Rattlesnake Roundup

This is a little nuts (and scary)! Don't watch if you don't like snakes.

Rattlesnake Roundup

South Students Caught on ESPN

I was watching the Little League World Series (Europe vs. Mexico) while visiting with my parents this afternoon when I spotted South's Sarah Kistner and LeAnn Paternostro on TV. They were all decked out in purple Europe garb and had their faces painted. Congrats on your 5 seconds of fame ladies!!

I Heart Boston!

This weekend my wife and I and my sister Jackie and her new fiance Jason visited my cousin Kimberly and her husband Josh in Westborough, Massachusetts, which is about 45 minutes soutwest of Boston. We spent Saturday in Boston taking in the city and many of the historic sites. The Revolutionary War started in Boston and many important events leading up to the war occurred there as well, such as the Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, and Paul Revere's midnight ride. While there we saw a Revolutionary War re-enactment in Boston Commons, caught a festival in Little Italy with some amazing cannolis, and saw a street performer who could contorted his body to fit through a squash racquet, juggled a running chainsaw, and juggled knives on a 12-foot pole. Boston is a fantastic city with a great blend of modern skyscrapers and historic brick buildings, markets, and cobblestone roads. It definitely ranks among Chicago and Washington DC one of my favorite U.S. cities. On Sunday we drove a little further to Salem, Massachusetts where the Salem witch trials occurred. In this town, 20 people were wrongfully convicted and executed for witchcraft in 1692. I found the all the witchcraft stuff to be a little cheesy, but it was still a neat seaside New England town. We ended the day by traveling to Marblehead, MA for some spectacular ocean views (see photo) and a great seafood dinner.

In other news, I was washing my wife's car Thursday night before we left for Boston. I was hurrying to finish before dark when I jammed my middle finger into the gas cap door. The next morning the bright purple color and some x-rays confirmed that my finger was broken. Thankfully I don't need a cast, but my finger has to stay in a wrapped splint for a month. This will surely slow up the summer projects I am racing to finish, not to mention my typing.

It's almost Little League time. Maybe I'll see some of you at the parade on Thursday. Sorry this was so long Christian!

First Friday

Did you know about First Friday? I just heard about it myself and my wife and I took advantage of a beautiful evening to go check it out. On the first Friday of every month, all the small businesses in downtown stay open until 9:00. There are street musicians and bands, street vendors, lots of people. My friend Karl just opened a coffee shop, called Alabaster Coffee Roaster & Tea Company, on Pine Street. He purchased the former Coffee and Tea Room. So we went downtown to check out his new shop as well as the other festivities. I had a fantastic time as my wife and I literally ran into dozens of friends and acquaintances from high school, church, work, and even South High's very own Marissa Gonzalez and family. Check out the next First Friday when it happens on September 3rd!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Lauck!

I spent the past 5 days in Pittsburgh celebrating my brother-in-law Brian's wedding, which occurred on Friday, July 30th. It was a great time had by all, with the exception of a few last minute glitches (such as a photographer who didn't show up for the ceremony and a missing table at the reception), but all was well in the end. Quite frankly, I'm exhausted, but the entire weekend was a lot of fun. We're happy to have Brian's new wife, Jen, in our family. For me, that means I now have a fellow in-law to experience the Lauck family with. I've waited 5 years for this day! Finally another "outsider" is living among my in-laws.

As a funny side note, my wife's name is Jen and her brother just married a Jen. There has already been some small confusion over this matter, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Again, welcome to the family Jen and congratuations to the bride and groom.

(p.s. My sister Jackie just got engaged too, so I get to experience this all over again next summer. Yaaaaaaaay!)