Johnny Appleseed Festival

I guess fall is here. The high today is supposed to be 58, and it was in the 40s overnight. Quite chilly when the sun is behind the clouds. I think it will warm up again over the next week, but the cool weather is a reminder that fall is on its way.

Today we took the kids to the Johnny Appleseed Festival at Mapleside Farms. It's pretty cool - they have a neat treehouse/slide/hay area for the kids to play in, and it also has a small corn maze. And there's a huge inflated slide, which the kids didn't really want to try out, though Taipan did spend some time in the bounce house underneath the slide.

The festival has about 80 vendors and horses, and face painting and music and food. We looked at tie-dye shirts for the kids, and the play area. We didn't get to see much else. I had fun with the kids, but as we were leaving I thought it might be a nice place to visit without the kids too.

On the way out we stopped and bagged half a bushel of apples. Taipan wants to make apple pie and applesauce like we did last year. I think we'll do the much easier applesauce first. We also got some yummy cinnamon donuts and a huge bag of popcorn.

We're hoping to go apple picking withing the next month or so. There is a a small orchard not too far from our house that we picked apples at last year, and I'd like to go there again.

Football Kickoff 2007!

September 9th was the home opener of the Cleveland Browns vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, so football season had arrived (granted, there was a game Thursday night, but it just doesn't seem right starting football season on a Thursday). We decided to watch the home opener at my parents' house since they're out of town, and they have cable :) The game left a lot to be desired, but my family was the cutest bunch of Browns fans! We also had fun with some oversized stuffed animals.



After the debacle usually known as a football game, we headed home and started on our own little project called "Styrofoam Cleanup." We brought the shopvac from the garage to the loft, and started sucking (much like the Browns). Of course, the kiddos wanted to help.




Here's hoping the Cleveland Browns get their act together soon. They've got too much talent to be so bad, and it's going to be a tough schedule. If anything, they can only get better... they couldn't get much worse than Sunday. GO BROWNS!

September 8th

Taipan enjoyed ice skating so much last year that we decided to see if he would want to have skating lessons. Of course, being the prudent consumers we are, we figured we'd go to an open skate to see if he still really wanted to skate. Best laid plans and all, Taisim fell asleep on the way there, so Karen went in with Taipan while I drove around Northeast Ohio giving Taisim a decent nap. It ended up being a short trip, as though they both had ice skates on, Taipan was content just watching other people skate. So no ice skating lessons this year. Anyways, here's a cute pic...



Later that evening, Karen was on her Mom's Night Out, so the kids and I played around at home. They had bought some feather boas the last time they were at Target, and they've gotten some good use. Here are the kiddos dancing to The Police, all alight in glasses and boas.

Better than Blair Witch

For those who don't remember, a few years back there was quite the fervor over an independent film done by a group of graduates from the University of Central Florida called The Blair Witch Project. The story goes "In October of 1994, three student film makers disappeared in the woods near Burkittesville, Maryland. One year later, their footage was found."

The movie was basically footage shot with camcorders, no Steadi-Cam or special effects. It won accolades from various film festivals including Cannes and Sundance, and opened to a lot of hype (especially in the Orlando area, where we lived at the time).

Now, you've seen some photos that Taipan has taken here on our blog, and some are actually pretty good. Well, he has now progressed to taking video as well, and I've chosen some short films here to showcase. His videos can run from 4 seconds to 10 minutes, and he's gone from just shooting random things, to almost narrating. To me, they're like a window into Taipan's world... from his point of view... or at least his hand's.

I present... a cat trilogy...


"Hello Winston"


"Hello! Winston!"


"Run, Winston, Run!"

Fun with Styrofoam!

In our computer populated (some would say infested) house, we had a decade-old PowerMac for the kiddos. They could watch DVDs, look at their own photo library, and stream music from our media server. Well, a couple of weeks ago it decided to go on the fritz, and I couldn't recover it :( I found a great deal on a younger PowerMac (dual 867MHz G4s/1GB RAM/160GB HD for you geeks) on eBay, and it arrived on Friday! We were all quite excited, and decided to unbox and start configuring. It just so happened that the PowerMac was packed in a box full of Styrofoam peanuts... and the crowd went wild...



It started out as a pile in the middle of the loft, and it progressed as the day went on. Taisim even felt compelled to serve some for lunch!



The best part was discovering what air pressure can do to Styrofoam. We have an old Hasbro ball popper, and the kiddos found it tons of fun stuffing it with Styrofoam and pressing the button...



Next science experiment, Diet Coke & Mentos!

Pukey kid

Taisim woke up Tuesday night around 11 and threw up. She was up and pukey for the next hour and a half or so. She went back to bed, but got sick two more times overnight. The next day she seemed a little better, but sleepy.

Taipan had issues, um, at the other end. I figure they had some sort of stomach bug and it affected them differently.

Anyhow - nothing too exciting around here the past couple of days. The kids are better. Today our sitter was here and brought her ten-year-old sister. Man, I love those girls, and so do the kids. They have so much fun together. I'm glad we found them.

I've also been very busy at work this week, and I think it's going to stay that way for the next month or two. I've been wrapping up work around 6:30 this week, but then logging back on after the kids go to sleep.

Gotta go.... Taisim just woke up.

Family dance class (and Taipan's haircut)

Tonight was our first family dance class. A mom in one of the local homeschool groups is a dance teacher and started an hour-long family dance class. Given how much dancing we do around here, and how much the kids love learning new dances I thought we'd give it a try.



The kids had a wonderful time, though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. We did a dance with scarves (no, not a veil dance), some animal imitations, a bubble song, a song with hula hoops and a lot of other movement dances.



The teacher (Miss Leesa) holds another class before ours for 4-6 year olds, and they do tap/ballet/movement. Next week we might take Taipan early to see if he enjoys that class as well. We're sticking with the family class no matter what.



Oh, in the pictures you might notice that Taipan's hair is shorter. On Saturday night he put lotion in his hair (to copy Taisim, who had a mess of lotion in her hair) and said, "Look! The hair's out of my eyes." So I asked him if he wanted me to cut it and he said yes, and that he wanted me to cut it all, not just the front. So, yes, I'm beginning a second career as a children's hair stylist. For the next cut I think I'll take him to a professional.

Saturday - Marblehead and the evil rock

We wanted to do a family outing on Saturday, and we suggested the zoo.... and Taipan suggested Train-o-Rama. So we headed to Marblehead to see trains.



We took a picnic to eat at the park by the Marblehead lighthouse, where we could eat by the lake and see the rollercoasters of Cedar Point across the bay.

We got to the park and ate our lunch - it was a beautiful day. While we were eating the kids noticed people walking on the huge rocks that go along the lakeshore. There are some that aren't too close to the beach or the water, and the kids ran up to walk on them.





We were amazed at how adventurous the kids were. Taipan climbed right up and didn't just walk from rock to rock, but jumped! Taisim climbed up without hesitation as well, though (thankfully) she realized that she should hold onto a hand to keep her balance. They went back and forth along two sets of rocks for quite a while.







Then we heard something smack the rocks, and a scream from Taipan. Well, it turns out Taipan had fallen off one of the rocks - this is a picture Yuta took right before Taipan fell.



Of course neither of us was looking, so we're not sure exactly what happened. He got a pretty bad scrape on his ear, which was red and swollen for a bit.

We offered various things to help him feel better, but he kept saying, "A doctor's appointment will make me feel better. That's all." Off and on last night and this morning he'd mention that he doesn't like playing on high rocks. And apparently the ear injury is affecting his ability to do somersaults because he keeps telling me that he doesn't feel like doing somersaults anymore because his ear hurts. Though he forgot, because he was, indeed, doing somersaults again this morning.

All is well with the boy, but he's a bit traumatized by the experience. I think it'll pass quickly though.

Lightning Boy & Star Girl

With Taipan and Taisim being so enthusiastic about putting on costumes and wearing towels, Karen had the briliiant idea of looking for capes for them to wear! She found this great little shop called Superfly Kidz that specializes in such apparel, so we ordered 2 for our kids. They arrived on Wednesday, and we've been having a blast with them ever since!

I was deemed worthy of a cape (I used my Starbucks apron), and we all had to have superhero names. Thus, Lightning Boy, Star Girl, and Starbucks Guy were born. I told them that superheroes usually have superhero teams or supergroups (not like Cream or Led Zeppelin, but X-Men or The Avengers), so I asked Taipan what our team should be called. Being as into High School Musical as he is, is it any wonder that he chose Wildcats? So our routine is we all stand on the couch (hands on hips in true superhero fashion), and we yell back and forth...

"What team?"
"WILDCATS!"

"What team?"
"WILDCATS!"

"What team?"
"WILDCATS!"

"WILDCATS!"
"Get 'cha head in the game!"

Then we all jump off of the couch and fly around the house... lather, rinse, repeat... and let me tell you, flying around the house can be a bit TIRING... Starbucks Guy is getting too old for this :)

Where are Taipan & Taisim?	Ready for action!
Action shot!	Ready to climb over the couch.
Star Girl jumps over the couch...	Lightning Boy does the same, gracefully.
Lightning Boy IS fast!	Up and away!

Another day of foiling evil done.

e.e. cummings quote

I know you're here for pictures and stories about the kids, but today you get a quote instead :)

"To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle that any human being can fight."

I love it. Seems to ring true in some ways, though I find that the more true I am to myself, the *easier* it becomes to be myself. If I'm comfortable and at peace with who I am, then it doesn't seem to matter if what I'm doing is different, so there's really no battle. Make sense, or am I just full of it?

Quick update from NY

Today is our last day in NY/CT. We had a great time in Brooklyn over the weekend with Aunties & Uncle - we got to see momofuku (where Ling works) and lululemon (where both Ling & Yuli work). Next time we'll need to see where Keith works :-) We also went to the NY Transit Museum, which was really cool. Get this.... they have old subway cars that have fans in them. Taipan was in heaven. Trains and fans together! Of course the fans didn't move, but I held him up so he could spin them with his hand. I learned my lesson pretty quickly there - the blades were so so so dirty, so we only did that once.

On Sunday we drove up to Danbury and had a relaxing afternoon in our hotel, and then Monday I was up at 5:30 to get ready and be at the office by 7. So this meant Yuta was also up around 5:30. The kids slept until 7, and then Yuta took them to run around at the mall. Apparently the kids were pretty fascinated by the carousel.

So... why no pictures of all these fabulous things? Well, the camera is in Ohio. Yuta put it in my purse, because I always have my purse. Well, not this time. I planned to leave it at home since I had both my briefcase and the kids' bag to bring on the plane. I didn't realize he'd dropped it into my purse until we were on our way to the airport.

Yuta picked up a disposal camera late yesterday, so we should see some pictures of today's adventure, but who knows how long it'll take us to get them developed.

Breaking open the piggy bank

When Taipan was a baby he received a pretty cool piggy bank as a gift. A couple of times he's mentioned wanting to open it, but moved on so we didn't do it. Tonight he asked me to open it again. After struggling with some weird internal dialogue about it just not being right to open the piggy bank, I said "Sure! Let's get a screwdriver."

Now the kids are sitting on the floor in the hallway putting all of the coins into the dinosaur's mouth one by one. If I'd known how much they would enjoy this, I would have done it months ago! It's certainly keeping them busy, so I think I'll go have dinner in peace.

Leaving on a jet plane (again)

Tomorrow we go to New York. And, of course, being as anal as I am, we're all packed and set to go, even though our plane doesn't leave until 4:20 tomorrow afternoon.

We'll be spending Friday & Saturday nights in Brooklyn with Yuta's sister. We don't have a lot planned, other than to hang out and probably visit the NY Transit Museum. Apparently they have a lot of subway cars, buses and trolleys to walk around and check out.

It should be a fun trip. It's odd to me that we're traveling late in the day. Usually we wake up and rush the kids out the door to get to the airport. It will be nice to not be hurried.... knock on wood.

Thursday Adventure

Today was a fun-filled day! I asked what Taipan wanted to do today, and the first thing out of his mouth, without hesitation, was "go to the park by our house!" Not an answer I was expecting, but a worthwhile one nevertheless. With the torrential downpours we've been having over the past week, I was concerned about wet slides and mud, so we were prepared with towels and a change of clothes for both kiddos. It was all for naught, as when we arrived at the park, not only was it deserted, but it was also quite dry... so we spent a good hour at the park climbing and sliding... Taisim even walked up the big swirly slide on her own!

After the park, our next stop was the bookstore by the Apple Store... meaning Joseph Banks in Legacy Village. They have a large children's area with a wooden train table and plenty of trains, so it's no wonder that came up. It was there we found some enlightening rubber duckys, that wound up coming home with us.

We then went to the Apple Store where Taipan made a bee-line for the iPhones. This was our first visit since the renovation of the store, so we were a little surprised at the new layout. Unfortunately for us, there are no longer iPhones next to the kid's table, so Taipan was torn. He ended up checking out the iPods and the headphones, and so did Taisim!




Taipan was dancing...

and said he liked this song...



After the Apple Store, we headed home, with a stop by Starbucks and Steak 'n Shake for some refreshments. Adventure!

Quote

I'm on quite a few yahoo groups, and every now and then people share quotes that I really like. So, today I decided that I'd post some of them so I can have record of them. And, heck, I may even feel inspired to share why I like it.


"We're like actors, turned loose in this world to
wander in search of a phantom, endlessly searching for
a half formed shadow of our lost reality. When others
demand that we become the people they want us to be,
they force us to destroy the person we really are.
It's a subtle kind of murder. The most loving parents
and relatives commit this murder with smiles on their
faces. "

- Jim Morrison (1943 - 1971)

Ok, so you can guess why I like this one.... it reminds me to allow my kids to be who they are. And to love them and accept them for who they are right now, knowing that they may or may not change, and that's ok. They can have different interests, different viewpoints, and different personalities than me and Yuta (God willing lol), and it's ok. I want them to be who they are. That's it.

Nothing much

Not too much has been going on this week, so I haven't really been blogging. Though now that I think about it, we've actually been pretty busy. I mean, we made three trips to Target in the past week, how could we not be busy?!?

We've also been to Amazone, lunch at my in-laws', a dancewear store, the mall, and Yuta went to the Browns' pre-season game last weekend. And we've done a ton of HSM dancing, which is quite fun.

Yuta has also been working a lot lately. He worked on Friday, Sunday and Monday nights. And now he's crashed out on the bed - totally wiped, most likely from the onset of a cold. But it could just be general exhaustion. He was up until 3am last night trying to get iTunes to work on the kids' computer.

We had planned to go to the zoo last weekend, but we've had a tone of rain the past few days, so we've been doing indoor activities.

The rest of this week should be low-key. We're all heading to NY on Friday evening - we'll visit Yuta's sisters (and future BIL) in Brooklyn Fri-Sun, and on Sunday night we'll head to Danbury, CT, where we'll stay until Tuesday while I attend work meetings in Somers, NY.