Call It What You Want...

Is it a surprise to say that Mark has become an expert at manipulating his brother?

Adam has a toy that Mark would really like to play with. Adam isn't interested in parting with it -- until...

Mark offers another toy, often something that is special to him in some way (example: Doggy). "Here you go," he tells Adam in a super-sugary voice.

Adam accepts the offered toy, sometimes (but not always) setting down the original item. Sometimes Adam even offers the wanted item to Mark.

Mark accepts the toy graciously and goes off to play with his new acquisition.

Adam thinks he really scored a deal with whatever he now has.

How long until Mark learns to say, "Trade-able?"

This morning Adam is wearing a new hand-me-down shirt from his brother.

It's a size 3T.

(He can wear 2Ts just fine, but we don't have that many of them, because there's almost no difference between the 2T and the 3T in size.)

His pants are size 18 months, and they're rolled down at the waist to keep them up and to keep him from tripping on them.

In other news, he came over to me, said "potty" and grabbed his diaper. Then I smelled it. Instead of going to his bedroom to get his diaper changed when we got upstairs, he went to the bathroom and wanted to sit on the potty. The deed was already done, but I let him sit there anyway.

Are you kidding me?????

A while back, I wrote about waiting for a shipment to arrive via FedEx, sharing my annoyance with my friend whose homeschooling materials wandered around the Great Lakes states for many weeks before arriving, bedraggled, weeks after the replacement shipment arrived.

Who needs homeschooling materials when you have FedEx "SmartPost" tracker, at least for geography? Andrea, here's Audrey's geography lesson: plot the points tracked by my package.

This time I thought I was in luck -- it went straight from New Berlin, Wisconsin (Feb 7), to be checking in at Indianapolis (Feb 8)! What luck!

Only now it's in Cincinnati. 11:32 a.m. today, "Shipment accepted, Cincinnati, OH".

Oh.

Where to next?

DAILY UPDATE:

Just in case you wondered. In other related news, two FedEx trucks drove by my house today, as they do every single other day. I think my package will eventually arrive via US Postal Service, which makes little sense to me. The shipping world apparently is beyond my comprehension.

So. My mail carried delivered the package today, and I have installed this with Mark's carseat in the van:

Well, just the footrest right now. (Not the kids, either. I'll keep my own.) I'll save the table for times when we're on a long trip. i'll let you know how we like it. But it still seems silly to FedEx it to Indianapolis and then take it to Cincinnati to put it in the mail...

We went out to dinner this evening, and on the way back, Mark asked if we could go see the lights at Reynolds Farm Equipment. That's what he asked for -- to go to "Reynolds Farm Equipment".

For those who don't wander the State Road 37 in Fishers area, this wonderful John Deere dealer (exciting enough throughout the year) has a huge field that every Christmas they fill with a massive Christmas Light display. It's free. There are lines of traffic waiting to see it. And it's fun.

So as we were driving through, we noticed crowds inside, and it turned out to be an evening that Santa Claus was visiting the store. So we took the boys in. Mark and Daddy wandered the toy selection while Adam and I waited in a not-too-long line. During the wait, Adam excitedly pointed out the ride-on tractor toys around him: "Tac-tor!" (Words have gotten more clear even this week.)

Both boys sat on Santa's lap together -- the one who doesn't always like going to other people happily went to Santa (Daddy points out that Santa is, after all, a grandpa).

(Mark shows Santa something he'd like.)

Both boys look up at Daddy. Things would have been perfect if we'd had a camera with us, but at least Tim's phone has one.

After we visited Santa, each boy got a little John Deere tractor toy, and we wandered the store some more, seeing all the toys, and the equipment -- it is Reynolds Farm Equipment, after all. There were lots of kids trying out the tractors and mowers and "tractor loaders" and such, and both boys wanted to sit in the seats, too. (I was with Adam when he sat in the very big mower seat for a long time -- it was after bedtime -- but didn't have the camera, so no photo of that.)

Here's Mark inside a B-I-G tractor.

It was very fun, and a nice surprise for a fun little trip.

(Oh, yeah, and I got Red Lobster for supper. Mmmmmm. Happy tummy.)

It was getting too long, so this is Part II of the trip.

Saturday morning, Tim and I both were off to see the sights. First, we had breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's (just down from the hotel). Again, basic breakfast, better price. Then we walked and walked and walked and walked... I am not exaggerating the walking here... about three miles (not measuring changes in altitude, as we ended up near the top of Telegraph Hill) to the waterfront, meandering along the Embarcadero back to Pier 39 for some hot chocolate and snack, then over to that bus company to take the Golden Gate bus tour. Hey, at least I'd see it this way, since the fog had not cleared sufficiently to see it before.

Along the way we stopped off at the Palace of Funny Old Columns That Really Aren't Roman Ruins, where I auditioned for a part as a maiden holding up part of the column.  They say they'll get back to me when they get an opening.

Then it was on to the Golden Gate Bridge. I couldn't wait to see the cool red-orange structure, right up close.

Well.

That, my friends, is the best image we got of it.

Across the bridge in Marin County, we stopped at the beautiful scenic overlook for pictures our ourselves with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Yup. By this time it was quite sunny. Except on the bridge. So. Pretend there's a bridge in the background and ooh and ahhh.

We saw pretty and expensive houses on the way back (sunny, again),  and, once back to the bus office, had a quick Inn-and-Out burger lunch, set off for Chinatown, getting a little lost once again (that darn hill makes streets end!).

We got there, and headed to a "tea tasting" at the Vital Tea Leaf on Grant. That was interesting. We were treated to a tea-tasting that would be like a wine-tasting by the proprietor of the store, "Uncle Gee", a 75-year-old retired structural engineer who operates on the same principle Grandpa Arnfinn used to -- "I'm old and crochety and can say what I want." (I didn't hear either of them say that, but...)
My Chinese friends would probably giggle at our tourist-ness, but, hey, it was fun. And we came away with a nice blue tea and enjoyed what ended up being over an hour with this kooky old guy and these two guys who were in town for the big game and just stuck their noses in to see what kinds of stuff they had in a tea shop and left a couple hours later with lots and lots of tea. Reviewers either go wild about Uncle Gee and the fun they had (isn't that what going to a tourist place is about?) or get all up-in-arms about them selling inferior teas. I don't care. It was fun and we had a nice time. So there.

Then supper in Chinatown, too, though I have to say it wasn't all that great. But we all know I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food anyhow... unless LEO is cooking it, Andrea!!!!! ... but, it was a nice view and we felt like we oughta. Just maybe we didn't pick the best place. Oh well.

Sunday morning was breakfast at Lori's Diner down the block from the hotel, then a cab ride down to pier 33 for our trip to Alcatraz. We ended up getting on the 9 a.m. instead of having to wait for 9:30, which was good because we had a flight to catch.

Hey. Did I mention it was foggy? Yeah. The views were not to die for, and we didn't get the audio Cellblock Tour because our time was limited, but wandered the place at our own pace -- okay, Tim seemed to want to read signs like always... and saw it all.

Tim was mad to be put in a cell, but

Being in "The Hole" made me s-s-c-c-a-a-r-r-r-ed.

Then a cab back to the hotel to pick up our stuff, and BART to the airport for a hugely crowded flight to Denver, and home to Indy before midnight, and tucked away into bed by 1 a.m.

Whew.

The End.

Yesterday I played the role of the small-town resident. After a morning meeting at the Prairie, I dropped off a newsletter to be printed, and then, since the boys were with Daddy, decided to do a little shopping -- in my own downtown.

My first stop was the Noblesville Antique Mall, which this time, had items I wanted.

The Dunce almost got a "vintage" Noble Roman's Monster pitcher -- orange plastic, complete with feet -- except that I was concerned that in their new home, the Dunces may not have a suitable place for displaying it properly. (Dunce, if you think perhaps it would go perfectly in just the right spot, let me know; it might still be there if I go back.) I did find what I thougt to be a terrific Christmas gift for him. Yes. I'm shopping for gifts. Hey. I don't get out much to a place like this without kids.

The gift I found for Mrs. Dunce was actually at the same place as Mr. Dunce's, which made it easier for the person with the keys to the case. Now you know they're amazingly expensive items, being displayed in a locked case!

Once I was finished with that -- with a few oldey-timey photos because I like them so much -- it was off for lunch at the Logan Street Marketplace (a chicken curry sandwich and pasta salad) with a hot chocolate from Noble Coffee & Tea (conveniently located next door, with an entry between the two). Umm, yumm all around.

I visited the Logan Village Mall and wandered about -- there was one booth with a ton of cute little Christmassy things that I would never have a place for -- and saw one of my former Prairie youth friends and at least said hello.

Then I popped into The Wild for some nephew-shopping. No, not buying nephews. But Jonathan and Andrew MIGHT be getting presents from said store for Christmas...

I felt quite proud of myself for patronizing the fine businesses in our downtown. It was fun, the weather was nice, and I found some good stuff.

No, we're not the latest in a series of "wrong person receives a credit card" stories...

We were at Grandma Skelly's house the other day and she had made a card for Mark and Adam. Later that evening, Mark got out the card and showed it to Grandma Sarah, who was visiting.

"I got a new card," he told her, showing it to her. "It's a MASTER CARD!"

Don't ask me who's paying the bills.

alternately titled "Just how nerdy am I?"

On Wednesday of our vacation week, Tara offered to watch the boys while Tim and I took a day off. We had a lot of choices of where to go and what to do, but we chose a trip over to Kelley's Island. (The nickname "An Island for all seaons" is a bit of an exaggeration, since the ferry stops at Thanksgiving and doesn't start again until April, so if you want to get there in *some* seasons, you have to fly.)

Why, you might ask, did we choose Kelley's Island?

Um. As I mentioned in the previous blog, it was because of a recipe in the Buckeye Cookery, a cookbook we use in our 1886 farm, the delectible Kelley Island Cake, written by Miss Greeley Grubbs: One cup butter, two of sugar, three of flour, four eggs, half cup milk, three tea-spoons baking-powder; bake in jelly-tins.
For filling stir together a grated lemon, a large grated apple, an egg, and a cup sugar, and boil four minutes. Did I mention how absolutely wonderful this cake is???

We caught the ferry at Marblehead, having purchased our tickets at 8:31:58 for a boat that leaves on the hour and half-hour. That was okay; we had a nice little wait and Tim took pictures of trucks and cranes at the conveyor for the quarry, an obvious marketing extension for the e-coal-conveyor business in western Kentucky. A 20-minute ferry ride with our bikes brought us to the island.

We arrived at 32 (just below the "downtown" square) and rode our bikes north on Division Street to 42, the Glacial Grooves. After our visit there (see the previous post for a photo), we continued up the road to a hiking trail that took us through the woods and around to the rocky shore on the north side of the island. NIIIIICE.

Then it was back onto the bikes and down Titus Road (just south of the Grooves) to Lakeshore Road to Kelley's Island Brewery for lunch (that's 34 on the map). The proprietor let us know it would be about 20 minutes for the fryer to be ready to make our walleye and perch (what's island dining without fish?), so we settled in with a glass of their Island Devil and a game of battleship and lake views. (Did I mention NIIIICE?) It was a bit of wait, so the nice lady solved the question of whether to order another of the handcrafted beers by giving "Tim" a refill.

After that, it was a ride back into downtown to check out the shops and Historical Society (43) then, later, a ride out to Kelley's Island Wine Co. (35). Back into downtown, we got our obligatory ice cream (mine was coconut cream pie, Tim's was... um, I don't remember. Mine was good enough to forget Tim's), a souvenir for the #1 fan of Kelley Island Cake Dave A., some fudge for Tara (to share with us, of course!)... and back to the ferry to head back to Lakeside for dinner.

We were as tired as could be, but it was a lot of fun and quite relaxing. Is it a place I go back to every time I go to Lakeside? Hmm, probably not, though the Kelley's Island Brewery was gooooood. And the weather, though hot, was perfect, as the lake breezes kept us nice and cool on our bikes.

Yep, that's me, all happy and looking at pretty water. :)

...so where's our rocket packs?

Well, it may not be a rocket pack (it's not the 80s anymore, either, DA), but the Noblesville household has acquired its first robotic implement. After years -- seriously, years -- of threatening, we now have a new friend to help out. Meet Roomba.

Off I went, leaving Tim to tuck Mark into bed, going to the store to buy milk. We were out.

No one joked (in my hearing) "I wonder how many bags she'll come back with."

No bets were taken on how many extra things I would return with.

No one even checked to make sure my alphabetized and categorized collection of coupons was at hand.

But the diapers were on sale, in addition to the coupon I had, and if I bought them (for more than a couple dollars off), I also got a free bottle of baby lotion, which is good because Tim just tossed out the original bottle we got as a shower gift from Ericka, Mel, Mer, Laura, and whomever else was involved.

And I really like the Dove products (in the health and beauty aisle, not the chocolate one, though I like those, too), and when you get a reputable deodorant (that actually works) for $1, that's always swell.

And I used a coupon for the baby snacks (also on sale besides) and then on top of that got a register coupon for the same on my next purchase of them. Can't beat that with a stick, huh, dad?

And peaches were on sale and so was the milk and the 6-pack of RC (see, Tim got something out of the deal, too).

The only difference between me and the Great Shopper is that everything I bought, we'll use. I bought no Fish Sauce, no grape leaves, no indeterminate canned item. Nothing had the price written on it in magic marker. And nothing seemed to be dented, already opened, or past its expiration date.

And I don't actually have a sorted coupon collection. Just a handful from my pocket.