Larkin has declared that the only m&ms she likes are the dark brown ones. The other ones taste funny. Those of you who know my personal history with m&ms are presumably already amused. For the rest of you, here is the stuff of Hamilton Lore:
When I was a wee bairn (5? Help me out here, parents) I claimed I could taste the difference between different colored m&ms. Jim, as the supportive parent he has always been, demanded a scientific trial so he could prove me wrong. Out came the blindfold and what he figured was a statistical sample of m&ms. The results? I got every single one right. Okay, actually I think I couldn't tell the difference between light brown and dark brown (I'm aging myself by remembering the light brown ones), but it sounds better to claim a perfect record. After simmering down from the heights of disbelief, Jim and Mary figured I could probably actually taste the different dyes used in the candy coating.
Granted, the m&ms we have now are the hippie version and it's not so hard for me to believe that whatever vegetable/fruit extracts they use in the dye are slightly more flavorific than red #357 and blue #123 or whatever it is in name brand candy these days. So far, no one has been blindfolded in the name of science (well, not recently anyway), but I think I might see if Larkin will agree to the experiment.
In the meantime, I guess Emile will have a lot of yellow, orange and red m&ms as work snacks in the trailer.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tahoe!
We spent a week by Lake Tahoe with the San Jose Cousins to study the lives of off-season yuppies. The trip was a 6.5 hour drive (as in time actually spent on the road) and we were quite pleased to find out how easy car trips are these days. We read books, played pretend games, sang songs, ate weird food, peed by the side of the road, drew pictures and generally made very good time. Sleep cycles were thrown a bit out of whack, but that is an easy, no-questions trade for babies who don't want to be in a car seat and want to nurse all the time.
The kids were Super Excited to spend more time with baby Kiyo (and, um, her minders, of course).
They danced for her, sang for her, cuddled her, provided tummy time surfaces for her to lay on and were generally thrilled by her existence even during her rare fussy moments. Finn even doled out some pithy parenting advice while covering his ears with his hands to block out the sounds of crying baby: "Hurry up with that boob! That baby's hungry!" and a slightly panicked "Bounce her! Bounce her! She's not happy!"
Larkin made fast friends with another 4.5 year old who was staying in the same complex as us... a short, flurried exchange of cards is presumably in the works.
Elly and Janelle, bless their fuzzy little hearts, also gave Emile and I several opportunities to flee from the condo and its inherent chaos to take hikes at normal adult speeds and/or loll about in a coffee shop. They made up several brand new pretend games and spent lots of quality time in the hot tub with the kids. No value can be set on adults ready to play (almost) all the time. At this point, it's kind of a toss up whether a "vacation" is going to be absolutely draining or actually refreshing, and this turned out to be one of the latter. Woohoo!
Many thanks to Uncle Ken and Aunt Molleen for passing on the time-share opportunity.
The kids were Super Excited to spend more time with baby Kiyo (and, um, her minders, of course).
They danced for her, sang for her, cuddled her, provided tummy time surfaces for her to lay on and were generally thrilled by her existence even during her rare fussy moments. Finn even doled out some pithy parenting advice while covering his ears with his hands to block out the sounds of crying baby: "Hurry up with that boob! That baby's hungry!" and a slightly panicked "Bounce her! Bounce her! She's not happy!"Larkin made fast friends with another 4.5 year old who was staying in the same complex as us... a short, flurried exchange of cards is presumably in the works.
Elly and Janelle, bless their fuzzy little hearts, also gave Emile and I several opportunities to flee from the condo and its inherent chaos to take hikes at normal adult speeds and/or loll about in a coffee shop. They made up several brand new pretend games and spent lots of quality time in the hot tub with the kids. No value can be set on adults ready to play (almost) all the time. At this point, it's kind of a toss up whether a "vacation" is going to be absolutely draining or actually refreshing, and this turned out to be one of the latter. Woohoo!
Many thanks to Uncle Ken and Aunt Molleen for passing on the time-share opportunity.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Pirate Booty
This month, while Felix was staying with us, the kids received the following letter from one Ezekiel Haul IV:
This was the beginning of a several hour adventure during which seven clues were found hanging in trees, under a grate, off a fencepost, inside an old wood stove, underground and in a treehouse. The walk was crazy amusing... Larkin could hardly believe this was actually happening and talked nonstop (literally... we couldn't get a word in edgewise, even when she was supposedly asking us questions) about whether there was actually *real* treasure at the end of all the clues and who the pirates were and why the letter would have been sent to her and Finn and what the treasure might be if it turned out to be real and whether the next clue would lead to another clue or to the treasure and I think you get the general idea. Meanwhile, Finn was turning over every leaf and picking up every stick and declaring them all clues ("AHA! I found a CLUE!") and generally needing to be cajoled to keep up with the leading treasure hunt party. In the end, I think Finn ended up finding two of the clues and Larkin found the others. Here are a couple of the discoveries:
Finally, they found the X that marked the spot and started to dig:
When the treasure turned out to be a whole chest of booty, Larkin was initially stunned completely speechless (and that's saying a lot). Note shocked posture here:
But, really, if you dug a hole in your backyard and discovered this:
Wouldn't you be flummoxed? Finn's response was a little more sanguine. He gave a great shout of "YAY! Treasure!" and threw a handful up in the air. Larkin's summation of the experience: "Pirates might be mean, but they sure have beautiful booty!" Many hours admiring, sorting, wearing and generally fondling the treasure have since been joyfully spent.
Full photo documentation of the hunt can be seen at our Picasaweb site.
This was the beginning of a several hour adventure during which seven clues were found hanging in trees, under a grate, off a fencepost, inside an old wood stove, underground and in a treehouse. The walk was crazy amusing... Larkin could hardly believe this was actually happening and talked nonstop (literally... we couldn't get a word in edgewise, even when she was supposedly asking us questions) about whether there was actually *real* treasure at the end of all the clues and who the pirates were and why the letter would have been sent to her and Finn and what the treasure might be if it turned out to be real and whether the next clue would lead to another clue or to the treasure and I think you get the general idea. Meanwhile, Finn was turning over every leaf and picking up every stick and declaring them all clues ("AHA! I found a CLUE!") and generally needing to be cajoled to keep up with the leading treasure hunt party. In the end, I think Finn ended up finding two of the clues and Larkin found the others. Here are a couple of the discoveries:
Finally, they found the X that marked the spot and started to dig:
When the treasure turned out to be a whole chest of booty, Larkin was initially stunned completely speechless (and that's saying a lot). Note shocked posture here:
But, really, if you dug a hole in your backyard and discovered this:
Wouldn't you be flummoxed? Finn's response was a little more sanguine. He gave a great shout of "YAY! Treasure!" and threw a handful up in the air. Larkin's summation of the experience: "Pirates might be mean, but they sure have beautiful booty!" Many hours admiring, sorting, wearing and generally fondling the treasure have since been joyfully spent.Full photo documentation of the hunt can be seen at our Picasaweb site.
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