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.