Off to Washington!

BPD is going to take a little hiatus while we all head out to Washington state to see some family and attend the wedding of a good friend.  It'll be a big adventure flying with two little boys.  James is pretty excited about it, and I think that he'll probably do alright.  We can read books with him, and we'll probably get a pile of Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs  that he can watch during the flight.  As far as Thomas goes... we'll see, I guess.  In the end, it's only a few hours.

I've looked into my crystal ball, and James will probably spend most of his time throwing rocks into the water.

Splash!

Thomas told me that he is looking forward to seeing lots of wild life.

He's an equal opportunity drooler.

Once we return, James will go back to his pre-school and Thomas will start day care.  Me?  It'll be the end of summer and school will be starting.  I'll be substitute teaching for now and will continue my job search.

Como Zoo

A few days ago I took the boys to Como Zoo.  Como Zoo has been a St. Paul institution for more than a hundred years, and is (along with the rest of Como Park) probably the city's most popular family destination.  Rightly so, too.  The park is probably the largest in the city, has a large new municipal pool, lake, golf course, carousel, amusement park, zoo, conservatory, sports fields, music pavilion, and more.  It is a pretty wonderful city park and one of the treasures of the city.

When I was in elementary school, I certainly didn't see it that way though.  We lived only a couple miles away in married student housing just of the St. Paul campus of the U of M.  Not having much extra money laying around, we made Como Park and the zoo a regular destination since (nearly) everything there was free.  I distinctly remember being really bored with the park.  There are only so many times ten year old kid will be entertained seeing the palm trees in the conservatory or the gorillas at the zoo.  Fortunately, for all involved, I am no longer ten and I also enjoy every visit to the park.  Just don't try to go there for a picnic on the first nice weekend of the spring.  I speak from experience.

James is at the age that the Zoo is a pretty wonderful place.  It's not a large zoo by any measure, but it is just about right for walking around with a James and a Thomas.  One thing that is nice about the Zoo is that they are expanding and improving.

On the right is the Marjorie McNeeely Conservatory.  It is 98 years old, and a paradise on cold winter days.  Inside is warm, humid, and green.  On the left is the new visitor center and tropical encounters building.  It is part zoo, part conservatory and is always our first destination.

Big fish, and big (ugly) turtles are fun to see.  After the fish and turtles is a rather large anaconda that James thinks is great.  Sarah would disagree.  Probably the most famous animal in the tropical encounters exhibit is the sloth.  It is usually just a hairy lump sleeping in the crook of a "tree", but this day he was moving around and actually moving around fast enough that a couple of my pictures were blurry.

There are some things about this zoo that hasn't changed in decades.  The flamingo/duck pond is exactly the same as it was when I visited with my family more than twenty years ago.  After we leave the visitor center, though, this is the first stop.  James is pretty interested in all of the birds... to be honest, James is interested in any animal.  They could put in an area full of squirrels and cats, and he would be thrilled.

Then off to the primate building.

James monkey.

James and Thomas are indifferent to the gorilla butt only a few feet away.  

The area outside the window there is part of the new gorilla enclosure and credit should really be given to Como for improving their facilities for their animals.  The gorilla area only just opened, and the zoo opened their new polar bear exhibit a couple years ago.  Both of these places are much nicer than their earlier facilities.  In general I am conflicted about zoos.  Animal captivity isn't something I'm particularly fond of, but I will hope that exposure to animals will lead to education and appreciation for the natural world around us.  The next couple pictures will show some of the changes that the zoo has gone through.

I remember seeing animals in these cages when we visited Como Zoo back in the early '80s when we still lived in Fargo.  

Part of the new gorilla enclosure

A small portion of the much larger and more appealing polar bear enclosure.

Any time we go to Como Zoo, James wants to go to the Sparky Show, or as he called it, "Sparky the Show".  Sparky 7.0 (or some such) is the latest in a long line of sea lions to do little performances at Como.  Like zoos in general, I am not so sure just how I feel about performing animals.  It isn't something that is going to stop happening just because I disapprove and at the same time, it is a way to educate and the kids go nuts for it.  On a sunny day you have to show up at least 30 minutes early (for a ten minute show) in order to get a spot in the shade.

So we tend to have our picnic sitting in the shade before the show.

 During the show, James dances along with Sparky to Abba.  Maybe some day I'll be as good of a dancer as he is.

Some day Thomas will have a clue that something is going on.

After the show, we walk around to see some of the other animals.  Thomas taunts the giraffes.

Generally about two hours is enough for us here.  It's not a bad way to spend a morning before coming home for quiet time.  We'll probably be making regular trips here for years to come.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a treasure for the Twin Cities.  It is free every day and though it isn't as large as the art museum in Chicago nor New York, it is a pretty good size and has some famous pieces and collections.  I have enjoyed going for a visit since I was in elementary school in St. Paul.  I don't get over there as frequently as I did pre-family when I lived in south Minneapolis, but we still go several times each year to wander the galleries.

We're in the middle of a stretch of pretty steamy days here in the Cities, and as much as I want to get out, I don't really want to be outside.  So after dropping Sarah off at work this morning, the boys and I went off to the museum (didn't feel like going to Choo Choo Bob's today).  The museum opens at 10 am, so we had a little bit of time to kill once we arrived, which was good enough anyway since Thomas needed a change and a bottle.  So we went to a big park across the street from the museum.  The question then is how to occupy James.

Frisbee fetch!  We do this in the back yard sometimes.  I throw the frisbee, he runs to it, throws it once (so as not to hit Thomas sitting next to me), and then runs it back to me.  He's happy to do this for an extended period of time.  Besides, I have to get him ready to start playing ultimate.

Once it was time to head into the museum, I decided to have some fun with pictures.  James thought we were going to the "sculpture museum", so James is doing his best human representation of different sculptures we saw along the way.  Forgive the poor quality of the pictures.  I didn't have the camera along today.

James is doing his best Geo. Washington here.  Thomas is ummm... the cherry tree.

RAR!  Just like the lions outside the old entrance.

James as Michael in "The Fighter Spirit" by Ernst Barlach

As we went in, we needed a bathroom break.  According to James, the one on the right is for daddy, the one on the left is for James and the one in the middle is for mommy.

James is a 14th century Japanese temple guardian.

Thomas wanted to get into the at and  prepared to eat the Very Hungry Caterpiller, by Eric Carle.

Bodhisattva James... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  This is the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin from 12th century China.

Classical James.  Study him.  Admire him.  He is the ideal.  This is The Doryphoros (Greek?) from the 4th century BCE.

"Dad, I wanna be the big puppy."  Ok, James.  Be the big puppy.  Wish I could tell you about the sculpture, but I didn't see the little information sign before James insisted we go find an elevator.  They are the best thing in the world, you know.

James has too many clothes on here for this Matisse ("Large Seated Nude" c. 1923-1925), but I suppose the museum would frown on naked little boys running around and laughing.

James is a "Panther Devouring a Rabbit (Very Hungry Caterpiller)" by Antoine-Louis Barye.

After walking around the museum for 30 minutes or so, James was ready to go down the really old elevator with the thing you close ('cause once again, elevators are the best things in the world).  We read a book and played in the little family room before coming home.  I may not be the most knowledgeable person when it comes to fine art, but I do enjoy spending time among it and I hope in time James and Thomas will grow to appreciate it as much as I do.  Exposure is a start.

Two Quality Library Books in One Trip is Rare

It still happens, though.  Granted, Ducks Don't Wear Socks, and If You Want to See a Whale were balanced out by a couple of clunkers.  But I was delighted by these two books, and for totally different reasons.

Ducks Don't Wear Socks by John Nedwidek and illustrated by Lee White approaches the over the top craziness that I mentioned in another post, but knows just when to stop.  I suppose when you have a duck wearing socks though, you're just a little off kilter.  But those eyes... c'mon.

Wonky eye aside, I do like this book.  The story is pretty simple.  Emily, a serious girl, meets a distinctly not serious duck.  The simple dialogue, and especially the duck's short silly answers really makes the book for me.  Here are a few pages.

and in another encounter:

It is a pleasing little book that I didn't mind reading multiple nights in a row, which is high praise I guess.  There are plenty of other books that reading them more than once a week is too frequently.

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The second book today, If You Want to See a Whale is by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead is an all together different book.

It is a more philosophical book that appeals to my sense of Zen and love of the outdoors.  I think the message of the book is lost on the likes of James, but the story of being present and mindful, and observant is a nice change from most children's books.  It's illustrations are simple and spare, but suite the story perfectly.

 I am no poet, but the writing appeals to my sense of poetry.  Wish I could say more, but I am poetry-dumb.

Ultimately, this book is a gentle reminder to wash the dishes to wash the dishes rather than to wash the dishes in order to get to the next thing.  There is plenty of wonder and beauty right here that can be missed if you are too concerned on crossing all of the items off your list.

The Tubey Park

Recently many news outlets carried a story where the Trust for Public Land rated Minneapolis as having the best city park system in the country.  While I've not studied the park systems in other cities, I would certainly agree that Minneapolis has a lot of wonderful parks.  St. Paul and Minneapolis have different characters and a history of rivalry, but I tend to think of them (as most Minnesotans do) as "The Cities".  When I think about the parks in The Cities, I don't really differentiate between them.  There are subtle differences, but in general they are pretty similar in quality, abundance, and number.

We have had fun going to different parks this summer, both in Minneapolis and in St. Paul.  Since it is no longer just James and I running around, we're not going off into the woods like we would probably do nor are we riding the bike and trailer as much either.  We tend to stick more to parks with good playgrounds and plenty of shade.  A gem of a park is just down the street from us.  Highland Park is a pretty big park with two golf courses, a disc golf course, an aquatic center (with water slides that James and I will have to check out later), and a great playground.  To James, Highland Park is known as the Tubey Park.

This playground has a lot going for it.

• A separate play structure for little kids
• Plenty of things to climb on.
• Lots of shady trees for us to lay a blanket under
• Bathrooms and a drinking fountain close by
• Picnic tables/shelter
• A BIG BRIDGE that we can walk over to see the vehicles going up and down Montreal Ave.
• A big tubey slide, a really big tubey slide, and a little tubey slide.

Drawbacks

• When it is busy, it is really busy, especially if there are summer camps going on
• Safety features make it a little hard to see what kids are doing up in the large play structure.

This park went from being pretty good last year to one of the best this year.  Last year, James would go up and down the big structure but was kind of small and only just barely held his own when there were bigger kids running around.  He also wouldn't go down the slides.  They were too scary.  A week or two ago, a little girl went down the big tubey slide with him, and later a big kid went down the bigger tubey slide with him so now he thinks they're great.

Here he's telling me that he is being brave going down the bigger slide.

As I mentioned, the bars and panels on the big structure do make it kind of hard to see the kids inside.  This morning, James started crying  for some reason.  I asked some moms, who seemed to all be at the park together, to keep an eye on Thomas and I dashed up the steps to find a sad James crying up at the very top.  He was eventually able to tell me that some big boy (or boys) hit or pushed him.  We came back down and sat in the grass for a while.  After hugs we talked about how most kids we meet are pretty nice (like the little girl and big boy who went down the slide with him) but sometimes there are people who aren't so nice.  A few minutes later a mom brought her son over and tried to have him apologize to me and to James.  He was a snotty kid who was pretty sassy to her too.  I appreciated her thought, but wasn't too upset to see her take her son away for a while.

Time to play Find the James.  He's up there.  I trust him pretty well when we're at parks, but when there is so much to climb on, it can take some time to figure out where he is.

One of the bonuses about this park is the big pedestrian bridge that links the part of the park we were at with the part on the other side of Montreal Ave.  James loves to go on the bridge to watch the cars and trucks going up and down the hill.  I like the bridge for the view of the river valley.

"Look daddy.  A big truck!"

On the other side of the bridge is a part of the park that is usually pretty quiet with lots of picnic benches and a very little play structure.  It's a nice place to be outside for a bite to eat.  Not far beyond the pavilion in this picture is a big dome that is home to Circus Juventas, a local circus school.  They put on shows several times each year.  I don't know much about them, but I hear their shows are pretty good.  

This park is, by the way, where Sarah and I have hosted our past two pie contests.  We're planning our third annual pie contest for mid to late September.  It is really less of a serious contest than an excuse to visit with friends and eat an absurd amount of pie.  

I'll have to do better than this fail-pie.  It just didn't set very well.

Sad pie.  Happy belly.

Banana Fana Fo Fomas

I'm not getting around to posting as much as I initially did, or as I would like.  Bare with me.  Sometimes being a dad makes a guy tired in the evening.

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There is so much to say about James because he is three and is constantly active and doing things.  Thomas, on the other hand, doesn't have very many new tricks that seem very noteworthy.  Maybe if he was the first child, I would feel like I had more to say about him.  He does do some pretty amazing things, though.

• Thomas placed third in the state high school speech tournament with his extemporaneous speech on the role of progressive politicians in modern American politics.
• Thomas makes a mean flourless chocolate torte.
• Thomas does a pretty good job of putting James down to bed at night with a minimum of fuss.
• Thomas changed the oil on the Honda the other day without our even asking him.
• Thomas only missed four of the questions that Sarah got correct when she was on Jeopardy!
• Thomas is great at helping clean around the house, but he could probably do a better job when he sweeps the stairs.
• Thomas does a pretty good Prince Charles impression

Fear my Paint skills

In all seriousness though, he's a pretty good baby.  I wouldn't mind if he napped a bit more regularly and for longer periods, but aside from that I can't complain.  He is growing every day, it seems.  He has his four month appointment with the pediatrician on Friday, and I am looking forward to that to see what the doctor has to say.  I mean clearly, the kid is advanced.  Well, maybe not advanced, but big.  It seems funny that he is outgrowing some of his clothes and he is certainly heavier.  My back can tell you that.

Here he is busting out of his old swaddle.  We won't be able to keep this kid contained for long.

He has been rolling over for a few weeks now, but it is only recently that he can do it without much trouble.

This was a couple weeks ago.  I think he was frustrated here like adolescents are when they first try to spoon with someone.  "What do I do with this arm below me?  It doesn't go where I want it to and I'm not comfortable!"  It gets better, kid.  I promise.  Some day, you won't have to spoon a stuffed panda.

He is also "playing" more.  He seems to enjoy holding and manipulating little toys, and by manipulating I mean putting them in his mouth.  I guess that means he's in the oral stage of development.  Isn't that right, Dr. Freud?

No, I do not miss my psych classes at all.  

But yes, Thomas does like to put things in his mouth.

like penguins...

frog rattles (he's not actually upset here... I wouldn't put lots of pictures of sad babies up here.  Then the thought crossed my mind to find an image of a bunch of sad babies, so I did a Google image search for "sad babies", and I couldn't help but laugh sympathetically.  Poor kids.  Still, kind of cute though)...

two timing giraffes.  James used to make out with this little giraffe too.  I wonder how he feels about this new development.

He is definitely developing.  He is reaching out for toys and being able to play with something will occupy him, sometimes for extended periods of time.  This is a good thing, so I can do important things like eat.  So he is noticing more and more.  One of the things he is noticing is his big brother.  He definitely likes James and that feeling is reciprocated.  James is often able to calm Thomas down if he is fussing.  James will do his best to comfort and reassure Thomas telling him that he is close by, or he will start singing lullabies.  It is pretty sweet.  I'm proud of the big brother.  Though Thomas can't really interact much beyond grabbing what is in front of him, he does enjoy interaction with assistance.

Here, we were having a picnic with Sarah during her lunch break.  She would quickly lean over with Thomas towards James as if they were going to get him.  They all thought it was pretty great.  Both James and Thomas were laughing away.  

So Thomas is doing baby-like things.  They're not as exciting as what James is doing, but it's still fun to watch him slowly learning new things.  It'll be great seeing the two brothers grow up together.  It's good to be a dad.