Back to Earth

Our TV watching has fallen out the treehouse and crashed back to earth. The cable company sometimes previews a channel from one of their "deluxe" packages. For the past month, we've enjoyed the preschool-friendly programming of Treehouse.

This morning, the preview was revoked, right in the middle of Dora the Explorer. Rei burst into tears wanting to know how they saved the red fire truck (although I'm pretty sure she's seen it before). Looks like we'll have to make do with the mish-mash of TVO Kids, CBC Kids, PBS with some TLC; we also have a 6-hour tape from one afternoon when I popped a cassette into the VCR and hit "Record": it's a hard life.

Prison Broken

I've always enjoyed the heist movie or the escape story, watching how meticulous plans and preparations fall into place. Maybe it was the influence of Hannibal Smith in my impressionable years: "I love it when a plan comes together". And so Prison Break was one of my must-sees last year.

Although the season finale didn't do it for me. After T-Bag's hand went the way of Chase Edmunds' (24: Day 3), my zeal for the series abated somewhat, and I question how this series could credibly go beyond this year.

Yet I'm very pleased and excited to see Scofield and Sucre return to the small screen for another run and hope not to be disappointed ... noting that Abruzzi is only credited with a guest appearance, my favourite born-again, lapsed-again mob boss, may not share my enthusiasm.

30% Chance of Rain

The 2006 edition of TA Camping was more domestic than times past, as we converged upon a homestead with thoughts of tent camping in the yard. The forecast gave cause for optimism, 30% chance of rain. As in 30% chance that it would rain all day.

Fortunately the large farmhouse had plenty of room those gathered, and their kids. Although our two were spending the night with my parents nearby; so we had the luxury of looking after only ourselves at meal times.

There was a surprising paucity of Simpsons' references and quotations, but there was much talk about Treehouse programs (yay Pocoyo! boo Ruby! wha? Toopy & Binoo? sorry Daniel Cook, make way for Emily Yeung!) and musing about the incarnations of Icon-o-clash, possibly featuring a Ralph Wiggum Division.

There also wasn't much "camping" unless you count sleeping on couches, cushioned floors and tractor beds camping. In which case, there was lots of it. Something else there was a lot of? Beer and tea (and trips to the bathroom).

My Literary Odyssey

I've calculated that I need to read 33 pages of Ulysses every day for the next couple weeks in order to complete the book by Labour Day. This being my participation in Canada Intends to Read, I'm not going to lose any sleep if I don't reach my quota. (Therein being the problem, I tend to fall asleep before the 33 page mark).

Back to Life

We're back home after 4 hours of driving (and 6 hours between departure and arrival). I'm getting caught up on things. One of those things did not happen while on holiday was making progress in Ulysses. Although I learned that, if I were to suffer from insomnia, James Joyce is a viable solution. I did read that Leopold Bloom had lunch. I'm not sure why it's called Ulysses, if it's a classical reference, or a person in story, or if merely reading the tome is an odyssey.

As for now, it's time to get caught up on the blogs and the "important" events of the sporting world. Last time I was away for the week, the biggest news in the NBA was Steve Nash's haircut.

The Italian Job

My golfing excursion took me to Port Severn, only to be told by the people at the Information Centre that I didn't really want to go there, a better course was in Coldwater. So it was off to Bonaire Golf.

I found myself stuck behind a slow 3-some with no hint of playing through, and another 3-some on my tail, I sociably formed a four with 3 Italian men with thinning and greying hair. Meet Mario, Marcello and Wally.

At the 6th hole, a 150-yard par 3, it was decided that anyone not making the green had to (how to frame this delicately?) perform a certain sex act upon the others. Mercifully, this declaration was modified to simply clearing the water hazard after Wally failed to meet the requirement.

This is why I would rather golf by myself than join up with strangers. They were nice enough; we're just from different worlds. For the record, I cleared the water hazard (by a large margin) and finished the hole with a quality putt.

After supper, I helped the next-door neighbour patch the crack in his driveway. He rewarded my time and effort with beer and golf balls. Everybody wins.

A Standing 3-Count

This afternoon, Kai was standing on his own in the middle of the room for 3 seconds. He delightedly throw his hands up in the air and plonked back down onto his diaper-padded bottom before, in the immortal words of Chumbawamba, he gets "up again, you're never going to keep [him] down".

Noddy

After watching me sneeze numerous times in a row today, Kai mimicked the head movement. As he gauged our delighted and appreciative reaction, he now will repeatedly nod his head with an expectant smile on his face.
As parents, we're relieved that, despite, all the "No Kai!"s that he's heard in his lifetime, his first communication is in the affirmative.

Hummers and Fusions

We got an early start to the second week of our summer holidays, leaving for the cottage after church. With a toilet trained girl in the back seat, more stops were made as we got acquainted with public bathrooms in Mitchell, Atwood, Mount Forest and Elmvale.

We always seem to notice that after purchasing or investigating a particular make and model of a car, the roads are rife with them. Not so with our Fusion; they still seem to be rather sparse in our sightings, although we did see a smattering of them in our travels.

In addition to our car-spotting, we spied 3 Hummers. I continue to marvel at what functional use a military vechicle could possibly have in civilian hands apart from gas-guzzling, posturing for status, let alone transporting the glorified lab technicians of CSI: Miami.

The Happy Meal treat at McDonald's? A toy Hummer.

Summer Foods

At Lambton Centre's annual Pork & Beef BBQ, we also indulged in some summer staples: corn on the cob and watermelon. To our surprise, Rei gnawed happily on both. Her ever-discerning palate is growing and we are always thrilled to have more options at dinner time.

Night Musings

For posterity, and my embarrassment, I'm recording some unfiltered thoughts while hypoglycemic and waiting for my sugar snacks to kick in:

• The name of movie writer/director/producer M. Night Shamaylan rhymes with "Taliban".
• What about a Medic Alert bracelet made of candy?
• Maybe I should finish the night sleeping on the couch so I don't wake the kids going back to bed...
• What about "Briar" as the name for a baby? (no we're not expecting another)
• This list of random thoughts is a good idea.
  

Z-R-B-T-T

Kai is a very affable and affectionate child. Curious and active, we've taken to calling him "Farzzle". Lately, he has taken to zerbert-ing our legs, torsos, arms, shoulders, any available body part.

It's funny (and a little scary) how easily a word like "zerbert" immerses itself into our lexicon. "Thanks" Bill Cosby for that; and also for the "food" we call "Jell-o Pudding Pops".

Storm Repair

We're still sorting out the aftermath of last week's electrical storm. I exchanged the burnt-out DSL modem at our service provider. After swinging by the hospital in Strathroy, I bought a new cordless phone (going all the way up to 2.4 GHz) and a new answering machine for the church. All that remains to be replaced is the church computer (maybe the data is recoverable) and the garage door opener.

It could have been worse.

Parkhill Pad

The aquatic adventures continued at the splash pad in Parkhill. Getting out of the car, Rei surveyed the scene and gave her approval: "There's no one scary here" referring, we think, to the larger-than-life "Slippery the Seal" that greeted her at Storybook Gardens.

Kai crawled around and about through puddles, pools and geysers; Rei sprinted through showers and sprinklers. After a picnic lunch and some park play, we headed home a little damp, and with sore faces from smiling so much.

Beach Night

In the afternoon, we headed to the lake which was as busy as middle-of-a-long-weekend might expect. We met up with one of Shelley's co-workers and his family (including one of Rei's daycare classmates) for beach barbecue.

Despite the crowds, Reiko enjoyed herself, continually running back and forth from the beach blanket to the water, splashing about and cavorting. Kai made the most of the soft sand and the other boys' toys.

We're not usually on the water at day's end, so we witnessed the evening closing-down-the-beach routine of tractors and trucks hauling their JetSkis and boats out of the lake. We headed home ourselves, sandy, sunshiney and spent.

New Heights

Kai went upstairs by himself today (with supervision). He crawled up the flight of 16 steep farmhouse steps with little difficulty.

He paused and looked around a few times, but once Rei appeared at the top of the stairs to cheer him on, he was motivated to complete his ascent. Ever on the move, that's our boy.

Meet Big Brown

Better late than never; Rei decided tonight that she'd like to play with the broomstick horse that she got for Christmas. Looking at her now and the delight she gets from her steed, "Big Brown", you wouldn't know she was petrified of the thing for the last 8 months.

Maybe today's episode of Dora (where she's a cowgirl on a horse) prompted today's daring pony ride.

NewTube

Last night's thunderstorm fried a lot of components around here. Our cordless phone, the church answering machine, the church computer, the garage door opener and our internet connection all fell victim. (I'm currently online courtesy of "linksys" in the neighbourhood). And our TV fritzed; mind you, it's 12-years old, almost as old as my shorts.

So instead of birthday golf today (it would have been in the pouring rain), I had permission and free rein to go and buy a TV. After doing some scouting around on-line, and measuring the dimensions of our entertainment unit, I had in mind a Toshiba 26" widescreen but was open to other options.

I checked Sam's Club and saw a 24" Sanyo flatscreen with widescreen capability for about half the price of the other. I headed on to the Sears Outlet Store but everything there was too big, expensive and damaged.

I bought a mousepad as a present to myself and proceeded to Future Shop to examine the Toshiba. I was going to try bargaining for some Monster component cables or a surge protector to be thrown into with my purchase, but didn't expect them to want to earn my business. Except there was a couple there (also with measuring tape) who bought the last one right in front of me. After checking with the manager, I could have bought the floor model, but at full price; they called the other London store and said there one was "a brand new one" there. How novel, pay full price for a product that hasn't yet been used!

While they were somewhat helpful, and not totally inattentive, they were acting jerkish so I took my business back to Sam and bought the Sanyo. I also got a laptop case and some steaks with the money I saved. Although searching around on-line, I don't think I got much of deal on the TV. But the price I paid for the laptop case and steaks, recovered the cost of our membership.

Maybe tomorrow afternoon, I'll get my golf fix (and use my new balls and tees).

Hair-edity

It seems that Kai is turning into his dad. Shelley broached the idea of buzzing his hair. With the weather being so hot and humid, and given his propensity to pull at his hair when uncomfortable, it seemed like a good idea. I had no objections.

Somehow, I don't see the same solution for Rei...

Summer Metamorphosis

I'm also turning into Shelley's dad. Sitting at the supper table with my shirt off, beer in hand, and crunching on a stalk of green onion, I apparently reminded her of someone...