GPS Fail (or The No Parade Parade Day)

Anny had to work yesterday, so I spent the morning cleaning the apartment before getting Abby ready for out-and-about. We would have done the laundry too, but Anny wants an excuse to get out of the house today during hockey time on the TV. (Editing to not that NBC is going to run golf instead of hockey. Makes sense, less camera work and much longer means cheaper labor and more commercials. Stupid NBC.)

So first Abby and I went to the mall because there was a Heart Health event that the hospital system I work for was hosting/sponsoring. I volunteered on Friday morning, but knew tat Anny would be out so I did not commit for today as well. We also grabbed lunch, and nothing really beats Food Court Lunch!

Abby really wanted to go to the Magic House, but after her behavior at the Mall that right/privilege was taken away from her. Nice to have the year long membership so that I can do that - it really makes an impact when she is told just once that she can not go there. I think The Magic House has become her new Ikea - she knows the logo and would go every day if we would let her.

I had been going back and forth on going up to Historic Saint Charles for a Mardi Gras parade because of the weather - when it was supposed to be 55 degrees out it was a definite YES, but when the forecast dropped to 35 it shot down to NO. But then it was 45 degrees, a fine line between comfortable and too cold outside for standing and watching a parade. If honesty came into play, I have not gotten any good camera time in a couple of weeks, and that played a factor into YES winning out!

Now is where I blame the GPS on ruining my plan, but since that part is quite boring I will just say that it took me an hour to get to the place I was trying to get to because I went all over the place.

Needless to say, we got there 30 minutes late for a very short parade and missed the whole thing. I felt awful for Abby, who I almost had to talk into wanting to go in the first place. I decided to wake her up and go find some afternoon snack. After I explained what had happened she was surprisingly cool with it. Guess she is used to it when I'm in charge. She might have been thinking "dummy, even I know how to get to The Magic House. Bet you would get us lost there, too" but she didn't say it out loud.

She and I walked up and down the real Main Street we were looking for - saw lots of people that had been to the parade, but Abby did not make that connection so it was okay for me still! We ended up at a little Italian Bakery. Abby insisted that she wanted a chocolate chip cookie, so I got that for her. She changed her tune when she saw MY afternoon snack:

It was as yummy as it looks - a perfect make-up for missing out on a fun parade!

Since Main Street is filled with local merchants I suggested we walk a little more. I saw a little Soap Shop across the street and the next conversation went like this:

Me: Abby, you know that mommy is not eating sweets like you and I do, so we can't get her cookies like we got. Maybe we should get her some soap from our adventure today!
Abby: Well, Dad, Mommy does not eat soap!

We got mommy soap and headed home. I need to find a parade to make up for missing out. Lucky for me there is a parade at the zoo next Sunday! Hope the weather is okay for it...

A Tidbit Post

Another random tidbit post - woo hoo!

** ** **
Abby has recently taken to "writing letters" to her three cousins. This consists of finding a pad of paper (readily available for her use) and scribbling lines across it. They often consist of her saying
 
Dear Ada/Ellie/Baby Shannon,
I want you to know that you are welcome to visit my apartment any time.
Please come over today.
Thank you,
Abby

Today she wrote one while Anny and I were talking and she glared at us and declared "Please be quiet, I am writing an email over here!"

** ** **
With the nice weather we have been having most of the snow is gone. We do still have a pile in the grass near the parking lot that is still about 18 inches tall, but it started out at over six feet about ten days ago! Abby can tell that seasons as in flux, and reminds us that spring MUST be here because our inside-flower (no idea what kind it is) has already bloomed. Twice. The bigger issue, though, is that when she sees a patch of snow she declares that Christmas is coming. We might need to buy her a calendar.

** ** **
My stumbling block to walking/running might be that I want to stop and take pictures. We have a cool cemetery that we can almost see from the driveway of the apartment building. Old and new headstones as far as you can see. A perfect little hill sits on the side facing the road. When I went out on Friday morning there was a full moon lighting the cemetery perfectly. I almost turned right back around for my camera.

I might go one of these mornings just for the picture, though...

** ** **
(I told you it would be random...)
Shows getting funnier these days: Colbert Report, The Big Bang Theory and Community.

Shows not getting funnier and thus dropping off of our queue: Wipeout and Two and a Half Men.

Oh, and SNL is only good during Weekend Update.

** ** **
My sister recently declared her desire to get another tattoo and it has sort of got me thinking about another one too. Good news is I can't afford it, nor do I feel like going through that pain again. Somehow despite those two factors, it keeps popping back in my head. Maybe THIS would help my decision...

** ** **
We switched to Sprint when we moved. Mostly a money thing - we could get two smartphone plans for less than we were paying for a half-smart plan and a regular old plan on our last carrier. We are very happy with out phones, coverage and price!

I discovered last week that Sprint has a business agreement where co-workers at my workplace get a discount - and it's pretty significant! I registered for it this week, so that's exciting.

The bummer part for me is that it automatically kicks a new two-year contract into play. Like I said, I'm a fan of my phone, but Sprint lets you do a new phone every 12 months instead of 24. I acknowledge that it is silly, and that the savings from the plan FAR outweigh a new phone in five months instead of twelve, but I actually considered letting the discount go rather than do two more years!

** ** **
I told you random, and that's what you got. Facebook took over the role of this blog for a long while, but I am working on changing that now. :o)

Recently I stumbled upon a co-worker's office and noticed a strange sight - an autographed broom. Since his boss had a signed bowling ball, it was a little bit less strange. I questioned why she got the ball and he got a broom.

Turns out he plays on a broomball team at Steinberg Ice Rink, which is an outdoor ice rink at a Forest Park. Beyond that, it turned out that four other co-workers play on the co-ed team and they had a need for a fill in a few weeks ago!

Games in this league are at 9 or 9:45 pm, so that was a turn off. It's outside and the first week I played it was -3 degrees (F) when we went on the ice! I fell flat on my butt in the first two minutes, but quickly began to have fun and signed on for good!

Broomball is sort of like hockey but there are no skates and the sticks are shorter in both height and length. I actually found a news clip this morning of a story a local news station did on the games at Steinberg! It's below. Good explanation of what the game looks like:



I have signed up for a tournament with the team next month. I realized about ten minutes later that if we go and we do well then there will be several games in the course of a day. I then decided it was time to get serious about getting into better shape! (also helps that the weather has started to take a turn for warmer again!)

At work I am always sure to take packages that arrive for folks to them instead of asking them to come up and get them, especially those on the other side of the building. Our building is fairly large, and I think it has helped me start small and be more ready for a push of real exercise. I even noticed this week that I am no longer winded when I walk up our grand stairwell which is a major change from when I started six months ago.

So anyway, wanted to share that I've picked up something new - and something fun!

Abby's First Written Word!

Not the easiest to make out because she was using a workshop-pencil, but this morning Abby wrote her first word completely on her own and completely unprompted! She knows how to spell some words because she does "exercises" on the computer where she types:

• Abby M
• Mommy
• Daddy
• Dog
• Anny
• Rob

We have not pushed much on the handwritten words just yet, though she does have a dry-erase book that she often practices her letters in. You know, one of those trace and erase deals. Very cool.

Well this morning she came over to me while I was finishing my breakfast and said "I want to write MOMMY, but I can not make the 'Y' right!" We flipped over the page and I showed her that it is like a V with one big leg. She made flags. I suggested one last try and Abby nailed it!

M-O-TwoM's...Not enough room for the Y! She proceeded to write the "Y" in the only place that made sense, and that is what you see above.

She did a little doubling back, but this is pretty clearly the first word she has written.





I was sure to save that information and NOT put it on Facebook or the blog before I showed it to Anny. I made her stop by my office and she did manage to hold back the adorable-tears, but they were close.

So proud of my little girl, both for the accomplishment and for the fact that she is really excited to learn new things. LOVE HER.

Be Jealous

For many years of our togetherness, Anny and I have done appetizers and desert for big "couple days" like Valentine's and our Anniversary. This year I got a crazy deal on Mamapedia.com for a great deal on Sheri's Berries. You know me, the $15 for $30 was not good enough for me.

I used our $30 to buy berries that came with a $25 gift certificate to Restaurants.com. By my math, I got the a dozen strawberries for a net of $10.

Anyway, this year Anny got Chocolate Covered Strawberries for Valentine's Day! They arrived Friday night with a notice to consume them within a few days to be sure of their freshness. They are gone now. Anny was nice enough to share them with Abby and I!

First time I have taken pictures of food for the purpose of "art" that I can remember. Unfortunately it was already dark outside, so I had to use makeshift light inside the apartment. Basically I took a white paper towel and wrapped it around my Craftsman workshop light. Worked perfectly!

What are you and yours doing for the fake holiday that happens this week?

Fun with Lego's

Abby and Played with Lego's yesterday while Anny was out doing laundry. She gets her quiet time that way, and I get to have Abby time. Win Win in our house!

I have been working on a boat for a while and helping Abby work on smaller things. I wish we had one of the cool train sets that we saw a few weeks back, but that is not in the cards for us right now. Might be more inclined if Abby played with the wooden trains we have a bit more often, but alas that is not high on her fun list. (for right now anyway)

Yesterday we discovered a lifeguard Lego and decided to fill the boat and make it a pool! Abby is funny, and so we enjoyed for a while. We went for the whole cycle of a guy struggling to swim and eventually dying. (Thanks, by the way, Disney movies. Every day something in our apartment has to die, and Abby has to get married. Every. Day.)

Guy struggling to get out of the water in overalls. Lifeguard can't bend her knee to make the rescue!

Mouth-to-mouth. This one is a bit weird...

 Strongmen in green helping get him away from the pool.

If you can see the face of the "victim" it has changed. The others, clearly, have not. They are angry I think.

On a VERY closely related note, Anny says that this afternoon we will go for a hike or do something to get me out of the house while the weather is nice!

Taking Advantage of the Weather

Finally a day with temperatures above 30 - and on a Saturday too?! We took off to the Missouri Botanical Garden, which is free to St Louis County Residents on Saturday mornings. Even more bonus!

Normally what happens when we go places like this is that Anny and Abby run through and I drag my feet, trying to find pictures that I can be happy with. Sometimes those pictures don't have Abby simply because she is too quickly moving on to the next cool thing to see.

Today, though, I ditched my girls and went by myself out to the back part of the property to the Japanese Garden. I didn't really ditch them, I guess, but we agreed that Anny and Abby would go through the Climatron (sounds awesome, right?) and play in the children's area while I went photo hunting.

So glad we did that. Abby was already whining about the cold (understandable, a little) and Anny already did a run this morning.

Anyway, here are some pictures from my quiet walk alone this morning:

 There is a picture in our Sunday School classroom - four of them actually - from the MO Botanical Garden. The next shot is from the same place, but clearly from a different season. The one at church is full of brightness and life. Today, it was bright, but clearly in need of life:

 

 Don't quite know how, but this one almost looks summery with the bits of green and red. The snow in the middle of this shot is clinging to the rock beside it. It will likely be gone by the end of the weekend, so I'm glad I to see it while it was still there!

Finally - I saw a beautiful duck on the water/ice. He was alone, just wandering. I knew the feeling. He let me take pictures of him for five minutes, just swimming and walking back and forth. I tried to reward with some of the fish food they have set up for summer, but the machines are off for the winter. Bummer. I got several good shots, but this is my favorite by far.

I think we will plan to go again soon - maybe even next week. Weather is supposed to perk way up temperature wise this week and I would imagine in a week every bit of white will be green and spring will be coming out soon.

(More pictures, including a panoramic, are up HERE)

Where We Live

Seems that people are confused about where we live, so I wanted to do a post (or two) about where we have moved.

Let's start with where we have not moved:
Canada - you don't need a passport to get here, you know, if you want to visit
Michigan - it's just not that snowy here - well, not normally
Mexico - sorry, I don't like Dos Equis, so we opted for slightly more north

Where we did move to is Missouri. For those not currently studying maps for grades, let he show you:

(click on it for bigger map)

Basically, we are dead center of the country. Not in the snowy north. Not in the super-hot and deserty south. Right in the middle, map wise.

Folks have asked, more times than I can count, how much colder it is here than back in Maryland. If you look and draw a straight line, it would be practically horizontal! Same weather but two days earlier, that's always a good rule.

There are, of course, other factors like the Ocean for Maryland that brought about the Snowpocalypse effect last year, but more or less if we have rain today, you can expect it in a couple of days at your house. We packed for Thanksgiving that way, and totally nailed it weather wise.

We tell people that we have moved to Saint Louis (which is on the eastern side of Missouri, again just about in the middle). Saying that, though, is like saying that we moved from DC last year. Really, we moved from a town named Kirkwood, about ten miles outside of the city. On a clock we used to be at 2:00 and now we are at like 7:30.

Around here Kirkwood is sort of like Vienna, reputation and pricing wise. Probably not far off, from what I can tell. We were given a tip about an apartment complex that has spacious rooms and affordable costs. So glad we did! We spend a lot of time in and around Kirkwood, so the location could not have been better. Once the weather warms up a little bit more we will be able to walk places like the farmer's market, ice rink, the coffee shop, the train station, the Magic House and, on a really adventurous day, even to church!

So, that is part geography, part whys and hows of where we live. Hope it clears up some ideas - and maybe if you are doubting the weather folks now you know who to call!

Fitness First Friday at the Magic House

(For those who are not local, some back story: there is this child-centric, totally hands on "museum" in St Louis that we have always liked. The first time that Anny or I had been there was ten years ago for a wedding - the whole place was filled with craziness of adults on a Saturday night having a blast doing a bunch of stuff designed for kids! What fun.

More specifically, I should say, The Magic House is in Kirkwood, MO. Hey, we live in Kirkwood, MO. As it turns out, our apartment is only two turns away in the car from there! For Christmas we got (and gave) a year long membership! If you do the whole "x number of visits this pays for itself" deal - I think a month into 2011 we may have already doubled down on it! Abby loves it there, and asks to go each time we pass it!)

I made a funny offer to Abby yesterday morning -

"Abby, I was thinking we could go to The Magic House after dinner. If we go, our trip tonight will be to go and learn and not just play with everything along the way. How does that sound?"

I totally should not have made that offer in that way, but we skipped out on the (first) Fitness First Friday last month and I didn't realize that ALL of that learning would be so much fun! The program is designed around taking 1,000 steps in an evening by sending us upstairs first, then all the way to the basement. (250 steps) From there we made a first stop with some kid's yoga! Abby had a blast, and got compliments from the instructor about how good her poses are!

Then we took off to the other side of the building (it said another 250 steps, but I think those are Rob-steps, so Abby did even more) to go up to the third floor again. We did some of the fun stuff because I could not bring myself to keep her from playing - that IS what the Magic House is all about! The next task she skipped - going down a three story twisty slide. The guy at the bottom of the stairs told me I could go with her, but the lady at the top told me I could not. We walked down. More exercise than fun, I guess!

We walked down to the lower level again after doing a little math - which is just counting for Abby. (250 more steps) We went into one of the classrooms, which we had never been in before. In there Abby did a really good workout - about three minutes of Zumba for Kids led by a few folks from the local YMCA. Abby had SO much fun, and got to learn a new dance! She did really well at following direction, and came out saying "daddy, dance is exercise and exercise is healthy!" Win!

From there we we sent back up the stairs - I think we might have walked 400 of our 1,000 steps ON the stairs - through half of the building and past Abby's favorite parts to one last stop. (250 steps) In there they had what they called recess - lots of jumping around and some running. Abby loved playing with the other kids that followed at about the same pace around the museum that we did.

Wait - that was 1,000 steps just like that! Throw in the extra exercising that Abby did with the dancing, recess and yoga and that little girl had as much exercise as I do in a whole day, wrapped up in about 90 minutes! As a reward for getting all four stickers done for each 250 step Abby got a free Apple Fries at the in-house cafe! Without prompting Abby declared "apples are a healthy snack, Daddy!"

She gets it. I need to learn from her. She and I agreed on he way home that we are going to start dancing more at home for exercise during the cold months. She might be the key to changing me, and that is brilliant!