Our Chicago Weekend

Ok, so I'm a weekend behind. LAST weekend [not the one we're now recovering from], we had a Chicago adventure weekend. We went to the Brookfield Zoo on Saturday and the Cards vs. Cubs game on Sunday [courtesy of my bro]. It was nice to be home! Home weekends have been precious and few this summer. ANYwho, we enjoyed both adventures very much. The Brookfield Zoo is pretty nice, and it was a warm summer day. I mention that part, because warm has not been in our meteorological vocabulary of late. It got down to 54 last night! The weather for the ballgame was fabulous, and we enjoyed our ballpark hotdogs ;)

I thought this shot was funny.

As with our last trip, Riley enjoyed watching colorful birds flit about. He was much more animated about it on this occasion though, as he is now 3 months older!

Should've cropped this pic, but my favorite animal of the way was the wombat in the Australia house! They're very silly creatures.

My boys, with camels.

Out front of Wrigley Field. Our Cards lost [again, see post from Aug 11, 2008]. But we had a great time. This was Riley's first baseball game! You can't tell but he's wearing his Pujols Tshirt.

Moooommmm...I want a chipwich!

The experience was apparently exhausting.

Check Out My Garden!

You might remember back on a very early morning in early June [see 09June09 entry...can't figure out how to link], Rew cut a nice bed in our yard by the garage for use as a vegetable garden. I had started little pots of various squashes and beans [see above], and planted them there along with some tomato varieties and my poor strawberries [trabidies!] from last year. Then we went away to Yosemite, leaving them as little sproutlings in a big patch of dirt. When we returned, our garden looked like this.....!!!!!!!!

Those are my squash and cucumbers threatening to take over the fence. Clearly I needed more room for them- live and learn. Everything is even bigger now of course. This week, we had our first harvest. We enjoyed the fruits of out labor immensely!

Little or Big?

So during our trip to Yose-mite, we put the LM down next to this Redwood. K grabbed this great pic. I think it's fun to think about scale- we have this 9month old who is coming close to tripling his birth weight, and doubling his birth length. Next to this tree [which, mind you is probably an infant itself], this all seems so insignificant. Just think of the biomass being created in each case!

Summer Travel Take 2.1

So I've been meaning to update with a post about our vacation to California, but I seem to be short on time. Riley started "school" last week, and we're getting revved up for our next trip[s]. SO here're a few pix to tease you - I'll post more later!

Here we are geared up for one of our "hikes" in Yosemite. Riley thought the umbrella was funny [and I bet everyone else on the trail did too!].

Turns out, rocks ARE interesting!

On a walk in a Redwood grove.

weeeeee!

Back in SF, some interspecies communication.

In the city for dinner, Kristin snapped this family shot of us.

Summer Travel Take 1

Just a quick update before we leave for CA today. Last weekend was spent in Cleveland. Firstly, we had a wedding to go to, and Secondly we got in a nice visit with the Haucks. We had a great time!
The summer seems to be flying along. We're getting ready for our trip to Yellowstone, with all it's logistical complications. Other than that, not much to report!
Pix [does anyone else hate the way blogger is uploading pix these days?]....

The little man, practicing standing like a pro.

With Grandpa in Cleveland. I think this may be his first up-high shoulder ride!!

At the wedding, which we nearly missed. He discovered necklaces.

Spoon attack!

In the Hauck's backyard. This is also his first encounter with a sandbox. He liked rubbing his toes in it.
My boys, out for a walk in the park. I think they're both dashingly handsome.

Many silly people on a blanket!

My, How They Grow...

Wow, summers are busy!
So, first an update on our resident Robins, and part I of this blog entry...
It is absolutely astounding how quickly robins go from egg to flying! It's a darned good thing Riley doesn't grow that fast. In the span of something like 8 days, they hatched and then flew away. It was crazy. Here's a sequence...

Mama Robin feeding them on May 16...

There are 4 in there; this is May 21...

May 23...

May 24, they began to stand on the edge of the nest!

They flew away the same day! Look at the funny little short tail [hee hee].

Part 2 of the entry; Riley and more Riley [well, what else did you expect?]. He turns 8 months tomorrow, and I can't believe it. He's sitting great, and is starting to stand supported on furniture, although he's not pulling up yet. Still no crawling, but he's eating like a champ now. He also recognizes several words that we use a lot; chiefly "ceiling fan", "milk", and "kitty", as well as his name. Here's some pix from the last couple of weeks...

Pool party! We went to a BBQ a couple of weekends ago. Riley got to go swimming with some of his little friends. He liked the water ok, but wasn't thrilled with the splashing.

One disturbing trend is that Riley has begun a new sleeping program. Turns out, 6:00am is SOOOO last month! He's now regularly waking at 5am or earlier and not going back to sleep. Maybe because of the time change and the light in the room... Anywho, this was taken at about 8am one morning [Riley's still in his jamjams]. We were outside and Rew had already pulled up a large section of sod to start our new veggie garden. Very exciting.

Auntie G came to visit and we had a great time. I think they're having a deep philosophical conversation here, but it's hard to be sure.

A pensive moment...

Part 3; Here're some pix from Auntie Kristin's baby shower last weekend. We drove down to IN for the fun. The babies are growing quickly and Kristin looks fabulous and lovely as always! Here she is opening some gifts, with her sis looking on.

Riley pretty much ignored all the action, prefering to rub his fingers in the carpet. He looks so little here!

The Portle clan making dinner. They have a pretty cool house with 360 views of woodland.

We're off to a wedding in Cleveland this weekend, and to visit with the Haucks. Then we're off for a vacation in CA...

The Universality of Left Brain Dysfunction

So during a rare moment of having my arms free today, I picked up
one of my favorite books of poetry and read a few pages.  Oddly, the
page I opened to first was this poem, which I thought should possibly
be re-named 'On Parenthood';


The Armful, by Robert Frost

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with~ hand and mind
And heart, if need be, I will do my best.
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road
And try to stack them in a better load.


Riley's cutting his third tooth today. Poor little dude.
This brings to mind that I'd promised pix of the first two...

He's protesting against his prunes + rice cereal here.
If you zoom in, you can see his two new chompers on the bottom.

peace out.