Frogs I Have Known

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This year's Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad (WESO) is in the books. We had over 2,200 students this year, up from last year. They represented 41 Washtenaw County schools.

Here are some photo slideshows and articles:
AA Public School News
MLive coverage
Photos from WESO's photographers (the password is weso)

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Shifting gears to non-Science Olympiad photographic subjects, here are pictures of some frogs that hang out around our house. Click on them to see them in a larger view.

Family Update

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Visiting Ones Childhood Home

Mom, Dad, and the kids

We had a rare family reunion on Thursday in Jackson. Usually, one of us kids is home, or maybe we have our families with us. But to have the Original Bruey Five together in one place? Priceless!


Some Musical Stylings

K and his fellow violins play the ancient
piece Too Ning.

M and the Jazz Band jazz it up in their
final performance of the season.

A Few Pictures From The Great Outdoors

The bee isn't really in focus, but his shadow looks pretty cool.

Baby swans! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

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Some Links
On the topic of photography, what happens when you x-ray cameras? This guy found out.

Tired of carving figures and shapes into small pieces of wood? Try a whole tree.

Pictures of auroras from NASA.

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Goings On Going On

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The pear tree is blossoming. Spring is here!

Welcome to Spring!
I think the warm(er) weather is finally here to stay. It was in the 70s for a few days, and even though it will go back down to the 60s for a while, it's probably safe to put the snow shovels away now.

There are about 5 weeks left until Science Olympiad, which is June 3 this year. We're working hard on so many aspects of the big day, including meeting with our "key" volunteers, making signs and posters, helping organize workshops for students, and taking care of all the little things that make a big event.

Links
I like this little knife. It's small enough that it would stay out of your way.

Why learn to play the piano when you can just buy one of these? And yes, it handles the pedals, too.

Early Christmas list (it's never too early): a 14-150 mm camera lens. But don't buy me this lens; it's not made for my camera, it's too heavy to lift, and I'd rather you gave me the money so I could pay off my mortgage. It's 28" long, so you'd need a little wheeled cart to take it with you.

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Duck!

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Duck! Swan! Grebe!

Recently, at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor.

A duck, obviously. 

Lunchtime for the swan

I believe this is an Eared Grebe.

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College Visits
M and I have been driving around Michigan lately, visiting colleges and seeing what the college experience is all about. So far, we've visited Central, Western, Wayne State, and Michigan State. We've yet to have an official visit to U of M, but we live close so will be able to do that more easily when we want to.

M has been getting mail from all over the country, inviting him to consider colleges from the very large to the very small. He's flattered, but is probably going to stay in Michigan. Unless someone wants to give us a ton of money, then maybe we'll see...

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Jackson High: Retrospecticus

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I had occasion to visit my alma mater, Jackson High School, last week. M's high school jazz band played there on Wednesday evening. Mom and Dad made a short trip over to join me, and we looked around the building and listened to first-rate jazz.

I had to get there early to drop off M, so I wandered around the halls and checked out the current state of the building. Many things looked familiar, but many looked new.

The center stairs.

The long hallway on the third floor.

The short hallway on the third floor. 

An imposing building...

What appears to be a front entrance are doors that I maybe
went through a few times in the three years I was student here.

When I was in orchestra, there were no windows in this room.

More Music and Other Stuff

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K plays Mozart - this is the Solo and Ensemble piece

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M and the Symphony Band played at Festival today - they got a I (one) rating. 

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One Pretty Good Link
Here's a great poster that shows the evolution of space exploration.

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Jazz Band and Orchestra Night

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The saxes are up front for a reason - they're the best!

Jazz Band
M and the Pioneer High School Jazz Band played at a judged festival on Saturday. The judge had some interesting things to say about their play, and the sounded terrific as usual. One piece featured a trombonist, one a vocalist, and one was the whole band playing full tilt.

The Jazz Band wows 'em at their festival performance

This piece featured a trombone and was a lot of fun to listen to and watch

Orchestra Night
I went to see Orchestra Night at Hill Auditorium, even though none of our children were playing in it this year.

The Pioneer Symphony Orchestra at Hill Auditorium

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Fun Links
Ready to order your new Ford GT? Just go here to set it up the way you want, and hit the Order button!

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