SkyPark Adventures!

Author: ryland22

  • Toronto Island Park

    Susan had an ABA conference in Toronto so we packed our packs and headed North to hang out with those crazy Canucks.  Our first stop was the Toronto Island Park.  We covered about 70% of the park that day and walked at least 10-15 miles.

    After making it to the North side of the park, we had to decide whether to go back the way we came or explore more of the island and pick up our ferry from one of the other two locations.  Looking at the map it seemed like it wouldn’t be that far, so we headed to the Eastern pickup.

    We walked for roughly an hour and were totally exhausted when we came across a restaurant that had not only delicious food, but also libations by the pitcher full.  After dinner we walked for what seemed another eternity and made it off the island on the last scheduled ferry for the day.  Whew!

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  • Tysons…again

    This was probably our 8th trip to the Tysons play area. Skylar has become a pro at climbing under whale tails and also acquired an affinity for large soft plastic trucks.

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  • Tysons play area

    Tysons became our de facto thing to do when we couldn’t motivate to get out of the house for anything else.  This was also part of our grunge phase where we only dressed in sweats and t-shirts for a couple months.

  • Reston Pool

    Our first trip to an outdoor pool.  We were still figuring out how to get our hat correct.  Proper sun prevention is paramount, but we would like to also be able to see.

  • Michelin Man

    Being first time parents, Susan and I have wondered if Skylar was a bit much on the chubby side, but this freak of nature makes me feel completely at ease 🙂

     

  • First swimming lesson

    Here is Skylar sporting her two piece swimsuit.  Why Susan had to pick out something so scandalous I have no idea.  Checkout the next Dawn Fraser right here folks:

  • Datran Picnic

    I realize it’s been about 6 months since I’ve done any blogging, so here comes a torrent of posts going back to the summer. These pics are from a picnic at Lake Fairfax park with Datran prior to anyone knowing about the imminent closure of the office.

  • Daddy bouncy

    I love giggles!

  • Proper etiquette

    A proper lady sips her soup with a loud slurp. Or in this case, her water 🙂

  • Welcome to your brain

    5 out of 5 stars

    An easy read and incredibly informative.  The subtitle is: Why you lose your car keys but never forget how to drive and other puzzles of everyday life.  One of the reasons I write book reviews and started a career oriented blog at: MichaelRyland.com is to make sure to retain my learning’s over the entire course of my life.  This book enforced my reason for doing it in the chapter on memory – use it or lose it.  Synapses in the brain can be strengthened or weakened over time, if you don’t revisit memories from time to time they can fade or completely disappear.

    Here is my top list for what I found interesting in the book:

    1. We use all our brain: The myth that we only use 10% of our brains is complete BS.  We use 100% of our brains – don’t you feel dumber now 🙁
    2. Brain setupThe brain is wired like my motorcycle after I took it apart and put it back together again – except worse.  The wiring is jacked up.  Certain connections are handling multiple tasks.  EG: 25% of the population sneezes when they look at a bright light b/c their brains are wired such that the connections that handle pupil dilation also handle sneezing.  There are lots of examples like these throughout the book!
        Our brains started out as very basic and then kept adding functionality.  As any engineer knows, this can lead to very poor design and efficiency.  Yep, that’s your brain.  Incredibly complex, incredibly poorly designed.  If we could start over, the plumbing could be made much cleaner and efficient.  I feel for neurosurgeons.
    3. Factors influencing intelligence: Little geniuses – playing Mozart does not make babies smarter.  Genetics set the upper bound for intelligence.  Pre-natal care, diet, and opportunity for development are the environmental factors that can then decrease intelligence.  In the US it’s not hard to ensure that your baby Einstein has all his / her needs met so don’t stress.
    4. Happiness: Frequent small events have a greater cumulative impact than occasion large positive events. Here are some exercises that can increase happiness
      • Focus on positive events. Every evening for a month write down 3 good things that happened that day and explain what caused each of them.
      • Practicing using your character strengths. Got to authentichappiness.org and take the VIA signature strengths questionnaire to figure out what they are. Next, use them in one new way every day for a week.
      • Remember to be grateful. Every day write down 5 things you are thankful for.
    5. Willpower can be trained. There is a part of your brain responsible for willpower and the dendrites / synapses / etc. can be strengthened.
    6. Meditation works. Brain scans further prove that practitioners of meditation are able to change their mental state. This can be finding inner peace or removing feelings of physical pain. It’s pretty cool what we can do when we put our minds to it.