Neil P. Dennis and Family

July 5, 2010 1:02 PM

Getting to Know You - Tuesday June 29th 2010

Tonya Hadley (Camille's Brother's wife) wanted to try something to get to know the family a bit better. So she is sending out weekly questions. I decided it would be good for my blog since I'm using it sort of as a personal history:

Question:

What is your favorite color? Is there a particular reason why?

Answer:

Blue - It is not harsh on the eyes and it reminds me of the beach :)

Question:

What lessons (piano, art, sports, etc) did you take as a child? What did you like or dislike about those lessons? Do you still use that talent today? Is there something you always wanted to learn, but never did?

Answer:

Piano, Trumpet, Football, Baseball, Tennis, Swimming/Water Polo, Dance, Martial Arts

Piano - I hated it, I would like the talent but don't want the practice
Trumpet - It was OK, it was better than singing and my dad played so it was kind of cool. I was able to play along with Marc in a performance during his Junior High days when his other partner became ill.
Football - Loved it but quit early on because I wasn't really good and it was hard on my knees
Baseball - Really liked it until upper leagues when the balls were pitched faster (I wasn't a very good hitter)
Tennis - Enjoy it, but it was a lot of work
Swimming/Water Polo - Thought it was fun, but ultimately Physics was more important in my High School career
Dance - I did Ballroom and Fold dance, loved both and did both in college
Martial Arts - I did Shotokan Karate, and Taekwondo, I loved both and would like to spend more time with them

I would like to scuba dive, learn to fly a plane and learn more about robotics.

July 13, 2010 4:04 PM

Boating Marathon Day 3 - Saturday June 26th 2010

Dead tired now, but are we stopping? No way!

However... Saylorville lake has been rising each day and with the heavy rain some of the boat launches were closed leaving the others packed. The Army Core of Engineers placed guards to only allow a boat in for every one that leaves.

As we went looking for a boat launch with available space we found a perfect sign. How often do you see a "Dead End" sign posted next to a cemetery?

Our quest for a launch site lead us from our normal site to the marina and to Cherry Glen. At that point we gave up and decided to have lunch on the boat. Of course something was missing... I realize now it was the WATER...

Lunch on the Boat

On our way out from lunch we saw that a boat was allowed to enter. So we asked the guard if there was a number we could take or something so we could get in. He told us that if we parked the boat trailer back at our house after launching that would be acceptable... Oh yah, we only live about 2 miles from the lake.

After launching Camille and Sue took the trailer back to the house and Jan, Naomi, Eric and I took the boat out. We let Naomi drive.

Then Jan had his turn

We went tubing and kayaking but it was too rough for water skiing today

Afterwards we took a look at the flood gates, which I believe are wide open again to drain the lake. Water is coming in faster than it can be removed.

I did have reinforce in my brain one thing... "A bad day of water skiing beats a good day at work"

July 5, 2010 12:33 PM

Boating Marathon Day 2 - Friday June 25th 2010

Day Two!!

Camille, Eric and I are so tired from yesterday... I used to believe that muscle soreness was caused by a buildup of lactic acid... I'm not so sure any more.

What Causes Muscle Soreness?

... You finish a workout and feel great; then you get up the next morning and your exercised muscles feel sore. We used to think that next-day muscle soreness is caused by a buildup of lactic acid in muscles, but now we know that lactic acid has nothing to do it. Next-day muscle soreness is caused by damage to the muscle fibers themselves. Muscle biopsies taken on the day after hard exercise show bleeding and disruption of the z-band filaments that hold muscle fibers together as they slide over each other during a contraction... Scientists can tell how much muscle damage has occurred by measuring blood levels of a muscle enzyme called CPK. CPK is normally found in muscles and is released into the bloodstream when muscles are damaged.

Either way, Extra lactic acid, High CPK, tight muscle fibers... whatever... we are all sore today. But do you think that would stop us? Nope.

We took Brian and Shannon with us today and even though the wind was high and the water was rough it made for a great tubing day.

Brian getting ready

Shannon after jumping on to the tube and being trampolined into the water (I wish I had a picture of the bounce)

With the wind it made a great sail boat day.

July 5, 2010 12:16 PM

Boating Marathon Day 1 - Thursday June 24th 2010

The weather is looking nice this weekend and for the first time in what seems like a long time the weather is nice on a non-Sunday and I have no church obligations this weekend. No matter what comes, we are going out on the boat. I got off work at 3:00 and we were on the lake by 4:00

The water was absolutely perfect warm, calm and not a lot of other boats. Camille and I both started off water skiing in case the perfect water didn't last.

Eric didn't want to ski yet but has a lot of fun on the tube (notice the calm water with Eric)

I went tubing as well

And so did Camille, however this picture is a lie... we talked her into it because she had never been on a tube and she hated it and vowed to never again get on a tube. So from now on only water skiing for Camille.

Toward evening we were exhausted and our muscles were aching. However the entire lake turned glassy smooth with no swells. The water earlier today was glassy but had swells that didn't make it as perfect as it was now. So even as tired as we were Camille and I went skiing again... we will be hurting tomorrow :)

It was smoother for me, by the time Camille got out it was a bit rougher. The low picture quality is because this was captured from a movie file.

July 5, 2010 11:56 AM

Carnival Setup - Wednesday June 16th 2010

In the park by the Library, just down the street from us they are setting up a carnival. I had Camille take some pictures of the setup for me. It was amazing how fast the set it up. One night the park was empty the next morning on the way to work I see this.

July 5, 2010 11:50 AM

Storm - Friday June 11th 2010

We get a lot of fast moving storms in Iowa. This morning looked like a nice day when we got up for scripture study at 6:00 AM. During our study the storm radio started an alert saying that there was a major storm headed our way and would hit us at 6:30 AM. I looked outside and thought that it couldn't happen in 20 min. I was wrong.

At 6:30 the sky started getting dark and we could hear thunder in the distance. By 6:50 the was on us. In this next picture storm is moving toward the camera. Notice that the sun is still shining from the back and it doesn't look too bad after this initial dark cloud.

Photo at 6:51

1 minute later the light strip that you can see just above the houses was gone. It was too dark to get a picture so I went to the back of the house (facing east) As the storm moved on to the east the sun was blocked.

Photo at 6:52

By the time I left for work at 6:55 the sky was completely dark and on the way to work the rain hit. Not just a light rain, but more like the rain that I experienced in the islands. The streets quickly flooded with an inch or two of water.

By 8:00 the sky was clear again... In all the places I have lived the locals had a saying... "If you don't like the weather in <insert current town or state> wait a minute" This statement has been more true for Iowa than in any other location I have lived.

July 5, 2010 11:35 AM

Boating - Wednesday June 9th 2010

It was a really nice day again today and I had a scout masters meeting... I haven't been boating for weeks now and it looks like rain for the next couple of days... so I blew off my scout meeting and took the neighbors boating.

June 23, 2010 5:57 PM

Camping and Service - Saturday June 5th 2010

I would have liked to get out on the boat again this week however it has either been rainy or other activities have gotten in the way. Tuesday Eric has piano, Wednesday I have scouts, Sunday of course is a day of rest for my household but that leaves four days of the week open and all of them have been rainy :(

This Friday and Saturday despite the rain, we went camping at the church camp to work on building cabins for the upcoming girls camp. My tent is not water proof so it filled with water, but I was on a slope so the water stayed on one side. My tent is the one on the left.

I keep loosing the address to the camp so I'm putting the address and web link to the site here.

Bear Creek Camp

1598 Magnolia Road,

Boone County, Iowa 50036

Latitude: 41.979 north

Longitude: -93.926 east (93.926 west)

Funny story, we purchased this tent along with another and a lot of camping gear with money we received from our wedding reception. We did it because Camille thought she liked to camp... Later we both realized that she never really went camping without a motor home. So it turns out we didn't go camping a lot. However the gear came in handy for all of the father and son outings.

June 23, 2010 5:39 PM

Mississippi - Sunday May 30th 2010

I have crossed the Mississippi River several times however mostly I cross at night. This time on my way home from NH I crossed during the day and had Camille take some pictures.

We were fortunate to see some "action" a barge was going under the bridge we were going over.

It looks like it can hold quite a bit of stuff...

June 21, 2010 10:25 PM

Open House - Saturday May 29th 2010

A very busy day today, so we started off with a good breakfast at Benedict's Grill in Rochester NH. It is a great place to eat but we didn't go very often because they only take cash. Well we finally closed our NH bank account so we has some. It was a lot of food. (which turned out to be the theme for today...)

After the baptism we setup tables and put on table cloths to match the wedding colors as close as possible.

Camille made some center pieces and we used some of the stuff from the reception. I think it turned out nice.

It was a bit of work to get things setup because we vowed not to use any help from the locals, we wanted them to be guests and not need to work at all. We also wanted to keep things very casual.

We had two sheet cakes made which turned out to be about one too many :)

And we had the food catered since we knew we would be busy and didn't want to deal with it long distance. The only question is how much? A few hundred were invited, but it was a holiday weekend and many were traveling. So we planned on 200 and if any was left over we could leave it for a ward party or to be given to those who needed it.

We had about 50 show, so we had tons and tons of food left over.

Eric of course played chess with any one willing.

Cleaning up, along with family from both sides, we did have a little help :)

We left that night to head back to Iowa... what a quick whirlwind trip.

June 21, 2010 10:25 PM

Wedding Open House - Friday May 28th 2010

After getting sunburned and worn out water skiing Wednesday, we left for New Hampshire Wednesday night. We made the trip for Marc and Chrissy's open house. Even though the wedding was quite some time ago this trip was planned as a multi-purpose trip. It was a baptism/wedding open house.

Marc and Chrissy stayed with her parents that flew in. Camille and I had plans of flying but drove to help Marc and Chrissy bring stuff back. Camille Eric and I stayed at The Governor's Inn. Camille had always wanted to go but never had a reason when we lived there.

Friday Eric was able to meet his school friends and hang out for the day. We will remember this day as the day that Robbie almost died. He was walking across the street to get a drink and didn't look both ways. We all know what happens next... actually the car missed him, but it sure did scare him.

Aaron, Robbie, Eric, Zach, Keith, Miranda, Louise, Brittany, Colby, Junior

June 21, 2010 10:17 PM

Water Skiing - Wednesday May 26th 2010

Today was our first official day of water skiing in Iowa. The prior times going out were a little to cold or to rough. Marc and Chrissy were with us, Eric was still in school today.

Both Camille and I got up after a few tries... we were a bit rusty.

June 21, 2010 10:06 PM

Hair Cut and Sod - Tuesday May 25th 2010

What do hair cuts and sod have to do with each other? Possibly not what you are thinking...

The sod arrived today marking the beginning of the end of the construction in the back yard.

But more importantly the long standing Dennis tradition of Dennis wives cutting Dennis husbands hair was passed on today. Chrissy learned how to cut hair and did so on Marc. (It was a proud parent moment... sniff...)

Chrissy Cutting Hair

June 21, 2010 10:01 PM

Tubing with Marc and Chrissy - Monday May 24th 2010

Marc and Chrissy arrived on their way to New Hampshire. We will be taking them to the open house for their wedding on Saturday. Eric will be in School until Wednesday when we plan on leaving (Eric will miss two days) so we have some time to play before we go.

When Eric got home from school on Tuesday we all went tubing. This one is Marc on his first run. Both Marc and Eric tried to outdo each other to see who could stay on while I tried to dump them. Chrissy had her contacts in so we took it a little easier with her.

Both Marc and Chrissy wanted to drive so they were each able to do so. Camille was looking good enjoying the ride in the back.

Chrissy Driving

We needed more time to play, we will try again tomorrow.

June 11, 2010 6:35 AM

Tubing - Saturday May 22nd 2010

This Saturday will be the second time we took the boat out. Last week we took it out for the first time to make sure things worked before Marc arrived. We found it wouldn't start once we put it in the water, so we left it on the trailer pulled it back out of the water then used the jumper cables that we happened to have brought with us to charge it from the car battery. It worked fine after then.

This Saturday we decided to try again and see if last weeks charge held. However we decided to do some work on the house first. I finished this corner of the house where we couldn't get to the grass under the air conditioner to mow it. I put down some felt added a border and filled it with wood chips.

We finally did get out on the boat

And went tubing

Camille was the only one that decided to stay in the boat. Maybe next time...

Oh, and this was Eric's second time driving.

May 28, 2010 7:27 AM

Camping - Friday May 14th 2010

It is the fathers and sons camping trip again. So in the tradition of Neil, Marc and Eric we had pizza

We used to also play risk, watch a movie on the computer and call Grandma. However recently there has been no cell service, Marc is on his own now so we can't play risk, and Eric likes to run off and play with his friends. But we still have the pizza. We camped Friday night and in the morning had a service project. We made bunk beds for the cabins.

May 28, 2010 7:21 AM

Breakfast (the healthy way) - Monday May 10th 2010

Eric graduated his first year of seminary. To celebrate his class went to IHOP for breakfast. Camille and I decided since I had to drive Eric anyway that we would go and do our own breakfast at our own table.

You maybe have heard of people ordering a cheese burger, large fry and a diet drink? Not my wife when she orders apple pancakes that has powdered sugar and whip cream... and ...

Yes... she requested sugar free syrup.

June 11, 2010 6:35 AM

Tulip Time - Saturday May 8th 2010

While in Iowa we decided to experience some of the Iowa culture that is around us. Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa is one of those things to experience.

There is way too much that we saw today to blog all of it, so you will need to hit the photo archives (not on line) to see everything. But I will show you a couple of the highlights here.

Tulip Time in Pella is more than a celebration of Tulips (they do have plenty of those through the city) but it is a celebration of the Dutch heritage that is prominent in their community.

They had Dutch Dancers in wooden shoes

Dutch food, which of course we had to sample

A working windmill that we toured... this one is a flour mill.

Mill

Historical cheese purchasing process (with free samples)

Cheese Purchase

Hundreds of street sweepers and a parade

and of course tulips everywhere...

May 26, 2010 7:46 AM

Summer? - Wednesday May 5th 2010

Continuing the story of seasons in Iowa by tree... The blossoms didn't last too long, it looks like summer may be here.

Tree with leaves

May 26, 2010 7:41 AM

Aviation Expo - Saturday May 1st 2010

I went camping with the scouts to an air field. I couldn't program the air filed into my GPS but people told me to just follow the signs... so I tried that. I ended up about 15 miles past the turn off and had to turn around. By the time I got closer I figured I could use the GPS which then tried to drive me through a park walking path. After a while I called another scout leader who gave me directions and we ended up arriving about an hour later than everyone else.

But we made it OK and it was a lot of fun. We learned about air craft including maintenance. I didn't realize that airplanes used for higher need a complete inspection ever 100 hours. This includes an internal engine inspection.

We had a crop duster and an acrobatic air show

The airplane hangers where pretty cool as well. The air planes were on a carousel so that they could pack the airplanes in tight and still have access to them all.

We also saw and learned about model air planes. Many modelers pick a time in history and build planes to scale that match actual planes. Such as this one.

model air plane

We also go up close and personal with a Black Hawk helicopter that flew in for the event

It was windy already, but the wind from the helicopter finished off a few campgrounds overturning tables, chairs and mangling tents. It would be really cool to say "My camp was taken out by a Black Hawk Helicopter" :)

We had other activities as well, including flight simulators, rocket building, and much more.