Corn Update: Week 9

Had a nice visit to the corn today. Another beautiful day ... plus we found an ear that had been picked lying alongside the road. A great find!

More corn for dinner tonight. After this weekend, we're becoming the people Michael Pollan talks about in chapter one.

Crouching Tiger, Swimming Owen

Many photos to share from the weekend. We had an incredibly busy weekend, beginning with a trip to Chuck E Cheese on Friday (!) and a trip to the water slides last night on the penultimate weekend of summer.

With fall fast approaching, we began the weekend by getting Owen a new pair of tennies. They are, as you can see, quite FAST!

We also made a trip to the Sweet Corn Blues Festival in Normal. The music was nice. And I have to admit it was fun, yet surreal to be surrounded by a bunch of grown-ups, sitting on every bench and street corner in Normal and munching away at ear after ear of sweet corn.

Owen, however, had a steady focus on the lady doing the face painting. And bless Owen's heart, he was so patient waiting nearly a half hour, edging up on nap time, with only two bites from an ear of corn to sustain him.

Maya, meanwhile, cuddled close to Mom. Perhaps a bit afraid of a tiger attack.

After a good nap, we headed off to the pool. I'm kind of bummed they're going to be taking out our water slides at the end of the summer, in favor of a new ride which will be installed before next year. Hopefully the new attraction will be as much fun, and give me the same opportunity to share in the fun with the kids. Riding down the slide with Owen is a hoot. He sits on my belly as I lay flat, paddling at the water, squealing, and laughing. Then we sit up at the end, so that I can catch both of us in the currents at the bottom.

It's great fun!

Anyway, we rode the slide for a good long while, before retreating to the other pool. There, Owen likes to slide down the kids' slide.

And push Dad into the water ...

The Poopy Song

This is a song my dad shared and proved to be the perfect tune for the potty training boy. The ending is mine. Full lyrics follow. Call on me if you want to know the actual tune.



You put the poopy in the potty and not in the pants
You put the poopy in the potty and not in the pants
You put the poopy in the potty and not in the pants
' Cause poopy in the pants won't lead to romance.

"Maya, Maya, Pants on Fiya"

Owen and Philip's favorite chant ... somehow appropriate here.

Corn Update: Week 8 ... Plus, we finally meet the farmer

Kicking off this week's corn update with a trio of close-ups. A perfect Midwest summer day today, although it's impossible to ignore the hint of a season change in the air.

School started at Illinois State this morning, and there is a lot more life down the way from our house. It feels good to have the students back, although I know it's going to be hard to retire the swimsuits and sunscreen in a few weeks.

Once again, the corn is about the same height. I think just the boy getting taller ...

We were in Iowa City for the weekend for a trio of Ives' birthdays. Many presents must still be opened, and hopefully people can act surprised as Owen kept asking when we were going to open insert name of gift here.

It's no wonder we told everyone early when we found out Amy was pregnant last fall ...

We stopped downtown to play in the park and grab some lunch as we were leaving town. Amy and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last Tuesday, so it seemed quite appropriate to run into our dear friends Tim and Marie (below center) at the restaurant. We were just one John Muriello shy of having all of our wedding musicians in one place.

The other joy was finally meeting Marie's husband Lyle -- her "farmer" -- who she married just about four years ago. I can't believe it took so long to get us all together, but what a joy! I had been Marie's "fiance" (or, should I say, the first of many) for such a long time, it was nice to finally meet the man who actually closed the deal. Hopefully we'll get to spend more time together soon.

Lord knows, Owen would love to see your tractors, Lyle.

Corn Update: Week 7 ... plus, a walk in the woods

A nice visit to the corn yesterday. For all intents and purposes, the height seems to be the same. The stalks are sturdy and the corn is fully in. It's beautiful to see up close, though. And the life you can find in the surrounding field is impressive. Lots of bugs to see crawling on the surrounding plants -- little caterpillars and shiny beetles.

Owen truly has taken more interest in exploring the field with each visit. He's also concocted some interesting pre-corn-picture rituals ...

OK, seriously, this is what Owen was wearing when I got home for lunch yesterday, but there's a good back story too. Some friends had just brought over some hand-me-down clothes, toys, and winter boots, which explains that part. And Owen had just finished on the potty, which explains the other.

That said, I have no idea about the zucchini.

We had a fun weekend. In addition to watching lots of Olympic coverage ...

... we had a wonderful visit to Illinois' Starved Rock State Park, where some friends from our time at Dartmouth were staying on their vacation.

It was great to see Joe and Kendra again, and we enjoyed a wonderful hike with two little boys (Micah was born about two weeks before Owen) and two babies, (four months and two months old, respectively)

There was lots to see on the hike.

And we also snatched the opportunity to recreate a photo we'd taken in New Hampshire when the boys were just four months old.

PS

I'm a doofus for not adding this picture to yesterday's post.

My people look good in the underpants hats.

Corn Update: Week 6 (and a visitor from the West)

Despite almost unbearable humidity and lots of rain the past few days, the corn seems to be about the same height. Everything around the corn, however, growing faster than the population of Surat, India (+ 11.5% -- tops in India!). The thistle I reported in the area a couple of weeks ago comes midway up my shin. The good news is that it makes it easier to see as I'm hoisting Owen into place for his photo.

Owen, by the way, loves the corn photos. He talks about stopping to see how the corn is doing and asks most every day on our trip to Kim's. We took a good look at each stalk last night and he was excited about the ears of corn he could see. "We could just come out to the field and pick them ... and eat them!"

Mmmmmmm.

We had a very fun weekend with a visit from my parents and my mom's sister, Owen and Maya's great aunt Shila. She enjoyed meeting the kids and getting lots of hugs. And we had fun showing her around town, including taking her on a tour of the BCPA and a trip to the pool where both Owen and Maya had fun in the water. (I'll send the pictures of Maya in her swim suit as soon as we can retrieve them from my mom's camera.)

Shila, Nana and Grandpa left on Saturday night. Sunday morning started cool and comfortable, but rain threatened from 8:00 on. Feeling a bit shut-in, we decided to press our luck and clean our section of the Constitution Trail. The trail was pretty clean and, with few bikes and runners out due to the impending storm, we were done quickly. This was good because not two minutes after we were back in the car the skies opened up and it poured the rest of the morning.

So we ran some of the errands we'd been meaning to get to, including getting Owen an new bicycle helmet. Owen and I ran into Target and found this ... a perfect design for our little guy.

He was very proud. And when we returned home, it had cleared and he got in some good pedaling before his nap.

All's well otherwise. Well, except we hate Verizon. But I'll share that rant only if they don't come to fix our phone line later today as promised (after 2.5 hours on the phone ... with someone likely from Surat, India, who himself was transferred three times trying to track down an answer for me after I complained at the four times I'd already been transferred).

(I just ranted there, didn't I?)

Wish us luck. And call us on our cells if you need us.