The Bell Family

Proof that I was actually in the U.S. Check out the following website http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/events/, see the Scientific Development Poster Session picture.

Crazy hey, and this is the proper Apple Website advertising it’s worldwide developers conference

Cool hey.

Until next time,
Take it easy,
Jason.

Good news… the extension has finally started! It took all of a few minutes for the first bit of machinery to wreak havoc and devastation on the backyard as a new plumbing trench was dug. Laura was pretty impressed though, shouting “Mummy… Ray the Builder’s here…. and he’s got a digger… he’s going to make me a new room!” She was very cute!

…before chaos

… chaos begins

…’digger’ at work

Little does she know that it’s going to take about 3 months to finish and in that time, there’ll be a lot of dust and noise and she’ll even have to move out of her current room for a while too! Now that will be interesting.

Cheers and we’ll keep you posted on all the action,

Chrissy and Jason

Hi Everyone!

It’s about time we give you an update on our precious little girls!

Katelyn has turned 4 months! We’ve just visited the Dr for the latest round of immunisations, a quick checkup and a weigh and measure. She now weighs 6.33kg and is 66cm long (a little longer and a little heavier than Laura for those who like to compare). I’ve nicknamed her ‘smiley’, as she always seems to be beeming with a broad, cheeky little grin. Laura is a constant source of amusement to her and she’s always giggling at her big sister who she is just crazy about.

Laura adores her too and the two of them are just so cute together – always smiling, giggling and giving eachother lots of little kisses and cuddles. Laura is remarkably concerned for her little sister’s welfare – often interpreting her cries for me, giving her cuddle and saying “it’s okay Katelyn, I’ve got you” and often running into her room if she hears a noise saying “I’ll check on her”!

They love playing together and their favourite things are reading stories together and dancing to Laura’s ‘special’ music (an assortment of nursery rhymes and kids songs), but really any music will do. Even when we’re listening to the radio in the car, Laura will often sprout ‘I like this song, can you make it louder please?’

Katelyn has just cut her first tooth (very young and even earlier than Laura)! She figured it would be a special Mother’s Day present for me I think! Laura’s pretty impressed about it, because she was always asking why Katelyn didn’t have teeth like her! So now they’re just the same and Katelyn can go to the Dentist too!

We visited a friends ‘farm’ the other day and Laura had a great time playing with the dogs and the chickens and feeding the baby goats. She was very impressed by the whole setup!

Laura’s favourite sayings at the moment are “Mummy, I gotta tell you a secret” and “I’ve gotta ask you a question”. She can have a full chat with you now when she’s in the mood and loves providing a running commentary on everything she’s been doing. We’re noticing a real difference with her vocab and comprehension now, she just seems to be taking so much in, asking questions and putting things together for herself which is great. She’s very observant and will often stop us to clarify things. The other day, she was telling me “When the sun goes down… it’s night time, time for sleeping. When the sun comes up… it’s day time, time for playing!” She then followed this up with “It’s not night time now!” Do you think she wanted more play time???

Anyway, talking about playtime, I’m a woman in demand and there are two needy little girls here waiting for my attention! Hope you all have a great day and we’ll blog again soon!

Cheers,

Chrissy, Jason, Laura and Katelyn

Well, the three day conference is over and I must say that this year was better than last year. Not to say that last year wasn’t good, but I just really enjoyed the presentations and Chicago isn’t bad either! For those who might be interested, the slides for the presentations can be found at http://www.accessgrid.org/node/738 and general notes from the conference can be found at http://accessgrid.karen.net.nz/index.php/Access_Grid_Retreat_2007_-_Report.

I won’t go on too much about the conference, other than to say it was an awesome opportunity to network with people working in the area of Access Grids.

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to present. After day 2, all the participants were asked to vote for the best three presentations. My presentation was lucky enough to be selected as one of the top three, so I received an Xbox 360, with wireless controller and Arcade Game Pack. I must admit, I was hugely surprised as there were a number of excellent presentations given (now I just have to figure how to get the box to fit in my luggage). Another Aussie also won an Xbox too, so must be saying something the standard of us Aussies!

Anyway, the last few days have been great and I have managed to network with a lot of people.  I think the Access Grids are in good hands.

Until next time.

Take it easy,
Jason.

Well, I decided to do some sight seeing on Sunday and headed to the Navy Pier.

Basically saw a few shops and had a general look around. I then decided to walk to the Shedd Aquarium (http://www.sheddaquarium.org/).

This place is amazing, I have seen the Aquarium at Sydney but I think this place was even better. They definitely had a lot more to look at.

I found Mumbles (From Happy Feet)!

I also found Nemo!

Unfortunately it was difficult to obtain any good photos, as you cannot use the flash and the movement of the animals and water generally made most of the photo’s blurry, but I did see some beluga whales, dolphins, sharks and a bucket load of different fish.

I also saw a Komodo Dragon Lizard which was cool.

By the time I walked back to my room, I reckon I had walked at least 20kms. But it was nice to get out and about.

By the late afternoon, everyone from the Retreat started to show up and we spent the rest of the night catching up.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures and please feel free to post a comment on the blog.

Until next time,
Take it easy,
Jas.

Well, my first impressions of Chicago are quite good, The city is reasonably clean for a very large city, I guess my only gripe is how cold it is. It isn’t that the temp is that cold, but with the wind blowing, it will rip right through you.

Well, Friday Night I caught up with my New Zealand colleague and we decided to go for a walk and grab an authentic Chicago pizza. Man, it was more like a pie than a pizza and practically one slice filled you up. Due to some mix up, we ordered a large (to share) and initially we were brought out a medium size. The guy apologised and said they were cooking another large for us. Well, we ate two-thirds of the medium pizza and were extremely full. We told the waiter not to worry about the large as we couldn’t even finish the first pizza. We then decided to walk around a little. I found a Borders bookstore however the book I wanted wasn’t published yet. We then got lost and it took us a while to get to our motel. But deep down, I think we needed to do some walking! Anyway, we got back, I checked some email and stuff and then it was time to hit the sack.

After around 6 or so hours sleep, I woke up at 6:30, had some breakfast and then I caught up with my New Zealand mate again to do some more tourist stuff for the day. We visited a number of shops but the highlights for the day were:

• We visited the John Hancock building (see http://www.hancock-observatory.com/ for more information). Some of the cool things were:

• An elevator that traverses 94 floors in 40 seconds. It is one of the fastest elevators in the northern hemisphere. At top speed, it does something like 20 miles an hour.
• It isn’t the tallest building in Chicago, but it towers over all except one. See attached pictures.



Looking out from the 94th floor.





Proof that I was actually there



Looking up at the John Hancock Building.

• Went and watched a Baseball game. “Chicago White Sox” (http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cws) vs “Kansas City Royals” (http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc).
• White Sox scored a home run hit on the first innings;
• White sox was up 2-0 after the first 3 or 4 innings;
• Royals scored 4 runs in a single innings;
• White Sox scored another home run in the 7^th or 8^th innings (a short fireworks display occurs after each home run hit);
• Bottom of the 9^th, the White Sox have a batter on 2^nd base. He’s sitting on ball 3, 2 strikes and the batter hits it enough for the guy to run home and tie up the match. This forces the game into another innings until the match is won.
• With 2 outs, the royals have the bases loaded and the last batter gets striked out. The White Sox win with a guy sitting on 2^nd base running home after the batter hits the ball to the outer field safely.
• Very exciting match and a nail biting finish.
• Of course, I had to do the American thing and eat a hot dog and drink beer at the game.
• After the game had concluded a great display of fireworks was then put on.



Me at the baseball game.





Some pictures of the game and fireworks.
Anyway, until next time, take it easy,

Jason.

For those of you who may be unaware, I am currently in the US for work. The purpose for my travel is to attend an Access Grid Conference [http://www.accessgrid.org/retreat2007].

I don’t know if I am simply a sucker for punishment or what, but whilst attending the conference, I will be providing a presentation and a hand’s on section for the conference. I will be helping with a number of other sessions as well. So I should be kept rather busy.

I am currently sitting in LAX (Los Angeles Airport) writing this draft for a blog update and so far the trip has been quite un-eventful. Unfortunately I didn’t really get any sleep on the flight, but it was very comfortable and I ended up watching a few movies (Deja Vu and Blood Diamond).

The conference itself is held in Chicago and I am looking forward to exploring the city. A mate of mine suggested I should go to a Jerry Springer show, but I think I might pass on that suggestion.

Well, I am looking forward to getting some sleep and hopefully catching up with a couple of my Access Grid colleagues tonight for a bite to eat before hitting the bed early (with any luck).

It is now currently Friday, so I hope to do a little shopping and recover from jet lag over the weekend before the conference starts on Monday.

Anyway, I will endeavour to try and post more messages and pictures when I can.

Until next time.

Take it easy,
Jason.