Stars & Stripes Invitational Gymnastics 2007

O, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare,
The bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O, say does that star spangled banner yet wave ,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Of Course They Sung The National Anthem At The Stars & Stripes Invitational Gymnastics 2007, They Sing It Everywhere !!!

Competition Over Here Is Unbelievable With Children Competing From Pennsylvania, Washington & New York State.
But Little Casey Flew The Aussie Flag & Came Away With Medals In The Uneven Bars & The Beam.

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi ! Oi! Oi!

Look Everyone No Hands !!!

Kicking The U.S Flag

I Told You I'm From Down Under !!!

Medal Presentation (Ring In)

I Thought You Were An Aussie (Watch Out Playboy)

Nice Medals !!! (Hope We Get Them Through Customs)

Chicken Wing Festival

So What's The Biggest Thing In The USA : The Statue Of Liberty, The Super Bowl, Disneyland No It's Chicken Wings ! & Today Was The Erie 2007 Chicken Wing Festival "Cook-Off". Basically They Get All Of The Bar's & Restaurant's In Erie Together Under One Pavilion & You Pay An Entry Fee Then Sample The Different Wings & Finally Fill Out a Score Sheet To Choose Erie's Best Wings 2007.
They Then Get Presented With a Trophy & Their Bar Will Be Full For The Next Twelve Months As People Will Pour In To Buy Wings.
They Are Obsessed With These Hot Wings & Serve Them Up By The Thousand But Where Is The Rest Of The Chicken ??? You Never See It On The Menu.

Inside The Chicken Wing "Cook-Off" Pavilion With Jim Bob, Chuck & Randy.

Dylan With "Mr Wings".

Grab Me a Beer This One's "Bloody Hot".


What's Your Problem I Didn't Have Breakfast.

Erie Golf Dome

Whilst The Snow Continues To Fall It Doesn't Stop Us From Practising Golf With a Fully Enclosed Driving Range, Sand Bunker & Putting Green All Under The Roof Of One Complex.

This Is One Of The Biggest Indoor Complexes In The USA.

There Are 28 Golf Courses In Erie But They Won't Thaw Out Until Around The End Of April.

Lucky We Have Access To An Indoor Driving Range For a Few Months.

Snow Falling Outside The Golf Dome.

Indoor Heated Driving Range With Set Targets & Greens.

Dylan Working On His Set-Up.

Australia Day 2007 "Peak n Peak"

Australians All Let Us Rejoice For We Are Young & Free !!!
Well We Gave The Kid's The Day Off School So We Could Celebrate Australia Day & Whilst We Are a Long Way From The Sydney Harbour Fireworks We Had a Great Day & Headed Up To "Peak n Peak" Ski Resort Where Dylan Was Going To Learn To Snowboard For The First Time & Casey Would Learn To Ski. I Also Ended The Day With a Couple Of Fosters At The Outback Steakhouse as Fosters Is Australian For Beer Or So Yanks Tell You !

Celebrating Australia Day At Findley Lake In New York State.

(Yes This Is a Frozen Lake).

OK Casey Watch, Listen & Learn.

One Hour Later "Powder Hound"

Haven't Done This Since 1988 But Just Like Riding a Bike.

Dylan With His Personnel Snow Board Instructor (Dave).

Dylan Cutting The Slopes Apart !

Cheryl Having a Go On The Ski's At The End Of The Day.

(Where's The Fireplace ?)

Maryland & CSX Railway

I Spent a Few Days This Week Down At CSX Railroad In Cumberland Maryland With Garry McNess Another United Group Rail Employee. Maryland Is Between West Virginia & Washington DC. Whilst The Drive Down There Was The Worst I Have Ever Experienced Because Of the Weather Our Accommodation Was Breathtaking Which Was Kindly Booked For Us By The Rail Manager Of CSX Railroad For An Incredible $69 Per Night. This Resort Is Known As "Rocky Gap Resort" & Is Between a Major Lake & a Jack Nicholas Designed Golf Course. On The Downside We Did Have To Go Into Work At 5am Which Was "Bloody" Cold.

Looking Across The Lake At "Rocky Gap" Resort In Maryland.

View From My Room 626 "Nice !!!"

Looking Back From The 9th Green.

Who's Turn To Putt ! I Think It Breaks Right To Left.

CSX Rail Yard At The Bottom Of The West Virginian Mountains.

Give Me a Hand To Shunt These Loco's In But You Might Want To Grab Your Jacket First.

Snow & Sleds

Well The Snow Certainly Fell This Week & Lots Of It! But Hey Lets Get The Sleds Out & Make The Most Of It. Snow Has Now Fell Steadily Every Day For The Last Seven Days & Whilst It Can Be Dangerous Driving In It Is Also Poses As a Good Chance To Get Outside & Fully Experience a Northern Hemisphere Winter.

Casey & Grace Who's Dad Is An Engineer At GE From China.

Dylan Enjoying The Cooler Temperature Of Erie

Cheryl Getting Amongst The Fun With The Kid's

Casey Shoveling Our Driveway So She Can Get To School.

Don't Worry About It Casey I Forgot To Put The Car Away Last Night.

Quick Guy's Walk Up To The Bus Stop It's Not Cold This Morning.

Cold & Frosty!

Well Here Comes The Snow! But it Really Is Pretty & a Great Experience For Everyone. We Are Expecting Snow All Week & Hopefully We Are All Going Skiing Next Weekend At Peek n Peek Ski & Golf Resort. Although The Kids Did Look Funny Trouncing In The Snow On The Way To The Bus Stop This Morning.

Looks As If The Sand Bunkers Are The Least Of Your Problems Now!

Brookwood Village Drive

Looking Out Of Our Family Room Door.

"Stop" I Think.

Peach Street In Erie

Washington DC Sports & The Whitehouse

Well Whilst In Washington DC We Decided To Go & Check Out The White House & To See If George "W" Wanted To Catch Up For a Beer & a Barbie. Anyway The S.W.A.T. Team Stopped Us Told Us To Hung Around Though As George Was About To Fly In! Saddam Was Invited Too But apparently He Was Hanging Around Somewhere Else!

Whilst In Washington We Also Obtained Tickets To The Monster Truck's & Saw The Washington Wizards Play The Utah Jazz In The NBA Basketball Which Was Amazing As Gilbert Arenas Of The Washington Wizards Landed a Three Point Shot With Two Seconds On The Clock To Give Them The Victory.

George Dad Has Gone To Get The Esky Start The Barbie Up Mate!

Freeze Police You Have The Right To Remain Silent "Hello I'm Mr Ed"

Guy's Sorry I'm Running Late (Come On George Give Us a Wave!)

Monster Truck's "Grave Digger" At The Verizon Centre In Washington DC

Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas Two Seconds left On The Clock & He Made The Shot.

Washington DC Monuments & Museums

Last Weekend Was a Long Weekend (Martin Luther King Jr) Day. So We Packed Up The Chevy Grabbed a Box Of Donuts & Headed Down To Washington DC For a Few Days. The Monuments & Museums Where Amazing & All Free Of Charge. We Saw The Jefferson Monument, Abraham Lincoln Monument, Roosevelt Monument, The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, American History Museum, The National Gallery Of Art (Picasso, Rembrandt & Van Gouge) & The Washington National Cathedral.

"Children Appreciate The Opportunity To Improve Your Eduction"

The First Plane Flown By The Wright Brothers. Hard To Earn Frequent Flyer Points!!!

"Case In Space" Space Suit Worn By Neil Armstrong.

"One Small Step For Man One Giant Leap For Mankind"

Touching The Moon! Actual Moon Rock Bought Back To Earth By Apollo 11

"If I Only Had a Brain" Scarecrow Costume Worn By Ray Boldger In The Wizard Of Oz.

"Big Boy" 19ft High Jefferson Monument.

"Shadow Boy" Explaining Jet Aircraft Thrust" (Idiot)