Scout Camp Nature Pics

I debated taking the camera to scout camp. One the one hand, I was hopeful to get some practice at taking nature pictures. On the other hand the chance of ending up with a broken and/or water-soaked camera didn't seem worth it.

I ended up taking it, and I'm glad I did.

Scout camp will be good for a couple of posts at least - this one is just some of the nature pictures I was happiest with.


This is the extremely rare birdus robinus only found in the high mountains of Idaho.





Also rare, the flowerus yellowus is found growing on the northern slopes of hills occupied by toileticus non-flushicus.






This little guy taunted me all week long. When I had the camera out, he wasn't around. As soon as I got the camera, he'd stop on a branch for just enough time to get an out of focus picture that was usually too dark.







Bugus flowerus is more common and usually is accompanied by a condition in humans called mosquitus bitus.

Um Bigode

I spent a week visiting the state dispatch centers and then a week at scout camp. Pictures are coming, but I'm still working on the raw files.

Jim Dixon posted this on the Dixon blog back in March. I'm still giggling about it.

Birds on the Driveway

Last night the Espinosa boys stayed with us while JP went to the sun tunnels with the scouts.

See pictures here

As they were getting in the car to go home, they spied some baby birds in our driveway. It looks like today was flying lesson day and a couple of them had a hard time. We scooped them up with a stick and put them back in the tree. The neighbor has a cat, and we didn't want to give the cat any free lunches.

I only had the camera ready because I was going to take a picture of the new perennial specks.

From We Got Rules

From We Got Rules

From We Got Rules

Hand-me-downs

I've been saving these pictures for a lull in the blog ideas or pictures, and today works as good as any. (MaryElla & Patti tell me that I can't overpost or else I oversaturate the blog.)

While it may appear that these are pictures of Becca's last soccer game, and they are, I'd like to bring your attention to the velvet sweat pants. At some point in a child's development hand-me-downs become an embarrassment. This is unfortunate, because hand-me-downs function as a genealogical aid.

"That's blasphemy!" you say.

Nonsense -- every time we put a child in an outfit that someone else wore, we reminisce about what kid 1 did in that outfit. We talk about how the knees on the overalls wore thin because kid 2 was a crawler and kid 3 was a walker. We've even taken to calling Thomas by his effeminate name, Samantha, on the occasion that diaper failure soils the last set of boy pajamas necessitating a change to pastel colored pajamas. (So far we haven't had to go to a nightgown, but anything's possible.) It may get a little odd if we have another daughter and we tell Thomas how pretty he looked in the pink fluffy pajamas with feet she's wearing.

Rebecca couldn't find her soccer shorts for the last game, so she came upstairs wearing these very stylish navy blue velvet sweatpants. Now while velvet sweatpants were cool in 1977, in 2009 they are ULTRA COOL. I bet you can't believe that she was the only one on her team wearing velvet. I don't know exactly where we got these pants, but it instantly took me back to 1979 when I had a burgundy velvet v-neck pullover. I had developed the nasty habit of chewing on my collars, so the v-neck quickly became more of a saggy u-neck collar. That shirt was fantastic. So as Becca dominated the soccer field, all I could think of was the connection between father and daughter. We both look fabulous in velvet.

Embrace the genealogical value of hand-me-downs. Regale your children with tales of who wore that outfit last and all the cute things he did at that age. And if you happen to find a flare-legged set of brown Lee jeans, those were Yan's.

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

From 05-09-09 Becca Soccer

Princess Checkers

Question -- How do two very innovative girls play Princess Checkers without letting the game be destroyed by a very curious toddler?












Answer -- Build a tower.
















Child-proofing the home in the one kid club means minimizing dangers to your baby.

Child-proofing the home in the multiple kid club means keeping the baby from wrecking your stuff.

Best Toddler Toy Ever

Do you know what the best toy ever is?

It's the garden hose half charged with a good stout nozzle.

We discovered this toy with Steven when he was just a little under 20 months old. I thought it might be fun for him to spray the mud off the shovel. He quickly discovered that while spraying the shovel was fun, spraying his parents was more fun. Of course I ran when he sprayed me, which put us in a dilemma: Steven was protected by a fence on north side and the side of the house on the west. The approach from the south side of the house was a kill zone about 20 feet long and you can't get to his east side without going through the same kill zone. Did I mention that I set him up right on top of the faucet so we couldn't turn it off until we were two feet away from him.

Steven kept Mary and I at bay with that hose for 20 minutes. He squealed with delight everytime one of us would run away and he kept fine tuning his aim to be more and more effective. We eventually turned the master valve in the basement to get the hose away from him without getting soaked.

While not as lethal as Steven, Thomas does a pretty good job keeping the enemies away too. This time, however, we have four kids acting like proxy parents to serve as targets.

Arrow of Light

Steven did it!!!!

After years of dedication, Steven was awarded his Arrow of Light. This is the highest award in the Cub Scout program. At the ceremony we drew a little arrow of light on his forehead and made the funny Cub Scout Cheer.

Steven has now graduated to the scout program where he will learn important life skills like tying knots and setting things on fire. He has a pretty good chance of cutting off a digit at scout camp, but that will be a blog post all its own. Congratulations Steven!

Little Helpers

I remember meeting some of Mary's folks' neighbors once who had their youngest child when they were in their early forties. There was about a 10-year break between the second to last and the last kid, so it was exciting for the whole family to have a little one in the house again. We were just leaving the Dixon place when we met the mom outside. She was chatting on the cordless phone, and the little one was running back and forth across the front lawn.

As we walked over to say hello, she approached us and we exchanged pleasantries.

Mary remarked on how cute and energetic her little boy was . . .

A cloud descended across her countenance. "He just runs all day . . . all day," she said with a defeated tone disappearing to a near whisper.

"I don't think we should have any more kids," I remarked to Mary. Half of that was in jest, but the experience scared the bejeebers out of me.

As Mary and I approach our late 20s with our fifth child (don't do the math), I can't believe how much easier it is with kid five than kid one.

Just the other morning Anna got up, got the baby out of bed, she changed his diaper and changed his clothes. She then made him breakfast and cleaned up the mess afterwards. After school Anna took him outside and played with him. Later that night Anna bathed him, put a clean diaper on him (with powder -- everybody loves powder), rubbed him down with lotion, put him in his pajames, got him some warm milk, and put him to bed with a goodnight story.

I'd like to give a recommendation to every potential parent out there -- don't have any kids unless you plan on having at least one Anna.