Today at the park:
C: I am thirsty. I should have a beer.
E: Oh, really? What kind of beer?
C: Cinnamon!
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Charlie's new favorite game: I sit on the floor with my legs loosely crossed. Charlie crawls in my lap, and wraps himself up in a blanket. Then I say, "Evan, I think our baby is ready to hatch!" Then Charlie jumps out of his "shell" and we have to say, "There's our baby!" We played this game for about 45 minutes after dinner the other night. Second in line is the stinky feet game, which mostly involves him rubbing his stinky feet on us and laughing maniacally.
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Charlie loves the phrases "of course" and "in fact:"
E: Charlie will you please go put these trucks back in your room?
C: Of course!
A: Charlie would you like some more muffin?
C: Yes, I would, in fact.
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Hugs and kisses are in short supply these days. Chances are good that if you ask for a hug, he'll tell you he's all out: "No more hugs today, mama. But you can have a kiss."
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Little Gamer
Evan has gotten back into playing war strategy games that involve table-top miniatures. Sort of like GI Joe for grown-ups. Not surprisingly, Charlie is really curious about the miniatures and loves to look at them. He loves to say, "When I get bigger, I will go and play guys with my daddy." Today Evan made Charlie his own game case for this dinosaurs, and then they played meat eaters v. plant eaters . . . which mostly involved Charlie using the dice knock the dinosaurs. But Evan was in deep smit, and they had a blast.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Dino Trail
The Museum of Life + Science just opened their new new dinosaur trail. They've got about a dozen life-size dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous, plus a fossil dig site. They had preview day today, and although the fossil site wasn't ready yet, Charlie and Gabriel had a great time checking out the dinos. When finished the 1/2-mile loop, Charlie's first words were: "Can we go again?"
Charlie sits on Parasaurolophus
The boys check out the Troodon
Charlie is so excited about the baby Maiasaura!
Banana break
Rock lounging with daddy
Charlie sits on Parasaurolophus
The boys check out the Troodon
Charlie is so excited about the baby Maiasaura!
Banana break
Rock lounging with daddy
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Montreal
Evan had a work conference in Montreal which happened to coincide with our anniversary. We decided that this would be a lovely adults-only trip, so Charlie went to spend the week with Omi & Opu in Atlanta. He was so cute when they came to pick him up . . . at first he was concerned that he was going to have to walk to their house by himself! When it was time for them to get on the road, he gave us hugs and kisses, waved to us from the driveway, and hopped in the car. I'm so thankful that he's so excited to go and hang out with the grandparents. It would be really stressful to have to shove him into the car screaming and crying.
Montreal was fantastic. Evan was only tied up in the morning, so we usually took off just before lunch and spent the afternoon ambling around. And after so many weeks of hot weather at home, the 70-degree weather was a welcome change.
The view from our hotel room - Cathedrale Marie-Reine du Monde
Inside Notre Dame - it was pouring rain that day, so we didn't get any exterior shots. The basilica is in the old part of Montreal, which is impossibly quaint. Lots of narrow cobblestone streets and lovely old buildings.
Adorable, but blurry, Emperor penguins at the Biodome
Marche Jean Talon: We could have spent all day there. The central part of the market has fruits, veggies and flowers, and the outer perimeter is made up of halal butchers, artisinal cheese shops, ice cream shops, bakeries, etc. We got some delicious bread at Premiere Moisson, and then wandered around the market for a while. We ended up at a shop that had over 40 types of sausage, and a grill set up so you could get sausage sandwiches. Delicious!
Our last day, we walked up to the summit of Parc Mont-Royal, which has a lovely overlook of the city.
This was my first trip to Canada (I don't think Niagra Falls counts), and here are my initial impressions:
1. The smoking - blech :( Not sure if this is just a city thing, but I was amazed by how many people were wandering around with cigarettes.
2. It is worth going to Montreal just for the food: poutine = french fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds. Yum. Evan also enjoyed the classic smoked meat sandwich. One thing we didn't get around to was trying the various contenders in the Montreal bagel wars.
3. Montreal has a pretty significant underground area downtown, so people don't have to venture out into the elements in the winter. It gives me the shivers just thinking about winters so brutal that they necessitate underground respite. So as often as I've threatened to move to Canada in the last 8 years, I don't think I could actually do it. I'm too much of a wuss.
4. Canadians seem much less affected by the obesity epedimic. Perhaps this relates back to #1? But then where does the poutine fit in?
Montreal was fantastic. Evan was only tied up in the morning, so we usually took off just before lunch and spent the afternoon ambling around. And after so many weeks of hot weather at home, the 70-degree weather was a welcome change.
The view from our hotel room - Cathedrale Marie-Reine du Monde
Inside Notre Dame - it was pouring rain that day, so we didn't get any exterior shots. The basilica is in the old part of Montreal, which is impossibly quaint. Lots of narrow cobblestone streets and lovely old buildings.
Adorable, but blurry, Emperor penguins at the Biodome
Marche Jean Talon: We could have spent all day there. The central part of the market has fruits, veggies and flowers, and the outer perimeter is made up of halal butchers, artisinal cheese shops, ice cream shops, bakeries, etc. We got some delicious bread at Premiere Moisson, and then wandered around the market for a while. We ended up at a shop that had over 40 types of sausage, and a grill set up so you could get sausage sandwiches. Delicious!
Our last day, we walked up to the summit of Parc Mont-Royal, which has a lovely overlook of the city.
This was my first trip to Canada (I don't think Niagra Falls counts), and here are my initial impressions:
1. The smoking - blech :( Not sure if this is just a city thing, but I was amazed by how many people were wandering around with cigarettes.
2. It is worth going to Montreal just for the food: poutine = french fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds. Yum. Evan also enjoyed the classic smoked meat sandwich. One thing we didn't get around to was trying the various contenders in the Montreal bagel wars.
3. Montreal has a pretty significant underground area downtown, so people don't have to venture out into the elements in the winter. It gives me the shivers just thinking about winters so brutal that they necessitate underground respite. So as often as I've threatened to move to Canada in the last 8 years, I don't think I could actually do it. I'm too much of a wuss.
4. Canadians seem much less affected by the obesity epedimic. Perhaps this relates back to #1? But then where does the poutine fit in?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4th of July
As is our tradition, we went to America's Heartland for 4th of July. We stopped off in Columbus first, for a visit with Ben & Kirsten, and of course, a stop at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.
Black-eyed Susans at a Virginia rest-stop
Helping Kirsten water the herb garden
Playing piano with Ben
From there, we went on to Willoughby to see the Miracle clan at Uncle Tim & Aunt Colleen's annual picnic. Charlie got to hang out with his cousin Ryan, who is 18 months older and therefore much worldlier with much cooler toys.
Checking the temperature of Uncle Tim's pool (verdict: freezing)
Scarfing down Tim's jambalaya
Feeding Aunt Lauren a blueberry
Who needs fireworks when Grandpa wears this shirt?
The Emperor Charles feasts on grapes
We weren't entirely sure how the fireworks would go over - but he loved them. So much so, that we had a running color commentary for the entire 30 minutes: "Mommy, look at that colorful one! Daddy, did you see the colorful one? The colorful ones are my favorite. Which ones do you like, Mommy? Mommy, you like the sparkly ones. They look like glitter! Ooh, look, another colorful one!" Evan shot some video of this, and in 10 minutes, I think he said "colorful" 23 times.
Black-eyed Susans at a Virginia rest-stop
Helping Kirsten water the herb garden
Playing piano with Ben
From there, we went on to Willoughby to see the Miracle clan at Uncle Tim & Aunt Colleen's annual picnic. Charlie got to hang out with his cousin Ryan, who is 18 months older and therefore much worldlier with much cooler toys.
Checking the temperature of Uncle Tim's pool (verdict: freezing)
Scarfing down Tim's jambalaya
Feeding Aunt Lauren a blueberry
Who needs fireworks when Grandpa wears this shirt?
The Emperor Charles feasts on grapes
We weren't entirely sure how the fireworks would go over - but he loved them. So much so, that we had a running color commentary for the entire 30 minutes: "Mommy, look at that colorful one! Daddy, did you see the colorful one? The colorful ones are my favorite. Which ones do you like, Mommy? Mommy, you like the sparkly ones. They look like glitter! Ooh, look, another colorful one!" Evan shot some video of this, and in 10 minutes, I think he said "colorful" 23 times.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Bike Day
Charlie's preschool had planned a bike day, but he needed a helmet in order to bring in his trike. Since we hadn't really been too concerned about tricycle-induced head injuries, we needed to make a "safety first" run to Target. The helmet came with knee and shin guards, which Charlie insisted on wearing as well.
The boy was all ready to try out his gear, with a little steering help from Daddy.
The boy was all ready to try out his gear, with a little steering help from Daddy.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Lucy's Wedding
Our friends Lucy and Donald got married this weekend on her parents' farm. Since this coincided with my birthday, we decided to take a mini-vacation to Tennessee.
On the way there:
C: Is Donald a girl?
A: No, honey, he's a man, like daddy.
C: Then he has a penis!
Thankfully, this was not repeated once we reached our destination.
He was, however, overcome by how "beautiful" our hotel room was (which I should add, was standard-issue burgundy floral): "Mommy, look at this big colorful bed! And these curtains are so pretty with flowers!" This went on for quite some time. Apparently, we should get him out more often.
The morning of the wedding, we went out to the Natural Bridge in Sewanee for a little exploring.
Charlie was obsessed with this "cave"
At the playground on Sewanee's campus
After some pizza and a romp at the pool, it was time to get gussied up for the weddin'.
Charlie plays with his shadow in the barn
Showing Lucy's niece his dinos
Cranking up the ice cream
The happy couple
Charlie and Brian check out the cows before dinner
Charlie peeing in the thistles (which he then unfortunately fell into)
First dance
The C man gets down
A very, very sweaty pic of me & Lucy
On the way there:
C: Is Donald a girl?
A: No, honey, he's a man, like daddy.
C: Then he has a penis!
Thankfully, this was not repeated once we reached our destination.
He was, however, overcome by how "beautiful" our hotel room was (which I should add, was standard-issue burgundy floral): "Mommy, look at this big colorful bed! And these curtains are so pretty with flowers!" This went on for quite some time. Apparently, we should get him out more often.
The morning of the wedding, we went out to the Natural Bridge in Sewanee for a little exploring.
Charlie was obsessed with this "cave"
At the playground on Sewanee's campus
After some pizza and a romp at the pool, it was time to get gussied up for the weddin'.
Charlie plays with his shadow in the barn
Showing Lucy's niece his dinos
Cranking up the ice cream
The happy couple
Charlie and Brian check out the cows before dinner
Charlie peeing in the thistles (which he then unfortunately fell into)
First dance
The C man gets down
A very, very sweaty pic of me & Lucy
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