The Lindenbergs

I took Pierce to see the movie "Monster House"” over the weekend. He got a book version of the movie (in 3D) several months ago and hes been excited to see it ever since. All the reviews Nora and I read indicated the movie was NOT for preschoolers –but I reasoned that since Pierce is starting kindergarten this year he no longer qualifies as a preschooler.

I turns out that we both enjoyed the movie. Pierce watched almost all of it in my lap -–much of the time with at least one hand over his eyes. But I asked him repeatedly if he wanted to leave and he told me no. The first half of the movie is pretty “scary” with the second half being more of an "“edge of your seat"” get the bad guy theme. When we got home Pierce described almost the entire movie to Nora. Anna definitely would not have liked this movie -–I think she would have spent all of it under her seat.

We had great weather this weekend. It finally cooled down from the 100+ heat we'’ve been having. We took advantage of it by going to the pool and park. Anna and I played "“house"” on the playground equipment. She insisted that I lay down for a nap and use her as a pillow -–so I did. I even dozed off for a couple of minutes. Josie (the dog) came with us and enjoyed the walk.

We broke out the bikes over the weekend. Pierce has becoming very proficient on his bike and probably is not far from having the training wheels taken off. Anna is just getting started on a "“real"” bike but is doing very well. Both kids rode their bikes when we went to the pool (with a little help from Mom and me).

I'’ll be going to the DC area this week for a conference. I plan on staying a few days longer to catch up with friends while I'’m there. I'’m pretty excited about the prospect and looking forward to seeing everyone.

Nora and I caught the movie "“Breaking Up"” on Sunday night (a friend of ours watched Pierce and Anna). It was your classic chic flick -–but Nora seemed to really enjoy it. I did too, but don-’t tell anyone. Its always nice to get some "“grown up"” time.

-Eric (Dad)

Just like everyone else, we’re getting severe heat in the Kansas City area. This is the third or fourth day in a row where the temperature has broken 100 degrees. Mostly we stay inside, when you step out the door it feels like the kind of heat you usually feel pouring out of your car when you open it after its been sitting in the sun (you can imagine how hot the car feels in this). It got so hot yesterday I couldn’t easily handle the trash can when bringing it in from the curb (I should have used oven mitts).

I went to watch Pierce at his swim lessons yesterday. He’s doing great! They worked on diving as part of the lesson. It was pretty funny; Pierce told the teacher that there was no diving allowed –it’s written on the pool deck. Pierce got it right the first time and is claiming it’s his favorite part of the lesson. On the way out, after getting Anna dried off, she was playing in the kiddie pool during the lesson, she walked to close to the edge of the kiddie pool, slipped and fell in. Towel and all. She was not happy. Many tears and a Band-Aid ensued.

We went to KC Masterpiece for dinner last night, our family’s favorite BBQ restaurant. The restaurant changed owners recently and the menu looks like its changed. Sadly, the change doesn’t seem to be for the better. While the food was ok, Nora and I walked out of there with the idea that we probably won’t be returning.

Pierce’s “skid-mark” issue is getting worse. He’s completely forgetting to wipe after going to the bathroom and his underwear, and bottom, are not looking too good. Last night I had to break out the “wet wipes” to get his bottom clean. I’m quite ready for this phase to end.

We watched a little educational TV with the kids last night. As I’ve mentioned, the Magic School Bus is the runaway favorite. I have to admit, I’m learning a few things from watching it (although the idea of using a “magic” bus to explain science concepts strikes me as ironic). We also watched an episode of Sesame Street. Its been a long time since we’ve watched it and I’d like to get it back on the “viewing list” for Anna’s benefit. The episode guide described the show as “Cinderella’s fairy godmother makes a mistake” –something we thought Anna would really enjoy. Pierce protested that he didn’t want to watch Sesame Street, that he “doesn’t like that show anymore”. As soon as it started both kids were entranced and Pierce was laughing out loud –Cinderella’s godmother mother accidentally turned her into a chicken. The episode was all about making mistakes and how you deal with it. Nice.

-Eric (Dad)

Hmmm, what to talk about... Pierce has another loose tooth. Its right next to the bottom one he recently lost. He's already talking about what he'll do with the money the Tooth Fairy will leave him.

Pierce's toilet paper technique could use some improvement. The kid somehow left a poop smear across his bed/blanket last night. Ugh (strangely, he hadn't had a bowel movement all day...).

Anna is huge into paper dolls, but not just any paper dolls -only those that Nora and I draw and cut out for her. She is now walking around with paper cutouts of Wilber and Orville (the albatrosses from the movies The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under), Frosty the Snowman (drawn by Pierce and cut out by Nora), and the Roadrunner (done by yours truly).

This morning, when I got back from karate, Pierce and Anna were sitting next to each other in the hallway. In their pajamas, with their backs perched against the wall, they were discussing all the important things in life while Anna bopped Pierce on the head with a plastic spatula.

The videos I submitted for "The Office" promotional contest are getting pretty good web traffic. Even though the one featuring Nora was posted last it has almost as many hits as the first one I posted. An informal survey of our friends shows that the one of me making faces is still the hands down favorite. Sunday night Nora and I went to Theater in the Park to see "Grease!". Nora's parents watched Pierce and Anna overnight. On the way to their grandparents house Pierce leans over and tells Anna "We're going to have the night of our lives!"

-Eric (Dad)

Pierce and Anna have become huge fans of the TV show "The Magic School Bus". Blues Clues, Sesame Street, and Between the Lions have all become yesterday's news. Also, while Anna still is nuts for Cinderella, her new big thing is the albatross, Wilbur, from the movie The Rescuers Down Under. We've drawn him for her, printed pictures off the internet, and created paper cut outs of him. Its all she talks about.

We made a short trip to the library on Monday night. I think we picked out some winners (I got the original King Kong movie for us to watch as a family). Pierce picked out a couple of Magical School Bus books and has been reading them to Nora and me at bedtime. His reading skills continue to amaze me.

Anna's swim lessons have ended and Pierces have begun. Its been a real soap opera with these things. Our homes association had a change of vendors providing swim instruction and Nora and I have been pretty disappointed. I think we'll take some additional lessons this summer at a community pool insteal of using our neighborhood pool.

-Eric (Dad)

I recently posted a number of our home videos to youtube.com. The site is currently hosting a contest for "homemade" promotions for the TV show "The Office" -I've submitted a few entries.

You can see all these videos by going to:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=elindenberg

Well, probably 12 months overdue, our house has been painted. As major renovations go I guess it was mostly painless. We had a little hiccup where they painted over the glass in all our windows then went home for the day -and came back four days later. Now we know what it feels like to live in a cave. We ended up getting a nice discount on some other work we wanted done to make up for our inconvenience, so it all worked out.

Pierce is having some bathroom problems. He had three accidents last week. It looks like when he's having fun he's scared to go to the bathroom for fear that we won't let him return to what he's doing. We had wet pants at the park and our couch. Grrrr. Its really not his fault -he's so articulate its sometimes easy to forget that he's still a little kid.

Anna's swim lessons have come to an end. She made a new best friend in the class, Emma. Emma wears Princess swimsuits similar to Anna's. Its all she can talk about now. The classes were just ok -the prior year's instructor did not return and the replacement isn't so good. Pierce's lessons were supposed to be this week and it looks like they're to be canceled for lack of sign up. Nora really reamed the instructor when she called with the news -they're talking about giving Pierce semi-private lessons for the same price. Ultimately I think we'll be doing subsequent swim lessons at one of the community pools rather than our neighborhood pool.

We took the kids to Science City on the 4th of July. We watched a 3d movie about sharks on their IMAX screen. It was ok but not great. Pierce and Anna both got bored. That being said, we really enjoyed the rest of the exhibits. Our family membership has really paid off. We had Independence Day dinner at Nora's parents -wonderful grilled burgers, then headed off to the Great Mall of the Great Plains for fireworks. In prior years the Mall has been open to the public for lots of free events -moonbounces, music, food. We entered the mall only to find it empty -and security politely escorted us out. Turns out the doors we came through should not have been unlocked. The fireworks weren't bad -I didn't think they were as good as they have been, but Nora and kids thought they were fine.

-Eric (Dad)