To Appear Pool-ish in Front of One’s Peers

A.J., Nicholas, and Olivia gathered for a pool party over Memorial Day weekend.

Party Train-ed

These pics are from our fun-filled trek to Union Station. Sadly but unsurprisingly, we beat the Amtrak up there.

O-Leela and the Bee

“Akeelah and the Bee” is the spelling bee movie du jour. Delightfully, it’s the third film in five years – the other two being Richard Gere’s “Bee Season” (2005) and the darling documentary “Spellbound” (2002) – to feature kids competing in orthography contests, a cinematic trend that’s welcomed by this word nerd. Olivia is currently exploring the world of letters and words. Her game attempts to spell her name fill us with laughter and pride.

Apple of Our Eye

Our apple-cheeked daughter stuffed her cheeks full of apple today. She insisted on carrying her Fuji apple all around town.

The Mad Hatter

The two most common meanings of mad aptly describe Olivia’s temperament nowadays as she’s gotten a head start on the Terrible Twos. In fact, we’ve come to expect bouts of anger and craziness whenever we take her places. On this morning, she provided us with another mad moment – this time referring to a less common definition of the word, the one meaning “marked by wild gaiety and merriment: hilarious.” She had us cracking up when she swiped the paper sombrero from a table display so that she could model it for us.

Semi-Sweet

Olivia kindly invited my brother Erick to sit cabinside, a surprise move given how terrified she is of her uncle on most occasions. Even though he was nearby, she agreed to a sugary smile upon request.

Waterworld

Unlike Kevin Costner’s waterlogged mess of a movie, Olivia found some success at the water table at the children’s discovery museum. She slipped on a Brazil soccer jersey, found her favorite cup, and poured to her heart’s content.

oMac

Our child is fairly tech savvy. She knows how to operate a TV remote, use an iPod, and make her way through a computer program in the world’s darkest computer lab.

Cinco de Mayo

Little known fact: Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo has little to do with Mexico’s military victory in 1862 over the French forces of Napoleon III. Rather the day is set aside to celebrate the collective culinary genius of Mexican cooks, but specifically the contributions of the five Mexican cafeteria workers who worked at the Mayo Clinic during the 1950s. The quintet started a food-for-health program called Tacos Bellezas (“beautiful tacos”). They carefully prepared dishes in ways to placate the palates of the mostly gringo patient base. Their program was a huge hit and was the precursor of the modern-day Taco Bell.

Today we celebrate the five Mexican cooks of the Mayo Clinic – the Cinco de Mayo. Olivia celebrates them on a daily basis by constantly asking us to take her to Tah-o Bell for peace-ah-guillas and bree-ohs.