Trap Shooting Phenom

In the world before cable TV and 212 hours of programming many of the "lesser" Olympic events were never viewed by more than the few fans in the stands at the venue. One of the events that doesn't get much hype is trap shooting.

Trap shooting is a sport in which men and women shoot at "clay pigeons" (pottery discs) that are launched into the air by a machine. It simulates that flight of birds and the quick aiming and firing necessary to game fowl.

This year 21 year old Corey Cogdell is competing in Women's Olympic Trap Shooting after winning the U.S. trials in the sport. Born and raised in Alaska she started shooting at the age of 3. After her mother passed away when Corey was only 9 years old, her father raised she and her sister on his own. Corey immediately took to hunting and has bagged lots of game (including a moose) over the years.

She didn't become interested in competitive shooting until she joined 4-H and tried trap shooting for the first time. Before long she had a new hobby and was practicing non-stop. She began shooting competitively at the age of 19 and set her sites on the 2012 Olympics in London.

After competing internationally for only 2 years Corey was totally shocked to have won the trials and qualified for the games in Beijing. Corey has more hunting experience than most of the other competitors even though they have more competitive shooting experience. She is by far the youngest member of the team but she can obviously hold her own when it comes to trap shooting.

Corey Cogdell is someone to watch.

Kinley is Two

I can barely believe it but my baby is two years old now.

We didn't do much for her birthday since she isn't really old enough to know what is going on any way. She celebrated at the same pool party that Cainan did two weeks ago and then we had another pool party on her actual birthday.

She had a cheesecake with two candles in it and even managed to blow one of them out without catching her hair on fire. She loved all of her presents; especially her pink pom-poms, toy pots and pans, and cash register. But her favorite gift of all is the 88 cent generic Magna Doodle that we got at Wal-Mart.

We picked one up for each of the kids after seeing how much they loved playing with the ones that my sister keeps in her car for her girls. Our plan was to keep them in the car to entertain them on trips, but they have all loved them so much that they are begging to bring them in the house and play with them.

Considering that we are on vacation it is good timing that we've found a fun, cheap toy to keep them occupied in the car.

Beijing: Who to Watch

You’d have to be deaf and blind not to know that Michael Phelps is swimming for 8 golds this summer to add to his collection of 6 from Athens, making him the most decorated swimmer in Olympic history. Oh yeah, and he's only 23 years old. He is the greatest swimmer in the world right now and you won’t find anyone, of any nationality, that will refute that.

But did you know that there is a 41 year old woman swimming for 2 golds? One in the 50 meter freestyle and one in the 100 meter free? This will be her 5th Olympic games…and she skipped two of them! Her name is Dara Torres and she is approx. 20 years older than most of the women she is swimming against. She smoked everyone at the trials and has a good chance of bringing home the gold again, at least in the 50. Oh yeah, and did I mention she has a two year old daughter and competed in a meet 3 weeks after giving birth?.

Dara Torres is somebody to watch.

Manic Monday

In Absentia

I'm going to be gone for the next two weeks. We'll be on vacation for a week and then I will be in Mexico on a mission's trip with my church after that.

I've got blog posts scheduled to post in my absence and then when I get back I'll catch you all up on the details from the trips.

See you on the flip side.

Let the Countdown Continue

Well as you can tell by the countdown clock the Olympics are only 13 days away. That means we are starting to get excited around here. Well…I’m starting to get excited…everyone else is pretty oblivious.

Lucky for me VBS coincides with the first week of the games. That means 2 hours of uninterrupted Olympic viewing each night. Yippee! And rest assured there will be plenty of viewing opportunities. According to Sports Illustrated, NBC is offering 212 hours of coverage a day. Yes, every day.

If you don’t have NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, or USA maybe you can catch some events on Telemundo, Oxygen (did anyone know NBC owns that?), Universal HD or NBCOlympics.com. NBC even carries enough clout to get the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to schedule the finals of several swimming events and gymnastics in the morning Beijing time so that they will air live in primetime here in the states.

(Let me just tell you, that is a big deal. #1 The IOC doesn’t just change things like that on a whim, #2 it makes it so much better for us. Otherwise, as happened when the Olympics were in Sydney, Australia, you have to be very careful not to watch any news coverage or listen to the radio because they end up telling you the results of events that you plan to watch on TV later that night. It really kills the suspense.)

Anyway, I love the sports at the Olympics but I love the stories behind the athletes even more. So I thought that some of you who have not been watching the various Olympic trials and following the athletes yet this year might enjoy a little background on some of the lesser known participants in Beijing.

Look for athlete bios and fun facts in the coming days in a series called “Beijing: Who To Watch”

Update

Just because he's proud of himself for mastering a new skill...

Just because he wanted to....

Just because he can...

Just because...

Ryker untied the baseball cleats that have been tied all season and retied them himself just before the game.

(They came untied halfway through the game, but hey, it's a start.)

Summer Fun

I have a really good excuse for not posting anything yesterday.

I was being mugged, robbed, exploited and ripped off!

Yeah, you guessed it. I was at Six Flags.

I went there voluntarily, and only because I had free tickets, but it still makes me mad that they are out there scheming how to get even more money from families out to have a little summer fun. Here is a breakdown of the various costs of going to Six Flags:

Parking: $15 and a 2 mile hike for regular, $18 for preferred, no free areas

Locker Rental: $11 for the smallest size

Tube Rental: (Yes, if you want a tube at the water park you have to RENT one. They do have free ones floating around but they only let a few out and you have to stand in line to wait for them before you can go on a slide. If you have rented a tube of course there are no lines.) $8 or so, not sure because I didn't rent any

Lunch: $20 for one hamburger and fries and a child's popcorn chicken meal, no drinks

Rides: Included in the price of the ticket, right? Nope. Not all of them. There are now a few rides that you have to pay to ride. $20 to be exact for one session on the trampolines and slingshot rides.

Other great things about Six Flags:

You are not allowed to take food inside. Old ladies that check your bags upon entry will throw it away if they find it. Bored teenagers that check your bag will mumble something and pass you on through with all of your junk food intact.

They have a few sand beaches in the water park instead of the customary concrete ones and all of their landscaping has wood mulch around it instead of rock. How very organic, right? How very dirty is more like it. All of that sand and mulch gets tracked out and washed out on to the sidewalks where you have to walk on it all day. Then it washes off of your feet into the water. Nice, huh?

The speed slides open 2 hours after the rest of the waterpark, and only then if enough of the bored teenage workers show up to man them. (A bored teenage worker actually explained this to me.)

There are some rides that do not allow you to take any personal items on them, even if you hold them etc. Some of them have little tubs at the entrance/exit to put your things in while you ride. The ones that don't charge you a $1, 1 time usage locker fee.

In conclusion:

GO TO HOLIDAY WORLD IN SANTA CLAUS INDIANA INSTEAD!

Holiday World is a holiday themed amusement and water park in rural southern Indiana. It is very family oriented and is more fun than any other amusement park I have ever been to.

Our family has always loved Holiday World. (The school only gives free tickets to Six Flags, unfortunately or we wouldn't even darken the doors.) It is the polar opposite of Six Flags.

Parking is free, and includes a shuttle to the front gate of the park.

Soda is free. Yep, just refill your cup at the drink stations all day long.

Sunscreen is free. Yep, just squirt a handful out any time you pass a pump.

Tubes are free and in abundant supply.

No need for lockers. We haul all of our stuff around in a wagon and leave it in a central location. We have never had a single item stolen.

Awesome water park with lots more rides and fun kid play areas than Six Flags.

Adult tickets at Holiday World cost the same as a kids ticket at Six Flags.

I will say that the roller coasters are not as thrilling as those at Six Flags and there aren't as many of them but my kids won't ride any of them anyway. There are plenty of other great rides (Scrambler, Tilt-o-Whirl, Octopus, Swings etc.) that they enjoy.

If you've never been to Holiday World you should really try it some time. You can check it out HERE. Holiday World works for me!

For more great Works For Me Wednesday tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Manic Monday

All Tied Up

It may have been Cainan's birthday but Ryker is the one that reached a milestone this week. He can now tie his shoes all by himself.





Yes, he is 8 1/2 years old and going into 3rd grade. No, he had never tied his own shoe until yesterday.





I'm such a bad mom. He always wanted velcro shoes (because he didn't know how to tie lace up shoes, as it turns out) and I was happy not to have to waste time tying his shoes all the time. Even his baseball cleets we tied once and then he just slips them on and off. I was just plain lazy.





Then yesterday we were at a yard sale and there were some really nice Eddie Bauer shoes on sale for $1. Ryker goes through 3 pair of shoes a school year, so the more cheapie pairs I can get the better. They were the right size and the right price but Ryker didn't want them. He instead picked up a pair of velcro shoes that were still nice but a little more worn. I asked him why he didn't like the nicer ones and he admitted that he liked them a lot but that he couldn't tie shoes so he wouldn't be able to wear them.





I felt like an idiot. So I bought both pairs of shoes and promised him that I would teach him to tie with no problem. He said he had tried before but that it was too hard. I don't know who tried to teach him, a friend probably, but they must not have done a very good job.



A few hours later we were in the car and I took the opportunity to teach him how to tie his new shoes. I tied one as a demonstration while he copied my every move on the other shoe. It took all of five minutes and he had it down. He then mastered the art of double knotting the laces about 30 seconds later and that was it. He was so proud of himself and so excited.



I never even knew he cared. He never acted like it bothered him at all that he didn't know how to tie his shoes. But when I went in to kiss him good night later that night he said, "I'm so glad I can tie now." Then he continued, "I didn't think I could do it because it was so hard the first time I tried it when Daddy tried to teach me. I guess you are just a better teacher."



Ah, hah! Now the truth comes out!!