Rib Fest 2012

Aaaahhh... Isaac's favorite holiday, Rib Fest.  And boy did we do it up this year.  We made it down there twice, AND did the rides.  Every year here in Charleston (or South Charleston) they bring in 4 or 5 rib cooking crews and through down some major ribs.  So we ran down there on Friday evening after soccer practice to get our fill.  

 Friday night's ribs left MUCH to be desired.  Mine tasted like they were picked up off of a dirty gas station bathroom floor.  N A S T Y ..!!!  Saturday we did much better. :D  Lexy ate corn on the cob both nights and even some fries on Saturday.  There is also a guy that shows up with a root beer trailer, you buy a stainless steel cup from him and pay a small fee, then you get free refills all weekend.  Root beer, vanilla soda, orange, birch beer, and diet root beer.  Yes, we did drink our fill.

I typically strongly avoid the carnival rides that travel into town.  They always cost way too much.  But I caved in this year and bought the kids wrist bands.  Isaac loved this big 'ol spinning swing.  If you look really hard at the center of this photo you can see him in the middle on the far side, thumbs up and ready to go.

 Here it is in action. Yep Isaac is on there somewhere, spinning and whizzing around.

 Lexy took it a little slower.  She enjoyed the swings and the tilt a whirl.  I like this picture of Jojo, Isaac and Lexy on the swings waiting to go.

We can't wait for Rib Fest to make it back next year.  Maybe we'll try to sneak over to Huntington to catch them there too. ;)

Birthday Time

Arrow of Light

Isaac earned his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts and it was awarded to him last night.  For the non-Cub Scouters out there, the AOL is the top award in Cub Scouting and the only one that can be worn on the Boy Scout uniform.  There are all sorts of achievements along the way that Isaac has got through with the help of Mike and Steve his Webelos leaders.

Here he is getting the patch pinned to his uniform.

Here is the awesome plaque that Mike and Steve made for him. It has his initials, that year, pack number, and everything, including a real arrow.

Thumbs Up for Isaac's Arrow of Light..!!

Charleston Distance Run 2012

This year we all three ran the Charleston Distance Run 5K. It was pretty cool, we trained a few times by running along the river or at Danner Meadow Park. Not to mention all the sports the kids have been doing. The kids both ran the Kids Fun Run the night before (more to come on that), then we lined up at 7:30am at the Capital Building.

Here is a shot of Lexy running along.  It was fairly early in the run, but she looks exhausted.

Here's Isaac at the finish line.  Oh yeah, he was sweating...!!

Lexy ended up finishing 2nd in her age group, WAY TO GO Lexy...!!!!

Isaac is looking for the next run, he wants to do the Run, Row, and Ride in mid-September here.  Not sure if we'll do it but it sounds fun.

Labor Day

We got a little riding in today...  Mr Mike from Lexy's school invited us to ride with him and his group, but I figured the would ride a bit harder than we could.  So we followed him out to the spot they were riding from.  It took us a bit to get all the bikes going, but we gottem' going.

Here's Isaac ready to rip...  It was so nice to see him shifting up and down, remembering how to ride the 65cc.  Now he's on the hunt for at 85cc, he's certainly big enough.

Lexy had such a blast riding the little 50cc.  It was a bit small for her.  Her knees were in her chin, I'm sure it would be easier for her to keep her balance on a bike that fit her better.  Never the less, she did lap after lap after lap after lap after lap...

Lexy got comfortable enough to hit the roads.  I was so proud of her.  We rode up some of the roads from the base camp area.  She did great climbing up the roads and riding the breaks back down.  She even wanted to ride them by herself as I was packing up that trailer to go for the day.

Here's a quick pic of them both on the road up the hill from the camp area.

Food of this Summer

Boy, I love to eat.  It works out OK because I like to cook too.  Here are some of the treats that I thought to take a picture of over the last month or so.

Seafood Enchiladas with White Sauce, these are pretty good with shrimp and Krab... I just some some sweet salmon this last week, I see salmon enchiladas in our future.

Virginia Apple Pudding with Blueberries.  My parents used to make this.  The recipe is slick and easy, plus you can use about any fruit.  I've done it with peaches, blueberries, blackberries, and blueberry pie filling all this summer.

Seared Ahi Tuna.  This was tuna from the seafood market on the corner of Washington and Brooks in Charleston.  I waited around for a bit to get fresh tuna from their delivery truck.  My goodness was it worth it.  So super good.  This night I paired it with sticky rice, steamed broccoli, and asparagus.

Here is some sushi from that same tuna. Some sashimi, and I tried to make a roll with saran wrap....  Didn't work, I ended up with a sushi heap, it tasted pretty darn good anyway.

And I had to throw down some ribs for Isaac..!!  He loves them, I love them, we just love having ribs.

We've has some cookies from time to time as well.  Here are some Oatmeal Raisin cookies we made both for Butch and my office.  I even experimented with some Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal cookies.  Not too bad.

We did make a Deep Fried Peanut Butter Sandwich.  I didn't get a picture of it before it was stuck with a fork completely consumed.  It try again some time.

Another night of Sushi at my house.  So good...!!

Don't worry.  I have not forgotten who I am and where I come from.  Here is some breakfast food.  Steak and Eggs with fried potatoes and watermelon.

Come on over, we'll feed you...

Canvas Prints

So, I always love prints of my kids. My quote from the other night to Lexy was, "A million pictures of my kids hanging on the walls in the house is not quite enough." 

 I ran it to this fantastic web site for getting large format prints. PosterXXL.com 

I have been collecting the 16x20 black and white canvas prints. Here are a few...

   

 I have yet to hang this bunch. But I'll get'er done.

First Day of School :: Walbeck Style

Here are a few shots from the first day of school 2012... Lexy was starting the 4th Grade in her typical PINK style...

  

Isaac was a bit more relaxed in his style...

   

 Lexy was very excited to see her friends, teacher, etc.

   

 Isaac was happy to have a little more ride in the truck before he was dropped off...

   

 ... for his first day of Middle School...!!!

Both of them had a blast for the first day.  Now, we just have to figure out our routine and get in a groove.

If you missed the First Day of School 2012 collage that was posted to FB, you can see it here.

Philadelphia Cheese Steak

So on our way home from a little trip to NYC we had to stop by Philadelphia to try the Steak sandwiches at the competing stands. These two have been featured on several TV shows documenting the feud between them over who's are the best. We tried Geno's Steaks first. There was a bit of a line, but well worth the wait.

   

 Then we turned around walked about 200 feet across the intersection and tried Pat's King of Steaks. Longer line, still worth the wait.

   

 At both places we bought one sandwich, one drink, and one order of fries. In the end we liked Pat's the best.

   

 This was such a fun stop on our road trip. It's a must do if your in the area anytime. So yummy on the tummy. While we were waiting in line at Geno's we took the time to share our feelings on the Philadelphia Flyers. GO PENS...!!!

 

Home Again, Home Again... Jiggidy, Jig...

Isaac and Lexy made it home after visiting Amy for a while this summer. 

It's so great to have them home...!!! 

 Guess where they wanted to go first..?? Yep, the ice rink. It was so cool to see them running through the rink looking for Butch. Big hugs all around. He made a little extra time for them to skate.

Look at that smile...

 

Took a few tries, but we got a picture of Isaac doing a hockey stop.

Here are a couple of silly pictures of Lexy just for fun...

She loves this skating skirt with the reflective patterns...  Yep, with pink cowgirl boots.