To put a nice cherry on the end of Dad-O’s long & fruitful sabbatical, we cruised over the mountains to nearby Capitola & are enjoying a few days of sand and (meager) sun. We’ll have more pics & vids to share soon, but meanwhile here are a couple of images from today’s trip to Marianne’s Ice Cream in Santa Cruz. I’ve captioned the first, “Sweet inside, sour outside.” 😉
I was delighted to score the fam a bunch of good presents during my time in Guatemala. I’ve never seen a country more into owls, making it a perfect place to get “Oswaldo,” an owl bank who now hangs out with Henry’s guys Ollie & Catamaran. Finny got a rooster (from our bedtime stories), and each guy got a typical Guatemalan vehicle–a “chicken bus” for Hen (<--appropriate? :-)) and a "tuk tuk" scooter for Finn. Now our "T.A.L.B." is a nonstop story of "bad dudes" stealing tuk-tuks & getting chased by a Guatemalan guy named Hubert (a real person!), etc. And not to be left out, Margot is enjoying some freshly picked coffee, chocolate-covered nuts & pineapple, and a new necklace. Check out the guys meeting their new buddies.
Another exciting milestone for the Micronaxx: G-Man is now the proud occupant of his own big boy bed–and a bunk bed at that!
Margot did most of the assembly last weekend (with me contributing my usual strong-back/weak-mind stuff), and the dudes are suitably enthralled. They love the presence of “the trundle” that hides underneath the lower bed, though they were a bit disappointed that it’s no good for the requested “zooming around the room.” The plan is to keep the guys in their separate rooms/beds for the foreseeable future, but the bunk gives us nice options for the future.
I grabbed a few reaction videos that we might get to share soon; for now, though, check out the young pirates in their new “ship.“
Q. What’s better than going to a party, getting fed warm homemade tofu, and getting to “threaten” partygoers with promises of “causing mayhem”?
A. Doing all those things and then getting to try on a real firefighter’s helmet!
Thanks to Mom-O’s friend Sue & her husband (the SJFD veteran) for their hospitality.
Long before we had the lads, I started eyeing our long driveway and (cue chin-stroke) planning. What better landing pad for The Big Guy & his team? I just had to wait a few years to put my plans in action!
On Christmas Eve the boys put out a big bowl full of Cheerios to feed the reindeer. After they hit the sack, Margot & I got busy carving a potato into a hoof-shaped stamp. I grabbed the guys’ water-soluble* brown paint from downstairs, dunked the stamp, and got busy stamping away, then drawing some sleigh marks for good measure.
The next morning we trekked outside for a little “CSI” (“Christmas Scene Investigation”). Here are a few shots of the scene we discovered.
*(We hope!)
On a brighter note, Happy New Year from Finny & Party Hat Leo (plus Mom-O, Dad-O, and G-Man)!
An inexplicably mustachioed Finnster got wistful realizing that our present-stash had been fully depleted. (And boy, the poor guy cried today while Mom-O started packing away the Christmas decorations.)
In today’s little gallery, you can see the covetous Finnster admiring some red velvet cake; the guys building Lincoln Logs with Grandpa; goosestepping Henry being “Dr. Bucketfoot;” the guys enjoying “Emergency kit” puzzles from Auntie Laura; and more.
We’ve had a spectacular Christmas week with the boys, from making our traditional Red Velvet Cake (and licking the beater!), to opening and playing with new toys.
Santa delivered exactly what the boys asked for – Thomas engines, trucks, and more Legos. Needless to say, there have been many derailments, traffic jams, pile-ups, and modified vehicles. For instance, Tow Mater was turned into a Christmas tree-trimming truck! The guys also scored a set of Lincoln Logs, and are keen on learning how to build a top-notch log cabin (following the lead of their resident expert, Grandpa). Here’s our first little gallery of the Christmas proceedings.
John and I went out to the mall a few days ago to wrap up our Christmas shopping for each other. I really wanted to get him his own elaborate Lego kit, because there are not many things John loves more than Legos (me, the kids, and his camera, to be exact). I was gun shy, though, because I didn’t want to get him a gift that he couldn’t really enjoy with the kids, because they’re still a bit too small to manipulate and build with all those tiny pieces (or so I thought!).
So, I left the Lego store empty-handed. Turns out John had also visited the store, and was drooling over a model Chinook helicopter. “Or as Henry likes to call them,” notes Finny, “‘hello-copters.'” He too walked away empty-handed, and a little bit heartbroken, for the same reason as me. As we talked more about it, we both reached the same conclusion, which was that he should go back and get that darn helicopter kit and see if it was something Finny would be able to enjoy alongside him. Worst case scenario, Finny wouldn’t enjoy it, but John would still be left with a Lego helicopter! (Henry, surprisingly, is a fan of the instruction booklets, a.k.a. “constructions.”)
I think the pictures in our little gallery will tell you everything you need to know. I remarked to John that seeing the joy on his face while observing the two of them build the chopper was the true gift. I got to see one of his dreams of fatherhood come true.
Back in April Henry became a bit obsessed with the subject of Thomas (the Tank Engine) and the seaside. How great, then, that we discovered that Thomas was coming to our very own seaside! The four of us cruised over to Santa Cruz where we met Sir Topham Hatt & even Santa and his elves! G-Man was predictably standoffish, but Finny warmed right up and delivered his wish list. Afterwards we had a ball riding the huge boardwalk carousel & playing on the train tables. Here’s our little gallery, plus a very brief clip:
In this year’s Christmas decorating, we’ve been ably assisted by two very enthusiastic “manger arrangers.” Check out our garland-slingin’, sleigh-bell-ringin’, elf-hat-flingin’ amigos in action.
During our Galena trip we were delighted to meet our new niece/cousin Jenna Nack. Here’s a gallery of her hanging out with the Micronaxx plus various Murray cousins.
“That sign means ‘No Coyotes’,” declares Finn. “And ‘No Fries’!” adds G-Man. 🙂
What–if this is even possible–is better than playing with a fleet of toy farm vehicles? How about playing with the real vehicles?
On Sunday Uncle Ted escorted us to visit his friend Tommy Moser’s farm. Our guys were delighted to explore a couple of big tractors (turns out Finn’s an Allis-Chalmers man) plus a truly massive combine. Our visit to the chicken coop yielded a bucket of eggs we’ve been enjoying every day since, and Henry got a little freaked out regarding “mad cows” (as in “angry,” not as in “Bovine spongiform encephalopathy”!).
Here’s a gallery of photos, plus a video showing the egg-grabbing good times:
Breaker breaker 1-9, this here’s Rubber Duck and… well, I’ve already exhausted about 90% of my CB/trucker lingo. In any case, we really put the “N” in “TNT” (Ted Nack Trucking) yesterday: the boys & I spent the day on Uncle Ted’s big rig, traveling through Iowa to collect a trailer & then heading on to “The World’s Largest Truck Stop.” Here’s a little gallery of photos. I’ve also boiled our 7-hour adventure down to two minutes:
As a little bonus, here’s how Henry & I passed a few miles on Uncle Ted’s sleeper. I’d apologize for the jiggly camera work, but even this doesn’t capture quite how loud & shaky it is inside a truck!
Greetings from “Big G”! We arrived in Galena on Saturday after a journey on which the boys did great. (Well, check that: on the plane I pretended to call Grandpa Nack and tell him that the boys hadn’t fussed at all, but Henry interrupted: “I did some fussing!” Not much, though.)
We’ve had a ball so far, meeting baby cousin Jenna, visiting Tommy Moser’s farm (much more on that soon), and especially playing with Uncle Ted’s old farm toys. The lads are in seventh heaven learning about hay balers, manure spreaders, and more. (Parental bonus: I’ve never seen them so self-entertaining! They keep making a beeline to the sun porch–er, “crop area”–and barely note whether we’re there.) Here’s a brief glimpse of the action:
Let us hereby turn our basement rec room into a wreck room! 🙂
Margot kitted out the guys with a full assortment of paints, glue, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, and other goodies this past weekend, and they’ve been doing some messy “basementing” ever since. Check out a few portraits of the artists as very young men.
Thanks to our buddy Matthew for supplying some stick-on mayhem! (Henry was napping but got into the spirit later via some forks.)
