Back from Scottsdale

This past week was our visit to Scottsdale, AZ, to visit Grandma Laura, Grandpa Dave and Auntie Haley. Given that the weather has been total CRAP in NE Ohio this "spring" (there is no global warming), a visit with family in a warm climate was very, very appealing to us.The kids travelled pretty well. We thought Lydia would be a good sleeper on the plane, but alas, she was not. Lincoln took a decent nap on the flight from Chicago to Phoenix, and that allowed him to stay up later and get adjusted to the time change. Lydia, on the other hand, vomited such a volume as we landed in Phoenix that it dripped through the bottom of the car seat. She was sick and unhappy for the next 18 to 24 hours. It took her a while to get on AZ time, but she was still a good girl for her grandparents.Lincoln was highly stimulated during the entire trip. There was very active play time and someone to occupy him at all times. As a result, he took naps of between 2 and 3 hours every day.

The hiking was great. We went to the Dixie Mine Trail, as that's one that Grandma Laura and Grandpa Dave thought would be a good one for Lincoln. He did very well. He even got to use his new CamelBak that he received for his birthday. Lydia was a pleasant rider.The plant life in the desert never ceases to impress me. The cacti weren't flowering as much on this visit as our last visit, but what we did see was still beautiful.On Friday, the grandparents took the day off and we spent the morning at the Phoenix Children's Museum. There was a large school field trip with kids who were quite comfortable with pushing Lincoln out of the way, and with parents/chaperones that were equally rude. Lincoln, though, showed good manners and patience beyond his years, and we all had a good time. After patronizing the Chattanooga Children's Museum and the Phoenix Children's Museum, I must say I'm becoming a fan of children's museums!Of course we took in the Phoenix Zoo. The Bighorn Sheep exhibit is still in my top-ten exhibits that I've seen at any zoo. (Akron's jellyfish, Pittsburgh's aquarium, Nashville's gibbons, and Phoenix's giraffes [the best place for an up-close look], and Columbus' otters come to our minds quickly.)One of the really neat things we got to see was one of the rattlesnakes shedding its skin, pictured above. I'm not sure Lincoln could really appreciate it, but Jenn and I were amazed.This was the Trip Of The Pool. Lincoln couldn't get enough of the pool, and he's becoming quite confident in the water. Swimming lessons will be just around the corner. He loved splashing, shooting the water canons, floating around in his boat (while shooting the water canons), and jumping into the water to have me or Grandpa Dave catch him. After a while I started letting him go all the way under the water, and he did a great job of holding his breath for an instant.Lydia had her first pool experience, too.Flashback 2010:2011:Saturday was Lincoln's birthday, and Grandma Laura & Auntie Haley put together a Pirate Birthday Party for him!There was a Pirate Ship Cake, eye-patches for Grandpa Dave and Auntie Haley, a treasure hunt, "sea-themed" Jell-O with Nemo gummies, lots of gold doubloons... it was just a fun time for all of us!

We were sad to come home. Lincoln cried at the air port when it really sunk in that he had just said good-bye to Grandma Laura.
On an unrelated note, the Indians just keep winning and winning and winning. You may recall my analysis of the Indians under Manager Eric Wedge.

Indians closer Chris Perez didn't look too sharp at the end of Spring Training 2010, but he's been hot lately for the league-leading Indians at the start of 2011.

While I'm still not a fan of their current owner, it's fun to watch these young guys win. Of course it'll all come crashing down when it comes time to pay them, but we can enjoy it while it lasts, right? As of today, the Indians have a 4.5 game lead on the Royals (who are perennial faders), a 8 game lead on Detroit (who knows if they'll fold or not, but as long as they're relying on Johnny Peralta, I'll take the Indians), a 10 game lead on Minnesota (when they get their guys back from injuries, look out) and a 10.5 game lead on the White Sox (bury 'em while we can!). Who knows where they'll finish, but a hot start beats a cold one any season.

Staying on this tangent, I have to say I'm pleased with the Browns' draft. Atlanta offered themselves up for highway robbery, why wouldn't the Browns pounce on it? Julio Jones will need to be as good as Jerry Rice to justify trading so many picks away, especially to a proven drafter like Holmgren and his team.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and more!

To begin with, I need to correct an error from my last blog post. Jenn and I went to the Rosewood Grill for our anniversary. I was confused because it is located in the same building that the old Inn At Turner's Mill was found in, but that restaurant is no longer. Our meal was pretty good. I can't say it was the best we've ever had, but the feel of the place was fun, my ribs were fantastic and the service was very good. The only drawback was Jenn's grouper: it was fried, which isn't the way we enjoy grouper, we came to learn. For the cost, though, we'd go back without hesitation, and just order something other than the grouper.

Secondly, this is my blog post #320. Holy cow! And to think I didn't want to get into blogging!

Moving on...

Some from our Community Group went to Blossom last Sunday evening, and we had a great time. Jenn and I were concerned about how Lincoln would do with a live event, later in the evening, outside, with a several-minute walk to the restrooms. He was an all-star! So now we know we can go to Blossom for concerts with him!

Today was a bit of a curveball. Jenn had the opportunity to get an extra day of work in at her clinic, so I took a day off at mine to spend with Lincoln! We went to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and we had a very pleasant time.

Lincoln was happy to know that the Stegosaurus didn't bite, and the man behind him in the second photo is Carl Linneaus, the father of modern taxonomy.
Lincoln didn't exactly understand the concept of Foucault's Pendulum, but he liked to see the dominos get knocked over.

The museum is set up with a number of computer-based interactive exhibits. Here, in the rock and gems portion of the displays, the descriptions of igneous and sedimentary rocks were less interesting than the mouse-ball on the modules.
They have a nice "mini zoo" display with some animals that Lincoln hadn't seen in a zoo setting before, such as the Grey Fox and the Great Horned Owl (neither pictured here).

And then there were the Dinosaurs and the Mastadons!
So after all of that, plus lunch at McDonald's, plus dropping off a birthday present at the Post Office for one of Lincoln's two favorite Aunts, Lincoln got a late start on his nap. But how often to Friday Daddy Days roll around?

This is going to be a big weekend. For starters, Lincoln's other of his two favorite Aunts is coming for a visit, and we'll probably get to do some fishing down at Leesville Lake.

On another subject, I wanted to publicly thank Laura, Dave and Haley for the birthday present that they gave me this year. I've been wanting to have a DVD copy of Gary Smalley's Hidden Keys To Loving Relationships series, and they gave me a copy! I'll be putting them to use very quickly, not only by applying his lessons in our own home, but Jenn and I are also sharing them with our small group over the next several months. Planning a series of lessons for our small group has always been a stressful thing for me, but not now... I'm very excited to use the Smalley videos! Thank you, Laura, Dave & Haley!

Another thing we'd like to tell you all about is a tradition that Jenn started two weeks ago. Friday will now be known as Pancake Day at the Gates Home. Jenn has found a number of really good pancake recipes and we will enjoy them for dinner on Friday evenings. Two weeks ago we had Oatmeal Pancakes, and last Friday we had Carrot Cake Pancakes (yum!). Tonight we'll be having Banana & Pineapple Pancakes. Lincoln gets very excited about these dinners! And so do we!

Lincoln's new favorite music to listent to in the car is the Ohio State Marching Band, specifically Buckeye Battle Cry, Les Regiment, Carmen Ohio, Hang On Sloopy & Fight The Team. We've even heard him late at night and early in the morning talking to himself in his bead saying, "O! H! I! O! Go Buckeyes!" And he says it over and over and over again. He's doing pretty good, I'd say! Today at the Post Office, he looked at an Ohio State logo and said, "O, h, i, o," and a lady in front of me asked how old he was. I said, "A little more than 2 years old." She said, "He's pretty good at letter recognition." (Good thing we're not from New Hampshire... it may take a while to make it to the end of that name!)

A few sports thoughts to share:

• Terrell Pryor looked downright awesome last night. Who cares what the competition was, he looked ready to play and his fundamentals looked good. This is going to be a good season!
• The Browns may actually have a decent thing going this year. One can't judge a bunch from the preseason, but they've got a couple of decent quarterbacks, a couple of promising running backs, an O-line that seems good, and some up-and-coming receivers. There D is suspect, but they've got good coaching. Maybe they'll give me something to cheer about on Sundays. The past 10 years' worth of fall-sports weekends have been happy Saturdays and disappointing Sundays. Might that change?
• I've been coming around on my thoughts about the Indians. For a while I was in a funk, refusing to attend a game because I was so opposed to the ownership. (Judging by the seats, I'm not the only one who feels this way.) But I've come to the opinion that I need to provide good summer sports memories for Lincoln, and so I've decided to be a fan again going into next season. They've got some young talent that, if they come around, may actually be competitive next year, too. This is just a short summary of the philosophizing I've been doing about my sports fan-ship. Perhaps if I have the time and the inclination, I could write a book. I have a feeling it would speak for most Cleveland sports fans.

[break for nap time]

Lincoln was actually a very good assistant in the kitchen this evening. He was careful stirring and pouring and he helped me make the pancakes for Pancake Day! Then we wrapped up the meal with a Banana/Raspberry/Pineapple Smoothie for dessert.
The boy likes his Smooties!

And to top off the evening, Jenn put the finishing touches on mini-cheesecakes for a shower that is being thrown by one of her associates. Yes, that's homemade lemon curd......and Chocolate Cheesecake with a Mint Crust.