Grandparents at the Coast

Lemonade Stand

More Photos

Earlier this week...
On the docks...

Newport Fun

Oscar Wildisms from the Back Seat

Scene: In the car, driving home after a day at the coast. M has given in to the allure of chocolate, and has had a package of it opened before A has fallen asleep. A knows we have something in the front seat but he's not sure what.

A (upon popping a piece of whatever into his mouth): "It's chocolate! I knew it was something!"

...Later in the process....

A: "M, can I have more? I savored my last piece really fast!"

Oh man. Can I do that again?

Scene: Morning. Before preschool.

J (packing the car with a kid bike and grown-up RollerBlades): "Come on A, we're going to bike to school."

A (grumbling): "Why do we have to bike to school?"

J (enjoying what he's about to say way more than he should): "Because it builds character."

A Fan is Born

Scene (bedtime, A, M & J are watching "Hello Dolly." The townsfolk of Yonkers have just finished a five minute long dance in a New York park.

A: "When's this going to end?"

M: "It never ends. Honey. We can watch it until something new starts."

(The townsfolk rush off to watch a parade, and Barbra Streisand begins to sing about the parade passing her by...)

M: "Quick, buddy. Press the space bar [to stop the video]."

A steps up to the iMac, but becomes enamored by Barbra, and pauses, like a hypnotized bird. J reaches over and presses the space bar, stopping the video.

A (face scrunched up and red, tears leaking from his eyes): "No!"

M: "It's OK, buddy, Barbra makes lots of people cry."

A begins to hit J (who is trying hard not to laugh too hard).

Get Henry Higgens

Someone has taught the child "mo'" for "more."

Of course when I correct him, he simply repeats "mo'." I guess I'll simply have to ready my recording of Rex Harrison.

Fun Sculptures

We went to a local crafts fair.









There was lots to see. Last year A really liked the fair. This time he was a little tired.
















After wandering around, the last thing we did was make flowers (out of cardboard).

Spring Industry

A wanted me to cut him a nib in his feather from Washington so he could write with it. The red stuff on his face is paint, and he is not writing something down with blood from facial wounds.







M couldn't believe that I actually got A a real child's hand saw. But A really wanted it. We had a discussion about what would happen if A used the saw as a sword, or sliced a beloved tree, or...

Howdy Maestro

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that the favorite button on the child's keyboard I've loaned to A is the one that plays the Cowboy Phrase. The one with the gunshots.

And I wanted to give him a chance to learn about octaves and fifths...

June Travelogue

Breakfast in Seattle.










"Look, I'm a deer!"










On the trail.










Viking in training.

Another Enchanting Meal

Scene: the nook. A is returning to the lunch table after being told that he needs to wash his hands after going to the bathroom.

A (smiling): "M, I didn't wash my hands."

M (who heard water): "What did you wash?"

A (triumphant): "I washed my butt!"

M: "A, we don't eat at the table with our butt."

J (mentally slapping hand to forehead and thinking, "Ix-nay on the utt-bay.")

A (predictably): "I'm going to eat with my butt!" (climbs up on chair).

M: "I'm sorry you're making bad decisions, we'll have food later."

J removes plate of mostly eaten sandwich and grape stems.

A: "I'll do it anyway!..."

(meal degenerates into four-year-old disciplinary session ...)

Four Year Old Philosophy

A seems to have his internal clock confused. He woke up ready to play around 11 PM last night.

While I was getting him a snack, he spontaneously said, "J, I believe the universe is governed by simple rules of relationship." It was one of those four-year-old utterances that make sense in the context of a late-night conversation. It's possible that he wanted to know the difference between uncles and great-uncles. I drew a family tree and then the Great Attempt at Sleep (kicking and turning and tossing and turning and sitting up) followed.

Photo Test

What do you know, the cell phone can post photos to the web. I wonder how much money the cell phone will charge us for this privilege....

A convinced M to go to a nice restaurant. I guess at some point, A tied a napkin onto his head and asked, "How do I look?" M replied that he looked like Elenore of Aquitaine.

When M e-mailed the photo to my cell phone, I couldn't figure out where they were and I thought A had gotten his hands on a nun's habit.

Lose Cannon

Sigh. We've reached that stage where A is exploring the boundaries of authority and appears -- for all purposes -- to be four going on fifteen. At least when no one else is around. When he's at school or visiting relatives he's pretty angelic most of the time.

In happier news, A decided that his pirate cannon toy was a weather machine. The cannon on the right shoots rain. The cannon in the middle shoots lightning. The cannon on the left shoots snow. And because I reminded him of the sorcerer's apprentice, the button at the bottom of the toy stops all the bad weather.

New Birthday Party Plans

A and I were just talking about birthdays -- and parties.

And we decided that for year five we're going to try for a Gilbert & Sullivan party (this is an excuse to put Pirates, Samurai, The Yeomen of the Guard and other similarly armed figures onto a cake). A wanted to do a G&S mash-up of songs, and I suppose that we'll have to play, "Name That Tune."