Monday, April 24, 2006
Catching up
Wow, time has gotten away from me again. Here’s all the latest:
Visit with Dad and Mary
For Easter weekend we took a short trip out to Omaha to visit my Dad and Mary. Leaving after Pierce and Anna’s Saturday morning swim lessons, we got into Omaha about 3:30 pm. We went straight to the hotel and got Pierce and Anna into the pool. Dad and Mary came out to visit and watch the kids swim. We brought some pool toys and Pierce made instant friends with a kid who wanted to have a squirt gun fight.
After getting cleaned up we went to Dad and Mary’s apartment for a delicious dinner. They served Omaha Steaks (if you’ve never had them, you’ve never had good steak), asparagus, salad, fresh vegetables, and tara misu for dessert. Mary grilled some hot dogs for Pierce and Anna, but the two of them were so full of crackers and cheese (the appetizer) that they didn’t touch a bite.
Dad arranged for us to have an Easter brunch on a riverboat. Unlike Saturday, which was sunny and warm, Sunday morning was cold and drizzly. To make matters worse, Nora and I had not packed any cool weather clothes or jackets –and the boat was open to the elements except for one level. We all went to breakfast wearing Dad and Mary’s extra jackets.
Fortunately, everyone was able to be seated inside. The food was excellent, they had a guitarist (who was quite good) providing music, and excellent company. Pierce and Anna were on their best behavior and everyone had a great time.
We finished the weekend with dinner a Nora’s parent’s house with a combined Easter Egg hunt, dinner and birthday celebration for Bill (Nora’s Dad).
Swim Lessons
Pierce and Anna started swim lessons 3 weeks ago. Pierce is really coming along. He’s learning to do the crawl and the backstroke. He shows absolutely no fear of the water and is able float well on both his back and front.
Anna’s a lot more accustomed to being in a “classroom” setting than she has been. She’s enjoying being in the water (again, no fear –just like Pierce) and is starting to get comfortable putting her face in. With a pair of goggles on she’ll happily put her whole face in the water.
Car Washing
This weekend was beautiful. On Saturday afternoon I brought our little wading pool out and set it up next to the driveway. Nora and I pulled our cars out into the driveway and we spent several hours washing cars as a family. This activity mostly consisted of Nora and me washing cars, Pierce and Anna rubbing dirty rags on the already-washed sections of the cars, and Pierce and Anna jumping in and out of the pool. Due to our robust car-washing activity it has been raining for the last two days.
Date Night
Nora’s friend Carrie watched Pierce and Anna Friday night so Nora and I could catch dinner and a movie. Nora’s had her eye on a little bar and grill down the road that she’d heard good things about. The placed lived up to expectations and I expect we’ll go there again. Afterwards we took a walk and got some ice cream -then finished up the evening with the movie “V for Vendetta”. We liked it –its pretty intense.
While we were out Anna fell asleep at the dinner table and was put to be early. Carrie and Pierce tried to watch some TV, but Carrie wasn’t able to figure out my convoluted home entertainment setup, so they ended up watching most of an episode of Star Trek – The Next Generation. It was an episode where the crew found a long dead space traveler, and Carrie ended up spending a good part of the evening trying to explain to Pierce how the traveler had died. Each successive explanation kept getting worse (“Oh, don’t worry Pierce, he died in his sleep - ah no, I’m sure you won’t die in your sleep.”, “He was old, so he died –ah no Grandma’s old, but she’s not going to die.”, and so on…). I think Pierce enjoyed watching Carrie dig herself deeper and deeper.
Ice Age 2 – The Melting
Sunday morning we went to see the new Ice Age movie. Everyone really liked it and I think the general consensus is that it’s better than the first one. There were a couple of intense moments in the film that had Pierce a little concerned, but he breezed through them.
Toy Shopping
For Easter Pierce and Anna both got gift cards to Toys "R" Us. Pierce has been pretty enthusiastic about wanting to go, so we squeezed it in this weekend. In the car, on the way to the store, Pierce declares, "I'm going to get a car!". Anna chimes in, "I'm going to get a Princess". Now, keep in mind, Pierce is swimming in cars and Anna is drowning in Princesses. I told them they could get whatever they wanted (within the limits of the gift card) but that they had to look at all the toys that were available before then went with their "first pick". Both kids were incredible patient, looked at everything, and ultimately picked exactly what they said they were going to.
-Eric (Dad)
Visit with Dad and Mary
For Easter weekend we took a short trip out to Omaha to visit my Dad and Mary. Leaving after Pierce and Anna’s Saturday morning swim lessons, we got into Omaha about 3:30 pm. We went straight to the hotel and got Pierce and Anna into the pool. Dad and Mary came out to visit and watch the kids swim. We brought some pool toys and Pierce made instant friends with a kid who wanted to have a squirt gun fight.
After getting cleaned up we went to Dad and Mary’s apartment for a delicious dinner. They served Omaha Steaks (if you’ve never had them, you’ve never had good steak), asparagus, salad, fresh vegetables, and tara misu for dessert. Mary grilled some hot dogs for Pierce and Anna, but the two of them were so full of crackers and cheese (the appetizer) that they didn’t touch a bite.
Dad arranged for us to have an Easter brunch on a riverboat. Unlike Saturday, which was sunny and warm, Sunday morning was cold and drizzly. To make matters worse, Nora and I had not packed any cool weather clothes or jackets –and the boat was open to the elements except for one level. We all went to breakfast wearing Dad and Mary’s extra jackets.
Fortunately, everyone was able to be seated inside. The food was excellent, they had a guitarist (who was quite good) providing music, and excellent company. Pierce and Anna were on their best behavior and everyone had a great time.
We finished the weekend with dinner a Nora’s parent’s house with a combined Easter Egg hunt, dinner and birthday celebration for Bill (Nora’s Dad).
Swim Lessons
Pierce and Anna started swim lessons 3 weeks ago. Pierce is really coming along. He’s learning to do the crawl and the backstroke. He shows absolutely no fear of the water and is able float well on both his back and front.
Anna’s a lot more accustomed to being in a “classroom” setting than she has been. She’s enjoying being in the water (again, no fear –just like Pierce) and is starting to get comfortable putting her face in. With a pair of goggles on she’ll happily put her whole face in the water.
Car Washing
This weekend was beautiful. On Saturday afternoon I brought our little wading pool out and set it up next to the driveway. Nora and I pulled our cars out into the driveway and we spent several hours washing cars as a family. This activity mostly consisted of Nora and me washing cars, Pierce and Anna rubbing dirty rags on the already-washed sections of the cars, and Pierce and Anna jumping in and out of the pool. Due to our robust car-washing activity it has been raining for the last two days.
Date Night
Nora’s friend Carrie watched Pierce and Anna Friday night so Nora and I could catch dinner and a movie. Nora’s had her eye on a little bar and grill down the road that she’d heard good things about. The placed lived up to expectations and I expect we’ll go there again. Afterwards we took a walk and got some ice cream -then finished up the evening with the movie “V for Vendetta”. We liked it –its pretty intense.
While we were out Anna fell asleep at the dinner table and was put to be early. Carrie and Pierce tried to watch some TV, but Carrie wasn’t able to figure out my convoluted home entertainment setup, so they ended up watching most of an episode of Star Trek – The Next Generation. It was an episode where the crew found a long dead space traveler, and Carrie ended up spending a good part of the evening trying to explain to Pierce how the traveler had died. Each successive explanation kept getting worse (“Oh, don’t worry Pierce, he died in his sleep - ah no, I’m sure you won’t die in your sleep.”, “He was old, so he died –ah no Grandma’s old, but she’s not going to die.”, and so on…). I think Pierce enjoyed watching Carrie dig herself deeper and deeper.
Ice Age 2 – The Melting
Sunday morning we went to see the new Ice Age movie. Everyone really liked it and I think the general consensus is that it’s better than the first one. There were a couple of intense moments in the film that had Pierce a little concerned, but he breezed through them.
Toy Shopping
For Easter Pierce and Anna both got gift cards to Toys "R" Us. Pierce has been pretty enthusiastic about wanting to go, so we squeezed it in this weekend. In the car, on the way to the store, Pierce declares, "I'm going to get a car!". Anna chimes in, "I'm going to get a Princess". Now, keep in mind, Pierce is swimming in cars and Anna is drowning in Princesses. I told them they could get whatever they wanted (within the limits of the gift card) but that they had to look at all the toys that were available before then went with their "first pick". Both kids were incredible patient, looked at everything, and ultimately picked exactly what they said they were going to.
-Eric (Dad)
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