Vacuum

Like her brother was at her age, Eloise is afraid of loud noises. I always warn her when I am about to use a loud appliance so she can mentally prepare herself. Lately she's been physically preparing herself as well. Today after vacuuming, for example, I found her like this.

Titian and van Utrecht

Sam

Running

A few weeks back Dave tore his calf jumping over a dog on one of those long leashes that just should not be allowed on a biking or running path. He's tried to run several times since and it's just too painful. So this is the first year in 15 or more that he hasn't been able to train for the Twin Cities Marathon. We like having him around Sunday mornings when he'd otherwise be running for three hours, but we're all hoping he can run again soon. He's just a little bit grumpier when he can't run, which he'd be the first to admit.

Ps and Qs

Eloise is really into Curious George (she calls him Elmo, but whatever). She was very upset yesterday when reading Curious George Rides a Bike because George was not wearing a helmet as he pedaled around.

"Hat? Hat?" she said over and over with her hands turned up.

It's great that she's safety conscious for others, because later she did this to her nose just walking along the sidewalk:

Optical

Sam on my new glasses:

"Mom, I think you have to return those glasses. They are just too big for the size of your eyes."

I did ask what he thought, after all. 

Nature

There's a lot of dirt in our yard. And due the availability of dirt, there's also a record number of weeds. Not just your run of the mill small, dandelion-like weeds but weeds as tall and hearty as my children.

So it was quite satisfying to dig and pull them all out today. It took almost two hours, and I neglected my actual children while I was in the weeding zone. They had the hose and some gardening tools to keep them busy. No one was hurt. 

And the most exciting part of the project? Tomato plants! I had no idea they could grow "wild," but I found two of them on the berm that no one who lives here planted. Now that they are no longer being strangled by an ivy and can actually get sunlight we may even get some ripe tomatoes. Ah, nature. What will you think of next?

Jamboree?

At dinner I asked Sam if he knew any words that started with M.

"Jamboree?" he asked.

"No," I replied, "that starts with a J."

"Oh! There's an M at the end of my name," he continued.

"Yeah! There is!" I enthusiastically confirmed.

Then I looked at Eloise.

"Any M ideas?" I asked her. "Mmmm."

She smiled and said, "Mama."

Freakin' genius on our hands.

And then she threw her plate of food on the floor.

Lines

I had to draw several of these today. And Sam crossed them all.

This consequence was ineffective. "Oh, that's not very long at all," he said. 

Kamchatka

We visited Kamchatka today (courtesy of the Minnesota Zoo). It's on Russia's eastern coast and has more brown bears per square mile than any other place in the world.

The Joneses

Our energy company has notified us that our energy usage far exceeds that of other homes in our area. Obviously this is unacceptable. It's like we're getting the worst grade in the class.

So Sam and I went around the house and unplugged every possible electrical device that wasn't being used. ("Why aren't any of these lamps working?" Dave keeps asking.) We've also been hanging our clothes to dry, taking shorter showers, turning out the lights in empty rooms, keeping the blinds closed on hot days, shutting down our computers at night, and later this week we plan to vacuum the refrigerator coils.

We live in a pretty old and big house, so I'm not sure these adjustments will move us very far in the neighborhood standings, but it does feel pretty good to be using less energy. As Sam says, "we're so green now!"

iMovie

Sam wanted to make a movie about his week at soccer camp. So, we did.

Healing

I had coffee yesterday with the mother of a dear friend who committed suicide almost two years ago. She brought pictures and we reminisced about our funny, smart, loyal, and compassionate daughter and friend. It was a healing and joyful experience. One that I didn't know I needed as much as I did.

Game Day

Today was Game Day at soccer camp. Not like a soccer match but a review of all the games that the kids played throughout the week. The games included characters like Sponge Bob Square Pants, Dora the Explorer, and other childhood favorites that Sam has never heard of and calls by the wrong name later ("Sponge Bob Fancy Pants!"). My favorite one isn't really a game so much as a chant that I've been singing all week.

Bananas unite!

       Repeat: Bananas unite!

Bananas split!

       Repeat: Bananas split!

Banana peel to the left.

       Repeat: Banana peel to the left. 

Banana peel to the right.

      Repeat: Banana peel to the right.

Peel it down the middle and take a bite.

      Repeat: Peel it down he middle and take a bite.

Go bananas, go, go bananas!

There are actions for each line and at the end you do a crazy dance. I imagine that if you take one second to think about it, you actually know this chant from your own childhood. I recommend singing it and doing the actions several times a day. Life is decidedly better when you do. 

Foss

Remember how much Sam hated swimming lessons when he was almost three? Remember how we had to hold his hand and walk around the pool watching the other kids in his class play games and sing songs and swim in the pool?

Well, that happened, and we had to take some time away from swimming to get over the trauma.

But yesterday the most amazing thing happened when Dave took Sam for a swim assessment at the Foss Swim School. Sam was Mr. Cool In the Pool. He paddled, he kicked, he jumped into the water, and even submerged his head.

We're still shocked.

But now our Little 1 is looking forward to swimming every week this fall. We know because he told us this three or four times yesterday and as many times today as well.

Eloise

Our little girl a walking bruise. She's convinced she can do anything her brother does. Sometimes that's true. And other times, like during couch gymnastics today, it turns out that she's less coordinated than she thinks.

This wasn't even the last time she needed an ice pack today. We're thinking about having her wear a helmet. At least while she's awake anyway.

Dribble

"Dad, now I can Dribble the soccer ball and stop it, too." Soccer Camp Day One = Total Success.

Car

Somehow our 3-hour Car trip to south western Minnesota was actually a 5-hour Car trip. We should have done more preparation to figure out this key detail ahead of time. Instead we complained and some of us cried. In the end we made it to our destination.

Boxes

"Only two today!"

That's what our awesome UPS man said when he delivered the Boxes yesterday.

It might be time to cut back on the online shopping.

August

It's August now. A week into it even. So I'm thinking about doing an alphabet sort of theme to jump start blogging for the month. A is for August, obviously. But it's also for Apprehension and Avoidance, which is what I'm feeling and doing about having to start work again in four weeks. Apprehension and Avoidance is Apropos to this particular month given my line of work, so there's nothing really new to it.