water

Aug 17 2011

Cousins

We’ve met loads of cousins this summer…it’s been wonderful to reconnect with family scattered far and wide. This weekend we got to meet L’s newest little cousin, as well as visit with the older generation.

SAM_3421 IMG_1107

We went to the Nevada County Fair, which had loads of rides, games, food, music,  animals and exhibits.
IMG_1096 IMG_1099 IMG_1216 IMG_1114
 
After watching her fearless cousin tackle walking on water in a big bubble, L had to give it a try!

IMG_1136 IMG_1165 

We had a wonderful visit, can’t wait to see everyone again!

IMG_1294 IMAG2276

By jill • by Jill, Relatives, The Kid • 1 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 6 2011

Sugarcreek, Ohio

“What a party night! Listen to my song, it’s a lovely little song! Oh boy, playing with cousins tomorrow! I’m so excited my hair bands might pop off!”
— Tke kid, while simultaneously watching 5 fireworks displays, airplanes taking off, and waiting for room service from our room on the tenth floor of the Hyatt Regency at Pittsburgh Int’l Airport.

SAM_3074

Here are a few pics from our trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio. The kid’s been having lots of fun getting to know her brand new (to her) cousins. Additional pics can be found here and we’ll definitely be posting a lot more very soon.

SAM_3073SAM_3071

A kid-sized town.

SAM_3056

Our kid-sized rental car, a Fiat 500.

SAM_3064SAM_3049

The kid and her cousins take a swim. Spending time in an Amish buggy.

SAM_3070

The kid’s dreamhouse, in her favorite color of course.

SAM_3035

The kid and Gpa.

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

Sep 3 2010

Cats and Pools and Bikes

“Tell me a story Daddy, but keep your eyes open so I can see them!”
- Lucy getting her sleepy dad to tell her a story

Here are some pics of the kid from the past week. Every time I look at pics like these it always hits me how fast the kid is growing up.

2010.09_0003_GrowingUp

2010.09_0004_GrowingUp2010.09_0005_GrowingUp

We had a nice get-together at my mom’s place last weekend. My mom has a neat backyard, with lots of trees and plants, squirrels and birds. The neighborhood cats love it. These pics show one cat in particular who’s always lazing around in the yard. Lucy and her cousins gave the cat rockstar treatment. The cat loved the attention.

2010.09_0002_GrowingUp

Jill and I had never used this pool before. However, the kid had never been swimming, so we packed up our towels and flip-flops and made the trek. It was actually pretty fun (and very refreshing) so I think we’ll make regular use of the pool until the weather cools.

2010.09_0008_GrowingUp

2010.09_0007_GrowingUp

I’ve written before about how I like tooling around on weekend mornings while the girls are asleep. Last weekend I hit a few garage sales. My dad took me to lots of flea markets when I was a kid. I loved going, even enough to get up at 7am on a Saturday (that’s pretty early when you’re 8 or 9.) He’d look at old hi-fi equipment while I was on the prowl for comic books.

One of my fondest memories involves my dad getting me a big box of a beat-up comics for $2. I had enough to keep me reading for the whole summer! Talk about heaven.

I think that’s why, to this day I love hitting garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. Anyway, at one of the garage sales I hit, I saw a neglected little bicycle. I immediately shifted into flea market mode:

(look at everything except bike; before leaving, look at bike and ask out of curiosity…)

Me: “How much is the bike?”
Seller: “$10.”
Me: (pause) “Would you take $5?”
Seller: “I’d rather have $10.”
Me: “Well, good luck with that!” (interest gone, turn to leave)
Seller: “Howzabout $7?”
Me: “I’ve got my truck right here. I’ll give you $5 and take it off your hands right now. You won’t have to worry about it.”
Seller: “OK. $5.”

My dad would have been proud of me. So I got the bike home, scrubbed a couple of years of grime off, and voila!—the kid has a bike.

2010.09_0009_GrowingUp2010.09_0011_GrowingUp

By mike • by Mike, Relatives, The Kid • 7 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Aug 24 2010

Swimming

IMG_9716

Another first today…a swimming pool! It was very hot today, one of the few hot days this summer…so it was perfect for swimming. Madame has been in the ocean, at the beach, and even in a river, but never in a swimming pool til now. Of course her daddy was right there to help her.

By jill • by Jill, Relatives, The Kid, Time Capsule • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Oct 3 2009

Grass Valley Visit

Grass Valley Visit from Mike C on Vimeo.

We spent last weekend with Tom and Karen in Grass Valley. This is the (25 minute!) video. Some highlights:

  • Lucy playing in the “ladybug pool”
  • Lucy, Tom, and Karen putting on a talent show
  • Lucy saying “Hi” to her Auntie Janie
  • Lucy finding frogs while exploring a creek

For pics, please refer to Jill’s post.

Music:

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

Jan 8 2009

“Two, Two, Two, TWO!”

two

The kid is learning new words every day. During our time in Hawaii, she started using words like “Uh-Oh!”, “Wow!”, “Shoes”, and “Hi!” on a regular basis. However, by far her new favorite word has got to be “two”. She’s pretty creative in her usage, frequently using “two” in place of “yes”. Example:

Mom: “Would you like a cookie, Lucy?”
Lucy: “Two!”

Anyway, Lucy’s favorite beach by far was in Kailua, most notably because it was very hilly in parts. She loved crawling up the hills, very much surprising her mom and dad with her climbing prowess.

Once she scrambled to the top of each vanquished hill, Lucy would motion for a parent to come visit her lofty perch. Inexplicably, mom would usually be very busy feigning interest in something else whenever the little hill-dictator demanded a visit. This was usually my cue to start climbing.

As soon as I’d huffed and puffed myself to the top of her hill, she’d let out a high-pitched shriek (the kind that frequently scares Wubert) and propel herself down the hill, fully confident in her ol’ dad’s back-pedaling and toddler-catching abilities.

What I found truly funny about all of this was how the kid paced herself during each of her climbs. In the way a squad of soldiers might yell “hup, two, three, four” to help keep themselves in time and on point, the kid would say “two!” for each and every foot or hand movement that helped her scale each of her hills.

Thus, as she crawled up each hill, in a very determined tone she would say, “two, two, two, two!” The cadence would help push her along until she’d reached her hilltop. Once at the top of each hill she’d give a final, triumphant, “TWO!”

Then, she’d beckon her dad to help with that pesky “getting down the hill” part and do it all over again. One of my fondest memories of our trip to the islands.

By mike • by Mike, The Kid • 5 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Oct 22 2008

Monterey Bay Aquarium

IMG_8867 IMG_8844IMG_8851 IMG_8861

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last Saturday w/ friends and family. Lucy was very excited. She saw snakes, sharks, otters (which look like slimmed down, wet Wuberts), penguins (her current obsession), and a fish that I bet was way into D&D back in school.

Wouldn’t ya know it, w/ all the cool (and dorky) animals swimming and splashing around that place, the kid’s favorite animals of the day were the pigeons? (My fave was the goofy guy.)

More pics available here. Pics from Auntie Laura are here.

By mike • by Mike, Friends, Relatives, The Kid, Video • 1 • Tags: , , , , , ,