Utah Fun for Spring Break

This week is spring break and we wanted to do something fun together as a family so we planned a trip with my mom and Lorenzo to Utah. We were only there for three days but we did so many fun things and had such a great time together. One of the malls we went to on the way had a lot of great stores for the adults along with some activities the kids could enjoy. They got to ride on a giant carousel as well as a train that took them on an eight minute ride all around the mall. Wendy loved it so much that is all she would talk about for hours!



After the mall, we headed to the Living Planet Aquarium. Wendy went crazy for fish! Maybe we should get one for home. She hated the octopus though. She ran away screaming, "It's gonna get me, it's gonna get me". Emily's favorite part was the penguins. We were lucky because that was a new exhibit that had just opened a few days earlier.





After walking around so much it was nice to sit down and eat. We went to an amazing restaurant call the Mayan Adventure. It looked like a Disney ride inside. Everything was decorated and there was a big pool with rocks and waterfalls that divers jumped and did flips into. We were lucky enough to get a table right in front. LeeRoy and I loved it as much as the kids did.



That night, we checked into our hotel in downtown Salt Lake. We were right by the tram so the next morning we rode it to the Gateway Mall. While there, we did more shopping and then went to the Discovery Kids Museum. We have taken Emily before but this was Wendy's first time. She loved running from one thing to the next.



For dinner that night we went to Benihana. It's a Japanese steak house where they cook all your food right in front of you on a center Hibachi (Grill.) The chef flipped knives and spatulas and made a steaming onion tower. Then he flipped tails from a dozen shrimp into the air and caught them in his hat. Wendy Loved the fried rice and our chef even threw full bowls of it without spilling a single grain!

That night at the hotel we had fun hanging out and playing games together for some wind-down time.


It was so fun to get away for spring break but we loved coming home the most and look forward to relaxing for the rest of our vacation.

Wendy is 3!!!!

Wendy has been looking forward to her birthday for months now. Every time we asked her what she wanted she would say the same thing. A star cake and a triangle, square, diamond, and heart present. I looked and looked for a star cake pan and was so happy when I finally found one. I put LeeRoy in charge of the different shaped gifts. He was up pretty late last night wrapping and taping cardboard to all her toys but in the end they turned out and the look on her face when she saw them made all the hard work worth it.

We started out the morning by giving Wendy breakfast in bed with a candle. Later in the afternoon lots of family stopped by for a party. She got to open tons of presents and play with all of her new toys. Mickey Mouse even called her on the phone to wish her a happy birthday. We had a great time celebrating and we are so thankful to have such a wonderful little girl be part of our family.

A Childhood Dream

It's the last few weeks of Winter and we're all a little stir crazy with cabin fever. I've spent this time inside researching projects at home. After many hours searching for arcade part vendors, comparing prices on parts & pieces, and searching for the perfect display I made the decision to jump into action. My family has been kind enough to let me take over the living room, kitchen, and TV for days. After many orders to various online companies, the first boxes that came were the cabinet pieces. 6 Boxes weighing 30 to 60 LBS each!

The first day with no usable living room and wood parts everywhere! Packages start to stack up from X-arcade controls, Mame marquee artwork, Smart Power strip and TV Signal Converter from Amazon, Compact Inspiron Computer from Dell, Coin Door and monitor bezel from HAPP Controls, and Computer speakers from the local Fred Meyer...

The next few days with no usable living room... programing the computer and X-Arcade controls. This took a couple of days because I had to spend many hours downloading individual files from a number of Arcade Enthusiast forums and file repositories. There is quite a large number of hobbyists to get ideas from and problem solve with! You can tell that the tediousness is getting to me :)

After many days scavenging the local second-hand thrift stores and pawn shops I finally found an old 27" CRT TV on Craig's list for $30.00! I could almost hear the family mutter under their breath as I walked out with their old piece of junk, "sucker!" Their junk was definitely my treasure. Since the computer and controls were setup I needed to get the artwork on before fitting the TV as it would double the weight of the cabinet and moving it empty was hard enough. Lori nominated herself in charge of artwork and I think she chose a wonderful design! Her help in applying the adhesive artwork here was invaluable. Go team Cox!

Once the TV, Florescent light from Wal-Mart and the Powerstrip was installed I could wire the Coin door backlights with an old power supply we don't use anymore and install the Dell Computer.
Here I am soldering the last wires to the coin door bulbs.

Our work of art! I calculate it took 20 hours of research & ordering online plus 46 hours to build, program, and wire. Compared to the ready-built arcades I saw for sale on amazon with only 1 or 2 games installed this one is less than half that price and I can tailor the games list to add any game we want! Right now we are running many different platforms including Arcade, Atari, NES, Super NES, Sega, Sega Genesis, N64, and Daphne. I also have plans to install some Windows games in the future.

I am proud to preserve memories of my childhood and share them with my kids. Just now without all the begging for Quarters! I must thank my family for their patience and support for the last few weeks while I took over our home with parts, boxes, and wires.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Emily introduced herself as the Green Queen this morning. She looked so cute decked out for the holiday. She will definitely not be pinched! What a fun day. We had a green food theme and Wendy kept saying, "we are eating dad's favorite color".