UCET 2013

At UCET last year I had the weight of the entire conference resting on my shoulders.  As president, I had spent months preparing for each little detail that may come up the two day event.  Then, my term  ended.

I could exhale.

I could stop and smell the roses.

I could get ready to do it all over again.

We just concluded this year's UCET conference and I had a total blast.  It was so much fun to see colleagues from around the state.  To learn new ideas and ways to integrate technology.  To teach and share some of my stuff with the teachers of Utah.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the conference.

One of the best parts of being involved  with the organization is the chance to work with good friends.  In fact, one of my best friends, Robert, was this year's UCET president.  A couple of years ago we made a pact.  I would serve as president one year and he would follow the year after.  It was great working together and I think we carried on the tradition of excellence at UCET.

As part of the conference Robert and I took on the roles of the Tool Man and his faithful assistant Al.  I bet you can guess pretty quickly which part I got.   Sometimes you get typecast for having a beard.  The spoof we were in was a classic.  Bad puns, terrible acting, and a great time.

So our busy season is over for a time.  I hope everyone else learned as much and had as good an experience at UCET 2013 as I did.  Let's do it again - say 12 months from now....

Check out UCET's Tool Time

Keep Austin Weird

As part of my trip to SXSWedu I'd been going out and seeing the sights of Austin with one of my coworkers.  We'd been to several restaurants, visited some historical sights, and people watched with the best of them.  We thought we were just about done with sight seeing.  Until I started checking out Yelp under Things you can't miss.  That led us to earlier tonight when Mindy and I exchanged the following texts:

So, do you want to get something to eat?

Not sure.  Not really hungry.

Ok - do we want to go out and see anything?

Museum of the Weird.

I'm in!

We headed back down to 6th Street and straight to the Museum of the Weird.  It certainly lived up to it's name.  A shop of curiosities - there were all kinds of shirts, banners, posters, games, and stuff that was just plain weird.  We quickly realized that the reason we were there was to take a tour of the truly weird museum at the back of the store.

We saw it all.  Shrunken heads, fossilized Big Foot prints, wax figures from famous horror movies. This place was just crazy.  As we ended our tour through the exhibits the final show was about to begin.

Richard, a local performer, asked if we wanted to see the rest of the show upstairs.  Normally, I'm not one to head upstairs with strange people, but curiosity got the better of me.  I'm glad I went.

In the loft of the museum were several additional movie props, including a huge figure of King Kong.  Very cool.  The real highlight was Richard himself.  He was a personable fellow who immediately engaged us in conversation.  Upon learning we were from Utah he proclaimed:

UTAH!  I love Utah!  You must be Mormons.  I love Mormons.  I want to move to Utah to become a Mormon.

It's not everyday you hear someone say those words.  Turns out Richard has performed at the Utah State Fair for several years and is completely taken with our clean city and style of living.  We encouraged him to come on out and become a Mormon in Utah.  After a little more small talk Richard took to the stage to perform.

He pulled out a large black case.

Opened it.

And removed a two foot sword.

A real one

And then...

You guessed it.

He swallowed the sword.

No gimmick.

Down the hatch.

It was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed live.  He did it twice and both times I couldn't close my eyes.  It was incredible.

The Museum of the Weird certainly lived up to its billing.  Although I think the weirdest thing was meeting a guy who wanted to move to Utah to become a Mormon.

The LBJ Presidential Library

Most of you out there know I am a total political junkie.  I love all things about politics and the history of our country's leaders absolutely fascinates me.  Once I knew I was heading to Austin there was no doubt I would visit the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library.  How often do you have the chance to visit one of presidential libraries?  Not living in Utah.

The museum really brought Johnson to life.  He was a little before my time and I really didn't appreciate all the parts of our national history he shared in.  I knew about the Civil Rights Bill of 1965 and how he ascended to the Oval Office, but his life was a mystery to me beyond that.

I loved my time in the library.  It showed me how great our country is and how impressive each and every president is.  Regardless of their flaws, presidents should be revered for the work they do to better the lives of the american people.  I am so glad I had the chance to spend a few minutes browsing the history of this innovative man.

Books and Bagels

This morning we took the kids to Books and Bagels over at the school. This is a fun little tradition that the school puts on once a month. I haven't been able to attend very often, since it doesn't really work with my schedule. I was excited though that both Tara and I could attend. Even if it's a small thing, spending time together is always worth it.

It's funny to see the kids different reactions had when we woke them up to get ready. Kennedy was excited - she practically jumped out of bed. Dylan started slow, but quickly warmed to the idea. Alex hid his head under his pillow. After a few moments of prodding he finally volunteered the reason - "There's not going to be anything for me to eat. I can't stand bagels." We assured him that life would move on and food would be found.

In the end it was bagels for everyone (except Alex).

Big D turns 4!

So Dylan is four years old. It's crazy to think that my baby is growing up so fast. We had lots of fun celebrating his birthday. He's not quite old enough for a friend party, so Dylan got to spend his birthday with his family. We tried to make it fun for him. He had three different parties so I think he had plenty of fun!

We started with dinner on his birthday. We went to Cowboy Grub, a place that Dylan didn't necessarily pick, but loved because it had a playroom to hang out in while we waited for our food. Needless to say, he was way more interested in the playroom than eating any food.

 After dinner, we tried to find a fun ice cream place and ended up at Sub Zero. The kids were so excited and loved watching the girl make the ice cream with all the smoke and fun stuff. The problem was that the line, on a Tuesday night, was out the door and the girl doing the ice cream, was the only one there. So we ended up walking across the parking lot to the Fresh Market and the kids all picked out their own little ice cream and were quite happy with that. We will have to hit the Sub Zero another time.

After ice cream, we headed home and Dylan finally got to open his presents. He got some fun stuff, scooter, some fun toys, but the most beloved present of the day was... the Skylanders Giants Wii game. Dylan has been asking for this game for months, so we gave in, and he was very excited. The kid is a little addicted to the Wii, so I was a little leery to invest money into a game that has 50 or so characters that you can buy to go along with the game and encourage him to spend more time on the Wii. But, we did, and he loved it.

The party continued on Saturday as we spent the afternoon at Planet Play. We did some bowling, mini golf, go carts and played some video games. The kids had fun, but were a little sad that none of the cousins could join in.

Sunday was another party for the extended family. We had dinner at our house with the family. Dylan got to spend time with his cousins and open even more presents. We did his cake (Skylanders, of course) and had a nice evening hanging out with family. It was a nice way to end the week of celebrations!

I can't believe my baby is 4 years old. It seems like yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. I've loved but almost dreaded watching Dylan growing up, knowing he was probably our last kid. I've cherished each milestone, knowing it was the last time I would see all the firsts in a little ones life.

First time eating baby food-love that mess!
Learning to crawl
First steps
First words
First tantrum-not so much!
First day of preschool...and there will be so many more firsts. I can't wait to experience them together with my little guy.

Dylan, I want you to know how much I love you. I love your sweet smile, your eyes, your stubbornness, your football build, your excitement about life. I love how much you love your brother and sister, even though you try to beat them up sometimes! I love when you sneak in bed with us to cuddle with mommy and daddy. I love you, little man. You are a special kid and I hope you always remember that. Thank you for being my "Big D".  I love you.

Mommy