Almost Always Hungry

Lego + Flight

2012-01-26T12:49:00.001-06:00

We have passions for both subjects, as do these boys. We are inspired.

The Big Slow Down

2012-01-18T12:50:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again, when it's cold and dark for so much of the day that we are prone to cuddling up on the couch with popcorn and hot chocolate for a steady stream of movies, television shows, video games. We throw into the mix board games or arts and crafts projects, and of course, some baking.

It's the time of year we often catch up on all the science projects from the Happy Scientist that have been filling up our inbox. There's always Lego building and some days, the boys get to work on a Lego animation or claymation. Some days are declared home days, and the boys never even get out of their pajamas. Having a dog has changed this a bit, since we do always have to take her outside. Sometimes the boys just send me off on the walk, while they watch from the window or the porch, so they can stay inside, where it's cozy and warm. And of course, we are always waiting for snow so we can go sledding or build a snowman or go on a winter walk.

I love this time of year, as it gives me time to catch up on general housekeeping (reorganizing our supplies, de-cluttering, catching up on photo storage and back-up) and lots of time to just hang out together. It's also the time of year when I can spend more time catching up on my own research, reading other unschooling blogs, lining up craft projects, thinking about some activities we might want to try out, and finding resources and articles about some of our unschooling decisions, such as this really good article supporting unlimited screen time (just what I needed to read at this particular time of year). Or thinking about some tree house vacations.

After such a full and busy fall and holiday season, it's nice to just relax and have some quiet days.

I love the ebb and flow of our lives, how we can go-go-go and then have a "season" of slow-slow-slow. It's such a good life.

Cady, meet Lilli

2012-01-17T10:36:00.000-06:00

We got the first big snow storm of the year over the weekend, and it just happened to coincide with my parents' visit. They were not deterred by the threat of 8-12 inches of snow, nor a drive in the dark to the cabin, where there are neither street lights nor snow plows. They were armed with their all-wheel drive vehicle and the experience of years of driving in the snow.

My parents drove up in the worst of it, on Thursday, when the snow was falling, and the night was descending, and the traffic was heavy. They saw many accidents on the way, but they were slow and steady. They stopped on the way to pick up Cady, the little sister of Lilli, from what is probably the last litter from the breeder. (We had thought Lilli was from the last litter, but the breeder got a surprise with Cady). They had planned to get her on Friday morning, but with the onslaught of the storm, the breeder thought it best to get her right away, lest she be snowed in, and my parents unable to get the dog at all.

So, it was on a cold snowy Thursday night that my parents arrived with the sweetest bundle of a puppy. Lilli and Cady were instantly friends.

Cady is so much smaller than Lilli ever was (well, obviously, Lilly was this small at some point, but by the time we met her, she was already 30 pounds). Cady is under 10 pounds, but looks just like a little Lilli, so in this sense, we got our time to bond with a puppy version of Lilli. And Grandma and Grandpa got to bond with their new puppy too.

What a beautiful snowy weekend it turned out to be. The dogs had so much fun exploring the snow and each other.

And the boys had fun in the snow too.

Inside, we read, played games, and ate. And we spent as much time as possible by the fire.

And of course, we spent a lot of time playing with the puppy and with Lilli and trying to help Cady know that she needs to go outside to go potty. Luckily, puppies are so otherwise adorable that somehow their potty accidents are easy to overlook. Doesn't she look like a little stuffed dog? She is impossibly cute.

And so is Grandma.

My parents left on Saturday morning, so they could get a good start on the drive and enjoy some time in Columbus (they planned to stay at our favorite hotel, Hotel Indigo, for the night). Otto was so very sad that they were leaving, feeling like the visit was too short. He was crying when they left, and it was sad for everyone to see his reaction. But it was also good that they could have two shorter days to drive home, and it was also nice for us to have the bulk of the weekend still ahead to spend with the four of us.

We finished up the game of Monopoly that we had started with Grandma and Grandpa. I think it is the first game we officially finished, played through until the bitter end. And the end of Monopoly is always bitter, isn't it? Someone has to dominate and obliterate the rest of you, which is the part that we all realized is not very fun. Otto was clearly winning and instead of enjoying his victory, he found that it was not as fun as the beginning of the game, when the outcome is still unknown, and it's fun to acquire new properties and think of all the possibilities. I don't think we play a very vicious game, though, as there is a lot of bartering and good will and reluctance to see anyone go bankrupt. Except that Max was eager to go bankrupt and leave the game, as he was bored long before the rest of us. And so, in the end, it was an easy defeat for Otto, and he was happy to have all the property and all the money and call it a day. It didn't stop him from happily displaying all his properties, his two gold coins, and all the rest of his money, as well as a pretty impressive corner of built-up property.

The other issue with Monopoly is that it is such a long game. It was such a pretty weekend for talking walks in the snow, so once we finally finished the game, we got outside for a walk. First, though, we saw a whole bunch of deer right in our back yard.

Out on the walk, we saw a few more deer, possibly the same family, as it was about the same number, but there are so many deer out here, it's hard to tell.

Lots of icicles on the house.

Our neighbors stopped by with bacon-topped cornbread and chocolate covered macaroons, both of which were seriously delicious.

And then we sized up our snowshoes for the first time and took a walk.

There are no pictures of the actual walk, perhaps because it was too difficult to operate a camera as well as Lilli and our ski poles and our big pokey snow shoes—especially when Lilli was off leash and barking like crazy at some random passers by. I am sure the chase scene they witnessed, as I tried to catch Lilli while clomping around in my snow shoes, once even falling right over them into the snow, was pretty hilarious. So perhaps it's a good thing there are no photos of that.

And then it was time to pack and get back to Chicago. With one minor set back. Our car battery was dead. We contemplated asking our kind macaroon making neighbors for a jump, until Martin realized we had a battery charger in the house. And within 15 minutes, we were up and running and on our way back to Chicago.

11/11/11: The Movie

2012-01-11T16:38:00.002-06:00

This is how we celebrated 11/11/11. It's so nice to have a wonderful video of it to remember the day. I was hoping for some actual footage of the boys in their animal hats, but I didn't see us. We still have our pillowcases, signed by many lovely strangers.

Pottery Projects

2012-01-10T21:45:00.000-06:00

We started up our pottery classes again, which means we also got to pick up a few of the finished projects from last semester.

Another Tennessee Christmas

2012-01-03T19:57:00.004-06:00

Lovely, as always. Different, in that this is the first year we've had puppies join in...two of them. Lilli, of course, who is now 9 months old, and David's 4 month old hound/possibly beagle mix Wander. They had played together at Thanksgiving, and they are old friends by now. If Wander could have his way, they would be boyfriend and girlfriend too.

We visited the chickens and the horses across the street. We let the dogs run around in the tennis court, the closest we had to a dog park.

We had a nice solstice celebration where Grandpa made flaming coffee and hot chocolate, even if the hot chocolate was deemed undrinkable by the kids. It was still beautiful to watch.

We made cookies: gingerbread, Russian teacakes, marzipan, oatmeal chocolate chip. We had delicious but simple meals because we all decided we didn't want to spend all our time in the kitchen. Still, it seemed like my mom was almost always cooking or cleaning. I always feel a bit guilty about how much time I spend just hanging around by the fire, when I know at my own house I would be scurrying around to cook and clean and plan the next meal or activity.

We watched a few movies. The first night, we all watched a great production of "The Nutcracker," not the one that I keep hearing about and do want to see (from 1993, directed by George Balanchine, narrated by Kevin Kline and featuring Macaulay Culkin), but a production from 1986 with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, with production and costume design by Maurice Sendak. We all liked it quite a lot.

On Christmas night, we watched "The Help" (David had gotten it in his stocking, and only my mom had seen it already). Max actually seemed really interested in it, and Otto watched it all, although he got a bit restless and left the room a couple of times. It did spur a lot of discussion about race and civil rights, and the next morning, the boys and Martin spent an hour or so watching YouTube videos about Medgar Evans.

The last night, we all watched "Oliver" together, (the first time I ever remember watching it). My dad was astonished I hadn't seen it, and it was always one of my mom's favorite movies to show her third grade class. The boys were totally engaged, and I was surprised that I knew every song. Lots of, "Oh! That's where that song is from!" moments.

We played many rounds of Uno and Go Bat and one night, the adults played Hearts while the boys played Legos beside us. My mom is pretty good at card games (and extremely competitive, even though she does not believe she is), and she managed to shoot the moon, as they say, two times, both of them successful.

On Christmas Eve, we wrote letters to Santa and Max read "The Night Before Christmas" to us all. The boys already know the first half by heart, since we have an advent calendar which reveals a sentence or two from it each day. We've had the calendar since Max was first born, and we use it over each year. But we never get past day 20 on it, since that's usually when we head to Grandma and Grandpa's house. So while they know the first half really well, they get a bit lost for the last bits.

We had full stockings on Christmas morning, a big breakfast with two kinds of sweet rolls (in other news, I gained several pounds), a nice Christmas morning opening presents on the porch (where Grandpa lit a massive fire and warmed up the whole thing with space heaters and by hanging blankets to stop the drafts). It was all very cozy and fun.

Other highlights: the boys wished for and received real German nutcrackers and smokers and a promise of bowler hats from the old fashioned hat shop in Chicago. Everyone got animal hats and matching fleece jackets and down vests. Grandma got a nice big dog crate and plenty of supplies for a puppy of her own. Next year's celebration will be crazy, with three puppies! Hopefully Wander and Lill will be old and wise by then. Another year will make a huge difference for them. They'll be the equivalent of somewhere between 7 and 10, I suppose. So somewhere between the ages of Max and Otto. Dog years really do fly by. But even in people years, I'm amazed how quickly the years seem to go. Looking back on previous years, I see that the boys have grown so much, even though it seems like it was just a couple of months ago that we celebrated Christmas in 2010.

It was really a wonderful year, and it was a very nice way to celebrate the last week of it, playing cards by the fire or watching movies or gathering around a big table, full of delicious food and a delightful family.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

2012-01-03T18:04:00.001-06:00

Today is my brother David's birthday. His birthday has always gotten a bit lost in the holiday shuffle, but he's always been pretty easy going about these sorts of things. We usually celebrate his day when we are all together at Christmas, and that's what we did this year too. But I thought I'd post the pictures on his actual birthday to extend the celebration a bit for him.

Otto checks out the cake and all the candles. As Otto pointed out, "I think Uncle David really likes carrot cake, because Grandma always makes him that kind of cake on his birthday."

David managed to blow all those candles out. Pretty impressive.

When my brother was in high school, he spent many afternoons and nights in his room, decorating a pair of jeans with band logos. My mom recently found these jeans in his old room and wore them for David as a birthday surprise. We all admired the jeans and realized how good a job he actually did on them. It was a pretty cool find.

Another bit of nostalgia: a team portrait of David and his baseball team and another one of his basketball team, when David was roughly the age his twin boys are now (7). Something else my mom found when cleaning out David's room. It was serendipitous that she found them, as David is currently coaching the twins' sports teams. We visited last summer and got to see him in action. He was always really good at sports, and he is a great coach. He has such a good temperament for it. We all had fun looking at the little David. Max and Otto were easily able to pick him out, because, as Max said, "he has the same face." He does. Such a sweet face.

Happy birthday, little brother.

Snowy Walk

2012-01-02T22:18:00.002-06:00

The boys were hoping for snow all weekend, and we finally got it this morning.

We took a walk to the beach, but it was more like a walk through the arctic than the lovely winter walk we had dreamed of. And not enough snow to use our new snow shoes.

Still, it was an adventure. And Lilli was thrilled to be able to run around. Martin documented our walk down the the beach. Until the camera froze. Luckily, it revived when we brought it inside.

New Year's Weekend at the Cabin

2012-01-01T22:51:00.000-06:00

We went to the cabin for the last week in 2011. It was the longest time we spent at the cabin, four nights and five days. We played games and cooked and relaxed. We built lots of fires and watched movies. Martin spent a lot of time caulking windows. I spent a lot of time cooking and cleaning. But the first night, I was so tired, and the fire was so cozy that the only thing I could manage to do was take a nap. The boys joined me.

Luckily, the next morning found me revived and able to make omelettes.

We went into Michigan City for the afternoon and had lunch at Swingbelly's.

On the morning of the 31st, Otto and I went out to get groceries and look for party supplies while Martin and Max took Lilli on a walk.

We were really hoping for sparklers and party hats and were very disappointed to find almost nothing for celebrating. But Otto had the idea to get supplies to make root beer floats for dessert. He really wanted to find something to surprise Max with, since Max and I had gone on a similar shopping excursion another weekend and returned with goodies for Otto.

We had scheduled a tour of the Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks for 1:00 p.m. We arrived at 12:30, thinking we were early. But it turned out we had forgotten that Michigan was on Eastern time, and we had missed the start of the tour. All was not lost. We joined a tasting and walked away with a fine bottle of whiskey to take to our friends Warren and Laura, who have a farm house not far from the cabin. And there was a cute swing out front.

We walked through downtown Three Oaks and stopped in a few antique shops, had lunch at Froehlich's, where we found lots of funny housewares on sale. It was the last day they were open for the season. So many of the cute places are closing until March or April. At least we took home some tasty bagels and fresh pickles.

Also, we realized that we were checking the wrong places for sparklers. After a CVS, a couple of local pharmacies, a few grocery stores and one funny country store, we finally noticed that we were passing big fireworks stands every few miles. Duh.

Although Mike's Country Store didn't have any sparklers or party supplies, they did have a funny pirate game for $5 which we brought home.

We played the pirate game while I made a beef stew, which took a couple of hours in the oven. This worked out fine, since we were trying to stretch out the evening and make it to midnight. After the game, we set the table.

Lilli was not nearly as excited about her party hat as the boys were.

Happy New Year!

Day Twenty-Five: Christmas is Here!

2011-12-25T23:48:00.000-06:00

There were filled stockings and presents by the fireplace. The cookies were eaten, the carrots and celery were clearly nibbled on, and the chocolate milk was gone. The letters were answered, and everyone was merry.

After opening the stockings and the Santa presents, we took a break for a big breakfast of eggs and bacon and two kinds of sweet breads.

And then we tackled the huge stack of presents under the tree.

More Legos.

Animal hats for all.

And make your own snowman kits.

Dinner.

The boys never even made it out of the pajamas all day, and Otto fell asleep in front of the fire, exhausted from the big day.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:47:00.000-06:00

Day Twenty Four: Santa Letters and Night Before Christmas

2011-12-24T23:33:00.000-06:00

The boys and I finished up some final wrapping.

We all wrote our letters to Santa. Grandpa dictated his letter, and Max wrote it out for him. They thought this was great fun and also wanted to make a few adjustments to some of the dictation. Then the boys decided it was only fair if Grandpa wrote Lilli's letter, which Otto dictated on behalf of Lilli.

The boys made up a plate of cookies for Santa and some vegetables for the reindeer. Oh, and a big mug of chocolate milk.

Max read "The Night Before Christmas" to us, and then we all headed up to bed.

The boys were so very excited that it took about an hour and a half for them to fall asleep. I think this is a record for Christmas Eve. It was mostly Otto who couldn't sleep, and Max was getting annoyed with him. I rubbed Otto's back, stroked his hair, we read two chapters of Quest (which almost always does the trick but was completely ineffective tonight), we tried talking, and not talking, counting and not counting, we switched spots in the bed, we closed our eyes and laid there in silence, and still Otto could not sleep. But finally, finally he did.

Day Twenty-Three: More Cookies

2011-12-23T22:32:00.000-06:00

Oh, and Papa arrived!

Day Twenty-Two: Winter Solstice Celebration

2011-12-22T23:25:00.000-06:00

The atmosphere at my parents' house already feels like a solstice celebration, it's always cozy and softly lit, there's usually a fire going, there are often candles flickering. We spent almost every evening playing cards by the fire, which is what I usually associate with solstice celebrations. This night, we played Uno. To make it feel like an extra celebratory evening, we had a flaming coffee/hot chocolate for dessert.

First, Grandpa makes a sugared rim by dipping the sugared edges into the flame.

Otto was a big fan of the sugared rim. He may request that all future drinks have this feature.

The pouring of the flames...

Day Twenty-One: Bake Cookies

2011-12-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

These are Russian Tea Cakes (they have many different names, but that's what we call them). Butter and pecan balls rolled in powdered sugar. Both boys loved them.

My mom also made at least four dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and has gingerbread and marzipan cookies mixed up and ready to go for another day.

Day Twenty: To Tennessee!

2011-12-20T23:16:00.000-06:00

We wrapped one final present, but decided to leave this one home (since the car was too full for such a big present). It's for Papa, and we will open it when we get home. It's a painting. Shhhhh.....

By the way, I am actually posting this in January (with the help of back-dating), so don't worry about spoiling the surprise.

Day Nineteen: Pack/Presents

2011-12-19T17:09:00.000-06:00

I spent the day doing laundry and preparing for our trip to Tennessee, but the boys decorated a few more presents and their wrapping paper.

Day Eighteen: Downtown Chicago

2011-12-18T21:18:00.002-06:00

We made a return visit to the Christkindlmarket with Papa, so the boys could show him the nutcrackers and smokers they liked.

Then we looked at the windows at Macy's.

The best window display was spotted as we were on our way to the bus. It did not have a Red Ryder Air Rifle, but it did have a bunny suit.

We took the bus to the MCA and saw the Andrew Bird and Ian Schneller soundscape exhibit, or the sonic arboretum, as they have called it. It was the very best thing at the MCA, and I only wish they would make it a permanent exhibit. It was so lovely to walk into the atrium and hear the lovely and familiar sounds of Andrew Bird and see the gorgeous speakers, some spinning.

We can always use this reminder to be a little more present:

Day Seventeen: Christmas Shopping

2011-12-17T21:27:00.000-06:00

We went to Lincoln Square to do some shopping (along with half the city, it seemed). The boys each picked out a present for the other. And we all collapsed at Sel Marie, where we had coffee and cake and cookies and then we ate dinner (mostly because they weren't serving dinner yet when we arrived, but also because it's fun to do it in that order).

Day Sixteen: Make a Snowman Kit

2011-12-16T20:54:00.000-06:00

I got this idea from another blog, Make It Do, and thought this was a great one to add to our activities calendar. I have a big jar full of antique buttons, and we had fun going through it and picking out various buttons to be snowman eyes and other accessories.

I ended up making a whole bunch of these as gifts for my family.

Day Fifteen: The Nutcracker

2011-12-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

We went with one of our homeschool groups to the Nutcracker at the Joffrey. I had never seen it before. There was much anticipation as we sat down. Just being in the Auditorium Theatre was an experience. We were amazed at all the lights, and we spent some time trying to figure out how they must change the light bulbs, as they are really high in an arch. We finally decided that there must be hallways/stairways within the ceiling and access points in some of the decorative globes that are situated between the bulbs.

We watched the stage hands setting the stage. They received an enthusiastic round of applause from the audience.

After the show, the boys and I went to the Christkindlmarket. There's a stand there from Stuttgart, so of course, we had to take a picture with it. It sells candied nuts, the kind that Martin also sold in some of the fests he worked in when he was younger.

It was the day of the Nutcracker. The boys found some nutcrackers they loved at one of the stands. Max said he will add it to his Christmas wish list. They were pretty nice, I have to say. The nutcrackers we have bought in the past have come from JoAnn's and absolutely can't crack a nut. Apparently this is the difference between a real German-made nutcracker and one that is made in China.

And then we found a giant nutcracker. I like how our day had a theme to it. I hadn't even planned it, which made it even more fun.

Day Fourteen: Winter Wonderfest

2011-12-14T23:00:00.000-06:00

The day actually didn't start out very well. It was crazy crowded (we usually go the first week it opens, which I will have to remember for next year). There were long lines for everything. We decided to go ice skating first, knowing the crowds would thin out after lunch. But before we even got the skates on, there was an incident. Max dropped his skate on Otto's toe. Big cut. Crying. Blood. Luckily, I had a first aid kit in my backpack. I've been carrying it around since we got it for the Alaska trip. I think this is the first time I've used it. We decided to skip the skating, since Otto was limping and in pain. (And there was the added problem that you were not allowed to take your bag on the ice, and there is no place to check the bags. While we were tending to Otto's foot, the people behind us came off the ice to find the bags they had left on the bench were gone. Not at all worth the risk.)

The boys love the blow up slides, but they were even more excited to sit in a 2012 Fiat.

The lines continued to be long, and we decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch at Riva's. It's a seafood restaurant with a view of the pier. The boys declared it super fancy. Max was excited to have calamari. I was excited to have salmon and sauteed vegetables. Otto got a burger, which is almost always exciting for him.

And then there was the tiramisu.

It was a delicious lunch. The only sad part is that I had to revisit the lunch after a particularly spinning swirling ride...that is how the day ended. So we began and ended with an incident. I remained nauseous the rest of the night. But we still declared the day a success. The boys were so sympathetic, and when we got home, I laid down on the couch and took a nap while the boys watched Avatar. I think this is a perfect way to recover from Winter Wonderfest.

Day Thirteen: Make Fleece Blankets

2011-12-13T20:09:00.000-06:00

We have two wonderful fleece blankets (the kind where you put two pieces of fleece together, cut the edges and tie them off—no sewing involved). One of these was a gift to Otto when he was born, made for him by Jodie. Max and I made the second blanket together, following the blanket Jodie made. But they are getting a bit small for the boys, and we thought it would be fun to make new ones to add to our blanket stash.

We went to JoAnn's Fabrics, as we had a bunch of other crafting supplies we needed too. Both Max and Otto picked out a fleece they liked.

We only got Otto's done today, but hopefully we'll work on Max's soon.

Day Twelve: Mad Hatter Tea Party

2011-12-12T19:49:00.000-06:00

We are halfway through our countdown.

Max has been wanting to make scones, and we got the idea of having a Mad Hatter Tea Party from my friend Anna. We invited our friends Carl, Will and Tilly to join us for afternoon tea.

Cheddar and chive scones for savory treats.

And blueberry scones for the sweet ones.

Of course, there were plenty of other sweet things to eat.

We used the gold-rimmed tea set that Oma brought us from Germany many years ago. The boys wondered why we don't get out this fancy tea set more often. We also had a set of small embroidered napkins that Martin's Oma made.

We had a few hat changes through the afternoon.

So much fun.

Winter Weekend in Michiana Shores

2011-12-11T22:44:00.000-06:00

We arrived to find the back porch covered in snow and firewood stacked by the back door.

We headed into Michigan City for an art walk and culinary tour. There were also a bunch of ice sculptors making more than a dozen different ice sculptures. It made the cold walk much more fun for the boys to find each different sculpture.

Back at the cabin, we played Bananagrams.

I love how the sun streams into the great room.

We took a walk along the nature trail.

And played on the beach.

Pomegranate

2011-12-09T23:28:00.000-06:00

Max picked out some pomegranates at the store, and we found a great way to get the seeds out without a mess. They were really yummy.

Day Nine: Snow Day!

2011-12-09T23:26:00.000-06:00

We took Lilli out for her first walk in the snow. She loved it.

In the evening, Martin had an office party, so the boys and I went out for a fancy dinner at Owen and Engine. Then we went to the Muppet Movie. We all really liked it and have been singing the songs ever since.

Day Eight: Gingerbread Cookies

2011-12-08T19:18:00.000-06:00

Our friends Nancy, Zibby and Henry helped us decorate.

Zibby and her "family" of cookies.

Day Seven: Make Wrapping Paper

2011-12-07T19:14:00.000-06:00

We cut up some sponges and then painted on some white craft paper.

They also made some paper with drawings, since Max thought that was much easier than the sponge painting (which was very messy).

A few presents all wrapped up and under the tree already.

Day Six: Shaving Foam Snowmen

2011-12-06T19:09:00.000-06:00

This year's bath was crazier than ever. And even Lilli got (unwittingly) involved.

Day Five: Deck the Halls

2011-12-05T19:04:00.000-06:00

This activity spread out into two days and included stringing popcorn and cranberries, making paper chains and making felt garlands. While we were at it, we decorated the felt gingerbread men and snowmen which we use on our felt advent calendar.

Day Four: Ben's Christmas Tree Farm

2011-12-04T23:00:00.000-06:00

Our usual pilgrimage, but today was wet and muddy, as opposed to snowy. We got to take Lilli, which was fun, but also made it more of a challenge. We had to carry her over the really muddy patches. And Otto too.

Otto picked out the tree this year. He found it pretty quickly, and Max still wanted to search. But we all remembered last year's search, when we looked for a reallllllly long time, and Max got more and more frustrated, trying to find the perfect tree. We had agreed that OTto could pick it out this year. Otto was sure THIS was the perfect tree, and he would not budge from his spot until we all agreed with him.

And so we did.

Otto and Martin cut it down.

We managed to get stuck in the mud and had to be pulled out by a tractor. It just made it more of an adventure.

Back at home, we put up the tree. And added some more candies to our candy counter (we always stop at Farm and Fleet for red and green gumdrops).

Day Three: Homemade Marshmallows

2011-12-03T18:30:00.000-06:00

After last year's debacle, we were much more careful with our marshmallow making, so careful that there was no time for photos of the event. But here they are, as they are "forming."

In the meantime, we made snowman pancakes for breakfast.

And we worked on our winter village.

Marshmallows done and ready to be added to some hot chocolate.

Day Two: Make a Stocking for Lilli

2011-12-02T18:23:00.000-06:00

...and Wander, my brother's new puppy.

Day One: Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-01T18:20:00.000-06:00

The boys were so excited to do this that they requested it be Day One's activity.

Getting Ready for December

2011-11-30T18:17:00.000-06:00

Candy counter.

Felt pocket countdown calendar, packed with little baggies of Legos.

Activity cards/envelopes on a wire. New addition this year. Looks very nice, and it doesn't hurt that it's strung over the candy counter.

Do a Barrel Roll

2011-11-22T12:42:00.001-06:00

Max has been playing Starfox every single day for almost two months straight (when we are home, that is). And Otto has been by his side, cheering him on. Max has not been so focused on a single game since we got our first game system, and he played Super Mario Sunshine so often that when I hear the music now, I am immediately transported back to those early fall days in 2007.

Not only is he playing it every day, he and Otto are finding new and more interesting videos on YouTube every day too. Here is today's pick, which Max informs me is a video they have seen lots of times before, but it was the first time I saw it. It combines the game and characters they so love, as well as some sweet little homemade fleece puppets. Awesome.

The boys sing the "do a barrel roll" song so much that it has become an ear worm for me. ("Barrel roll, barrel roll, do do do a barrel roll...")

Other phrases from the game have entered frequent rotation:
"We need your help, Starfox."
"Can't let you do that, Starfox."
"You're good, but I'm better."
"Annoying bird. I am the great Leon."
"Sorry to jet, but I'm in a hurry."
"Be careful, it's a trap."
"Andross has ordered us to take you down."
"This is really starting to tick me off."
"It's quiet. Too quiet."

We also just found out that you can go to Google and type in "do a barrel roll" for a fun surprise...

11.11.11

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

I've been looking forward to this date for a long time. It's such a wonderfully pleasing date, both written and spoken. I love the number 11. I love the time 11:11. It is one of those times you seem to notice on the clock—probably because it is so aesthetically pleasing—but somehow it seems magical. I often followed the silly superstition to make a wish at that exact moment. Do you think a wish made at 11:11 on 11.11.11 would have an even better chance of coming true?

Martin had to travel to Hong Kong for work and will not be with us, participating in our wishes or whatever silly wonderful things we do to celebrate the day. And for him, it's already been 11.11.11 for 14 hours. I think he is spending most of this numerically pleasing day hard at work.

The boys and I have been talking about how 11.11.11 only comes around every 100 years. About other dates that have been similar, such as 10.10.10, 09.09.09 and 08.08.08, which happened to be my friend Wendi's birthday—and which she actually spent (partially) with us. Today happens to be her boyfriend Ron's birthday. (Happy birthday, Ron!)

The boys and I talked about how we are almost out of dates that will be like this, at least for a long long time, so we've got to appreciate them while they are here. 12.12.12 will be here next year, and then, we will have a really long time to think about how we might want to celebrate Martin's 59th birthday, because the date will be 2.2.22. But 11.11.11 is undeniably the most satisfactory of these sorts of dates.

I have mentioned my excitement about this date to several people, who all seem underwhelmed. But a couple of years ago, I stumbled across someone whose musings about dates and words and funny connections is much more profound than mine. She is Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and she has been working on a lovely film project, which started on 08.08.08 and will wrap up today, 11.11.11. She is having a final gathering at Millennium Park. I have been following her story for a long time, and Wendi even went to the 10.10.10 gathering on my behalf, as well as for herself. Today, I plan to return the favor, since Wendi cannot attend. The boys and I have plans to be at the Bean today at 11:11 am, armed with our white pillowcases and sharpies, as instructed. This will undoubtedly draw her largest audience yet.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal pointed out something else about the date 11.11.11. It's all ones. Well, I knew that. But I mean, she put it in this way: we are all one. And that made me think of something else, somehow bringing this all full circle, at least for me. It's not Hong Kong, it's Japan, but this video with the chorus "we are all one" makes me feel a tiny bit closer to Martin on this day of oneness, and it will probably be on our dance list for the evening.

As for the day...we'll just have to see what it has in store for us.

Animal Hats

2011-11-07T22:20:00.004-06:00

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

Ten

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

Album Art

2011-10-06T08:07:00.001-05:00

We have been playing a lot of Exquisite Corpse and have some pretty funny creatures on hand as a result. When it came time to produce this year's album art for the annual mix CD my cousin encourages me to do, I turned to our group art. I asked Max to do the lettering for the cover, and then I took a bunch of our finished Exquisite Corpse drawings and clipped them out and put them all together. I love the weird collection of creatures who clearly seem to all be accepting each other, exactly as they strangely are.

Kids Science Labs

2011-10-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

I'm starting this post this as I am sitting outside the boys' science class at Kids Science Labs. This is new for me, to have free time while they are entertained by someone else. More time for blogging!

It's the first actual class they have taken, aside from the family classes the three of us have taken together. Max still worries if I am out of sight, and in general has not been willing to attend a class that I can not be in. The older he gets, the more challenging this will be.

The classrooms here are perfect for us, in this regard. Each room is more like a huge cubicle with glass garage door like walls, no ceilings, just big sheets of suspended felt to dampen the sound, but sound carries throughout this giant warehouse-like space. I can hear bits of the kids shouts as they aim their catapult at Smit, their teacher, and pummel him with marshmallows. They definitely seem to be having a great time in there. Max does look out to check in with me, as he is prone to doing, but he is otherwise extremely engaged.

Luckily for them, the class is still small, so they get a lot of attention. The first couple of weeks were just three boys, and today a new girl joined them. The four of them seem to work really well together, and afterwards, both Max and Otto said they like the teachers and the other kids in the class a lot. It is pretty unusual for them to volunteer this information on their own. Otto even told me today, "I'm glad we came back to this class, even though I didn't like the first one." The first class involved throwing fruit, which was a blast for many of the other kids, but not for Otto, who has no interest in seeing fruit, smelling fruit, and least of all touching fruit, or, even worse, having any of its juice splash on him as he throws it against a wall.

They have had fun building with Magna Tiles, Legos, Tinker Toys, toothpicks, marshmallows, rubberbands and popsicle sticks. They have envisioned towers and built them, watched slideshows of the world's tallest towers, learned about building materials and cost for building each one. Today, they were running and sliding on a giant beanbag, which surely explains some scientific principle, but I have no idea which one. [I just asked the boys, and they looked at me with a sort of "Duh, mom" expression and explained that they were human trebuchets, that they were using their weight as they jumped on the bean bags to make a small block bounce up into the air.]

It's a great class, and the concept is that they spend a few classes talking about towers, learning about the materials and economics behind different choices, as well as the design principles, then they spend a few classes talking about catapults and trebuchets and the science of propelling an object forward, and then they will construct a giant tower or castle and build a catapult or trebuchet. They will suspend an egg inside of this castle/tower and then attempt to break the egg, knock down the tower. The catch is that they will be limited in KSL "money" and have to choose where to put their dollars, in the tower materials, in the catapult, or in the object they choose to launch.

It's going to be very interesting to see what they come up with.

And now for a photo/video recap of the first few classes...

The first class introduced all the kids to the fun of magna tiles. They had a shake table underneath so that they could test the strength of their structures in an earthquake. The three boys worked together to build a design they thought might be sturdy.

For the next class, they drew some designs for a tower on the whiteboard and then had to build them in Lego. Otto had quite a challenge with his leaning tower, but he figured out a way to make it work.

Then they had to build the same tower out of marshmallows and toothpicks. That was much harder for Otto's design, but he tried.

In today's class, they made catapults from popsicle sticks and rubber bands.

They turned over tables to make forts and had a marshmallow battle (using spoons or their newly made catapults to propel the marshmallows).

Today's was an action packed class, and everyone seemed to have an absolute blast, including the teacher, who is extremely enthusiastic and seems to be up for anything. All the staff seem this way, in fact. They are a bunch of unschoolers at heart, whether they know it or not.

The lobby is packed with all sorts of building materials and games, and we always have to spend some time playing here before and after class.

Otto made this stack of 13 high last week.

And today, while they were building towers of magna blocks, I built this one.

After today's class, Max, Otto, Peter and Nia got to work on building a super tall tower out of magna tiles. Shegan (one of the co-founders) even went into the back to get a ladder so that all the kids could climb up and add layers to the tower. They periodically measured it and were almost as excited about the height as the kids.

Keith (another one of the co-founders) measures with Peter.

Nia adds a layer. Peter's mom helped "spot" the tower as each layer was added. It's fun that all the adults get in on the action too.

And while I was taking the above picture, Alex snapped this one and posted it to Facebook. Another enthusiastic staff person. When I was telling Martin about the day, he retorted, "sounds like there are more staff than students!" At this point, there are. Works for us. But they are getting more people signed up for classes every day, and I have a feeling that classes will be packed by next "semester."

They convinced Shegan to climb up on a step ladder and put the top on one of their towers (the ladder had been put away, so they were going as high as they could without it). My favorite part about this video is the end, when the tower is about to crash, and I see Otto going to protect his smaller triangular tower, which he and Max were working on.

Here's the start of their triangular tower.

Success!

Smit was working on some ideas for a future class and called Max and Otto over to see him make a cloud in a bottle.

Yep. Fun stuff.

Lately

2011-10-04T18:57:00.001-05:00

Homemade mayonnaise.

Max has been asking to make this for a while, and we finally did it. We had an absolutely perfect consistency, but at the last minute, it got too much oil, and we lost our perfect emulsion and ended up with more of a sauce. This actually worked fine for our immediate purposes, but it continued to separate. By the day's end, it was an awful sight and had to be thrown away. But for lunch, there was egg salad.

We have caught at least four chickadees in our rat trap. And only one rat.

Campsite.

We had planned to go camping with our homeschool group last weekend, but we decided against it because it wasn't dog-friendly (and it was canceled anyway, due to serious storms in the park). So we set the tent up in the living room and camped out there. It's a fun place for reading the comics and eating quesadillas.

Belly shack. Yum.

Margie's for ice cream sundaes and old fashioned sodas.

Otto lost two teeth in one weekend.

Lilli likes to chill out with the boys and their beanbags.

We are taking advantage of every sunny afternoon to dine al fresco.

And just in case you didn't know, Letizia's makes the most adorable cookies.

Enjoying the Fruits of Our Labor

2011-10-04T10:11:00.001-05:00

Must Be October

2011-10-04T10:01:00.001-05:00

We made our annual pilgrimage to Honey Hill Orchard, where we usually pick late season raspberries, apples and pumpkins and participate in a general celebration of fall. This year, a hail storm in August caused such damage to the apple trees that the U-Pick apple option was not available. But we picked 3 pounds of raspberries, and at least 10 pumpkins. We took a horse-pulled wagon ride, a tractor-pulled wagon ride, walked through a haystack maze and had lots of fun on a sunny fall day. And we indulged in apple cider donuts, caramel apple pie, and some truly delicious cider.

We usually pick raspberries first, as this is the most time consuming task, and if we wait until the end, we don't have the energy for it. Max is a really good picker. Otto wants nothing to do with actually touching the raspberries, but he is good at spotting ripe ones, so he works with me, and points out good bushes. He was also the official photographer of this portion of our field trip, since the rest of us had raspberry juice on our fingers.

Haystack maze.

Then, onto the horse and tractor wagon rides.

Time for refreshments.

Time Enough for Nothing

2011-09-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

We stopped by our friends' house earlier this week so our kids could play, our dogs could chase each other around the yard, and I could admire the fence that the dad had spent the last three days putting up. They are old neighborhood friends, our kids have been playing together since they were first walking. They have always been very involved in the community. He is a police officer and a lawyer, she is a social worker, he leads the cub scout troop, their kids are both in school and play sports and participate in all sorts of extracurricular activities.

When he asked what we had been up to, somehow I replied that we have been busy. And he sort of looked at me quizzically and said in a sort of incredulous voice, "With what?" I am sure he didn't mean it in the way that it sounded to my ears, which was something like, "How in the world are you busy? And by the way, did you see the fence I just finished with my own two hands?!" They have dropped by for a surprise visit after they are out of school, around 2:30, to find the boys still in their pajamas and playing a video game or something similar. They know me well enough to know that we are not over-scheduled, that we try to live our lives in a pretty relaxed manner, and that BUSY is not really a word that we would apply to it.

Turns out making a mix CD for your cousin, looking up Harry Potter costume ideas online, organizing the art room, putting up a tent in the living room, or making art and baking cookies for a chicken coop tour aren't on the list of "suitable items to keep one busy." I didn't actually mention these things, but they did flash through my mind when I stopped to think about what I had done in the last couple of days. But what has really been making me feel "busy" is probably the fact that we have been taking classes, somewhat regularly. And even though we limit ourselves to one per day, and only 4 of the 5 weekdays, it is more than we have ever done in terms of commitments to classes or any organized event. To someone like my neighbor, who rushes his kids to school, then off to ballet or soccer or Spanish or some other activity, my revelation that we have a class Monday through Thursday was kind of funny. But for us, it has been quite a change.

But still, as soon as the word "busy" came out of my mouth, I didn't like how it sounded. I don't like when people talk about how busy they are, as if being so busy means you are doing very important and fabulous things with your life that the less busy people are not doing. The word just came out of me. And I am sure, now that I think about it, that I have said this many times over the years. I think we somehow feel justified if we tell someone else about our busy-ness, preferably via cell phone, short of breath, as we are walking hurriedly to our next engagement, because perhaps being busy can excuse us from not having been in contact with that person as much as we could have been, or perhaps it excuses us from skipping that neighborhood meeting, or not completing a list of tasks, which have fallen to the back of the line because we have been so busy with these other, more pressing things. It's such an American frame of mind, to always be rushing around being busy.

The funny thing is that my very German husband Martin says this quite often, so much that I make sometimes make fun of him. If I call him at work and ask how he is, he will say, "Busy." Or "It's crazy." And I'll sometimes laugh and tell him that he is a very busy and important man and doesn't have time to be bothered with our nonsense. The good thing is that he almost always does have time to be "bothered" with whatever question I have, which include such things as a question about some specific scientific concept (we like to call papa with our math and science questions) or a question about a possible dinner choice, or sometimes it's to ask if he has seen my keys. The reply "I'm busy" or "It has been busy" is just sort of an automatic response that so many people have to define their lives.

I have purposefully cultivated an UN-busy life. I have tried to leave our schedule open for lots of spontaneous fun, and we have very full lives, but in general, I don't think I would describe them as busy. I also try to leave a lot of room for down time, where we can relish the slow starts to the day and play with toys or watch movies or bake or play games or just follow our paths, wherever they take us.

The word busy makes me think of busy-work that teachers give you to pass the time. Or maybe a bunch of busy worker bees. I like bees, and in fact, I'd love to have some honeybees busy working in our yard, making us some tasty honey, but I don't want to think of our lives as busy in that way, always buzzing around, never stopping. I don't want our lives to be filled with busy work. I don't want our lives to feel rushed.

I'm glad that I responded in the way I did, and that he responded in the way he did, because it gave me a chance to examine what I said and why I said it. I think things have felt busy, in a way. Partly, it has been adjusting to having a dog, which was definitely a big change in all our lives. We have never had to be home so much, to have another living thing relying on us so completely. Chickens are much easier than dogs! And there were other things that filled the last month, including construction projects and traveling.

But really, it was the commitment to something Monday through Thursday that pushed us to cross the bridge from full to busy lives. We even had another class scheduled for Friday, one that sounded extremely fun (a circus arts class), but after attending a class every other day that week, we felt pretty sure we needed to have one day that was completely free, for going to the zoo or a museum or the nature center or for simply lounging about on the couch all day.

There are things that need doing each day: Lilli needs to be fed and walked and played with and trained. The chickens need to be fed and given clean water and have time to run around in the yard, and Max needs time to play with them, because he adores them. We all have to eat, and sometimes it seems like all we do is eat and clean up and then get to work making the next meal (with small breaks in between for animal care). And we have to shop for groceries and clean the house and do laundry and all the other things that come up in between. And then there are days when we make crafts or make Lego animations or do art or work in the garden. Most of these things involve other messes that then need to be cleaned up. Sometimes I feel like I can do so much in a day, I have to stop and compliment myself. Some days I realize that no one is dressed and no one has been fed all day, and it's already lunch time. It's hard to say what kind of day it will be.

Certainly, having these other commitments motivate us to get going when we might otherwise throw up our hands and declare it a home day. And at least at this point, I don't think it is more than we want to do. All the classes are pretty low key. But also, the feeling of being busy is one to recognize and see it as a reminder to make sure we still have plenty of time for lounging around, feeling like we have the whole day ahead with nothing specific to do. That's when some of the best stuff happens. And sometimes, it's when nothing much at all happens.

And that's a perfectly fine outcome for us in our decidedly un-busy lives.

Happy Half Birthday, Lilli!

2011-09-30T09:42:00.001-05:00

I just realized that Lilli is officially 6 months old now, as of yesterday. She's still big and fluffy, and she is just shy of 40 pounds! I don't know when that happened, she seemed to be hovering around that 30 pound mark for so long that I just assumed she was still around that weight. I just weighed her this morning (weighed myself and then picked her up and subtracted my weight) and was totally shocked.

We just finished puppy class at Anything Is PAWSible on Monday night, and she actually graduated "top of the class," if there really is such a thing. All the dogs were pretty equally trained, actually, and some are better at some things and some are better at others, just as you would expect. But just for fun, there was a little competition, where we picked cards with tasks on them, tricks to perform, which earned you various points depending on the skill level involved. The boys were excited to compete and picked all the hardest ones, earning the most points possible. They were the only kids in the class, so I don't think any of the other adults were competing quite as fiercely as my kids were with Lilli, but it was still exciting for them to win. Lilli got first pick of the toys that were awarded to all participants.

Here she is on a playbreak, where she was thrilled to play tug of war with two of the bigger dogs (they all grew a lot during the class, and these two were the closest to Lilli's size, although they were all still quite a bit smaller than she is).

We went to the dog park for the first time yesterday, and Lilli LOVED it. The funniest thing to note was that Lilli did not bark at all! She was the most vocal energetic enthusiastic biggest thing in our whole puppy class, and even when we have had meetings with other dogs one on one (in playdates or on the street), she has exhibited some extremely barky behavior, which, frankly, turns a lot of people (and dogs) off. But when we went to the park, she was pretty quiet. The park was packed, and lots of dogs her size came right over and initiated play with her, and she was as happy as she could be, just playing non-stop the whole time. I think most of her barking is just her BEGGING to play with the other puppies!

We even ran into another big white puppy called Lilly (8 months old). She had taken puppy classes at Anything is PAWSible too, they graduated earlier this summer. I suppose it would have been confusing to have two big white dogs called Lilli/Lilly in one class, but they would have had a great time together. Lilly's owner said they had the same problem as we did, being the biggest barkiest dog in the class, always wanting to play with the other dogs and the other dogs/owners being a little bit unsure of how to handle such an enthusiastic dog. It was a really funny coincidence—they were immediate friends. Hopefully we'll see them again.

We will certainly take Lilli to the dog park again, it was just what she needed. And I think we'll look into another puppy class. The boys were both sad it was over and when I mentioned there was another one we could take, they both said, "Of COURSE we should take it—Lilli LOVES it!" It's so funny how social our dog is. Perhaps her need for friends and constant stimulation will have an affect on us all.

As far as our daily routine, we take her on walks through the neighborhood, choosing different paths, heading to different stops along the way. We frequently stop at Starbucks or Letizia's Bakery, where we all have a treat and she just hangs out under our chairs. Usually Otto ends up down there too, so he can give her some love.

On warmer days, we have been going to Palmer Square, which has a nice big track around the perimeter, and is a frequent favorite of dog walkers. The boys often bike there, and we've even tried all three of us biking and Lilli running along beside us (leashed to my bike—she may have a future in dogsledding!). Palmer Square has the added benefit of Miko's Italian Ice. Miko's is only open the the summer, so you have to seize the opportunities while they are there. We often stop there on our way home. Lilli is very excited to help us finish any ice that is rejected by Otto.

We have also taken her out to Michiana a couple of times, where the beach is dog friendly, and mostly empty. We anticipate many more hours at the beach, since she just loves it there. She especially likes to dig great holes and chase the incoming waves.

Martha's Memorial

2011-09-28T10:02:00.001-05:00

We had a nice little trip to Pennsylvania, where I have not been since I was too young to remember. All my aunts and uncles and all my cousins were there, and although it is always sad to gather for a funeral, it is also nice to gather, to be together, for any reason. We filled up the hotel and hugged each other and met for lunch or coffee and had a big dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. The children, as always, helped keep our minds on the joy to be had in the present. I love how children do that, how they have no idea that they should be somber, even if they also somehow know it too. Of course they knew that Aunt Martha had died, and they were sad about this, and they knew it was a sad occasion to gather, but they also knew it was exciting to see their cousins and to run and play and laugh together.

The morning of the memorial was rainy, but somehow that suited the the mood. It was a simple and sweet service, very fitting to who my Aunt Martha was. The service was led by my Uncle Jim and by my Aunt Martha's sister-in-law, Chris, who are both pastors. There was a lovely section of it where Chris and her other sister Kathy made a shared tribute to all the things that Martha brought to their family as their sister-in-law. It was really nice to hear the impact she had on them.

There were displays of the many quilts she had made, as well as many of her other craftwork. There was also a wonderful slideshow of the family and some of the gifts the kids had made for their parents (Lori's story, a book that Beth had made for her, packed with memories about her parents). It was nice to see these physical reminders of a life well lived. The boys all wore the ties that they had gotten from my Uncle Bob, who died of cancer in 2009. It was another reminder that we can still keep close those who have left us.

My cousin Jennifer took this photo of the four children and their spouses as they walked up the hill to the cemetery. This was of course, the saddest part, to see her children and her husband as they grieved their loss, to imagine what it would be like to lose your spouse of more than forty years, to imagine losing your parent when you are still so young, when your children are so young, or even yet to be born. We found out a couple of weeks later that my cousin Tim and his wife Tiffany (the two in the front) are expecting their second child. They didn't even know it at the time. There were so many other things to concentrate on while Martha was in the hospital. But the news later was a sweet surprise.

The boys had lots of questions about cemeteries and were curious to see the casket and how it was lowered. We stayed back, after the family had gotten their time to say goodbye, and we watched as the undertakers stepped up to do their part of the job.

The nice thing about a funeral or a memorial service is the coming together of family and friends to celebrate the person who has died, and to celebrate the life we all still have. Aunt Martha's funeral was the first time all my cousins have been together, all thirteen of us, in many years. Luckily, the six siblings (my parents' generation) had all gathered in July for our Alaska trip, but, although many of my cousins and their families were there, we were missing several of my generation on that trip. It was nice to be together again.

And I love love love this photo of Martha's family. They made each other laugh for the shot, and there had been so many tears only a few moments before, so it was so wonderful to see them all smiling together, a release they all needed.

We went back to the hotel for a while, and the boys sat together on the couch, helping each other out with their electronic media. They were all so cute in their undershirts.

We all went to the pool for a bit.

And then we went to Martha and Bruce's house for some dinner and for one final gathering of our family. The boys harvested some vegetables from Martha's garden, with the help of Karine, my cousin Jon's wife. The bounty that was still there to be collected was yet another physical reminder of the person who was there, planting and caring for a garden, just a short time ago.

Uncle Bruce still lives in the same house that he and my Aunt Martha bought when they were first married, where they raised their four children, where they have since hosted their children and grandchildren. It was really sweet to see it and imagine the six of them there together, when they were small—and as they got bigger and outgrew the house, but made adjustments to it. We gathered around the living room and listened to stories of their growing up, and I admired the table where all six of them gathered around for dinner each night.

We have a similar table that I inherited from my parents when I graduated from college and moved into my first apartment. We spent a weekend sanding it down and oiling it, and it looked so sweet when we were finished. It was our dining room table when I was a child, but before that, it was my great aunt and uncle's table. It's a small wooden table with pull out ends that expand it to a still small table. There are pot-marks on it and a couple of scratchings that I remember doing when I was about Max's age (I kept those scratchings in mind when Max took to making his own carvings into our walls). We now use our table on our back porch, in our art room, and I have told my kids the history of our table many times. My cousin Lori has a really lovely story about their little table, called "The Anchor." The table is of course the anchor in that story, but it's also a tribute to her mother and father and the wonderful home life they created.

They told many stories about their growing up, and it was really wonderful to think about how much love there was in that little house.

And how much love there is in ours too. It was time to return to it.

Etymology Lesson

2011-09-27T19:23:00.000-05:00

Otto, when discussing whether Lilli would bolt if she was unleashed:

I don't know why they call it "bolt," because a bolt does the complete opposite.

We then discussed some other uses of bolt (since Otto was thinking of the metal/pin variety that would be used to fasten something down). I had forgotten about a bolt of canvas or cloth (even though we frequently carry them to the counter at Jo-Ann's), and I never knew the etymology of the lightning bolt (i.e. from the notion of an arrow's flight). Never even knew that bolt could mean a short, stout, arrow, but when I read this to Otto, he said, "that's why they always show a god shooting arrow, like lightning!" I think he means Zeus, and I am proud to say he probably learned that from the movies, where we learn lots of cool things, probably from "The Lightning Thief." We did visit lots of statues of Zeus at The Parthenon in Nashville, but that was also inspired by our viewing of the movie.

bolt (n.)

O.E. bolt "short, stout arrow with a heavy head;" also "crossbow for throwing bolts," from P.Gmc. *bultas (cf. O.N. bolti, Dan. bolt, Du. bout, Ger. Bolzen), perhaps from PIE base *bheld- "to knock, strike" (cf. Lith. beldu "I knock," baldas"pole for striking"). Applied since M.E. to other short metal rods (especially those with knobbed ends). From the notion of an arrow's flight comes the lightning bolt (1530s). A bolt of canvas (c.1400) was so called for its shape. Adverbial phrase bolt upright is from late 14c.

bolt (v.)

from bolt (n.) in its various senses; from a crossbow arrow's quick flight comes the meaning "to spring, to make a quick start" (early 13c.). Via the notion of runaway horses, this came to mean "to leave suddenly" (early 19c.). Meaning "to gulp down food" is from 1794. The meaning "to secure by means of a bolt" is from 1580s.

Tour Recap

2011-09-25T16:34:00.002-05:00

We participated in the Windy City Coop Tour today, and 45-50 people came through our back yard to check out our coop and our chickens. It was cold and rainy, so we didn't have the big turn out that we did last year. But those that came were extremely enthusiastic.

The boys were looking forward to it, since they run a cider/cookie stand for the tour (which was perfect for a day like today), and they further enhanced it this year by making some chicken art/crafts.

Here are some of the chicken cookies, taken before the tour. We also made chocolate dipped macaroons (one of my speciality cookies, and they were extremely delicious, if I do say so myself).

The boys made signs for their stand.

Otto is wearing the chicken coop tour shirt, designed by one of the tour participants. He is also wearing the full array of chicken buttons that he and Max designed and had printed at Busy Beaver Button Company.

They also made refrigerator magnets with the same chicken drawings (each of our six chickens is represented in their artwork).

Otto also had some really clever marketing ideas. He made only one coyote cookie, and he made a little moon for it to "howl at." When we were decorating, he wondered if it was okay to only have a single coyote cookie, and then he decided he could offer it as a special: buy the coyote and get the moon as a bonus.

We had only done one coyote, since we mostly wanted to have chicken cookies. But when we had looked through all our cookie cutters, we thought it might be funny to have one of them represent the predator side of backyard chicken keeping. Of course, our predators look more like rats or racoons. Maybe next year we'll have one of those...but hopefully only in cookie form!

He also had some surprise "bonus" cookies, which, when you picked them out, earned you a piece of art (a button or a magnet). They were a secret, so you only got the bonus if you picked out the cookie without knowledge that it was a special cookie. Again, there were only one of each of these cookies. They were: the chicken coop cookie, the hummingbird, and the "lucky duck."

More funny signage.

We didn't manage to take many photos of the actual tour, since we were busy talking our guests through our coop and set up. But here are a few.

Max gave a couple of demonstrations of how we gather the chickens up by shaking the mealworms container, and they would all come running. We also let several of the guests feed them mealworms, which they all seemed to like to do. The chickens were pretty appreciative of that part.

Windy City Coop Tour

2011-09-23T10:26:00.002-05:00

MEET BACKYARD CHICKENS AND THEIR PEOPLE

at the 2nd Annual Windy City Coop Tour

Sunday, Sept 25 from 11AM to 2PM

The Tour's webpage has instructions for the event, and links to area map and site info for 26 locations on this year's tour!

Visit the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts website for more information about backyard chickens in Chicago and beyond.

Quick Trip to Milwaukee

2011-09-19T11:52:00.001-05:00

My friend Wendi is currently playing Lynn Fontanne in an absolutely magnificent production of Ten Chimneys at Milwaukee Rep in Wisconsin. You can see some of her snappy wit and perfect poise in scenes here. But we were lucky enough to see them in person this weekend, when we took a quick trip to Milwaukee on Saturday.

We came into town early Saturday morning and wandered around the historic third ward, also known as the art and fashion district. It was chock full of small galleries and shops selling all sorts of whimsical items. We strolled through the Public Market, which is a year round indoor market, with all sorts of foods and food-related items. Martin was hungry by then and tried to convince us all to get something and sit at the cute little picnic tables that lined the exterior. There were all sorts of options: a sushi bar, tacos, hot dogs, a fish market, soup, bread and cheese. Pretty much anything we might have wanted. But we were all a bit chilly (fall is here!) and were not very agreeable. So we kept walking.

We stopped at a popcorn stand to get enough sustenance to carry on. And to see some of the cool sculptures that surrounded it.

It was also a great place for more of our imperfect family photos. People often offer to take a photo for us, but we prefer the chance photos we get when Martin sets the camera precariously on top of an overturned plastic cup or a pile of stones or the railing of a boardwalk (where the camera might just fall into the water, if we are unlucky).

We walked along the boardwalk, which was lined with more shops and some restaurants. We tried to convince the boys to go to one of them, but they were not interested in any of them, since I had mentioned a pizza place that was located a bit further down along the river. This was the sort of face that greeted me when I suggested we stop anywhere else.

But luckily, they were agreeable to lying down on the ground and looking up at the bright sunshine.

We had an unmemorable and somewhat hurried lunch at the pizza place, since we were running a bit low on time—we still wanted to check into the hotel prior to the 4:00 show. We got settled in our room and then zipped out again.

While I went to the show, the boys took advantage of the abundant sunshine to go to the lakefront park and take a paddleboat ride.

Then we met for a quick dinner at AJ Bombers. This restaurant was the reason the kids were so eager to make a return visit to Milwaukee. We had been there a couple of years ago, just sort of stumbled into it. It was a quiet afternoon when we were there, and we sat in one of the prime booths (although we didn't realize that at the time). It's a casual burger bar (their burgers are actually really good), whose main attraction to the kids is the "bombs" that are fixed to tracks on the ceiling, ready to be loaded with peanuts and "shot" at your table. There are some videos of the whole place on their website. Apparently they won a Food Wars contest with their Milwaukee burger, which features colby cheese, bacon and Schlitz onions (roasted onions which are then sauteed in Schlitz beer). So, it's a popular place. Especially on a Saturday night.

The boys had gone in early to wait for a table, and I rushed over after the performance, so we could all eat before Martin headed to the 8:00 pm show. Unfortunately, they had waited about 45 minutes for a table only to find out that the coveted booths were not available at all. There are actually only 2, yes TWO booths that have "direct bomb access," something we did not realize on our first trip there. There are a couple of other areas where the peanut bombs can be shot, but the boys had been so looking forward to the direct hit of peanuts to their table, and they were very very sad that we could not sit at a booth. The hostess was really nice and offered us the booth when it opened next, but we didn't have time, since Martin had to eat and run. So we agreed to eat in the back and come back for lunch the next day, early enough to score a booth. Everyone was much happier, given this scenario, and we all enjoyed a yummy dinner. Then Martin ran off to the theater so that he could now bask in the glow of that amazing show.

Oh! I have to talk some more about the show now, because that is where I was at that moment, still buzzing from the experience. It was truly fabulous. I know this word is over-used. But it was. Brilliant. Funny. A tiny bit sad. True. Clever. And Wendi just sparkled like I have never seen her sparkle. She has always been the most talented actor I have ever known. I am only slightly biased when I say this, because I think I have known enough actors and worked in enough theaters to be basically objective. And since I first met her, eighteen years ago, I have known completely that she has "it." That true talent that will be recognized and seized. I knew that she would shoot up to the sky and explode like the most beautiful firework, and everyone would see her talent and fight for bits of her. (Not that I want people fighting for her, or for her to explode into bits...but I was just so sure that her talent would burst forth, that there was just no stopping it.) But somehow, she has not had that big explosion. She has quietly continued on her way all these years, doing amazing work everywhere she goes. But has has not been given the opportunity on the big stages that I know she has deserved. She can be so very funny. Or quirky. Or dramatic. Or serious. Or sweet. Or quiet. Or subtle. Or obvious. But not obvious because it's the obvious choice. Not at all. She almost always makes unexpected (and unexpectedly wonderful) choices. And in this role as Lynn Fontanne, she is finally getting a place to truly shine. I am so very happy for her.

So. We sent Martin off to see that totally wonderful show, and the boys and I headed back to the hotel for our own fun. There was a waterpark there (we hadn't known this when we booked it—we had actually thought there was just a pool, so we at least packed our swim wear). So it was another unexpected surprise in our weekend.

We were all a bit sleepy on Sunday morning, but we trudged down into the Starbucks, conveniently located in the hotel lobby, and seized another opportunity for a family photo.

The boys had really wanted to take me on a paddle boat ride, since it had been so fun for them the day before. We went to the boat stand, but no one was there. There was a chance of rain, so we assume they were closed on account of weather. It was kind of a dreary morning, and it wasn't really all that pleasant to be outside.

Luckily, there is a science museum on the lakefront, so we went there to entertain ourselves for a couple of hours. We made music on this "intuitive music machine."

Otto tested out a bed of nails.

And we took one more family photo before we headed out. We still had to get to AJ Bombers before the crowds did.

There was still a wait, but this was more the 20-30 minute kind, and it resulted in a seat at a booth, with direct bomb access. Very happy boys. More tasty burgers. Win-win.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

2011-09-10T12:46:00.000-05:00

Roadtrip to Tennessee to celebrate grandpa's 65th. What a fun weekend, including lots of time running around the "farm," introducing Lilli to my parents and their property (both of which she loved), playing with the cousins, and painting pottery together. Grandpa's birthday celebration included a trip to downtown Franklin and a movie in the newly restored old theater, a visit to CeCe's, where the kids piled up toppings on their yogurt, an afternoon in the bowling alley, and a lovely dinner with cheesecake and blueberry sauce for dessert. The boys gave grandpa one of the Lego architecture sets for his birthday, and they spent a lot of time together in the evenings and morning putting it together. In between that, they built things with the big basket of Legos, made towers with Kapla blocks, played their DSis with their cousins, ran around outside, "rode" on the tractors. It was a very nice visit.

Lego Star Wars Movie

2011-09-10T09:45:00.004-05:00

The boys made this movie completely on their own while Martin and I made dinner one night and breakfast the next morning. We couldn't find the tripod, so it was all hand held camera work, resulting in the frame moving around quite a lot. But I think it actually has a pretty interesting final feel.

Happy Birthday, Chickies!

2011-09-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

We celebrated their one year birthday with a watermelon cake (the boys also gave them a chocolate and sprinkles donut the day before, so they technically had two birthday cakes). We also gave them loads of mealworms (their favorite treats) and let them run around in the yard for a long time. I suppose in a chicken's mind, this is a pretty good way to spend a birthday, or any day.

We are happy we still have all six chickens, and they seem healthy and happy (if a bit scrappy—both Topsy Turvy and Trickster are pretty raggedy looking, with a lot of pecked out feathers). Other than what we think is a pecking issue, the chickens are doing great. We get 4-5 eggs a day from our six girls. And they are pretty tolerant of being held and played with by two enthusiastic boys and one recent addition: a big vocal poodle who seems to love the chickens as much as we do, even if she tends to express her love in barks and jumps.

Aunt Martha, We Will Miss You

2011-09-01T15:30:00.003-05:00

My Aunt Martha died early Tuesday morning, with her family gathered around her. She had diabetes, which had caused many complications for her, just as it had for my grandfather. She was waiting for a liver transplant that was not likely to happen soon, but in some ways, things were improving, and we were hoping that she would be with us for a lot longer. She was with us on our Alaska vacation, and although she was clearly still not well, she seemed better to me somehow. She kept up with all of us and our busy schedule, always with a sweet smile on her face. She spent time saying hello and perhaps goodbye to all of us. I suppose part of her knew this might be the last time we would see each other. As it always is with any of us, of course.

My Aunt Martha was the third of six children from my dad's parents. Our family has always been close, the six children and their children getting together for big family gatherings at Christmas, the fourth of July, fall camping trips and other gatherings in between. I grew up seeing my grandparents, my great aunt and uncle, my aunts and uncles, and my twelve cousins on a regular basis. Now, many of my cousins have children, and so the family continues to grow and continues to gather. We still get together each summer for the fourth of July, and we've revived the fall camping trip, hoping the children from my generation will have the same sort of connections to their second cousins that I had to my first cousins.

I was visiting my parents in Tennessee when we got the news that Martha had had a stroke and they were unable to wake her. Her four children—Jon, Beth, Tim and Lori—were all able to get to Pennsylvania, despite the terrible weather that was surrounding them. They came from Alaska, from Oklahoma, from Virginia. And they were all with her in her last moments.

Aunt Martha with Otto in Alaska, 2011.

Aunt Martha was so much like my grandmother, in her appearance, in her dedication to her children and her family, in her affinity for sewing and craft work. And she was also a lot like my grandfather, in her quiet way, never seeking attention for the things she did, but always there, quietly working away. She was one of the kindest, gentlest people I have ever known.

I am wondering now if I ever thanked her for the box of cookies she sent me back in 1992. It was a particularly rough year for me, and although I don't think my Aunt Martha could have known this, her box of love arrived for me at a very necessary time. She had never sent a care package to me before, and I'm not sure why she did it then, but I still remember opening that box, and the variety of cookies inside—there were at least five different kinds of cookies, I remember one of them was a pink meringue.

Aunt Martha would often give her children boxes filled with half-finished sewing projects. There was never enough time to finish all the projects before Christmas, but somehow the promise of the gift was so sweet, fabric held together with pins, so that when the kids would go to hold up the partly finished work, Aunt Martha would warn them to be careful not to poke themselves.

Aunt Martha with Max, December 2001.

She made both of my boys the softest sweetest little blankets when they were born, and both of them used them almost exclusively to sleep under, since most of the "baby" blankets we had were too small, and regular sheets and blankets were too big. These were just the right size and texture for a little baby.

Max wrapped up in quilt from Martha, March 2002.

Max and Otto with their quilts from Martha, September 2011.

She also made Max a beautiful namesake quilt, in a sailing theme, with a whole bunch of different sailing flags all around the border.

Max on quilt from Aunt Martha, October 2002.

Max and Otto with Martha's quilt for Max, September 2011.

I have pulled these things out to look at them, to think about the careful handiwork that went into each piece. I'm so glad to have these reminders of her. She was working on making a quilt for each child from Max's generation. But there were suddenly a lot of grandchildren (and we call them all that, although they are shared grandchildren, in a sense). So that was a lot of quiltwork. She never got to Otto's quilt, and in fact, I don't think she was able to make them for her own grandchildren, who are the youngest of all the kids of that generation. But I like to think these quilts might be in pieces somewhere, held together with some pins, a sure sign that she was hoping to live beyond the moment.

We will miss you, Aunt Martha.

A MAXIM
by Carl Dennis

To live each day as if it might be the last
Is an injunction that Marcus Aurelius
Inscribes in his journal to remind himself
That he, too, however privileged, is mortal,
That whatever bounty is destined to reach him
Has reached him already, many times.
But if you take his maxim too literally
And devote your mornings to tinkering with your will,
Your afternoons and evenings to saying farewell
To friends and family, you’ll come to regret it.
Soon your lawyer won’t fit you into his schedule.
Soon your dear ones will hide in a closet
When they hear your heavy step on the porch.
And then your house will slide into disrepair.
If this is my last day, you’ll say to yourself,
Why waste time sealing drafts in the window frames
Or cleaning gutters or patching the driveway?
If you don’t want your heirs to curse the day
You first opened Marcus’s journals,
Take him simply to mean you should find an hour
Each day to pay a debt or forgive one,
Or write a letter of thanks or apology.
No shame in leaving behind some evidence
You were hoping to live beyond the moment.
No shame in a ticket to a concert seven months off,
Or, better yet, two tickets, as if you were hoping
To meet by then someone who’d love to join you,
Two seats near the front so you catch each note.

Comparing Notes

2011-08-17T13:41:00.000-05:00

I think it's pretty cool that even when they are mad at each other, they have some perspective on it.

Max's journal on left, Otto's on right (translation of Otto's: "Max is a jerk for now").

Pigeon Propoganda

2011-08-17T13:37:00.000-05:00

Tear offs say: OH MY GDO, YOU ARE RIGHT.

Worth Repeating

2011-08-13T22:28:00.001-05:00

Me: Max, would you like to give Lilli her peanut butter?
Max: I would be honored to do it.
Me: Aw, that's sweet.
A few moments later.
Max: What does honored mean?

Alaska: The Movie

2011-08-12T22:34:00.001-05:00

Big family, little family tour of Alaska in July. Anchorage, Denali, Seward and Homer. And some places in between. Caribou, moose, reindeer, horseshoe hares, dall sheep, grizzly bears, black bears, lynx, ground squirrels, orcas, humpback whales, dall's porpoises, sea otters, sea lions, puffins, murres, bald eagles, golden eagles, willow ptarmigans. Mt. McKinley, countless glaciers, amazing landscapes from the ground and the sky. Buses, motor coaches, trains, big boats, small boats, our own rented SUV. Fancy hotels, less fancy hotels, very rustic cabins, sweet hostels with muffin baking hostesses. Fine dining, dive dining, and everything in between. And family. Big family events, little family events, 35 people in matching gear and actually getting along together. We are a pretty fantastic family, I know. And we really and truly had a wonderful vacation.

Otto says he misses Alaska and keeps asking when we'll go back. I think we'll have to do that, since everyone had such an amazing time. Maybe we'll do something really crazy like drive there in our VW bus or pulling our Airstream trailer, doing the great cross country tour we have talked about for years, crossing over into Canada to visit certain beloved Victorians. Maybe we'll drag some of those Victorians with us into the wilds of Alaska.

Or maybe we won't make it back to Alaska for another 20 years, like my parents, who visited it last in 1987 (when my brother and I opted to stay home and use the house as our party palace while my parents were dropped off in the middle of Denali with a couple of backpacks and some bear bells).

Who knows? But until then, we have some really wonderful memories.

Dog Days of Summer

2011-07-31T20:24:00.000-05:00

It's still hot, and we're all still camped out in the living room, where we have finally installed a window AC unit. Lilli's bed is officially right beside ours, but when I get up in the morning, she takes my place by the boys.

We went to Lincoln Square for the afternoon on Saturday for eye exams and to look at new glasses frames. This is the pair that Martin is considering, but they look great on Max too.

We were quite pleased to learn that Spex is dog friendly (they had a jar of dog treats by the door, which is apparently the tip off). We're learning all this as we go along, but we are certainly surprised at the amount of dog friendly businesses out there.

After the optician, we met up with JoJo, who is, if you can believe this, Lilli's great uncle. He's from the same breeder as Lilli, and he is the dog we met on Father's Day weekend, the one sitting with his owner Beth, outside Letizia's Bakery. Beth introduced us to Jackie, and therefore to Lilli. We were so busy talking that I didn't get any good photos. But here's vague evidence of the dogs' meeting.

Also at the square: balloon animals.

Sunday morning: Lula's. We have managed to eat out quite a bit with Lilli, we are just exploring every restaurant's patio or outdoor seating area. And trying to pick those with shade, as it is still hot hot hot and anything other than absolute shade is intolerable.

Lilli sat quietly underneath our chairs, in a puddle of water, of course. She always lays her head in her water bowl.

Luigi and Mario are hungry.

Farmer's market: snow cones.

Yard sale find on the walk home:

First visit to the groomer. We meet Chalie and tell her our ideal puppy cut.

And then...we leave her there! It was the first time we've been away from Lilli (aside from a few crate training sessions where we sat in the back yard and listened to her barking hysterically). The groomer told us it could take 3 hours, to get the heck out of there and have some fun. We hardly knew what to do with ourselves. And then we did. Go eat in some place with air conditioning! We chose Thai Lagoon.

We ran a few errands in the neighborhood, visiting some stores where we can't take Lilli, and then, while we were loading garbage cans into our cart at Home Depot (and the boys were playing with the galvanized steel lids, a la Stomp), they called and told us to come and pick her up.

You can actually see her eyes!

Tuft of her hair for the scrapbook. In reality, it will go in the box of random things from the boys that have also not made it into a scrapbook.

Home again.

Daily Exercise

2011-07-30T07:14:00.002-05:00

Misplaced Blame

2011-07-30T07:08:00.000-05:00

I was sure the Lilli had gotten into the newspaper pile in the bathroom and reminded the boys that we need to keep that door shut so she doesn't wreak havoc in there. Turns out, it was Max, looking for the comics section.

Monster Crafts

2011-07-29T18:43:00.004-05:00

Not bad for our first monster puppets. I was in contact with a puppet maker from Furry Puppet Studio, who makes these beautiful puppets, which I absolutely loved.

This one, for instance:

But when I checked in with the truly lovely and talented people at Furry Puppets, the price tag on such a puppet was a bit steep for us. I looked at their process videos, and it is fascinating the love and work and careful details that go into each one. They have made some music videos and some funny commercials featuring their puppets, so these are movie star quality creatures.

He did send me to this helpful site, though. And this one for less expensive but still custom designed muppet style puppets. But I was already up and running with advice I got from this guy. So in the end, we had a great time making some custom designed puppets, and the boys are completely proud of themselves. (And me too.)

Piano Lesson in the Backyard

2011-07-28T18:43:00.003-05:00

Max and Noah have a nice friendship going, and sometimes Max isn't in the mood for a piano lesson at all, and we all just hang out together. Sometimes they eat guacamole and chips and talk about wind-powered cars, or sometimes they sit on beanbags and discuss praying mantises, sometimes they take wacky pictures of themselves on PhotoBooth. The cool thing is that whatever Max is up for, Noah is up for—he just sort of goes along with the flow. He knows all sorts of things about all sorts of topics, and he is always happy to just let the conversation wander to interesting places. He asks lots of questions, he listens, he shares interesting ideas.

We've moved on from piano to all sorts of instruments, so the lessons should really be called "Music Theory," since they talk a lot about that and explore the sounds they can make, with actual instruments or with a jar of pennies. Sometimes they play around with our box full of instruments, which includes a few harmonicas, a slide whistle, a piano horn, a glockenspiel, a chinese drum, all kinds of other cool stuff. Sometimes we all listen to music together, sometimes they make music together, sometimes they just talk about cool instruments they would like to have. Right now, Noah really wants a bassoon.

Today's lesson found Max more in the mood to hang out with the chickens in the back yard. So we took down the ukuleles and serenaded the chickens with some tunes, sat in the limited amount of shade our new umbrella provides, and watched Lilli poke around, wishing she could run after those chickens. I love our life.

Lilli

2011-07-20T19:40:00.001-05:00

is here.

Back to Anchorage: The End is Nigh

2011-07-14T18:22:00.001-05:00

A rainy morning at the farm. A good day to pack up and drive the three hours back to Seward.

But first, a last stop in Homer. Two Sisters Bakery. We had heard so much about it, we couldn't skip it. We are so obsessed with the food aspect of travel, I know. Martin has posted several photos of our dining experiences to facebook, prompting a friend to comment, "You are just eating your way through Alaska. Have you stopped to look at any of the scenery?" But hey, we know what's important. Scenery is good, but food is always a critical consideration.

And then a long an uneventful drive to Seward, where we boarded the Gold Star for a second train ride, this time the 6 to 10 pm slot, driving what is rumored to be the most beautiful stretch of the Alaska railroad, and the most lovely time of day to do it. She had mentioned sunset when we booked the tickets, but as previously mentioned, the setting of the sun is not what you will picture in your head. The whole trip seemed more like a late afternoon. But once again, we were reminded that we really like traveling by train.

It certainly helps that there is a built in jungle gym/fresh air space accessible at all times.

And interesting things along the way.

Even if the most entertaining thing you see is often in the train car itself.

And the dining car. Oh, how we love the dining car. (Did I mention we are food centered?) We brought Sticky (the octopus) and Flippy (the beaver) with us. Sticky was all ready for his meal, as you can see.

After a couple of hours, interest lagged a bit. It's truly the end of our vacation, and that mixed feeling of ready to go home and not ready for it to end has hit us all.

Back in Anchorage. We stayed at a different hotel, one which had a big bear to greet us. But the other thing it had on the former hotel was a pool. We checked in and ran down to use it immediately. It was officially closed, but the really nice guy who worked there told us to have fun, he was the one who would kick anyone out, and he wasn't going to kick us out. It was empty, and we went from the cold pool to the hot tub and the boys practiced floating and Max practiced swimming and all was good.

It was kind of funny to be back in Anchorage, going to the same places we went just 10 days prior. We returned to Snow City Cafe for another good breakfast (and another long wait). Note to self for next visit: call ahead and they will actually put you on the waiting list before you arrive, as long as you arrive within an hour. I didn't know that until this second visit. But now that we are regulars, well, I guess we get the special treatment.

Otto customized his pancakes into Os.

We spent the afternoon at the museum in the federal building, where there were really good movies about Alaskan animals and a cool scavenger hunt for all the taxidermied animals (all different examples of the typical and less typical animals you see here).

Stopped for reindeer sausage from a streetside stand. We hadn't gotten to cross that one off our list, so now we can.

We meandered around in the gift shops, trying to find good souvenirs to bring back for friends, but we had bad luck and then got frustrated. We wanted real Alaskan things, not things that say Alaska on them but are made in China. We had seen a lot of those at the Anchorage market, but we didn't jump on them, and we were a bit sorry. Luckily, we had gotten a few things there that will hopefully do.

And, one final stop before we headed back to the hotel and then to the airport. It involves, you guessed it, food. Well, not so much food as coffee. And really not so much coffee as these lovely designer hot chocolates, made for the boys by the lovely people at Midnight Sun Cafe.

And walking back to the hotel, we stopped to play in the garden at the Anchorage Museum. If this all looks very familiar, it is. We did the same thing a bit more than a week ago with my brother and the twins. It felt a bit strange to be there again, to loop back to the town where it all started, but only for the final day. But it was still nice. And a good place to run around and expend as much energy as possible before we hopped on a plane for an overnight flight.

And we're home.

Seaside Farm

2011-07-11T23:36:00.000-05:00

is wonderful.

And there is even free wi-fi...

Day two. Sleeping in. The first time we've done it the whole trip.

Martin ran to the store and got us some pancake mix, since we have a little kitchen in our cottage.

We had breakfast al fresco.

And then we walked around the farm some more. There are lots of trails and cute little cottages tucked in hidden places all around the woods.

Lunch al fresco too. (Leftover pizza from Fat Olives.) It's really nice to have a refrigerator and a stove and an oven! Even if it means the bathroom is al fresco too.

Then to the small but very nice Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitors Center.

They had some really interesting exhibits on marine life study, including a lot of seabirds. Puffy was excited to meet some more of his brethren.

Great giftshop. We liked this hat, but they went for more puppets.

There's a really nice walking trail behind the center, and we took the newly acquired puppets (an otter and an octopus) for a stroll.

We saw a muskrat which is in equally parts cute and disgusting. Take away the musk part, and all you're left with is a rat.

Dinner at the extremely friendly Fresh Sourdough Express. They started as a bread delivery service, using this truck to tote their wares. At some point in the 70s, they arrived in Homer and stayed. The owner himself welcomed us, learned Max and Otto's names and used them frequently, took our orders and came back to talk to us multiple times.

Max was very excited to finally get his pot of crab. We had been meaning to do this the whole trip but just kept putting it off.

The old delivery van is now a playhouse for kids, and there's a whole lot filled with other playtoys too, with picnic tables so you can eat outside while your kids play. I don't know why there aren't more places like that.

And in case you're interested in moving to Homer, they're looking for business partners. I think the husband and wife are ready to retire, so if you want to take over a business in Alaska, here's your chance.