kidspeak

May 26 2011

Car Bug Out Bag

“Do I have like 70, and you have, like 3?”
— Lucy guessing on the amount of teeth she and her Daddy have

Bug Out Box

Jill and I have been creating bug-out bags for our home and vehicles. The pics in this post are of the ‘BOB’ I keep in my car’s trunk.

What’s a ‘BOB’? From Wikipedia:

“A bug-out bag is a portable kit that contains the items one would require to survive for seventy-two hours when evacuating from a disaster.

The focus is on evacuation, rather than long-term survival, distinguishing the bug-out bag from a survival kit.”

Bug Out Box

Lately, it seems like there’s been a new disaster on the news every week. I also remember the Loma Prieta earthquake back in 1989. With this in mind, we figured it’d be good to start thinking about being better prepared just in case.

Since this is the first iteration of the car BOB, I’m sure it will go through some changes as we get a better idea about our needs in case of an emergency. However, you’ve got to start somewhere.

It’s amazing how much stuff one can fit inside a little plastic storage box!

Bug Out Box

Contents:

  1. Aluminum Foil, Plastic Bags
  2. Baby Wipes
  3. Batteries
  4. Blankets (Emergency)
  5. Candles
  6. Can Opener
  7. Compass, Whistle
  8. Duct Tape
  9. Eating Utensils
  10. First Aid Kit
  11. Flashlight #1
  12. Flashlight #2 (Crank) includes AM/FM radio, siren)
  13. Glasses
  14. Insect Repellant
  15. Kindling Fire Starter, Cottonballs
  16. Lighters (Bic)
  17. Knife
  18. Mess Kit (Pot, Cup, etc)
  19. Multi-Tool
  20. Pens, Marker, Notepad
  21. Playing Cards
  22. Ponchos
  23. Rope (1/8″ x 50′)
  24. Sewing Kit
  25. Snacks: Cookies, Energy Bars, Gum
  26. Snacks: Hot Chocolate, Tea, Sweetener
  27. Snacks: Oatmeal Packets
  28. Snacks: Top Ramen
  29. Snaplights/Glowsticks
  30. Toiletries: Toothbrush, Paste, Floss, Soap, Lip Balm, Nailclippers
  31. Watertight Box
  32. Water Purification Tablets
  33. Watersafe Matches
  34. Wet Wipes

Not Pictured:

  • Blankets (Emergency, Heavier Duty)
  • Blankets (Wool)
  • Jackets
  • Map
  • Tarp
  • Water

By mike • by Mike, Misc • 1 • Tags: , ,

May 22 2011

Studebakers and Oklahoma

“Going to a party in the bathroom!”
— Lucy singing in the bathtub

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Lately, I’ve been scanning lots of old family photos at my mom’s place. Here are a few from Oklahoma in the mid 1950s when dad was stationed at Fort Sill.

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Mom’s own father actually drove her from CA to OK in mom’s first car, a Studebaker. He then took a bus back home once he had dropped his daughter off in OK.

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Above Left: my mom and a neighbor. Above Right: My dad and a neighbor’s kid (at this time my parents didn’t have any children.)

By mike • by Mike, Relatives, Time Capsule • 1 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

May 20 2011

Gpa Tom at the CalPaleo Convention

“You help me look—join in the search!”
— Lucy, enlisting me to help her find something

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Here’s a pic of Gpa Tom presenting research at the CalPaleo convention at Sierra College earlier this month. His presentation: “Ichnofossil occurrences and distribution within the lower Cambrian.”

If only the presentation had been about distribution within the higher Cambrian, I’d have been all over it.

By mike • by Mike, Misc, Relatives • 2 • Tags: , , ,

May 19 2011

Tasty

Mom: “Hey, what was that WEIRD food you were eating?”
Lucy: “Yeah, Daddy–it smelled like POOP!”
— The girls expressing their affection for me in their own unique way

Lately I’ve been adding a scoop of chia gel to my morning smoothies. Here’s how I make the gel:

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Take chia seeds. Combine 1/3 cup chia seeds with 2 cups of water. Stir.

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Pop a lid on the container and shake it up. Have a little girl stroll by and accuse you of making “snail snot”. Place snail snot sealed container in refrigerator.

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And the next morning you’ll have chia gel. I usually add a scoop of chia gel to my morning smoothie.

I don’t really know if the gel is making much of a difference with me healthwise. However, I knew I needed to get back on track regarding my nutrition and doing little things like adding a new ingredient to my smoothie helps me stay semi-motivated. Plus, it’s always cool to gross out the little one!

By mike • by Mike, Misc, The Kid • 2 • Tags: , , , ,

May 17 2011

Our Own Banana Car

“With James and teacups with Wubie kittens popping in and out!”
— Lucy describing her dream (James is a cloud)

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When driving around, we usually play little “road games” with the kid. One game we play is “spot the banana car” which involves calling out any yellow vehicle we see on the road.

Earlier this month Jill had to drop her Mini Cooper off at the shop. When she was offered a loaner for the day, she was delighted to discover it was a shiny new yellow convertible Mini. Yep, a banana car of her own (for the day, anyway).

When Jill showed us the car we immediately took it for a spin, deciding on a trek to the Palo Alto Creamery (Lucy calls it “Milkshake Town”) for lunch.

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Later we made sure to take a drive at night with the top down. It was a lot of fun, especially for Lucy who’d never been in a convertible before.

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By mike • by Mike, Misc, The Kid • 2 • Tags: , , , , ,

May 14 2011

Nice Racks

“It’s glistening with happiness…with a silver blanket!”
— Lucy talking

A Borders bookstore near us is closing up shop. I dropped by to look around and found some neat bookshelves. Both were made of metal (like Iron Maiden) and had wheels, so I was sold on the feature set. When I saw the pricing, it was a basically a no-brainer, so I ended up grabbing ‘em both.

After getting my shelf fix I ended up returning with Jill and the kid. Jill grabbed a few books and Lucy got a Sally Cat doll.

If we had more room I totally would have snagged some of the 8 foot tall wooden bookshelves. However, I resisted the urge by promising myself that once we get into a bigger place I’ll be able to build my own bookstore-like shelves.

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Pics taken with iPod Touch.

By mike • by Mike, Misc, The Kid • 2 • Tags: , , , , ,

May 11 2011

Easter Egg Hunt (2011)

“Daddy, can I go with you to take out the garbage, not because I like the smell of garbage but because I like being with you.”
— Lucy (what a sweet kid!)

Easter Egg Hunt (2011) from Mike C on Vimeo.

Due to miscellaneous happenings, the family wasn’t able to get together on Easter this year. Because of this, we made a point of congregating at Gma Vita’s place for Mother’s Day. Above is a video Jill shot of this year’s belated Easter Egg Hunt (which actually took place on Mother’s Day.)

This year’s turnout of egg hunters was a little on the small side due to some kids getting “too old” to hunt for eggs and others missing the event all together. Oh well, more eggs for the little ones!

After watching the video, you can check out some previous egg hunts below. It’s pretty incredible seeing how much the kids have grown over the last three years.

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

Easter Egg Hunt 2008

By mike • by Mike, Relatives, The Kid, Time Capsule, Video • 3 • Tags: , , , ,

Apr 30 2011

April, 2011 Collage

April, 2011

Some Lucy quotes from April:

“I’m taller than ice cream!”
— Lucy, as I pick her up

“You have a cool hairdo!’”
— Lucy, as I hold her in my arms

“I am half candy cane and half cupcake!”
— Lucy describes her pajamas

April is now gone and we’re a third of the way into 2011. Some stuff from the past month:

By mike • by Mike, The Kid • 2 • Tags: ,

Apr 19 2011

Discovery Museum

“Mommy, I will wear this dress and those shoes…and have jewels on the sides of my beautiful necklace and silver butterflies.”
— Lucy, looking at the window of a wedding dress shop while we walked over to the bookstore

Discovery Museum from Mike C on Vimeo.

Here’s a video of a recent trip to the Children’s Discovery Museum. From the CDM web site:

The striking 52,000 square foot purple building, designed by Mexico City-based architect Ricardo Legorreta, signals the purpose of Children’s Discovery Museum to serve the needs of children, families and schools as a center for learning and discovery.

Encompassing the broad themes of community, connections and creativity, exhibits invite self-directed, open-ended explorations, while programs provide facilitated, focused, and sustained interactions.

The Museum is in Guadalupe River Park, where the largest Monopoly board in the world is located.

By mike • by Mike, The Kid, Video • 3 • Tags: , ,

Apr 16 2011

Storytelling

“1 – 2 – 3…no peaking dolly!”
— Lucy plays hide and seek with her doll

Mog's ChristmasLucy Acting Out Mog's Christmas

Lucy loves books and the telling of stories. Today she put on a special show: while her mom read “Mog’s Christmas” aloud, Lucy acted out the story with the help of a few props. Both girls did a great job—even Wubie plunked himself down on the couch to watch the show.

Wubie and I both hope to see more “shows” in the future!

mogschristmas

By mike • by Mike, The Kid • 3 • Tags: , , , ,

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