Move Over GH3, Hello Rock Band

A cross post from a Live Journal reply. We got a Wii about a month ago. Well actually Maria won it at school. See we'd already said we weren't going down the new game system road again. Anyway, since then we've played GH3 every night that AJ is home (time off for camp). Of course, I had to buy the flying V guitar for myself... It's a cool way to play with the kids.

So, yesterday morning we bought the Rock Band SE. With drums AND vocals it's the new family favorite and we've have all been playing it constantly. When we all get tired AJ just kicks it up a notch:



Guess it's back to the store for me to get a 4th RB guitar (GH3 doesn't play with RB) and probably a mike stand.

So this is addiction...

Ash Is Now A High School Senior

Click here for all of the photos from the moving up ceremony.

Hailey Soccer - May 2008

Here are a couple of the photos from Hailey's next to last game. Maria shot some individual and team shots since our photo day was rained out this spring.


Hailey


Hailey with coach and big brother Ash

Carlos Santana at Chastain

Went to Chastain Amphitheater last night to see the incomparable Mr Carlos Santana. It capped a very busy Saturday, more to come on that.





See the whole album here.

Ash goes to Prom

Here's the link to the album.

Spring Break 2008

A link to the online album.

Snow Day In Atlanta

What a day today. The snow was awesome and it deserved to be captured and shared. I would love to take credit for the video and fun but all the props go to Maria.



The music, "Snow" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is a bit loud when viewing the video. Enjoy!

"Game Site of the Week" FlashFlashRevolution

First, this is a quick test of blogging from my RSS feeds. Apologies in advance if it looks, well, ugh. Ash wrote on his blog about a fun, supreme time-waster web site called Flash Flash Revolution. Let's see if it came out below:

FlashFlashRevolution: Craze? You be the judge.

via saveitlikecasillas.blogspot.com by Ashley Miller on Aug 08, 2007

First of all, I would like to apologize that I will sound very "dorky" by writing this entry. That being said, here goes. This site is great for long-time DanceDanceRevolution gamers and anyone interested in giving their fingers a major workout. If you like the mixed, funky, techno music that is always pumpin' in DDR, you'll have a blast movin' your fingers to the trance-like beats. I have an XBOX and I had no idea that there was the 'crazy arcade hall game' available for the console. One of my friends brought the game to my cousin's house and after playing it I said, "I have to have it." I purchased DDR Ultramix 2 for the XBOX and played it avidly for about 2 months. It seemed just a phase. Almost 2 years later, my dad showed me this link to FlashFlashRevolution. This site rekindled the memories of the fun I used to have. So I play this when I am too tired to get up and dance, but still have the joy that comes with any music-based, beat-following, video game.

 

 

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4:30pm: The Magic Kingdom is in the bag

7/16: Updated with photos.
So we can successfully say this for sure: Magic Kingdom 0; Miller men 1.



While I know that sometime soon I will be returning to Disney with my 5 year old, it will be a completely different experience indeed.

I will spend time after we return home to backfill these entries with more information and photos. As for right now, we are taking a break back at the hotel to wait out some rain. Afterwards we will try to get in one more park event before calling it quits.

For those that know me pretty well, you know I am a planner. This is one trip in which I have been more of a follower letting my son take the lead. What a great trip...

2:30pm: Greetings from "Spaceship Earth"

7/16: Added pictures and amended content.
Another blast of blog entry from my mobile phone (which is pretty darn amazing in and of itself).



Epcot is going great. We got here and hit the "must-do" list quite efficiently. Including this ride, we've covered Mission Space, Test Track and Soarin.

10:30am: 4oz sunblock = $10

Bwahahahaha! Another lesson learned.

9:45am: Thoughts as we start day 2

So we are off to Epcot this morning. While we ride I have time to roll through some thoughts from yesterday. Advice? No, more like a short ramble on things I might do differently.

1. If the trip is 3 days or longer, go ahead and rent a car. The cost vs time vs convenience/benefit ratio makes this a good value. In a word, autonomy.

2. If you shop AND stay inside a park hotel, you can have things delivered directly to your hotel room. No need to carry anything like that round.

3. Bring your own poncho ($7 each), and a couple of zipper style sandwich bags (water rides/rain/etc) to protect your wallet and phone. Maybe one for the park maps too.

4. Don't bring water (heavy and only $2 a bottle).

More to come as I think of things.

10:30pm: Downtown Disney

You would think that we would be winding down by now. Nope, it looks like things are just getting interesting.

We are in Downtown Disney, sitting at a waterfront table at Cap'n Jacks Restaurant enjoying fresh seafood while just across the water there is a live dance show going on. From here we are heading over to Pleasure Island to watch the fireworks spectacular.







Not a bad way to wrap up day 1!

11:15am: Passing 2 hours in MGM Studios

7/16: Added updates and pictures.
We dropped our bags at the hotel and booked it on over to start at MGM Studios.



In the first two hours we have ridden Star Tours and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (Aerosmith theme).

We are making steady progress even though the park is PACKED. Tonight is looking good for fireworks!

8:30am: Ground transportation

7/16: Updates and corrections.
The flight was easy! Funny, I had thought about reserving a car via my never-fails National Rental Card Emerald Aisle "get-in-and-go" service. The thing is I didn't think we would use it enough to justify the $25/day rate.

HA!

I got THAT wrong.

A cab ride is ::gulp:: $47 each way! A 4 day car rental ends up at $100 plus junk fees. Turns out that Maers transport van service was (barely) the best option at ::yikes:: $62 round trip.

So, upside is the best price (I guess). Downside is we are in a van with two others groups--and all different destinations. If it were not so early in the morning I think I would be more aggravated.

Pressing on...

6am: The Disney trip begins

7/16: Updated with photos added.
I was able to book a last-minute, 3-night Disney World trip with air, hotel and park passes for a great price and really needed to get away. We got up at 3:45am this morning and headed to the airport. Even with the Peachtree Road Race today, traffic is near non-existent. Security posed the only significant delay. Right now we are on the plane awaiting our departure. More to come!

TYSA U16 Boys - Game 6

Here's the latest set of pictures from our boy's fall season. There are a few team shots from the game as well.



The game ended in a tie 2-2. Click the pictures above to get to the online photo album.

TYSA U16 Boys - Game 5

A win is a win, even when it resembles "street rulz" soccer rather than officiated recreational league play. In this game we were extra proud of Ash who's hard press on goal resulted in the only score of the first half.



The boys later ended the game with a 2-1 win over NSA.



The season's pictures can be found here or by clicking through on any of the pictures above.

TYSA U16 Boys - Game 2

The team turned out another terrific game even with a loss. The unoffical record at this point is 1-1. More pictures at http://tinyurl.com/ob3fq then click "soccer".

Ash's 16th Birthday: Part 2

The extended birthday celebration for Ash's 16th wrapped up today with an evening pool party. Several family and friends came to NUSC to enjoy the food and fun.