Urban Crocodile [video]

If dirt is good, mud is better

Camping at Lake Goodwin's Wenberg State Park this weekend.

Peek-a-boo

Fewer friends

Sadly, Mr. Blues (the Beta fish) died on Thursday. Kenzie cried and cried when Cindy broke the news to her. Cindy wasn't sure...what do you do with a dead fish?? Bury it?? Flush it?? So...she saved it for me. As soon as I got in the door from work, Kenzie wanted to show me his body. I really did not want to see it, but ended up giving him a little flush when she was out back playing. When she came in, she wanted to know what happened to him. I just overheard part of the conversation. Cindy thought she could maneuver around the question, "he's in heaven." Kenzie was unsatisfied with that answer, "but where's his BODY?" Cindy, taking the low road, replied, "go ask your mother."

And, potentially more horrifying, we went camping this weekend and lost Chirpie! The last known sighting was at Thriftway when Kenzie was pushing him around in the little cart. She had returned the cart and I didn't think to check if she had him. So, when we got to the camp site we searched the car, the camper, the suitcase: no Chirpie. I called Jackie, who called Thriftway and found a nice lady who turned the grocery store up-side-down looking for him...to no avail. We made it through the night by promising that he was "probably" at home waiting for us. Luckily, he was found at home...out back on a rock. When I told Kenzie she said, "poor Buddy! He had to sleep on a ROCK!"

Camp success!

I'm happy to report that we had a fantastic weekend at Camp Indianola. With memory of New Year's Eve's 2AM jaunt home fresh in our minds, we were leery. However, they gave us a private room that allowed Mason to be as loud as he liked in the middle of the night. (A wise move, it turns out.) Both kids did a pretty good job sleeping, but the days were the highlights!

Rope Swing
As we were heading up to camp, I started remembering the rope swing from the retreat last year. "Holy cow!" I thought. "I let her go on that swing last year, by herself, when she was only 2-1/2 years old! What was I thinking?? The swing is 50' in the air and you get launched over the trees. To even get on it you have to climb on a platform! Heck, no. Not this time," I thought.

It started slowly, as poor parenting decisions often do. First I went with her. "If I'm holding her, she won't let go." Then the next time, "She's going with another adult." Then, "well, if she starts from the ground instead of the platform." And soon we got to, "all the other kids are doing it" until finally I found myself on top of the platform loading her onto the CPS-mocking swing, pulling her into the air above my head, and letting go.

But, yes, she did have fun.


Kites
$10 seemed like such a good deal for a fish kite. In addition to never quite getting off the ground, it drew blood and gave me a rope burn. Mason did, however, seem both fascinated and perplexed by the giant dive-bombing fish.







Basketball
Regardless of the context, Mason squeals every time he sees a ball. Basketballs appear to be his favorite.

(As a side, I just have to have it go on record that I beat Cindy in a game of p-i-g.)


Talent Show
For the talent show, Kenzie recited the first few pages of The Little Mermaid. She and I went to the front of the room full of people, and we alternated reading sentences. She was a little shy, but did a great job of talking loud so that everyone could hear her. She won an Einstein award. I think people thought she was really reading it and didn't realize she has the entire book committed to memory.


Rests/snacks on the beach
Won't eat hotdogs or chicken, but kelp and sand, sure.




Playing
They had fun with all the different kids from church.

What's wrong with this picture?

Yes, that is the bathtub.

And I was doing so well...

Five months ago since:

Water logged

Double Disqualification

Pampering

I took the day off work today because we're going to go to church camp this weekend. Kenzie and I got up and went to get our nails done. I think she takes to this primping thing a little too easily. She sits completely still while she's tended to. All the ladies in there say how cute she is, and she soaks it all up. Oh boy, what am I starting here?

Grampy has a post in his ear

Yesterday I called Kenzie from the hospital where her Grampy was getting the post for the Baja ear implant. As soon as I dialed, I had a sense of dread--I had failed to give her any warning, we hadn't talked about the surgery at all. So, not surprisingly, she wanted DETAILS:

Me: Kenzie, you know that Grampy can't hear out of his left ear, right?
Kenzie: yeah
Me: Well, I'm at the hospital with him because the doctors are going to help him be able to hear.
Kenzie: how?
Me: They're going to put a steel post, kind-of like the end of a pen, right behind his ear that can't hear. Then in a few months they're going to hook a litle machine to it that will send the sounds to his good ear.
Kenzie: Oh. [pause] So, they're going to put a post in his ear?
Me: Kind-of. It's great, though, because he'll be able to hear better.
Kenzie: I want to go see him.
Me: Well, we can't see him right now. I'm actually at the hospital to be with Grammy.
Kenzie: So you're NOT going to see Grampy?
Me [backtracking a bit]: Um, I might see him for a bit, but that'll be later. Right now I'm just with Grammy.
Kenzie: I want to come so I can see him later.
Me: Well, honey, it's going to be bedtime soon. [By this time it was about 7:30PM]
Kenzie: So, is Grampy going to sleep at the hospital?
Me [feeling caught in a lie]: No, they're going to go home tonight, but later.
Kenzie: I wanna talk to Grammy.
Grammy: Hi Kenzie.
Kenzie: Are you going to drive Grampy home?
Grammy: Yes, I'm going to drive.
[more conversation between the two of them, then Grammy hands the phone back to me.]
Kenzie: Mom, are you going to sit in the front seat or the back seat?
Me: Kenzie, the doctor just called and Grammy and I are going to see Grampy now.
Kenzie: Poor Grampy!! He has a post in his ear!!

When she talked to him on the phone the next day, she said, "Mom, it worked! He heard me the first time!"

Goldilocks

Kenzie got up from the breakfast table leaving her food unattended. As you can see, Mason wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, tipping over his blue chair, abandoning his yogurt and stuffing his mouth with her cereal. She wasn't happy when she returned...but now seems more inclined to stay seated until she's finished eating! Gotta love those natural consequences.

Easter

Two egg hunts today! We lucked out and had sun for the family party, shown here are Kenzie, Mason, Emily and Jacob.

Mason quickly figured out the mission of the hunt. Alright...we told him, "go find the ball"--but it worked. He now keeps trying to throw the eggs. But then he figured out that they have candy inside. Hmm...candy or throw, tough decision.

At the church party Kenzie announced that she didn't have enough eggs (even though her bag was almost full) and a nice boy handed over a bunch of his, which she willingly took.

Mason was a clown during the church service, until I eventually quarantined him in the nursery.

Neither child was particularly impressed by the bunny himself, but Mason liked the bean-bag toss (go figure). More pictures of the day can be found here.

Beach combing

Not the best day for it, but we went to Alki and enjoyed low tide.

This picture to the left was taken seconds before we learned that a little crab can really pinch little fingers. Mason started flashing his "crab" and "hurt" signs with a look of confusion.

We were soaking wet and cold, but had a lot of fun. We're looking forward to Alki this summer!

Geek patrol

Kenzie loves her Leapster. I just bought her the new cartridge called "Kindergarten." I thought I would get a head-start on her and opened it while she was napping so I could take it for a test drive. Erroneously I thought I could help her. I actually found myself feeling like an out-of-touch parent trying to figure out a video game, secretly give myself a pep talk while she watched me fumble before taking over, "come on - you have a Computer Science degree - how tough can this be?"

Smiley