let's all have some cake

We celebrated half of Casper's birthday on Saturday, when we had a little more time to spend on some of the activities he'd planned (like his breakfast waffles). We also gave him the last couple of presents we'd kept in reserve -- his first big boy bike (with the training wheels from Gwennie's SeaStar; unfortunately, they don't fit well, and we'll probably have to get a larger set for stability) and his first big boy Transformer (more on this later, no doubt).

We'd also convinced him that it would be all right to wait until today for his birthday cake. I'd remembered a cake that some friends in Wisconsin used to make for me, ho-ho cake, and thought that its mixture of goopiness and trashiness would appeal to Casper (don't get me wrong -- I think the stuff's delicious, too, and it fits perfectly with my Hostess obsession). As you can surmise from the following pictures, it was a pretty easy hit with him.

I especially like the chocolate Clark Gable he's showing off in this one -- makes him look kinda mature-like.

there's no butter there?

Here's one from a few weeks ago: while Jen was alone in Dallas with the kids, they all went with Granny to the Wal-Mart. After a bleak couple of hours shopping and price comparing, Jen was exhausted. That's the context for this conversation:

Linus: I can't believe this place is still open! What's the name of this place, again?
Jen: Hell.
Linus: I can't believe hell is still open!

what a day for a birthday!

Well, the lad is now four. When we asked what he wanted for his special birthday dinner, he said, "Banana muffins!" Well, fair enough, they have chocolate chips. But we'll have them for birthday breakfast. What about dinner? "Um . . . waffles with strawberries and cream!" That's traditional; I approve. How about we eat it Saturday morning -- but what about tonight? After some cajoling, he opted for "noodles with bacon." That's my boy.

We got together for a special lunch, played around when I got home, and enjoyed opening some presents (and reading the resulting books) before bed. A good time had by all, I think.

pity for the pregnant lady

Yesterday, Jennifer discovered a news article listing the urban areas which have been the hottest, the most unrelentingly miserable, this summer. Guess where we landed? Number four, the highest of any city in Texas and above such hellholes as Tucson (no offense, but as my name is an anagram for "Tucson, devil's doormat," I feel permitted to libel the city whenever I get the chance). Only Las Vegas and two other barren outposts had higher heat indexes over the past three months. I think she's held up remarkably well; bravely, at least. But she's got to stop doing this to herself.

so sophisticated

On overhearing her mother's conversation with one of her brothers: "'Approximately' -- that's one of those smart grown-up words I like to use!"

rain day

Mama: Something really neat happened last night.
Casper: What?
Mama: It rained!
Casper: . . . candy?

precipi--what?

We're in the middle of a drought down here in Texas. Even our governor, who threatened to secede from the Union because congress tried to give us a few million dollars for elementary school (I'm pretty sure that was the issue) has proclaimed the lack of rain a state of emergency. But today we did actually get a brief rainstorm (literally the second or third of the summer), which the children celebrated by going out and jumping in their raincoats. Huzzahs!

thumbs up to you

Idaho, Texas

What is it that they always say? "You can take the kid out of the Idaho, but you can't take the Idaho out of the kid?" Whether or not that makes any sense, check out this picture -- twice the hipster-approved daily allowance of wolves!

final day (of grime)

Dad had made everyone who attended the high adventure journals in which they could keep notes about their discoveries, specimens they'd found, and so forth. These were largely bound from pieces of leather found around the Samuelson homestead which had some historical significance (for example, one book was bound in deerskin which had been tanned, as I understand it, from the hide of a deer which Sam had shot on a hunting trip he took with Dad; another few, including my journal, were bound from an old leather jacket which several of us wore at various points in late adolescence).

I kept a log of the events of the weekend, but also sketched some of the important details (most having to do with the better ways of roasting pig in a pit). When Will and the boys captured a garter snake, and when Steve and I narrowly missed catching a blue-tailed skink, I had to add it to the record (although my recollection of the appearance of the elusive skink may not be as accurate as I would have liked).

(The skink's neon-blue tail is partially visible in the lower center of the frame.)

groundhog day

One of my personal highlights of the camping weekend came on Sunday, when I cooked our dinner in a pit. My initial ambition was to cook a full pig (an ambition which remains, and which will be achieved one of these days), but we settled for digging a two-foot hole for a seven pound pork shoulder. At the grand unveiling, Will aptly dubbed it our "groundhog." The rest of the family came up to the mountains for the unveiling and for dinner (oh, and to celebrate Jill's birthday). After eight hours over the white coals we'd made in our pit, the pork was fork-tender and delicious. Of course, with a whole pig, we could have invited everyone we know to dinner. . . .

mountain men

Because work sent me to a conference in Colorado, I was able to fly to Boise for a few days to visit family. Dad had planned a men's weekend, a sort of counterpart to the sisters' party Jen's been attending the past couple of years, so several of my brothers and their older sons ended up in the mountains above Idaho City. (Sadly, I wasn't able to fit either Linus or Casper in my luggage, so they'll have to wait until the next biannual Man Retreat.) We had a great time building fires and shooting the bottles and the head of a shovel with Dad's pellet gun and a large number of slingshots.

the perils of aging

Casper: Daddy, we're getting older. And when we get older you have to buy us computers!

pretty reasonable acronym

Gwendolyn: "I think 'PBS' stands for 'Parents' Best Solution.'"

Casper gab

Mama: Go feed the cats.
Casper: I'm going to ask Daddy what my jobs are.
Daddy: Casper, what did Mama ask you to do? Why don't you go do that?
Casper: You're also a teller-jobber! You tell me what to do!

Casper: I have a stuffy nose. And I don't feel well. Will you take my temperature?
Jen: (After the thermometer beeps): It says you're just fine.
Casper: (Examining it): It says "feverish."

In outrage after hearing his siblings' conversation: "Dumbledore dies! [Long pause] Who's Dumbledore?"

(last?) collabo

Even though Jamie and Nicole are just about to leave town on their way to life in Georgia, we were able to get together for one last collaborative meal. Our theme this time was "simplicity"; we enjoyed a wonderful assortment of flavors and textures. We'll certainly miss them.

second tooth gone

nice try

Daddy: Casper, what would you like for breakfast?
Casper: Since we had that, um, skinny pancake and skinny dessert, can we have a dessert?

Happy Bastille Day

It's Bastille Day, a Frenchman's wearing yellow in the Tour, and we thought it would be a good idea to have a special dinner, so I made crepes for the children for the first time. I made savory crepes with a filling of tomato chicken (which we'd made a few nights ago) and a bechamel sauce with emmental francais, which I thought was delicious.

The response of the children was mixed; Casper ate very well until his siblings and their skepticism made it to the table.

Linus, as is clear from the pictorial evidence, was the most hesitant about the meal.

Oddly enough, it wasn't the structure of the dinner which caused the children distress. When I offered to make them dessert crepes with homemade peach preserves, ice cream, and powdered sugar, they were most enthusiastic.

Saturday? Must be press moving day.

I had a friend in town whose husband had to leave a position at the university due to a situation outside of his control. She is a letterpress printer and had found this line-o-scribe poster press and a mess of wood type, once owned by the university sign shop, at a surplus sale. They have relocated to an ivy league school in the northeast, and are having to move everything out of their house in town -- including the letterpress equipment, which they're trying to sell. Because I'd offered to help, I started the day by moving the seats out of the van to pack the press and cabinet and shift them to my office, where they'll stay until I can interest a friend or colleague in following my madness. (Actually, the press is comparatively light and adaptable for larger-format projects, and is being offered for a fantastic price -- any takers?)

ploblem

Casper: You see that ruff-ruction up there?
Todd: Oh, I do see the construction.
Casper: Ruff-ruction.

C: How do they say no?
Mama: How does who say no?
C: The ones who say "lift" and "loo."
(Jennifer had been talking with the children about different dialects, including words for familiar objects in other locales, and had entertained them all with her knowledge of British English. This exchange occurred weeks after the original discussion.)

C: Mama, I have a ploblem.
M: What's your problem?
C: [Pulling out his sleeper bottoms to show her]: No big boys! I didn't even know!

M: Casper, why don't you go wash your hands?
C: [Who was looking for a likely excuse and landed on his sleepers, which are green and have an appliqued frog on the top]: I can't wash my hands in the other bathroom because it might splurt water again and then my frog would croak!

what day is today, it's Daddy's birthday

The children surprised me for my birthday by coming to the Library and taking me to lunch and then for a friendly trip to the bowling alley. It was nice to be spirited away by such happy abductors. After my last few hours at work, I returned home to find that Gwennie and the others had produced a treasure map, complete with a quill (actually a pencil with a feather taped to the base), which I followed to my present.

(The map shows a trail leading from a segment of the house, out to the front patio, around some potted plants and under the trampoline, across the lawn to the shed and the sandbox where the pirates buried my present in Linus's treasure chest. Incidentally, Gwennie's self-created cursive at the bottom right reads, "I stol your presint!!! Are Are Are" -- the last being, of course, what any band of swarthy pirates would say.)

Fetch?

Linus: [talking about picking something up in the back seat of the car] It's like "Fetch Goes the Weasel": You go down and fetch something, then put it back in its cage.

anticipation

Gwennie: [When Mama asks her to do her job unloading the dishwasher] Can't that be your job, Mama? I'm going to be so much busier after baby sister comes.

Liberty!

Because of a burn ban in our part of Texas, we had to shelve our plans to see a grand fireworks show in a nearby town. Instead, we decided to visit the Presidential Library to see what they were putting on. In addition to free admittance to the exhibition spaces, there were a number of fun things to do, including a couple making balloon animals (we ended up with a kitty for Gwennie, a lizard for Linus, and a mouse for Casper) and some carnival-style offerings outside: a bounce house and suchlike. Perhaps the best, given the hundred degree weather, was the free iced watermelon. All in all, it was a great improvement on our morning (the church breakfast for two hundred patriots, which Todd helped plan and cooked for).

Father's Day dinner

Between two weeks of conferences which have taken/will take me across the South, I got to spend one day at home. Fortunately, this coincided with Father's Day. We decided to celebrate (no surprises) with a special dinner. Even though our menu was largely composed of favorites, it was new to us in that we used as much food from our garden as possible -- fresh dill, basil, and cherry tomatoes for the dill rice and balsamic chicken breasts, and mint for our peach shortcakes. (Though the peaches weren't ours, they were from a local orchard).