Colorado (100th Post!!)

Incredible how a summer fills up, innit? Especially because we know we're leaving the country, we're making a concerted effort to accept invitations and get together with folks we might not otherwise have. So over the July 4th weekend, we packed up Tor and made a 22-hour drive out to Crested Butte, Colorado, for a wedding: a friend from grad school in Wyoming and her fiance whom we'd never met. They live in Australia now, working in oil, so it was a "see them now or in a really long time" situation. We stayed a night at Ah-Bee and Pakka's house, where we dropped Mr. Dendro, and then camped at a reservoir in Utah after a ten-hour day.

Pondering the many uses for tent stakes

Right before an "I'M TOO STICKY" freakout

Yep, we just whack him on the shins whenever he whines

We were cagey about the drive, but Tor acted like a seasoned pro. Good for him to have a real long 'Merican road trip under his belt before we go to Oxford, where people never want to go to Scotland because it's *gasp* a five-hour drive. Lars got a phone holder so he could watch YouTube when there was network access and play a monkey-themed matching game when there wasn't. On the ways there and back, we also sang "Little Bunny Foo Foo" about 45 times, played "I spy with my little eye," read countless books, used our fingers as adult spiders who taught Tor's young finger-spiders how to spin imaginary webs, listened to every toddler CD we own, tried an audio book (Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit--not well received), and generally lived for his afternoon nap so that we could listen to our own audio book (Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale--gripping and unsettling). Lars also introduced the jolly concept of the 50-mile M&M.

We rolled into town on the 4th (only to find extreme fire danger and a fireworks ban--wanh waaah). This particular gathering was attractive not only to celebrate our friend's nuptials, but also to see the many buddies we have in common from Wyoming (now mostly from Texas, drawn by oil as well). We all stayed at the same charming hotel, a 14-room "guesthaus" with a hot tub and sauna, ladder golf, muesli in the morning, and fresh cookies at 4 p.m.

As soon as we got to town, we headed out for a short hike before a pre-wedding meet 'n' greet. The three of us were delighted to stretch our legs and give Tor a chance to interact with people other than his highway-zombified parents. Lars carried the cooler full of beer and discovered at the top of our hill that these "friends" had added several rocks to his load. Merriment ensued.

Astride the godfather...

...and astride the already long-suffering baby brother

Smartypants picked the bed with the mountain view

Overseeing an afternoon hot-tubbing post-hike

A creative approach to ladder golf

The next day, we had the whole morning free before Tor's nap and the evening rehearsal BBQ, so we took a six-mile hike up to a mountain lake. The guys fished and we all admired the flowers, which didn't really show up in the photos.

"I prefer a fishing cudgel"

Da-Da gamely carried Tor all the way there and most of the way back, since he started nodding off about a mile downhill

Kid can definitely outrun me at this point

Chilling the drinks

The rehearsal dinner and wedding were both lovely and picturesque, and also kid friendly. The rehearsal dinner was at a park pavilion next to a huge playground, and the couple brought kites and Frisbees for the kids. We grabbed Tor a "Green LANTEREN" kite for his first kite experience. He held the string while I unrolled it a bit and another guy held the kite, then I told him to turn around and run as fast as he could. He looked confused, but he obediently dropped the string and took off. After we all stopped laughing, we explained to him what went wrong and he got the kite up in no time.

Cleaning the counter

Refusing to be contained until the bride actually came down the aisle

Godfather Josh, his fiancee April, and the three of us drove up to another lake the morning of the wedding and fished a little. Tor whiled away a good hour chucking rocks into the water, which may have contributed to the paucity of nibbles.

Sunhat: Great for the skin but not for the photos

Picnic lunching downtown

And then it was back in the car! We drove 11 hours the first day to a glorious campground in the Ruby Mountains of eastern Nevada, where the third time was not the charm for Lars's fishing, but Tor was eager to reprise his rock-throwing. 

Fishing via depth charge

Learning the ropes

Eurovan mattress + pillows + comforter: Hardly camping at all

He was under the weather, with a slight fever and a barking cough, so the night wasn't our best. The next morning we stopped at a WalMart for a thermometer and kid Advil, snagged coffees, and powered through to Tahoe to get Dendro. We made it there for lunch and hung around until 4 p.m. so we'd beat the Bay Area traffic, then wended our way back home by Tor's bedtime. He felt good enough for day care the next morning.

All in all, everyone deserved several pats on the back. We have one more wedding to attend this summer, but Tor will be staying with Lars's folks so that we can let the positive road-trip memory linger more than a month.

Road Trip!

Helping Aunt Christina destroy evidence

The elusive bubble shark

Those are the only two pictures of us in Newark, because we recently decided to pay Oregon one final visit before leaving the country. Because Lars was doing field work, my brother Tim rearranged his work schedule and flew down from Portland so he could drive up with Tor and me the following day. He was altogether heroic, playing at least four hours of children's songs on the ukelele, cleaning up a massive syrup explosion (not a euphemism), sharing driving time, and making the impossible task of minding both Dendro and Tor at rest stops a possibility. Thankfully, Tor's gotten the hang of "I spy with my little eye," which also helps pass the time. We left at 4:00 a.m. and got to Corvallis by 3:00 p.m.--solid.

This is how I repay Tim's kindness

Oma, Opa, and I took Tor to the local outdoor pool area, which has some crazy water features AND a dedicated toddler time. Tor's usually timid in water, but following Opa's lead, he played the hardest and longest I've ever seen. He went down water slides, floated on a current, and stomped fountains, despite the constant waterlogging of his standard-issue plastic tot panties. Opa even convinced him to endure a tense wait as a massive bucket filled with water and poured down right on Opa's head. We've got to get this kid in swim lessons before he loses his new-found nerve.

Hysterical post-splashdown recap

"Is this thing on?"

Rightfully intimidated

DaDa did not have the Father's Day of his dreams (or at least mine), since he was driving from southern Oregon back to the Bay Area before traveling to Corvallis the following day. Tor and I celebrated with Opa and Oma by going on a hike near my old high school, but we saved the gift-giving for Lars's arrival.

"SUMMIT COOKIE!"

On the way downhill, Tor wanted to walk by himself--which actually meant run--for most of the way. He repeatedly insisted that he was being "careful" while hurling himself pell-mell down the rocky trail, sometimes with sticks (before we made him put them down). Then he found a small log covered with spider egg sacs, pretended it was a guitar, and sang us most of his repertoire, including multiple renditions of "ABC" and "Itsy-Bitsy Spider," as he marched. Even after I stuck him back in the stroller, he kept a death grip on the log, but finally relinquished it when told that we should leave it for other hikers to enjoy.

Carefulness in action

The next night, DaDa arrived, and we collected some sticks and lit a fire in the mini-grill for Tor's first s'mores. Turns out Opa has some serious marshmallow-roasting sticks. And once he'd smeared all the s'mores into his mouth that we allowed him, it was present time.

Getting the motion down before introducing actual marshmallows

Taking every possible photo combination while we waited for the flames to die down

We did not count this as Baby Brother's first Father's Day

Exactly how I pictured him eating it

"Heard your new job demanded slightly more formal attire, so I made you a little something"

Harder to knock over than regular blocks

Oma and Opa had busted out a bunch of the toys that Tim, Christina, and I had when we were kids, and they held Tor's attention pretty admirably. Duplos and the Fisher-Price parking garage were fast favorites. Opa, DaDa, Tor, and I also headed to a place called (I kid you not) Wacky Indoor Bounce, where Tor explored every inflatable play structure on the market.

He's found his sitting position of choice

When DaDa arrived, he and Tor embraced their simian ancestry

"Quid pro quo, Father"

Mounting one of the few non-inflatable toys available

We also drove up to Portland for a visit with some old friends. Dan was the best man in our wedding, and he and his wife Julia have a one-year-old girl, Molly, whom we'd never met. Tor enjoyed playing the big-kid role with her, mostly being gentle but trying to "help" her a little too enthusiastically a few times. It's encouraging that he digs babies, but we'll see how he feels when one is demanding Mama and DaDa's attention instead of another parent's.

DIY "sunglasses"

Never too old for a big block tower, is one

Learning about Neanderthal orifices at OMSI

"Wow, I've grown

"Helping" DaDa with his work

Rounding out the trip with a visit to Uncle Tim and Aunt Caitlin's pad and the nearby park

SFO > MSP

At the end of April, our dear friend Annia came out for a weekend. We tried to pack in all the activities we could while allowing for nap time (which really breaks up the day).

Homemade bagels in the park

Larger than life

"But where are the rocks, DaDa?"

Prepping for sweet English rave parties

Between visits here and there, we've continued our regular Newark diet of library and park visits. Here, Tor checks in with some denizens of the children's section.

"Watchoo readin', ninos?"

Bad parenting 101: photographing when you should be spotting

"MAMAWE ARE MUPPETS"

The Oxford libraries probably have costumes too, right?

Pre-Minnesota Mother's Day pop-in by Oma

Handmade with a little help from Sonia

No clue where he picked it up, but he's started to exclaim, "Oh, MAN!" when either stymied or excited. At first a sometime quirk, it got reinforced when he dropped his cheese off a bar stool, leaned over to look at it and said, "Oh, MAN!"  and got an uproarious laugh from all assembled. Now it's popping up at least five times a day.

"Green playdoh! Oh, MAN!"

We stayed much of our recent two-and-a-half-week trip to Minnesota with our friends the Burnetts, including the irrepressible Madeline. She and Tor fed off each other's crazy, but in an overall great way that makes me hope they'll keep hitting it off every time they visit. Tor was also wild about MJ's sister Greta, who's just about ten months old and the smiliest chunk of baby you'll ever meet.

Whatever MJ gets, Tor wants . . . up to and including pigtails

I assure you this activity is much scarier to look at in person

The drama continues at the Children's Museum, enveloping Owen

About to get nailed in the belly with a perfect underhand spiral

Some of our buddies here got together and spent three days helping Dave and Lindsay redo the roof on their garage. Tiffany likened it to an Amish barn-raising, in which the men do the hard work while the women watch the kids and cook. We've come a long way, baby.

Lesson #1: Don't walk under the ladder

Sawdust, we discovered, is a lot like velcro

Tor's near-contemporary and comrade in size 4 diapers, Sonia, joined us for a day of shenanigans. If Tor is tricky to capture with a non-blurry photo, the pair of them is nearly impossible. We were delighted to learn that Sonia's dad will be doing a postdoc in Cambridge for our first year and a half in Oxford--I predict we'll get to know the bus route that connects the cities well.

Right before Tor's bricks slid out from under him

The mashed potatoes inexplicably did not pass muster

And back outside for pirate training

An evening of pizza and wrestling at the Lascus's

Of course, we also got together with Tor's beloved first daycare providers, Melissa and Ulises. Tor spent a day at their house and visited with me another morning, and we got to take them to dinner one night along with Dave, Lindsay, and Owen (who now attends My First Steps). They surprised Tor with a tiny Gophers basketball uniform, so he'll be the hippest expat in Oxford.

Abandoned the highchair after appetizers

Stone-cold sober and insisting the shorts are a hat