Petoskey to Our Heart

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

 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

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

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

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.

Seize the Light of Day

Our Backyardigans were out in the backyard again, where they paused (posed?) long enough for the camera phone to digitalize their indelible image.

Wild and Woolly

We visited the Saint Louis Zoo today, where the air was abuzz with excitement and as hot and thick as a wool sock. We managed the heat better than some of the more hirsute animals, and Reed helped pick up our sun-drenched spirits when he spontaneously shook his tail feathers.

Twist of Foot from chris k on Vimeo.

Park and Beans

A mere hour from our home, there exists a park—named one of the seven wonders of our state by the tourism bureau—that we’d not ambled around in until today. Beni had a work function in the nearby city, and so the kids and I hopped over to the grounds after we dropped their mom off at her conference. Through its numerous gardens of the vegetative and sculpture varieties we raced, partly because I have a short attention span and young kids, but also because of my desire to keep us out in front of an advancing gray sky.



Because the kids made it through morning with high levels of cooperation and polite appreciation of parks that don’t feature playground equipment, I treated them to a beans-and-rice lunch from Chipotle—a no-brainer, I must add, for any state’s seven-wonder list—which we enjoyed at a picnic table at a park that featured several playground sets.

Hold Near and Dear

The kids hijacked my phone to take these close-ups of their beauteous faces.

Squeaky Wheel

Our vociferous son—whose cry rivals that of a fire truck’s siren—gravitated toward the fire-station portion of a local park. His love of fire trucks, diggers, dinosaurs, and sports screams boy (at least the stereotypical version), but his penchant for playing dress-up and with dolls demonstrates what?

It’s that young kids—no matter their sex—find it fun to play with costumes and dolls, just as many boys—and girls—find fire trucks, diggers, dinosaurs, and sports enthralling.

Fellow parents of youngsters, we might want to keep that in mind. And know that we’ll have plenty of opportunities to hover over our kids’ activities and choices when they get to high school and college.

Terpsichorean* (aka Because I'm Running out of Dance/Recital Titles)

*It’s a great word and relevant to these videos. And I encourage you to casually drop it in a conversation.

Olivia was again lucky to have a cadre of supporters—a dance crew, if you will, that included the A-Team of Adrian, A.J., and Aunt Liz—there to cheer her every step of the way.

Doll on a Music Box from chris k on Vimeo.

One Jump Ahead from chris k on Vimeo.

Wrap Session

Reed found the post-bath snuggle in G’s arms much more to his liking than the bath itself.