Saturday, June 7: even though temperatures in the Philadelphia suburbs climbed into the 90s, we still had plenty of cool partygoers turn out for the Wurtz family's tech makeover reveal. 

Mary and Joe Wurtz got the high-tech kitchen of their dreams -- a FiOS-powered, networked, all-in-one workspace where they can cook and run their home catering business with up-to-the-second accuracy. The kids got their own networked study area (no more sluggish, "haunted" computer!), and the whole family will enjoy their elegantly redesigned basement home theater.

A few other block party highlights:

The Wurtz Family Head Count -- Man, the Wurtzes weren't kidding about having oodles of cousins! The Techno-Gurus issued a challenge to the Wurtz kids, J.P., Dan and Genevieve: if they could get at least 50 cousins to attend the block party, they'd each get an MP3 player. Joe the FiOS Guy, our party MC, led the count, with row after row of fun-loving Wurtz family members lining the stage. Thanks to their homemade invitation video, the kids nailed the challenge...but kindly gave their MP3 players to their cousins, since they already got a few goodies of their own that day.

Bob & Ron's Worldwide Stereo brought their award-winning Porsche 911 Targa S, which was judged to have the 4th best-sounding stereo system in the entire world. After seeing these guys hook up several of our 2.0 Families with the best home electronics on the market, it was great to finally meet Ron in person, too. (I'd met his partner Bob last fall at the Irving family reveal.) Really nice guys!

Guru Lloyd's Family Reunion -- It was a pleasure to finally meet Lloyd's Mom Shari, Grandmother Momma D, little brother Kilroy, Uncle Sunny, Aunt Cheryl, and little cousin Devon in person, and to see them beaming proudly as he took the stage. What a warm and wonderful family...now I see where Lloyd gets it from!

The JBJBs! It was great to see the Buckley family from nearby Doylestown, PA, again, and hear a couple of tunes Jerry and Julia have been crafting in their Digital Home Studio 2.0.

The Kaczors! It almost wouldn't seem like a 2.0 Block Party without these stars of My Home 2.0's premiere episode in attendance.

MHA Photography -- Longtime friend of the show Michele Alvaro brought her camera and wonderful eye for detail. (UPDATE: click here to see her photos.)

t3h badg3r -- It was great hanging out with this teenaged computer wiz and friend of the show again. We met in person at the Words' block party...keep your eye out for this young man, I think we may have a future Techno-Guru in the works!

Brian's "PB&J Mechanical Munchie Machine" -- I had the extreme privilege of watching our resident "Mad Scientist" work on this delightfully Rube Goldberg-esque contraption last week in The Lair, and it was amazing seeing it in action in the Wurtzes' kitchen. Children crowded around it, laughing and clapping as bread went down a conveyor belt and was automatically slathered with gobs of peanut butter and jelly. A true, one-of-a-kind work of art, in the tradition of the Word family's Musical Bellows Chair.  (More on both of these inventions coming soon to our DIY page!)

Posted by Jim 2.0 | tagged: Wurtz, photos, during, block party