How to eat a cookie.

So we just got back from dinner at an asian-vegetarian restaurant....

After dinner we got our fortune cookies and I explained to Owen that he should break open the cookie to find his fortune. He watched me get my fortune out and then he tried his own. After snapping the cookie in two he said matter-of-factly :"I know how to eat this cookie I don't need the directions." and he nonchalantly tossed the paper fortune on the table.

Needless to say, Paul and I looked at each other and said "THAT's going on the blog!"

Festivites Galore

Well, last weekend started with a fantastic train ride at the historic Campo Depot. We took Owen on the North Pole Express ( a sort of live action version of the Polar Express story) complete with elves serving hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies, singing Christmas carols and reading the Polar Express story as we traveled via old fashioned train to the North Pole. At which point we picked up Santa Claus and rode back to the depot while Santa walked through the train talking to each child on board. It was a blast and needless to say Owen LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!

I have a photo set at flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/owentheking/), but here are some highlights:

Here Owen gives his ticket to the conductor... it was so cold out there that Owen was crying while we waited to board the train. It was in the 30's which is really cold for California! and the poor kid wasn't used to the weather. So, he's wearing my gloves and scarf, and a hat I knitted a couple of weeks ago...











Owen meets Santa! He was so thrilled and when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, he of course said "TRAINS!!!!!"










We had so much fun! A great way to usher in the Christmas season.... the very next day we got our Christmas tree and decorated the house. Less than two weeks to go!

In addition to all those knee slapping jokes he's been telling lately, there is the inadvertent humor of day-to-day life with Owen.

The other day I put out some clothes and told Owen to get dressed ( we play a game where we see who can get dressed first). Owen said "No!!! I want to pick out my own clothes!" Well, I was thrilled and told him to go for it and he proceeded to put all the clothes I had chosen away and then picked out a really well-matched outfit for himself. And then he got dressed! Yay! It was very exciting for everyone. As I was helping him with his socks and shoes, I repeatedly told him how proud I was of him and said that now that he was a big boy (big enough to pick out his own clothes and put them on all by himself) the next step was to put his own socks and shoes on. To which Owen replied "YEAH!!!!!! And then I will be big enough to drive the car!!!!!!!!"


Yesterday we were at our usual Sunday morning bakery eating the absolutely best cranberry eggnog scones. Owen was watching intently as some kids were playing cards at a nearby table. He asked what "those number cards" were, and I told him it was UNO, a game that we have at home. Then Paul and I realized we should play that with Owen because he knows his numbers really well and definitely knows his colors so it would be a great game for him to play! I told him that we could get the UNO cards out and play when we got home. To which Owen replied " OK, but let's play it in English first!"

Am I biased if I think this kid is brilliant?

P.S. I will post some pictures as soon as I upload them, we had a fantastic weekend filled with holiday festivities and I've got lots of cool pictures, I promise!

Laughter is the best medicine.

Owen is a natural at telling jokes. Although his content is a little crazy, his delivery is PERFECTION. Every time he tells a joke I try to remember his exact script, but his jokes are so full of the non sequitur-ness of a 3 year old that I can never accurately represent them to you. Here I've tried to paraphrase as best I can to bring you the gist of his most recent creations:

Joke 1:

Owen: I have a joke for you!

Me: Ok, let's hear it.

Owen: Why did the monkey climb on the mushroom?

Me: I don't know, why?

Owen: Because he didn't want to stick to the wall!!!!!!!!!

Joke 2:

Owen: Why did the giraffe climb on the moon?

Me: I don't know, why?

Owen: Because he didn't want the restaurant to bonk his head!!!!!!

Joke 3:

Owen: A giraffe a pig and a cow went for walk.

Me: Yes?

Owen: And they slipped and fell!!!!! Ha ha ha.


This new excitement for joke telling is keeping up our morale as we all recoup from our first family cold of the winter. We've all been sneezing, coughing and sleeping badly for the last few nights. But we are finally on the mend!!!

Car trip. Traffic. Thanksgiving. Car trip. Traffic. Home.

A busy and fun week! Owen did pretty well in the car for 7 hours... we rented a minivan and Owen and I drove with Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Joe. Of course we met the usual day-before-Thanksgiving traffic, but we managed to make it in one piece.















We had a great time visiting with Nana and her two big dogs, but Owen was a little afraid of the excitable pups. He did not want to be in the same room as the dogs, so we spent a lot of time playing with him in the bedroom and in the front area of the house where the dogs weren't allowed to go. The dogs were very cute, but they were way bigger than Owen so I totally understand his trepidation. Plus, we're a cat family so he's just not used to barking and jumping and licking and fast chasing......

I did have the foresight to bring his bike so we got out of the house one morning and had a little fun in Nana's driveway. Owen has completely turned a corner with the whole bike riding thing and can zoom pretty quickly. Alas, he doesn't have the steering portion down yet so as we turned in the driveway, he steered right into the Tucson underbrush. Luckily he missed the cactus! That was the end of the bike ride.















Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and it was lovely to spend it with family new and old! Thanks, Nana, for hosting us!

Love,

Owen, Paul and Lisel

Still here!

Mr. Preppy says hello! I took this shot two weeks ago and those pants don't fit him anymore. I put them on this morning and Owen said "They're too small!!!" It's true, the three pairs of pants I bought him last month look like he's ready for the floods...So, we went out again to buy him even more pants. This time I'm getting them extra big so I don't have to by another pair in two more weeks.

This is a picture from Owen's best day ever at the Train Museum, one of his favorite spots to visit. It was pretty empty that day and Owen had the Thomas play-room all to himself! Oh the joy of it!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, yes, we are still here, but only for a short while. Tomorrow we are going on a car trip to visit Nana in Tucson for Thanksgiving! Yes... 6 hours on the road with a non-napping 3 year old on the day before Thanksgiving. What were we thinking? We'll see how it goes. I'm stocking up on Dan Zanes cd's, crayons and paper, and Owen's favorite snacks (Veggie Booty, apple slices, string cheese, Cheddar Bunnies and home-made carrot/raisin muffins) for the trip. Aunt Kirstie and Uncle Joe will be along for the ride so if it gets too crazy I'm going to drive and send one of them to the back seat to entertain The King.

The best news of all is that Paul will be meeting us tomorrow night in Tucson! (straight from Tokyo via Dallas). We're looking forward to a celebratory weekend and then we all drive home together on Sunday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are celebrating with your loved ones, friends and family. Here's to wonderful companionship and conversation and the obligatory feasting!

Sigh.

Poor Paul has been looking at this view for the past week and a half:

http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/bestw2/Shinjuku%20District,%20Tokyo,%20Japan.jpg

I've been achingly neglectful in my blogging duties since he's been gone. For that I apologize.... and I've had a request direct from Japan: Post some pictures!!!!!!

Paul really wants to see more of this view:
And I miss this view more than words can say:


Another week and we'll all be reunited! I've never looked forward to Thanksgiving with such excitement and anticipation.

I'm repeating myself.

Our house is all about repetition these days. Owen has latched onto a certain game and now wants to play it ad infinitum. After the 12th time of "hide the letters" (we take turns hiding the puzzle letters around the house and then finding them) and the umpteenth time of "hide and seek" ( we take turns hiding ourselves around the house and then find each other) I feel like I know each and every nook and cranny of our little abode. Trust me the place is small to begin with so this is not saying much. Another variation on this game is "Hide the Toilet Paper" which sounds odd but Owen loves it. We got one of those 24-roll packages of tp and Owen loves to go around the house stacking them in odd spots. At least the tp rolls are easy to find, we have been missing the letter "S" from our letter puzzle for almost 3 weeks now and that seems impossible considering how small our house is (I know, I mentioned the small house already).

Anyway, Owen is bound and determined to squeeze every last ounce out of his game playing which is commendable but a LITTLE redundant!!!!

Especially because Paul left for Japan ( again) for two more weeks. (again, I'm repeating myself in more ways than one). This time we won't see him until Thanksgiving.... hopefully this is his last trip for awhile because I just cannot play another 15-round game of hide/seek with Owen!!!!

But, of course, I will :)

Trick or Treat

One more Halloween picture ( I couldn't resist):

Owen the JOLLY PIRATE, handing out candy to our trick-or-treaters ( all 5 of them.... it was kind of a slow night)

This was his first year going out to trick-or-treat at houses. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the boat load of candy he collected. I swear we only went to a few houses! After the 4th or 5th house he finally got the courage to say "Trick or Treat". Before that he was Owen the SILENT PIRATE. Next year should be fun!

Happy Halloween!

BOO!

Howdy Pardner

hello again

Well, Paul returned last weekend and I promptly took some pictures:
Here we are at our lovely Sunday morning bakery.....

Here Owen is levitating to the sounds of the wonderful musicians at the Farmer's Market. He usually loves to sit and listen but today he was literally jumping for joy. He's happy Daddy's home!!!

Notice Owen's excellent cutting skills and his interpretation of a pumpkin (on the right). We are very excited to be going to a pumpkin patch tomorrow so hopefully we'll be doing some carving this weekend!

And finally, here is the leaf collage that Owen made as a card for Paul. We found these beautiful leaves in our little neighborhood park and they were so spectacular! Yes... we DO get fall in San Diego!

A hello from 8/14/2004. I saw this one in the file and had to share it. Thank goodness Owen is a little neater these days (just a little)...




I just wanted to mention that yesterday and today Owen refused to nap so I told him to stay in his room and listen to music.... after 30 minutes he fell asleep in his chair. He is so funny passed out on his chair... and when he wakes up he denies that he fell asleep. "No, no, I was just listening to music." Yesterday he was sprawled in his chair for 2 hours!!!!! He's fallen asleep in his chair again today so we'll see what he says when he comes out of his room.

Arrrr!

So, I got Owen a pirate costume which I hope he'll wear. He was very excited about it when we saw it in the store, but he hasn't wanted to try it on yet and I fear it may be one of those things that he likes to look at but doesn't want to interact with (or put on EVER)... we'll see. I got some books from the library about pirates to get him excited about the idea of being one for Halloween. I feel like I am doing a lot of prep work for this one night only costume thing. Isn't Halloween supposed to be fun?

I'm still working on the wedding pictures.. sorry for the delay. I just have not had enough time to sit and think or spend hours at the computer ( see previous post for why). Here's Owen in a rare moment of repose after getting totally crazy on the dance floor at the reception:

Here's another random picture to keep you blog-lurkers happy.. This one is from a couple months ago when we went on the Sky Tram thingy at Sea World. A totally fun ride over the bay!

alone again

Paul is in Japan again for two more weeks. I am so glad this isn't part of his normal business routine because I am EXHAUSTED.

Owen is really wearing me out. He hasn't been napping for several weeks now, but he's managed to stay with the"Quiet Time in Your Bedroom" Rule. Today he rebelled. What do you say to a toddler who just says "But I don't want to!!!!!!" after everything you say? I tried reasoning, negotiating, time outs, you name it. By the end of it I needed the nap and quiet time more than he did! Anyway, I finally convinced him to stay in his room for 45 minutes during which time he took a picture off the wall and took it apart, broke a clock, pulled all the books off his shelf, and threw all his puzzle pieces all over the floor. But at least he stayed in his room!!!!!!!

Anyway, he has got way more energy than I do these days.... I fear it will only get worse as the countdown to February continues.

We went to the park after his failed nap/quiet time in an attempt to get some wiggles out. He climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym --and all the way back down -- all by himself about 15 times. Finally he said "I need a rest" and sat down with me on the bench for about a second before he jumped up again.

Whew!~

By the way, the camera is in Tokyo so here's another shot from last weekend:

He's doing his best "Dzia Dzia wink". Maybe I should convince him to be a pirate for Halloween so he can use this new skill for good purpose????

Sorry for the delay. Last week we were preparing for Aunt Kirstie's wedding and then had a splendid weekend celebrating with a large family contingent from all over!!!!! I'm in the process of editing the photos and will post the Flickr link when I've got them all up but I've added a few here to give you the idea...


Owen was an excellent ring-bearer, and took his job very seriously.














He also was very concerned about making sure he got his slice of cake.












Then, he danced the night away in a truly awesome way. That kid has fantastic rhythm! He was breakdancing and doing all sorts of funky freestyling moves. We all loved it!

Congratulations to the newlyweds!!!!!

Baby Boom

This has been such an exciting week in our little world. Last week my friend Jess welcomed her beautiful little girl Orli.... then my friend Janet welcomed her little boy Roan on Tuesday night and Owen got to meet him in the hospital when he was only one day old!!!!!! Then, on Thursday Paul's brother Evan and his wife Bethany welcomed their little girl Clara into the world. We've all been admiring Owen's newest cousin in pictures on the blogosphere. Then on Friday we opened the secret envelope and discovered that Owen was going to have a little brother!!!! YAY!!!

However, lest we forget, Owen is STILL "the king". So, I wanted to share some more anecdotes about Owen's amazing-ness.

Owen got a ride home from preschool the other day from a neighbor friend. His Grandpa Elmer was here to babysit for a few hours while I taught a class... When Heidi dropped him off Owen introduced his Grandpa to Heidi letting her know that "his first name is Grandpa and his last name is Elmer".

Today after dinner Owen was looking at me and he asked where his baby was. I said "My baby is in here( pointing at my belly) He's my baby and your baby brother." To which Owen replied "I want a baby sister next." Aack! Slow down tiger!

Today we went to a beach house party with all of Owen's friends from playgroup and preschool. Owen had a blast running in the sand and chasing after his friends. When it was time to eat, his friend Kaylie was walking over and he ran to get her chair and took it over to her saying "Here's your chair, Kaylie!!!!" Then he spontaneously offered to share some of his cookie with his friend Tommy. He turned to me and said "It's ok, Tommy doesn't want any cookie right now". I know I'm biased ( as all moms should be) but I think Owen is the sweetest boy. Chivalry is not dead!

Watch out, baby boy due in February... although you will be Prince Regent (is that next in line for the throne? I'm not up on my royal lineage expertise) it will be mighty hard to dethrone Owen. He will be an amazing big brother for you and has already told me how he's looking forward to teaching you how to play dominoes. He's also set aside some cookies and snacks for you in the cabinet (he put them in a little container and said "we'll save these for the baby") I hope you're looking forward to meeting him as much as we are looking forward to meeting you!

It's a

BOY!!!!!!!!


(gulp)

Paul's home...

...which means a few things:

1. I can update this blog a little more frequently....
2. I can take pictures again ( he took my camera with him when he went to Japan).
3. We now know what is in the sealed envelope that has been tacked to the refrigerator for the past week. Anyone else curious?:)

Starbugs

Went out for ice cream after dinner tonight to a place we don't usually go. As we were walking there:

Owen: Where are we going? Where are we?
Me: We're going to the ice cream shop.
Owen: (excitedly) There's a Starbugs here!!!!!!Starbugs!!!!!!!!!
Me: (incredulously) How did you know that?
Owen: (spotting the sign) Starbugs!!!!! (confidentially) Aunt Kirstie and Uncle Joe like Starbugs.

Paul never (and I rarely) go to Starbucks let alone this particular one, so I don't know how he knew this...

You know that Starbucks' mission to take over the world is completely and 100% succesful when a 3 year old knows its locations and logo.

One more thing.

Two posts in one day can you handle it?

Just wanted to say that my ultrasound is scheduled for this Friday September 22nd... at which point we were going to find out if Owen will have a little brother or a little sister.

HOWEVER, Paul had to go out of town and so I will be going to the appointment by myself. We decided that it would be way more fun for us both to find out together, so -- much to my chagrin-- I am going to ask the ultrasound technician to write the answer on a piece of paper which will be sealed in an envelope until Paul's return. I figure if I have enough willpower to have a baby than I can withstand the enduring frustration of staring at that envelope until Paul returns which, at this point, is TBD.

COME HOME QUICKLY, PLEASE, DEAR!!!!!!!!!!

and, here's a picture of Owen (and his beloved Daddy) for those of you who are having withdrawal:

3 weeks to go....

Last week began the exciting run-up to my sister's wedding!!!!! She is getting married October 8th, and it will be a huge family shindig with relatives from all over descending on our little paradise. So last week this is what we did:

• I got my bridesmaid dress re-fitted by a friend who happens to be a skilled seamstress (she's built many a costume for me over the years) She's tearing it apart and rebuilding it as a maternity dress.
• I threw my sister a bachelorette party. (We went dancing after the party and I realized that I had not been to a bar or club in YEARS. Do I miss it? Not at all... well maybe the dancing a little. Although I felt pretty funny being pregnant at a fancy nightclub.)
• Owen got his tuxedo measured and ordered for the wedding. CUTE. CUTE. CUTE. No--- ADORABLE!!!!!! He is going to be the most handsome ring bearer ever.

We are all getting really excited about the impending nuptials!

Paul flew to Tokyo for business yesterday and will be gone for almost two weeks. Gulp...... Wish me luck with the boy who never naps.

And, Paul took the camera with him -- so I'll try to mine the vault for some older pictures. Y'all will just have to wait to see some current ones! I found this one on my cell phone from June:

More new things....

Let's see...it's been a really busy week since last Monday. Mostly because Owen has not napped all week. Yes, we've been here before and Paul always tells me not to worry that it's temporary BUT....

I left him in his room for "quiet time" today and after 30 minutes he opened the door to show me the project he'd been working on. He had methodically taken every book out of his bookshelf and stacked it on his rocking chair. He has a LOT of books so that is more impressive than it sounds.

I told him he had to stay in there for another 30 minutes and now he's having some rather in depth conversation with himself and ???? consisting of a lot of "NO! NO! NO!" and "OW! OW! OW!" followed by a profusion of giggles. I don't even want to think about what he's doing that will need to be undone, but I refuse to open the door until the time is up.

Luckily I'm well rested to handle this new "nap"time because Paul and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this past weekend in the most luxurious and relaxing vacation I've had since... well, since before Owen was born. My mom spent the weekend with Owen -- while Paul and I went to Los Angeles for 2 NIGHTS!!!!! It was tremendously enjoyable. The hotel was fantastic, the days were unscheduled and we actually spent time at the Getty admiring the art! A true celebration. Thanks Mom! And thanks to Paul for 5 wonderful years.

New things...

1. In KC, we got to experience a real midwestern Thunderstorm. Very exciting! Owen tried valiantly to take a nap ( or I valiantly tried to make him nap) but of course he didn't nap for the whole week ... the day of the storm Owen was truly exhausted and I thought that maybe he would finally just pass out. But instead he came running out of his room and said "The thunder HATES me!" Needless to say, no nap.
2. He also did not like locusts. The first evening we were there we sat out on the porch and Owen said "What's that noise?" He spent some time covering up his ears and then declared "It's time to go back inside. It's too loud out here!"
3. New things since we've been home: yesterday it was sooooo hot and Owen wanted to swim in our backyard pool. He suggested it a couple of times until he hit on a new tact: "The baby wants to go swimming!" He was quite convincing and seemed to know exactly what Mommy's baby wanted.
4. We got the board game 'Sorry!' Owen loves it and wants to play it non-stop. He's actually got a really good grasp of the rules and the way it works.... He woke up the next morning after our game night and the first thing he said when he came into the bedroom ( at 6:15am) was "I want to play that cool game!"

Happy Labor Day everybody!

Some highlights of our Kansas City Trip

To see all the photos check this out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/owentheking/sets/72157594262371944/

Here are some highlights....

We're Back!

www.flickr.com owentheking's Kansas City photoset

Hopefully the link to our photos works! I will also post some highlights soon...

We had so much fun! It was great to see Dzia Dzia and Grandma Fran plus it was Owen's Great-Grandpa's 88th birthday on Saturday so we had a big Polish family Bingo Party. Owen has a definite future as a Bingo Caller!!!

Social Butterfly Week

We had a lot of fun last weekend with Nana at the Zoo! We saw all sorts of animals that we never see, even though we visit the Zoo regularly. We even took the Zoo bus which we never do! It was a great day.



On Wednesday we met up with Pearce and Makenna (and their mom Joanna) and went to Balboa Park. We saw the koi fish in the pond and went to the botanical garden and then went to Owen's favorite spot: The Model Railroad Museum.



and on Thursday Owen and I went to Sea World where we met a tortoise who is a little bigger than our friend Terpy :




Yes, it's been a busy week --not to mention the fact that we have been out to dinner with friends almost every night. Owen has held up surprisingly well even though there was a touch of chaos at our restaurant table last night when Owen could not sit still ANY MORE and knocked his metal chair over against the concrete floor (he wasn't sitting in it at the time, it just got caught in his whirlwind energy vortex). It was, however, very very loud so I don't think we'll be going back to that restaurant any time soon...

Anyway, we've been keeping so busy because we will soon be heading off on a trip! Next Monday Owen and I will be flying to Kansas City to visit Dzia Dzia for a whole week..... we're all very excited! I'll try to keep everyone posted with our shenanigans!

Almost a Hobbit!

The other day, Owen came into the bedroom in the wee hours of the morning... the sun was streaming in the windows, and he stood right by my side of the bed waiting for me to wake up. Peering over the side of the bed like that he looked so tall all of a sudden! So I asked him "What are you standing on?" His answer? He looked down at his feet and said "The earth!"

It's true. He's had another growth spurt and is now tantalizingly close to being hobbit size (that would be 3'6"). Right now he's 3'4" -- in the past three weeks he's grown over 1/2 inch!!!! I don't think I noticed it earlier because during summer he wears shorts every day. It's just so funny how I don't notice it at all and then suddenly it seems so obvious -- even though he's been growing the whole time...

Blue is a good color on me!

House of Reptiles

So, when Paul and I moved into our house about 4 1/2 years ago we discovered someone already living in the backyard: a tortoise. We called him Terpy (short for Terrapin) and started giving him fruit and lettuce whenever he came out of hiding. He goes into hibernation every winter and then, much to our delight, just appears every summer on our back patio to say hi. He spends the rest of the summer hanging out in various favorite spots in our backyard, until the weather gets cold and he hides for good for about 6 months. It's really exciting when he's out. Owen and I love to watch him eat our snacks with his little jaws.... Every summer I get a little worried about whether he made it through the winter and wonder if he'll come back. And he always does..... Paul thinks he's the perfect no-hassle pet (sorry to our cats Isabelle and Percy) and I kind of agree. I think I would be really sad not to see him anymore. It's kind of nice to know he's back there.

On the other hand, the other day, Owen and I were in the office and we came out into the living room and noticed someone had moved INSIDE our house:


(Please ignore the chunks of cat fur on the rug)...I confess I screamed a little as I tried to catch him, but I put on a brave face for my son ( I don't want him to think I'm a squeamish girlie girl) and managed to catch him in a piece of tupperware and take him outside. It freaked me out to see him in our living room and I was so glad I found him before the cats did. That would not have been pretty. (The tupperware is now in the garbage).

So anyway, that's our reptile update.

The Puppeteer

Owen and I have spent many happy afternoons lately taking turns telling stories with his puppet theatre. He is always very particular about where the audience should sit and when the show should start and then once he gets going his "plays" are, well, kind of free-form. But its really funny because he uses character voices and sound effects really well.

Now, you may think he gets that from me since I'm the one with the theatre background but I have to let you in on a little secret: Owen gets this ability from his Dad. This is no surprise to Paul's family I'm sure but Paul is extremely adept at creating highly amusing characters... voice, motivation, physicality, the works! and he'll improvise for a really long time much to Owen's delight! Not bad for a software engineer! Anyway, it's quite fun to watch them both.

and in other news....

Details to come about the big announcement, I promise!

But I wanted everyone to know this: in the past month or so, quietly and without fanfare ( until now) Owen has

1. gone completely diaper free naptime and nighttime without any midnight pees!!!!!!!

2. finally learned to sleep all night in his own bed!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, he is 3 so it's about bloody time. But, a few months ago (yes, right after Paul and I realized another baby Getz was on the way) we decided we had to do something about his joining us in the the big bed at all hours of the night. We talked to him about the importance of sleeping in his own bed and then just kept returning him to his own bed when he would come into our room. After a week or so of 2 a.m. discussions he stopped complaining about it and now even though he still comes into our room occasionally, he goes back to his own bed no problem and knows he can't join us until the sun is shining..... Can I just say that after all the stress of his first few years of awful sleep habits, it is SO MUCH EASIER to sleep train a young boy who can understand reason and consequence.

Now we have 6 more months of sleep before the new one arrives ( Estimated Date of Arrival: February 13th, 2007). Then we start all over again.......

An Announcement from the King

Artist in Training

Owen's Solar System. Please note: the yellow sun's rays (upper left) shining through the far reaches of the galaxy; blue earth with a small black moon (bottom right) with a string holding the moon in place so that "it doesn't drop away from the earth"; also, note the yellow blobs on earth which represent our house and our backyard in San Diego; Saturn and its rings ( he made two Saturns); and the Asteroid belt represented by the long brown line going between the planets....


Percy the Cat.

Owen's New Best Friend

This is Owen's friend Fireman Freddy. Freddy is a really incredible puppet who LOVES to play hide and seek (although he's not very good at it).

Paul was the first one to be the puppeteer ... and then I tried him on and Owen literally yanked him off my hand and ran him back to Paul. My own son is my harshest critic! What is the world coming to!

Here's a picture of Owen's "Dzia Dzia wink" . He's been making this strange face lately and finally we asked him what he was doing and he told us! This is Owen's impression of my Dad's pirate-like wink. It's pretty good I think! -- What do you think, Dzia Dzia? :)


Also, Owen (or actually Paul) got a cool new toy the other day: an air pump rocket. We went to the park and were amazed at how high this thing went!

We've been enjoying the sunsets lately -- although the afternoons are hot, it cools off so beautifully in the evening:

It's hot...

We are having a heat spell. It's pretty unbearable in the afternoons (which is when I would normally post something) so I've been avoiding sitting at the computer all week. Which means, there have been no updates on the blog.... I'm sorry! I promise to get in gear and let you know what we've been doing. But we've mostly been trying to keep cool.

Owen's new giraffe pool was great until we let it sit for a few days and it became the most prolific mosquito breeding ground you have ever seen. Hundreds and hundreds of larvae swimming around waiting to hatch. Yuck. So last night we drained it and rinsed it out. Just in time for today, our hottest day of the year!!!!!!

So, we went to the drugstore and got an emergency heat relief mechanism (a $1.50 sprinkler):

Yes, that is Owen running through the sprinkler in his Thomas the Tank Engine underwear!

Here's another great way to beat the heat:

Chocolate Ice Cream!

Anyway, there's a lot of exciting stuff going on around here, but it's just too hot to sit here anymore... I promise to tell you more soon!

Lisel

Owen's Newest Favorite Things

1. The solar system. I mean really, he is OBSESSED and can name all the planets in order and will go on and on about Saturn's rings and the asteroid belt and the gas giants...

2. His new basketball net (thanks Aunt Kirstie and soon to be Uncle Joe)

3. Answering all questions with the same question. For example:

Me: Why did you say that?
Him: Why DID I say that?
or:
Me: What do you mean?
Him: What DO I mean?

4. Saying "or anything" when I ask him something like "Do you have to go to the bathroom or anything?" or "Do you want some water or anything?"

5. His new backyard giraffe pool.