The Novaes Kitten, Snow!

After months of not having a pet and years of having cats, Pepper, Minka and Forrest, we finally decided
to return to the world of pets, well...sorta!

Last week a student at school, who loves animals, told me she had kittens and wondered if I had any interest! I kinda did at first, I later discussed the idea with Melissa. The conversation lasted about 3 minutes and it never came to any decision.

On Monday Brady was sick and did not attend school. But I still had to go in and get some work so I didn't feel like I had wasted a day! I walk in with Brady and guess who is waiting for me with 5 kittens?! Yup, it seemed like a set up! Brady sits down to play with the kittens and out pops this cute lil dude! How the heck could I say no?! I might act like a tough guy, but put a kitten in my son's arms...and it's over!

Snow, as we decided to call him, has a great personality and is such a lil ball of fun! Welcome to the family buddy! Be ready for a fun ride!

Clarksburg Truck - HDR

If you havent noticed, I have been digging deep into HDR Photography! I love it! The technique adds such depth to every shot!

This shot was taken near a town called Clarksburg, just a few minutes south of West Sacramento. The truck is on a property where I was shooting a Cyclocross race! The old look with bushes growing around seemed to beg for an HDR Shot!

There are a few others at the link below! Enjoy and dont steal it...thieves!

http://imagesbydereknovaes.smugmug.com/

Family Day on the bike trail!

Its been a long time since we did a family bike ride, June last year to be exact! The opportunity came this weekend to hit the bike trail due to some scheduling changes, so off we went! We started at the Sac State Aquatic Center and rode clockwise around Lake Natoma to avoid the "hills." While going thru Folsom, we rode by Chris Horner! Who's Chris? The winner of the 2010 Tour of California and a potential 2010 Tour de France winner had he not crashed a week into the Tour! We stopped for a picnic lunch, saw loads of cool scenery, the kids rode like champs(11.5 miles)! What a dream for me, an awesome family sharing my passion for cycling! Does it get much better?!?!?

After the ride we hit up Jamba Juice and later surprised Nana & Papa for a follow up visit. Papa is rocking it pretty much! He might even head out of the house next weekend! AWESOME!

Its Friday....

Its Friday, so guess what?! It's Garbage day for Brady! Yes, he always gets this excited!

Gigi! Whats up? Guess what? Its 7:42!

A funny lil story, many years ago while I was still BMX'ing I asked GiGi to come watch me race in Roseville, Ca. Being that she was a pro BMX Grandma, she knew that she didnt need to watch practice. She asked that I call her just before the race. So I set my watch to 7:42pm, no real reason. Since that day, my watch has beep'd at 7:42pm. Even with three watches later, they all get set for 7:42pm. Grandma has passed away 3 years ago, 21 Sep. 2009 and it's 7:42! Love you, Miss you and think of you daily!

There's lots to love in my live, but I can't love her enough!

A few weeks back we all went to Joe's Crab Shack Downtown Sacramento, you know the usual, The Orick-Novaes Team. Val happened to have her camera handy and she took this awesome shot of us! I swear I am the luckiest guy in the world, while I get balder and uglier, Melissa get prettier by the week!

Sacramento Gran Prix

This past weekend Sacramento held what I consider a great event for cycling and Sacramento, the Sacramento Gran Prix, organized by Project Sport along with the Sacramento Sport Commission. This group also puts on the Pittsburgh And San Rafael Twilight races! This race is a party! Vendors, beer gardens, umbrella girls, fast racing and awesome people all around!

Only speaking for myself, but I am certain many others would agree, please bring this race back EVERY year! I can see it only getting bigger by year. Make it happen people!

My own race was much like the rest of the year, a struggle! I poorly planned my fitness this year and paid the price! Training for road races but racing criteriums was an obvious mistake! Was that done on purpose? Of course not! 2012 is a new year with new energy and goals! Criterium training and racing...weight room and intervals! Back to the BMX days under the squat rack!

The pic, my good friend Nick Oliver in the P/1/2 race! More pics can be seen at the link below:

http://imagesbydereknovaes.smugmug.com/Sports/Cycling/2011-Sacramento-Gran-Prix/19020084_pfkCvx#1478294206_4rNGTjp

Time to Start Sharing More Pics and Moments!

So it seems this summer has killed us
with time to post and keep up with all of our activities! I promise to keep this rolling! As you can see I have added a few more design changes. Yes, I get bored with the same layout!

The first summer rewind: As usual we went to Dillon Beach! Hard times this year due to Uncle Jim passing, but we tried to be upbeat as much as we could! We're thankful for our family to be there and support each other! The pic was taken by Valerie! Thanks Val!

August is past us!

WOW! August was a busy month folks! The highlight was returning to school for Derek, Brady and Drew!  Derek is back at Sacramento Academic & Vocational Academy with the usual awesome team and students in Elk Grove! Brady is now a Second Grader and Drew a First Grader with Brady's former teacher Mrs. Tran! We know the kids are in their early years of school, but dang if feels like this morning that they got into Pre-School! Watch High School be next week!

Family Matters

After 24 years of being together, we still need to find time to be with each other! When life gets hectic, kids running in all sorts of places and directions, commitments with family etc., we still must find time to hang out and laugh and remind ourselves as to why we are here in the first place!

Many times we take the closest ones for granted and forget to acknowledge the small things! We also forget that many small things add up eventually and count in the end!

We lose the closest people in a blink of an eye and before you know it, time has passed and we forget to stop and take in that special person and moment!

Take a few moments to acknowledge the ones you love and appreciate: wife, husband, friend, children, pets, co-workers, the computer you're using right now, my bike and health...many more to list!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

The Kid's First Trip to a BMX Track!

At first Drew was not into it at all, Derek got her going on the small stuff and eventually on the bigger sections of the track! Once that was but together, she had a blast! Proud of her courage!

This dude on the other hand, he rolled the starting hill from the moment he got there! However, as predicted he crashed! Yet, he went out there again and again and kept doing his thing! he looked very comfortable out there! Potential BMXer I think!

Two happy kids on their bikes at the track! Proud Daddy!

The Novaes-Orick's at Dillon Beach!

While spending our annual week at Dillon Beach we had special guests on the last day, The Orick's! The weather was great, no sun! But it wasn't horrible like its been in the past! Thanks for coming out!

Brady in the Can!

SF Exploritorium HDR!

Summer Time Fun!

Boys Trip to San Francisco via San Rafael

A few months ago Brady and I decided to take a day and make a "Boy Trip!" That day finally arrived last week! We took off on Tuesday night to San Rafael to stay the night in a Motel 6, commonly called, Ghetto 6 in our home! The next day woke, had our cereal, watched the Tour de France stage on the ipad and off we went to SF. We hoped for stop at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, but fog kept us in the car and on our way down to the Marina District!



Since we skipped the bridge we had time to drive around and smell San Francisco, love it! Off to the Exploritorium went! Brady had a great time learning and manipulating all sorts experiments while cruising the floors! So fun to watch him explore! Clever lil kid!

After the Exploritorium we went outside and took a bunch of cool pics and then headed to the South end of the Golden Gate Bridge since the weather had now cleared up! Awesome view to say the least! I remember when Grandma used to take us there, so of course I had to continue the tradition!

A great time and hope to do this again more often!

Jamie and Heidi get Married!

Congrats and good luck...to Heidi! You'll need it, plus patience and adult beverages! Welcome to the family!

Lance Armstrong Visits Davis, Ca

So the LiveStrong Challenge rolled in thru Davis, Ca. this year. Riders raised nearly 1 million dollars for the LiveStrong Foundation! I didn't ride it, wish I had, but it looked like a lot of fun! Hey, Lance rode on the same roads that I ride and train on a weekly basis, that's pretty cool!

Drew Graduates from Kindergarten!

Can you find our little Drew in the line up? Clue: flower girl! She's now a First Grader! She had a great first year of school; she loved class, finished all of her work on Monday's for the most part, read really well, math is coming along and she's just cool! We love you Drew and congrats!

Another HDR Pic!

Another front yard shot using HDR! Dang it, I just need to fork over the cash to get the full version! Then its ON!