Owen rides a bike!

It didn't take long. Grandpa gave him a lesson when they spent the day together last Friday.

Last night I took him out for his second run ... and he pretty much had it.

Tonight: NAILED IT!

Great work, Owen!

... and watch out, Lance Armstrong!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAYA!

THREE!

Three years old and full of the wonder of life, Maya had a wonderful birthday party this weekend. Her birthday was on Friday. We started the day off with balloons, which, as you can tell, she thought was absolutely wonderful. Then we brought her out to school, where she had a birthday party with her friends and some Popsicle treats.

Maya's was green.

"The dark ones are messy!" she said.

Grandpa came to town for the weekend and I left work early on Friday afternoon to get her and bring her to Chuck E Cheese for some games and fun with the whole gang. After a full afternoon of skee ball, we met up with Grammie and Grampy Ives and Auntie Pam for some dinner out. The real party, though, was on Saturday. The party had a princess theme with an emphasis on The Little Mermaid's Ariel. Grammie Ives absolutely outdid herself with an Ariel cake, which was gluten free for Owen, and a wonder to the birthday girl.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying presents, treats, and fun. Owen was a terrific helper with the gifts and we all had a happy day celebrating our wonderful little girl.

We love you, Maya!

Spring Break

ST. LOUIS STYLE!

Owen had his first spring break trip, enjoying a few days to unwind from the grind of kindergarten in St. Louis.

ST LOUIS ZOO

We left home on Sunday morning, arriving in St. Louis around 2 pm, giving us three hours at the St. Louis Zoo.

Owen kicked off the zoo visit on something bug-related, just like he did at last summer's visit to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.

Little did we know the sculpture was just about as big as the real creatures we'd find inside!

After the insect house, we got to the meat of the visit.

In many ways, seeing animals wasn't our priority (although we would get to that later). Job number one, according to our #1 engineer, Owen, was to ride around the park on the train.

We had lots of fun on board, especially when we went past the waterfall (which felt wonderful on an unseasonably hot, 80 degree, March 20 day), although the ride didn't give us the views of the animals the Skyfari in Omaha did.

With some noteable exceptions, particularly the tiger below.

We got off after one circuit of the park with an hour to spare to see a few of the animals up close. The bears were a favorite, as were the penguins.



A last-ditch march through one final section of the zoo to see the elephants amounted to nothing but seeing giant piles of elephant poop. Photo not included.

You're welcome!

We did run across a particularly agressive pachyderm on our way out, though.


It was a smashing ending to a happy day!



CITY MUSEUM
Monday began with a trip to the City Museum. Owen and Maya's Auntie Meg had visited there at the end of 2010 and couldn't say enough.


And, indeed, it's an amazing place, kind of what you'd expect if that granola-looking, Tolkein-reading gang that was operating your local college coffeehouse -- you know, the one with all the dead ferns in the window -- had all gone off and picked up engineering degrees, and were thengiven access to a scrap yard and tons of grant dollars.

There were discoveries at every turn. Owen started off in the ball pit.




But in no time was climbing to new (and slightly terrifying) heights, two to three stories above the ground.

At the end of these long tunnels were particular delights, including slides, broken down fire trucks and airplanes, and climbing gyms.

Maya also enjoyed all of the amazing discoveries.

After a break at the hotel, we went over to the Delmar Loop area to check out the old trolley, the St Louis Walk of Fame ...

... and enjoy some treats, including bubble tea (a first for the kids) and gluten free pizza.

One final stop of the night was Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, a St. Louis institution that was recommended by practically every one of our friends.

THE ARCH

We began our final day at leisure. We ate breakfast at our hotel then drove over to a nearby park I had seen in Clayton, Mo., on my morning run. It was a wonderful playground and the kids had a great time making new friends and burning up some of their energy.

After lunch, it was off to the Arch.

Owen couldn't make up his mind whether going to the top would be scary or not, but the two-hour wait to ride up and the kids exhaustion from the morning play made the decision to make this a quick visit an easy one. We looked through the Lewis and Clark exhibit gallery and took some photos around the arch, then packed everyone into the car and began the drive home ...

... with one little detour. We dropped Amy off at a different hotel in the St. Louis area on our drive home. She needed to go down there to train some employees, so she made the arrangements to stay on a couple of days to get that done, and will be traveling home on Amtrak on Thursday.

We'll be looking forward to seeing you then, Mom.

Feeling lucky?

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

I'm Dutch. So, seriously, celebrating St. Patrick's Day is still kind of new to me. I recall I used to intentionally not wear green to school back in the day. A pinch from the right person ... well ... that might no be so bad.

This year, though, St. Patrick's Day seems to have been going on forever. Just ask Amy. Last Thursday morning she decorated the kids' breakfast green because the concert at the theater that night was the Young Dubliners and she thought the holiday had already arrived.

Then Saturday was the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

And now, here it is. Finally! St. Patrick's Day!

We're well practiced, so let's have a little fun!

The holiday started like it did the Thursday before with green-food-colored cream cheese on the breakfast bagel and the John Deere green T-shirt he actually got to wear this week.

Amy threw on some beads.

Maya stayed in her pajamas ... but thought it was all pretty silly.

And I finally got to wear my first ever official St. Patrick's Day shirt!

It was so much fun, what do you say we do it all again next week?

Mauvais Sort

A busy weekend ended with Owen and I attending the opening reception for Mauvais Sort, a French Canadian band who is the fourth and final group of international musicians coming to the BCPA through ArtsMidwest's World Fest program. The program has already brought musicians from Israel, Japan, and China over the past two years. They've all been wonderful, but I think Mauvais Sort might be my favorite.

Owen's too. He had a great time at the reception.

Before the music ever started, he enjoyed some high-sugar beverages (a green like that is not produced in nature), and took some time to show off a new Hot Wheels car to all of my coworkers.

As I ran around and took some photos of the event, Owen cuddled in with Sandy, the wife of our Facility Manager, Dave. "He knows a grandma when he sees one," Sandy said.

Indeed, as the music played on, even the band's uptempo rhythms and foot stomping couldn't keep Owen from feeling a little tired, especially in light of the time change the day before. He rested on Sandy's arm through to the end of the show.

Hopefully we'll get him out for the group's public performance on Friday so he can try it all again.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Owen joined me yesterday to march with the BCPA crew in the inaugural St. Patrick's Day Parade in Normal. We had a great time, despite the cold winds that made an otherwise temperate March Saturday feel very cold indeed.

First off, I loved Owen's parade outfit. The John Deere sweatshirt, the green hat and green hued skeleton gloves, the sunglasses a la The Edge: He looked super cool!

Meanwhile, I struggled getting my St. Patrick's Day attire together. Anticipating the parade, on Monday I went online and ordered my first green t-shirt. OK, I do have one Dartmouth T from my time there, but nothing truly appropriate for Dutchman to wear to a St. Patrick's Day event.

Anyway, I ordered on Monday, selected the expedited shipping option, received a confirmation of my order on Tuesday, and was disappointed beyond belief when Friday's mail arrived and I still had nothing. So I dug a little deeper, found an old green sweater and carried on.

The t-shirt, of course, arrived in Saturday's mail, one hour and 20 minutes after the conclusion of the parade.

We still had plenty of fun, though. I arrived at the parade with a box of Lucky Charms, which, carrying out an idea I came up with at our staff meeting on Wednesday, I proceeded to throw up in the air confetti-style along the course.

It was a hoot! I even got groups of kids to stand with their mouths up to the sky and try to catch a piece or two as my throw rained down on them.

Last night at the Ira Glass performance we had at my theater I was told by a member of the Bloomington City Council that she let her kids eat the cereal off the street ...

High praise, indeed.

Owen, meanwhile, enjoyed all the other trappings of the parade, including the Shriner cars (above) and a tiny little puppy who rolled along with our group in a wagon (below).

He also enjoyed standing really close to a firetruck while we were waiting for the parade to begin as it was easily 10 degrees warmer on the vehicle's non-windward side.

Owen threw candy to the crowd. And Maya and Amy came down to watch. Although it was a much more trying experience for Maya whose three chief nemeses in town, Corny, Reggie, and Chip, also participated in the parade.

She hates people in costumes!

We made it up to her, though, with snacks out afterward. What a fun day!