Summer Smiles

Cedar Point, 2013

Before I get started with our Cedar Point photos, I have to share this funny, albeit gross, story from a couple of days ago. Our readers with kids know that the volume of poop that ends up in the potty after young kids are through can be truly magnificent. Jeff Foxworthy does a funny routine about looking in the toilet after his daughter finished and saying, "That is not humanly possible! Hey, Honey, come see this!"

Lydia had one of those over the weekend. She usually takes a good 40 minutes to poop, and she didn't disappoint. Jenn had helped Henry with his most recent poop, so it fell to me to address this one. I took one look and said, "Jenn, this is colossal." She "ho, hummed," thinking I was exaggerating, and then Henry came over, looked in the potty, and said, "Two poops!"
"Wellllll, it looks like two poops," I said…

Now, on to more pleasant things. Lincoln spent Saturday afternoon through Tuesday evening with Grandma Laura, Grandpa Dave, Auntie Haley and Chris in Columbus. They visited the zoo & COSI, played golf in the back yard, went on long bike rides, visited Auntie Haley at work with a dinner at Outback and spent a few minutes where Chris works in take-out, and had a general, all-around good time. The fun culminated with a trip to Cedar Point on Wednesday where Lincoln was a hardy partier.
Jenn and I were more than appreciative of the time we had to ride a few rides while Auntie Haley & Chris kept up with Lincoln in Camp Snoopy over lunch. Grandma Laura took him on a bunch of rides, too, and Grandpa Dave made a return trip to the Dodgems with Lincoln. Lincoln's job, apparently, was to point out the targets, and Grandpa Dave would line 'em up and bump 'em.

Cookies in the Orphanage?

Lincoln headed south yesterday with Jenn to meet Grandma Laura and Grandpa Dave and spend the next couple of days with them.  After hearing what was on the agenda for him, he ought to come back home completely exhausted.  Just in time for our trip to Cedar Point!  He can sleep all day Thursday.It's just a different dynamic with 2 kids in the house.  Lydia and Henry have been hilarious with each other, playing all sorts of funny games and having conversations that crack Jenn and me up.

Lydia's transition to a big girl bed continues to be an adventure.  It's like pulling teeth to get her to use the potty in a timely manner and avoid having the bed-time routine take an hour.  She also has no qualms about getting out of bed and rearranging things in her room.  When she's supposed to be sleeping.  {sigh}
Over the past two weeks I hosted a University of Minnesota veterinary student at the clinic for an externship.  It's times like that that I really wish I were closer to Ohio State because I really enjoy having students around and giving them some real-world experience.  The goal is to be encouraging while exposing them to things that they'll see when they leave the teaching hospital, and we were able to do that over the two weeks.  It was an interesting week when Other-Dr. Gates was in Canada and I had my busiest solo week of my career.  The first Monday I saw 29 appointments, and the student said she went back to her parents' home that night (she related this to me a week later after she had time to process it... and her parents live in Hudson), and said, "Holy... smokes..."  It was a fast-paced week, but one that we got through in a very rewarding way.
Lincoln went bowling with his preschool class last Thursday and had a lunch of hotdogs, french fries and some kind of pop.  What's not for a preschooler to love?!

Jenn continues to crank out the amazing cakes, this time for Grandma Paulette's Birthday.  A Lemon Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Icing and a Chocolate Cake with Caramelized Banana Filling and Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing made for some good post-dinner sweet consumption.
Sometimes during dinner when the food is particuarly good (which is most evenings... which is why this story is funny for our family), Lincoln will turn to Henry (they sit next to each other at dinner) and say, "Henry, did you eat __{insert food here}__ when you were in the orphanage?"

And Henry often responds with a short, not-really-understanding-the-question, "Ya," or, "No."

The other evening we were eating a pasta dish with really good chicken meatballs and Lincoln asked his usual question, but this time Henry responded, "No.  We had cookies and dessert."  Ha!  Clearly he doesn't have an accurate memory, and that's okay with us.

His speech is developing unbelievably. He's cranking out complete sentences and thoughts with some degree of regularity, and while there's still catch-up space between him and Lydia, he's narrowing the gap.

I Want Your Privileges

Me:  Lydia, if you won't listen to Daddy and come when I call you, you will lose some privileges.

Lydia:  No, I want your privileges.

Lunchtime

Lydia is back in her big girl bed, and she's not doing too bad.  The big reason for the switch now is so that she can go to the potty by herself in the morning.  I'm still having to wake up when Henry calls me at the crack of dawn to go potty, but he's really not yet ready for the change from a crib to a toddler bed, and he can't pull his pants and underpants down reliably yet, so the benfits to moving him to a toddler bed don't yet outweigh the drawbacks.
Jenn continues to pound out the miles, and lately she's been finishing some of her long runs with several miles on the bike.  If she ever gets over her fear of swimming in open water, I'll be married to a triathlete.
While reviewing some blog history a while back, I recalled my post claiming that I'd turned in my Indians fan card.  My problem at the time was the ownership's unwillingness to invest in the team.  That has changed over the last several months, with clear improvements/investments made to the team, and it's showing in the results.  The Tribe isn't setting the world on fire, but they've been fun to follow, and if they could get their act together when they're actually playing Detroit, they could be burying the Tigers in this mid-season.  But as it stands, we ought to have a fun August and September.

Sushi

During some moment of conversation last week, the kids asked Jenn for a sushi dinner. So yesterday afternoon, she packed them up and drove to Hana Asian Market (where they do not have grocery carts that contain one or more of our kids), and came home with the makings of California Rolls, Wasabi (for Jenn… too hot of the kids) & Potstickers.

By the time I arrived home and saw the sushi rolls, I asked, "Did you make those?" (Thinking that it would be tough to make sushi while the kids are running around.)

"What kind of a wife do you think I am?" Jenn replied. That's right. She makes sushi in addition to keeping up with the kids.
This is how Jenn runs...
And I've been revisiting HBO's John Adams miniseries.

Revisiting Early July

As June has become July, I got to thinking, "Where was our family at this time last year? ... and what about the year before that?" So here is a little history of the Gates family (as far as blogging is concerned), with photos from early July by the year...

2012:
This photo cracks me up every time I see it, because it shows the innocent curiosity of Henry and the devious cunning of Lydia. You can't see it behind the dinosaur toy, but Lydia has one of Lincoln's Batman disc shooters, and she's aiming at Henry. She's definitely got a naughty streak.
2011:

2010:

2009:

2008: