A brief anecdote from Grandma Nack:
When I was with the boys, I spelled their names, including their last name. Then I told them I had another name than Grandma, which was Pat. Finn looked at Henry and said, “Her last name is Grandma.” 🙂
In possibly related news, alongside “Sweaty,” “Nonsense,” and the other firemen, Finn now deploys Fireman Jim Nack. Go figure.
Delmas Avenue, 7am: A beaming Finn just ran into the TV room where Margot and I were sitting. “Hey, I have four things to tell you dudes!” he announced.
“One is, ‘Jeez Louise, Fillmore’s eating cheese!’
One is, Stegosaurus eggasaurus.
One is, Rhino vyno.
And one is, Brontosaurus applesaurus!
I made those up while I was sleeping!”
So now you know. 🙂
This weekend, the boys and I continued working on our gazebo rehab project. They “helped” me stain and seal the gazebo floor, and then we got to work on some landscaping.
We started yesterday morning with a trip to the local nursery to find some flowering perennials to plant along the border of the gazebo. The guys really got a kick out of the huge displays of all sorts of flowers, shrubs, fruit trees, and veggie plants. We checked out some decorative fountains, prodded at some lily pads, smelled all kinds of flowers, and discussed what our favorite colors were. The color discussion led us to the plants we ultimately chose – some with purple flowers (a Henry favorite) and some with red flowers (Finny and I like those). We picked up some soil conditioner and mulch, then went home and got to work.
The boys got to break out all their construction vehicles and wagons in the process. Here’s a photo gallery of our project. Finny and Henry were excellent transporters, dumpers, waterers, and diggers. I think Finny’s favorite part was filling his dumptuck with planting mix and dumping it onto the freshly dug “old dirt.” When Henry wasn’t resting and watching from afar, he decided he wanted to be in charge of watering, which was fine until he “accidentally” watered his brother from head to toe!
By lunchtime, the three of us were dirty and hot, but very happy. We got our new plants in and had a fantastic time doing it. Now we can’t wait for them to grow!
[PS–The guys were so amped up from the ice cream I’d bought them in Santa Cruz that when the three of us returned to the hardware store for mulch, they ended up tearing around the garden section like maniacs. I had to secure them like this. 🙂 –J.]
You know who loves being chopped liver? Me! 🙂
The lads had a terrific week with Grandma Nack. Normally the guys stick to me like white on rice, and every morning starts with urgent requests to hang out. Not last week, though: Finny would make a beeline into Grandma’s room, and Henry happily skipped past me to see her. I’d find them reading books (Mom started Finn on Little House on the Prairie, as she did with me at age 4) or rampaging on the pull-out bed (“Stunt Coursing!”). At one point Finn asked Grandma not to use the bathroom that sits between her room and his: “Well, I’d wake up & not know what that light was–and one time I looked through the key hole and saw a Grandma face in there!”
Here are a couple of videos of Mom reading to the guys. They’re not exactly action-packed, to say the least, but it’s fun to see the very first reading of Little House–and the thousandth of Henry’s “things that go” book:
We had a ball at the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival last weekend with our pals the Wiggii, future (heck, current) biking phenom Dillon Hall, and his folks & little sister. Our guys have been pretty indifferent to cycling, but the Finnster got caught up in the spirit of the day. Check out his ride on the “stunt course” (a term he’s been re-using all week for the various pillow obstacles he’s erected):
Lego.com wants to test the bounds of my sanity: its Pick-a-Brick feature had me dancing on the edge of madness, clicking through *hundreds* of pages of pieces, choosing great & offbeat ones I thought the guys would enjoy. After I made my selection, we’ve waited (im)patiently for weeks as the literal slow boat from China inched closer with our bespoke loot. And what do you know, it finally came! Here’s a little “unboxing” video, courtesy of Mom-O:
Too bad you can’t see their initial excited freak-out upon realizing what the white envelope contained. It was much like this clip, wherein Finny got a birthday Lego ambulance from his friend Cyrus:
What’s better than visiting Treatbot, the karaoke ice cream truck? Answer: Visiting Treatbot, then going home and building one’s own Lego Treatbot! Check out the mystery machine we built following our trip to “A Movable Feast,” complete with roof vents, a side-opening window, and what Finn assures me are whipped cream dispensers.
Break out the big guns: On Sunday we journeyed to nearby Richmond, CA (north of Oakland/Berkeley) to visit the USS Iowa, a famous battleship (or “battle boat,” as Finn put it) of World War II. We also checked out the cargo ship SS Red Oak Victory moored (and long ago built) nearby. Though Finn quickly tired of the cold wind, Salty Hen really enjoyed swinging his mallet aboard that freighter. (A bright career as a “deck ape” may await!)
Here’s our gallery o’ pics from the day.
The boys love watching homemade YouTube videos where kids show off their Lego collections. For weeks Finn’s been talking about creating “Truck Show Firemen Everywhere” (being very insistent about the specific title)–and now we’ve done it!
So, without further ado, please meet Jim, Nonsense, Sweaty, their “vehicle-shaped” vehicle, and more!
What makes Henry’s bunk beds even more fun at bedtime? A clip-on lamp that lets us read stories in bed! Click for a larger version.
How does a solo-flying Dad-O manage the Micronaxx? By stuffing them onto rides for some seaside “super-dizzying”! Check out Sunday on the Boardwalk with our friends the Wiggii:
As for the choppers, hens aren’t really known for flying high, are they?
Henry Seamus, I’m so proud: when Dad-O, forgetting the date, inadvertently dressed the G-Man in a “London, England” t-shirt, the wee Irishman promptly puked all over it. Aww, shucks. 🙂
The Green Beings & I were glad to spend a bit of the day helping friend Harper Hogarty ring in her third birthday, with Finno ensconced in his cool new “Finn” ballcap (a birthday gift from his Liggett GPs). Here’s a handful of photos from the day. (See also St. Patrick’s gone by.)
“The amazing thing about parenthood,” I’ve heard it said, “isn’t that adults make children, but that children make adults.” How true that is as I watch our lads slowly tear apart the beautiful, beautiful Lego kits they’ve gotten. Remember that awesome Lego helicopter from Christmas? Now, through the magic of sharing with one’s brother, the chopper’s chopped:
I know it’s all part of the process, and I couldn’t be happier to see Finn creating new vehicles daily. (Some kids just play with assembled Legos as if they were simply regular vehicles–just really fragile ones.) Still… oh, kids, it’s hard on old dad–but I’m growing up. 🙂
Oddly enough, both Margot & work with German dudes named Patrick, and we’ve had them over for dinner during recent visits. Finn (logically enough, I suppose) asked, “Is our cousin Patrick a German?” This made me devise a little back-and-forth that delights Finn to no end:
…and so on. 🙂
My folks & the guys had a literal ball–or three–playing together in the back yard. After scoring a few big bouncy balls at Walgreens, my mom regaled the boys with tales of her illustrious basketball career, and the boys showed off their antics with the “Long Arm” (basically walking together while holding a stick, ending with a pratfall from Finn). We were charmed that the big guy picked up on my parents having actual names besides “Grandma/Grandpa,” and he started cheekily prefacing every toss to Grandpa by saying, “Time for Jim to have a turn!”
Here’s a little gallery of photos, plus a short clip:
We feel so happy & lucky to have gotten to celebrate the Finnster’s Fourth with so many excellent pals (both large & small), and with my folks who trekked all the way from Illinois. We couldn’t have asked for more gorgeous weather–72 with not a cloud in the sky (rather different from last year’s slightly shivery fun). Everyone seemed to enjoy packing away greasy pizza & Margot’s brilliant fire truck cake before taking a whack at the piñata. Thankfully neighborhood “big kids” Dom & Charlotte were able to liberate the candy at last.
Thanks so much to everyone for coming out and partying with us! Here’s a little gallery from the festivities.
