Hewwo?

Since the last post had little about Joshie, here's a little movie.

Josh has been enjoying the water park. There's a splash pad for little guys. He's always been happy just saying "HEWWO!" to people he meets. Pretty much anyone. Even the grumpiest person is charmed.

The video shows Josh in the hotel room playing with the phone. He plays with everything. Loves to find on-off buttons and volume dials. He has repeatedly picked up the telephone receiver, said, "Hewwo?", babbled a litte, "bye-bye", then hung up.

Nice thing about land lines--he can't mistakenly order anything. Well, not as easily.

The other night we were eating dinner when we suddenly heard a strange voice. It was coming from Sam's walkie talkie which was sitting on the table. (It was a "decoration.") We realized it was picking up a local cordless telephone. Instantly Sam put it up to his ear to try to hear what was being said. Sadly, that was all we got. Josh, wanting to get into the act, picked up his bowl and spoke carefully into it, "hewwo?"

Finally got the boys down around 10:30 pm. Josh doesn't like sleeping in strange surroundings. Arg.

Heard some crinkling and found Sam's sleeping with his head resting on a sheet of paper. I understand all the great artists fall asleep on their medium at one point or another.

I should be reading Jonathan Edwards, but may just pass out. Josh had me up at 5:40 this morning. No real reason to think it won't happen again...

Splash lagoon and the Erie blizzard

Along interstate 90 on the way from Cleveland to Rochester is a colorful billboard for a splash park called Splash Lagoon. For years we've stopped at a Bob Evans next door on our way to and from Columbus, and Sam has long begged to give Splash Lagoon a try. This year we told Sam that if he stuck with his swimming lessons, we'd finally go.

It has a large number of water slides, including two which feed into a sort of huge salad bowl where one slooshes around at high speed, spiraling in and falling into a hole in the center into another pool below. It also has what it proudly calls the largest indoor wave pool in the Eastern U.S. It is large, too, and a great deal of fun. 

Sam has gone down three of the water slides, including the scary Python Plunge--that's one of two slides that snakes out of the building and back in again, the sight of which has lured Sam to Splash Lagoon all these years. He has gleefully bobbed in the wave pool, as has Josh (from the safety of Daddy's arms). (There is also a "kiddie" area with a number of smaller slides and fun things for the wee folk.) Here is Sam during a break near the end of our six and a half hours there today:

This is a view of the main area...

A huge bucket periodically pours water over those below. You may notice the polynesian theme, paying homage to that great civilization of giant bucket-pourers

Here's a shot fo Susan and Sam having just done the Black Hole water slide

And another view just after opening this morning at 10 o'clock.

There is also a "ropes course" in which you traverse various rope bridges 20 feet and higher off the ground. People using the course are strapped to a line connected to a railing above, so if they slip they fall only about a foot before bobbing in the air. Sam was very eager to do the course, and with a look of concentration navigated most of it with determination and, well, without falling.

Did I mention this park is in Erie, PA? Erie is famous among those who travel this route as having more snow and foul weather than any other stretch. True to form, the evening we arrived it began to snow--light, fluffy lake-effect snow. Here's what the balcony looked like the first evening:

And here's what it looked like the following morning:

And it continued to snow! The hotel (three hotels, in fact) is connected via indoor walkways to the water park, so we were able to enjoy the view of the blizzard while heading out to spend the day in tropical heat and humidity.

Tomorrow  morning one more hit of water park, then back to Rochester.

Sam and Josh Mishmash...

From Susan:

We had a funny little scene last night in the bathroom at tooth brushing time. Josh was on Tim's lap; Sam was standing close by Tim for comfort.

Sam was wailing because Josh had ruined something of his (it was bedtime and he was very tired), and saying, "Josh is so mean!!"

But Josh didn't know why Sam was upset, of course, and leaned over to give Sam the sweetest hug. We pointed this out to Sam, who said, "He's still mean!"

I said, "Honey, Josh just doesn't know better, but in a few years he will. Then he'll still ruin something of yours, but we'll be able to punish him. Won't that be fun?"

Sam said, "Punish him NOW."

While we were explaining that you just can't punish a not-yet-two-year-old who doesn't know better, Josh decided that there had been enough crying and pushed against Sam a few times, saying, "Go go go go go. OUT."

So cute! So unfair!

Here's your ninety seconds on Joshie:

We were puttering around this evening upstairs, meaning I was trying to fold laundry while keeping an eye on him. I was in our bedroom and he in is, and it was too quite, so I went in and found him sitting in his rocking chair reading his books, just the same as Sam used to. 2/3 of the way through as he's reading the dinosaur book he is saying "very very long", according to Susan. 

You wouldn't know it from this video, but Josh has been fighting various infections. First eye and ear, then a nasal flow of the crustiest sort, which has until the last couple of nights made it tough to breathe, and so tough to sleep, so we've been rocking him during the wee hours so he could do both. After amoxicillin didn't work, they put him on sterner stuff, and today's the first day he's not been totally liquidy. Still a little off, but definitely on the mend.

Are these happy boys, or what?

Josh, doing his Marin Brando imitation . This must be sat the doctor's office. He's getting used to it there. Last time he went in, when the doctor put her stethoscope on his chest he dutifully started doing deep breaths, without even being asked. 

This requires more explanation: Sam learned this year about Ripley's and about the Guinness book of records, and is working on his own, personal records. For instance, yesterday he chewed gum for two hours and one minute. Here he's working on a basketball dribbling record at church. What will come next? :-)

This week we go to Splash Lagoon, an indoor water park in Erie, PA, Tue night and Wed night. Fun to think of immersing ourselves in chlorine-saturated water while it's snowy and 20s outside. Anyone who's reading this is welcome to join us there!

Snow!

The storm which dumped snow on the Northeast yesterday and today gave us ten inches yesterday, breaking a Rochester record. 

Sam had a ball wandering around the yard. He never lets a good snow go to waste.

No one but Josh was willing to join me for a short walk in a local park, Linear Park. Honestly, Josh didn't have much choice, but I bundled him up quite warmly and he seemed to really enjoy it. :-)

There was a rosy tinge to the sky, and air so still that the snow still balanced on every horizontal surface.  I dragged Josh around on the same blue sled Nana and Grandad gave to Sam several years ago. 

Anyway, here are some photos for your enjoyment. I expect I'll remember this pleasant outing for the rest of my days. 

Josh, pointing at the creek which parallels the path

Branches just touching the icy water

Really, he was happier than this photo suggests. And I was careful not to keep him out too long--just half an hour. His core temperature was steady, I am sure, but he really enjoyed holding his arms out so his mittens left lines in the snow as he glided along. Okay, it's also true that he was so bundled up he couldn't have bent his arms very much, even if he'd wanted to.

This normally open path felt like a corridor for all the snow laden branches lacing their fingers over our heads. Josh waited patiently while I ran ahead and then back again.

I've talked about this creek before. Salmon actually come all the way here from the north Atlantic to spawn

There's hat rosy tinge I was talking about

Finally, here's Sam playing out back. Playing's the wrong word. Sam actually puttered in the snow.