I may have spoken too soon about the neatness factor of my Flip Video camcorder. It’s starting to act a little funky, which you’ll see in the above video. Anyway…

Last week we had to bring Wubert to the vet. Lucy was such a good girl, constantly telling Wubert (who’s a mega-crybaby) “It’s OK” throughout the entire ordeal. Fortunately, though Wubert ended up spending nearly six(!) hours at the vet, his ultimate diagnosis was fairly benign:

DOCTOR
I think he’s constipated.

US
We think we’d like to get a second opinion.

DOCTOR
He’s overweight too.

WUBERT
(on table)
I can hear you!

Camera Used: Flip Video Ultra 60. Soundtrack:

• “It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career” from The Boy with the Arab Strap by Belle and Sebastian

Wow, this is our 300th post! Yep, our first post was way back in December of 2006. How time flies, huh?

We had a good day today, drove up to SF to visit w/ Lucy’s Auntie Laura (and Izzy/Omi/Luna) and see Gpa Tom and Gma Karen. Lucy got a chance to play at the beach and do a little cat-chasing at Laura’s. I’m sure we’ll post some pics in the very near future. Right now it’s a little past midnight. The two girls are fast asleep and I just finished vegging in front of the TV watching UFC 95. What better time to post a quick video and scribble a little nonsense?

Anyway, I got a Flip Video camcorder off Woot recently. The specs are pretty meh compared to my main video camcorder. However, it’s way small, so it’s perfect for keeping in a pocket or glove compartment (or in Jill’s case, bounty hunter costume utility belt) just in case.

Also, since it was so inexpensive, I can take chances with it (take it to the beach, hand it off to Lucy to use, toss it in a backpack, etc.) All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. I used it to shoot the above video of a trip we made to Gma Vita’s last weekend. In the video, from all the hacking involved, you’ll see we’re all still getting over our colds. However, you’ll also see that Lucy doesn’t let a dumb cold stop her from having fun! Stuff from the video:

• Mailing a letter/netflix at the post office (yep, it was as exciting as it sounds!)
• Lucy munching on rice cakes
• Lucy and Jill exploring the backyard
• Lucy playing w/ her “mini” car
• Lucy dancing in fast motion

Music used:

• “Freight Train” and “Nine Pound Hammer” from Guitar Country by Chet Atkins
• “Cannonball Rag” from Atkins-Travis Traveling Show by Chet Atkins and Merle Travis

Yep, that’s Lucy singing her own song in the back seat of the car! Nope, I was not driving at the time…Auntie Laura was. (I added the music afterwards…she was singing and dancing to her own tune.)

This was filmed during a visit to Auntie Laura in San Francisco, we were coming back from the pottery studio where Lucy made hand and foot prints a month or so ago (see video here), this time we glazed and painted them.

Music is “Raindrops Are Falling on My Head,” by Burt Bacharach and B.J. Thomas.

When she was really little, we couldn’t complete a drive without the kid having a crying fit. Something about being shoved into a Camry and strapped immobile into a plastic seat never seemed to agree with her.

Fortunately, she enjoys going out for drives now. Whether it’s a trip to see Gma, or just a quick trek to the store, I think she sees drives as little adventures now. Adventures full of promise!

Actually, she’s so jazzed about a ride in the car now that she doesn’t even express disappointment when it has to take place in her Mom’s ho-hum Mini (rather than Dad’s super-cool Camry.) That, and maybe she doesn’t want to hurt ol’ Mom’s feelings. Whatta good kid.

Here are some pics of Lucy behind the wheel of her mom’s automobile.

She will fill her cheeks like a chipmunk and wait for whatever it is to dissolve, or swallow with a big gulp. She has been to IKEA’s cafeteria for lunch several times and had cookies and tea in the cafe at Filoli.

Recent menu items she has savoured include this huge tuna sandwich (nope, she didn’t eat the whole thing!) and yogurt (she refused 2 different spoons in favor of licking it out of the tub, getting it all over her face up to her eyebrows!)

This weekend though was her first night out at a real restaurant, full of noise and lots of people. She went with Gpa Tom and Gma Karen (and her parents of course) to an Italian restaurant on Saturday night, so it was really busy.

She was patient while we waited for a table, enjoyed the crayons and the kids menu, ate some macaroni and some chicken, and had a lot of fun playing with the straw for her water. We saw a few other babies, some crying, but not her! Her dad gives her a 10 out of 10 for her first night out!

A few weeks ago Mike wanted to return a sink he’d bought, but it wouldn’t fit in the Camry. So on a whim he measured the Mini Cooper and found that indeed, the big sink-vanity dealybob would fit in the Mini!

So he loaded it up and off he went (see pic). I bet there were some surprised stares in the Home Depot parking lot when he took the sink out!

Now that our baby girl has graduated to forward-facing seats and we have put the carseat back in the Mini, there will be no more sink-haulings. But it is nice to know that we could if we had to!

Geeky aside #1: I’ve noticed you can see my Mini in the Google map satellite view of our house.

Geeky aside #2: I still do the "mini wave" when I see another Mini.