Finally! A new post

Once again, weeks have passed since my last post. While I do apologize, I am proud to say I have been keeping some notes on everything that's been said and happened lately for Owen and Maya.

We enjoyed a quiet weekend at home this weekend after two weeks of travel. Amy brought Owen and Maya downtown on Saturday morning to see Joel who was working a table promoting the upcoming events at the BCPA. We had a fun morning, and both kids joined the action handing out brochures to passersby.

No one could turn them down ...

Today we went to the pool for the first time this summer. Maya giggled and giggled as she first waded into the (freezing!) water. We met up with our friends the Merrills at the pool, so Owen was busy with Philip from the start, splashing, sliding, and having a great time.

Meanwhile, one of the entertainment highlights for me over these past few weeks is the steady stream of funny things Owen has said. Here are a few of my favorites:

I had given the kids snacks as we were driving home from daycare one day. Maya started coughing and I became a little panicked as I can't see her in her rear-facing car seat.

"Owen," I say. "Is Maya OK.
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
Maya coughs again.
"What's she doing?"
"Nothing, just choking."

(Yes, she was fine.)


Later that day, Owen was dancing around while we were playing the (homophonically ironic) Wii game.

"Owen," I say, "stop dancing and go to the potty."
"I don't have to go to the potty. I just have to get the rhythm out."


Tracing his height from toe to head, Owen tells us how tall he is:

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen miles per hour!"


Iowa City

The weekend before found us in Iowa City. We hadn't been since Christmas and were looking forward to vising Amy's parents, hearing a little music at the Iowa Arts Festival, and seeing our friends Jeff and Melissa, who are expecting twins soon. Owen and their little girl Olivia had a great time playing in the sand box, and then Maya got into the act when the bag of plastic balls came out.

I got this nice picture of the Vande Berg clan on our way out (and they got this nice one of Owen). I have to admit, I expected the belly would be larger, Melissa ... and I'll be happy to Photoshop the twins into the picture later.

Otherwise, the weekend was marked by persistent rains and, therefore, lots of indoor time running the kids at the play area in the mall. Owen, Amy and I got out on Saturday night for Whitey's ice cream in downtown IC.

It was still raining when we got home on Sunday night. Owen immediately got it in his head that we needed to catch the rain so that we could use the water for our plants. He spent the next several minutes being his own rain barrel.

I love his green instincts.

The weekend before was spent with my parents in Chicagoland.

Our biggest day was Saturday.

We started at the Morton Arboretum, enjoying their kids section which features this great ball you can roll around in a pool of water ...

As well as a wonderful pond filled with tadpoles you can touch ...


There was lots of room to run and plants to explore ...

... and some other surprises along the way.

After the arboretum, we drove to a Pizzeria Uno for lunch. Honestly, this was the real goal of the weekend. The restaurant has a new gluten free menu, which meant Owen got to order his own meal, which was wonderful.

He actually made his mom cry when the waitress came and he said, "I would like a gluten free pizza, please. With pepperonis."

It was delicious!

We also spent a lot of time playing in the park. Owen loves the tire swing near Nana and Grandpa's house, and Maya was thrilled with all the rocks she could pick up and stack into big piles.

Last of all, we were delighted to participate in a special ceremony at my dad's church. Their church building is going through a major renovation.

The church organized a special activity for the members of the church now that the "bones" of the new sanctuary are complete. Following the service, everyone was invited in to look at the new area for the first time and then leave their hand prints and messages on the walls that will soon be covered as the next phase of the project begins.

Our family hand prints are here, with Grandpa and Owen at the top, Nana and Maya in the middle, and Amy and mine at the bottom.

Busy Saturday/Messy Sunday

It was a crazy Memorial Day weekend.

I spent most of Saturday at work, helping to set up and then working the first outdoor summer concert at the BCPA. The new CEFCU Summer Stage looked great and the audience had a great time listening to the music of Lee Greenwood with his special guests Scott DuBose and the 101 Ranch, and, my favorite part of the evening, a performance by the Gaddis Sisters, a pair of siblings from Springfield who wrote and sang a song that is airing as part of a National Guard campaign in movie theaters nationwide. They had way more composure than any 13 and 16 year olds I've ever known. It was a great day, despite the rain that hit the very moment we opened the park to patrons. It killed our walk-up sales, but everyone who was there had fun.

Here are a couple pictures of the stage and the ribbon cutting ceremony:

Amy, Owen, and Maya came down for the stage dedication and for a bit of the concert ... and I ran into them as I was doing some concert promotion work at the Farmer's Market in the morning.

We all got to spend some good time together on Sunday, though. The whole family went out for breakfast, then headed up to the Constitution Trail to clean our little patch.

The real fun started in the afternoon, though, as the ice cream truck made an early season pass down our street. It was the first time we'd ever bought something from them (that he's been playing dirgelike music so far this season hasn't exactly helped business, I mean what's he thinking playing a down-tempo version of "Greensleeves"?) but Sunday felt like a great day to cool down with a frosty treat.

Maya loved her popsicle, saying "MMMMMM!" at every bite. And Owen, once again, did what he could to look like Guy Fawkes.

The real mess came later as the Merrill Kids joined us for a little fun at the sand box. I admited to Amy as she was leaving me to run errands that I was never much into messy play as a child and that things like this don't come easy to me, but took the opportunity nonetheless to expand my horizons and allow things to happen.



I probably ended up going to the other extreme, letting more transpire than what I should have in an effort to be Mr. Cool. Wet sand was everywhere, from inside Maya's diaper, to all over several shirts.

... but we all had fun.



Right?

Family Photos

We had family pictures taken on Owen's birthday, May 8.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

FOUR!

Happy birthday, Owen!

(Owen's birthday breakfast)

It was quite the birthday weekend. Owen celebrated his fourth birthday in style. His mom and dad took either a part or full day off from work last Friday to spend some extra time with the birthday boy. We played games on the Wii, took some new family photos, and welcomed all the grandpas and grandmas and aunts Pam and Meg for a celebration that lasted all weekend.

Here are some highlights:

(His first moment out of bed as a four year old)

(Introducing his new WALL*E t-shirt to Darth Vader ...)

(Maya enjoying a new birthday book with Nana)

(His new whoopie cushion. Thanks Uncle Daniel!)

She's walking!

She's up to 10 steps on her own! Here's a video!

Spring is springing

Some things never change. We're still busy.

But still trying to take care of ourselves. Every now and then, Owen forgoes his normal exercise routine of running around the house/neighborhood like a madman to do some yoga and pilates exercises with his mom using our Wii system.

He's really taken to the whole idea of yoga, often posing dad's old R2D2 action figure into a variety of droid-asanas that I'm sure would be quite a challenge for any astromesh unit.

We've also enjoyed a nice dose of early spring weather. Owen and Maya's pre-school/day care had a cookout last Friday afternoon, and we've been getting out for picnics on the front porch when we can.

And a few more shots to share from the week, featuring stickers on the face and tasty bananas.

Birthdays, bunnies, and big changes

Lots has happened over the past three weeks. Early spring is without a doubt the busiest time of year in our house, although I'm sure I'll have an argument to support our hectic pace during the other seasons when they roll around.

As you can see from the pictures above, though, the kids are great. Enjoying each other and full of surprises for their mom and dad.


Picking up kind of where we left off, I had a very happy birthday celebration on April 5. We all drove up to my folks' house outside of Chicago for the weekend. It was a fun visit. Nana and Grandpa took care of Owen and Maya on Saturday morning so that Amy and I could get out for a little time on our own (something that has been in short supply lately), and then we all enjoyed a little birthday celebration later in the day.



Owen agreed the cake was pretty marvelous.

Another highlight of the weekend for Owen was going with Grandpa to visit the construction being done on Grandpa's church.


As if looking cool in Grandpa's cap wasn't enough ...


Owen had a great time sitting in the big machines and really checking everything out.





The following weekend was Easter. We went to a big Easter egg hunt at a nearby church on Saturday. It was an impressive display of humanity, but Owen collected a big bag of eggs, despite some incredible odds.

Here he is gathering.

And here's a representative sample of the kind of obstacles he faced out in the field. Honestly, I was trying to take a picture of Owen here as he was crouched down picking up some more eggs (you can kind of see his shoe between the leg and the hand with the camera) when my aim was blocked. The other parents were pretty aggressive in paving out the way for their kids to find more eggs. Personally, I was less concerned with him filling his bag than I was he was going to get trampled. And I still shudder to think of how all those grown-up derrieres must have looked from his perspective.

And the next day we did more egg hunting in our own back yard. It was a beautiful day and we had fun playing.

One final life change to share. Some restructuring and department consolidation at my office has created a new opportunity for me. The Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts and all of our related spaces has been moved into the City's revamped Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department and I have been appointed the manager of the theater and all its operations. I got the news the day we left for Chicago and have been working very hard to keep things organized since, with our 2009-10 season announcement coming tomorrow, our current season of shows still trucking along, and a new summer series getting ready to begin in a month.

I have really enjoyed the new people I'm working with in the Parks Department, and the support I've had from the other people on my staff and the people who support and advise the theater has been wonderful. We'll meet next week to solidify my new job description, but I know I have a great foundation with a devoted staff and great community support of our operation.

It's a big challenge, but I'm eager to do a good job and excited about the opportunity.

Sorry again for being so slow with my posts these past few weeks. I'm sure we'll have more news to share soon.

Happy spring!