tone of her voice you would have sworn she was an embarrased teenager.

Rose and Jenna are now officially out of school… and I guess they have been for about a week now. Jenna is going to Kindercare 3 days a week to play with her old friends and stay in the “school schedule” because as we’ve found once she’s out of the schedule it’s a royal pain to get her back in to a schedule. Rose is using her three days a week to work around the house, mainly on some outside projects that have been on the “to do” list for a long time. Me? I’m working and in school for the summer.

All in all things are going well… so far a low key summer is on tap. Even though by the calendar it is summer, you wouldn’t know it from the weather… when I left this morning it was 50 degrees and really cloudy, you would have thought it was October. Hopefully the weather will turn warmer again soon.

I had a great father’s day this year. Started things out with a great breakfast at Bob Evans and then we headed out to the Indian’s game. It was pretty hot sitting in the stands, but we made the best of it with ice cold smoothies and lots of water.

It was a pretty low-key day, which was just what the doctor ordered.

I was able to pick up my new motorcycle last night and rode 30 miles back to the house via a non-highway route. Rose and Jenna followed me in the car so I could get comfortable with the controls and not worry about being tailgated. I love the bike, it rides beautifully and as you can see, it’s not bad to look at either!