Living Weird in Austin - Gabriel's Blog - Victoria Advocate http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel Live from Austin, it's me, talking about things I see and hear along with weird things kids do. Live from Austin, it's me, talking about things I see and hear along with weird things kids do. en-us Quiet Weekend - Except for the Rock Band http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7273 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7273 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">This weekend was pretty quiet. The boys were away so it was just us and the baby. I washed the cars (threw out my back), fertilized the lawn, watched a few movies. Man I must be getting old. Chores, lawn and movie rentals on a Saturday? Well to compensate we did a little ritual we do about once a month. We invited my brother in law, his girlfriend and another friend over for some good old family fun, Rock Band. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">If you don&rsquo;t know what Rock Band is, you are missing the biggest video game craze to come around in a long time. It involves a Playstation3(or XBOX 360), an electronic drum set, 2 guitar controllers, a microphone, some beer, 4+ people<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>and hours of time to kill. You basically do karaoke plus play guitar and drums to new and old rock tunes on the big screen. It is hours of fun, embarrassing as hell and makes you feel like a wanabee rock star. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>If you ever meet anyone who has it or get the chance to play it, do not pass it up. You will be hooked and submit to your inner rock geek.</font></p>


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 rockband.jpg Gabriel Kids in a movie http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7186 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7186 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I was in Houston this weekend, and as is customary, I went with my wife to the Alamo Drafthouse for a movie and beer. A new film called The Forbidden Kingdom was playing, which was something I was looking forward to, and my wife was going to have to suffer through. We were sitting in the theater waiting to order, and for the movie to start, when a group of 10, or so, 10 year olds came in with a lady and sat a few rows behind us. I almost freaked out. I mean, we go to the Alamo for adult time, to have some drinks and watch a movie. Having kids in there is like having kids in a bar, its just a bad idea all around. Some may call me a jerk for caring about some kids in a movie theater, but they did end up yelling during the big fight scenes and annoying me a little. I suppose if it helps keep that theater in business during our economic troubles then I can live with it. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">I think the real answer is to just stick to strange movies or chick flicks, and not action movies, and the kids will stay away on their own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></font></font></p>


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 250px-Movie_tickets_popcorn.jpg Gabriel Cave Day http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7119 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7119 <div style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">This weekend, my wife and I dropped the kids off at the grandparents and did a little exploring in our area. We went to an event known as Cave Day that is held twice a year. Each time, they open two small national preserves that have numerous cave openings near Buttercup Creek that are now sealed. They take people on tours to these openings and tell about the endangered crickets and salamanders that are living within. It involves hiking and more hiking and was a nice way to spend a beautiful Saturday. We also went to cave opening in a local neighborhood that they unlock twice a year. This cave is one large room that you climb down a ladder to get to. Once inside they have generator powered lights to see the formations. </div> <p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">We like to go in caves. We have been in most of the public ones in Texas and New Mexico. We even crawled through the cave at Enchanted Rock when my wife was a few months pregnant. Our next step might be to do an adventure tour at one of the local caves which involves ropes, flashlights, helmets and a whole bunch of mud. What is the fascination with caves anyway? It must be that sense of exploring the unknown or the unreal. It is based partly on science fiction and the other part in returning to a primitive instinct I guess. Either way, it makes for a nice adventure. </p>


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 spelunk.gif Gabriel Glass bottom boats. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7058 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7058 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">We took the kids to San Marcos this weekend to kill some time before a wedding Saturday afternoon. We went to a little place called Aquarina Springs and took the glass bottom boat tour. They really enjoyed floating around on the small spring fed lake and seeing fish, turtles and vegetation up close. Parts of the spring even bubble out of the bottom of the lake and look really cool. Our 18 month old daughter leaned over the rail and peered down into the lake in wonder the entire time. She would call out things like &ldquo;fishy&rdquo; and &ldquo;turta&rdquo;, and she wanted to get in the water to go &ldquo;simmin&rdquo;. It was a pretty nice way to spend a beautiful cool sunny day. </font></p>


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 turtle.jpg Gabriel April Fool's http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7003 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/7003 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Tuesday is my birthday as well as April Fool&rsquo;s Day. This should be great fun for everyone as usual, except me. All my life on this day I get more then my fare share of April Fool&rsquo;s jokes, but luckily I have a good sense of humor so it isn&rsquo;t so bad. My oldest son will be the leader of the jokes for this week, constantly saying the words &quot;April Fool&rsquo;s&quot;. He is 13 and has Down&rsquo;s Syndrome which means once he gets stuck on a topic it is hard to get him to move on. This is one of his favorite parts of the year and since he also loves when it is anyone&rsquo;s birthday, it is even better. It should take&nbsp;about 3-4 weeks for his April Fool&rsquo;s jokes to fade away so I have been trying to get myself it the right frame of mind to keep that smile on my face all month. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Those of you who have read my blogs know that I I also have 2 other boys and a 17 month old baby girl that will be enjoying the April Fool&rsquo;s fun. I am sure that by the end of the week, my daughter will be saying yet another series of words, this time joining in with her bothers in with her own &ldquo;April Fool&rsquo;s daddy.&rdquo; I think this year might prove to be the cutest April Fool&rsquo;s yet because of her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></font></font></p>


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 cake.jpg Gabriel Easter in the Country http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6956 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6956 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Sorry for missing a week, but since everyone was on spring break, I took the week off from doing any school work. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">This last weekend was Easter, and so we did our yearly ritual of driving out to the country near Yoakum, Shiner and Moulton to spend the weekend with the in-laws and extended family. My extended family grew when I got married from about 10 people to well over 250. This was quite a shock at first to me but over the years I have grown to enjoy having a large family to visit with several times a year. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">This year, we went to visit my mother-in-law&rsquo;s family and spent the day out on the farm. We did the traditional flower picking in the country, followed by nest making for the Easter bunny. This involved 5-6 pickup trucks full of kids and adults riding along dirt roads looking for wild flowers to pick and carry back to the farm to build nests in the driveway. The kids would then all run of and the Easter bunny would come and leave candy in the nests. It is a very cute custom and everyone has a blast. This was the first year for my little girl to participate and she loved playing in the flowers. She actually didn&rsquo;t eat any of them, which was a relief. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3"><em>One final note this week.</em> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I discovered that many of my in-laws who live in that part of Texas, have been reading my blog regularly and had many nice things to say about it. I guess this means I will have to keep it going long after my class ends since, I have a growing fan base that I hadn&rsquo;t even thought about. Thanks for reading!</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3">&nbsp;</font></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><o:p><font face="Calibri" size="3">&nbsp;</font></o:p></p> 29.574866 -97.142937


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 celesteeaster.jpg Gabriel Spring break. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6872 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6872 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Well it&rsquo;s spring break around here, at least for my kids and my class at Austin Community College. UHV gets spring break next week, but since I take all online classes and work full time I don&rsquo;t get a spring break this year and it kind of sucks to not get the week off anymore. My kids are off at their grandparents having fun and I get to drag my butt into work on less crowded freeways. That is the one thing I miss about being a full time student with no job. The spring, winter and summer breaks were great. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>All that build up and then sheer bliss of no responsibility. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I will get my break in May, when my classes are done for a few weeks. The wife and I will be going to Alaska by boat from Seattle for a week. The kids will still be in school so they get to see it from the other side. </font></p>


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 MPj04280110000[1].jpg Gabriel My baby likes the car more then me http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6793 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6793 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">If you read last week&rsquo;s blog, you know that I have a shiny, mostly new Mazda RX-8 that I am enjoying. Friday, I came home from work and pulled into the garage and shut of the car. I left the driver door open and when my wife and 16 month old daughter came into the garage to say hi, my daughter ran past me and climbed into the floorboard of the car. She then proceeded to pull herself up onto the driver&rsquo;s seat and grab the wheel with both hands and make vroom vroom noises. She even puts one hand on the gear shift and pretends to shift. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">It is the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. I guess she is going to be a car girl. </font></p>


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 rx8wallpaperrear.jpg Gabriel No More Minivan http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6729 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6729 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">We did a crazy thing this weekend. We took our 2001 Honda Odyssey family hauler down to the local Infiniti dealer and traded it in on a RX-8 sports car. Now you might ask, &ldquo;Gabriel, don&rsquo;t you have 4 kids?&rdquo; </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">&quot;Why yes I do.&quot; However, we are tired of feeling old and suburbanized and do not want to be a van family any more. We still have a 7 seater SUV so we can still haul the kids around. The difference is that now I have a regular car to drive to work and we have a nice fun vehicle for the weekend and date nights. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">The minivan was very convenient but not much fun and the experience I had driving it was that most people on the road look at it with distaste and annoyance. I would be driving 70 and get passed constantly because it was a minivan. No one wants to be passed or be behind a minivan it seems. In the same situations in the SUV the people would behave totally different. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" size="3">So good bye van, hello performance; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>I&rsquo;ll be the guy zipping by you in the loud Japanese tuner car with the kids in the back grinning ear to ear. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>Anyone else feel the way I do?</font></p>


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 rx8wallpaper.jpg Gabriel The Death of HD-DVD http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6665 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Gabriel/6665 <div style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">Well I for one saw this coming. </div> <div style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">Sony finally won a battle. Betamax, er Blu-ray wins out and I can keep on enjoying my Playstation3. I read an article about Toshiba announcing that they are not going to make any more HD0DVD players, thus forfeiting the contest to set the standard for High Def discs. If you have never watched a movie on Blu- ray, you are missing out and your eyes are suffering. It is quite frankly like looking out the window of your house, even better then HD channels on cable. </div> <div style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">Anyway, the point of this topic is, why was there a war over disc type to begin with? They were very close in capabilities and a lot of money has been wasted now by the producers and the consumers on an obsolete product. The XBOX 360 sold an add-on HD-DVD player for $100 bucks that millions of people bought. This thing is now worthless and Microsoft will have to put out a Blu- ray player for it to compete. &nbsp;Ahh well, I&rsquo;m glad I chose correctly with Sony this time. I got burned by Microsoft with the first XBOX so I tend to shy away from their stuff if possible. </div> <div style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">Anyone else a Playstation3 fan?</div>


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 blu-ray.jpg Gabriel