How The Skogs Spent Their Summer Vacation

This week marked the beginning of the school year and I figured this was as good of a time as any to help Superstar with what will undoubtedly be her first homework assignment, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation."  Let's Find out.

Skog Girls On Stage

Superstar had her annual dance recital in early June.  Luckily the dance recital gods favored our family this year and both of her numbers fell in the first half of the program.  I realize it's poor etiquette to leave early, but as much as I love my girls I'm still not quite to the "Sit through 60 numbers in a hot auditorium for 4 hours in June" stage of love.  Maybe someday, and yes I am certain that I just jinxed next year's recital schedule with those comments...







Not only did Toots and Rockstar have to dress up and wear fancy costumes to Superstar's recital, later in the Summer they had their chance to sing on stage at a Jeppson (Wheels) Family Reunion. Wheels and I didn't sign them up thinking they were too shy but come showtime they grabbed the mic and hopped right up and sang. Toots gave us a reverent rendition of Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam while Rockstar brought the house down with a 3 min plus cover of the Spongebob classic Best Day Ever.  To her credit, Superstar also performed I Am Like A Star that night but there is no recorded evidence.  You'll just have to take our word for it that she did just as well as her little sisters.





T-Ball

Superstar, Toots and their cousins Max, Millie and Henry as well as some neighbor friends formed a team this summer, The Mighty Blue Raptors. Toots was probably just a tad too young to play as she spent much of her time flirting with her male teammates but she did win the award for most adorable in the league. Superstar started off the season well but her swing somehow declined over the season and morphed into what Coach Erik described as a baseball version of Charles Barkley's golf swing. The season was somewhat of a bust because the kids only wanted to bat and spent their fielding time sitting down in the infield. Papa J was disgusted at this new, "Everyone bats, nobody gets out" type of system and frankly, so was I. Next year we want the real deal - learn the game and the rules, you get out, kids crying as the umpire calls them out on strikes, you know, the good stuff.







Superstar Rides a Bike

I'm not sure if I should be proud or disgusted because Superstar was two years ahead of the pace established by her father. I am all for being an overachiever at certain things but balance, irrational fear and coordination aren't on my approved list. Lucky for Superstar she takes after her mother and those things are Wheels Family approved.



4th of July

We spent the night of the 4th of July in usual fashion - bbqing and lighting off our Costco meats and fireworks. We later discovered how to really celebrate the 4th. My sister Kristine's neighbor owns a firework stand and after the holidays he lights off his excess inventory. With the relaxed laws this year it was quite a spectacle - 4 aerials going off at a time for nearly 90 mins. Honestly it was better than most city shows and would highly recommend it for next year.



Toots Gets A Haircut

Always the fashionista, Toots decided it was time for a fresh look and Wheels herself chopped off her young locks and gave her this nice bob cut. Superstar also went to a salon and got a 'real' ie: Non Wheels haircut but as usual there is no recorded evidence of this event. Can't wait until she gets older and hates us.



Best Summer Ever

As previously seen, when Rockstar wasn't watching Spongebob this Summer she spent the rest of her time singing his song.



Bear Lake

Wheels' youngest brother returned from his mission in Uruguay and this allowed her family to have nearly all of the family together for the first time in many years. Andy and May didn't want to travel for some reason so they missed out. Oh, right - May was only 40 weeks pregnant at the time, fine, I suppose that is a good enough excuse. Well, they were missed as the rest of us spent half a week at the mulch beach, on the water, or stuffing our faces while we sat on the deck overlooking the lake. Speaking of food, the Wheels family ate the entire dozen bratwurst I grilled and I've never been so proud to call myself a member of their family.



Summer Fun

Well that about does it for the report. It was kind of an odd and strangely stressful Summer but one day we'll look back and wish we could do it all again.

The Skog Fam Weeks in Review - Spring Montage Edition

BREAKING NEWS!

The writers' strike has ended and we can finally get back to blogging.  Don't breakout your awards show gowns and tuxes just yet though because The Skog Blog Awards have been shelved and will be released at a later date.  Everybody knows that it's never a good sign when a release date gets pushed back so interpret that news as you will - ie: the post probably sucked.  It will see the light of day at some point.

For now, let's find out what's been going on in the Land of Skog since the end of February.  Lots of parties and the usual tomfoolery.  In movies, how does one bring the audience up to speed or move the story along quickly?  We call that a montage.  Consider this the Spring Montage Edition of The Skog Blog.  Most of this entries will be pics only unless a brief explanation is warranted.  Let's get to it.

Rockstar Turns 2



Spring Break 2011 in St. George 

Some of the Skog Fam spent the week in St. George and not only was there no golf involved but we went hiking. I know, I don't know who we are anymore either.



Herms' Birthday Bash

Herms turned 40 and being the nerd that he is, decided to have a board game themed party. Wheels finally got to breakout the saloon girl outfit that her mother sewed when Wheels was in high school. The girls went as characters from Candyland - Princess Frostine and Lolly and I went as Operation. I'm very sorry to all in attendance but give even more heartfelt apologies to the neighbors who had their dinners interrupted while we did this photo shoot. More extensive coverage can be found here.

Easter and kg's Birthday 

This year I got to share my birthday with Easter so you know what that means - Egg Salad Cake! The girls got me a personalized mug to better consume my yerba mate and Wheels made me a cherry chip cake from scratch. Good times.







Papa J Turns 65

The Sunday before Papa J turned 65 we threw him a Florida themed surprise party. The beauty of it was that we actually surprised him which is darn near impossible these days, what with his fancy new iPhone and what not...



Mother's Day

A few days before Mother's Day, Superstar loudly whispered to me to come into her room and shut the door. She had been to Fresh Market and said we really need to get Wheels a big cake and some really pretty flowers. On Saturday, we shipped Wheels out to a little spa retreat and made a quick run to pickup the cake and pretty flowers and then the girls decorated it as can be seen in the photos below. Sunday night Superstar decided that Wheels hadn't had enough pampering for her special day and decided to give her a real spa treatment. Ooh, la, la.



Spring Soccer



Toots' First Trip to the Dentist



The Skog Olympics

Superstar, Toots and their cousins, Henry and Millie each participated in the Elite Gym Olympics which was basically a 'recital' to show off what they had learned over the past few months. The gym lighting didn't allow for the greatest pics or clips but make sure to look for the following Henry highlights - 1 - his photobomb on the pic where Superstar and Millie get their medals and 2 - his front flip on the tumbling routine that brought the loudest gasps and cheers of the day.















Misc Spring Fun

Assorted pics from this spring followed by a video clip that many have already seen on Facebook but I felt like it deserved another post especially since some of the readers are not on Facebook. I guess that new fangled iPhone can't do everything for you Papa J.



I feel like Toots really captures the emotion of this Simon and Garfunkel classic about a lover scorned. I think Henry and Millie were the ones who actually taught our girls this song because I saw Henry singing his heart out in a similar fashion many times in St. George. Perhaps Kim needs to see this video and raise us another clip of them belting out I Am a Rock. PS: Yes, I am aware that this video is out of sync but I don't have time to fix it right now. Video is now ok.



Thanks for taking the time to get caught up with the Skogs and this blowhard of all blowhard posts. Hopefully we shall meet again much sooner next time.

kg

The First Annual Skog Blog Awards

Most of my family, friends and readers have probably long since abandoned this blog.  I blame myself.  Well, I guess I kind of blame Wheels and my girls too, but mostly, myself.  Actually, I need to blame my genetics as well - the fact that I fall asleep as soon as I sit down on the couch (thanks, Big J) but after that, I would totally have to take the lion's share of the blame.  No more excuses - it is time for the triumphant return of The Skog Blog.

I have some good news for anyone who found tonight's Oscar telecast to be underwhelming and was left wanting more.  To get things started this week I will be presenting the First Annual Skog Blog Awards - The KayGees and the Wheelies - selected, with love, by yours truly and my sweet wife, Wheels.  However, before we get to the awards I would be remiss if I didn't take some time to pay tribute and respect to all of the blog posts and memories that passed us by during the three month Skog Blog Hiatus.



Thanks for the memories - Thanksgiving, Christmas, Pukefest 2010, New Years with the Wheels Family, Misc Winter Experiences and Valentine's Day - you will be missed but never forgotten.

Tune in tomorrow night for the first awards! Good Night and Good Luck to the Nominees!