all in a summer's day
June 25, 2008, 8:32 pm
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Huck began today by walking Max and finding all kinds of bugs, including mosquitos that drank some of Pappy's blood. (Huck loves to include facts about blood whenever possible.) Then the two of them had their weekly Wednesday morning adventure, which was a trip to the library followed by a very short haircut at the place where Huck gets to watch a Dora video and eat a lollipop. (Huck would later tell me that he thinks they should throw away the electric shaver.) Once ol' Dad went to work, Huck and I hiked our ten or so blocks up to Jacob Javits playground for some sprinkler action and a popsicle, followed by a group outing to Ft. Tryon Park where Huck got to play frisbee and violin, both compliments of his good friend Jacob, along with drive trucks and trains through a pile of ice left on the ground. (Causing me to ask the other moms who's in charge of bringing the ice next time. Good stuff!) Following all of this fun, we hiked back down ten or so blocks and met Pappy T for our weekly Wednesday 5:00 pizza date in the church yard before bidding him goodnight for the evening, giving Max, Elmo, Lydia the lizard and Thydia the centipede a little walk, taking a bath, reading new library books and going to bed. It's hard work having so much summer fun.
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[ 3 comments ] ( 31 views )amen
June 21, 2008, 2:52 pm
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We just survived another week of VBS (Vacation Bible School) which is Troy's all consuming time of entertaining neighborhood children with songs, dances and stories. This was the first year that Huck got to actually participate, as opposed to spending the evening being carried around by me while I try to help out here and there. This year's theme was a science lab (which explains Troy's white lab coat and the green goggles), and Huck was a part of the toddler group called the Squeaker Beakers, led by Betty, Rosa and Jeimy. He took a nap every afternoon so that he could stay up "late" and have fun with the rest of us. And he was quite the trooper as his parents were extremely distracted, busy and often frazzled trying to pull this thing off.
More than anything, VBS is a very fun-filled week for everyone involved, and it is hard to describe how beloved Troy is in our neighborhood. When friends come up here to visit they call Troy the Mayor of Washington Heights because he can't walk more than a couple of feet without someone yelling his name or "Primo!" or "Yo!" Children respond to him as if he's a celebrity, because in their little worlds he is. He's committed much time and energy to so many kids over the last nine years, and this is most evident during VBS. Kids who are now teenagers come out of the woodwork to help him out in any way they can. These cool urban 12 to 16 year olds literally run into the church, happily put on these awful yellow t-shirts Troy makes all of his poor volunteers wear, and do not stop smiling the entire 2-1/2 hours while they play with the littler kids and sing and dance these goofy songs. Somehow Troy has found a way to tap into something these kids need and want, and I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm very proud of that husband of mine.
And I hope he takes a nap soon.
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[ 5 comments ] ( 32 views )special drawings
June 19, 2008, 9:35 pm
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Today Huck made us each a drawing. Troy's is Brain Coral, which is massive reef-building coral having a convoluted and furrowed surface. Duh.
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And here's mine. It's a Rain Horse with five penises. (You can see them at the top left corner.) And Huck wrote me a message at the bottom of the picture which goes: "Mommy, I love to hug you each day."
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Should Troy be worried?[ 4 comments ] ( 30 views )
happy father's day photo shoot
June 15, 2008, 6:56 pm
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[ 5 comments ] ( 37 views )what? why? when? why? what? what? what?
June 14, 2008, 10:03 am
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Huck has officially become a child who asks questions non-stop. Troy and I have discovered that we often speak in sarcastic, exaggerated ways, thereby making our curious little boy confused and determined to figure out what on earth we're saying. All day long we hear, "What did you say, Mommy? What did that mean? What are you talking about? What? WHAT? MOMMY? WHAT?!?!?!"
We're slowly being driven insane.[ 4 comments ] ( 33 views )
100 percent fun in the 100 degree temps!
June 11, 2008, 2:38 pm
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We got to spend the last few days with Aunt Tina and Uncle Scott, and words cannot describe the fun we had nor the heat we endured! New York had a very unusual early June heat wave just in time for us to traipse through South Street Seaport, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Times Square, Central Park and see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island up close. We even got to see the Kansas City Royals beat the Yankees by one point, which means Huck can always say he saw a game in the old Yankees Stadium back when he was three years old. Huck and Uncle Scott built many Legos masterpieces and a lot of incredible sand castles down at the river, and he played every game imaginable with Aunt Tina. Let me put it this way: Tina and Scott? Tough act to follow.
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[ 5 comments ] ( 35 views )like living with david blaine
June 4, 2008, 7:51 pm
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On our way to the Poconos last week we got stuck in Manhattan for some time, since it's nearly impossible to get out of this city by car on a Friday afternoon. We were in a lot of traffic on our way to pick up John and Shana downtown, so we were on the phone with them trying to find an "easy" pick up location. I had a street map and was rattling off “Leroy” and “Clarkson” and telling them things like, “Leroy is above Clarkson” or “Clarkson is below Leroy.” Something like that. Finally we found them and about an hour later were happily driving through New Jersey heading to Pennsylvania. As we neared our cabin a couple hours after that, we got Kathy on the phone to give us some last minute instructions. We reviewed what she said several times: “We take Moseywood Road to the dead end and then stop the car and look for the cabin and it should be right there.” And sure enough, it was.
On Sunday night we said our goodbyes and got back into the car. As we made our first turn Huck suddenly got very alert and began looking around him. I asked what he was looking for and he said, “This is Moseywood Road with the dead in (sic) that Kathy told us about.” All of us agreed we would never have remembered the name “Moseywood,” as we chuckled nervously at his amazing memory.
Then this evening right before his bath Huck put his water cup and his milk cup into the fridge, one on an upper shelf and one below it. He stood there looking at his cups and said, “This one up here is Leroy and this one under it is Clarkson. Leroy is above Clarkson and Clarkson is under Leroy.” I had no idea what he was talking about but thought they were funny name choices for sippy cups. And then I realized he was remembering the traffic jam conversation almost one week ago.
And while I stood there in the doorway of the kitchen with my mouth wide open, admiring my intelligent and gifted son whose memory far surpasses mine and everyone I know, he began spitting raspberries and laughing hysterically at himself. "Time for bath," I sighed as I escorted my drunken little Einstein down the hall.[ 10 comments ] ( 43 views )
the pokes
June 2, 2008, 7:53 pm
We are so lucky to have friends with birthdays. Last fall it was Fire Island for John and last weekend it was three days in the Poconos Mountains of Pennsylvania for Shannon! As soon as we crossed the New Jersey border Huck began casually referring to the area as “The Pokes” and later wondered allowed where all the things poking out were. Huck was the only kid among a bunch of his very favorite adults (Shannon, Shana, John, Kathy, Cheryl, Russell, Mommy and Daddy) and that meant a whole lot of attention. We sat in the hot tub, had a cookout, ate popsicles, saw three wild turkeys and many deer behind our beautiful cabin, had a wild dance party, enjoyed eating the delicious food almost always made by the men, played miniature golf and kickball, and even sort of swam around in the lake.We are so excited for the next birthday party!
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[ 6 comments ] ( 48 views )