Category: Photos

Dad-o and Finny were feeling adventurous–and hungry–yesterday, so they decided that some chocolate-chip cookie-making was in order. You’ll notice in the gallery (HTML) that Finny’s got his helmet on, just like the “little dudes” in one of his favorite books, Who Made This Cake by Chihiro Nakagawa.

In the book, a squadron of teeny tiny construction workers are employed to make a birthday cake. Donning their helmets, they set off with their dump trucks, bulldozers, cranes, helicopters, and semaphore flags to complete the mission. While not as tiny as the dudes in the book, our small construction worker had a blast with the measuring cups, spoons, and stand mixer. Dad-o, as general contractor, ensured that all the ingredients were accounted for, and I, acting as quality control, made sure that the cookies actually got baked and were suitable for consumption. Vacuuming Finny seemed like the easiest way to get him de-floured, and he seemed to enjoy the little brush.

Later in the afternoon, I fired up my new Weber kettle (thanks John!) and we had a Nack family cookout–corn on the cob, steak, fish, and pork chops. There’s nothing better than a warm Saturday, good barbecue, and goofando in the backyard. Except for topping it all off with cookies!

Last summer we gave Finn his first taste of pickle, with colorful results. Ever since then we’ve had a nice rapport with the folks at the “meat hut” (the smokehouse down the street), with us calling the proprietors “Pickle Man” and “Pickle Lady,” and the latter calling Finn her “pickle baby.” They’re always quick to furnish Finn with a pickle while we wait, and we brought them a print of the image below. Unfortunately I misplaced the digital copy until now:

(Here’s a larger version.)

Thanks to Caroline Gardhouse-Begg, mother of playgroup buddy Alex, for capturing the Finnster & me making sure the SJFD is running a tight ship:

(Here’s a larger version.)

Father’s Day with the Nack boys was a lot of fun. Sunday marked John’s first Father’s Day with two squires! We packed in as many kid-friendly adventures as possible. Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of the day’s proceedings, including Dad-o and Finny enjoying Dad-o’s surprise piece of chocolate cake, our visit to Wienerschnitzel for corndogs (at Finny’s request), and some late afternoon pool-time in the backyard.

Henry was working on his ballet moves and sunning his tummy, while Finny was primarily interested in bailing out the pool and watering the grass. You’ll see Leo sunbathing on the backyard stair-rail, necessitated by Finny’s sly dunking of Leo in the pool in an effort to give him a bath! Between catching some rays and a little time in the dryer, Leo was dry and ready for bedtime at the end of the day.

So, does Finn’s future career entail selling South African noisemakers or Swiss cough drops? 🙂

(Here’s a larger version.)

Want to see a little kid go totally mental? Promise him a trip to the fire station!

On Monday morning a big crew of little characters, some decked out in helmets and boots, gathered at the nearby Willow Glen fire station. Finny had been bouncing off the walls beforehand, saying, “Go! To! The! Fi-re! Sta-tion!! Let’s go there right now!!” At the station he got to shake hands with a (somewhat intimidating) fireman in full mask & gear, and he took a real shine to the truck-battery-charging power cord that hung down from the ceiling. Our visit concluded with the fire crew heading out on a real live call, sirens blazing. That meant no getting in the truck for us, but overall, what could be better? Here’s a little gallery (HTML).

What’s better than one big road ripper visiting the neighborhood? Answer: two big road rippers, of course, accompanied by a backhoe, steamroller, and Bobcat–all unattended and ready for father-son trespassing!

The roads near our house are undergoing some much-needed resurfacing, so yesterday Finn & I were able to sneak over and check out the little motor pool. We thought Uncle Ted would be proud as we “steered” the vehicles, manipulated the little joysticks (“That one peeking out a little bit!” Finn noted as they moved in sync), and explored the various tracks, buckets, and brooms. Not wanting Finn to get squashed, and being constantly warned by the various signs, I took just a handful of shots (HTML) to share.

The Micronaxx are always having new adventures and taking on new personas. Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of dipe-clad, pony-riding, Harley-loving buccaneers and their adult sidekicks galavanting around the Nack casa.

This weekend our pals Maria and Alex dropped by for a quick overnight visit, arriving in time to get an eyeful of our nature-boy elder son (“Finny a nudist!”) cavorting in the sprinkler. Having taught him to match my water-spitting ways means more chuckles–and more wet shirts–for me.

Meanwhile Henry was his chipper self, exploring (the very patient) Alex’s beard (“pull cord for service”?) before guffawing with Dad-O. Finn & Alex also disappeared for a bit to do some drawing, showing Maria’s Kansas City house being sucked up and (as he’d hope) carried to SF via tornado. Thanks largely to Maria, here’s a little gallery (HTML) of the hijinks.

Apropos of nothing… 🙂

Leo, Tom, and Finn on Memorial Day

Just because we fail to plan ahead each Memorial Day does not mean we are planning to fail! It seems the official kickoff to summer always catches us by surprise, and we usually end up bemoaning the fact that we haven’t gone anywhere or planned anything exciting.

This year, however, we decided to celebrate Memorial Day in our own “Nackyard.” We invited a bunch of friends over for a barbeque and plenty of kid-based tomfoolery. It was a gorgeous afternoon, unbelievably welcome after the wettest spring in memory, so we got out the sprinkler mat, the swimsuits, hotdogs and hamburgers, and had a really good time.

Here’s a little gallery (HTML) of the proceedings–including pals Tom, Sarah, and Harper; Bruce, Mira, and Anya; Chris, Devorah, Dominic, and Charlotte; and our own intrepid ringleader Finny and his sidekick Henry (both sporting their new Harley Davidson shirts!).

After foregoing all work travel for more than a year, I got back in the saddle last week, flying off to Seattle with fellow dad-o “Hoot.” The Finnfatha took my absence in stride, but I like this slightly wistful shot of him amidst my travel paraphernalia:

These days Henry’s activities are less locomotion, more frustration–but boy, the little guy is trying hard. He’s kind of at odds & ends all the time, not yet having figured out how to crawl, not content to sit still, and not able to stand unaided. He bobs and weaves like crazy, often tipping onto his face (with a predictable reaction). I snapped a few pics (HTML) of him working like mad to get that butt up in the air. Soon enough, I’m sure, we’ll be chasing both dudes.

Bonus photo: Henry was chanting “CoCoCoCo!”–right up until I started trying to record him with my phone, naturally.

This past weekend our Argentinian friends Adolfo, Romina, and their son Bruno rolled into SJ for a visit. When we last saw them in Vegas last spring, Brunito was only about 7 months old. Now he’s a big, mobile, curly-topped 18-month old, and I think he had a pretty good time “kickandalo” with our guys.

Adolfo took some great pics (HTML) of all the guys (Dad-O included!) goofing around in the backyard and at “Traintrackpark.” At one point, Finny was clearly enjoying his chocolate milk, and then later Bruno was really digging the bottle, which was dubbed “Coca!”

[Of the “Audi Assault” photo, Adolfo writes on Facebook, “Bruno wearing an anti-anti-riot helmet as he fights capitalism with a curl making device | Bruno con un casco anti-antidisturbios, mientras combate al capitalismo con un artefacto hacedor de rulos.” Or as Finn puts it, “Bruno tried to bonk the Ocho!” 🙂 –J.]

Sometimes with kids, a friend once told me, “The days are long by the years are short.” Last Monday, though, I think Finn & would’ve been content to spend all night watching a team of tree trimmers ply their trade among some nearby telephone wires. It was a beautiful spring evening, and having passed the crew on my way home, I rushed in to tell Finn the news. He wolfed down the remains of his dinner, and we spent the next hour or so watching & narrating the proceedings: “That truck have little feet… What that dude in the cherry picker doing?… Dude got a leaf blower!”… and so on, Finn said, taking little breaks to “help” scoop up woodchips using dual spatulas.

I kept hearing Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” playing in my head. The only thing better would be to have Henry and Margot along for the ride, though I think it’ll be a bit before the little guy can handle the roar of a wood chipper. 🙂

[Click for a larger image.]