Fall Vacation 2007 / Part II / Super Saturday

Our first full day in ABQ was Saturday (October 5). My sister, Lisa, has 3 boys, Daniel, Ryan, and Brandon. All Lisa’s boys play soccer and during the soccer season the family is usually trying to juggle 3 games on Saturday, usually at three different fields! Grandma and Grandpa Middleton attend the games and help with logistics. This Saturday was special because this was the first meeting between baby Noelle and her Aunt Lisa!

Ryan and Connor Share a Moment

Blue Sky in ABQ

Can Brandon and Connor Fly a Stunt Kite as a Team?

Daniel and Connor Fly the Stunt Kite

The Boys at El Pinto

Next: Lost in Moriority

Fall Vacation 2007 / Part I / The Journey to ABQ

Several blog entries will be dedicated to our fall vacation to Albuquerque (ABQ) early in October. My relatives in ABQ include my parents and my sister’s family. We timed our trip to coincide with the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

The first entry is dedicated to the journey to ABQ. We recently acquired our first mini-van, a Toyota Sienna. So we decided to drive to ABQ as a 3-day trip. We drove to Memphis on the first day and had a nice visit with Laura's grandmother, Mama Ruth. The next day we drove to Oklahoma City and had a nice dinner with my business partner and his gracious family. Finally, we arrived in Albuquerque to stay at my parent’s house.

Is it possible for a rest-stop to be a highlight of our journey? I was so impressed with a rest-stop in Texas (after Amarillo?). The rest-stop is built underground (under a mound of earth) to serve as a tornado shelter. It has the following features: windmill to generate power for itself, a mini-museum featuring windmills, a very nice playground, and a scenic view not visible from the highway.

Here are some pictures of our journey to ABQ.

How many times have I told you to keep your gum in your mouth?

Great little traveler, at least until the sun goes down!

Rest Stop - Texas Style!

(the main "building" is under the mound in the background)

Windmills along the distant horizon in OK

Clines Corner's Billboard in NM

Connor grabs a nap

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Finally in ABQ!!!

Goodbye Summer 2007!

At this writing Fall is in overdrive and the holiday season is fast approaching. I thought I'd take a moment to post a few more pictures taken during the Summer of 2007!

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(Note: Some images can be enlarged by clicking on them)

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Connor and his new friend, a green stick-bug!

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K'nex and Connor Rock!

Fireman Stops to Visit

Let's Eat!

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Connor's Play Setup

A (rare) Moment of Quiet Contemplation

Athena the Pillow

Groovy Noelle!

Trevor's Mission Trip to Kenya

Simply Noelle

Mike Howard Youth Football Jamboree!

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Hamilton County Fair - Ride'em Cowboy!

The Sea Monkey Chronicles – Part IV Sea Monkeys in Peril

Connor was in big trouble for putting these little creatures lives at risk and for disobeying his father after repeated instruction. I don't really think he understood the potential consequences of his actions. He was upset to learn that his actions could kill the Sea Monkeys. I wondered if I had earlier emphasized the concept that overfeeding could be fatal.

Sad Connor

(actually, a wee bit of acting at the time of photo)

Can they be saved? Well, no. Not this time anyway. My gallant effort to save them lasted about 20 minutes. My strategy involved a baster, wine glasses, a coffee filter, and a strainer. My attempts at removing food from the water did not seem promising. A crying baby and other family demands soon took precedent. I was hopeful, but the water remained very green with food and the sea monkeys did not survive.

Lessons learned - I hope!

Next Blog Entry: The Hamster Chronicles

The Sea Monkey Chronicles – Part III / Feed Me!

After your initial Sea Monkeys hatch you are supposed to wait several days before adding additional food. Connor was very anxious to pour the entire packet of food into the habitat. There is a little feeding spoon provided and I explained to Connor that we needed to feed them one tiny spoonful each day. He kept talking about pouring in the whole package, and each day, I would explain the concept of feeding a little bit at a time. “Overfeeding can be very harmful, Connor”, I explained. “Do not pour the whole packet in their habitat”. We wait for the first feeding day.

Our Sea Monkeys are doing great, a little bigger and our first feeding day is finally here. Connor, once again, wants to empty the entire contents of the pouch. I once again explain the concept of feeding a prescribed amount each day. I instruct Connor to pour in one spoonful and he does a great job (Thanks, Montessori!). The food is a green powder. At this point I think Connor understands. Sea monkeys doing great!

If you only like tales of Sea Monkeys swimming happily ever after – stop reading now!
You have been warned...

The next day, the food pouch sits next to the habit, seemingly waiting to be poured into the habitat in its entirety. This has been Connor’s desire all along – his destiny! Now it is easy, because the pouch is already open. At some point, feeling a bit mischievous, Connor realizes he is not being supervised. He seizes the opportunity and he dumps the food pouch into the habitat! He actually tells us he fed the Sea Monkeys. He is grinning like the cat that just swallowed the canary!

I know exactly what he means, but I run to the habitat anyway with a glimmer of hope that he is joking or only fed them one spoonful! If it were a movie, the scene would be played in slow motion, and I would be shouting, “Nooooooooooooooooooo” as I run through the house. Not pretty (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Extremous Overfeeding of Artemia Nyos

Can they be saved?

The Sea Monkey Chronicles / Part II - Shazam!!

Can you sea the See Monkeys? (click for a larger image)

Who needs directions? Well, I made a vow to read and follow the directions exactly, but something went wrong from the get-go. I read them a few days before starting, but then forgot certain details during the process. I instructed Connor to pour in tap water instead of the specified bottled water. Of course, I realized my mistake after Connor mixed in the supplied water conditioner. We forged ahead and we waited the recommended 24-hours before adding our “instant pets”. After the 24-hour period, we added the Sea Monkey pouch. Shazam! Little Sea Monkeys darting about their habitat. Connor says, “I see them!”, but quickly runs to play elsewhere.

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Stirring in the water conditioner

The Sea Monkeys were happy, but they were totally unware of the storm clouds on the horizon.

(to be continued)

Noelle - Summer 2007

Noelle is so special to me. She is at a great age and her little personality is really emerging. Here are a few interesting stories.

Noelle, at 7.5 months, is a computer whiz! Really! She grabbed the keyboard from me and in the span of less than 1-minute she (1) deleted an important e-mail, (2) initiated 3 PowerPoint presentations, (3) developed a rough draft of a title slide for one of the presentations, (4) made the cursor disappear, and (5) logged out as a user to complete her session. All this, while simultaneously testing the structural integrity of the keyboard. Amazing!

I went to pick up Noelle from the nursery a few weeks ago following Church service. A mother and daughter were peacefully caring for a few infants. The mother was walking Noelle around. When Noelle saw me, she immediately started crying. I'm thinking about saying, "She loves her Daddy - I don't know why she started crying when she saw me". Instead I say, "Oh Noelle" and I take her in my arms. She immediately starts to stop crying. I realize that she was overcome by emotion when she saw me, because she was in a strange environment with people she did not know and her Daddy came for her. It felt so good to comfort her, she had tears in her eyes and her breathing was still heavy from crying. I really cherished the moment.

Noelle outgrew her creaky bassinet, so we are in transition as far as sleeping arrangements go. So, Noelle is now sleeping at night in between us. Once she rolled to me and gently grabbed my face with both of her hands. She then rolled over to face her mommy for the same embrace. Sometimes she falls asleep gently holding her mommy's face with both her hands. Very sweet.

Misc. Noelle is so curious about the world and she loves to look at things. She is very fond of Athena and Athena likes to lick her feet. She really dislikes having her nose wiped. Connor is so abrupt with Noelle, and we are always concerned about her safety. His antics and actions often make her laugh. The growing bond between them is very evident. She usually greets Connor with a big grin and sometimes a little squeal. Connor is always saying, "I want to see Noelle!". He is quick to run to her side if she is crying. Noelle is starting to experiment more with sounds (na, na, na, na & ma, ma, ma, ma). Recently, I was standing over the kitchen table and she grabbed my shirt. I looked down and she was beaming up at me. Usually, she is looking at the object she is grabbing, so this was a special moment for me. She is gradually learning sign language and she will open and close her hands if she wants to nurse. She sometimes twirls her hands, and sometimes she will do this for me if I initiate the same motion. We smile at each other. Often she smiles at someone and then turns away shyly, sometimes nestling into mommy's shoulder.