We had an absolute blast exploring Big Sur yesterday, visiting my friend the photojournalist Bruce Haley & family beneath the Bixby Creek Bridge. We’ll share photos soon (I took a *ton*). In the meantime, here Bruce’s wife Deborah shows our fascinated boys the spinning wheel she uses to make yarn:
The view from my pillow, 6:47am. (Yes, those are my legs.) 🙂
Margot’s dad recently sent us his trusty old writing machine, and the boys have been fascinated. “Many an essay has been written on that!” notes Auntie Laura. “Grampa has had that since he got his Bachelor’s at CU.” Check it out:
When Grandpa Liggett would pout as a boy, his parents would warn him, “Watch out, or [farmer neighbor] Nicholson’s cows will come sit on that lip!” I know few kids poutier than Henry, so the cows have quickly become a central piece of family lore. In the shot below I was teasing grumpy Henry at a bowling lane in Colorado, combining ball-as-cow imagery with memories of Jesus Quintana from The Big Lebowski. Enjoy. 🙂
Prepare yourself: You’re about to become 3.5 feet tall, and blonde, and a bit less than steady on your bike. 🙂 Check out a kid’s-eye view of Rancho San Antonio, as captured from the helmet of Finn thanks to the new GoPro camera Mom-O got us for Christmas:
It’s fun to compare 4-year-old Henry trading zerberts with Mom-O…
…to an old clip of 8-month-old Henry turning her into his private musical “instrument”:
Mr. Spielberg, you know where to call. 🙂
“Man, I’m glad our flights didn’t get too screwed up in & out of Denver,” said Margot just now. Well, give her credit for looking on the bright side of things. It’s true that our flights weren’t canceled, but look at the “fun” the boys & I had while moldering on the tarmac for a couple of hours, awaiting the de-icing truck:
Henry proceded to pass out, and then—once we were in the air—puke all over the place. (“Why didn’t you grab the barf bag??” demanded Finn, quite reasonably. Because your old man doesn’t have cat-like reflexes, son.) Amazingly, as we finally dragged our bones through the door in San Jose, Hen lit up and said—without a hint of irony—”That was the best trip ever!” ;-P
It’s pretty great knowing a little elf in Kansas City—our pal Maria—who can put her calligraphy skills to use helping the boys hear from the big elf up north. Check out the boys enjoying their letters from Santa!
What’s better than tots enjoying a roller coaster? Tots enjoying a roller coaster in slow-mo to the sounds of Red Hot Chili Peppers! 🙂
Check out Finnster, our friend Malachy, and especially Henry braving Happy Hollow’s Pacific Fruit Express coaster last Saturday.
Lions and Owls and Cones Oh My!
This year, since we’re heading to Colorado for Christmas, we decided to let the boys open their “big” gifts a few days early. Finny continues to be obsessed with lions – so his gift was kind of easy. I was walking through Costco the other day and they had these enormous animal beanbag chairs, one of which was a lion. Done and DONE! I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t get him the chair because it is such a colossal feline.
As for Henry, his latest fascination (in addition to owls) is traffic cones. Whenever he sees them, he’s like a moth to a flame. He cannot walk by a construction site, or a playground with cones on it without stopping and moving the cones around in an effort to “block things off for safety.” John had the fantastic idea to buy Henry his own real, construction-and-traffic-control grade cones. I logged into Amazon, and wouldn’t you know it, they had many sizes, weights, and styles of cone to choose from. We knew Henry would go absolutely mental when he opened the cones, and as you can see from the gallery, he did not disappoint. He was also pretty pleased about the owl pajamas I made him, and is thrilled when bedtime rolls around and he can lounge in his owl peej before hitting the sack.
You know that moment near the end of a very long flight, where your plane is floating over the runway & you want nothing more for it just to touch down so you can get on with your life, and yet it seems to hover endlessly? That’s how putting the boys down for the night can feel: So close to relief, yet so far away.
Thus the other night I was right at the proverbial finish line, having deflected the boys back into bed for the last time, when Finn announced, “Wait, Dad-O! I have songs, with hand gestures!!” He was so excited to show off his moves for the upcoming holiday celebration at school, and though the timing of his reveal was pretty terrible, he put on a heck of a late-night, top-bunk show for Henry & me.
Here you can check out the whole class singing Christmas & Hanukkah songs in English & Spanish. Fair warning: It’s one of those stereotypically terrible parental videos, shot from the back of a crowded room in which one can barely see the kid. Look for Finn on the right-hand side right by the wall. (Full-screen viewing recommended. Hit the little button in the lower-right corner of the video, Mom & Dad. :-))
For a much more personal performance, check out Finn’s reenactment by our Christmas tree:
Saturday night was unusually warm, making for a perfect outing to ride the little train in nearby Los Gatos. As has become something of a tradition (starting in 2010 at the Oakland Zoo, and continuing in Los Gatos a year later), our little friends Bettie & Quade joined us for the ride, this time with their little sister Juliette. Check out the action below, and in this little gallery of photos.
Last night the lads received a surprise pre-Christmas gift from the Geeps (Grandma and Grandpa Liggett): a popcorn ball decorating kit! They were extremely excited to check out all the various candies and frosting for decoration, and got right to work.
Hen, of course, snuck a couple of Tootsie rolls that were initially headed for his popcorn ball but detoured into his mouth. Finn was busily sticking Smarties, gumdrops, crackers, and candy corn onto his creation. We got in on the fun, too, and decorated our own. It was a blast and of course, the fun wouldn’t be complete without a few tastes of corn after the decorating was done. Here’s a little gallery of the corniness.
When life gives you small, highly animated, pre-6am lemons, you can try making this sort of lemonade. 🙂
For some reason the guys arose insanely early the other day, and Henry was inspired to build quite an elaborate setup for Thomas & friends. Here’s what we whipped up before school (and amazingly, it’s still standing today!).
We had a ball checking out Redwood City’s winter carnival yesterday with the Wiggii. The guys were delighted to get a pair of free teddy bears (“Oso” & “Teddy,” for those keeping track ;-)). We didn’t last long in the snow-throwing pit, but we had fun on the teacups & lots of other little rides. Check out a little gallery from the frigid good times.
I rarely apply captions to individual photos, and the “recently used” list in Lightroom (my photo adjustment/management app) dates back roughly four years. I just now stumbled across it & had fun glimpsing into our family’s mind circa Christmas 2009. 🙂
The Casa de los Cacahuates is suddenly looking quite festive thanks to the Micronaxx tree-decorating efforts. Here’s a little gallery of the guys in action last night.
Heh—I have to agree with Margot on this one:
Today’s Word of the Day from my calendar is “Chivy,” which should include the following…”see also: Henry Seamus Nack”
- To tease or annoy with persistent petty attacks
- To move or obtain by small maneuvers
Original meeting “to harass or chase”
Crazy Hen; poor Finn. 😉
From the little guys to the big guy. 🙂
