Our Favorite Part of the Day

Meeting Santa at Fenway

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Wed, 1 Aug 2012 19:49:00 -0400

Matthew and I were surprised to find that we were sitting next to Santa Claus in section 23 at tonight's game versus Detroit. Being Matthew's first game is special enough, but Old Saint Nick too?

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:55:00 -0400

I hear it's hard to get Red Sox Tickets

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Sat, 8 May 2010 16:52:00 -0400

That is going to be a problem.

Dad Gets a New Toy

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:44:00 -0400

No more pushmower. Now it's a relaxing ride around the yard with a
cold beer in the cupholder. Yard "work"?

Spidergirl

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:39:00 -0400

You can wear pink and be a superhero. Just ask Jillian.

Homemade Sword by Jack

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:34:00 -0400

Jack is our family inventor. Give him tape, cardboard, scissors and
paper and he will disappear for over an hour. When he reappears, we
are always amazed. Whether it's a catapult, an "Everything Machine",
a diarama, or a super powerful sword with shiny aluminum foil that he
swiped from the pantry... Jack never ceases to amaze us with his
creative imagination. I wonder what he'll be when he grows up.

Villanova Elite Eight Game

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:33:00 -0400

And we are all watching a double digit lead 18-8 at 7:26pm, hoping for
a win tonight and a trip to The Final Four.

I took the Acela to Boston late on Wednesday and had no hotel
reservation. I walked from South Station to over the area along the
waterfront where all the new development is and got a room at the
Westin. I ran into Jay Wright in the lobby, said "Hey Coach! We're
lookin good!" Crushed Duke the next night.

20-12 ... now

Still lookin good!

Watching Our Animoto Videos in DVD Quality

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:49:00 -0400

was our favorite part of the day. I had a task postponed too many
times (according to RememberTheMilk) to upgrade our old Animoto
account we opened in 2007. After making our first few videos, Tara
ended up making a second account and used that over the last year -
this second account upgraded for Animoto "all-access pass". In
addition to the longer videos, all-access allows you to download mp4s.
That is what I really like because we can add the videos to iTunes and
watch on our connected devices. I have been talking to more people
about Animoto lately. When I explain Animoto it's essential to show
them. (it's also most helpful to show people videos of their own
photos or at least experiences they can relate to - the emotional
response is important)

The one thing you can't do in front of the PC or iPhone is lean back
into videos. The biggest screen in the house (in our case a 52" LCD)
is how a family is entertained and share time together.

Tonight we tried refreshing our Animoto videos with high bit-rate
(i.e. DVD quality) downloads - a for fee option in the all-access
pass. We generated a few grams of carbon off the Amazon, Google and
Akamai grids (and poured a few bucks into the economy). Within 30
minutes and we were enjoying these videos in a way we never had
before. I think Saturday Night family Wii event has met it's match if
Apple buys Animoto. Animoto would be the exclusive killer app for the
Apple TV. I wonder how much I would pay for Season Pass to
StevensFive.TV (I still can't believe the Wii I just bought is
standard definition)

Good mornings

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Thu, 2 Oct 2008 18:52:00 -0400

Dad sometimes works late, so there are nights that the kids don't see
him before they go to bed. Here is sleepyeyed Jack with dad first
thing in the morning. It's when they catch up with hugs and how
things are going. Who ever thought dad would be a morning person?

Boston Harbor Sunset

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:48:00 -0400

There are boring slogging business trips and then there are special
ones like summer solstice in the Russian White Nights. My current trip
to Boston at the Akamai Customer Conference is of the special kind. I
met Michael Afergan, Akamai's CTO today and talked about the future.
Now I am ok a ship cruising the Boston Harbor. It's good to be back at
an old home.

Cheers

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:44:00 -0400

Dad is out of town, in boston at a conference. Tonight over dinner
Matthew, Jack, and Jillian came up with a plan of what they wanted to
do after dinner. It started with the tea party that Jillian was
having in her room before dinner. She had invited the boys, and they
had made it more interesting by putting hot water into her tin toy tea
kettle.

So here's what we did after dinner. They set the coffee table with a
tablecloth, cut fresh hydrangeas from out back for a centerpiece, set
out candles (I lit them), made hot cocoa for everyone, and set a
tastycake on a plate for each person. They were so excited about
this, and they did all of the work. We even had music c/o apple tv,
and scrolling photos. The music was the kid music we used to listen
to over and over again when the boys were little. There was lots of
laughter and even some dancing. The only thing missing was dad.

Bedtime Stories

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:13:00 -0400

Every night over the past month Dad has been reading The Hobbit to the
kids. They love it. Dad left tonight for a conference in Boston
after reading to them. The kids miss Dad when he travels and surely
they miss hearing him read to them at the end of the day. So he set
me up with the apple tv version of The Hobbit audiobook. Mom doesn't
quite cut it as a hobbit narrator. Plus this way I have silence (!)
so I can get a few things done at the end of my day.

Some Things Never Change

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:27:00 -0400

But some things do. We still like tailgating at a dry hot Phillies
game on Saturday afternoon. But new for Tara and I was the concept of
PingPong adult beverage games. Looks like the popular thing is setting
up a platform table and using a PingPong ball in place of a quarter.
In the dry hot wind there was quite a rate of consumption taking place
around the lot at Citizens Bank Park. Bean Bag horseshoe seemed to
surpass PingPong on popularity.

We didn't have a plan for this afternoon and the 4pm Phillies game
against the Braves sounded good. Game was sold out so we traveled down
to city at noon to get standing room only tickets for $14. Gates open
at 1:45 and we hope to get on the field for pictures with the players.

Sand Castle Design Patterns

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:30:00 -0400

Before the heavy thunderstorms rolled through the Cape after lunch, it
was warm and sunny. On a previous day while out on the flats with
Matthew we found two perfect sand dollars - right next to each other.
Today we all set out at low tide and searched out a half mile onto the
flats. No sand dollars to be found. We found clam shells and many
scallop shells.

Jack issued me a design for a sand castle and we set to work. The
trick with sand castles is to start it down far enough on the beach to
develop a pool of water once you start digging. Two advantages with
this. First your castle gains a moat. Second the pool provides a
source for liquid sand that works like mortar.

Our castle lasted a couple of hours before the tide came in - and the
thunderstorms rolled in.

Arrived in Cape Cod as the Tide Was Going Out

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:34:00 -0400

The ride was uneventful and the only traffic we faced was on the Cross
Bronx Expressway and congestion at the Bourne Bridge. We stopped for
gas only and got to Brewster by four in the afternoon. The tide was
just starring to go out. We decided to take care of our traditional
picnic dinner at the Sesuit Harbor Cafe this evening. When we got back
to the house the tide all the way out. Quite obvious why its called
the Brewster Flats. The lightning was striking out on the horizon and
we could hear the thunder. Never saw a colorful sunset next to a
thunderstorm before.

Leaving Pennsylvania in the Morning

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:40:00 -0400

Tara has been packing all week. I could hardly drag my butt out of bed
by six to start packing the family truckster. I had never set the
Yakima Space Case on the black truck before and blew an hour doing
that. All done two hours later and we set off. Then we realized we
forgot the EZPass blew 15 minutes retrieving that. Brewster here we
come.

Comcast Center All to Ourselves

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:10:00 -0400

Friday the 13th was a logistical challenge. I drove Tara to work in Haverford and then took the back way into the city. I had more than a few things to bring home from work over the weekend because the CIM office move into the Comcast Center. Tara and I thought this may be the best opportunity for the whole family to go into town. Dani took Matthew, Jack and Jillian downtown on the R5 and Tara picked up the same train after in BrynMawr after work. I picked up my pile of stuff and lugged it from 2000 Market to 15th and Race where I had parked and then waited in Suburban Station for everyone. We grabbed dinner at Nodding Head Brewery and walked over the Comcast Center as the Sun was starting to go down.

The massive High Definition LED Display in the Lobby is absolutely stunning at night - the contrast is awesome. Jillian, Jack and Matthew all got their picture taken and received vistor badges. It was like we had the whole skyscraper to ourselves. The views away from the sun to the river were spectacular. They got to see "Ralph's Cafe". Jillian asked "who is Ralph". I explained: "he is the man Jillian, he is simply THE man". We ended up on the wrong elevator and ended up on a floor where we found some major bean bag chairs. The kids said, "who ever works on this floor is really lucky!"

Family Video

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:24:00 -0400

A video for Dad

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:45:00 -0400

Watching the Wake

audio@stevensfive.net (Tara) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:22:00 -0400

When I was a kid, we spent most of each summer out on our boat. Wake watching was always fun. Now, thanks to grandparents that still love the water, my kids have the chance to do the same...and they love it. In this case, Jack was sitting at the helm, side by side with Captain "Bubba" feeling like a co-captain...while the rest of us sat back to enjoy the ride. The boys especially like the random gutsy jet-skiier that comes along to jump the wake. Thanks, Ganna and Bubba, for a great summer kickoff weekend!

Driveway Chalk Plus Rain Equals Fingerpaint

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:33:00 -0400

The kids figured out that they can take their driveway art to a second
stage instead of watching the rain wash it all away. I had the kids
all day as Tara was on her semi-annual outlet excursion with Claudia.
Yard work was impossible with the weather so I concentrated on
vacuuming the vehicles. Before the rain really came down heavy, I kept
the kids from being underfoot with driveway chalk. Once they got the
fingerpaint going during the rain sprinkles they had a lot of fun.

Science of Spilling Apple Juice

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:31:00 -0400

I tried to snap a picture for Drew since Matthew put on his Tshirt
this morning. Jillian turned for the picture and tipped her juice cup
over. The boys are looking at juice audibly pouring over the side of
the table.

Reverend Frank Allen Sings National Anthem at Phillies Game

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:05:00 -0400

Tara's colleage Amy Allen's husband sang the Anthem tonight at
Phillies game. Frank's fans from Kids First Haverford cheered from
section 237.

Speed Racer IMAX

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Sat, 10 May 2008 10:00:00 -0400

The treat on some evenings the last couple of weeks has been watching
the HD Speed Racer trailer on the Apple TV.

Jillian and of course Tara have zero interest. Searching Comcast video
on demand last weekend we found Speed Racer the Movie available for
free. As crummy as the original cartoon is, far worse than I remember
from childhood, it is as sticky today as it was years ago. Jack and
Matthew were glued to cartoon movie.

While commuting with Tara yesterday I tried to get tickets through
Fandango's iPhone web site for opening night. Sold out for IMAX. So I
got some tickets for me and the boys on Saturday morning.

Lights dimming...

Boys are skirming in their seats...

Thousand Kites Above the Mall

audio@stevensfive.net (Matt) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:53:00 -0400

We are down in DC at the Cherry Blossom Festival. We thought we would
see thousands of trees, and we have, but unlike past years there were
kites flying as far as the eye could see.