As you may or may not know, the Muffin clan has returned to our original stomping grounds, where Mom met Dad and where the very first Muffin was born. Goodbye trees and water towers, hello mountains with letters on them. This post is mainly to let you know we're alive and well, until such time as Mom gets more detailed posts assembled. Brace yourselves for random jumps across state lines and through time (which will all be resolved eventually).
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
This week in Muffinland
We begin our tour of the everyday with an idealized view of a shopping trip. Look how nicely the three younger Muffins are contained in the shopping cart. Too bad it doesn't last for more than five minutes.
Our trip to the store that day was Lydia's first outing in her new big girl car seat. Mom figured it was okay to actually get a girly seat for a change, since it's also a booster that can last her until she's all done with such things. Only trouble is, Amanda wants a pink chair, too, now.
Here we have Jared playing oh so nicely with Lydia. He's such a good big brother (and a good photo shoot subject, too).
We got some rain this week that left big puddles by the front porch. So, we made a fleet of paper boats to sail in the puddles. (Amanda put a mast and sail on hers.)
Curtis got a hair cut this week . . . a rather major one:
Mom's marigolds are doing well and working on putting up a good floral show.
The tomatoes are doing well, too. The ones shown here are about the size of baseballs, and there are several more on the plant like them.
We even found carrot that was about the size it's supposed to be. Jared picked dwarf carrots, but most of them, being highly overcrowded, ended up, at best, like the one on the left. The one on the right is more like what the package advertised.
After pulling up our first row of carrots, Mom found a fun surprise in the garden:
Mom had some hair adventures, too. Here, courtesy of Dad, is Mom's new shorter, blonder look. All on the same day as Curtis's buzz cut!
Our trip to the store that day was Lydia's first outing in her new big girl car seat. Mom figured it was okay to actually get a girly seat for a change, since it's also a booster that can last her until she's all done with such things. Only trouble is, Amanda wants a pink chair, too, now.
Here we have Jared playing oh so nicely with Lydia. He's such a good big brother (and a good photo shoot subject, too).
We got some rain this week that left big puddles by the front porch. So, we made a fleet of paper boats to sail in the puddles. (Amanda put a mast and sail on hers.)
Curtis got a hair cut this week . . . a rather major one:
Mom's marigolds are doing well and working on putting up a good floral show.
The tomatoes are doing well, too. The ones shown here are about the size of baseballs, and there are several more on the plant like them.
We even found carrot that was about the size it's supposed to be. Jared picked dwarf carrots, but most of them, being highly overcrowded, ended up, at best, like the one on the left. The one on the right is more like what the package advertised.
After pulling up our first row of carrots, Mom found a fun surprise in the garden:
Mom had some hair adventures, too. Here, courtesy of Dad, is Mom's new shorter, blonder look. All on the same day as Curtis's buzz cut!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tea with jam instead
Ever since Amanda got a paint-your-own tea set for her birthday, she's been wanting to have a tea party. One of mom's former roommates told her about using jam in hot water for "tea", and so that's what you see below. Amanda was nice enough to let Jared join the party, too.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Coal on the Move
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted a pet. That pet wish turned into several fish and hamsters over the past three years. Today the little girl and her brothers are sad because the last of this era's pets left us for his new home. Coal the black moor goldfish was with us since fall 2008. We're looking forward to visiting him in his new home sometime before we go to our new home.
(Lest you think today is all gloom, though, keep in mind that the friends who took Coal also surprised us with lunch and a play date. Also, sorry, Coal, that we don't have a better picture of you; photographing fish makes photographing kids seem really easy.)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tales from two and a half parks
It all started about a month or so ago when it became known that we might be relocating. Mom decided it was time to visit some of those places that we hadn't gotten around to seeing yet. The first was this little fountain park, which we've passed hundreds of times on our way other places. It's basically just an island in the middle of an atypical intersection, but the kids thought it was great. Jared especially notices it now any time we go past.
The next day, Mom suggested a continuation of our park fest with a trip to the Park of Roses. We packed a lunch and headed out. We got to the place and parked. Mom and Lydia were the last ones out of the van. By that time, everyone else was well on their way away from where the actual rose garden was. Why? There was a playground! (Note that you can see everyone other than Mom in this picture; not everyday we get one of those shots!)
Lydia napped at first, but she seemed to like the place well enough when she woke up.
Amanda LOVED Dad pushing her on the tire swing.
In the end, though, no besides Mom wanted to actually go see roses that day. Mom spent the next several weeks suggesting the rose park whenever anyone asked for activity suggestions. We almost made it there for the 4th of July, but alas, there was no parking, since somebody decided it would be fun to shoot fireworks off in that park area. Finally, just over a month after the first attempt, Mom had had enough. She was going to get to that rose park, whatever it took. The three elder Muffins came along for the ride while Dad stayed home with sleeping Lydia. Behold, the rose garden! (or part of it, anyway)
The walkway into the park had lots of these inscribed stones, most of them dedications or memorials. Mom liked this one at the very beginning of the path:
The kids also liked the stones . . . for hopscotch.
Soon after we got into the park we found this fountain, which the kids had no desire to leave. Ever. (Looks like they would have been just as happy back at the fountain park!) Here we have Curtis, enjoying the water and the rainbow.
There was a concert going on at the park that evening, and so our visit had a bagpipe music soundtrack. We also found this little tower to climb. It had been empty for as long as we'd seen it, but not long after Mom took this picture, a whole bunch of other kids appeared and climbed it, too. Guess we Muffins are quite the trend setters.
Here are few rose pictures from the garden. This particular rose caught Mom's attention . . .
because of its name, which reminds Mom of Mrs. Shin's line in The Music Man: "This ruby hat of Omar kai-yai-yai-yai . . . I am appalled!"
Some other rose pictures that turned out pretty well:
The next day, Mom suggested a continuation of our park fest with a trip to the Park of Roses. We packed a lunch and headed out. We got to the place and parked. Mom and Lydia were the last ones out of the van. By that time, everyone else was well on their way away from where the actual rose garden was. Why? There was a playground! (Note that you can see everyone other than Mom in this picture; not everyday we get one of those shots!)
Lydia napped at first, but she seemed to like the place well enough when she woke up.
Amanda LOVED Dad pushing her on the tire swing.
In the end, though, no besides Mom wanted to actually go see roses that day. Mom spent the next several weeks suggesting the rose park whenever anyone asked for activity suggestions. We almost made it there for the 4th of July, but alas, there was no parking, since somebody decided it would be fun to shoot fireworks off in that park area. Finally, just over a month after the first attempt, Mom had had enough. She was going to get to that rose park, whatever it took. The three elder Muffins came along for the ride while Dad stayed home with sleeping Lydia. Behold, the rose garden! (or part of it, anyway)
The walkway into the park had lots of these inscribed stones, most of them dedications or memorials. Mom liked this one at the very beginning of the path:
The kids also liked the stones . . . for hopscotch.
Soon after we got into the park we found this fountain, which the kids had no desire to leave. Ever. (Looks like they would have been just as happy back at the fountain park!) Here we have Curtis, enjoying the water and the rainbow.
There was a concert going on at the park that evening, and so our visit had a bagpipe music soundtrack. We also found this little tower to climb. It had been empty for as long as we'd seen it, but not long after Mom took this picture, a whole bunch of other kids appeared and climbed it, too. Guess we Muffins are quite the trend setters.
Here are few rose pictures from the garden. This particular rose caught Mom's attention . . .
because of its name, which reminds Mom of Mrs. Shin's line in The Music Man: "This ruby hat of Omar kai-yai-yai-yai . . . I am appalled!"
Some other rose pictures that turned out pretty well:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
