Thursday, January 21, 2016
Keeping Track
Anya enjoys tracking the date on her calendar and marking off the days as they pass, but she's still a little confused about how to describe some of the numbers. This morning she asked, "Is today the twenty-oneth or the twenty-twoth?"
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Two-thless
Anya's two bottom front teeth were starting to wiggle soon after she started school. By Halloween, the first one was ready to come out. She was delighted.
Then a few days ago I noticed her fingers in her mouth working the second one back and forth. Now she's double toothless.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Down Under
Sorry for the long delay since my last post. Seems like we've been going full tilt since the middle of August and I just haven't had a chance to catch up. The end of August saw the beginning of school and soccer and marching band. I spent the first half of September in Australia for work, the last half trying to recover, and then October was more band competitions and homework and yard work and the last of soccer and trying to catch up on sleep on the weekends.
Did I mention that I went to Australia? That was quite an experience. Flew to Sydney then west to Perth then up to the middle of nowhere to a mine site to do some testing for some customers. Saw lots of Australians, but no kangaroos.
The flight from Dallas to Sydney was 16 hours on board the world's largest airplane, the Airbus A380. This is one BIG plane.
The pictures out the window on the way into Western Australia pretty much sum up the terrain of the whole area. Red dirt, scrub brush and eucalyptus trees, a few dry creek beds, and an occasional dusty track that serves as a road to who-knows-where crisscrossing the bush. There's a reason most of Australia's major cities are along the coastlines.
The plane to Newman was almost entirely filled with miners wearing their high visibility, or high viz, orange and yellow shirts and pants. The little airport pretty much exists to serve the mines in the area. The miners fly in and stay for a week or so in the camps that have been set up to feed and house them, then head home for a break before coming back to do it all over again.
I had my own high viz. The end of a 14 hour day makes me a tired boy.
I had one evening in Sydney on my way home, so I took the train downtown to try to see a few of the sights. It was dark and rainy, but I wanted to at least see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The Opera house was pretty cool, even in the rain. The bridge was neat too, but somehow smaller than I'd imagined. I didn't get a chance to climb to the top - maybe next time.
Heading home. Only 8,500 miles to go!
Did I mention that I went to Australia? That was quite an experience. Flew to Sydney then west to Perth then up to the middle of nowhere to a mine site to do some testing for some customers. Saw lots of Australians, but no kangaroos.
The flight from Dallas to Sydney was 16 hours on board the world's largest airplane, the Airbus A380. This is one BIG plane.
The pictures out the window on the way into Western Australia pretty much sum up the terrain of the whole area. Red dirt, scrub brush and eucalyptus trees, a few dry creek beds, and an occasional dusty track that serves as a road to who-knows-where crisscrossing the bush. There's a reason most of Australia's major cities are along the coastlines.
The plane to Newman was almost entirely filled with miners wearing their high visibility, or high viz, orange and yellow shirts and pants. The little airport pretty much exists to serve the mines in the area. The miners fly in and stay for a week or so in the camps that have been set up to feed and house them, then head home for a break before coming back to do it all over again.
I had my own high viz. The end of a 14 hour day makes me a tired boy.
I had one evening in Sydney on my way home, so I took the train downtown to try to see a few of the sights. It was dark and rainy, but I wanted to at least see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The Opera house was pretty cool, even in the rain. The bridge was neat too, but somehow smaller than I'd imagined. I didn't get a chance to climb to the top - maybe next time.
Heading home. Only 8,500 miles to go!
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Big Steps and Butterflies
The first day of a new stage in life. All four, ready for the school bus!
Anya's been so excited to start Kindergarten she could hardly stand it. I think the countdown has been going since Paxton started two years ago. Today she said she missed her mom a little bit, but was busy making a card for her teacher this evening so I think she got over it.
And Kenrick started High School, a fact that I'm having a hard time coming to grips with.
More than a few stomachs had the butterflies...
Anya's been so excited to start Kindergarten she could hardly stand it. I think the countdown has been going since Paxton started two years ago. Today she said she missed her mom a little bit, but was busy making a card for her teacher this evening so I think she got over it.
And Kenrick started High School, a fact that I'm having a hard time coming to grips with.
More than a few stomachs had the butterflies...
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Tree House Done(ish)
The Tree Deck is decked!
I finished up the decking for the tree house/platform this week. I do intend to put some kind of a rail or net around the edges, but not sure how or when just yet.
Looking from the "stern" (the deck is roughly boat shaped)
Looking from the "bow"
The ladder
I finished up the decking for the tree house/platform this week. I do intend to put some kind of a rail or net around the edges, but not sure how or when just yet.
Looking from the "stern" (the deck is roughly boat shaped)
Looking from the "bow"
The ladder
Tricky 'Wich
Paxton was helping toast the bread for BLT sandwiches the other evening. I had him get the butter and the Mayo to spread over the toast while it was still warm, but I told him that I didn't like a lot of Mayonnaise, so "just spread it on one side. Then you can put butter on the other."
Shortly afterword I looked over to just in time to see him happily spreading Mayonnaise on the other side of the piece of bread that he'd just buttered!
I think he was wondering how I was going to eat the sandwich without making a mess! I turned that piece of bread into the middle layer of a double-decker BLT. Yum!
Shortly afterword I looked over to just in time to see him happily spreading Mayonnaise on the other side of the piece of bread that he'd just buttered!
I think he was wondering how I was going to eat the sandwich without making a mess! I turned that piece of bread into the middle layer of a double-decker BLT. Yum!
Not Reversable
I usually carry a writing pen and a notebook with me at work, and it's become a habit to just slip the pen into my front shirt pocket whenever I get up from my desk. A few weeks ago I noticed that my pen didn't go in right. "That's odd," I thought, "I was pretty sure this shirt had a front pocket. It has an outline of a pocket, but where's the opening? Oh. My shirt's inside out!"
I guess that's why it didn't button quite right that morning.
I guess that's why it didn't button quite right that morning.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Overload
This summer's road trip generated 1,484 pictures. Approximately. I don't think I'll be able to post them all here.
The short and sweet: Andrea and the kids leave me at home and drive to Montana for Ronan convention. Visit Glacier Park after and Crater's of the Moon on the way to Boise. I meet them there and we catch Parma convention, then head west into Oregon. Spend a day at Crater Lake, two days in Northern California to see the Redwoods. Visit Lassen Volcanic National Park on the way back west, stopping briefly to peer across the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and testing the brakes in the Colorado mountains before dropping back down onto the Long Flat of Kansas and Missouri. Home. Whew.
A few highlight pictures:
The Crew at Craters of the Moon
A quick break before heading down the trail to Crater Lake from the rim
The scale of the redwood tree is hard to capture.
Parking the van next to one helps. Kind of.
A happy pair, ready to head home.
The short and sweet: Andrea and the kids leave me at home and drive to Montana for Ronan convention. Visit Glacier Park after and Crater's of the Moon on the way to Boise. I meet them there and we catch Parma convention, then head west into Oregon. Spend a day at Crater Lake, two days in Northern California to see the Redwoods. Visit Lassen Volcanic National Park on the way back west, stopping briefly to peer across the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and testing the brakes in the Colorado mountains before dropping back down onto the Long Flat of Kansas and Missouri. Home. Whew.
A few highlight pictures:
The Crew at Craters of the Moon
A quick break before heading down the trail to Crater Lake from the rim
The scale of the redwood tree is hard to capture.
Parking the van next to one helps. Kind of.
A happy pair, ready to head home.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Tree House Update
It probably would be more accurate to call it a Tree Deck...
Anyway, lots of work to do yet, but I did get the ladder finished this week.
(See Mom and Dad In May for early construction pics)
Anyway, lots of work to do yet, but I did get the ladder finished this week.
(See Mom and Dad In May for early construction pics)
Mom and Dad in May
The month of May was marked by a very special visit from my folks. Mom and Dad packed up the camper and headed east during the first week of May, showed up at our doorstep a couple of days later and then stuck around for the rest of the month (with a brief trip up to Wisconsin in the middle). We loved it. Illinois or bust, here we come!
Dad had to stop a few times to try to frighten a fish or two, of course. Not sure what he scared in the mighty Mississippi!
It was fun to have them there during Mother's day. Everyone helped with Sunday Dinner. Even the Mothers! (Yes, that's Kenrick at the sink. He's officially Taller Than His Mom)
I grilled. Kind of predictable for Mother's Day, right? But hey, do what you know.
Mom attempted to tackle our dandelion "problem". I think the dandelions won.
And Dad tackled the little tree house project that I've had stewing in the back of my head for a few years. Turned out not so little. And it's not yet done (my fault, not his - some of the details were not ready to leave my brain), but he definitely helped get things off the ground. Literally. Thanks a bunch Dad!
Dad had to stop a few times to try to frighten a fish or two, of course. Not sure what he scared in the mighty Mississippi!
It was fun to have them there during Mother's day. Everyone helped with Sunday Dinner. Even the Mothers! (Yes, that's Kenrick at the sink. He's officially Taller Than His Mom)
I grilled. Kind of predictable for Mother's Day, right? But hey, do what you know.
Mom attempted to tackle our dandelion "problem". I think the dandelions won.
And Dad tackled the little tree house project that I've had stewing in the back of my head for a few years. Turned out not so little. And it's not yet done (my fault, not his - some of the details were not ready to leave my brain), but he definitely helped get things off the ground. Literally. Thanks a bunch Dad!
Not The 'Shrooms We Wanted
Rumor has it that there are mushrooms in the woods by our house in the springtime. Morels, which are yummy, but also elusive. We looked a few times, but I think it was too cold this spring for a very good harvest.
Anya found some big mushrooms, but not the kind we wanted.
The kids found a fun tree to climb on. We didn't find much else, but even a 'shroomless walk in the woods is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, eh?
(My cousin used to say that all the time. I don't know why I just thought of it)
Anya found some big mushrooms, but not the kind we wanted.
The kids found a fun tree to climb on. We didn't find much else, but even a 'shroomless walk in the woods is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, eh?
(My cousin used to say that all the time. I don't know why I just thought of it)
Princess Creative
Anya has gotten quite proficient at putting together her Lego sets, and lately has been moving beyond just building from instructions to creating her own. One of her last creations was a Lego wagon for her Lego princesses. She added everything a princess might need - wheels, seats, a door, and a fountain!
I love it.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Anthony Overdue
The last entry of the Birthday Series is long overdue, sorry. Anthony celebrated his 12th birthday in April. The celebration seems to have gotten smeared across about a month and a half because of an early birthday present in March, a cake and a quiet party sometime in April and then Birthday Pictures a couple weeks after that. Anthony seemed to take it all in stride.
The cake request this year was "something Minecraft". Andrea delivered. Anthony devoured.
You might be about maxed out when you realize on the day of your kid's birthday that you haven't really thought about a present for him, then you remember that he got his big present a couple of weeks ago but it would be nice for him to have presents with the cake so you rummage through the back of the closet and find something that you picked up about six months ago that you thought he'd like and so you slap a pink bow on top and call it good. What is it? That's not a sewing box is it? No! Well, yes, but it would also make a cool collection organizer. You know, for rocks and shells and random doodads that seem to pile up around Anthony. He liked it.
The big present this year was a new bike. Big in more ways than one. He'll grow into it. Probably by next month.
Happy Birthday Anthony!
The cake request this year was "something Minecraft". Andrea delivered. Anthony devoured.
You might be about maxed out when you realize on the day of your kid's birthday that you haven't really thought about a present for him, then you remember that he got his big present a couple of weeks ago but it would be nice for him to have presents with the cake so you rummage through the back of the closet and find something that you picked up about six months ago that you thought he'd like and so you slap a pink bow on top and call it good. What is it? That's not a sewing box is it? No! Well, yes, but it would also make a cool collection organizer. You know, for rocks and shells and random doodads that seem to pile up around Anthony. He liked it.
The big present this year was a new bike. Big in more ways than one. He'll grow into it. Probably by next month.
Happy Birthday Anthony!
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