Sunday, December 29, 2013

Christmas in Columbus

Spent Christmas in Columbus...
 
Actually, this isn't from Columbus. It's just an odd-or-end which needed a home. This is Josh in an Eastman practice room.
 
Played a game with Sam while folks were finishing dinner at Aunt Amy's the day after Christmas. (Well, the second day of Christmas.) We played a game where we each went around and took a photo and the other had to find it. A photo scavenger hunt. This one was from Amy's auxiliary bathroom.
 
Sam playing with our gift to him, a new and interesting marble racer. Okay, of course it's new. New to us, more to the point.

Mommy helping Josh open his stocking at Nana and Grandad's.

N&G opening their stockings. Note the Small Christmas tree, which amazingly survived Josh's presence.

We stayed two nights at Stu and Sue's, and three at N&G's. Zoe spent the whole time at N&G's since Tiger and she might not have gotten along. She has a favorite chair in the dining room. This one. Here, Josh has discovered that chair.

Cousin Kevin opening gifts. Calendars!

Aunt Sue and Sam at the gift opening. Sam did eventually get out of his jammies.

Uncle Stu entertaining Josh using his iPad.

The boys--Uncle Stu, Cousin Kevin, Sam, Josh and I--made a trip to the Columbus Zoo. It was delightfully empty. Here, Josh is sitting on a baby brass warthog. Really. I am sure there was a plaque nearby with the words, "This young brass warthog is a gift from..." There is certainly a sign warning that the brass statues may be hot. Not that day, though.

These are fish swimming through the air. Apparently. This is part of the polar-bear exhibit where you walk under a stream where the fish and, I am told, the bears swim. Never seen a bear in there.

This is Josh standing in a bear trap, which is just a huge pipe with a grate door which can be dropped to trap the bear (or toddler) inside. Doesn't he look so trusting?
No caption is needed for this photo.
The boys actually spent a tremendous amount of time playing in N&G's basement, under the Ping-Pong table, with a set of remote-controlled racing cars which N&G bought for Kevin many years ago. It can't be observed enough that kids often play with the toy which cost no money.

Josh and Grandad playing with Josh's new locomotive puzzle. (Melissa & Doug, which makes us good parents, right?) 
As we drove back to Rochester we listed some of the enjoyable moments from the past week:

  • Drinking a latte (Susan) or hot chocolate (Tim) at a huge local indoor shopping mall while the boys run around like maniacs in the blessedly enclosed play area.
  • Watching Sam play with younger kids and make the laugh at Polaris, and earlier in the week at another nearby mall. So peaceful.
  • Watching Josh open his new garbage truck! He literally squealed, "GARBAGE TRUCK!" My hat's off to Susan for her savvy gift picks this year.
  • Playing with Sam's Spirograph (from N&G).
  • Reading Winter's Bone (a stocking gift to Susan). I think I need to read this to Sam. It might readjust his expectations.
  • Visiting with family and friends! So good to see everyone again.
  • Trolling around with the boys through Mom's Artistic Inner Sanctum (her studio) while she was sleeping. (Don't worry Mom, nothing was hurt!) Love to see the latest projects and to hear Sam ooh and ahh over the previous successes. :-)
  • Chatting with Poison Control. Twice! Once for Josh, who got into Nana's dietary supplements early the day before Christmas when everyone else was asleep. (The upshot: if he doesn't start vomiting, don't worry.) Later, last night, when Sam got his second dose of allergy medicine. (The upshot: he'll be dry as a bone for 24 hours.) Phew.
  • The Zoo! So nice of Kevin and Unca Stu to host that outing.
  • Visiting Inniswood Gardens. Just a gorgeous place, even in winter, and a great way to wear the boys out.
  • Reading and watching the YA book Holes.
  • Driving to and from Columbus on bone-dry roads.
  • Christmas-Eve seafood chowder for the adults.
  • Christmas-Eve Spaghetti-Os for the boys. (So nice knowing they'll happily vacuum it down!)
  • Receiving a Box Of Meat from Ruth and Paul! Love winter grilling...
  • Eating the Christmas baked goods: maple fudge, maple fudge with imbedded bacon, chocolate fudge, butterscotch cookies, brownies, chocolate-ginger cookies, those holiday creams Mom puts out, chocolate "bark", etc. Yum!
  • Napping on Stu and Sue's bed while Josh naps. In fact, that was so great, I am going to go nap now...
Oh, and as a bonus, here's a video showing how you should pass the time if you are invited to Aunt Amy's new house:

Saturday, December 7, 2013

A "montage" which is what we call a bunch of random photos

Josh and I wander through Eastman during Sam's Friday 5:30 PM piano lesson. In this pic we'd found an open practice room and Josh was enjoying one of their Steinways.

This was just before dinner recently. Josh was hungry enough to suck on the package of pepperoni.

This is from a Wednesday night Cadets meeting. Susan often bring Josh and they wander the halls while Sam and I do Cadets. Various other youths meet at the church at the same time, so there are lots of people to run into. Here Josh is saying hi to the much larger Kevin Smith, eldest son of our friends Jim and Emily.

The other day before lunch Susan took this of a despondent Josh. She says a minute or two later he had food and she was showing him some Frosty the Snowman on the laptop and all was right with the world.

On a recent Saturday morning Sam decided to create a chromatic Lego sky needle. This preceded the inevitable crash. Gravity always wins.

Another Cadets night photo, this time of Josh doing a puzzle with Mommy.

O, Christmas Tree

Last weekend we bought a Christmas tree. Last year we loved our Austrian pine, so we aimed to get the same this year. They were fresh out of pre-cuts, so we decided to head out into the vast field with saw and cart and cut our down. When we've done this before it hasn't always been a great experience, but I am happy to say this time the boys loved it (Josh helped the with cart, and Sam made huge, huge snowballs) and we managed to find a tree we really like. It's a Scotch pine, whose needles aren't as long as the Austrian, but it's drinking really well and we love it.

Josh helping with the cart

It was just above freezing, which meant the snow was heavy and a little damp, making it perfect packing snow.


Here it is! Maybe this weekend we decorate it...

Amazing what romance can be inspired by the right atmosphere. :-)

Thanksgiving in Columbus

This year we made a last-minute decision to drive south to Columbus for Thanksgiving, and were grateful everyone there not only made room around the table for us but even put us up for several nights. We stayed one day longer than intended because we were running ahead of a vast winter storm. In fact, we managed, by leaving Tuesday afternoon, to run along its edge, which saved us from any real accumulation, but still meant slippery roads and tense driving the whole way. An hour north of Columbus the precip stopped and the roads dried off, and what a relief that was!

The Westerville Collinses were kind to put us up (and put up with us) for three nights. AND they didn't send us away empty-handed: we not only got a king-sized electric blanket, but a Talking Condiment Holder shaped like a large hot dog.

In fact, we benefited from both of our hosts--eating an abundance of bacon at N&G's (yum!) and taking away with us the Thanksgiving turkey carcass, which Susan wasted no time turning into delicious broth.

Wednesday we took a trip to the nearby Easton's outdoor mall, to show the boys the giant Christmas tree and the outdoor train set:


The train set us just gorgeous. This is only one small part


Sam does a convincing imitation of a Munch painting



As previously mentioned, Sam's been enjoying learning piano, and was happy to give a couple of informal recitals at Nana and Grandad's. 

It was fun to catch up in person. Here's Grandad sporting a cowboy hat from N&G's bin of toys.

Nothing quite so memorable for Sam, I am sure, as horsing around with Unca Stu.
We enjoyed the hospitality at Chataeu Rangoon tremendously. Sam slept in Emily's room, Josh slept in the guest room with us, and our hosts were very flexible with letting us expand out chaos into their living space. Here Cousin Emily is playing with Josh who is enjoying a fun Winnie The Pooh bath toy hanging for the purpose from their front door.


The day after Thanksgiving we moved Aunt Amy out of N&G's and into her new house in Powell, just 15 minutes away. (Amy, Powell?) Here we are setting up her large, one-of-a-kind bed frame. Truly an intelligence test. The boys enjoyed AA's new place as well, spending the entire time sliding down the stairs on their stomachs, Sam head-first.

We spent three nights at Stu and Sue's before switching over for a night to N&G's During the whole trip, N&G were kind enough to take care of Zoe, who I am sure enjoyed the peace and quiet... and also enjoyed exploring Aunt Amy's territory. Here Zoe's clearly indicating a desire to move along with Amy.
Had a delightful and filling Thanksgiving meal. Well, okay, we were at the annex of the dining-room table and spent the meal managing Josh and, to a much lesser extent, Sam. But the food did migrate down to us and what we ate was delicious. Even got to meet Aunt Ellen, Aunt Sue's sister, whom we hadn't seen since Sam was born.

All in all a very pleasant Thanksgiving. :-)

Friday, December 6, 2013

Flash Goon!

We went to Splash Lagoon in Erie, Pennsylvania in early November to celebrate Sam's eighth birthday. 

Or, as Josh calls it, Flash Goon. 

And the Westerville Collinses joined us, which was really fun. 

I have no pictures of the interior of Flash Goon. I didn't want to bring electronics into the land of moistness. But I can share a couple of photos of the rest of the trip. We stayed in the Holiday Inn, the same hotel the WCs were staying. Last year's hotel was separated from Flash Goon by about fifteen minutes of indoor tunnels and hallways. This time we just walked through a door. In was LUXURY.

Enough of the talkie talk. Here are some photos:

The first night we ate at an Applebee's, I think. 

Here is cousin Emily massaging Sam's fleeing head.

Josh, in the hotel room, living large.



Very pleasant weekend. Sam went down more water slides than he'd been courageous enough for last year. And Josh totally exploded into the kiddie slides, even going down some face-first. Kid's a hazard. And WAY WAY easier to parents in that context.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Wow--Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en deserves an exclamation point because I am no late posting photos!

This year Sam wore what we affectionately refer to as the "robot death mask" he got from Grandpa Gene this summer as a gift out of the blue. In all fairness to G.G., he took Sam to Runnings figuring he'd walk out with a toy car or tractor. But the RDM has been a huge amount of fun for Sam, and we were delighted for him to have a costume picked out so far ahead of time, which is not usually the case.

It was a warm Hallowe'en this year, and only rained a little. We walked around the neighborhood and Joshie was in toddler heaven, having not realized there was ever a time when he could walk up to strangers' houses, utter magic phrase, and be given candy.

Without further ado, some photos...

Josh is sitting on what he referred to as the "daddy pumpkin" because it was the largest.

Sam carved this guy. Or drew him and had help from me with carving. I like how frightened he looks.

Josh wore a spider costume which Ruth passed along a few years ago, originally worn by Katie. The spider's legs are attached to his sleeves by strings so that as he bounced excitedly from house to house his limbs bounced in rhythm. Both costumes were hits with the neighbors.
Sam's mask has a voice modulator so that he even sounds like an evil death robot.

All in all a real success.  Very exciting that my fall conference didn't interfere with it this year, as it did last year. 

Monday, October 28, 2013

A few updates...
Josh really likes to be naked, and sometimes in the evening I'll take off his shirt or even his pants. It's as if his clothes aren't really comfortable, though even sweats and a t-shirt are inferior in his mind to just being free. The other day I noticed him going into the bathroom and followed, suspecting foul play. He protested a little, but when I agreed to just look the other way and read a magazine he permitted me to stay. He stripped down but then wouldn't sit on the little potty chair. Instead he washed his hands for five minutes under cold water. Now, he likes to line up cars and trucks in long lines, but I think there's ample evidence he doesn't have OCD. After that he started messing around to get my attention--playing with things like the toilet paper, which he knows I'll object to, so he can get my attention. Works! I ejected and clothed him soon thereafter.

Here he's wearing his new rain boots which he's very excited about. As are we, since now he can stomp through puddles without our having to dry his sneakers in front of a fan overnight. 


Sam's started piano lessons! His teacher was recommended by Juli Elliot and is at Eastman. The only slot he has available is 5:30 on Fridays, so we rush down and meet there, and then I follow Josh around while Susan sits in on Sam's lesson. The first lesson was a success--he's an affirming teacher and said some positive things about Sam. And Sam not only enjoyed the lesson, but also enjoyed practicing the last two days--even thanked God for piano practice during bedtime prayers. I'll have to remind him of it in a few months when we are having to chain him to the piano and the bitter resistance threatens the household peace.

For now, anyway, we are enjoying it. :-)

While he was in his lesson, Josh and I wandered to the adjacent Kodak hall at Eastman theater. I was a little worried about wandering up and down the practice-room hallways, since Josh is anything but quiet. Kodak hall was free of performers, being in between rehearsals, with roustabouts clearing chairs off stage, so we could wander and make noise all we wanted.



It's a beautiful theater and Josh really enjoyed it, as did I. And we got some exercise!

It's been a year or two since Sam had music classes at Eastman. I had forgotten how amazing it is to wander around. Dinnertime on Friday night, and the practice rooms were full, with gorgeous music drifting out from under the doors; a classical guitarist playing in a stairwell of Kodak hall; two harpists playing a duet in a hallway of the main building of Eastman. If that just indicates that they don't have enough practice rooms, we were happy to get the beneficiaries of their lack.

It doesn't hurt that toddlers bring out the best in just about everyone has a smile for a toddler. In a place where even those who aren't in fierce competition with one another are still working their hardest to prove themselves, seeing a toddler must bring to mind both childlike joy and a nurturing environment where you don't have to worry about whether you are good enough--you are because you are loved, and that's enough.

Okay, now for a change of scenery. Last weekend Sam got to go to a birthday party of the other Sam in his class. It was at Wickham Farm, which has mini golf, a corn maze, goats and chickens you can feed if you like, and a very large bouncy pillow thing, which Josh and Sam enjoyed.

Amazingly, Josh suffered no injuries.


Sam wasn't the only peanut-allergic boy there, and the parents of the other Sam were very careful about making everything nut-safe. It was a rare treat not having to bring a piece of cake from home for him to eat. (Which we had to do yesterday for his best friend's party at, get this, Chuck-E-Cheese's. If I never spend another minute in C.E.C. I'll count myself lucky. This time the cops even showed up to break up a fight. (Last time there was a nearly a fight but no cops.)  The 18-year-old hostess looked like the experience of running the party would be enough to keep her from having kids for a good decade.



Last weekend we also went to the Rochester Museum and Science Center. It's not a world-class museum, but it has some nice spots, and the hour before closing on a Saturday is a great time to get them all to yourself. One of them is a ball pit. On the back wall of it is a list of simple machines which seems to have nothing to do with the ball pit, but must make the curators feel like it's educational enough for them to include it.

For my money the best part of the museum is a few dark corridors in the back of the second floor with native American artifacts and dioramas depicting Indian life in various parts of North America. Contrary to your recollection of dioramas from grade school, these are extremely evocative and really help you imagine a totally alien way of life. Sam and Josh seem to think so too.


We also made a trip to the Play Museum the day before. (Why so many museums? Susan was out of town, so I was happy to find any way to wear the boys out and keep them from going stir crazy.) Started our visit with a ride on the carousel. Rochester has a huge number of carousels. I can't think of even one in Columbus. Must be an East-coast thing.



Busy week ahead. Have to decorate a pumpkin to make it look like a character from a book; have to prep for Hallowe'en, and find a costume for Josh; have to carve and decorate pumpkins before Thursday and put out decorations; have to drive out to Schutt's Apple Mill Wednesday to buy six dozen of the only nut-safe donuts we've ever found to take to the Fall Fun Festival at church which the youth group puts on for the younger boys and girls; have to work with Sam on an art project which he's doing voluntarily as part of a state-wide art contest (everyone's work gets displayed, and some win awards). And in the midst of it all Susan has deadlines Wednesday and Thursday and I have a dry-run for my conference presentation Thursday just before trick-or-treating. Say a prayer we run the gauntlet successfully!

Thought I'd end with a panorama left over from the weekend we closed up camp. This is a view of Arbuckle from the water transfer station: