OK, Reed: All About Them

Gym Rats

2011-12-30T12:41:00.000-06:00

By gym, I mean the place where one works out, aka fitness center.

By rats, I mean the lovable kind, e.g., Remy from Ratatouille.

This rat pack comprises Maddi, A.J., and Reed

Crayon-ing Achievement

2011-12-28T15:00:00.000-06:00

Reed sketches for me his plans for an addition to his bedroom.

Cookies Monsters

2011-12-27T21:58:00.000-06:00

Much like sugar molecules, our kids bond with Aiden and Alayna, especially when sweets are involved. On this night, the candied quartet took their spoonfuls of sugar in the form of cookie à la mode.

Separate the Tweet from the Chaff

2011-12-26T16:12:00.000-06:00

To my Luddite friends—Bob G., I cast my eyes in your direction—who find social media cumbersome, oppressive, unhealthy, and pervasive, I understand where you’re coming from. But to call it worthless would be a mistake. As a counterargument, I offer a dozen delicious ginger bread cookies, which I won from a Twitter trivia contest today.

Festive Occasions

2011-12-25T23:50:00.005-06:00

It’s lazy of me to lump together the pictures of the kids with their Christmas presents and the one of Beni’s birthday cupcakes, but together they help illustrate my point. Growing up, Beni found it difficult to share her birthday with the Christmas holiday: she got the occasional—but dreaded—combo gift, couldn’t schedule parties on her actual birthday, and, worst of all, was often forgotten about by many of her friends who were busy celebrating the day with their families.

Those mixed feelings haven’t completely faded away, but I’ve noticed—and Beni herself has conceded—that the hard feelings have softened over time. In fact, the birthday girl now sees the positives of having to share: that her mom and sister will always have the day off so that they can be present to open presents, and that she too will likely never have to be at work on her special day. And in that spirit of goodwill, I offer some of the pictures from earlier in the day.

With G in the fire truck/ball pit

Olivia with her many American Girl accessories

The Slinky was very popular in the 1940s (and in 2011)

Red-Letter Day

2011-12-24T22:47:00.000-06:00

With our living room readied for tomorrow—presents under the tree, a fire “lit” on our TV, and cookies and milk out on the table—there was one detail left for Olivia before she retired for the evening: her note for Santa. Here’s what she penned:

Residential Oath of Office

2011-12-22T22:11:00.002-06:00

Olivia—wearing her homemade Lady Liberty crown—wrote, presided over, and administered our first attempt at a family oath this evening. My favorite line: “…, and forever we will be together in our hearts.”

No truer words have ever been sworn on.

No Narration Without Re-Presentation

2011-12-20T20:47:00.000-06:00

Poster board? Check.

Multiple photos of presentation subject on said poster board? Check.

Timeline of said subject’s life on said poster board? Check.

Pointer for pointing out said timeline of said subject on said poster board? Check.

Snazzy suit coat and tie? Checkmate.

Drop It Like It's Tot

2011-12-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

As we North Americans get ready to officially transition to winter, we—a tiny subset of that continental population—made a big change of our own in our home: Reed is moving on from crib to toddler bed. The switching of sleeping platform was simple enough—I took down the one side of his crib and replaced it with parts from the toddler-bed conversion kit. Our son’s newfound freedom has proven to be a bigger challenge. Most nights, he’s made multiple trips between his bed and the bookcase and toy box. His mattress, in turn, is overflowing with books and toys, as if he were auditioning for A&E’s Hoarders. This, as you can imagine, makes sleeping—and the process by which we get our youngest to sleep at night—quite difficult.

Whine and Dino

2011-12-18T20:50:00.000-06:00

Gripe, and ye shall receive. (Especially if your parents are still tired from another restless night of sleep.) The kids were complaining that we’d made their dinosaurs extinct—i.e., put them out of reach—and so they started a campaign to bring them back. They celebrated the fruits of their protests with a parade through our living room.

Put Two and Two Together

2011-12-17T21:04:00.000-06:00

A perfectly good excuse to post some cute pics of our favorite two-year-old boys: the QT (cutie—get it?) above is now Q2. Cousin Quintin turns two today. And although we couldn’t be with him on his big day, our two-year-old marked the occasion by getting a new spiffy haircut.

Seeing is Believing

2011-12-15T21:39:00.000-06:00

Above is the face of a child who received a personalized video message from St. Nick. Here is her response, which she prefaced by stating, “Your [sic] the apple of my eye Santa! Love, Olivia K.”

A Sprinkle in Time

2011-12-14T22:04:00.000-06:00

What are the holidays without traditions? One of our favorites is when the kids make and decorate holiday cookies with A.J. and Maddi at their house. An essential part of this tradition is that the parents consume a vast majority of the cookies created by the kids.

Sole Man

2011-12-13T20:11:00.001-06:00

Reed’s doing his best to get a leg up on the competition.

Around the World

2011-12-12T19:26:00.000-06:00

My parents got the kids an interactive globe as an early Christmas present. Reed enjoys taking the quizzes and hopes for wrong answers—he likes the exaggerated way the globe says “too bad.”

Here are Olivia and Grandpa Tsune studying the many places he’s traversed.

No Rest for the Weary Travelers

2011-12-11T20:42:00.001-06:00

My mom and dad are here this weekend for a whirlwind tour of their grandchildren’s many programs and events. And just in case they weren’t satiated by Olivia’s piano recital yesterday, they had three additional offerings on this day: Olivia’s participation in the UU holiday play, Reed’s Christmas concert, and O’s dance recital.

Sweet Piano

2011-12-10T21:47:00.004-06:00

Olivia with Margaret, her inimitable piano teacher

Today was the day that Olivia swore would never happen: that of her first piano recital. She was so resistant to the idea at first that she threatened to go on strike. But then she started warming to it when she realized she’d be able to wear a fancy outfit and sparkly shoes, and that we’d serve snacks to our guests and performer afterward. She even composed and performed “Angel Stars” for the occasion.

Clean House

2011-12-08T23:16:00.001-06:00

Grandma Randi was on bath duty tonight, giving both Beni and me a respite from this hyper-charged (hyper-churned?)—and often highly chaotic and sometimes stressful—daily routine.

Just Duet

2011-12-07T20:53:00.001-06:00

Reed lends a hand—or two—to Olivia as she practices for her upcoming recital.

No Time Like the Present(s)

2011-12-04T22:10:00.000-06:00

Reed and his partner played beat-the-clock as they stuffed a sack full of gifts and delivered the goods to the holiday-party volunteers across the way before time ran out. And just as the Marriott corporation extended my gold-elite status for another year even though I fell a couple hotel stays short of the requisite number, those working the game were similarly charitable when granting Reed a prize even though he and his partner got to the other side after the timer had hit zeroes.

Strictly for the Beards

2011-12-03T22:47:00.002-06:00

The Christmas parade rolled through town, with Mr. and Mrs. Claus serving as the grand marshals atop the bucket of a fire truck. Reed passed on the opportunity to sit on the jolly one’s lap, but he and his sister found comfort on the lap of another prominent bearded fellow.

Escape Claus

2011-12-02T21:49:00.000-06:00

Santa gave us an early demonstration of the fleetness he possesses when delivering gifts to children around the world on Christmas Eve. One minute he’s posing for pictures with the kid; the next he’s competing in a game of sidewalk chess.

Pig(skin)headed

2011-11-30T19:43:00.000-06:00

Reed paired his favorite sweater—the one featuring a digger—with his favorite winter cap.

Elf Hatred

2011-11-28T21:52:00.000-06:00

With Thanksgiving in our rear-view window, we have this to look forward to now:

The Elf on the Shelf is a misnomer. He doesn’t stay on the shelf at all. In fact, he flies back to the North Pole every night when the kids are asleep, reporting to Santa whether Olivia and Reed have been naughty or nice. He then returns to our house and camps out in a different spot each morning, waiting to be discovered. I can’t say much beyond that without being accused of being a Grinch given that this tradition brings our kids a lot of holiday joy, but it’s nice to know that there are other parents out there who are as elfish and peevish as we are.

Into the Wind(y City)

2011-11-26T22:28:00.002-06:00

We took on the toddling town of Chicago (I’ll say it again—Chicago—for Frank’s sake) with our toddler in tow. Aunt Liz joined us as we made our way to the Lincoln Zoo and the Christkindlmarket. Highlights included the 3D lights, a giraffe spotting, cookie decorating, singing German carols, and feasting on Bavarian pretzels.

Ride Away

2011-11-25T23:48:00.001-06:00

Grumpy dwarf made way for Sleepy once the wheels of our vehicle resumed rotating in the direction of our destination.

You’ve Got Another Thank(s) Coming

2011-11-24T21:53:00.001-06:00

Our kids are a constant reminder of why we should be especially thankful—and especially so on this day of giving thanks. The two of them gave us thanks (taped on fridge) and provided thankful reminders (written on chalkboard) as part of their pre-Thanksgiving meal activities, adding to all that they constantly give us in the form of laughs, hugs, kisses, and shared life experiences.

Around the Bend

2011-11-21T18:25:00.001-06:00

Congratulations to the father of Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz, and Harper on capturing his first Major League Soccer Cup as his Los Angeles Galaxy team defeated the Houston Dynamo in last night’s final.

Reed celebrated Beckham’s triumph—and his kids’ cool Hollywood names—by sporting this jersey all day.

Get a Jump On Off

2011-11-20T21:22:00.001-06:00

He’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful (vocally) than a locomotive, and able to leap off not-so-tall buildings in a single bound—he’s Super Lil’ Man.

The Puck Stops Here

2011-11-19T22:04:00.000-06:00

So we went to this fight the other night and a hockey game broke out.

Hockey games are not what they used to be—events where the on-ice action was the main attraction (and a good place to take your future spouse on a first date)—now that promotion departments offer all sorts of incentives to get families to spend time (and money) in their arenas. The kids enjoyed getting their faces painted, playing with their friends, and “meeting” an indifferent Disney star who’d apparently been paid to sign autographs but not smile or interact with fans. Reed and Olivia occasionally glanced iceward, but I think that was to see the zamboni zoom around.

Hair-Raising Activity

2011-11-17T19:20:00.000-06:00

Reed does his rooster impression while strutting around the basement.

Out-and-About Scouts

2011-11-16T23:38:00.000-06:00

Olivia’s Girl Scout troupe (Brownies, more precisely) helped sort brownie mixes, cereals, and other food items at a food-distribution event at a giant warehouse. The speed and efficiency with which they tackled this task bode well for when they have to sell and distribute delicious Girl Scout cookies.

Turns Over in New Leaves

2011-11-15T22:28:00.000-06:00

Once Reed learned that he was allowed to wallow in the pile of leaves, his temperament switched with the briskness of the temperatures of a late afternoon fall day.

Getting in Their Last Sips

2011-11-14T21:34:00.001-06:00

Our favorite bubble-tea shop is moving; as a result, they’re taking a two-week hiatus to set up their new location. I’ll be forthright: even with foresight, the Fortnight of Fright—as I’ve dubbed this upcoming stretch—will prove challenging for us all.

Here the gals are literally down to the last straw.

American (Not) Idle

2011-11-12T21:27:00.000-06:00

Adrian and Olivia cannot sit by idly—they are constantly moving and keeping themselves busy. But they can sit by Idol-y, as in auditioning for the singing competition, all while multitasking and sitting on their keisters.

Brown Bearer

2011-11-11T23:11:00.000-06:00

Whether or not Reed will be Ivy League material one day, several of his material possessions are from the Ivy League—including this shirt from Brown University.

By the Book(er)

2011-11-10T22:56:00.002-06:00

Cory Booker—the esteemed and social-media connected mayor of Newark, New Jersey—has a million-plus Twitter followers, including yours truly (tweetly?). His efforts to connect with his electorate go beyond handshaking and baby-kissing. Booker garnered national attention when he grabbed a snow shovel to personally help unbury walkways and streets during last winter’s snowpocalypse. Newark’s residents would tweet where help was needed, and the mayor seemingly responded to each of their calls for assistance.

Given his penchant for going above and beyond, I jokingly tweeted about expecting Booker to personally greet my mother at Newark’s airport, where she was flying in for a visit with her sister. To my surprise and delight, he retweeted my original message, along with his response, to his legion of followers.

I’m killing this bit of wordplay here, but this was certainly one for the book(er)s.

Next to Kin

2011-11-06T17:14:00.000-06:00

Sister and brother, hanging out behind our local vegetarian coffeehouse.

Outstanding (and Rolling) in the Field

2011-10-31T23:13:00.000-05:00

You can wait until the cows come home, but a calf who’s tired from a long evening of trick-or-treating is not coming home any time soon. In fact, it’s darn near impossible to physically remove him once he’s decided he’s had enough and would rather roll around in someone’s lawn than ring that homeowner’s doorbell.

Aside from the wandering cattle incident, our kids had a good time making the rounds with a ninja (Aiden) and Supergirl (Alayna), reprising the fun the foursome had the year before.

In a Manor of Speaking

2011-10-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

The manor where Beni and I held our wedding reception nearly a decade ago was the site of tonight’s matrimony of trick and (or?) treat. The estate’s owners opened their gates to the little cows and vampire hula girls of our community.

Urine for a Treat

2011-10-30T21:49:00.000-05:00

Reed is proving to be as stubborn in potty training as his sister was at that age. He sneaks away when it’s time for that number greater than one but less than three (Reed: forgive me when you’re old enough to read this), and we certainly haven’t had much success in convincing him to use the proper place for tinkling, which leaves us begging him to give pees a chance.

For reasons that may have something to do with the incentive of a blueberry slush, we found gold in his pot at the end of the rainbow this morning.

The Penknife Is Mightier than the Gourd

2011-10-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

The funny thing about this post—besides the playful title, of course—is how spookily similar the kids’ smiles are to the ones they carved out of their respective pumpkins.

Check it out:

Seeing Double

2011-10-28T22:27:00.000-05:00

We were flipping channels tonight when we landed on a countdown show on VH1. Reed happened to be strolling by the TV when Norah Jones came up for “Don’t Know Why.” (The show must have been VH1’s list of the greatest songs of the 2000s.)

He put down his toy, pointed at the screen, and yelled “Mommy!”

Don’t know why? Here’s why:

Seeing Things in Black and White

2011-10-28T22:11:00.002-05:00

Because elephants are Reed’s favorite animal at this time, Beni picked up a pachydermous getup for him for this year’s Halloween. However, he’s refused to take the thing out of the trunk, if you will, having repeatedly told us that he won’t wear it today, tomorrow, or any day. I’d like to think that this means that he’s already rejected the Republican Party, but I’ll admit that this thinking is wishful fantasy. In fact, his favorite float from the recent parade we attended was the one that featured a giant elephant, which was sponsored by—you guessed it—the local Republican headquarters.

Reed recently settled on the cow costume that his sister wore five years ago, which is a good thing with Halloween around the corner and his school’s costume parade happening over lunch today. Our cow poked his way along the route and eventually made his way into the loving arms of his moo-my. (Sorry—that pun stinks worse than spoiled milk.)

Bus Boy

2011-10-24T19:12:00.000-05:00

Setting Wheels in Motion

2011-10-20T21:34:00.000-05:00

My parents laugh about all the non-motorized vehicles we have in the back of our garage. We have bicycles, wagons, Razor scooters, strollers, roller skates, tricycles, and push carts. We threw a bunch of them in the back of our car this evening, and the kids gave them a spin at a local school. When Reed got tired of riding his three-wheeler, he headed for the playground—where he went first to the tire swing, of course.

Parade’s a Hit

2011-10-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

To our kids, homecoming is about one thing: the parade. Every year, we make our way downtown to see the participants and the floats, but also—and this may be reason number one—to collect the candy raining down from said participants and floats. I kid you not: the kids will risk being run over by a tractor wheel to get another lousy Tootsie Roll. The two got their fill of pre-Halloween candy, and Reed didn’t freak out this time when he saw the school mascot. It was a good morning for all of us.

Social Class

2011-10-13T23:49:00.001-05:00

We, the contributors to and consumers of social media, show different sides of ourselves on the various platforms. Let’s take, for example, my reporting of tonight’s parent-teacher conference with Olivia’s second-grade teacher.

If I were on Facebook, I’d go the proud/brag-gy/self-deprecating route, offering something like, “Just got back from our parent-teacher conference with Olivia’s teacher. Glad to learn she’s as wonderful, kind, and intellectually curious at school as she is at home. Don’t know from where she got those traits! :)”

Twitter, given its character limitations, requires an economy of thought, and is ripe for sarcastic expression. On it, I might write something along the lines of, “Olivia’s teacher reports our boisterous child is quiet in class. Need to run this claim by PolitiFact. #pantsonfire #mistakenidentity”

On this blog, I’d go where the whims of inspiration take me, but I’d most definitely incorporate some wordplay and puns along the way. Unless, of course, I’m suffering from writer’s block, at which point I’d just throw up some photos of Olivia’s contributions—flora and fauna—to her classroom. (Pictures that should have been edited in Instagram, and then shared in Facebook and Twitter, of course.)

Put a Bug in One's Sphere

2011-10-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

Olivia is now officially a Girl Scouts Brownie, and so she and the others in her troupe are busy learning about their community and the wider world—and earning badges and patches along the way. Here she is with her Grandma Randi getting a view of a bug’s eye (and other parts) in a class at the nature center.

Wrong End of the Sticky

2011-10-02T23:00:00.000-05:00

It seems the glue that was destined for construction paper took a wrong turn and dead-ended on Reed’s hand. At least that’s the story he’s show-and-telling me.

The Cart Before the Horsing Around

2011-09-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

Family outings to the grocery store are a challenge in child containment. The stores do their best to lend a hand, er, cart. Some stores keep a couple oversized carts—complete with double seats—in their corral. But these carts are most suitable for families with youngsters of similar or same age. Other places build seating out the back—Target’s on the mark with this style. Our kids prefer the places where they can ride around in—or on, in this case—a car attached to the front of the shopping cart.

Ground Bound

2011-09-23T21:08:00.001-05:00

There are plenty of highs and a fair share of lows to emotionally metabolize as a parent of a toddler. Your child throwing himself to the ground is often a low point, but not when his motivation is to get a closer look at—and feel for—the leaves that have fallen in the yard and driveway.

Off-the-Street Pedaler

2011-09-22T21:01:00.000-05:00

I needed to summon my inner Yoda in this instance: “Do or do not, there is no trike.”

Not in the house, at least.

He Deserves a Big Pack on the Back

2011-09-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

Reed started the school year with a Mr. Happy backpack (as seen above on a not-so-happy Reed). Perhaps he knew then what would eventually become of that backpack—a broken zipper for the main compartment meant that the pack was no longer packing. His newest backpack takes him to infinity and beyond, and has him all abuzz.

Get the Skates Rolling

2011-09-15T20:07:00.001-05:00

Back when ESPN was the age that Olivia is now, they televised something called “Roller Super Stars,” which showcased the theater that is roller derby. I remember taking in and being taken by the end-to-end (round-and-round?) action.

Roller derby has reemerged in the collective conscience of our community. Our area supplies us with several teams, and these teams supply us with entertainment and awesome participant nicknames (e.g., Bruisy Homemaker) in return.

Here are my attempts at derby-esque names for the kids:

Olivia, aka O, the Humanity!
Reed, aka Rough-and-Tumble Reed

Swirled Cup

2011-09-12T22:41:00.001-05:00

Rain Stormed

2011-09-09T20:54:00.000-05:00

Reed rushed outside when the skies opened up, shook his rain stick at the celestial faucet when the water slowed to a trickle, and then danced around the drenched driveway when the raindrops rebounded for earth.

Do You Read (to) Me Loud and Clear?

2011-09-07T22:49:00.000-05:00

The answer: A resounding yes. Every night. Big sister. Mommy. Daddy. Three to five books before bed. May our love of books bind us together forever.

Moose Pad

2011-09-04T23:46:00.000-05:00

We stopped by the Mooses’ house to bid farewell to its owners before embarking on our long journey home.

To Beach His (and Her) Own

2011-09-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

The last day in Newport meant a last hurrah on the ocean’s sands. We brought the boogie boards and packed our beach bags with beach blankets, big buckets, banana bread, and a boom box—with a B.B. King album, of course. We can’t wait to BB—be back, that is—next year.

Cliffy Situation

2011-09-04T23:18:00.000-05:00

Newport’s cliff walk is known as the Cliff Walk—its prominence is such that it gets the capital-letters treatment. Wildflowers, birds, and rock formations line its 3.5-mile length, but it is best known for its breathtaking views of the ocean and gasp-inducing size of the nearby mansions.

All the news and commentary—now on (a) countdown: The 5 of us—the family 4-some plus G—walked a third of the 3-some mile path before heading back, which is when the 2 below posed in the back of a mansion and 1 tired toddler passed out on the lawn of another.

Hot and Cold

2011-09-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

By day, combing the beach for shells; by night, roaming the beach town for Del’s.

Kicking It in Newport

2011-09-01T23:14:00.001-05:00

Our plans were to arrive in Newport, Rhode Island—the home of not only the International Tennis Hall of Fame, but also G—in time for a dinner gathering with our New England relatives and our new England relatives. Martin, the gentleman to the left of his lovely wife who’s at the far left of the picture above, is the long-lost British cousin of my mother-in-law.

I can’t begin to calculate and report the low probability of this group getting together for dinner and this picture: it takes parties that didn’t know of each other’s existence a mere five years ago, one of which happens to routinely take holiday near where the other lives (even though the two parties are separated by an ocean), and us with our decision to go through with the crazy idea of taking our kids on a 20-hour-plus road trip to see their grandmother and great-grandparents at a time when the aforementioned party from across the pond happened to be back, to converge on an area of the country that had been threatened to be decimated by Hurricane Irene just the week before. Plus, we had to convince a wound-up Reed to put away his beloved soccer ball before dinner so that we could get to the restaurant on time.

And somehow it all came together splendidly, much like the fusion food items of the Salvation Restaurant + Bar.

Hitting the Rhode (Island)

2011-08-31T22:09:00.003-05:00

Our kids’ teachers are probably giving us an F for pulling them out of school early to embark on a cross-country road trip in advance of the long weekend, but I know my mother-in-law is giving us an A for the effort. We picked up Olivia after lunch to head out for a couple of long days on the road. The siblings passed the time in rest and at play.

No Strings Attached

2011-08-27T21:52:00.001-05:00

This is not evidence of a Tiger Mom forcing her young daughter to practice violin for hours, even while walking around a street festival; rather, Olivia was given a turn at the violin as part of a promotion for private lessons by some of the university’s orchestra members.

Oft-Dookie Officer

2011-08-26T22:50:00.000-05:00

Reed retained his right to silently go about his business in his diaper, hence the I’ve-been-caught face.

Come into the Open (House)

2011-08-26T22:36:00.000-05:00

Reed, too, got in on this first-day-of-school thing, but for him it was literally his first day of school. He’s going where his sister went to preschool, and he acted like he’d been going there for years. He jumped right in on the open-house activities, talked with his teachers, toured the facilities, and sat still for his school picture. I think we’ll have more separation anxiety than he will once he starts up for good next week.

Where We All Come to Rest-aurant

2011-08-23T23:13:00.001-05:00

Chipotle (aka Home Away from Home) is worthy of this unpaid endorsement. They have provided our family with many nourishing meals. And so it’s a no-brainer that we’d be at the grand opening of our community’s second location, this one dangerously close to our house (aka Home Away from Chipotle).

On Second Thought

2011-08-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today marked the first day of second grade. The entire family dropped off and picked up our favorite ponytailed, tie-wearing girl. O, how far you’ve come!

Getting the Hang of Gliding

2011-08-21T21:28:00.001-05:00

Champion skater Dorothy Hamill she's not, but Olivia showed a champion’s determination in her attempts to circle (ellipse?) the rink without falling or incurring other point deductions. And no, we’re not in Canada: Olivia’s classmates, twin boys Matthew and Tyler, celebrated their birthday and the last day of summer vacation with a party at the local ice arena.

Reed was in attendance but not in blades. He passed the time by zooming around the outside of the rink and studying the zamboni zooming around inside it.

Hyper-Lincoln

2011-08-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

If I bagged a penny every time I blogged about Abraham Lincoln, I’d probably be able to trade them all for a five-dollar bill. We tend to be a bit Lincoln obsessed in our family. Fortunately, we have some local outlets for our enthusiasm, whether that’s spending time with his likeness in statue form or posing under his mural.

Neither Hear nor There

2011-08-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

My children verbally communicate at an average decibel level that’s somewhere between those of a vacuum cleaner and a jetliner. They are the children you can hear at a supermarket even when they’re ten aisles away. Their loudness is as much a part of who they are as any physical feature. And so it’s funny to me that while Reed can dish it out, he cannot take it—whether that “it” is the whirring of a blender or the club music that blasts from our local Chipotle. In the presence of such racket, he often covers his ears and implores—rather yells at—us to do the same.

Good Transports-manship

2011-08-13T21:55:00.001-05:00

Our town is building a state-of-the-art multimodal transportation center that’s set to open in a year or two. My parents, the kids, and I multimodal-ed in the direction of the construction site by scooting, strolling (stroller-ing?), and footing it to the children’s museum.

Pier Group

2011-08-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

Chicago alone has much to offer its many visitors, but Taylor Swift playing in Chicago was the tipping point for Aunt Crystal and her mom. The Dakotan Duo—they’re from Fargo—flew in to the Windy City a couple days ago. They’ve been staying with and touring around with Aunt Liz.

On this beautiful summer day, we caught up with them at Navy Pier before they had to leave for the big concert.

What a Doll

2011-08-07T22:46:00.001-05:00

Kanani Akina is Girl of the Year 2011—according to American Girl, at least. (Coincidentally, she’s also the Girl of the Year 2011 Whose Name Uses the Fewest Number of Unique Letters, as well as Girl of the Year 2011 Whose Name Seems To Be a Palindrome But Is Not.) She’s the girl pictured waving by Olivia during our stop at an American Girl store this May, and she’s the doll our daughter chose to spend her hard-earned cash on during that visit.

The fact that Kanani runs a shave-ice stand in Hawaii is music to Beni’s ears—the shave-ice part; Hawaii, not as much—and her efforts to rescue baby monk seals appeal to my eco-senses, but there’s this one thing about her that gives us pause: her hair. Her locks are sublime, but they are as long as a Mennonite woman’s, and so upkeep—and an updo—is a challenging matter.

Olivia, known for her own hair battles, is undeterred by her newest doll’s oft-tangled coif. She painstakingly combs out the knots before creating some elaborate hairstyles. Here’s a recent example:

All Those, Uh, Posed, Say Hey

2011-08-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

Olivia strikes the celebrated cellist’s pose—the “yo…yo, Ma!”—for her mother.

Tech-Know Babble

2011-08-04T22:51:00.000-05:00

I remember using typewriters and word processors when I was young. Email was a recent development when I was a freshman in college, and I didn’t surf the web until later that year. Cell phones were called car phones or bag phones, and we certainly couldn’t play Scrabble on them.

I’m no Luddite, just a fossil. And so it crashes my mainframe when I think about how tech literate my young children already are. Our seven-year-old creates iMovies, pastes images into the elaborate stories she composes on our laptop, and can set the DVR; our toddler can find his way around an iPhone, and he loves to reprogram our garage-door opener.

With Cherries on Top

2011-08-03T21:34:00.000-05:00

Margaret is Olivia’s piano teacher, but she’s much more than that. She’s also a co-worker, family friend, gardening advisor, and expert seamstress. She wears so many hats that she needs a hat rack to keep them all straight. (Which, it must be noted, she’d be able to construct with aplomb and precision.) Her sewing hat has helped hold up many of our daughter’s dance costumes, and her stitchwork was on display again today when she presented Olivia with a cherry-themed dress—along with a matching one for her American Girl doll.

Thank you, Margaret!

In Indy Indeed

2011-07-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is a place where kids of all ages and places converge to learn and play. On this day, its visitors included my kids and their cousin Quintin. We battled the heat, traffic, congested parking garages, and long ticket lines to meet up with my brother and his family at the museum cafeteria, and then we were up against the boys’ naptimes as we navigated the many exhibits.

Olivia and Reed really enjoyed their brief but action-packed afternoon with Quintin, and they look forward to the time—now just a year away—when they’ll spend many more afternoons together. (Their cousin and his parents are relocating next summer to a community that’s less than an hour from where we live.)

Chair-Leaning Squad

2011-07-29T22:07:00.000-05:00

Reed pepped up the crowd from his perch under the parasol, while Olivia chilled under the cover of her chair/umbrella apparatus, two of several gifts she and her brother got in the mail today from their East Coast grandmother.

Backs Up Against the Wall

2011-07-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

Ronald Reagan once famously demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, stand by this wall.” (Or something like that.)

The kids heeded the Big Gipper’s big directive along a wall separating a parking lot and a gift shop.

Science Faction

2011-07-27T19:23:00.000-05:00

The “FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman” television program may have recently ended its five-year run on PBS, but it lives on in the memories of my children and at the FETCH!-sponsored science lab at our children’s museum. Our family’s fondness for “FETCH!” fetches back some ways. “FETCH!” for the uninitiated, is a science-education show disguised as a reality game show that’s hosted by a talking dog named Ruff Ruffman. It’s a brilliant show, and not in the British sense of “brilliant,” but rather in the non-British sense of it meaning—how should I say?—brilliant.

On this day, Ruff and the museum employees gave flight to our kids’ understanding of aerodynamic forces.

Foot's Loose

2011-07-20T16:36:00.000-05:00

This is what you're handed (footed?) after your two-year-old gets a hold of your camera.

Two of a Kind

2011-07-15T23:33:00.003-05:00

Here are two kind, one-of-a-kind kids who can kind of get under one another’s skin from time to time, but can kid kindly in kind in no time.

This Scene Looks Fishy

2011-07-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

We came upon Jason, Trevor, and Khair fishing in the early morn, which leads me to ask, “Is it still called fishing if you get nary a nibble?” Perhaps the guys were baiting-their-hook-and-casting-and-repeating. Olivia tried her hand, but she quickly turned the pole back over when she heard that there were doughnuts back at the campground.

Go Take a Hike

2011-07-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

For two of us, Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin was our next destination. Olivia and I met up with Bob, his family, and several friends at a group campsite at the state park. We’d spent the previous four nights in a tent up in the Upper Peninsula, and so my thoughts when I’d originally confirmed our participation was, “What’s another two nights?” But after a night punctuated by the shrill, deathly sounds coming from the venue—how about that for a collective noun?—of turkey vultures occupying the grove next to our site, I’d modified that question to, “How in the hell are we going to make it through a second night?”

Fortunately and necessarily, the birds remained quiet as we took a group hike on the stone-stepped climbing trail up to the bluffs overlooking the lake. Later on in the day, we got a closer look at the lake when swimming in its warm waters.

Shipwreckx-N-Effect

2011-07-09T22:44:00.002-05:00

Olivia and her friend Lucy took turns at the captain’s wheel of a glass-bottom boat on the clear waters of Lake Superior in Munising Bay. The girls and their families participated in a shipwreck tour, and they were happy to report that none of the sunken vessels were glass-bottom tour boats.

Picture(d) Perfect

2011-07-08T22:30:00.002-05:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Pictured Rock National Shoreline is worth the contents of the Oxford English Dictionary. And because I don’t want to let my attempts at wordplay distract from the star attractions, I’ll just let the pictures (and video) speak for themselves.

Camp Pain Mode

2011-07-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

What would camping be without mosquitoes? More pleasant, for one. But as the old adage goes, “if you can’t beat them (or swat them), join together in getting the heck away from them.” Or something like that.

Our kids spent lunchtime enmeshed in mesh, so as to avoid the blood-drawn fate of those kids from Twilight.

Superior-ity Complex

2011-07-07T23:56:00.003-05:00

This evening, we made our way to Whitefish Point (Google marker A on the map above) to see its lighthouse and walk its expansive, driftwood-strewn beach. Because this area is on the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone, the summer nights stay lighter much longer. The picture of Reed was taken around 9:45 p.m., and the one of Olivia in the cool waters of Lake Superior was snapped a half hour later.

All Four in One, and One for All

2011-07-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, I lied: below is another of the quirky quadrumvirate.

Falls Sense of Security

2011-07-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

Tahquamenon Falls comprise the Upper Falls and Lower Falls (not to mention a delightful restaurant/brewery). The above (upper?) pics are of us hanging out by the Upper Falls in the afternoon, and the lower ones—sorry, couldn’t resist—are those of the Lower Falls outdoor education program that Olivia and Lucy got their feet wet in this evening.

A Stroll(er) in the (State) Park

2011-07-07T23:32:00.000-05:00

Reed and Liam popped a mobile squat on Mackinac Island (left) and at Tahquamenon Falls (below).

Lord of the (Butter)Flies

2011-07-07T23:22:00.000-05:00

The questioning of our sanity is all the more justifiable this week than others: we have decided to spend four days camping in the hinterlands of the Upper Peninsula (technically, most of the U.P. is land of the hinter variety) with our young children. And that our good friends Phil and Maria—the parents of two kids the same ages as ours—agreed to join us either make (A) them the most tolerant people in the world, or (B) all of us bat-sh*t crazy. The answer is all of the above.

We survived the first night, and our kids were rewarded this morning with a fun and educational butterfly activity sponsored by an educator from Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources.

No-Cars-on-the-Road Island

2011-07-06T22:21:00.001-05:00

Mackinac Island is famous for its fudge, Grand Hotel (featured in the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time” starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour), and disallowance of motorized vehicles. Although the place is often overrun by tourists like us, it retains a magic—a carefully crafted one—that’s not unlike the kind one experiences at Disney. And it’s even more magical to spend island time with friends and family, which is exactly what we did on this fine July day.

Petoskey to Our Heart

2011-07-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

Petoskey, Michigan has won over our heart time after time. A word cloud of my textual feelings for the town would look something like this:

Reed, too, was taken in by quaint community’s charms. On this spectacular summer day, he patrolled the sidewalks of the historic downtown, immersed himself in books with his uncle, and ran freely on the plush lawns of the town’s parks.

Sand So Forth Fourth

2011-07-04T20:12:00.000-05:00

We celebrated America’s birthday by celebrating an American’s (belated) birthday at my father-in-law’s summer home on Lake Huron, where we kicked things off with some beach time by the dawn’s early-ish light.

Bite off More Than One Can Choo-Choo

2011-07-03T21:40:00.001-05:00

Our train of thought this morning was to grab a quick bite to eat at Grandma and Grandpa’s, walk to the nearby park, and then board the train we’d thought a lot about ever since our last visit to my childhood home. The kids played fair—fare, I suppose—by equally splitting their roles as conductor and passenger.

Making History

2011-07-02T22:32:00.001-05:00

Question: What’s the difference between “historic” and “historical”?

Answer: Two letters.

Better answer: According to language expert Bryan Garner, historical, meaning “of or relating to or occurring in history,” is used far more frequently. Historic means “historically significant,” as in “this lesson on the uses of historical and historic is in no way historic.”

My mother, a retired history teacher, recently made history—literally—when assisting with her local history center’s newest exhibit titled “VOICES: Extraordinary Women in Midland County.” She and the other dedicated volunteers helped research, write about, create displays on, and even portray the women profiled. The center was closed for the long holiday weekend, but we are granted special access to the glorious exhibit. You see, my mom is not only a volunteer and historical actor—she’s also one of the extraordinary women featured.

At Peace

2011-06-29T23:09:00.001-05:00

Peace camp is our Unitarian Universalist church’s equivalent of vacation bible school—and riper for mockery. Olivia and her UU buddies found harmony and serenity over the course of the three-day program through meditation, group projects, story times, and of course—yoga. The daily lessons from camp were carried over to the self-directed afternoon sessions in the backyard, where Olivia’s not-as-peaceful brother barked orders at her from the patio.