All in the Family

Christmas

2008-12-29T20:42:00.002-05:00

Crack is Wack
Originally uploaded by davelakly

Is this thing on? I thought I'd post here because I've got two things going on these days. . .

Pictures are on Flickr

Short vids are on Youtube

Enjoy!

Zamboni Dan

2008-02-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

Taken with my crappy phone. . . You can't tell, but that is Dan-o driving the Zamboni.

Some Fun Pics

2008-02-10T22:36:00.001-05:00

Two Turntables
Originally uploaded by davelakly

I've just posted a new batch. Some are from Jack and Connor's birthday party at the Aquarium. Some more are from John's birthday. And some more are from the snow day we had recently. There may be a Zamboni-driving Dan, too. They are all added to the Misc Winter Set. Now that winter is nearly over, maybe I'll get good about putting pictures up again. Who knows, maybe now that I've got the new computer cooking, I'll do some video. . .

Misc Winter 07-08 »

Nice Present!

2008-01-02T22:26:00.001-05:00

Ben in a Box
Originally uploaded by davelakly

What a whirlwind of a holiday. I must say that our first Christmas back in PTC was a lot of fun. It was so much easier to navigate with everyone so close. Everyone was so generous, and the boys had a fantastic time. I know Christmas will just get crazier and crazier, and I really hope we have another one or two more like this before it becomes all about what thousand dollar toy they are begging for.

Christmas Set »
Misc. Winter Set »

Batch of New Ones

2007-12-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

So it has been a while. . .

Here's some pics from Halloween »

Here's some pics from Thanksgiving »

Here's some pics from last weekend at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens »

Ben's Photos

2007-12-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

I spent the past hour with a Flickr/Yahoo debacle that didn't end well. The final result is that Ben has a new Flickr site:

Ben's New Flickr

You can view his most recent photos here:

December 2007

Comedian

2007-10-25T09:03:00.000-04:00

"Knock knock," as he raps my skull with his little fist.
"Who's there?" not expecting a 2-year-old to be able to nail this format.
"Drewdrew." Well, he's better at this than his brother.
"Drewdrew who?"
"Drewdrew on your HEAD." He's a natural.

Quote of the Day

2007-10-24T13:29:00.000-04:00

"While I disagree with your view of a conventional anthropomorphic God, I respect your using that myth to discipline them rascally boys."
-Crabman

Great Georgia Air Show

2007-10-16T17:14:00.001-04:00

Dad and Drew
Originally uploaded by davelakly

I just put up a bunch of photos from the Great Georgia Air Show. It was a bit cooler than I expected it to be. I thought it would be a lot more, you know, redneck. The stunt planes we amazing to watch, and we lucked out by sitting right in front of where the skydivers landed with the American flag. The boys had a good time, but the four of them always have fun when they are together. Anyway, the photos are a all mixed up and I posted some doubles, but I'm lazy. . .

Misc Fall 2007 set

Ben's Birthday

2007-10-04T14:07:00.001-04:00

Cake I
Originally uploaded by davelakly

Ben turned 4 last week. It's a little bit nuts, actually. We had fun at what will probably be the last "family" party we have. I'm sure from here on out it will be Chuck E. Cheese, Johnny Jumpers, Disneyland, and whatever else the kids will beg and plead for. For now, Ben was just excited to have a day to run around with his cousins.

There was a bit of a brawl over the Jack-in-the-box. For some reason, Ben is always asking for one, and we finally got him a Thomas Jack-in-the-box. Well, trouble is, Drew really wanted to play with it too. Ben tried to mush his face, and made Drew cry, and I pulled Ben off Drew and made Ben cry. All while trying to hold two cameras. A nice bit of mahem.

Here's the birthday photo set.

Here's a little slideshow. . .

Announcing

2007-10-02T09:01:00.000-04:00

Ben has his very own Flickr site. He's having a blast taking pictures with his new camera. I debated whether or not I should only post ones that turn out okay, but decided it would be better just to upload everything. I won't censor my budding artist.

Ben's Flickr »

Pins and Needles

2007-09-28T08:08:00.000-04:00

Benjamin's foot fell asleep for the first time last night at dinner. Sounds like no big deal, right? Wrong. It was obviously terrifying to him, and he was completely unable to verbalize what was happening. I mean, try to put that sensation into words if you've never had it happen before. He was clearly and rapidly descending into one of his anxious fits with no explanation. His first try was, "I need to go play tag right now." I guess he was thinking he needed to get the blood flowing, which was a good instinct. Only he couldn't bring himself to stand on the leg. We had to go round and round a bit before I (Genius Dad TM) figured out what was going on. We still couldn't convince him to walk around, so I end up holding a crying 4-year-old in a restaurant while Andrea and I try to rub his foot and calf. Andrew was blissfully tearing apart his meal, having poured his entire drink all over himself, the table, and the floor only moments before, his nightly crisis quota already achieved. It's hard to capture how absurd every mealtime has become in words, but each night there's a challenge. The highlight of the nightly ordeal is when we let Ben say the blessing. Usually goes like, "thanks for this wonderful dinner, thanks to dad for making this wonderful food (Usually I didn't), much love to mom, and all the other people we love, amen."

Pictures

2007-09-21T11:58:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't seem to be the photographer I once was. I haven't been taking as many pictures as I used to, and they aren't nearly as good. But anyway, here are some new pics.

Drew's Birthday
New Summer Set
Children's Museum

I'll probably make another video later.

Had to do another one

2007-09-20T13:21:00.000-04:00

I wish they could be longer than 30 seconds without paying. . .

Video

2007-09-20T13:04:00.000-04:00

I have some new pictures coming soon, but here's a video from a killer site called animoto:

Odds and Ends

2007-08-17T10:45:00.000-04:00

We've been in the new house almost three months now (is that right? that doesn't seem right). I can't say moving to Peachtree City hasn't been a bit weird - I recently ate dinner across from my junior high football coach - but it has been good too. There was a lot to love about Johns Creek, but in terms of trading one suburb for another, I think this was an upgrade. We miss our friends and church and other things we were close to on the north side, but the paths and greenspace and lack of traffic sure are nice. Having four grandparents close by has been a definite plus as well. And Partner's Pizza. :)

Andrea has just finished her third week back at work. The boys seem to be doing well with this, other than occasionally saying, "hey nonni-dad-mom. . ." I guess I'm no better though with the "Andr-Lay-Benjamin. . ."

I just finished up my summer independent study. For those of you who can't wait to explore the ins and outs of government outsourcing, I'll have it up at my portfolio site shortly. All three of us Lakly Boys start school next week, although I'm not sure the younger two will be exploring "the effects of taxes on the efficiency of resource allocation (e.g., the theory of 'excess burden')" - microecon here I come!

Summer Pics 2007

2007-07-24T08:34:00.001-04:00

At Driftwood Beach
Originally uploaded by davelakly

I've just added some photos from our July 4th party and our Jeykll Island vacation. To view them in my artistically arranged order, go to the set pages here and here.

The fourth was a great party and a wonderful way to break in the new house. Thanks to everyone for coming and making it possible.

It would have been hard to have more fun on vacation - it was pretty much perfect. Well, it could have gotten off to a better start, I guess. Someone who will remain nameless left my wallet at a gas station in Eulonia. Luckily a police officer picked it up and took it to the sheriff's office in Darrien. After we got settled at the house, I drove backwards about 40 minutes through the driving rain, which was a lot of fun after the windshield wipers quit working. After some tense moments and a non-apology, we were able to move past it and have a good time.

The boys had fun both in the sand and in the water. The waves were flat enough that they didn't even bother Ben too much. Andrew would wade around in the water singing "swimmin swimmin swimmin" to the tune of "nanny nanny boo boo" over and over. Ben snagged a live sand dollar right out of the water. We saw a few dolphins on our first day in the water. I saw a hawk one day flying with what appeared to be a baby shark clutched in its talons. We also saw a baby shark that a fisherman had just caught on the pier. We had a wonderful dinner on St. Simons with Vivion and Dwight, and Vivion arranged a play date with a friend who has children Ben and Drew's age. She catered a wonderful Chick Fil-a lunch, and everyone had a great time. Ben and Drew developed a comedy routine where Ben would say something, Drew would say, "what?" Ben would repeat and Drew would say, "what?" and Ben would repeat loudly and call Drew Grampa. I had nothing to do with it, of course. We all came home relaxed and re energized, at least for 5 minutes. Now I have three websites to launch, a 25 page paper to write, bills to pay, my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.

Something New

2007-07-09T15:34:00.001-04:00

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Fredo's Revege

2007-05-22T10:16:00.001-04:00

If you have followed this story about the worst AG in history, you'll laugh. Otherwise, you'll just get Godfather music in your head all day.

Easter

2007-04-11T07:53:00.001-04:00

Bunny Treats
Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I've put up photos from Easter. I'd say that the final Easter Brunch at the Johns Creek Lakly House was a raging success. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did.

Now for a New Tradition. I think New Year's resolutions are often doomed to failure because of when they fall in the calendar year. Who wants to concentrate on improving themselves in the middle of winter, surrounded by dead things, live viruses, and grumpy cooped-up children? Easter and spring are supposed to be a time of renewal, a time of rebirth (either in the natural world and/or the spiritual one), a time of beginnings. So why not Easter resolutions? Even if the holiday holds no religious significance to you, it does help mark the beginning of the spring. And if your resolution involves better health (as so many do), isn't it much easier to make a habit out of exercise in April rather than January?

So my resolutions. I will do something about the copious amounts of refined sugar I eat. I'm not going to quit, but I need to follow Cookie Monster's recent revelation that cookies are a sometimes food. And two Twix (or four) does not a breakfast make. I will meet with a nutritionist and develop an eating plan that makes sense. And I will run a half marathon before I am 30.

Care to join in? Leave your resolutions in the comments or on your blog.

Family

2007-03-28T11:19:00.000-04:00

I was talking to Ben the other night, and he said he really wanted to go see the hockey guys with his brothers. I told him he only had one brother, did he mean his cousins? Yeah, my brothers. Ben, do you mean Jack and Connor? They aren't your brothers, they are your cousins. He seemed to struggle with that for a bit. "Also, also, also, you know. . . " Then a look of clarity. "You know what also they are? They are monkeys. Andrew's a monkey too."

Here's some funny: Rhett and Link - I recommend the "Facebook Song" and "Wolfpack or Tarheels."

I HATE MOTORCYCLES!

2007-03-23T09:39:00.001-04:00

I HATE MOTORCYCLES!
Originally uploaded by davelakly.

We went down to Macon for the Cherry Blossom Festival. I guess they needed some excuse to fill the park with Carnies once a year, because I saw about three Cherry Trees. We had a great time, regardless. Ben asked to ride this motorcycle ride, but the second his hog popped a wheelie, he freaked out and cried the entire ride. Once he was safely in my arms he said, "I hate motorcycles. I don't even like them. I want to break them." Indeed.

You can go look at a few pics here.

Twirl-a-Squirrel

2007-03-13T13:56:00.000-04:00

For those of you looking to outsmart those wily rodents, I give you a gift.

Winter Pics

2007-02-12T10:59:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I just added 30 or 40 new pictures. I've got a bunch from Jack and Connor's 4th birthday, as well as pictures from Fernbank, the Puppetry Arts Center, and some other random shots I hadn't gotten uploaded yet. The Puppetry Arts Center is incredibly cool, and the Lizards and Snakes exhibit at Fernbank seemed pretty neat, but we spent most of the time in hands-on areas for the kids, so I didn't get to really read anything. Go have a look.

B-Day
Fernbank
Puppetry Arts
Others

Jack Bauer will save us all

2007-02-09T13:07:00.000-05:00

I think I'll have some pictures to put up in here soon. . .

Christmas Fun

2006-12-28T14:30:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

There are now a massive amount of Christmas Photos online, many taken with my new camera. I also put up a set of pictures by Ben with the old Canon. We had a wonderful holiday with the family. With no few than four present opening sessions, the boys became real pros, and Ben was genuinely confused when I told him that Christmas was over.

I don't have any video captured from the DV camera on the computer yet due to a lack of hard drive space (a problem remedied a few days after Christmas), but here's one from the new point-and-shoot.

Attack of the Christmas Clones:

My Own Personal YouTube

2006-12-15T10:54:00.000-05:00

So it was really hard to try and figure out how to get YouTube videos to look halfway decent, so I thought, "why don't I just do that myself?" Actually, and I had to figure it out for work, but anyway. So here's a few reprises of earlier videos that looked really bad. They aren't perfect, but pretty nice.

Firstish Steps:

Jolly Fellow Ben:

Drew Bowls:

Some Winter Pics

2006-12-08T13:01:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I just added some new pictures. Some I put in the newly created Misc Winter 2006 set. If you're wondering about the helicopter, we went to go see Santa land in it. Unfortunately, he showed up 20 minutes early, and we were only 10 minutes early, so we missed the big moment. As a sidebar, we've now seen Santa twice. Both times I asked Ben if he wanted to sit on his lap and tell him what he wants for Christmas (once there wasn't even much of a wait!), and both times he's said, "probably we can just keep walking though." Classic Benjamin. I also added a set filled with some bad to mediocre pics of the Festival of Trees. Just as I am starting to feel like my ancient camera is really holding me back, our fridge breaks. ;) Is this guy cute enough for you?

I also put some new funny links in the right bar - good stuff. And look for some activity on Trucker's Atlas. I have 6 months of dirty hippie ravings saved up to start in on.

Scary Mary

2006-12-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

This is some serious fun. . .

Something's Brewing

2006-11-28T13:14:00.000-05:00

I'm absolutely buried with schoolwork right now, so naturally, here's a fun video.

Election Results

2006-11-08T13:23:00.000-05:00

Well, enough results are in to give a report. This is with 88% reporting, so I don't expect the percentages to move much.

Ivan Figueroa: 5615 (44%)
Dave Rich: 3469 (27%)
David Lakly: 2132 (17%)
Evan Vayhinger: 1506 (12%)

Dave Rich and Ivan will duke it out in a runoff four weeks from now. My preference if for the tastefully named Dave Rich, but I think either man will be a capable councilman.

I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish, and I want to thank everyone who has supported me. Without you, this would have been impossible. I've gained a bit of recognition and made some great friends, and I know I will be working hard to build this community as we look to a bright future.

UPDATE: With all precincts in, I pulled in 2328 votes.

Happy Halloween

2006-11-02T09:13:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I've put up a bunch of Halloween pictures online. To get the chronilogical view, bet sure to the Halloween 2006 set page - I'm still too dumb to make the Flickr Uploadr send things in the right order. I've also recently run headlong into 2003 and got a phone with a camera, so there are some random camera phone shots popping up on Flickr as well.

It's pigs, it's pigs!

2006-10-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

I'm still not that happy with the overall video quality, but this is still pretty darn cute.

Pure Joy

2006-10-18T08:57:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

This was our third trip to the Berry Farms Pumpkin patch. It really gets more fun every year. I have a lot more pictures to post, but the series of tubes that comes to my house (AKA the internets) broke last night. My computer is in such a state of disrepair - I feel like a plumber with a flooded basement.

Lost Thread

2006-10-11T10:10:00.000-04:00

Andrea and I won't look at it till Friday, but post comments about tonight's Lost here - maybe we can have a fun, asynchronous conversation! You don't need a blogger account anymore to comment here, but if you don't have one, be sure to put your name on your comment post.

The Daily Grind

2006-10-10T09:08:00.000-04:00

The other day, Ben and Andrew and I spent about an hour kicking around a soccer ball in the front yard. Later that night when Ben and I were watching Football Night in America, he said, "When I grow bigger, I'm going to be a soccer player. But probably most of the time I'll drive a garbage truck to take the stinky garbage to the drop-off place." (For those who don't know, Ben wants to drive a garbage truck when he grows up). Does he already know that he'll spend most of his time in life toiling at a job with little free time left over? Is he just so pragmatic that he knows being a soccer player won't pay the bills and will require a day job? Or is he just that excited about the prospect of driving around garbage?

Testing Vimeo

2006-10-07T22:03:00.000-04:00

Seeing if the quality is better with Vimeo. . .

Drew Bowls on Vimeo

Good Fellow Ben on Vimeo

I'd say Vimeo looks a good bit better. . .

YouTube suggests that you upload an MPEG4 file for best quality, and I don't have software that does that at the moment (only MPEG1 and 2), so I guess the jury is still out until I can test that. I KNOW YouTube can look better than that - the files I export look crystal clear, having come from DV. I just need to figure out settings. I'm digging the Vimeo interface though.

Birthday Follies

2006-10-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

When Andrew turned one, we sang him happy birthday.

Thanks to that great reaction, we modified things a bit for Ben's party.

I've got some other mini-videos online at YouTube. The quality is a bit on the crappy side - I'm still trying to figure out how to optimize things - but fun nonetheless.

Smile!

2006-10-07T16:14:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I've got some photos from Ben's Third Birthday online now. I think this was the biggest 'kid' party we've had yet, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Of course, the birthday arms race hasn't begun yet. By the time Ben's Eight, I'm sure we'll be expected to rent Spaceship II and take the party to orbit. . . ;)

Lost, Season 3

2006-10-03T08:58:00.000-04:00

Just a note to our dear friends and family who watch Lost. I'm in class on Wednesday evenings, so Andrea and I will be watching new episodes on Thursday. So don't call us and say, "can you believe Charlie killed Locke," or "I never would have guessed JACK and SAWYER!" Give a day to catch up. . . .

Under the Sea

2006-09-22T16:04:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Today the Johns Creek Laklys went to the Georgia Aquarium. It is truly first rate all around, and a spectacular place. The boys had a ton of fun, but as most of you know, yours truly is a bit of a worry-wort, so I spent a lot of time chasing them down and keeping them out of other patrons' hair. I think I'd like to have an adult-only excusion some day. That said though, the place really seems unreasonably expensive. Kids under three are free, but once you pass that you are looking at $100 to take a family of four, plus $10 to park, and goodness knows how much to eat. And there is no family annual pass - seems like quite an oversight.

So anyway, on to the photos. Aquarium Pictures, Zoo Pictures, and a few misc. Fall pictures (as of right now, this is just a couple pics ffrom the farm). And just because I don't want anyone to miss out, Drew is a pirate.

Testing YouTube

2006-09-22T14:36:00.000-04:00

I guess photos are old school, and I need to start making some video available on the web. Here's a short clip I shot at the GA Aquarium today using the video feature on my old-timey still camera. Video quality is obviously poor, but like I said, this is a test. Listen to that bark!

Rested and Recharged

2006-08-23T12:11:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I put up a ton of pictures from our vacation on Jekyll Island. After a bit of a rocky start, everyone calmed down and we had a great time. I will definately miss not being able to take vacation when everyone else is in school - the place was pretty empty. Of course it is a little island, so maybe that is par for the course. Oh, in case you didn't recognize the guy in the red shirt, that is Dave, just with a his traditional vacation beard.

Vacation

2006-08-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

In less than 21 hours, we leave to go to Jekyll Island. Wish us luck as this will be the first time we've taken the two boys in the car for more than like an hour or so. Hopefully we all survive. . .

Lots of Cake

2006-08-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I forgot to mention the other day that I put some pictures of the birthday party online. About a thousand cake-eating pictures. Why didn't we take his shirt off first again?

There are some new funny links on the right, too.

In other Lakly news, Dave is running for Johns Creek City Council. Have a look at the Dave Lakly campaign site.

He's obviously not a golfer. . . .

2006-07-17T08:08:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Lots and lots of new pictures online. . . .

I created a new set for misc. summer 2006 pictures. There are some from July 4th in there, as well as some action shots of Andrew cruisin'. There are also several pics taken by John (most of the good ones).

I also added a set from our first family trip to the bowling alley. At first I questioned whether or not they were really ready, but by the end of the outing, they were smoking, drinking beer, and eating cheese fries without the gutter guards!

Some Humor

2006-06-23T14:33:00.000-04:00

Newly added to the right bar - random things I come across that make me laugh. I'll update it as I come across good stuff on the internets that might not need a whole blog post.

Luau pictures are online too

2006-06-12T10:03:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

How's that for turnaround? My pictures are online here, and my mom's are online here.

New Pictures!

2006-06-09T09:10:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

The boys went to visit their Great-Grandfather this week, and I've put up a few pictures in the Misc set. I know it is an big mess right now - I'll get that organized soon. If you look closely, you may just see a picture of Andrew enjoying himself at the Redneck Country Club.

We also took the boys to Fernbank last week. They both had a great time, and even sat through an entire IMAX movie.

And I don't have any pictures to prove it (thankfully, he will one day think), but Ben is doing a great job with the potty training. He's such a big boy.

New Commenting Ability

2006-05-17T09:03:00.000-04:00

You no longer need a blogger account to leave a comment. You should just have to do a word verification to prove you are flesh and blood and not a robot bent on blog domination. Or blogination, as I like to call it.

Happy Mother's Day!

2006-05-15T07:14:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Better late than never, right? Actually, no one probably came to the site yesterday, so ignore that date. I put this up yesterday. Andrew says HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mommies out there. (and yeah, I realize I cut the sign off, but about 6 seconds later, it was food)

Ga. Aquarium

2006-05-09T10:47:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Andrea and Ben went fish-watching, and I put up a few of their pictures. Since I was not there, I can't vouch for quality. ;)

Summer's Here

2006-05-05T09:44:00.000-04:00

Dave's done with school this semester! Time for some R&R. . . yeah, right!

Charming Easter Photo

2006-04-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I used to be very good about getting nice variety of pictures, but lately I seem obsessed with those under 4 feet tall. You wouldn't know that there were like 15 wonderful and dear ADULT family members at our party. So anyway, I just put up about 35 new pictures in 3 sets. In addition to our Easter Party, there are some pics from the boys' first hockey game. The Thrashers won, and everyone had a great time. Ben is still talking about the fire that shoots out when the home team scores a goal. I also put a few new pics in the all-encompassing Misc. Set. Enjoy!

Revised Site Format

2006-04-06T18:32:00.000-04:00

There are still bugs to work out, but this is what I've been visualizing for this page for some time now. The hope is that anyone who's interested can hit this one page and see if anyone has updated their personal blog (check the feeds in column A), if we have any Lakly news or if we've posted a new picture set (see column B), or if any of our contacts have new pictures on their Flickr sites (glance at the zeitgeist or follow the links in column C). How this continues to evolve is up to you, dear readers. Would you like to have access to post to this page? Do you have a personal blog you'd like to see linked to? Family movie or music reviews? Want to vote in polls? Like it like it is? Like it like it was? Let me know what you think - in the comments or an email.

Tim and Jean come to PTC

2006-04-03T13:36:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Ben and Drew got to meet their Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle. You can have a look at the pictures. I also put up a few cute pictures of the boys in the PJs Shel brought from China in the Misc. set. I guess that one is getting a bit overflowing, but they're at the end.

Spring is Here

2006-03-20T15:21:00.000-05:00

Although you wouldn't know it to walk outside today, in GA at least.

Weekend Hijinx

2006-03-06T12:45:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

What a great weekend! Non-stop party action! Thanks to everyone who came, and great job to all who kept the secret. She was slightly surprised - I will have to post the video soon. Despite my best efforts, everything got posted in reverse order (actually, correct order, but different from the Flickr most-recent-first order). So go to the set pages:
Super Bowl Sunday
Andrea's 30th Birthday
Jack and Connor's 3rd Birthday

AWOL Camera

2006-02-22T09:18:00.000-05:00

I haven't put any photos up in a while due to a missing camera. I left it at my brother's house after the super bowl, so I'll have a few pictures of that to put up as soon as I get it back. I also have some minor redesign plans in the works to update the header and make things easier to read. So, things should refresh fairly soon.

What, new pictures?

2006-01-24T22:25:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

A bit of a hiatus, I know. I've had my hands full with (CHOOSE YOUR EXCUSE: 2 Boys, 2 Jobs, 2 Classes).I've got two new sets up. One for the AFC Title game weekend that the boys and I spent at my parents, and one for Val's Birthday. I also added a few new pictures to the Misc set. Enjoy!

Christmas Photos

2005-12-30T13:43:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

New photos finally up on flickr! You can go straight to the Christmas Set. I'm sorry there aren't more good ones there - I spent the first half of Christmas with my camera settings wrong, and I have a bunch of blurry pictures. I should have noticed earlier than I did, so either my eyesight is going bad, or a 1 inch LCD preview screen on the ole 2001 digital elph is no longer sufficient. Which is cheaper, glasses or a new camera? Choices, choices. I'm sure that Big Daddy and Nonnie will have some up soon.

Christmas Cheer

2005-12-28T08:32:00.000-05:00

We are recovering from a truly remarkable Christmas, and a slightly less remarkable stomach flu. Pictures will be up soon.

New Header

2005-12-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

Well, Fall was short lived - here comes Winter. (I know, there are still 19 days of Fall left, but I think Thanksgiving marks the end of that season, at least for me). Keep those "holiday" elves happy - they're always watching!

This will be the first time I've really had to do the Santa Claus thing. Knowing how well I keep secrets (I've inadvertly ruined two surprise parties), let's hope I do better with this one.

Andrew is Four Months Old

2005-11-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

He had his four month check-up yesterday, and since I know you are all DYING to know, he weighed in at 17lbs 7oz. He's in the 90th percentile for his age. He's also quite tall - I don't remember the inches, but he's in the 80th percentile in that category. Time flies. . .

Moving from Fall to Winter

2005-11-28T11:52:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

The Christmas season is officially here, even though the department stores would have you believe it was here a month ago. I just put up a ton of pictures from Thanksgiving weekend, birthdays included. A certain someone has become a great deal more photo-genic of late. . .

This will probably be it for photo posting until after Christmas. Got to move to video projects before it is too late.

SO much going on. . .

2005-11-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've added a few pictures to the Misc. set over at Flickr. That'll be it until after Thanksgiving.

I've updated the look of this site to make it a little more personal. I've set a dangerous precedent here - I now need to make new headers every three months! Of course, there's only about a month left in Fall, but I like orange.

I will continue to add a post to this blog any time I put pictures up on Flickr. Also, Andrea and I both have started our own writing blogs, which you will be able to preview in the right bar. Our most recent posts will show up over there, so you can tell just by coming to this one page if we have anything new anywhere.

Have fun!

More Photos Soon

2005-11-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

I have a mini-backlog I hope to get up before I have a zillion holiday photos to post. In the meantime, you can go check out my new personal blog, Trucker's Atlas. Read this post to see what I'm trying to do with it, and, as always, comments welcome.

Cute Boys

2005-11-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Look at them holding hands. . . how cute??? There's a new set called Fall Fun, and I added a few pictures to the Misc. set. Go look, and leave comments!

Bats

2005-11-02T06:52:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Okay, not exactly the most creative pumpkin of all time, but it turned out okay. I had couple of novices helping me out, what can I say. I am too much of a pumpkin control freak to only get one - next year we'll get two for sure. Trick or Treating went remarkable well. Ben made a great Batman (Second to Bale, but definately ahead of Keaton), and Andrew was too cute for words. But what are you doing here - go look at the Halloween Set!

Halloween Approaches

2005-10-19T13:41:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

And I'm looking for inspiration. Last year's pumpkins turned out pretty darn sweet, so the bar is raised somewhat. Not sure I want to go the Homestar route again, but I've only got like a week and a half to come up with something great. A political statement, perhaps? Hmm.

Where'd he go? Pumpkin Boy

2005-10-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

This pumpkin is getting so plump, he's lucky when he gets to wear an outfit once before he outgrows it!

I just put some new ones in the Misc Set, including a few with Uncle Donald (Ben's Batman Watching Buddy).

Pumpkin Patch

2005-10-10T07:32:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

What a weekend! On Saturday morning, we went out to the Great Pumpkin Patch to get some carvin' punkins. I could tell you the name of the place, or where it is, but that would mean I had all of a sudden started paying attention to little things called details. Then Nonnie and Pap Pap came up to watch Andrew while we took Benjamin to see Locomotion in the Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It was a bunch of small trains set up going around these replicas of Atlanta buildings made out of sticks and flowers and spit and stuff. I can't do it justice. Even my pictures don't really show how cool it was. And Benjamin was CRAZY about it. So go look already: Pumpkin Hunting and Locomotion.

Second Birthday

2005-09-27T00:26:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Well, this boy can put away the cake! I thought we had a pair of linebackers on our hands, but the way these two can put it away, we may have a couple of offensive linemen. What a great time we had. I think this was really the first time that Ben and his cousins really played with each other instead of around each other. The morning after the party, Ben set out three paper Elmo plates at his new table; "For Jack-n-Connor, for Benjijohn." Criminally cute, he is. Go check out the Birthday Set.

Finally Up

2005-09-12T15:43:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Okay, I just put up a batch. They are all filed under the Misc. set, so just scroll down. Sorry that all the best pictures are of Benjamin. Andrew is just as cute, but Ben has mastered the art of mugging for the camera any time I take it out. (That picture on the right wasn't posed though - I snuck up on him).

More to come. . . .

2005-09-07T12:49:00.000-04:00

This has been a lengthy hiatus, and I apologize. I have plenty of pics to put up, just so little time. . . .

This week I began a new job. It is amazingly great. I work in this building. I occasionally find myself losing focus as I think, "I can't believe I got this job!"

So I'll put up new family pictures, and maybe some of my office, hopefully over the weekend.

For those of you are are new to the site, I don't really blog in the traditional sense. Whenever I take some good pictures, I post a set over at flickr, then I put a post here giving everyone an easy link to the new stuff.

To any dear friends from NCEH/ATSDR, I miss you guys! Feel free to berate me for leaving in the comments.

Grrr

2005-08-08T21:58:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I put up a few more pictures on the site. There are a few new Andrew pics, and some more basement pictures. I also added a bunch of photos from Dan and Shel's vacation, so go look around.

Meet Andrew Robert Lakly

2005-07-30T13:58:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Little Andrew was born at 4:26 am on July 29th. He was 6 lbs 10 oz, and 20 inches long. Mom was just 35 weeks pregnant that day, so he was early, but not too bad. He had his first bottle within the hour, and drank in down in about 8 seconds. He's simply amazing, and his mom is the most incredible woman I've ever met. You can look at a bunch of photos from his first 24 hours or so by going here.

Jess and Avery in Town

2005-07-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I put up a few pictures from Jessica and Avery's visit from Boston. We began in earnest with the planning for Benjamin and Avery's arranged wedding. Have a look at the set here. I also put up some new basement photos.

Farmer Ben

2005-07-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

There are photos up from Oakey/Lakly day at the farm. I spent most of the day with the video camera though, so look for that footage in December's holiday blockbuster. Here's the set

Ziggy Piggy

2005-07-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Ziggy Piggy, Ziggy Piggy, Ziggy Piggy. . . . . .

Where Elmo?

2005-07-02T20:39:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Benjamin loves to play Elmo games on the laptop. Whenever you open the thing, he starts with, "where elmo? where elmo? where ba bir?" So we took him to the Build a Bear store to make him one of his own. He's obsessed with him. Look at the set here.

All Walls Are UP!

2005-06-28T20:43:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

All of the drywall is now hung. Now I have to begin the taping process, which is a ton of fun. You can look at the set directly here.

Piano Man

2005-06-24T21:17:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I added several photos tonight. I created a few new sets, including one for the project in the basement. I'll be adding photos to that as I get more work done. I also added several photos to the "Misc" set. I throw random photos in that set from time to time. I'll try to change the thumbnail for that set whenever I add pics to it from now on.

Home Improvement

2005-06-05T21:16:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Finally making some headway on finished basement room number two. I learned some valuable lessons when I did the first room, not the least of which is use the right tools for the job. This "panel lifter" allowed me to hang a sheetrock ceiling in a 12x16 room by myself in about 3 hours. I love it.

Night Golfing

2005-05-30T21:15:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Benjamin and I have been doing so much wiffle golfing on the front lawn that some neighbors snuck over and stuck this flag in the middle of our yard. I've been cutting the grass every 3-4 days to make the fairways nice and smooth.

More Washington Pictures

2005-05-23T22:16:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I added a several more pictures to the Washington set. Mostly from the Korean War Memorial. That is my favorite memorial in DC. It is very haunting; some of those men look so frightened, as I imagine so many young men really were.

In DC

2005-05-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

I'm at a Conference in Washington DC, one of my favorite cities of all time. That's me in front of the Capital, the very building where Bill Frist will sacrifice Minority Protections to appease the far right so that he can run for President. Of course, he's filibustered at least one Clinton appointment, so I guess that means he was for the Filibuster before he was against it. I went to the WWII memorial for the first time today. It is a pretty area, but I have to say I was a little disappointed. It just seemed a little, well, for lack of a better word, cheesy. So many gave so much at that time, that it just seemed like they said, ok, how do we pay tribute to EVERYONE. I don't think they really succeeded. Maybe I'm strange calling the Vietnam and Korean memorials "subtle" or "understated" since neither is really physically small, but they just seem so much more, well, tasteful, I guess. Oh well. I'm going to try to get some night photos tomorrow.

Day at the Farm

2005-05-16T14:12:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

We spent this Saturday at the Oakey Family Farm (DW Ranch). We helped control the skeet population, played baby golf, tried out croquet, hit a whiffle ball around, and threw some horseshoes. It was a ton of fun, and as you could guess, wore us all out. Click the pic to go see more.

Indentity Revealed

2005-05-12T22:33:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

So he doesn't have Bruce Wayne's money, but he does have his charm and good looks. But does he have the passion and drive to fight evil, to be the Dark Knight, to be. . . . Batman?

Mommy's Day

2005-05-07T22:13:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

We went down to good ole PTC to get our party on for mother's day. We had an awesome meal that had all the food groups: beef, ribs, chicken, and sausage.

Update: I added a few pictures my mom took to the Mother's Day set on Flickr. Click the pic to go see.

Memory Lane

2005-05-07T22:10:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by davelakly.

This weekend we went to a party in Athens, and on the way we stopped by our old house in Winder GA. After attending the Sixth Annual Buttercup Festival (check out the garden pics), we headed to the Globe for a quick drink with the littlest D.

IMG_1138

2005-05-06T08:44:00.000-04:00

IMG_2117,
originally uploaded by davelakly.

Here's the young diplomat working on improving US/China relations. I guess I should probably name photos with actual names instead of these silly IMG_blahblah, but I am sooooo lazy.

X-Mas 2004

2005-05-04T21:12:00.000-04:00

IMG_2047,
originally uploaded by davelakly.

Just added a few old photos. They should go back to the last time I updated the old site now.

Cousins at Easter

2005-05-04T13:59:00.000-04:00

IMG_2110,
originally uploaded by davelakly.

Trying out some different layout stuff. Hey, there's Connnnnnr and Jack!

Farm Boy

2005-05-04T13:56:00.000-04:00

IMG_2125
Originally uploaded by davelakly.

We finally got him a job. . . .

Goat Boy

2005-05-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

IMG_2129
Originally uploaded by davelakly.

Testing how well this flickr biness works with the blog. Seems to be pretty cool to me. . .

Flickr

2005-05-04T10:25:00.000-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Watch Out Now

2005-05-04T10:15:00.000-04:00

I'm looking for an easy way to share family photos and news and such. With another addition on the way, I fear I'll have even less time than I do now to update a website, so I thought I'd try a blog with a Flickr photo account. We'll see how it goes.