Teach a Nico to fish...

...and it seems he will dine in style for the rest of his life.

Nico and the others are all visiting Utah, where I'm told he landed this impressive dinner:

I believe with that one catch he has exceeded the combined mass of all the fish I've ever caught.

The Fourth

I started out the celebration of our great nation by weeding a very small part of it.  The yard is finally looking decent, plants are generally happy and blooming.

Later on the Riches came over for some more traditional celebrations.

Let the BBQing begin!

Ellie and a perfectly grilled (if I do say so myself) tomato.

No tomatoes for Liam the carnivore.

I also cranked out a holiday jello.  Thanks to the Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn for the recipe.

Immediately after the Jello and Monica's excellent brownies (not pictured, but just imagine raspberries stuffed with chocolate chips) the small fry went up to bed and I took Ellie and Nico to find some fireworks.  We've been to this spot before, a large parking lot in Farmingville.  Last time we were here, Ellie and Nico sat on the roof of our Accord.  This time, we had the advantage of the truck bed -- much more comfortable.

Happy Independence!!

blast from the past

Here are some random pictures from days gone by.  Time is a rummy thing.

Ami and I with B. Ray in the Canary Islands.  No kids yet!

Ellie trying out the piano right after we moved to NYC.

And for comparison, here is Ellie playing that same piano quite well a few weeks ago.

Nico the Somber Skeleton, Halloween 2010.

Ellie the Phenomenal Phoenix.

The Cloisters, uptown.

Ellie at Skaneatlas, upstate.

Liam (left) and Anders, a few hours old.

Ashes! Ashes!

Self Portrait by Nico

Okay, I know these are a little blurry, but I have to post them anyway...

Nico sometimes absconds with my camera and takes all manner of random shots for me to discover later. 

These were from his photo shoot last week:

Man, I love this boy!

All in a day's work...

I think I got about 8 strawberries from our patch last year.  Things have changed.

One day's haul from our strawberry patch:

Any good strawberry recipe suggestions???

5 Little Monkeys