Louisa's version of Old MacDonald:
old mac farmer had a cow...
ee-eye-ee-eye-ooooh.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Lake Love
Last week, Louisa had pink eye (again). But I can't really complain. This is the first time she's been sick in a few months-- yay summer! And really, she didn't seem to feel bad at all. Basically, all that meant was that she was banned from daycare for a day, until her antibiotics had a chance to get into her system. So, I got to kick around with her all day on Thursday. I had nothing planned, and it was ridiculously hot outside. Eventually, I drove out to Jordan Lake.
Jordan Lake might not be the most glamourous of lakes, but I love it.
This particular spot (pictured in the panorama on the flickr site) isn't really great for swimming. There's no beach to speak of, it's small and rocky-- you couldn't even spread out a towel or find an even spot to set up a chair and these days, the rocks are littered with trash. It's not a bad spot, though. If I had been the kind of college freshman who would load her two-seater car up with three brand-new friends ("so what was your last name again?") and make a middle-of-the-night trip out to the lake for a quick dip in the water, this might have been just the spot for that kind of thing. One of my brand-new friends might or might not have lost some boxer shorts out there, having decided to swim in them but then choosing to remove them in order to get dressed afterward. I mean, maybe that kind of thing could have happened. I'm not saying it did. Hi, Mom! :) But I will say that if such shenanigans had happened, one of the people who probably would have been involved is someone who could possibly have a big important job at the UN these days, and if that were a true story, I would blame it all on him.
Right.
There is this other spot out at the lake, off that same road, where you could park right next to a bridge and walk about a hundred yards through some woods to a sweet little cove. It had a sandy beach, it was out of view and earshot of the road, and out of view and earshot of the main part of the lake. Sometimes there'd be people down at the point with a boat parked out in the water nearby. (Inevitably, they'd be drinking cheap beer and listening to classic rock.) Often there would be no one else there. I
used to go there a lot, with friends or alone. One night my friend Jeremy and I even pitched a tent on that little beach and spent the night out there (and then spent the whole night wondering if we were going to wind up as victims in a slasher-film-type massacre-- good times!).
I was hoping to take Louisa to that cove last week, but I discovered that now, there are "NO PARKING" signs all along the stretch of road that borders that area. From the bridge, it looks like the landscape might have changed sufficiently in the past few years (ok, ten years, fine) that the beach isn't the same as it used to be-- but it's hard to say since you could never completely see the beach from the road anyway.
I'd promised Louisa that she could see the water and maybe even touch it, so when I couldn't park at the cove, I remembered this other access point. It's meant for fishing, so it actually has a parking lot right down by the water. We were totally unprepared for a day at the beach: no bathing suit, no beach shoes, no towels, no toys, nothing... but guess what? That didn't matter to Louisa at all.
Jordan Lake might not be the most glamourous of lakes, but I love it.
This particular spot (pictured in the panorama on the flickr site) isn't really great for swimming. There's no beach to speak of, it's small and rocky-- you couldn't even spread out a towel or find an even spot to set up a chair and these days, the rocks are littered with trash. It's not a bad spot, though. If I had been the kind of college freshman who would load her two-seater car up with three brand-new friends ("so what was your last name again?") and make a middle-of-the-night trip out to the lake for a quick dip in the water, this might have been just the spot for that kind of thing. One of my brand-new friends might or might not have lost some boxer shorts out there, having decided to swim in them but then choosing to remove them in order to get dressed afterward. I mean, maybe that kind of thing could have happened. I'm not saying it did. Hi, Mom! :) But I will say that if such shenanigans had happened, one of the people who probably would have been involved is someone who could possibly have a big important job at the UN these days, and if that were a true story, I would blame it all on him.
Right.
There is this other spot out at the lake, off that same road, where you could park right next to a bridge and walk about a hundred yards through some woods to a sweet little cove. It had a sandy beach, it was out of view and earshot of the road, and out of view and earshot of the main part of the lake. Sometimes there'd be people down at the point with a boat parked out in the water nearby. (Inevitably, they'd be drinking cheap beer and listening to classic rock.) Often there would be no one else there. I
used to go there a lot, with friends or alone. One night my friend Jeremy and I even pitched a tent on that little beach and spent the night out there (and then spent the whole night wondering if we were going to wind up as victims in a slasher-film-type massacre-- good times!).
I was hoping to take Louisa to that cove last week, but I discovered that now, there are "NO PARKING" signs all along the stretch of road that borders that area. From the bridge, it looks like the landscape might have changed sufficiently in the past few years (ok, ten years, fine) that the beach isn't the same as it used to be-- but it's hard to say since you could never completely see the beach from the road anyway.
I'd promised Louisa that she could see the water and maybe even touch it, so when I couldn't park at the cove, I remembered this other access point. It's meant for fishing, so it actually has a parking lot right down by the water. We were totally unprepared for a day at the beach: no bathing suit, no beach shoes, no towels, no toys, nothing... but guess what? That didn't matter to Louisa at all.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
"Some kind of help is the kind of help..."
There's this song that was on a children's album that we listened to a lot when I was a kid, and the refrain became something that we'd say a lot in my family.
Some kind of help
is the kind of help
that helping's
all about...
and some kind of help
is the kind of help
we all
can do
without.
Here's an example of the latter kind:
This afternoon, we spent some time cleaning the house, and then we were going to head off to the museum. While Bill and I were both getting dressed and ready to go, Louisa was sort of puttering around the house (like she does). At one point, she walked quietly into the bedroom where I was standing and came up to me. She had a look on her face that I didn't really recognize. She said something... A dump truck what? I jumped where? Huh? She kept repeating herself and finally I got it.
"I dumped the trash?" I said.
"Yes," she said.
"Where?" I asked her, and then thought better. "Show me."
She took my hand and led me to the kitchen.
And there, I found the trash bag from the kitchen trash can lying beside the can itself, with it's contents spilled out onto the floor. Coffee grounds, cheerios, dust from the vaccuum canister that Bill had emptied earlier-- all in a pile on the kitchen carpet. [Reason number 7,438 why I want to redo the kitchen and change the floor.] The weird thing was that trash can was still closed and sitting exactly where it always sits.
"Did you do this?" I asked.
Louisa was standing uncharacteristically still in the corner watching me. Yes, she did that. She nodded.
"What happened?" I asked her. She was still over there in the corner, hemming and hawing. And then I opened the trashcan and realized that there was a new trash bag in the bottom of the canister.
"Louisa," I said, "were you trying to take out the trash and put a new bag in here?"
"I take out trash! I dump trash."
It was actually kind of sweet-- that she'd been trying to help, and that she was sort of nervously guilty about mucking it all up. It was less cute when, fifteen minutes later, she said "trash... funny." "Noooooo," Bill and I both responded, "dumping the trash is NOT FUNNY."
Some kind of help
is the kind of help
that helping's
all about...
and some kind of help
is the kind of help
we all
can do
without.
Here's an example of the latter kind:
This afternoon, we spent some time cleaning the house, and then we were going to head off to the museum. While Bill and I were both getting dressed and ready to go, Louisa was sort of puttering around the house (like she does). At one point, she walked quietly into the bedroom where I was standing and came up to me. She had a look on her face that I didn't really recognize. She said something... A dump truck what? I jumped where? Huh? She kept repeating herself and finally I got it.
"I dumped the trash?" I said.
"Yes," she said.
"Where?" I asked her, and then thought better. "Show me."
She took my hand and led me to the kitchen.
And there, I found the trash bag from the kitchen trash can lying beside the can itself, with it's contents spilled out onto the floor. Coffee grounds, cheerios, dust from the vaccuum canister that Bill had emptied earlier-- all in a pile on the kitchen carpet. [Reason number 7,438 why I want to redo the kitchen and change the floor.] The weird thing was that trash can was still closed and sitting exactly where it always sits.
"Did you do this?" I asked.
Louisa was standing uncharacteristically still in the corner watching me. Yes, she did that. She nodded.
"What happened?" I asked her. She was still over there in the corner, hemming and hawing. And then I opened the trashcan and realized that there was a new trash bag in the bottom of the canister.
"Louisa," I said, "were you trying to take out the trash and put a new bag in here?"
"I take out trash! I dump trash."
It was actually kind of sweet-- that she'd been trying to help, and that she was sort of nervously guilty about mucking it all up. It was less cute when, fifteen minutes later, she said "trash... funny." "Noooooo," Bill and I both responded, "dumping the trash is NOT FUNNY."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Singing the ABC's
Louisa likes to sing the ABC's. Except-- somewhere along the way she seems to have gotten the idea into her head that "the ABC's" only include the letters A, B, and C. If she asks me to sing the ABC's and I continue on with "D, E F G..." she's says "No! ABC's, Mama!" If I sing it *her* way, when I'm done she says "Yay! Good singin', Mama."
So, here's her version. When she's not doing it on command, it's a lot more melodic (not necessarily on-key, though).
Also, I know the video is sideways-- I don't know why I have a mental block on remembering to always take video in the landscape orientation. Anyway, it doesn't matter, the audio is everything in this one.
So, here's her version. When she's not doing it on command, it's a lot more melodic (not necessarily on-key, though).
Also, I know the video is sideways-- I don't know why I have a mental block on remembering to always take video in the landscape orientation. Anyway, it doesn't matter, the audio is everything in this one.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Wait, What??
So, Louisa likes cell phones. Her favorite ting to do when she gets hold of one is to open it and start pushing buttons maniacally. So far, she hasn't called 911 or some anything too crazy. Or so we thought. There was one day when she was frantically pushing buttons on my phone and I took it back from her and realized that there was a photo of a half-naked man on the screen. What?? What is that? I know that my phone has Mobile Web capabilities, but I wouldn't even know how to use that if I wanted to. But whatever, I just turned the phone off that day and never really thought about it.
Today, I noticed this on my phone bill:
Um, Hot Hunks?? My 2-year-old had my phone for ONE MINUTE and she was downloading porn? What is that??? I think it might be time to start keeping the phone locked.
Today, I noticed this on my phone bill:
Um, Hot Hunks?? My 2-year-old had my phone for ONE MINUTE and she was downloading porn? What is that??? I think it might be time to start keeping the phone locked.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Payoff
IMG_2285.JPG
Originally uploaded by carliches
This is what makes it worthwhile to spend 5+ hours in a car in one day just to spend a couple of hours on the beach. Look at that-- it's a full-body smile.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Long Weekend
On Friday, we took a spontaneous day-trip down to the beach to visit the aquarium and go for a quick dip in the ocean. It was fantastic. Louisa did great even though it was a long time for her to be in the car in one day, and she only napped for an hour (in her stroller). But, she liked the aquarium and she *loved* the beach time. I'll have some pictures up soon.
It was close to 11pm when we got back into town, and as soon as we exited the freeway we could tell that something was amiss. There were stoplights out, and some neighborhoods were dark. The closer we got to our neighborhood, the more pine cones and branches we saw littering the streets and yards. Sure enough, we arrived home to find that our power was out. That wasn't such a big deal since it was kind of late and we were exhausted from our trip anyway, so we just went to bed. This being an older neighborhood with lots of trees and power lines that aren't underground, our power goes out with some regularity. When we woke up on Saturday morning to find that it was still out, though, that was out of the ordinary. Exploration around the neighborhood revealed several big trees and large branches down. The streets right around our house were covered in debris. Our house was fine and we didn't lose any trees or large branched. We did find a couple of tulip poplar branches in the back yard. The odd thing about that is that we don't have any tulip poplar trees, nor do the neighbors on either side of us. The closest tulip poplar is like 2 yards away. We talked to some neighbors who were here and it sounds like it was a pretty intense storm. Other parts of the city had power outages but we didn't see anything that looked quite as wrecked as the area covering about a half-mile radius around our house. I think I'm glad we missed that storm.
Our power was restored mid-day on Saturday but that cable (which for us includes the phone and the internet connection) has been out until about an hour ago. So we've been living in the dark ages all weekend!
I don't think I'll get those photos posted tonight, because I'm exhausted. I took Louisa for a bike ride this morning and she fell asleep about a mile or so from home. The bike seat we have is awesome when she's awake (she yells "windy!! windy!!" when we go down hills and then yells "again!!" when we get to the bottom) but it's no good once she falls asleep. There isn't enough support for her so she flops around and it seems like that can't be good for her neck. So, I got to walk the mile home holding Louisa with one arm and pushing the bike with the other. And let me tell you, that is way harder than riding the bike with her. I took a nap this afternoon and I'm still tired. All ready for the work week to begin!
It was close to 11pm when we got back into town, and as soon as we exited the freeway we could tell that something was amiss. There were stoplights out, and some neighborhoods were dark. The closer we got to our neighborhood, the more pine cones and branches we saw littering the streets and yards. Sure enough, we arrived home to find that our power was out. That wasn't such a big deal since it was kind of late and we were exhausted from our trip anyway, so we just went to bed. This being an older neighborhood with lots of trees and power lines that aren't underground, our power goes out with some regularity. When we woke up on Saturday morning to find that it was still out, though, that was out of the ordinary. Exploration around the neighborhood revealed several big trees and large branches down. The streets right around our house were covered in debris. Our house was fine and we didn't lose any trees or large branched. We did find a couple of tulip poplar branches in the back yard. The odd thing about that is that we don't have any tulip poplar trees, nor do the neighbors on either side of us. The closest tulip poplar is like 2 yards away. We talked to some neighbors who were here and it sounds like it was a pretty intense storm. Other parts of the city had power outages but we didn't see anything that looked quite as wrecked as the area covering about a half-mile radius around our house. I think I'm glad we missed that storm.
Our power was restored mid-day on Saturday but that cable (which for us includes the phone and the internet connection) has been out until about an hour ago. So we've been living in the dark ages all weekend!
I don't think I'll get those photos posted tonight, because I'm exhausted. I took Louisa for a bike ride this morning and she fell asleep about a mile or so from home. The bike seat we have is awesome when she's awake (she yells "windy!! windy!!" when we go down hills and then yells "again!!" when we get to the bottom) but it's no good once she falls asleep. There isn't enough support for her so she flops around and it seems like that can't be good for her neck. So, I got to walk the mile home holding Louisa with one arm and pushing the bike with the other. And let me tell you, that is way harder than riding the bike with her. I took a nap this afternoon and I'm still tired. All ready for the work week to begin!
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