"A Grandpa"

Ever since Granddad Anderson left, Nico has been proclaiming, "When I grow up, I want to be a grandpa!" Previously, his life's goal was to become a prince. I think a grandpa is more likely.

Today I asked him, "Why a grandpa?" He informed me grandpas are grown-ups that like kids and having fun. Dad - you apparently made a good impression.

Just one example of the fun things grandpas get to do:






I sincerely hope Nico does get to be a grandpa when he grows up. Until then, he's got two cool grandpas to look up to. I just wish they'd both visit more often.... David, we've got a guitar here just waiting for you.

home work

Today was Gutter Day. Fortunately, this did not involve crude jokes or vulgarities. Instead it was the actual gutters under consideration. We borrowed a big ladder from our neighbor and cleaned 'em all out.

And boy did they need it. I have no idea when they were last cleaned. Most of them had several inches of beautiful compost clogging up the works. But no longer!

A couple of the lines actually had plants growing on them. Here's one that had developed an impressive root system. If you look closely, you can see the plant still growing out of it. Yes, that's all roots.























So yeah, just another thrilling day here in Outland.

Alex's Birthday

Alex is old! At least he thinks he is. He seems pretty much the same to me.

We had the great fun of celebrating Alex's birthday last week while my Mom and Dad were in town. His birthday was on a Sunday, so we couldn't exactly make a whole day of it, but we did make a whole dinner of it.


Alex chose, for his meal of the day, pork loin, rolls, mashed potatoes, tasty cheeses (Pyrenees Basque Sheep, Moulis Breisis, Uniekaas Reserve, and Delice De Bourgogne), and other various tidbits.

The kids had a great time "wrapping" the gifts with their own homemade wrapping paper. They had an equally delightful time when Alex tried to guess what was inside. "An old shoe" was their favorite hypothesis, but Alex was pretty pleased when it turned out to be something more fun and/or needed.






Happy Birthday Alex!

Nico the Mad

After informing Nico he could only have dessert upon eating four bites of peas, he declared he would give me a "yucky piece of a slug" for my birthday unless I relented.

Are there any bits of a slug that are not yucky???

All Hallows Eve

This year, the festivities began with the much-anticipated Halloween Costume Parade. Ellie and her friend, Abby, have been planning this event for months. They worked out exactly how they wanted it, and all Abby's mom and I had to do was facilitate their wishes. The general idea was to have Ellie and Abby leading a parade carrying Halloween banners. To commence the parade, two kids (specifically Nico and Grace), in bathing suits so they did not get wet, were to drop mentos into diet coke setting off a grand entrance for Ellie and Abby. Nico and Grace were to then throw candy to the crowds as the parade passed by.

We had to make a few changes. Abby's mom and I ended up dropping the mentos in the diet coke, which worked surprisingly well, and we decided against swimsuits. The entrance was great! (Although a bit more involved, you can get the general idea here). Ellie and Abby came in carrying their banners and leading a host of neighborhood kids down the block for a grand parade. The candy throwing, however, got a bit out of hand as the kids lobbed the candy as hard as they could at the spectators. Luckily no one was injured. All in all it was a great parade.... Great job Ellie!!! Alas, I have no pictures to show for it since I was manning the diet coke. If any of you (ahem, Mom and Monica) have any pictures to donate for the cause, I'd love to post them.


As for the important business of trick-or-treating, we struck out early to avoid rain, and therefore went in daylight. The dark of night seems more appropriate, but it was fun all the same. We ventured to the neighbors and up and down the block a bit. Nico made an excellent, and very serious knight. His main criteria for a costume this year, was involvement of a sword. Ellie was a sassy black cat, and the cutest one around. Alex and I were re-runs from years past, and Granddad Anderson was the spooky ghost. It was a great trick-or treating party.

The kids got more than enough candy (I'm hoping they completely forget it exists!), you can see the evidence in their "line-ups", a Halloween tradition past down from the Hart faction.















Halloween - what a great holiday!