Merrick's Birthday

Easter weekend coincided with Merrick's birthday this year so after a one day layover at home we repacked up our traveling clothes and headed back to EC. We did find time before our departure for Merrick to open and ride his new bike and to eat some ice cream cake. The holiday weekend made is nice for a large turn out albeit one more thing for everyone to do on an already busy weekend. The party was at the YMCA which was set up really nice for parties. The kids had fully use of 'ruckus room' with a zipline, climbing wall and jungle gym. There was also more swimming. Merrick was waterlogged and he asked to get out. There were pinatas to break and cupcakes to eat, and he was done with the pool idea. The next morning was Easter and the kids had several outdoor Easter egg hunts. I think the total candy count exceeded the normal Halloween haul. The weekend concluded a busy but enjoyable week of traveling and family; a lot of miles and a lot of smiles.

Bearly tolerable adoration

Took a walk through the Ohio St. Beach area on our way to the Children's museum. On our way in we first hit a gift shop and found a shirt for Sophia that says "Friends don't let Friends be Packers fans." She is having great fun promoting the Bears and poking fun at me in the process. The Children's museum is a really nice place. The kids played on all of the exhibits including the firetruck and a massive building area that allows you to construct small houses out of 1 x 1 and wing nuts. Sophia also was able to make a clay bust. They also had a chess board laid out on the floor with 2ft tall pieces that you could walk around with like Harry Potter's Wizard Chess. Really a cool place. Our walk back include a slow stroll along Navy Pier complete with ice cream and a decision to return to Ohio beach and hang out for the rest of the late afternoon. We hit a local department store for some short, having not planned on such warm weather and then wandered back to the beach. The water was too cold to swim, but the kids played in the sand. Merrick, for the most part, looked like a golden lab. When we got there he just spun in circles and even dropped on to his back to roll in the sand. He could not imagine his good fortune in finding a sandbox so large. He would run down the beach 75-100 yards then head the other way 75-100 yards. He was even tossing old cups into the water and then wading out to get them, just like a lab. The beach looked like the middle of August, complete with kites flying and footballs being tossed. The kids bounced around from one small play group of kids to the other until it was time to head back to the hotel for a desanding shower and head out of supper. The Italian restaurant we stumbled into was excellent food and the waitress even complement the kids behavior. I think Merrick was just spent, and as we were eating outside, he spent a good amount of time just watching the traffic and horse carriages. A little more swimming and again lights out for the kids.

Hiking them in the Concrete Jungle

Lisa and I took the kids to Chicago for a few days. Drove down during my spring break and visited the Shedd Museum. Not wanting to follow the directions we printed off, we took an alternate route that got us there, but a little more stressed for the wear. We drove straight to the Aquarium, and after parking in the campus area had a great stroll across the lawn in near 80 degree weather. The kids had a blast in the aquarium. We saw at least three different exhibits with clown fish and at each one Merrick asked where's Nemo's dad was. Sophia had gotten really interested in sea turtles over the past few weeks, an occurrence that I attribute to her duplication of X chromosomes. Coincidentally her Subway lunch came in a reusable bag with a sea turtle on it and she was not disappointed to watch the sea turtles at the aquarium. After getting back to the hotel we headed out for a walk and to find some Chicago pizza. Gino's east was on the travel network recently and it was only a few blocks from the hotel. With a VIP pass from the concierge we by passed a lengthy line, instilling in our childern that some people are more equal than others, and were quickly seated. Merrick was spent by this time and spent most of the meal with his head on my lap. Sophia thought the the place was great and was able to add her name to the rest of the graffiti on the walls of patrons past. The night was topped off with a later than normal swim back at the hotel, and a couple of tuckered kids quickly drifting off to sleep.

Changing Seasons

The weekend started early for us, taking full advantage of a Friday night restaurant outing. Having enjoying a Friday night family restaurant trip last week, we thought we would try it again this week. This time we tried a new restaurant and it was a nice place to have a beer. If you were looking for a nice ambiance, good service, or having any of the food that is on the menu then this place is a good place to have a beer. We did skip dessert at that restaurant and headed to a second place to fill the kids with decadent chocolate cake before trying to wrestle them into bed. Strangely the slept late on Saturday, attributing this more to the recent time changes then the evening before. Sophia had yet another birthday party to go to, so Merrick, Lisa and I spent some quality time indoors at the mall. While the forecast was poor the weather was nice, but even nicer inside and Merrick needed a new pair of shoes. He is very content with his "little mercury shoes" being light-up shoes with toxic elements embedded inside of the shoes to make the lights come alive as he stomps. He did wear them home, stomping through the mall, on the back of the drivers street and generally everywhere he went the rest of the weekend. Later in the day, with Sophia in tow, we headed for the bike trail for the first trip of the spring season. Sunday was equally quite around here, Sophia and I took a hike along the river while Lisa studied and Merrick napped. We also were able to work the garden a little bit, planting some seeds and mixing in some of last years ash. Spring is almost here, but almost isn't here.

Sylvania Snowshoes and Sun

You can freeze strawberries from a late spring harvest and can beans from a summer garden, but there is just no other way than memory to preserve an early March day in Sylvania. We took the kids snowshoeing in the UP wilderness area and the day could not have been any nicer. The temperature was about 50 degrees and there was more than four feet of snow. It was the first time that either Lisa or I had been on snowshoes when they were a requirement. The snow was as deep as the sky was blue and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We drove up early on Saturday morning and had a light lunch by the truck before hiking from the "A-frame" to the boat landing on Clark Lake. There was only one set of cross country ski tracks on the route we took to the landing. Sophia and Lisa built a snow man and Merrick slept at the turn around point. Lisa and I pulled the kids most of the way in the sleds and Merrick slept most of the way, while Sophia did have her snowshoes on for about a quarter of the hike. The kids were both soaked by the time we got back to the truck. We stripped them down and changed them in the truck, plied them with fruit snacks and headed back to Eagle River to check into the hotel for the night. After an early evening supper we hit the hotel pool for an hour or so and then the kids were crashed for the night. Preserved only in memories and proofed only with photographs, but it was truly a weekend that could not have been planned any nicer.

An All American Meal

Monday night was the all American meal, this of course as any non-communist knows, consists of bacon-cheese burgers, fries and chocolate malts. Lisa and Sophia planned this meal, as it is one of Sophia's favorites. It destroys the kitchen, leaves not only a pile of dishes but also a lingering smell of restaurant quality grease that no scented candle can overpower. As in all of the finest eateries tonight's meal came with entertainment. As the kids do not seem to learn any American classics in their music classes (This land is Your Land, Puff the magic Dragon, Hurt etc.) I have taken it upon myself to teach them the music of the land. At any rate, after the meal Merrick broke into song and then was quickly followed by his adoring sister and we were able to capture it on film. Yes that is likely malt in his hair, a small price to pay for our little dinner theater.

A weekend Update

A post that has been a long time in coming, not that we haven't been busy but rather have been busy enough not to do a post. So long as Mark is back blogging I figured I could compress the past few months into a handful of anecdotes and photos from the beggining of the new decade. We enjoyed an nice Christmas eve at the house complete with the traditional frozen pizza and shrimp sauce and the family exchanged the gifts. The kids awoke to the offerings of Santa the following morning before we had a big breakfast and then made the drive to Eau Claire for some family time. This year we added what will hopefully become a new tradition of an extended family hockey game at the Altoona rink. Merrick mostly hung out on the bleachers although Grandpa Bob did get him out on the ice for a while, much to his delight. Sophia and I were out for the duration and there was a lot of fun had by all. The Christmas break came and went and much of January was lost to play dates, birthday parties and cold weather with little snow. We did get out for a family night hike in the Oconto forest. We hiked back into the woods and had some hot chocolate on the propane stove while the kids sled in the darkened woods on a small hill. Lisa and I pulled them back out, as their little legs were all done for the night. One afternoon after the 20 minutes required to dress the kids we headed over to the neighborhood sledding hill. After a nearly snowless January the hill was just a bear heap of dirt. To this point we still have not been able to go out sledding except for that one night, and Sophia doesn't seem to think that counts. We have gotten out to the outdoor ice rink. Merrick got a new pair of skates and was very excited to use them so he could play hockey. His excitement quickly turned to disappointment when he realized that he could not actually skate which more importantly meant that he could not shoot the puck into the net. He sat for a while in the chair I brought along for him to push and then he just sat on the ice until I took his skates off. With his boots on he could have spent the whole day on the ice shooting pucks. He did not cry again until it was time to go and he had to get off the ice. Last weekend we did spend a little bit of time downtown looking at the ice sculptures. Sophia also hit a new mile stone as she moves from age 6 to age 13. Her friends from school started calling just to chat, she quickly assumed the teenage girl form flopping on the couch and gabbing away.