Ken Newquist's blog

I finally got some new LEGOs: The AT-AP Walker. It's a 392 piece set featuring a cockpit that holds two clone trooper mini-figs. We probably won't get to it during the week, but I expect that Jordan and I will crack open the box this weekend.

I went to my first-ever baseball game with my dad last night, as we watched the Lehigh Valley IronPigs take on the Buffalo Bisons at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pa.

It took us a while to get there, seeing as how I'm 36 and he's 66, but it was worth the wait. The IronPigs are the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, which means they're one step down from the Show. The new stadium reflects that; it's a first-rate, beautiful stadium. I doubt there's a bad seat in the house; we had field-level seats down the first-base line and even we had a good view. It was also cheap; tickets were $9 a person, and even with the entire family there -- my parents, Sue and the two kids -- the whole thing end up costing me about $60.

It was fantastic being there with the kids, sitting in foul ball territory with Jordan, gloves in hand, waiting for fly balls to come soaring our way. None came close, but it was fun to watch and wait all the same. Jordan was half-crazy with excitement about being at the game, and while she got a little wild at the end, she loved it. It was a good trial run for going to a big league game -- like watching the Mets at Citi Field next year.

After about almost four weeks of consistent (ok, more consistent) exercise, I've reached 208 lbs., down 6 lbs. from my starting weight of 214. It's nice to see progress, and I'm hoping to do as well in the next four weeks.

That said ... it's going to be tough. The start of the semester is two weeks away, which means things are about to get crazy around the college day job. Meanwhile, they've closed the college pool for maintenance, which means I need to fit in my exercise after work, something that I've found all too easy to skip.

I tried to go to the gym today, but alas, all of the college's buildings are closed for power maintenance. Instead, I ran home got the dog and the toddler, and went out for a walk ... which turned into a rather brisk walk when the thunder started.

In my ears: Order 66 Podcast, Episode 27 - The Pinnacle of Success

One of Luke's first words was "elmo". No, not the Sesame Street character. He rarely watches TV, and when he does, it's not Sesame Street. No, "elmo" was his word for truck. Cars he calls go-gos (no doubt from the many readings of Go Dogs Go he's enjoyed) but trucks have always been elmos. In recent months, he's mixed this up. Dump trucks? Dumpy elmos. Big trucks? Bumpy elmos. No matter how many times we said otherwise, trucks were elmos.

Until last week. When, while walking up the stairs to his room, he decided to call them trucks, and keep calling them trucks. They're simply not elmos any more. Infact, if you say "elmo", he corrects you and says "truck".

All of this is part of his toddler word explosion. Car. Grass. Green. Money. Bike. Blue. Saint. Move. Play. The words just keep coming, as do the combinations, as he tells the dog (that'd be saint) to move, points out blue trucks, and exclaims that he wants to play on his bike.

No formal exercise today, but I did spend the afternoon at a pool party with the extended family, and managed to swim a couple of laps while playing with Jordan and Luke.

I didn't get any formal exercise in today, but I did spend seven hours walking, running and swimming around Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom with my daughter Jordan. The consensus on Twitter seems to be that spending a day running around an amusement park with a five year old counts as exercise, so I'm claiming it for OOF.

I was sorely tempted to blow off going to the pool today, but I don't have time to go to the gym after work, and I'm hoping to keep the weight loss thing going, so I pressed on.
Thirty minutes at the pool, swimming laps.

In my ears: Lots of water. iPods don't do well in pools.

This week’s weigh-in was 211 lbs., down two pounds from last week, three pounds since I started this two weeks ago. Three pounds in two weeks isn’t bad, but I also realize that this is the beginning, and it’s always easier to lose a few pounds at the start (or at least, it is for me).