We're Back in Redondo!

Junior Guards started on Monday and both boys were back at it in no time. Mike and Steve are both back as instructors and they made Will an honorary cadet! Hopefully he is up to the task.

Our digs at the Portofino are so comfortable. We have a two bedroom apartment complete with a little kitchen and a view of the harbor out our window. It is surprisingly quiet and we are really happy and lucky to be back in the "hood".

Brittany got engaged at the lake!

My niece Britt got engaged to her sweet boyfriend Joe while we were all at the lake. My brother Mike shot some video and here is the short he made posted on Vimeo! Congratulations to Joe and Best Wishes to Brittany!

Joe Gaston's proposal to Brittany Francis from Mike Francis on Vimeo.

Go Jump in the Lake!

The Francis Family week at Ivanhoe Resort was a success! Grandpa Kay and all the dads had a fabulous Father's Day and niece Brittany got engaged!!! Joe surprised us all by asking for her hand in marriage and "She said Yes!"

Get in the basement!

Today we had tornado warnings in Buffalo...and saw this from our front steps. The rain came fast and furious and then it was calm. You could feel the air getting cooler and the clouds were swirling and moving in a way I've never seen before. The tornado siren sounded as this cloud passed over our heads... Yikes!

Take me out to the ball game

Will and Jack went to the Twins game at the New Target Stadium today! Monty had some extra tickets, so he took the boys along with his kids Anna and Jay! Thanks for the great seats Monty!

Fun at the lake with the Francis Family!

Last Day of School!

Jack got himself all gussied up for the last day of school! That's my boy!

Buffalo Triathlon 2010

Will 1:13:24 & Jack 1:14:13

Even though Will and Jack are 2 years apart in age, they are less than a minute apart in the Buffalo Triathlon. They competed on Sunday while I photographed, answered questions, rang my cowbell, and thanked the good lord that the rain subsided and stayed to our south during the entire race. It was an amazing site to see 1300 athletes compete in our tiny midwestern town!

These two boys of mine are such great competitors. They enjoyed the excitement of the day, did a great job racing and even stuck around for 2 hours to help with the cleanup! I am one proud Mama!

"Give me some more cowbell"

These two boys of mine are such great competitors. They enjoyed the excitement of the day, did a great job racing and even stuck around for 2 hours to help with the cleanup! I am one proud Mama!

all it takes...is all you've got

The graphics for the trailer were the most stressful project that I've worked on in a long time. I just couldn't visualize how these were going to fit on the 15 foot long trailer.

New and Improved t-shirts

After spending some time to re-work these shirts, I was really happy to see that the artwork looked fantastic and the quality of the shirts was worth the effort!

Tri Buff Club gear in action!

Volunteering for the Buffalo Triathlon

Over the past year I have spent a ton of time helping with the website and graphics, promotions, jersey and t-shirt designs for the Buffalo Triathlon. Last year the board of the tri donated a big chunk of money to the boys swim team to keep them in the water, so I thought that I could donate my time and talents as a way to help pay them back. When I agreed to the job, I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Google is now my best friend when it comes to trying to figure out how to update the website in DreamWeaver, or how to turn a raster image into vector art! This experience has been stressful (when I thought I deleted the entire website from the host comapny), worrisome (when I was trying to figure out how to make a photo wrap for a 15 foot long trailer), madening (when the t-shirt guy called 2 weeks before the triathlon and said the artwork that we used for the shirts last year wasn't going to work for the new printer!). But I have to say that it was also exciting and educational. I have learned a ton this year and guess what? I signed up to do it again for next year! Check us out at: http://www.tribuff.com/

Here is the artwork for the race jersey, tank and shorts. I spent a ton of time in illustrator learning how to use the tools and getting the artwork done for approval by Doctor Oden. It was pretty exciting to see the actual garments on racers during the triathalon last Sunday...they looked pretty good!

Here are the t-shirt designs that had to be completely reworked at the 11th hour. I learned how to use the live trace function in illustrator to convert the raster art to vector art! Racers and Volunteers loved the shirt design.

Days 145 to 156

Bike to Nowhere!

May 23, 2010

Will is taking photography this term and had a photo project that required help from a professional model (Jack). The assignment was to take a series of photos and this is what Will came up with! I joined the boys on Sunday morning to venture around town with the gear. The bike to nowhere series took on a life of its own and here are a few of the shots... Will used Richard's old Nikon film camera, shot in black and white and developed them in the photo lab at school. So cool!

Days 133 to 144

Track in St Michael

Here is Jack giving the 400 run another try...He looks strong even after being off his foot for 2 weeks!

Will, Nick and Jack