Four And A Half Men – Last Day

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Smoke

All good things must come to an end, and so here we are at the end of what has been a most memorable tour.

We went back out to Powers for a farewell lap of Builders Only to see what we could accomplish in the last few hours of the tour.

Looks like we accomplished a lot of airtime on some good sized moves.

Trip was on a bit of a mission as well.

I think he’s been thinking about Crazy Train since the first day. Look closely, you can see the determination.

Visualization, preparation…..execution. There you go. A 12 year old nailing Crazy Train.

On a rental bike no less. Good work, we can all learn from the young I think. And we won’t say anything more about the dislocated ribs and concussion that happened to one of the older riders a few minutes later. He doesn’t remember it anyway.

Everybody say, “Bye bye, baby!”

Four And A Half Men – Day 4

Posted on August 17, 2008 by Smoke

No pics fromt he boys ride yesterday. They were at Silver Star and I was inthe hospital with the family, so you’ll just have to imagine some pics of their day.

Today we went to Gillard to shred the Kelowna gnarcore.

Tyler put on a clinic for the boys, to make sure that they got the idea.

Ooops, forgot to phone the girlfriend. The boy has skills on the bike, and apparently in other areas too. Look at that spadework….

Still, better get home or this will be your ONLY ride…

The young gun was paying attention earlier.

Bum shot of Matt on a BIG rock line.

Ooops. Trip gets the bums rush. He got some cool tread marks on his arm on this one.

No harm, no foul. Everyone felt good enough to try this wall.

Of course, Trip makes everyone look lame by comparison. You can really see how big this bike is on him here.

Still, inspiration for the rest of the crew.

I think they might actually be tired now. A short day to finish off tomorrow and we’re done.

Freshie!

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Smoke

And now the conclusion to yesterday’s cliffhanger. Barb had gone in for a regular check as she was now 10 days or so overdue. Which is a long time. Seeing as there were absolutely no signs of her beginning labour, I fugured we were still a few days away from any action.

Well, my phone rang in the middle of the second run saying otherwise. I guess the doctor wanted to talk about hurrying things along, and someone sounded a little anxious. I shortly found myself unshowered and unfed, but wearing this badass teal ensemble.

Barb had an old friend to keep her company too.

She was definitely a bit nervous about the impending situation. Who wouldn’t be?

Barb, our awesome midwife, was on hand to explain things. The doc came by to reinforce it. As things weren’t even close to happening naturally, and with Barb’s size and what appeared to be a big baby, it looked like a C-section was the best course of action. We were all ready to try the natural route, but our chances of succeeding weren’t great, so we opted for the surgery. It’s a mild disappointment, but really…it’s about the baby not us.

So off to the OR we went, at just after midnite. Have a look at my Mom. See how youthful she looks? Next time you see here she’ll be a grannie.

Well, it didn’t take very long. Lacking in romance perhaps, but highly efficient. As I expected, we got a girl.

8 lbs, 14oz, and about 21″ long. Also, she shares a birthday with Madonna.

Barbara Anna, meet Anna Siobhan (you pronounce it Shivon. It’s gaelic, and as most gaels are completely illiterate you are allowed to get creative with the spelling).