Off to Toronto . . .

We are heading up to Canada tomorrow, so we'll be off the blog for a few days. Matt and the boys will be with the Ponesse clan. I'll be at the International Conference on Welsh Studies at the University of Toronto. I'm the Program Chair, which means I've been planning this gig for over a year. I'm excited and nervous and ready to get it underway (and over with, so I can get on with my life!).

ODU Picnic

Yesterday was the annual Ohio Dominican faculty and staff picnic. It's always ridiculously hot. But the sno-cones were good and the balloon artists they had this year were great! They made Luke a helicopter. It was awesome, but didn't last long. Neither did the lightsaber that they made after the helicopter popped. Luke had fun anyway.

If you post it, they will come . . .

My stepdad didn't want to wait for me to dig out the scanner. Hmm, he must know how unlikely that is to actually happen. So he sent me a "then" picture taken July 22, 2000. Seems like a long time ago.

Trip to Hocking Hills

Yesterday we spent the day in the Hocking Hills. Although we've lived here four years, this was our first real trip to the area. It really is beautiful. We visited Old Man's Cave and the Rock House, areas of amazing waterfalls, rock formations and sheer cliffs. It was kind of a harrowing experience with the kids. Lots of scary trails with steep drop-offs. But Luke had a great time and Michael seemed to enjoy himself as long as we didn't put him down for more than a few seconds. He made his poor daddy carry him the whole way. I loved that you could go right down to the water and get your feet wet--something I don't remember being able to do as a child in the freezing rapids of Colorado. Out-of-towners beware, you WILL be dragged to the Hocking Hills on every future visit!

8 years ago . . .

I can't believe Matt and I have been married for eight years. I want to post "then" and "now" pictures, but that means digging out the scanner for our wedding pics. Maybe in a few days. At least I can post a "now" picture. We got dressed up and went to dinner--we rarely get to do that. We had a very nice meal at McCormick and Schmick's and a wonderful child-free evening.

Walk Like A Man

Michael started walking yesterday! 15 1/2 months. I was starting to think I was going to have to carry him to his high school graduation.

Lukism of the day

Admittedly, this is funnier if you see Luke on a regular basis. Luke just got his first glimpse of a Transformer on tv.

Luke: I'm a Tranformer Robot.
Matt: What's your name?
Luke: My name is Screams.

Indeed.

Award Winning Pilsener!!!

We just found out that Matt's Bohemian Pilsener won second place at the Ohio State Fair homebrew competition! Not bad considering he just started brewing in January.

Kids' Table

Although Michael still sits in his high chair at home, it is so nice now that the kids can all sit at a kids' table together. Here they are eating dinner with friends blissfully apart from the grown-ups. Years of child segregation has begun. Hooray!

Summer Fun

Not really sure what to write that sounds exciting as it's really the dog days of summer here now--hot and humid. There's a bit of monotony to our lives each day as we try not to melt. We spend afternoons at the pool and eat LOTS of popsicles.

Red Shack Brewing Company's Debut

So yesterday we dropped off several bottles of Matt's homebrew at the Ohio State Fair. He's entering the Pilsener and Cream Ale categories. I have to admit, it was kind of exciting. We'll have to wait a few days for the results and it will be another two weeks before we can go and visit his beer bottles on display at the fair.

Down on the Farm (must be sung)

So we went to the original Bob Evans today. For those of you outside of the midwest, Bob Evans is like Cracker Barrel or Denny's. There are so many Bob Evans restaurants in Columbus--you can summon one on a whim at it will appear on the horizon. Today I had to go to Rio Grande (Rio is pronounced with a long "i" like Ohio, don't ask me why) which is about two hours away. I had a meeting at the Madog Center for Welsh Studies at Rio Grande University--southeast Ohio is major Welsh settler territory. Bob Evans was Welsh. They still have the old restaurant and farm, although there wasn't as much to do there as were led to believe. There was a sign in front of the ponies that said "Animals may bite." But Luke is always up for Bob Evans pancakes and Michael eats more sausage than seems possible for a child of his size. The college was quite pretty, but the town is so small that it does not even have a grocery store, Matt and I once again thanked our lucky stars that we landed in Columbus.

Lukism of the day

There's a chipmunk living under our sidewalk. I asked Luke what kinds of things he thought the chipmunk had in his house. "Some grass, some birds and a lot of very, very nice, very, very small ogres."

a trip to the zoo

We went to the zoo this week. Luke finally fits into the zookeeper vest his Poppy and Nan sent. I still think the boys like the statues more than the real animals. After our trip, I decided that it's time to purge some of our crappy cheap toys in favor of starting a nice Schleich (that's German for expensive) animal collection. I was imagining Luke would want a lion or tiger, but of course he decided he wanted an okapi, a komodo dragon and a flamingo. You know, the really easy to find animals. Note to self: next time go to the store first, then let him choose. We actually found them on the third try and he's now happily sleeping with them and an very scary albino crocodile that somehow ended up in the basket.

Michael's haircut

We had Michael's hair cut over the weekend. I believe it was his fourth haircut? But this time we took him to our friend Alyssa's shop. I forgot the camera, but just as well as he screamed and thrashed the whole time. Luckily, Alyssa is brilliant and still managed to give him a great cut, but alas, no more baby curls at the back. I'll post a better picture when I take one.

Another day at the park

This is Luke and his "Abigail" stroller--given to him by a beautiful little French girl who had the audacity to move away to California. Lest you think he is embracing his feminine side, have a look at what he puts in the stroller. That's two rubber snakes and a lizard.He seems to be taking the loss of Abigail in stride. Here he is picking flowers with "Dann-nella." For the record, Matt hates seeing Luke in sleeveless shirts, it's a bit too whiskey-tango for his taste. What's whiskey-tango? Only my new favorite phrase--military alphabet code for WT, which stands for White Trash. Love it.

Lukism of the day . . .

"Hey Mom, come look at my gorgeous poop!"

Frankenkettle is born . . .

Matt is converting our tool shed into a "brew shack" where he can homebrew beer in peace away from his complaining spouse. He's got several wild projects in the works, including a "Three-Tiered Gravity Flow Brew System," but his first creation is Frankenkettle, a modified ceramic pot suitable for brewing, alchemy and perhaps cold fusion experiments.

Why I love Ohio

Where else can you see the Licking County Lamb Queen and the Licking County Goat Queen? Most midwesternest pageant ever!!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the day in Granville with the Martinez Family. We went to the Granville Parade. It was chilly and rainy, but nobody seemed to mind. Luke has still yet to witness a fireworks display. After a full day of parades and friends, he was in meltdown mode by 5pm and in bed by 7pm. Maybe next year.

Lesson of the day

Playing in the rain is okay--lots of fun, actually, and far superior to being used as a human jungle gym by a stir crazy 3-year-old.

Down on the farm

Today we went to Slate Run, another Metropark with a living historical farm. For some reason, whenever we make the 30 minute drive, it decides to rain, but we had fun anyway. Michael and Luke love the pigs--very smelly. I noticed a couple of smallish pigs and told Luke that they were probably some of the pigs who had been babies last time we visited. One of the farmers heard me talking to him and said "Have you been to the smokehouse yet? That's where their brothers and sisters are." I would have been horrified if the smokehouse hadn't smelled so darn good. Mmmm, bacon.
The highlight was actually a large green caterpillar that we saw on our way out.

A trip to Innis Woods

Today we went to Innis Woods, a large manicured Metropark near our house. We saw scores of tadpoles and frogs and two disconcertingly large snakes swimming in the pond. Luke had a great time. "What an exciting adventure," he said. Michael said "tree." We thought Michael might take a few steps on one of the bridges, but, alas, no go. He'll be fifteen months on Sunday. It strikes me as I write this that the only way to really make a blog work is if I actually bring the camera and take pictures of what we're doing. Point taken.

Caving to peer pressure

Must I blog? Seriously? Just because everyone else is blogging, doesn't mean I have to. Right? Like I don't have enough on my plate already. Like I need another online entity to obsessively check and revise. And yet, I'm already finding the prospect of writing intoxicating. A forum on which to unleash my unbridled verbosity. I don't think I can resist. Sigh. Surrender. I shall blog.

For the out of town grandparents and aunts and uncles. For the friends who've flown to the four corners of the earth. For the mommy-friends who already see me several times a week, but with whom I can never converse because we are too busy chasing our progeny.

So I can show the boys that I did something with all of those digital pictures. So at some future date I can remember all of the hilarious prattlings of 3-year-old Luke. So I can keep track of Michael's milestones lest he come to me someday whining about "second child syndrome"--well, he'll probably do that anyway, but at least I can tell him I tried.

What about me? Should I post my own non-child related ramblings here, too? Or do I start another blog? What about Matt and his adventures in homebrewing? He's building a "brew shack" as I type. Is that appropriate content or does it merit a sub-blog? Is there such a thing as a sub-blog? I've never even completely read a blog much less created one, so I'm afraid it will take me some time to figure it all out.

But one post and, fortunately or unfortunately, I think I'm already hooked.