Daddy Daycare

Girls' night out happens, well, not very frequently. But when it does... daddy's in charge! Finn has a blast with his friends Gwen and Dane. Typical nights together involve measuring, "cardboard box rides," and interprative slinky dancing. And daddy had all three kids in bed by 8. :)

Samichlaustag

Samichlaus made a visit to our house today. He traditionally comes on December 6th, but perhaps he came a day early since he had to take a trans-atlantic flight to visit a little Swiss boy in Portland. (Or perhaps Daddy left for a trip on the 5th and it was his gig!) As the tradition goes (props to Wikipedia): Many children put a boot outside the front door on the night of December 5 to December 6. Samichlaus fills the boot with gifts and sweets, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (rute) in their boots instead. Note that Finn had both goodies and a tree branch in his boot. :) With a loud knock on the door, this is how it unfolded. Finn opened the door and looked all around, then finally saw the boot Samichlaus left at the doorstep. Basically, after he spied the chocolate, he was pretty much done. But Daddy was able to read the letter from Samichlaus, which said that he was a very good boy, but needs to make sure he listens to Mommy and Daddy. Hint hint! We will be more specific next year, I'm sure. :) In between cries for chocolate, we think Finn got the concept. Tom decorated the table and made a delicious dinner, which was, of course, followed by more chocolate. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Giving thanks... gorgeous, fancy thanks

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Griffiths family in Seattle again this year - this is becoming a great tradition. Lots of tender family moments, many laughs, good food, and a few tantrums thrown in for good measure. Finn still loves their wood burning fireplace, but unlike last year when he would yell "Fireplace... Dave!," this year he was a busy "work man" using the "leaf blower" to help oxygenate the fire. One of the funnier moments was when Finn informed us all over breakfast that his fire truck was in fact "fancy," not "gorgeous." The Griffiths' powder room was, however, "gorgeous." His comedic timing is impeccable and he never fails to disappoint.

Finn and Henry enjoying some playtime
Daddy and Finn

Mommy with sweet little Henry

Finn and Fireplace Dave

Dave deep frying the turkey

Daddy watching Dave deep fry the turkey :)

Watching the boats come in at the Ballard Locks in Seattle

Finn taking Henry for a stroll along Fremont St

Discussing fine literature

The Call of the Wild

Every boy loves their dog. Their inner dog, that is. There have been quite a few "barking episodes" lately, and when Finn spied a dog crate in our friends' garage, he knew what had to be done.

Roadtrip!!

This weekend we visited our friends Adam, Kristi and Liam (Finn's great bud since birth) in their new house in White Salmon, WA. The drive through the Columbia River Gorge was spectacular and we were on strict orders from Finn to spot every train and waterfall. And there were a'plenty. Below is a picture of the cute little downtown where we had lunch. There was a shuffleboard table at the brewpub where a competitive game between Team Grob and Team Nelson went down. The boys had a blast during lunch and then both napped like hibernating bears, which gave the adults some time to catch up. A great time with great friends.

The Great Train Expo...

or was it? I think we'll go with "Mediocre Train Expo." We took Finn to this traveling exhibit since he has been loving his train set lately (most of all transporting passengers to and from the hardware store). From the information I'd read about the exhibit, there would be a train for kids to ride, lots of model train displays and other activities. What we happened upon was a transportation flea market of sorts with a small handful of model displays and a raggedy playset on the floor for kids. Oh well - Finn had fun. He wasn't too interested in the model displays; we did, however, run into a fellow Swissman! I must admit -he did have the best exhibit and also outfitted Finn with a Swiss train poster. Would you expect any less of the Swiss?! :) To end the event in style, we bought a bag of popcorn. Now that was great!

Trick-or-Treating - the Real Deal

This year marks Finn's first trick-or-treat Halloween. And, boy, did he love it!! Let me break down the costume selection. As you know, Finn is 1/2 Illini and 1/2 Boilermaker. The decision on his costume was easy - Illini jersey was $15 cheaper than Boilermaker jersey. As Daddy put it, "You get what you pay for." I should mention, though, that both teams played on Halloween and only one won... you guessed it, the Illini!

Let me recap the day. I first made the mistake of explaining trick-or-treating to Finn before naptime. There was alot of crying and the repeated use of the word "caaaaaaaaaandy." This football player wasn't too fond of putting on his uniform prior to game-time, but once we were in full Halloween mode, the jersey came on, face paint was applied, and off we went. We spent the afternoon with our friends Toni and Brandon, and their little ones Gwen (princess) and Dane (fisherman). Finn absolutely loved trick-or-treating. He went right up to the door, knocked, then checked out the peoples' front porches, lawn decorations, etc. Just because it's Halloween doesn't mean you can't investigate. After every house, he would say, "Are we going to the next house?" It was very cute. And the M&Ms buzz afterward was not to be missed. What a great day.

Omi, Opa and Larry the Lizard

Finn enjoyed another wonderful visit with his Omi and Opa last week. Finn and Omi carved a pumpkin, while Finn and Opa did some "man work" around the house. There was even a little time for horsing around. Omi and Opa brought Finn a little lizard from Florida, which we dubbed "Larry." Larry, when emersed in water, was said to quadruple in size. I think the adults were a little more into it (and, quite frankly, a bit scared). Fortunately, Larry topped out at 12 inches and we didn't encounter any sort of giant lizard disaster. The question weighing on our minds - what will they bring next time?!