Summer Splashing

Today was one of those fleeting and all-too-rare beautifully summer days in the Pacific Northwest where the temperature is just right and the sun is a glowing orb in the sky. What better way to enjoy it than with a kiddie pool?

Helios picked out the pool (color choices were blue and purple) and we carried it around the store to Hesperos' delight (apparently it's very tasty). Once we got it home, Helios yammered non-stop, "pool, Mommy, pool. We need to put water in the pool!" With all appropriate haste, clothes were shed, sunscreen was slathered, and swimming trunks were donned.

The pool was filled with very un-summery cold water, which deterred the boys not one whit as they splashed and giggled. (As shown in the video below, Helios doesn't quite get the gist of swimming pants which are supposed to get wet; he kept demanding to take them off and get dry pants.)

Bug-Bug Plays with Bugs!

During a visit to Home Depot yesterday, we learned that they sell packages of lady bugs as a natural, organic form of pest control. While we're skeptical about their efficacy, for only $3.49, it seemed worth a shot.

Until we got home to set them free, we had no idea how misconceived this idea was. The lady bugs had nothing to do with pest control. Instead, it was the best $3.49 investment in childhood amusement ever.

Helios (whose nickname is Bug or Bug Bug) adored having the not-so-creepy crawlies inch all over him. There are about 1500 to a package, and he was on a mission to find a home for each and every one. He stopped by the fledgling cauliflower plants, the youngling tomato plants, and the mature rose bushes that we have no idea how to maintain and dropped a few wherever he travelled. Several of them flew away while we were "working", and they are probably all gone by today (either onto other roosts or, eek, the meal to another creature). But, for the time they were here, Helios was all smiles.

The Catholic Community Welcomes...

Here is, what is so far, my most entertaining recipe for fun.

INGREDIENTS:

1 10-month-old, water-loving, hungry, breast-fed baby, un-napped

1 2-year-old, fire-loving toddler, un-napped

1 Mommy dressed in a top that apparently entices said breast-fed baby

1 hard-of-hearing elderly priest with a kooky sense of humor

1 baptismal candle, lit

1 atheist sister

1 agnostic brother-in-law who really hates sitting

1 early evening baptismal ceremony

Combine all. Order doesn't matter. The result is...Hesperos' baptismal ceremony from a couple of months ago.

Hesperos was welcomed into the Catholic community in early May, an event delayed initially for lack of a godparent and then due to that pesky event called Lent, during which marriages and baptisms may not occur (apparently deaths are okay).

His baptism was, a bit sadly, much lower-key than Helios', who had been baptised on Christmas morning with many family members in attendance. But, we had no time for sadness as we were busy managing the other challenges of the evening -- such as Hesperos doing to get to what he felt must be the only viable food source around. (Mommy can't remember the last time she was man-handled so, but is fairly certain it was when she was taking public transportation on a full train.)

Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Igor were present, which was surely done through kindly family duty, since the last time they saw the inside of a church was when Helios was baptised. (The time before that was when Mommy and Daddy got married, leading Mommy to believe that the surest way to ensure Aunt Tiffany has exposure to any faith is for Mommy to keep creating events where sacraments are given.) Their presence had the side benefit because Aunt Tiffany was able to act as unofficial photographer, a role which apparently consists of her taking pictures of Mommy's not-so-small rear end as she mounts the steps to the baptismal font while trying to wrestle with a child. (Thanks, sis.)

Hesperos was all over the place, being a regular wiggly worm, and becoming totally unhinged when he saw the water (water being among his favorite things, after eating). He threw his not-inconsequential body weight to and fro, finally coming to rest when he was tipped backward for the holy water to be dribbled down his head. Lest anyone suspect that it exorcised any tyrannical spirits from his now-blessed corpus, Hesperos pulled himself upward and attempted to latch onto Mommy's nose (as if to say, "that was fun, now let's get down to business"). Mommy was not amused.

The officiating priest, who regularly likes to have side conversations with himself, lit the baptismal candle and handed it to Daddy. Unfortunately, Daddy was then also holding Helios who insisted that he should be allowed to hold the fire. (Think Ren and Stimpy right now and imagine Helios' glazed-over eyes, saying "fire, fire!") One child lunged for water, one lunged for fire. At worst, had both succeeded, they would have cancelled each other out (small solace though that is to the victims of their destruction). While this was going on, Father Tom did what might, in a lesser man, have prompted a heart attack as he lifted 23-pound Hesperos (it sounds like he's a Thanksgiving turkey) and moved him about in the shape of the cross. It is no exaggeration to write that Father Tom asked for some divine intervention to help steady his elderly arms while elevating him (specifically, "Dear Jesus, don't let me drop this baby").

After the ceremony was over, Hesperos got to have his afternoon meal and he promptly spent the rest of the service thoroughly relaxed. And what did Helios think of all this to-do about his baby brother, you may well ask? Helios celebrated in the way that little boys have celebrated church (and leaving church) since time eternal by rushing outside to the slide where he untucked his shirt and got in a few quick "whooshes!" before going to the family dinner. Daddy (himself a recent Easter-confirmed Catholic) and Hesperos stood by the sidelines and watched.

A Weekend Getaway: Day 2

Day two of our weekend adventure dawned promisingly. After doping Helios up with some Benadryl and watching his sesame-affected Angelina Jolie-like lips drop down to a more natural thickness, we finally got some shut-eye and were ready to begin the day with a morning spent at the Farmers' Market and quality time with Grandma Joan, Grandpa Wil, and Aunt Elspeth.




After hiking hither and yon around the "downtown" area (downtown is in quotes because it's very difficult to call an area downtown when it has only 40,000 metropolitan-area residents), we took a pause at the riverside park where Helios took several turns on the vintage-but-restored carousel. Hesperos chilled during all this excitement by spending some quality time with Aunt Elspeth, who appeared to have been pumping iron just to prepare her for the experience of lifting him (Hesperos being approximately 20% of Aunt Elspeth's weight).



(In case anyone was wondering, yes, Aunt Elspeth is an adult and one even legally able to drink, at that. She just looks like she's an ungainly tall 10 years old.)

Following our city escapades, it was time to go out to Grandma Joan's and Grandpa Wil's farm where we lounged about for the rest of the day. Helios was taken on a lordly tour of the homestead in the red wagon chariot furnished (and pulled) by Grandma Joan. Afterward, he imagined Grandma's and Grandpa's in-kitchen grill into a race track (of course) and, while being held aloft by Aunt Elspeth, made his borrowed cars vroom, vroom, vroom all over the place. Meanwhile, Hesperos apparently felt that he was being neglected and not fed enough, causing him to hide underneath his cousin's worktable and munch on soggy dog food. He was so quiet doing it, we probably wouldn't have even noticed him chomping away until he eventually shouted his anger at hitting his head on the underside of the table.



The evening concluded a little on the early side, not too long after Mommy "whupped" Daddy and Grandma Joan at a game of Scrabble (okay, "malitude" wasn't a word but "organza" was!). It was time to head back to the hotel and hit the sack, because the agenda for the next morning was to scurry back home. Bye-bye, Grandma and Grandpa -- see you in a few months!

A Weekend Getaway: Day 1

What is summer without a road trip? Recently, Helios and Hesperos became warriors of the road on their first road trip together. This was a notable road trip for the boys for multiple reasons. For starters, it was the first road trip since Helios has accomplished potty training and nothing tests the endurance of a child's bladder like a 600-mile road trip, most of which is at night and no where by sanitary or hospitable toilets. This was also Hesperos' first road trip period and, even more special, the first time that Hesperos faced forward in his car seat so he could see the road ahead. Nothing quite says "grown up little boy" like having a front-facing car seat!

We left late on a Thursday evening (around 9:00 p.m.) after the boys bathed and were tucked snug in their carseats. Hesperos went out like a light whereas Helios stayed awake for enough miles to make sing-along songs miserable (by the way, if you're happy and you know it...don't risk ruining it by listening to that song).

Driving all night with Daddy doing most of the work put us in the land of Mommy's parents (Grandma Joan and Grandpa Wil) around 6 a.m. with time change. We all camped out at Aunt Elspeth's apartment until our hotel room became available a little later. Hesperos slept throughout it all (except for a brief exploration through the newspaper which, apparently, is very tasty stuff), but Helios was all into exploring the beaded curtains, goldfish, papasan chairs, and other amenities of a student's apartment afforded by Aunt Elspeth's abode.


Around noon, our hotel room became available and then the fun really began. It seems that unless you're the most battle-hardened business traveler, no matter your age, a new hotel room is always fun for the first 10 minutes at least. This hotel room was fun for at least a half hour, as the children ran/shuffled around it with only underpants on, while each wreaked their own form of havoc: Hesperos throwing food everywhere and Helios turning on all the water faucets.

After a little recovery time, we spent the afternoon at a residential water park. When Helios' underpants got wet, he looked down and, with an emphatic shake of the head, exclaimed, "my penis did NOT do that, Mommy, nooo!" We then changed clothes and made our way off to Grandma Joan's and Grandpa Wil's home where they were slavishly doted upon with, yet again, more toys. Examples...

"Oh, Helios, honey, do you want to take a ride on the rocking horse? Here, take a rocking elephant home with you."

"Oh, Hesperos, baby, you look like you need more toys. Here, have a box full of blocks."

"Oh, Helios, honey, do you like talking toys? Here, take a couple home for the long car ride ahead of you." (Gee, thanks, Mom.)

"Hmm, Hesperos looks like he might want to take a ride on this tractor. Go for it, kid!"

All of this, of course, is exclusive of the many attempts to give them unwatered juice full of sugar and any sort of tasty morsel their little hearts or salivatory glands could desire.

After our afternoon at Grandma Joan's and Grandpa Wil's home, we concluded with dinner (where we learned that Helios has a virulent sesame allergy) and then all passed out at the hotel room on a bed infested with Veggie Booty dust and dried strawberry remnants.