Today: A guest blogger SISI

Some times brothers can be, well, pests.  (Trust me, when you're the younger sibling you lose your voice a lot.)  You might ask why.  Well here's 1, no 3, no 5, no 6.  I'm staying with 6, but 5 might be easier, ok 6 reasons:

1. you yell at them a lot
2. they never stop annoying you
3. you never get peace or quiet.

Wow  I thought it would be more,
bye!

p.s This is the only blog I am typing.

(edited by Mom)

A Mother-Daughter Moment

Not a moment, exactly, longer than that.  Sisi and I decided we would go for an early morning walk together today.  We left the house about 6:15, she on her Razor scooter (wearing orange helmet as always since she was a tyke and learned to ride a tricycle on the deck), me on foot.  We made it a short one today, about 20 minutes.  It was cool, for a change, and she rode along side me, pacing herself so we could chat. 

I don't remember what we talked about, just that we talked without interruption. 

When we got home there was the usual brotherly pestering and then I made her work on cleaning her room.  So I'm sure she doesn't think it's "the best morning ever" but for me, it was pretty close to the top.

Backyard Theater

1.  The Setting

2.  The Cast of Characters

The Player to be Named Later!

3.  Act I - the action begins

4.  Act II - what has our hero gotten himself into?





5.  Intermission:

What's up tiger lily?

6.  Act III

Ahhh...sweet relief.  All's well that ends well!!!



Happy Day, Dad!

My Dad doesn't like to talk on the phone much.  Usually we talk about whether I need to get my oil changed (yes, I do...this week.  Yes, yes Dad, I will get it done before the 3000 mile mark.)  Dad likes to do stuff.  Read, crossword puzzles, and major home construction projects!  Here's the latest result of his labors at my house:

There used to be a 3/4 wall there!  It is so nice now to have the 2 rooms open.  Here is the view from the kitchen (don't look at the mess on the kitchen table.)

Next time Dad comes to visit he can sit in the living room on the couch, read and do crossword puzzles and talk to me while I'm in the kitchen making him a rhubarb pie!

Happy Father's Day dad, you're the best!!!

Scary Movie

Sisi and her friends at Fairview summer day camp are planning to make a film.  They want to make a scary film.  They want to make a film as scary as, no wait, scarier than Jaws.

They have not seen Jaws, at least not the whole film, but they have seen some clips.  They know the basic plot.  They can quote the line "We're gonna need a bigger boat."  And they know there are some gory scenes that they are not yet allowed to see.

One of Sisi's friends thought they should make a spoof of Jaws, called Straws.  Sisi loved that idea and started right to work:  Here is Straws...

You have to look closely to see the drinking glass he lives in and his scary teeth. 

No, wait I can zoom in I think...

Though I'm not sure I want to...oooh, scary!


The plot involves people who don't realized Straws is no ordinary drinking straw having their Uvulas, Ears, and other near-to-the-face body parts injured or removed by Straws. 

Finally a savvy 7 year old takes a pair of scissors and cuts Straws into pieces, and he can no longer bite innocent people just trying to hydrate.

Don't Drink the Water!

Nose to the Grindstone Again

That's right, back at work after 10 days of beautiful weather, fun short trips and lots of relaxing, reading, and naps. 

Today I went in early, and good thing because I was in charge of running a meeting that started at 8:30 and I didn't know it.  But my boss had everything ready for me and it went fine.  Plus it was a working meeting which meant that I didn't feel like taking nap until AFTER it was over (as opposed to having to prop my eyelids open during the meeting.)

So now it's afternoon and I am mostly done with my work day, waiting for the little people to be brought home from day camp where they will have played and swum all day.  Like little pollywogs.  Or something like that.

J-dude pitched 4 innings in his baseball game last night, but I didn't get to the park until the game was just finishing up because I took Sisi to her swimming lessons. I forgot how much of summer is driving around town for parents with kids in the backseat.  We are far from an overscheduled family and yet...3 adults with 3 vehicles still seem to be busy driving 2 little people around town most of June July and August.

J-dude starts Junior High this fall and he actually said the other day "only 2 months until I get to start school at Kingsley."  That was weird, in a good way.  I think he's mostly excited about the improved school lunch situation, though.

I think this will also be the summer that J-dude reads without being goaded into it.  He is into The Hunger Games series now, and it is also his trick to stay up late, reading in bed at night.  I can live with that.  Sisi is still trying to avoid reading much of the time, working instead on tinkling the ivories (or the plastics in the case of our computerized electronic fancy schmancy keyboard) and making bows and arrows out of sticks.  If she ends up knowing how to play a song or two by the end of the summer and has read at least 1 or 2 books, I'll consider it a success.

I don't have any more vacation time until the second week in August, by which time my nose ought to be plenty sharp again!

Vacation Time

This has been a wonderful week off work.  Last Saturday The Player and I went to the Indiana Dunes to a wonderful Bed and Breakfast.  We went for a couple walks on the beach, but no swimming in Lake Michigan yet.  Even though the water is about 16 degrees warmer than this time last year, it's still too cold for me to do more than wade in up to my ankles.  We had some good Mediterranean food at a place in Michigan City that brings red pepper hummus and pita bread to your table while you are looking at the menu.  You can imagine my delight!!!  The breakfasts at the B&B were fabulous...delicious and generous. 

See don't we look full! 

On the way to Indiana we drove by these "wild horses" on Route 24 between Chenoa and Fairbury:

Yesterday we took the kids to St. Louis to the City Museum.  That is one wildly imaginitive place.  Everywhere I looked there are mosaics on the walls, the floors, the support posts.  There are the creepy enchanted caves. The outdoor section is about 3 stories tall, full of welded crawling tunnels and walkways.   There is a skateless skate park where kids can run up and down the boards.  There is a big ball pit with a basketball hoop about 15 feet high:

There are slides everywhere. Some are very long and I found that when you wear nylon shorts you can go very VERY fast. Then you can bump your head at the bottom and also skin both elbows. But that didn't stop me from doing that slide multiple times.

In the afternoon there was a performance by Joe the Juggler.  This guy was a juggler and a comedian.  He had a lot of kids come down out of the audience for some of his tricks.  For one of the tricks he picked Sisi to "come on down." 

Yes, yes, she is wearing her "lucky sweatshirt" around her waist. 

After he put the towel on his shoulder and the shower cap on his head (???)  he explained that Sisi need to assume the Sumo Wrestler pose!

Then he proceeded to pick her up on his shoulders, balance on the board over a PVC pipe, and juggle the three pins.  Holy moley!  At one point he said what I whispered to The Player when I saw what he planned to do "Sisi is heavier than she looks!"

She enjoyed being one of the stars of the show, that's for sure!