This video is hilarious, I think. Obviously there must be some degree of nature going on here as nobody of the non-adopted persuasion in our family can dance like this...
2010-12-29
2010-12-28
6 Feet of Air
Ethan belongs to the ski club at school. Last week we went skiing for the first time this year. Since Alpine is close to some friends of ours, we were able to meet up with them and their two kids, one of which, Justin, is Ethan's age.
Justin and Ethan were having a blast! Justin snow boards, but Ethan skied. Of course, as soon as he saw Justin snow boarding, he immediately wanted to try that. Jenny tried to convince him that he would want to do that prior to us going, but he didn't want to until he saw Justin doing it...
They spent most of the day in the terrain park. Jenny, Jeff, and I hung out with them when they would allow us, but we were by far the oldest people in the terrain park by double or more! Jeff said he likes to get the kids in the terrain park because it enhances their vocabulary. Indeed... I'll give Ethan credit - even though he lacks in style or skill, he has no fear on the hill. He was taking every jump he could take. Him and Justin would brag to each other about how much air they got and if they "landed it." Ethan proclaimed that he "must have had 6 feet of air" at one point. Below is video proof of the feat.
2010-12-07
As I said before, we're re-doing the kids' rooms. Quin's is slowly morphing from a baby's room to a boy's room. The first step was a new bed, but first we had to get rid of the old one. After taking the crib up to Grandpa and Grandma Grady's house, and not yet having a replacement, we opted to put the mattress that was destined for the room on the floor. Quin slept great on it! One small quirk, though. When he goes to bed, he likes to have the ceiling fan on as high as it goes and he likes to put the covers over his head. In the interest of time, I oblige him each time. Hey, it's an easy way to get him to bed.
One of the more interesting Quin tendencies lately that forces us to pay attention to him pretty much every second of the day is his desire to climb on the railing surrounding the staircase. I'm not talking about the inside of it, but the outside, the side that hovers precariously 10 feet above the bottom step below. The first time I caught him doing it we were painting. He called out to me to "look at me," and I calmly crapped myself as I extricated him from the wrong side of the stair railing. This one is a challenge!
Like another time, over Thanksgiving, Quin was playing with my keys. Jenny and I both said, "that's probably a bad idea. We should get those away from him." Well, good intentions being what they are, we spent the next day and a half trying to find the now lost keys. We had to call Brett in Janesville to make a special trip to Oconomowoc to get the spare so we could get home. I even replaced the keys to the tune of $100+!!! My mom spent the better part of the last two weeks looking for them... Should have listened to my own advice.
To follow up, the keys were finally located - last night! They turned up in the snack tray which was safely tucked away in the cupboard for the last several weeks. Apparently the gigantic feast we had for Thanksgiving obviated the need for snacks the remainder of the weekend.
2010-11-29
Christmastime
Wow, it's been a long time again! I hope to post multiple times this week to get caught up. So much to talk about!
Well, it started a few weeks ago with Quin getting sick. The sickness eventually spread throughout the house but Quin got it first. The poor guy was just listless, throwing up, no fever, but sick. Every time he threw up over the course of several hours he just did it over the bucket, no crying or anything. He was fine the next day, but now he constantly tells us that he's going to go "throw up."
Several days earlier (or later, I can't remember), we were repainting Ethan's room. We're actually redoing both boys' rooms with new beds and the lot. One night when Jenny had finished painting, she put Quin to bed, left one of the roller trays to dry, then went downstairs to clean up the brushes. Apparently little sweety decided to help out as when I got home from my cub scout meeting I found a little treat on the wall, trim, and carpet. He had gotten out of bed, taken one of the clean brushes and used it to apply some of the drying paint in the roller try to the "wall."
More to come...
Well, it started a few weeks ago with Quin getting sick. The sickness eventually spread throughout the house but Quin got it first. The poor guy was just listless, throwing up, no fever, but sick. Every time he threw up over the course of several hours he just did it over the bucket, no crying or anything. He was fine the next day, but now he constantly tells us that he's going to go "throw up."
Several days earlier (or later, I can't remember), we were repainting Ethan's room. We're actually redoing both boys' rooms with new beds and the lot. One night when Jenny had finished painting, she put Quin to bed, left one of the roller trays to dry, then went downstairs to clean up the brushes. Apparently little sweety decided to help out as when I got home from my cub scout meeting I found a little treat on the wall, trim, and carpet. He had gotten out of bed, taken one of the clean brushes and used it to apply some of the drying paint in the roller try to the "wall."
More to come...
2010-10-22
Pre-puberty...
My relationship with my oldest son seems to be changing quite rapidly of late. This morning after getting out of the shower I noticed a can of Axe body spray sitting on the sink intended for me.
Let me rewind a little bit - over the past couple of months it has become evident to us that we had "the stinky kid" in school. Ethan would get into the car, or just walk near us, and you could certainly tell he was there! Not wanting to be the parents with the stinky kid in school, we racked our brains to fix the problem. We tried buying him deodorant, we tried making him scrub extra hard on his every other day shower, but nothing seemed to really be working. Finally, fed up, Jenny laid down the law and mandated daily showers along with a strict regiment of male fragrances. He was resistent at first, but eventually he came around, so now he is a daily showerer.
Fast forward to the Tuesday, Jenny went out and purchased Ethan a bottle of Axe body spray, Dark Temptation variety. For some reason unknown to me (perhaps I am the stinky guy at work), she also purchased a bottle for me, but got me the Fever scent. Over dinner last night, Ethan and I were discussing the finer points of wearing our different scents. He really enjoys his, as do all the guys in his class (the girls are less impressed, apparently) while I was not a big fan of "The Fever." So Ethan agreed to let me try his Dark Temptation the next day, which is today. He made sure he gave me detailed instructions of where to spray it and in what quantities. "No more than a second or a second and a half. Like this." At which time he mimed spraying the fragrance on his chest and stomach...
Ah, puberty is going to be fun. Where did my little baby go?
2010-09-22
Monsters
Quinny and I played "monsters" tonight. That little boy has quite an imagination. First he pestered me until I came to "play me." So I followed him upstairs where he declared that he saw a monster. For the next 30 minutes we were hiding, kicking, and even kissing the poor monster until his daddy put him to bed (both monsters). Good times...
2010-08-29
St. Germain - Summary
All good things must come to an end. We pretty much just got up and left first thing on Sunday morning. It was looking like a very hot day, and the time we did spend outside packing the cars found us swatting at a lot of mosquitoes which had been very sparse the rest of the week.
Lots of interesting things happened during the week, but here is a quick summary of some of the more memorable things:
- I lost my wedding ring (still haven't found it)
- Quin learned to swim with a life jacket
- We vacation with a very good mix of kids that get along with each other very well
- Matt's boat started on fire on Saturday
- We learned that an unopened bottle can explode when introduced to heat
- Chantrelle mushrooms are quite delicious
- Ethan learned to filet a fish (not filet-o-fish)
I'll be publishing the vacation photos in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out.
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Lots of interesting things happened during the week, but here is a quick summary of some of the more memorable things:
- I lost my wedding ring (still haven't found it)
- Quin learned to swim with a life jacket
- We vacation with a very good mix of kids that get along with each other very well
- Matt's boat started on fire on Saturday
- We learned that an unopened bottle can explode when introduced to heat
- Chantrelle mushrooms are quite delicious
- Ethan learned to filet a fish (not filet-o-fish)
I'll be publishing the vacation photos in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out.
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Location:Prairie Dr,Oconomowoc,United States
St. Germain - Day 7
It was my morning to get up with Quin. He didn't go to bed until 10:00 last night, so it was a bit of a surprise when he got up at 6:00 like normal. Luckily I just convinced him to lay down and within about 10 seconds he fell back to sleep until 8:00. By that time his diaper was a wreck! I was changing the mess that had accumulated saying something about "stinky poop" or something, and Quin said "I poop potty." I asked him, "really?" Quoting a perfect Donkey from Shrek he said, "Really, really." Chalk another one up to nurture.
It was looking to be windy and warm today, so we decided to go take in a game of mini golf before it got too hot. We played at a nice course called the 19th hole, or something equally as cleverly named. Ethan had a blast and Quin even tried to join in much to Jenny's and my chagrin. He played my ball for the first 7 holes and Jenny's for the remaining 11.
After golf and some lunch, Quin took a nap and the rest of the kids went swimming. I was actually afforded some time to read my book which I had ignored to this point in the trip. It's not a bad book if you are able to read more than like 2 pages at a time! After about 90 minutes of reading, though, Quin woke up and I was taxed with taking him swimming. This time, however, we just kind of let him go himself. He had no problem just getting into the water with his life jacket on and swimming out to the raft where he joined the rest of the kids and swam for almost 2 hours! I can't imagine Ethan ever doing that at that age, but then again, we were pretty guarded parents with him.
At some point, just jumping off the raft and swimming got boring for the bigger kids - one of them had the bright idea that they would sink the paddle boat! It was pretty hilarious! They worked on sinking that thing for over an hour and had a blast doing it. I think Ethan said at one point, "we should have been doing this all week!"
When swimming was complete we gathered around and did a little fishing. Quin put a pole in and actually caught a decent size perch! He told me he wanted to kiss it before I put him in with the rest of the fish we were going to eat, but got scared at the last minute and decided not to go through with it. He did make friends with some dead minnows, however. While I was cooking the meat on the grill, Quin took a dead minnow over to the canoe, gently set him in the front seat, then walked to the middle of the canoe and said, "ready fishy?" I'm pretty sure he was going to take the minnow for a ride.
Dinner, and pretty much the whole afternoon was dedicated to mass consumption of all the stuff we hadn't yet eaten or drank from the week. Matt fried up all the week's fish, we put some ribs on the grill, Tim and Laura sauteed some mushrooms that they had found in the woods, and we had a big, delicious meal. After the kids went to bed, we continued on the same theme but with the remaining beer. Matt, Tim Z., and I all managed to complete all of our beer before we left the fire that evening. I'm pretty sure Tim A. would have as well had we not almost blown ourselves up. Tim Z. was digging through his cooler to bring out the dregs of his drinks and came upon an O'Dools. Nobody really wanted to drink it, so he placed it, unopened in the fire. After a couple of minutes it started to whine. After a few more, it started to whine louder, which prompted all of us to get up and vacate the immediate area around the fire. It couldn't have been 10 seconds too soon because as soon as we cleared about a 10 foot radius the bottle blew! It was quite impressive - a large crater had formed at the center of the fire, firewood had been thrown in all directions (luckily it was a small fire), and burning embers surrounded the fire-ring for around 10 feet. There was no sign of the bottle that I could see, though the color-sighted people said they did find shards of it in the ground around the fire. After that episode, Tim A. wisely decided it was time for bed. The rest of the guys made a huge fire and talked smartly about how we should do that again - we didn't...
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It was looking to be windy and warm today, so we decided to go take in a game of mini golf before it got too hot. We played at a nice course called the 19th hole, or something equally as cleverly named. Ethan had a blast and Quin even tried to join in much to Jenny's and my chagrin. He played my ball for the first 7 holes and Jenny's for the remaining 11.
After golf and some lunch, Quin took a nap and the rest of the kids went swimming. I was actually afforded some time to read my book which I had ignored to this point in the trip. It's not a bad book if you are able to read more than like 2 pages at a time! After about 90 minutes of reading, though, Quin woke up and I was taxed with taking him swimming. This time, however, we just kind of let him go himself. He had no problem just getting into the water with his life jacket on and swimming out to the raft where he joined the rest of the kids and swam for almost 2 hours! I can't imagine Ethan ever doing that at that age, but then again, we were pretty guarded parents with him.
At some point, just jumping off the raft and swimming got boring for the bigger kids - one of them had the bright idea that they would sink the paddle boat! It was pretty hilarious! They worked on sinking that thing for over an hour and had a blast doing it. I think Ethan said at one point, "we should have been doing this all week!"
When swimming was complete we gathered around and did a little fishing. Quin put a pole in and actually caught a decent size perch! He told me he wanted to kiss it before I put him in with the rest of the fish we were going to eat, but got scared at the last minute and decided not to go through with it. He did make friends with some dead minnows, however. While I was cooking the meat on the grill, Quin took a dead minnow over to the canoe, gently set him in the front seat, then walked to the middle of the canoe and said, "ready fishy?" I'm pretty sure he was going to take the minnow for a ride.
Dinner, and pretty much the whole afternoon was dedicated to mass consumption of all the stuff we hadn't yet eaten or drank from the week. Matt fried up all the week's fish, we put some ribs on the grill, Tim and Laura sauteed some mushrooms that they had found in the woods, and we had a big, delicious meal. After the kids went to bed, we continued on the same theme but with the remaining beer. Matt, Tim Z., and I all managed to complete all of our beer before we left the fire that evening. I'm pretty sure Tim A. would have as well had we not almost blown ourselves up. Tim Z. was digging through his cooler to bring out the dregs of his drinks and came upon an O'Dools. Nobody really wanted to drink it, so he placed it, unopened in the fire. After a couple of minutes it started to whine. After a few more, it started to whine louder, which prompted all of us to get up and vacate the immediate area around the fire. It couldn't have been 10 seconds too soon because as soon as we cleared about a 10 foot radius the bottle blew! It was quite impressive - a large crater had formed at the center of the fire, firewood had been thrown in all directions (luckily it was a small fire), and burning embers surrounded the fire-ring for around 10 feet. There was no sign of the bottle that I could see, though the color-sighted people said they did find shards of it in the ground around the fire. After that episode, Tim A. wisely decided it was time for bed. The rest of the guys made a huge fire and talked smartly about how we should do that again - we didn't...
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Location:St. Germain, WI
St. Germain - Day 6
Last night was an early one - we were all pretty beat from 5 days of vacation, so by 10:00 pretty much everybody was in bed already.
Today started warmer, but still windy. After Jenny and I each had a run we ran into town to get some chai tea and a smoothie. We then ventured into Eagle River to hit the liquor store. All that took a surprisingly long time. By the time we got back it was lunch time!
After a quick lunch of leftovers, we got our swimming suits on and hit the water. Today Quin proved himself to be quite the brave kid once again. Early in the week he proved he could jump off the swimming raft by himself with no problem, but I was still in the water with him. Today he proved that he could do even that by himself. He learned to propel himself through the water by himself and hung out with the other kids without Jenny or I being in the water at all with him! It was weird with Ethan when we could leave him alone and he would play either by himself or with some other kids, but he was a bit older than Quin was today when we were able to let him do the same. Second kids...
A little later on, Jenny and I decided to take the kayaks out with the kids and do a little kayak adventure. Unfortunately Ethan wasn't quite up to the adventure. It was a little warm, and he was wearing a black swim shirt, so after we kayaked for a little while, he claimed he was overheating and had to stop. At one point he stopped and the waterworks started up because he was too hot to go on. Quin and I drove by him and splashed him to try to cool him off a bit. I think he was really just a little over-vacationed by this point and needed to hang out by himself for a little while.
After we dropped Ethan off to recover from his heat exhaustion, Quin found himself a kayak and decided he would pilot it himself. It was beached on shore, so he shoved it out into the water by himself, then climbed in it, procured the paddle, and tried to take off. Luckily the wind was blowing in pretty hard so he couldn't get very far, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I think he actually kept at it for over 45 minutes before he turned his attention elsewhere.
As the night wore on, the Ziegler's and us decided that preparing dinner yet another night was more than we were prepared to do, so we trekked into Minoqua to try out some local pizza. Neither Quin nor Tim's kids had napped that day to speak of, so within about 10 seconds of the 20 minute commute they were all sleeping. Normally that would be OK, but we didn't leave until about 5:30 so the 7:30 bedtime was looking precarious at best. We got some delicious pizza for the adults and spaghetti for the kids before coming home and commencing the long process of fighting Quin into bed - it was 10:00 before he finally went down for good. We will need some time to re-acquaint ourselves with a schedule when we get back home!!!
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Today started warmer, but still windy. After Jenny and I each had a run we ran into town to get some chai tea and a smoothie. We then ventured into Eagle River to hit the liquor store. All that took a surprisingly long time. By the time we got back it was lunch time!
After a quick lunch of leftovers, we got our swimming suits on and hit the water. Today Quin proved himself to be quite the brave kid once again. Early in the week he proved he could jump off the swimming raft by himself with no problem, but I was still in the water with him. Today he proved that he could do even that by himself. He learned to propel himself through the water by himself and hung out with the other kids without Jenny or I being in the water at all with him! It was weird with Ethan when we could leave him alone and he would play either by himself or with some other kids, but he was a bit older than Quin was today when we were able to let him do the same. Second kids...
A little later on, Jenny and I decided to take the kayaks out with the kids and do a little kayak adventure. Unfortunately Ethan wasn't quite up to the adventure. It was a little warm, and he was wearing a black swim shirt, so after we kayaked for a little while, he claimed he was overheating and had to stop. At one point he stopped and the waterworks started up because he was too hot to go on. Quin and I drove by him and splashed him to try to cool him off a bit. I think he was really just a little over-vacationed by this point and needed to hang out by himself for a little while.
After we dropped Ethan off to recover from his heat exhaustion, Quin found himself a kayak and decided he would pilot it himself. It was beached on shore, so he shoved it out into the water by himself, then climbed in it, procured the paddle, and tried to take off. Luckily the wind was blowing in pretty hard so he couldn't get very far, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I think he actually kept at it for over 45 minutes before he turned his attention elsewhere.
As the night wore on, the Ziegler's and us decided that preparing dinner yet another night was more than we were prepared to do, so we trekked into Minoqua to try out some local pizza. Neither Quin nor Tim's kids had napped that day to speak of, so within about 10 seconds of the 20 minute commute they were all sleeping. Normally that would be OK, but we didn't leave until about 5:30 so the 7:30 bedtime was looking precarious at best. We got some delicious pizza for the adults and spaghetti for the kids before coming home and commencing the long process of fighting Quin into bed - it was 10:00 before he finally went down for good. We will need some time to re-acquaint ourselves with a schedule when we get back home!!!
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Location:St. Germain, WI
St. Germain - Day 5
Still a little cool to start the day, so Quin and I made bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast before we headed out fishing with Tim and Logan Ziegler. The fishing wasn't all that great, but we did have a close encounter with an eagle. It was pretty awesome, actually. We heard something heavy in the trees, then the eagle flew just above the water not more than about 20 feet from the boat. He skimmed the water across the lake, picked something up, then reversed his path and came right back past us again. He perched up in a tree and ate whatever he picked up in the lake. Thinking back on it I couldn't help but think about the double rainbow guy on YouTube. I had thoughts of me saying, "An eagle! What does it mean?"
After some lunch, Ethan and I went out on the boat with Matt, Jacob, and Devan on his ski boat and did some tubing. Ethan really enjoyed tubing. We weren't able to get him outside the wake, unfortunately, but he had a good time anyway.
The rest of the afternoon sort of passed. We did some kayaking, some canoeing, tried to find the eagle again. In all it was pretty uneventful. Right after supper, Quin and the rest of the "gang" started playing in some round tub that somebody had brought up. That was pretty funny watching them get in and roll each other in the bucket. It's amazing what kids will do when left to explore.
Just remembered the funny quote of the week - I think it was by Jenny last night. She was trying to convince Ethan to take a shower. He was claiming that he was on vacation and didn't need to take a shower. Jenny told him, "You don't get a vacation from personal hygiene."
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After some lunch, Ethan and I went out on the boat with Matt, Jacob, and Devan on his ski boat and did some tubing. Ethan really enjoyed tubing. We weren't able to get him outside the wake, unfortunately, but he had a good time anyway.
The rest of the afternoon sort of passed. We did some kayaking, some canoeing, tried to find the eagle again. In all it was pretty uneventful. Right after supper, Quin and the rest of the "gang" started playing in some round tub that somebody had brought up. That was pretty funny watching them get in and roll each other in the bucket. It's amazing what kids will do when left to explore.
Just remembered the funny quote of the week - I think it was by Jenny last night. She was trying to convince Ethan to take a shower. He was claiming that he was on vacation and didn't need to take a shower. Jenny told him, "You don't get a vacation from personal hygiene."
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Location:St. Germain, WI
St. Germain - Day 4
It was windy and cool today, and I am training for a 1/2 marathon, so I picked today to do my long run of the week. I mapped out a route before we left that took me around the entire lake. While I was supposed to run only 10 miles, the prospect and symmetry of running around the entire lake was too good to pass up, so Tim Z. and I ended up running a little over 11.5 miles. It took us a long time, and it was hilly, but we did it. I now feel I'm ready for the 1/2 in a little over a week.
Because it was so windy, we started a fire early. We also decided to roast hot dogs on the fire for lunch, which are always more delicious than hot dogs on the grill or in the microwave. Ethan even went so far as to say they tasted as good as Uncle Brett's hot dogs, which is not faint praise.
After lunch, it was time for a shower and to dress warmer. After my shower, I went to put my wedding ring back on which I had taken off for my run, only to find that I could not find it. I'm still not sure what happened to it - I think Quin must have taken it off the table and thrown it on the floor. Hopefully it turns up somewhere.
On the topic of naughty Quin, he has developed a new, interesting routine while up here. He has been doing things that he knows are naughty, which really isn't all that different. Where his behavior is changing is that he will look at us after the deed is done and say "Sorry daddy, hug!" followed by a nice hug and kiss on the cheek. Hard to be mad at him when he does that, but if thinks we don't see through him, he's crazy!
It was too cold to hang out outside, and our cabin a little too small to hang out there for too long, so we took a journey into Minoqua for some shopping and to make our daily pilgrimage to the grocery store. It was largely uneventful, though the weather did seem to improve a lot while we were there.
When we got back, the weather had, indeed improved, so we quickly ate some supper and hung out by the water while we waited for rest of the families to eat. The kids started playing with the sand toys and being generally loud and annoying, as they tend to do. Somewhere in the mix, Ethan went back to the cabin, put a towel in his shirt and a sweatshirt on his head and paraded around telling everybody that he was a woman...
We finished the day on a nice pontoon boat ride, courtesy of Micky's parents who came up for a few days and were nice enough to bring their boat. Tim A. drove the boat and was nice enough to let several of the kids to drive. Ethan was one of them, and it was the highlight of his day!
Now it's time to head out to the fire to enjoy some beers and quiet as the kids go to bed. This is my personal favorite part of the day.
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Because it was so windy, we started a fire early. We also decided to roast hot dogs on the fire for lunch, which are always more delicious than hot dogs on the grill or in the microwave. Ethan even went so far as to say they tasted as good as Uncle Brett's hot dogs, which is not faint praise.
After lunch, it was time for a shower and to dress warmer. After my shower, I went to put my wedding ring back on which I had taken off for my run, only to find that I could not find it. I'm still not sure what happened to it - I think Quin must have taken it off the table and thrown it on the floor. Hopefully it turns up somewhere.
On the topic of naughty Quin, he has developed a new, interesting routine while up here. He has been doing things that he knows are naughty, which really isn't all that different. Where his behavior is changing is that he will look at us after the deed is done and say "Sorry daddy, hug!" followed by a nice hug and kiss on the cheek. Hard to be mad at him when he does that, but if thinks we don't see through him, he's crazy!
It was too cold to hang out outside, and our cabin a little too small to hang out there for too long, so we took a journey into Minoqua for some shopping and to make our daily pilgrimage to the grocery store. It was largely uneventful, though the weather did seem to improve a lot while we were there.
When we got back, the weather had, indeed improved, so we quickly ate some supper and hung out by the water while we waited for rest of the families to eat. The kids started playing with the sand toys and being generally loud and annoying, as they tend to do. Somewhere in the mix, Ethan went back to the cabin, put a towel in his shirt and a sweatshirt on his head and paraded around telling everybody that he was a woman...
We finished the day on a nice pontoon boat ride, courtesy of Micky's parents who came up for a few days and were nice enough to bring their boat. Tim A. drove the boat and was nice enough to let several of the kids to drive. Ethan was one of them, and it was the highlight of his day!
Now it's time to head out to the fire to enjoy some beers and quiet as the kids go to bed. This is my personal favorite part of the day.
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Location:St. Germain, WI
St. Germain - Day 3
Jenny's parents stayed with us last night, so Ethan went to sleep at Jacob's cabin with the Abholds. That didn't last too long, unfortunately. At about 1:30 we heard somebody talking to us through our window - it was Micky telling us that Jacob had gotten sick and that Ethan was now feeling sick, so she was returning him to us for the night. So much for that idea...
By morning, Ethan was feeling fine. It was rainy and a little cold today, so we went up to the U.P. to check out a waterfall up there. It was pretty awesome. Bond Falls, it was called (I think). One really neat thing about it was all the trails around the falls. They had some permanent, wood trails built that gave you very good access to the entirety of the bottom of the falls. They then had some "off road" trails you could take up the side of the falls on one side, and a paved set of stairs on the other side. Ethan found his way up the non-paved side and made us all follow him, but it was worth it. What views!
We quickly ate some lunch then headed into town for some go-karting and mini-golf. Ethan had been looking forward to this all year. Last year we tried to go go-karting but Ethan was foiled by the fact that he was about an inch or two too short to drive the cars himself. He was sure that he would be tall enough this year. Sure enough, he stood next to the measuring line and was clearly tall enough to pilot the go-kart himself. He was smiling from ear to ear! He couldn't wait another minute to go on the go-karts, but this place was a little bit of a strange establishment. They had plenty of different go-karts, bumper boats, mini-golf, and other assorted kid's stuff, but nobody was really on anything, and there wasn't anybody manning all of the different appliances. So we first took Quin over to a kiddie track that offered 12-volt 4-wheelers and gators for the smaller kids to drive. Ethan was starting to get impatient, but it wasn't long before somebody finally came over to the "big-kid go-kart track." He was first in line and managed to get onto the track with Tim and Jacob in one car and Micky and Allison in another, just the three cars on the track. Ethan did very well - I was both proud and surprised. After getting off the track he immediately took another ticket and did it again, this time Quin and I also rode with him. Our car was pretty slow, and Ethan took full advantage and passed us at his first opportunity.
After the second bout of go-karting on the regular go-karts, Tim A. asked if anybody wanted to try the "slick track" with him. Ethan immediately volunteered. After somebody finally came over to that station, he took a look at Ethan and said, "he's not tall enough." We simply looked at him and said, "of course he is." Well, that didn't convince him, so he made him stand next to the measuring line. Apparently the minimum height on this ride was 54" rather than 52", but Ethan backed up to the scientifically measured line and very slyly stood on his tip-toes, just a little bit. Apparently the kid running the ride wasn't all that bright because he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "OK." The slick track was pretty cool and Ethan immediately picked up on how to turn the opposite way of the turn when you started to spin. Pretty cool.
The night finished out like all nights up here - put the kids to bed then went to the fire for some beers before hitting the hay ourselves. Tonight, however, Jacob decided he wanted to sleep over at our cabin. That worked out just fine for awhile. While at the fire, around 10:00 or so, we saw the lights go out in the cabin signaling that the kids had finally decided to turn off the movie and try to sleep. It wasn't 5 minutes before Jacob exited the cabin and headed towards his own cabin. He claimed that his mom would miss him too much if he slept in our cabin, and he didn't have a sleeping bag with him and he couldn't sleep without one. Oh well, 0-2 on the sleeping over attempts.
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By morning, Ethan was feeling fine. It was rainy and a little cold today, so we went up to the U.P. to check out a waterfall up there. It was pretty awesome. Bond Falls, it was called (I think). One really neat thing about it was all the trails around the falls. They had some permanent, wood trails built that gave you very good access to the entirety of the bottom of the falls. They then had some "off road" trails you could take up the side of the falls on one side, and a paved set of stairs on the other side. Ethan found his way up the non-paved side and made us all follow him, but it was worth it. What views!
We quickly ate some lunch then headed into town for some go-karting and mini-golf. Ethan had been looking forward to this all year. Last year we tried to go go-karting but Ethan was foiled by the fact that he was about an inch or two too short to drive the cars himself. He was sure that he would be tall enough this year. Sure enough, he stood next to the measuring line and was clearly tall enough to pilot the go-kart himself. He was smiling from ear to ear! He couldn't wait another minute to go on the go-karts, but this place was a little bit of a strange establishment. They had plenty of different go-karts, bumper boats, mini-golf, and other assorted kid's stuff, but nobody was really on anything, and there wasn't anybody manning all of the different appliances. So we first took Quin over to a kiddie track that offered 12-volt 4-wheelers and gators for the smaller kids to drive. Ethan was starting to get impatient, but it wasn't long before somebody finally came over to the "big-kid go-kart track." He was first in line and managed to get onto the track with Tim and Jacob in one car and Micky and Allison in another, just the three cars on the track. Ethan did very well - I was both proud and surprised. After getting off the track he immediately took another ticket and did it again, this time Quin and I also rode with him. Our car was pretty slow, and Ethan took full advantage and passed us at his first opportunity.
After the second bout of go-karting on the regular go-karts, Tim A. asked if anybody wanted to try the "slick track" with him. Ethan immediately volunteered. After somebody finally came over to that station, he took a look at Ethan and said, "he's not tall enough." We simply looked at him and said, "of course he is." Well, that didn't convince him, so he made him stand next to the measuring line. Apparently the minimum height on this ride was 54" rather than 52", but Ethan backed up to the scientifically measured line and very slyly stood on his tip-toes, just a little bit. Apparently the kid running the ride wasn't all that bright because he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "OK." The slick track was pretty cool and Ethan immediately picked up on how to turn the opposite way of the turn when you started to spin. Pretty cool.
The night finished out like all nights up here - put the kids to bed then went to the fire for some beers before hitting the hay ourselves. Tonight, however, Jacob decided he wanted to sleep over at our cabin. That worked out just fine for awhile. While at the fire, around 10:00 or so, we saw the lights go out in the cabin signaling that the kids had finally decided to turn off the movie and try to sleep. It wasn't 5 minutes before Jacob exited the cabin and headed towards his own cabin. He claimed that his mom would miss him too much if he slept in our cabin, and he didn't have a sleeping bag with him and he couldn't sleep without one. Oh well, 0-2 on the sleeping over attempts.
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Location:St. Germain, WI
St. Germain - Day 2
Day 2 was a lazy day. The weather was beautiful and sunny, so we did a lot of swimming and hanging out at the campsite. Along with your usual swimming, running, eating drinking, and sunshine activities, the following things stuck out:
- Quin introduced the world to his "booty-butt." Somewhere along the line he picked up the term "booty" as a word for his bottom, but he never really dropped the "butt" part. Now he just says them both.
- Quin and I did a bit of kayaking. At one point I started singing "Row your boat," and Quin finished the song for me. He is a wonderful singer!
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- Quin introduced the world to his "booty-butt." Somewhere along the line he picked up the term "booty" as a word for his bottom, but he never really dropped the "butt" part. Now he just says them both.
- Quin and I did a bit of kayaking. At one point I started singing "Row your boat," and Quin finished the song for me. He is a wonderful singer!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:St. Germain, WI
St. Germain - Day 1
The trip started out somewhat inauspiciously. I had neglected to pack anything - Jenny packed all the kids' stuff as well as mine, but there was still a pile of things that I needed to take care of the morning of our departure. My parents, Blaine, and Brett along with respective lady friends of each of theirs joined us the day prior to celebrate mom and dad's 39th wedding anniversary by going to IrishFest in Milwaukee. It was a good time, but afforded us a little less "last minute" packing time than normal. I thought we would be fine as long as we just packed in the morning... It seemed Karma didn't want us to leave, for some reason.
First, I had about 4 ounces of root beer extract in the refrigerator waiting to make another batch of root beer. This stuff must be the messiest stuff known to man - I think it was probably easier to clean up Chernobyl than it was to clean up the 1/2 ounce of this stuff that is still smudging up our refrigerator. I put about 40 minutes into cleaning it while Jenny tended to some other things, but by the time I was ready to quit, there was still a bit of the stuff left coating the fridge.
After packing the car and putting away the lawn mower, I went into take a shower, feet covered with grass clippings from the freshly mowed lawn (another thing we had to scramble to do). As I was showering I noticed the water steadily climbing in the tub - looks like we had a clog. Thankfully it was just a slow leak, so we decided to leave it and address it when we got home. Hopefully we remember.
We finally got out the door, but the trip's string of bad starting luck wasn't done yet. We were traveling with one of the Johnson's kids because they were borrowing a boat to bring up for our entertainment for the week. About 20 miles from home, their luck took a turn for the worse when the wheel on the trailer blew. They were able to put the spare on, but had to spend the next 3.5 hours in Madison getting new tires for the boat trailer they borrowed!
Thankfully we finally made it to our destination in time to enjoy a wonderful first day. Thoughts of our earlier misfortunes evaporated quickly as we soaked in the sunshine and beautiful lake views we were able to enjoy for the remainder of the day.
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First, I had about 4 ounces of root beer extract in the refrigerator waiting to make another batch of root beer. This stuff must be the messiest stuff known to man - I think it was probably easier to clean up Chernobyl than it was to clean up the 1/2 ounce of this stuff that is still smudging up our refrigerator. I put about 40 minutes into cleaning it while Jenny tended to some other things, but by the time I was ready to quit, there was still a bit of the stuff left coating the fridge.
After packing the car and putting away the lawn mower, I went into take a shower, feet covered with grass clippings from the freshly mowed lawn (another thing we had to scramble to do). As I was showering I noticed the water steadily climbing in the tub - looks like we had a clog. Thankfully it was just a slow leak, so we decided to leave it and address it when we got home. Hopefully we remember.
We finally got out the door, but the trip's string of bad starting luck wasn't done yet. We were traveling with one of the Johnson's kids because they were borrowing a boat to bring up for our entertainment for the week. About 20 miles from home, their luck took a turn for the worse when the wheel on the trailer blew. They were able to put the spare on, but had to spend the next 3.5 hours in Madison getting new tires for the boat trailer they borrowed!
Thankfully we finally made it to our destination in time to enjoy a wonderful first day. Thoughts of our earlier misfortunes evaporated quickly as we soaked in the sunshine and beautiful lake views we were able to enjoy for the remainder of the day.
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Location:St. Germain, WI
2010-07-12
Last weekend, our friends Micky and Tim, who live on a lake and have a boat, invited us over to their house to go for a boat ride. Ethan has wanted to try skiing all summer - so now was his chance. Thanks to a lot of help from Micky and Tim's instruction, he was able to lift himself from the water on his third try! Not only that, he was able to do so two more times after that as well! Way to go E!Ethan and I share a lot of personality traits. One of the most pronounced, and perhaps annoying traits (according to his mother) is our love of Weird Al Yankovic. Ever since I introduced Ethan to Al's spoof on Lola by The Kinks he has been hooked. How could we resist when we found out that Al would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee. Forget that it was a "school night," and that he didn't start playing until 9:00 PM, we were going! We all had a great time - Quin slept from the start of it all the way through. Ethan watched a lot of it on my shoulders, until my shoulders gave out and he had to settle to look at people's backs for a little while.
Lastly, Quin had a milestone of his own the other day. He was taking a bath - before the bath he said he had to go potty, so I put him on there and he peed - he generally does. After being in the bath for a couple of minutes, though, he told me he had to poopy. So I dried him off and put him back on the toilet. I'm used to this game, he generally sits there, does nothing, wipes his butt, and flushes the toilet. This time, though, he grunted and pushed and birthed a small little Mr. Hanky into the toilet. He was so proud, but immediately had to get up and flush it down because it was "ucky." After he flushed, though, he got back on and pinched another one off, again following that with another flush. I think about 6 or 7 flushes later I convinced him he was done. He's followed this up on 2 other occasions, though Jenny and I have really not yet started to "potty train" him...
2010-07-06
Quick Hitters
The other day we were at a party where we stayed pretty late. On the way home, Ethan engaged us in interesting conversation, as always. I can't remember the exact context, but he asked something about somebody and if they were "a black." We told him that it was not appropriate to refer to somebody as "a black," it could be insulting. Instead he should use "black person," or better yet, "African American." He took this in stride and continued on with his conversation. After we got home, I was upstairs putting him to bed, when he asked me, "Dad, is it OK to call myself 'a white?' If I do that, am I insulting myself?" I had to tell him that I honestly didn't know...
After Quin's driving incident, one would think we would no longer let him behind the wheel of a car. Tonight he fetched me, took me by the hand, and brought me to Jenny's car, where he instructed me to get in the passenger's seat and buckle my "beatbel (seatbelt)." I asked him where we were going, and he said "work." He is quite obsessed with going to work, apparently.
One thing I find amazing about Quin lately is his memory. Jenny is a bit of a Chai Tea Latte addict. When she has Quin on Fridays, there is a better than good chance that they will go to Starbucks and she will get a latte while Quinny will get a donut. On Monday we were driving in Delafield, a place we don't go very often, and Quin saw a Starbucks, which prompted him to shout, "Donut, yeah!!!" I'm not sure if he was remembering a time when Jenny took him there, or if he has learned to recognize the sign - normally they go to the Oconomowoc Starbucks... Either way, I'm pretty impressed.
2010-05-30
Baby Driver
"They call him baby driver." My dad used to sing that song to us when we were young. I don't know if I ever heard the real version, but I remember it almost as well as him saying "wake up and piss, the world's on fire." Anyway, I digress...
It's been a busy spring here at the Grady house. So busy, in fact, that we really haven't had time to do any yard work besides the required lawn cutting so far. This past weekend, that was about to change. The weather was nice, we were going to be home for a whole day after ditching on our original plans to be in Neillsville for the whole weekend, (we opted for an up and back on a single day trip instead), so the stage was set. Jenny went out and bought some annual flowers to plant in the various places throughout the yard. Ethan's and my job was to obtain some mulch and fill in our weedy, mulch-bare flower beds.
My plan was sound. In year's past we have had mulch delivered and dumped in our driveway. We would then spend the next couple of weeks shoveling it into a trailer behind the yard tractor, driving it to a flower bed, then shoveling it out of the trailer. Why waste all that time? This year I was planning to just get as much as would fit in my pickup and drive that on the lawn to the beds - the ground is dry and compact anyway...
Step 1 almost failed miserably. Ethan and I got in the truck, buckled in, and I turned the key to find the battery was once again dead. Something wrong with the truck... No matter, I will give it a jump and we'll be on our way. And indeed, that minor setback proved to be just as minor as I would have thought. In order to let the battery charge a bit, though, I decided to leave it run while we had the load operator load up our 3 yards of mulch and while I went into the office to pay.
Back at home, the plan continued to work just fine - I drove the truck to the various beds around our front yard (the goal for the day) and unloaded mulch directly from the truck to the bed - 1/2 the work of the normal method!
After my first three beds, the truck seemed to be losing some steam again. I don't know cars very well, but I figured that I should probably let it run and let the alternator do its job and charge the battery. So I figured I would do just that as I finished the 4th and final bed of the day. Prior to moving to that bed, however, Jenny informed me that she was going for a run and that Quin would be working with me for the next hour. No problem. Quin climbed into the truck cab with me and sat on the bench seat beside me as I maneuvered the truck onto the street and back onto the yard near the fourth bed. Quin loves the truck, so I decided it would be easiest to just let him play in there while I prepped and filled the bed. What's the worst thing that could happen?
I started to edge and weed the bed, every so often looking back to see what Quin was doing. Remember, though, that I was leaving the truck run so it could charge the battery. Well, at one point I looked behind me to find the truck slowly moving towards my neighbor's house! The truck being a 1990 model, it was not yet equipped with the safety feature of requiring the brake to be depressed before putting it into gear! I remember being quite annoyed by that "feature" on more than one occasion, but now I see the logic! Anyway, I rushed to catch the truck, flung the door open, knocked Quin out from behind the wheel where he was grinning and doing his best truck driver impression, and finally engaged the brake just as we were about to hit the trunk of Harry's pine tree! Honestly, I was pretty lucky Quin decided to steer in a slight arc to the right, because if he would have kept the wheel straight, he would have almost certainly hit the side of Harry's house right where the gas main comes in!
Moral of this story - always engage the parking break if you are letting your 2 year old play in a running vehicle... Of course, on a 1990 truck, I'm guessing that wouldn't have prevented a damn thing...
2010-05-01
Lots of new words, and the Amish
Quin's been quite the learner the last few months. I think since our vacation in April he's been picking up an average of a couple new words a day. He has his favorites, though. My latest favorites are "nan" which means "dance," and "nonut," which means "donut."
Quin has a definite love of dancing. He has figured out how to turn on various CD players and radios throughout the house, and once they are on, he will come and grab one of us to come and "nan." Today he figured out how to turn on Jenny's iPod and was "nan"ing to that. Not surprisingly, he's the best dancer in the house.
He's also a sucker for "nonuts." The other day Jenny started the bribery phase of parenthood with Quin by telling him that if he was good for the YMCA daycare people, she would buy him a donut. He was good, so she kept her promise and bought him a "nonut" at Starbucks. The next day, we were on our way to Neillsville and swung through Starbucks to fuel up. Even before we got into the parking lot, Quin started chanting for a "nonut."
Some of his advances have come in the form of sentence formation. The other day Ethan asked for a bowl of cereal as a snack (his favorite). Quin, of course, needs to have pretty much anything Ethan does, so he wanted some cereal as well. I got him a bowl and put some Cookie Crisp in it for him. He looked at it, looked at me, then pointed at the cereal and said, "cereal toostie," which of course means that the cereal is thirsty. I poured some milk on it and he was happy. Of course, he didn't really want milk on his cereal - he just saw Ethan had milk on his. Instead of eating it, he poured it on the floor...
Quin is a very helpful person to have a round almost all the time. He always wants to help regardless of what I'm doing. It's pretty rare, though, to have Ethan interested in helping. Last week I was tending to some yard work, planting, raking, watering, etc. Ethan was outside, and apparently had gotten in some trouble with Jenny earlier in the day, so he decided he was going to help to try to get back in her good graces. I happily obliged him, putting him to work. After about 30 minutes of straight work, he said to me, "Dad, we're working so hard, people are going to think we're Amish!" To give just a little background, we recently purchased some woodwork from an Amish businessman in the Augusta area (no, they don't have a website). While we were there we pointed out to Ethan that there was an Amish boy about his age, and that he didn't have a DS or all the toys he had, and that they worked really hard. Apparently working really hard to Ethan means spending 30 minutes holding a hose and rake one night a year!!!
2010-04-11
Vacation 2010 - April 9 - 10, Driving
We drove... A lot...
We left mom and dad's place by 7:15. After a Starbucks run to keep the monster in the passenger's seat happy, and a stop at the gas station for some gas and an energy drink (to keep the van and the monster in the driver's seat happy), we got out of town by 7:45.
Not much to talk about here - we lunched at a Dairy Queen in Gallup New Mexico after passing through our first timezone. There were many, many Native Americans there - the only non Native Americans were us and some old bitty behind the counter who took all her orders on a waitress pad then punched them into the register...
We stopped for dinner in Tucumcari at a truck stop. They were announcing shower customers over the intercom which kind of confused Ethan until I explained that they were in their trucks more than we were in our car for this week! While we were there, a crazy looking old guy with fatigues and a long gray beard walked in, sat next to us for a few minutes, then packed his stuff up and started to leave. That was before Quin started up a conversation with him, that is. As scary as he looked, he was tickled pink to talk with Quin and started telling us about his grandchildren...
After Tucumcari we went off the Interstate and headed north. It was dark when we went through, but we were warned about the cattle fields by my parents. I could see a big dust cloud ahead, and once we reached it, we could smell what it really was. I can only imagine what it looked like, but I thought I was going to die from the smell... All in the name of cheap burgers, I suppose.
We finally arrived in Dodge City, KS at 1:00 AM Central time - we had passed through 2 time changes and touched 5 states on that day's drive... We stayed at a Best Western on Wyatt Earp Drive which was a very nice hotel... Sleep came quickly.
In the morning we let the boys swim and got a little breakfast before hitting the road by about 10:00 Central. The drive was pretty boring today. Lunch in Wichita, which contrary to what you might think, is not actually a state, even though there is a college named Wichita State University... At that point we got back on the Interstate, a tollway as it turned out, which cost us $8.25 to travel on for about 2 hours... We quickly went through Topeka, Kansas City, and finally stopped in Des Moines for the last time. We ate at a familiar restaurant, Culvers, and we felt like we were pretty much home.
5 hours later, we were finally home. It was 1:00 AM Central - we were on the road 30 hours and 20 minutes including breaks the previous two days and had traveled almost 1800 miles.
It was a great trip, much better than I expected it to be - it usually is. I suppose I am a cynic when it comes to traveling with my kids, but they were, overall, fantastic and fun to travel with. To sum up, here are some parting statistics and random thoughts.
We left mom and dad's place by 7:15. After a Starbucks run to keep the monster in the passenger's seat happy, and a stop at the gas station for some gas and an energy drink (to keep the van and the monster in the driver's seat happy), we got out of town by 7:45.
Not much to talk about here - we lunched at a Dairy Queen in Gallup New Mexico after passing through our first timezone. There were many, many Native Americans there - the only non Native Americans were us and some old bitty behind the counter who took all her orders on a waitress pad then punched them into the register...
We stopped for dinner in Tucumcari at a truck stop. They were announcing shower customers over the intercom which kind of confused Ethan until I explained that they were in their trucks more than we were in our car for this week! While we were there, a crazy looking old guy with fatigues and a long gray beard walked in, sat next to us for a few minutes, then packed his stuff up and started to leave. That was before Quin started up a conversation with him, that is. As scary as he looked, he was tickled pink to talk with Quin and started telling us about his grandchildren...
After Tucumcari we went off the Interstate and headed north. It was dark when we went through, but we were warned about the cattle fields by my parents. I could see a big dust cloud ahead, and once we reached it, we could smell what it really was. I can only imagine what it looked like, but I thought I was going to die from the smell... All in the name of cheap burgers, I suppose.
We finally arrived in Dodge City, KS at 1:00 AM Central time - we had passed through 2 time changes and touched 5 states on that day's drive... We stayed at a Best Western on Wyatt Earp Drive which was a very nice hotel... Sleep came quickly.
In the morning we let the boys swim and got a little breakfast before hitting the road by about 10:00 Central. The drive was pretty boring today. Lunch in Wichita, which contrary to what you might think, is not actually a state, even though there is a college named Wichita State University... At that point we got back on the Interstate, a tollway as it turned out, which cost us $8.25 to travel on for about 2 hours... We quickly went through Topeka, Kansas City, and finally stopped in Des Moines for the last time. We ate at a familiar restaurant, Culvers, and we felt like we were pretty much home.
5 hours later, we were finally home. It was 1:00 AM Central - we were on the road 30 hours and 20 minutes including breaks the previous two days and had traveled almost 1800 miles.
It was a great trip, much better than I expected it to be - it usually is. I suppose I am a cynic when it comes to traveling with my kids, but they were, overall, fantastic and fun to travel with. To sum up, here are some parting statistics and random thoughts.
- In all, we traveled 4063.7 Miles over the course of 64 hours 37 minutes
- We traveled in 11 different states of these United States, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.
- Not all states are created equal - Arizona is beautiful, Texas and Oklahoma, not so much.
- Iowa has very nice rest stops and roads
- There's no place like home!!!
2010-04-08
Vacation 2010 - April 8, Apache Junction
We started the day off again with a run through the Usery Recreational Area. This time we knew where we were going, but that didn't make it any less exciting. We saw three hares (I believe that's what they were) and a roadrunner. Jenny was attacked by a cactus which waylaid us for a few minutes, but overall it was a nice run.
After spending several days with Quin, he seems to be getting smarter all the time! No doubt it's because of the extra exposure to me!!! Anyway, I thought it would be a nice aside to go through some of Quin's latest quotes.
After lunch we went out in search of some outdoor activity. We ended up at a mini-golf course in Mesa called Golfland. Quin started out sleeping, but was awake enough by the time we started golfing and decided that he was going to play as well! Grandma won the round with the lowest score, so we made her buy us ice cream at Baskin Robins before heading back to the park to prepare for our big night.
The evening brought us to the Arizona Opry, a dinner show not too far from my parent's place. The place was filled with Arizona types, and by that I mean oldies!!! Dinner wasn't my family's cup of tea, roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes (also with gravy), vegetables (gravy optional), a roll, apples, and chocolate cake (no gravy on this one). I liked it... The dinner really isn't what it's all about, though - it's only a reason for them to charge you as much as they do for the show. The show is where the real fun starts.
The "music master" is a guy named George Staerkel. This guy could do it all! I couldn't figure out what his main instrument was since he played so many. He played keyboard on many songs, but wailed on the trumpet and various other brasswind instruments, was solid at many different varieties of saxophone and other reed instruments, and also played a respectable Swiss Horn while circular breathing. None of that was really quite as impressive as how well the guy could sing, though. He actually toured with a group called "The Tokens" in the 80's when they were doing a revival tour. They were the band that had the hit "In the Jungle" back in the 60's or 70's (I can't remember which - maybe the 50's). Anyway, he was pretty good.
The rest of the band was almost as impressive. Few played only a single instrument and they all sang. It reminded me a bit of some of the shows in Branson when we went there a couple of years ago. Ethan had a blast, Quin was a very good boy, only needing to be removed from the performance one time, and it was a 2 hour performance!
After spending several days with Quin, he seems to be getting smarter all the time! No doubt it's because of the extra exposure to me!!! Anyway, I thought it would be a nice aside to go through some of Quin's latest quotes.
- When Quin wants something to drink, he says "My toostie," which loosely translates to "My Thirsty." Anything can be his thirsty, including something that you though was your drink...
- When Quin does something, anything, he may look at you and say, "I did it." No doubt about what he's saying here. On the ride home we were treated to a variation of that. He would take off his shoes and socks while riding in his car seat and say, "I did it (pause) mommy." He would keep saying that until Jenny would look at him and tell him he did a good job. He would then move on and say, "I did it (pause) daddy." Same drill. Finally he would end with, "I did it (pause) E." E is how he says "Ethan."
- If Quin wants something open, he hands it to you and says. "Ope."
- If Quin wants to put something in his pocket. he hands it to you, grabs his pocket, and says, "Pock."
- However, if Quin is stuck or something he wants is stuck, he says, "uck." There seems no rhyme or reason to why some words are truncated at the end while others at the beginning...
- Sometimes Quin just sings or talks to be talking. Often it will be some variation of
- "Daddy... Helloowww."
- You are incontinent
- You have a skin disease
- You have diarrhea
- You may be contagious
- You have leprosy...
After lunch we went out in search of some outdoor activity. We ended up at a mini-golf course in Mesa called Golfland. Quin started out sleeping, but was awake enough by the time we started golfing and decided that he was going to play as well! Grandma won the round with the lowest score, so we made her buy us ice cream at Baskin Robins before heading back to the park to prepare for our big night.
The evening brought us to the Arizona Opry, a dinner show not too far from my parent's place. The place was filled with Arizona types, and by that I mean oldies!!! Dinner wasn't my family's cup of tea, roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes (also with gravy), vegetables (gravy optional), a roll, apples, and chocolate cake (no gravy on this one). I liked it... The dinner really isn't what it's all about, though - it's only a reason for them to charge you as much as they do for the show. The show is where the real fun starts.
The "music master" is a guy named George Staerkel. This guy could do it all! I couldn't figure out what his main instrument was since he played so many. He played keyboard on many songs, but wailed on the trumpet and various other brasswind instruments, was solid at many different varieties of saxophone and other reed instruments, and also played a respectable Swiss Horn while circular breathing. None of that was really quite as impressive as how well the guy could sing, though. He actually toured with a group called "The Tokens" in the 80's when they were doing a revival tour. They were the band that had the hit "In the Jungle" back in the 60's or 70's (I can't remember which - maybe the 50's). Anyway, he was pretty good.
The rest of the band was almost as impressive. Few played only a single instrument and they all sang. It reminded me a bit of some of the shows in Branson when we went there a couple of years ago. Ethan had a blast, Quin was a very good boy, only needing to be removed from the performance one time, and it was a 2 hour performance!
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