Summer Strollin'

After my meeting at the office today, Amelia, Lee, and I took a "stroll" around the parking lot.

Amelia got a kick out of pushing her teddy bear "Savannah" in her new stroller from GG. (Savannah is named after the city where Sam and Jo Brinson live - Amelia's Great-Great Aunt and Uncle. They gave the teddy to Amelia at Granny & Poppy's 60th anniversary party a couple weeks ago.)



Lee and I chose a rather unique mode of transportation. SportsMEDIA has just acquired a Segway and will let you ride it after you watch a video on the basics and sign a waiver promising not to sue should you wipe out. Confident I could stay upright (I've "surfed" in Hawaii for goodness sake!) I hopped on and took a spin - literally. Check out my first ride...


One guy at our office lost control when he missed a turn and ended up ramming the Segway into a large pile of dirt. He was rumored to have been overheard telling the next rider to "eat my dirt!"

Lee has ridden it several times and qualifies to use the "red" key. I'm only at the "black" key level, which thankfully restricts your top speed. Whereas I stayed strictly on the smooth walkway, Lee throws caution to the wind and goes off-roading...



The instructional video say that riding a Segway is very "cool" and one of the "most exciting things you can do." I can't say that this beats mountain biking down the back-side of Haleakala in Maui in terms of "exciting", but I think you'll agree that we certainly look "cooler". Wink-wink!

Houdini meets the Energizer Bunny

I think the times of hiding things from Amelia are gone. She can now open doors and drawers... leading her to all kinds of "wonderful" things. Mom is not thrilled.

This morning she discovered our battery drawer, AKA Disney-battery-land! She played in the drawer for hours - emptying it, reloading it, climbing in, climbing out, giggling as she knew this was forbidden treasure.

Mom shut down the ride when Amelia started to suck on the batteries. She was NOT happy upon discovering that I had relocated her new treasure trove of "toys". Looks like I know what I'll be doing today... toddler-proofing the house!

Take me out to the ballpark

Attending two games in less than a week, Amelia is fast becoming a baseball fan! In Durham we're lucky to have a great minor league baseball team, The Durham Bulls. Our first game this season was with our friends the Butler's - Jeff, Karlye, and their little one, McCoy. We attended game #2 with Lee's ESPN X Games counterparts.

The ESPN folks are currently in town getting ready for this summer's games (Aug. 3 - 6) in LA. After a number of late nights at the office,
they all took a break to sweat at the ballpark (it's was about 90 degrees out with what felt like 100% humidity!).

The Durham Bull's ballpark is fantastic. It's very family friendly and is just about in our backyard. There's lots for kids to do - if they're not interested in the game... a playground, air-slide, pitching cage, putting green, between-inning silly games. It's a three-ring circus of baseball fun!

Amelia enjoys the game by coloring or wandering our row, making friends with all the fans near our seats, eating hotdogs, popcorn, ice cubes, and cheering for the home team.

We've left both games early, due to one super tired little girl. It's hard to stay awake when the games starts at your bedtime. Maybe one of these days we'll make it to the last out!