Whew! What a trip!

Well, we're back from a two week vacation out west. It was an amazing experience. I'm going to break it down into several posts, but I'll just post a few thoughts here. The kids were great. They did awesome on the airplanes and endured two very long days in the car. They slept good and ate well for most of the trip, although I don't want to see a restaurant again for quite some time! The boys shared a room in Boulder and loved it, which is good because we'd like to move them into bunk beds sometime this year. Luke mastered the fireman's pole on several playgrounds. He also decided that he doesn't need the little potty or potty topper at all any more and he has been dry at night for the last week! We found out Michael can talk as much or more than Luke--he jabbered for eleven hours straight in the car one day. And Michael also had quite the adventure falling into the hotel pool in El Paso, but he was quickly fished out by his panicked parents. I got to see Luke and Michael play at the same park where I used to play when I was a little girl. We saw wild western thunderstorms and ate sopapillas. But the best part was spending time with Poppy and Nan, Grandma Carole and Grandpa S.T. Thank you, my wonderful family, for making this trip possible!

Mark's baptism

Today we officially became godparents to Mark Lawrence Masek, who almost woke up for the occasion. The baptism went so smoothly, could it be because we left our children with the neighbors? We did pick them up and take them to the party afterwards, so they could have two kinds of cake--one for Mark and one for his sister Maria, who just turned three.

Bike Trailer

waking up

Sometimes it's hard to get out of the post-nap daze unless you have your white crocodile, your digger book and your daddy.

Rob and Melissa

Matt's cousin Rob and his wife Melissa stayed with us last night. They've lived abroad for the last six years, most recently in Mexico. They've been on the road for three weeks driving from Puerta Vallarta. We were their last stop before they get back home to Toronto. It was great to see them. Luke loved talking to "Cousin Rob." And we all got a kick out of having a car with Costa Rica plates parked in front of our house (they lived in Costa Rica before Mexico).

Biker Boyz

Luke has a 16 inch bike, but he's still kind of nervous on it. A few weeks ago he got this 12 inch bike as a hand-me-down from a friend. He LOVES it (thanks Ali and Caleb!) and rides it all the time. He and Matt have ridden as far as the Easton soccer fields which are 4 miles away. Michael is much, much slower on his "two-wheeler." What surprises me is how much they love their helmets and beg to wear them all the time!

Baby Mark

This is Mark Lawrence Masek, our newest godson. He arrived on July 3rd. We are so happy for Larry and Joyce and big sister Maria and can't wait until the baptism next week. Hmmm, looking back on the baptism for our other godson, Benedict, I'm toying with the idea of getting a babysitter for our kids.

Got milkweed?

I saw a bumper sticker that said that in Clintonville (surprise, surprise), but it got me curious, so I looked it up. Turns out butterflies, especially monarchs, love milkweed, so I told Matt to stop cutting ours down. We were rewarded this morning with this visitor:

Not a monarch, but an adult female Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.

Luke's conversation with the butterfly:

Luke: What's your name?
Butterfly (whose voice sounds suspiciously like Luke's): Butterfly-ie.
Luke: Do you want to be adopt?
Butterfly-ie: What's adopt?
Luke: It means you lived alone in the forest, but now you can come and live with us and be in our family.
Butterfly-ie: Oh yes, I'd love to be adopt!
Luke: Ok, now you're in our family and can live in our yard.

4th of July

Usually, we spend the 4th with the Martinez family in Granville, but they are spending the summer in Columbia this year. We decided to go to the Granville parade anyway this year, mainly because Matt and I had an overwhelming need to see the "meat royalty" again. I didn't get good pictures this year, but in addition to the usual Licking County Goat Queen and Beef Princess, we also saw the Licking County Junior Rabbit Queen, the Poultry Queen and the Pork Princess. Then we came home and Luke and Michael did their first sparklers with our neighbors. We thought the big fireworks might get rained out, but the weather held, so Matt and Luke and our neighbors Josh and Ethan went to the Westerville fireworks display. It didn't start until 10pm and they didn't get home until almost midnight! I think it was one of the latest nights Luke's ever had, but he had a blast. I'm so glad he didn't inherit my fear of loud noises that left me cowering under beds for most of my childhood Independence Days!

A friendship in pictures . . .

Today Luke said goodbye to Eli. Eli and his family are moving away in a couple of days. Luke has lots of friends for a kid his age and I'm sure he'll have lots of friends in the future, but Eli will always hold the distinction of being Luke's first best friend. Goodbye "Eli who is still yummy, but doesn't like to be called Yummy Eli anymore." We'll miss you!

Miracle on Highway 33

After a day hiking in the Hocking Hills . . .

how the garden grows

The first tomatoes.

The pole beans that just keep climbing.

The first bell pepper and a winter squash plant just starting to grow.

Oregano, leeks and hot peppers.

Corn corner--planted in rows a week apart for a staggered harvest--that is, if they mange to cross pollinate and actually produce corn.

swimming lessons

Luke is almost finished with his first round of swimming lessons. In Westerville, the kids go every day for two weeks. Luke is "guppy" level--the first class where they are without parents in the pool. He loves it and has asked to do another round of lessons in August instead of any other activity this summer. He loves his teacher, David, which isn't surprising since he reminds us a lot of Uncle Chris who also spent many a summer lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons.

The home version is smaller, but they sure do like the "water slide."

Going Away Party

I hosted a Mom's Night Out in our backyard last Thursday. My very good friend Sharleen is moving to Minnesota in a week or two and the moms threw her a going away party. It all went great except that I fell down our deck stairs (there's only two of them!!!) while setting up and twisted my ankle! Five days later and I'm only just beginning to see the bones of my foot again. Still, it was a lovely night. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and gave Sharleen a going away basket filled with different fabrics. Matt snapped this fabulous picture of us with Alyssa's camera. For once, she didn't have to run in and pose before the timer went off!

Happy Anniversary, Poppy and Nan!

My mom and stepdad will celebrate their 12th anniversary tomorrow. Here's a picture of the wedding. Brian has two kids now. Jason has a baby. I have two kids. The flower girl is about to start her second year at Yale and the ring-bearer just graduated from high school. Yikes, time flies!

full day

I guess Matt and I are trying to stay busy and we're dragging the kids with us. Today started with boy-yoga, followed by swim lessons, followed by COSI.




It was the "big machines" exhibit at COSI. I took a picture of Michael standing in line only because when Luke was Michael's age, a line meant a tantrum. Even today, Luke bypassed all of the cool machines that had long lines. Luke loved the new Egypt exhibit, though, because it had a real mummy and an unreal camel.

A prince on his throne

Michael tried the potty for the first time the other night. He's not all that interested yet, but we got the requisite photo to show his date on prom night.

A dog's life

We lost our beloved Gavin the Greyhound last night. He had been having a rough time lately and yesterday he stopped eating completely, even when Matt cooked him a steak, so we knew it was time. I don't think most of our friends in Columbus have heard the whole Gavin story, so I thought I'd write it here.

Matt and I saw a show about rescued greyhounds sometime around 1999, when we were engaged and living in Toronto. We heard they were good apartment dogs, so we started to investigate. We found G.L.O.H.W. , a rescue organization that brings greyhounds from the northeastern U.S. into southern Ontario. We went through a rigorous application process. They called all of our references to make sure that we would make good doggie parents and even made a home visit (complete with sample greyhound). Then they put us on a waiting list.

We finally got the call in October of 2000. They had a three-year-old male named Okie Ridge who was ready to transition out of foster care and into his permanent home. As far as they knew, "Okie," who we immediately renamed Gavin, was born in 1997 on a puppy farm in West Virginia and then spent his racing career on a track in Connecticut. He was retired when he stopped winning. G.L.O.H.W. had him neutered and then put him in foster care on a farm for a couple of weeks while they tried to place the right dogs with the right owners. We got Gavin because he showed signs of being cat-aggressive and they knew we didn't have a cat.

He was a bag of bones when we got him, although we quickly put about fifteen pounds on him. We lived in a walk-up and he had never seen stairs. We had to teach him about stairs and windows (he would bump into them). He was already housebroken because he was kept in a crate. He stayed in the crate in our apartment for maybe 4 days before we gave up and let him have the run of the place. About a week after we got him, we encouraged him to get on the couch and thus Gavin's greatest love was discovered--lying on one side of the couch. Sometime in those first weeks, we also discovered that he preferred to walk with a stuffed toy in his mouth. We went through a lot of stuffed animals. He wore a coat in the winter and even had to wear boots to protect his paws from the salt on the city streets.

He lived with us in our one-bedroom apartment for three years getting four walks a day. He didn't see his first yard until Evansville. When we moved here and Luke was born, we weren't sure how he would do with the baby, but he was always wonderfully gentle with the boys. He aged gracefully. His brindle coat turned almost completely white. As he got older, he still loved his walks and his dinner and our dinner and your dinner, but he stopped running probably about two years ago. Over the past few months he slowed down more and got pickier about what he would eat. He began declining rapidly a few weeks ago. I was hoping he would make it through June 7th, which we were told was his birthday, and he did. That means he was 12 years old, which is a good age for a big dog, especially one who didn't have good care in his youth. We will miss him terribly, but we know he is up there in doggie heaven lying on a couch and begging for treats.

Goodbye sweet Gavin dog, until we meet again.

Lukism of the day

On Sunday evenings, we watch America's Funniest Home Videos. It's pretty much the only commercial tv that Luke watches. Here's why:

While I was washing dishes, Luke calls from the living room,"Hey mom, now we can get restaurant quality pizza at home."

birthday gift

Luke got this great "transforming" tricycle from us as his big birthday gift. It can be a large trike or a big wheel and, since Matt was out of town, I built it all by myself!