- M: “Finny, you are my sunshine.”
F: “Yeah, and the Lego chopper pilots are *my* sunshine!” - Big guys:
- Finn notices me dawdling on Twitter. “Time for you to hit the shower, Big Man!” he declares.
- Finn, to Margot’s six-foot-four dad: “Grandpa, when you grow up, you’ll be as tall as a GIANT!!”
- “I moved Henry’s fragile truck,” Finn tells me from the couch, “so you wouldn’t shatter it with your big ol’ Dad-O butt.” #verbatim
- “I’m Captain Sully, Dad-O,” Finn advises me from the jungle gym. “I’m watching out for birds so we don’t end up in the Hudson!”
- Finn’s taken to telling me bedtime stories, then wrapping up with “And THAT, my Dad-O, is the end of that!”
- Rebuffed by Margot at the park, Finn tells us, “Well, I’m not gonna deal with a person who doesn’t ride the roller coaster!”
- Bird-like bits:
- “Dad-O, I found you a new pecker!” declares Finn, brandishing a stick (y’know, for peck-peck-pecking). Sometimes I sure love my life. 🙂
- After “pecking” the boys with a stick, I discarded it in the driveway. “Oh no, Dad-O,” said Finn, “Don’t let the Ocho run over your pecker!”
- “Yeah, I know you have to get money to pay for things–like the gazebo.” — Finn, mourning our return to work.
Month: February 2012
Categories
Capitola pix
We celebrated the final days of John’s sabbatical with a President’s Day long weekend at the beach in Capitola. We found a last-minute condo rental, packed our beach gear, and headed out for some fun in the unseasonably warm sunshine.
We all had an absolute ball. The boys spent 90% of their waking hours playing in the sand (the percentage would have been higher had they not awoken at 5a.m. – too dark and cold to go to the beach!). We made sand soup, sand castles, we threw rocks into the waves, walked along beached logs, lazed on our beach blanket, and almost sacrificed wee Crocs to the quicksand. We were even accompanied by a 50-person ukelele concert on Sunday morning! Here’s a little gallery of the proceedings.
- Deutschland:
- “Moin moin moin moin moin moin!” says Finn.
“Could you stop that?” asks Margot.
“No,” he says, “I’m a German!” - “Peanuts are green,” sings Finn, “roses are red… and Germans are crazy!” (Sorry, Germans! :))
- Henry, just now: “Is Mom-O talking to Germans?”
Me: “Yep.”
Finn: “No! Nein nein nein nein!!”
- “Moin moin moin moin moin moin!” says Finn.
- Creatures:
- “I’m a Clark, Dad-O,” Henry reports.
“You’re a… ‘Clark’?,” I ask.
“Yeah. In the dark, in a park.” #OneFishTwoFish - I overhear Finn yelling at a strange green seed pod: “Get over here, you darn… Boba Fett!”
- “What’s that guy, Dad-O?”
“It’s a daddy longlegs.”
“And that one?”
“Uh… that’s a daddy fatbutt.”
I am a tremendous educational resource.
- “I’m a Clark, Dad-O,” Henry reports.
- Chaos:
- “You need to look after me, Dad-O,” Finn tells me, “or”–eyes twinkling–“I might have to cause *mayhem*!”
- Finn helpfully corrects my reading of an ABC book: “M is for ‘Mayhem,’ V is for ‘Volvo,’ and P is for ‘Pee!'”
Categories
Hola from Capitola
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.” 😉
- “What’s inside an avocado, Dad-O?,” wonders Finn.
“Well, there’s a pit…” I begin.
“Yeah,” he adds, “and guacamole!!” - Thoughtful 2yo Henry, returning from a 9am grocery store run: “Dad-O may you drink some beer, please?”
NOW it’s a Christmas break. - Marching off to grab my beverage, 2yo Henry gleefully announces, “Coke is SPICY, for NOT ME!!”
- Tonight’s culinary innovation: “Kid on the Cob.” Req. tender thigh of tot, aged 2-3 yrs. Serves large helpings of hilarity, family-style.
- Margot to Finn on Saturday morning: “Want a corn dog, hon?”
Finn: “No, I only eat corn dogs on the weekend.” - Having learned about farm implements in Galena, Finn asks me, “Is there a big blade in our tummies to mix up the food?”
- Surprise: your keyboard includes an “ice cream cone” key. This according to 2yo Henry (viewing Volume Up sideways).
- Finn’s parting comment to Margot as she tucked him in: “I assume there will be breakfast in the morning?” 😀
Categories
A Carrot for Your Ferret
On Sunday the boys enjoyed meeting both a ferret (Silvio!) and a parrot (Solomon!) at Happy Hollow. During that night’s T.A.L.B., we spooled up some related craziness (complete with inexplicable accent), then hit “record.” Press the little arrow below to give it a listen:
(Here’s the direct link in case your phone/computer doesn’t support Flash.)
Categories
Happy Valentine’s Day
From the Micronaxx basement to your table… 🙂
We haven’t done a wrap-up like this since October (!), so here’s a belated round-up of the guys’ little sayings since then.
- Music:
- I body slam Finno in the laundry room. He sings back, “I fell into a burning ring of hamper…!”
- I catch Finn singing our neighbor’s name into the tune of “Thunderstruck”: “oohOOWahahAAHow, PAB-LO!”
- Hipped the boys to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” via YouTube chopper videos. Henry asks, “What is that baby [Brian Johnson] crying about?”
- “Foom foom FOOM Foom foom!” Finn sings to Henry this morning. “Reality hits you *hard*, bro!”
- Finn’s running around, sticking phrases into “Ride of the Valkyries” (e.g. “Open the SANDbox, open the SANDbox…!”) That. Is. My. BOY! 😀
- Oddest mash-up, courtesy of our son: Peter Gabriel meets Sandra Boyton. “I want to be, your personal Sledgehammer…”
- Young Henry considers YouTube: “I would like some… Foxy Lady. I would like… more Garth.”
- After hearing LMFAO’s “Party Anthem,” Finn compulsively claws at his ear: “Get it out!!”
- El Baño:
- “Maybe we could come to Guatemala with you, Dad-O,” notes Finn, “but I don’t want the kids to sit on my lap & pee on me.”
- “Adios, poop!” waves a cheerful Finn. “See ya later when the toilet backs up!”
- Margot says I’m “guilty as charged.””Yeah,” says Finn, “you’re guilty ASS-charged!!”(“Guilty ass-poop,” adds Henry.)
- “I’m having a massive poop, Dad-O,” announces wee Henry. “It’s gonna *scare* me!!” (He claims it has arms & legs to hunt him down.)
- Henry emerges from the basement & finds Mom-O upstairs: “I heard the potty stop so I came up.”
M: “You’re a smart boy, Hen.”
H: “Yes I am!”Modest, too. 🙂 - “Sorry for party rocking, Dad-O,” Henry tells me.
“Sorry for potty rocking,” corrects Finn.
Categories
Of Owls & Tuk-Tuks: Guatemalan Loot
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.
Categories
Reunited!
You know what’s a pretty great thing to come home to? This! 🙂
Our feelings can be summed up by this classic from our archives:
