We went to the Nevada County Fair, which had loads of rides, games, food, music,  animals and exhibits.

 
After watching her fearless cousin tackle walking on water in a big bubble, L had to give it a try!

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

“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.

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.

A kid-sized town.

Our kid-sized rental car, a Fiat 500.

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

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

The kid and Gpa.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

• ‘”Mose Rager Blues” from Country Guitar Thunder by Merle Travis & Joe Maphis
• “Words Unspoken” and “Tin Roof” from The Crow—New Songs For The 5-String Banjo by Steve Martin
• “Gone” from Guitar Country by Chet Atkins
• “Understand Your Man, “Catch the Wind“, and “Blowin’ in the Wind” from More of That Guitar Country by Chet Atkins
• “Ground Speed” from Foggy Mountain Banjo by Flatt & Scruggs
• “Black Mountain Rag” from The Essential Chet Atkins by Chet Atkins

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.

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.