Schools out!

Kids are out of school for another week, and they are loving it! By the way Sam is faking it, he was doing this for one of Patrick's school projects.

Look out world!

Yep, look out.

Homies and lovelies

I wanted to get some pictures with my phone of the kids. People ask about them and I never had pictures. Well I couldn't get a picture of the boys without one of the two or the both of them poseing. So I gave in, and joined them. But aren't those girls just awesome! So are the boys of course.

Sam flies!

What was his mom thinking letting him cliff jump with me! Boy did we have fun! FYI, the camera doesn't show it, but the water is very clear, and slow moving. Whereever we jumped we could see right down to the bottom of the pools, and count the number of little tiny pebbles if we wanted too. It was extremly clear.

Playing at the beach

"We've been having fun all summer long! Won't be long till summer time is through, not for us now!" Thought I'd toss you a little Beach Boys lyrics. I know it's getting cold where some of us live. Still in the 90's here! YIPEE! We took a trip to the beach last weekend with the youth from church. Had a great time

Looks like flying on Southwest, or riding on Greyhound

Saw this and thought you might enjoy the reading.

Caution....super star at play

Doesn't she make soccer look fantatic! Even when she's just standing there!

We get along fine...lovely even

Shamrock Soccer

My last year to officially coach Patrick's soccer. From here on out it's high school ball if he continues to play. The end of an era, we've had a great run together.

Makes me kind of sad when I think back to tiny tot soccer when Puff was just a tiny little 5 year old guy. Then up to Layton for four years, and I've coached his team a couple of times here in Lodi. I've coached the other Kelly kids too, and I'll get to continue doing that with them, but for Puff and I this is our last big year together.

Time fly's by so fast. There is no second chance to play with my little ones, to get involved in their life and do these things that are so fun and so worth my time. If it were an investment, (and it is) I'm certain it will pay big rewards through the teen years and into adulthood and hopefully my grandchildren will reap the benefits as well. Not to mention it's fun to play with them!

So Patrick, and I have had a good time together. Sometimes, a not so good time together. I'm certainly not always the nicest coach a 12-13-14 boy can have. Just ask him, somebody talks while I'm talking, kicks a ball and hits someone, screws around and it bugs me, they all go for a run. Every single time. They run a lot! It's the only way to control the madness. That's one my favorite things to be honest. "Hit the fence." I ask nicely when someone is goofing off. "COACH WHY?!" As they run away. "Hurry or you'll all run 2, ______ was goofing around. Talk to him about it." Then I thank them as they come back to the huddle quite, and tired. Works beautifully. I'll learned to never try and talk over boys. They are much louder. Anyhow....

Good fun, and good coaching that always translates to wins, and right now the "Shamrocks" have 6 wins, 1 tie, and 1 loss. The loss, and the tie went to the same team. We'll get them next game, and in the playoffs. That I'm certain!

Shooting for the championship for Patrick's last year. Regardless of our wins and losses through the years (and he has been extremely fortunate that he's had very, very, very few losses) every moment with him is time spent perfectly.

Beware! Run with a phone!

For the first time in my life I ran with my cell phone. I never ever carry my phone. I took my phone with me this time, and tucked it in my sweater pocket. I usually run with my old ipod, this first time with my iphone. I didn't really want to take it, but because I could tuck it in my sweater I felt ok with taking it. 

SO, I was out on a canal trail behind a neighborhood. Dogs were barking like crazy because I was running on the side of the canal where I was close to homes. If I had chosen to run on the other side next to the grape fields, maybe the dogs wouldn't mind so much. Anyhow, a couple of very large dogs were barking at me, and I looked up from the canal levee I was running on and said "shhhh" to the dogs. As I said "shhhh" I stepped on a large rock sticking out of the dirt. The ONLY large rock I'm sure within miles of where I was, and my foot found it! It was a good sprain! I knew it before I hit the ground. I swore a couple of times, and waited for the pain to release me before I even worried about the fact that there was no access to me by car. 

Thank goodness, I had my phone. I called Suzi, and asked her to come find me. I hadn't ever run on this canal trail before. She picked me up on a corner close to where I stepped on the rock. I had to walk about a half mile to get off the canal, that hurt.

My ankle is swollen, but I was back on the elliptical trainer this morning. Walked on it all day today, and it's going to be fine. It will be a week or so before I run on it again, but I'll be on the elliptical trainer again tomorrow. Here's where I was when I found the rock. Thank goodness for the phone, and thank you Suzi for picking me up. Take your phone when you ride, run, or hike. Maybe keep your eyes on the trail too. 

Maybe one of the best movies of all time!...........maybe

Science and Religion....

...maybe they do cross paths! Check this one out.

So simple I'm surprised this experiment wasn't thought of earlier.  

My Team

I'm coaching Patrick's soccer team with one of my young men from church. We had a good night tonight. We played to a 2-2 draw. We are 5-1-1 over all and sitting in second place. 

The only team we lost to, we played to a draw tonight. Thought we had them. We out shot them, by probably double again, but some how they lead most of the game again. They got a couple lucky goals, and we play from behind most of the game. We got a game saving tie goal less, than 30 seconds before the final whistle. Quite an exciting game. 

The boys shot selection gets a little desperate when they play from behind. They forget to make that last pass, and instead taken a shot that puts the ball right in the gut of the goalie. 

Patrick had the first goal of the game. Needed one more from him. He was VERY close on a couple of balls. Not tonight though. That's OK, we have a lot of season before the playoffs. I expect that this will be the team we face in the championship game. Might want to mark your calendars for that one. Should be an exciting game! 

Who me?

I got the weirdest phone call the other day. 

A number I didn't recognize called, I picked up and they asked "Is this Sean?"

I said yes, and he began to tear into me in a furry of swear words. Words that I don't hear that often, and certainly not being directed at me. Something about me driving "the kids around town in the car drunk." Me being a non drinker, I thought the whole thing was rather weird so I began to laugh.

Caller asks "Are you laughing at me?" I answer "Yeah, should I not be?" He responds "Not if you knew who this is, and what I'm going to do to you!" He included a few expletives that didn't necessarily make his point any clearer, just more humours. 

He asked me "Do you know who the @#$%^ this is?" 

Me "No, I have no clue who this is." 

Still laughing a little, but now thinking this isn't a practical joke. 

Caller, "This is your brother in law Danny." 

Me, Long pause "Danny........I've got a lot of brother in laws, but I don't think any of them are named Danny." 

Caller, another long pause "Is this Sean?" 

Me, "Yes this is Sean"

Caller, "Kendra's boyfriend Sean." 

Me, "OH, you're so close, but no my friend I'm not Kendra's boyfriend. I think you've dialed the wrong number and got another dude named Sean. That's kind of funny!" 

Caller, "You're not Kendra's boyfriend, is you're phone number ***-***9?" 

Me, "No, you're off by one digit." 

Caller, "Oh, sorry......" 

Me, "Yeah no problem, have a good night!" 

Caller, "Yeah"

I loved that I got the chance to wish him a good night. He was so worked up the whole time, until the last couple of exchanges. Anyhow, the last digit he dialed should have been a 9, and my last number is an 8. Too funny. 

Happy Birthday Georgia!

Georgia loves this song! She saw it on Erin Brink's birthday when I sent this link to her. Happy Birthday Georgia, my 7 year old baby!

Georgia is

6 years and 364 days old.

Pandora Radio

Ever wish the radio would play the songs you love, and you could skip all the garbage songs inbetween your favorites.

What if the radio could figure out what you like when new music comes out, and only play songs it knows you'll dig?

Guess what it's here! Pandora Radio, you must set this up on your home computer, go buy an iphone and set it up there too. It's one of those things where technology has really just lived up to it's billing. You will love it!

Map your walk, run, or ride

I was talking to my friend Chris Bowerbank, and he showed me a website that I absolutely love! Those of you who like running/biking are going to dig this as well. Ever want to know how far your running, or want to run a certain distance, but never really know until you drive the route, or ride it. Check this site out! You can map your run in advance, or after your done check out exactly how far you traveled. It's really easy to use. 

Not that I think distance is the most important thing. Just getting out and moving for an hour or more is what matters. However, it's still fun!

Happy Valley Labor Day

Happy Valley Labor Day part 2

Need a laugh?

The boys and I were driving home from being at the river. We had headed up to the river to do some cliff jumping with the cousins. We were all quite and sleepy and a word hadn't been said in 30 minutes during the drive home. We were also listening to the comdey channel on the drive. This guy came on doing this skit and Patrick, Sam and I were laughing hard. Thought you might enjoy it.

Grand Island Mansion

The Grand Island Mansion.

J Mac Delta Ferry

I was out on a ride in the delta when I passed this ferry. A not to familiar site with all the bridges that have replaced ferries in the delta. There are 52 large islands in the delta, and an "uncountable" amount of small islands (I'm quoting a travel website that was talking about the delta), I'm sure someone has counted them. The delta is a region that stretches from the SF bay out to the sierra's. Lodi sits in the middle of it and we have a nice breeze in the summer that cools off town in hurry after our very hot summer days.

I found the ferry as I was making my way to the Grand Island Mansion. I found a website that gave me a little bit of information on the ferry.

"The J-Mac Ferry is a cable-drawn ferry that crosses Steamboat Slough. It is sometimes referred to as the Steamboat Slough Ferry or Grand Island Ferry, but almost all the locals call it the J-Mac. It got its name from the CalTrans Engineer/driver who first designed and drove it, a Mr. MacMillian, or similar name like that. Not much else is known about this one, except that it is very reliable and runs all the time, even in flood times! A map dated 1913 found at the Rio Vista Museum shows a ferry at the same location, named the A.J. Weise. The J-Mac is smaller in size and can only accommodate 4 cars or trucks at a time, along with ski boats or PWC being towed behind the vehicles. But RVs should stay off this ferry, as the on & off ramps are very steep, even at high tides.
(A caution to boaters on Steamboat Slough: Do NOT speed past the J-Mac when the red lights are flashing! There is a metal cable just at the water surface, and you could flip your boat and kill or injure everyone in it if you hit that cable at high speeds! The 5 MPH signs are there for YOUR safety!)"

Life is Good

I thought I'd post a quick reminder to myself and the people I enjoy.

I spent the last portion of my meeting with my team recently talking about a principle that I find is important in business, and in my personal life. Not that I'm perfect at this bit of advice, but I've certainly seen through my own experience why it's important. I'm sure that many of you are good at this, and some of you learning to be better at this. I will quickly sum it up to you & let you ponder it on your own as well:

I believe it is very wise to spend my time, energy, passion & thoughts focusing on the things that I can control, and spend very little time on the things I can't.

Life is good.

Pretty, Serious stuff.

I love soccer. LOVE IT. And these little girls make it look so beautiful!

Oh Dear!

Can you believe these three cuties all play on the same team together! They think it's the greatest thing ever. Classmates together last year in Kindergarten, and I believe this year together too. Red looks great on them too.

It's been a little while....

Got together with two of my friends from when I was a teen on Friday. Russell & his family had my family and Andre's family over to his place for dinner. We had a great time catching up. It's been a long time since I've seen Russell, 16 years or so, and Andre and his family it had been too long as well. Picked up right where we left off.

Super Soccer Saturday

First games of the year. 4 games, 4 different kids, 4 different fields, all at 9am. Sam had two, and both were in Sacramento. 

Patrick, win. 2 Goals.

Sam, tie & a loss. Great game!

Hannah, Loss. Fantastic play by the bear bear. 

Georgia, win. One goal & Georgia's first game of her life.

What a day.

Happy Birthday Big Alex G! 

Big Brothers...

Georgia had a tooth fall out. She placed it under her pillow for the tooth fair of course. She also placed a note for the tooth fairy. The note was a series of questions that Georgia had for the tooth fairy. Unfortunately the brothers were made aware of the note, and intercepted it before the tooth fairy could complete it, and of course the boys completed the note for her. The note reads:

My name is Georgia. I live on 710 Atherton Drive, which is here (Love that part "which is here") I don't keep my teeth. My room is purple.
Are you a boy or a girl? Girl
What is your name? Agnes Tooth.
Where do you live? On Fiji.
What do you do with the teeth? I eat them.
What does you room look like? Blue & Pink, with teeth.
How old are you? 1700
Do you have pets? Yes, dogs. Tonsil & Gums
Note: Heavy metal rocks! xoxoxoxo, Agnes

Don't worry I get them back for her.

Son's of Liberty

Patrick and the boys from our ward at church spent 4 days at the LDS scout encampment "Son's of Liberty." There were about 4000 LDS scouts from all over Northern California. Every Stake had their own arch as an entry into their camp. They had about a million great activities during the day, and great speakers every night. I really enjoyed a couple of the speakers a ton. Patrick had a good time. Came home a little sun burned. It was great to see my nephews Kurt, and Spencer Durnall there! They were both such big guys now!

Raccoons

Last night my dog is going crazy barking at 4:30 in the morning. So I jump my butt out of bed thinking someone is trying to get into one of my cars, or messing with my bike. I get out there and my neighbor came running in his underwear from the opposite direction. As I'm standing there next to my car I realize freaking raccoons are running all over the place. I start dance like I'm on hot coals thinking one of those buggers are going to dart out from under my car and bite me on the ankle. Of course, It all turned out ok, and the 4 of those Raccooons wandered off together. Actually they went into my other neighbors garage who had left it open by about 6 inches. I thought that was kind of funny. So anyhow, I start walking back up to bed, and I'm laughing because all I can think of is this raccoon that screamed at us (us being the Kelly's & Merrills) in Costa Rica while we were walking by some bushes in the dark, and how I took off. It scared me. It was loud like a dog in a fight. The image in my head of that moment is when I look back while I was running away was of my friend Joe doing some kind of funny dance with the stroller trying to create some separtion from the noise in the bushes 2 feet away. When I finally get back to bed I'm still laughing and Suz is asking what happened and why I was laughing, and of course I'm half asleep making no sense. "Joe was so afraid of that Raccoon, and John was in his underwear." Mixing the two stories together. Suzi "Joe who? and John was?" Joe Merrill, Yes he was, and it was funny." Suzi "What are you talking about?" "The Raccoons were all over, and the went into Frank's garage." At which point Suz realizes the fuss was about Raccoons and stops listening, and I continue to talk about Joe, John, and Franks garage. Raccoons are funny.

Lone Survivor

What a great book! I think anyone who reads it will be moved in some way. I read it while I was in Costa Rica, and it was the type of read where I couldn't put the book down. Not for little ones, however Patrick is reading it for school. He has 1500 pages of reading due this semester, and this will put a dent in it.
Here's the link for my friend R. Jeffery Davis.

Georgia on school

Georgia started first grade this week, and life just got big time better for the Suz. So I want to pass along my two favorite quotes of the week from her.

First quote:
Me- Georgia! First day of school over, and so how was school today?
Georgia- (dramatic pause) the....best....day....ever! I loved it. The only thing is, we have a lot of recess. (Are you sure you're my kid?)

Of course the others started in with, wait until you get to my grade blah, blah, blah. I told Georgia not to worry about it, and that she was much smarter than the rest of them so she's always going to enjoy school. That went over well with Georgia, the rest of them.....not so much.

Second quote (As related to me by Suz):
Georgia- Mom I moved desks today.
Suz- Oh great! Where are you sitting now?
Georgia- Next to the kid with all the eye buggers.
Suz- Oh....well what's his name?
Georgia- (shoulder shrug) I don't know.

I'm afraid that kid will forever be know as eye bugger kid through high school now in Georgia's head.