Friday, October 23, 2009

happy birthday dad!

One of the reasons Quincy and I travelled to Cincinnati at this time was to celebrate my dad's birthday. My mom is throwing a big party and after missing so many big family functions lately, this is a real treat. The Norway clan will sure be missed though.

His twenty-five grandchildren are giving him an album.

Opa's Gift Album: Dedication

They each have a page with their photo and answers. Here is Quincy's...

Opa's Gift Album: Quincy

It was so cool putting this together and reading all the thoughtful answers each of them (ranging in age from 2 to twenty-five) came up with. I loved seeing the many different ways he has impacted each one. I think he will too!

This time the paper comes from Jessica Sprague and everything else is from Designer Digitals.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

missing you already

As happy as we are to be here, we already miss these three...

Jeremy & the dogs 1

Jeremy & the dogs 2

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

bring it on.

Three different flights. Two layovers averaging four-and-a-half hours. Eight time zones. Six thousand miles. Twenty eight hours, (after last time, make that, twenty eight hours if I'm lucky), on my own with a two-year-old.

Bring it on.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

In five sleeps...

we're off to the States! I've started packing and the line items on the to do list are slowly but surely getting ticked off, thanks in part to a cooperative little boy and a helpful husband. The washing machine has been running almost non-stop since yesterday. In fact, it's still going. We've had terrible weather for much of the last week, but thanks to some serious wind mixed with sun, I managed to dry every single load outside. The clothes we are bringing are now officially out of rotation.

pre-trip laundry tackling the to do list

Tomorrow I begin to tackle the five months of journaling that I am behind on on my Project365. Yes, five months, but that's another story.

Back to the trip anticipation... I've learned by now, not to share such information with a young child too early. But I have been dropping hints for a while. Throwing "Cincinnati" into conversation. Bringing up "airplanes" regularly. Showing him photos from our last trip just over a year ago. Talking about family members.

Not surprisingly, he has been studying these photos a lot lately.

family photo wall revisited 2 where is...?

Yesterday, I divulged all the details and today he got to begin his countdown.

the countdown begins

five more sleeps

Tonight as I was leaving his room, he said "And tomorrow we go on the airplane." I gently corrected him and told him tomorrow he got to tear off the yellow number 4. He seemed satisfied. As I was closing the door though, I heard him say quietly, "And then go on the airplane."

So, yes, he's excited. He is expecting Stef to still be at the Wellington airport. But he is also expecting her to be at the Cincinnati airport with Oma and Opa. He is getting mentally prepared for having his nappy changed inside the miniature plane bathroom. He has been warned that even though we are sitting in seats, we have to sleep on the plane. He has also been warned that it's a long way and that we will be in two airports before we reach the one in Cincinnati. We've been talking about using quiet voices on the plane and even though it might be uncomfortable we're going to try not to whine.

He is looking forward to feeding Norwin's piglet, Peter, a bottle. I think he will find a kindred spirit in his animal-lover cousin.

He talks about buying sandals in Cincinnati. (At the start of spring I told him we'd have to wait to buy sandals that fit him in Cincinnati so we'd have to make do. I guess that made an impression! In fact a few weeks later I mentioned needing something and he told me to get it in Cincinnati. Maybe he is expecting one giant mall!)

Oh, and he is talking non-stop about the airplane.

Fisher Price Airplane

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Wednesday, October 07, 2009

"Papaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Daylight savings means we are able to meet Papa at the ferry every now and then.

papa's ferry

Looking for Papa...

looking for papa

Still searching...

still looking

There he is!

there he is!

"Papaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

squealing with glee

Running to Papa...

running to papa 1

running to papa 2

You don't have to ask Quincy twice if he is keen. Clearly.

running to papa 3

Happy in Papa's arms...

in papa's arms 1

At dinner I asked Jeremy what his favorite part of the day was and he quickly replied, "seeing Quincy at the ferry." The feeling was mutual. Quincy responded to the question in the same way.

Sweet. But do you see what I see? A two-year-old who is dressed nicer than a man who just returned from a day at the office. In the city. There is no dress code at the white box. Clearly.

eta: Jeremy was acting all offended when he read this, until I pointed out the jeans, hiking boots, and HOODIE.

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Monday, October 05, 2009

is that a whale spout on your head?

The weather is wintery and WET. It has been cycling between pouring rain, hail, and dry wind. Quincy is sick with a cold. We are trying to stay warm. We have no plans to get out of our PJs. And this is how he insists we both wear our hair...

funny hair 1 funny hair 2

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Saturday, October 03, 2009

the tulips

A few weeks ago we headed to town for a monthly beagle walk and to enjoy the Spring Tulip Festival at the Botanic Gardens. My agenda pretty much revolved around the camera.

tulip mosaic

Quincy was more than happy to stop and smell the tulips,

smelling the tulips

but he was less than excited about the camera.

me & the kiddos 1

Jeremy too, for that matter. And the dogs were only interested in the smells and the other dogs.

dogs and tulips

I had to act quickly before we moved on.

The hilly playground in the Gardens is better than awesome. A flying fox, several cool slides, a great see saw, a fire engine, a swinging bridge, ladders... You name it. We spent ages there.

Playground @ the Botanic Gardens Mosaic

As for the weather, there were just a few scattered showers.

umbrella mosaic

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Friday, October 02, 2009

yum, fresh bread

Thanks to hotpoints, which we earn from our credit card, we are now enjoying this everyday...

fresh bread

And we have a very willing baking assistant...

breadmaker mosaic

I must say every once in a while, I do miss my Vogels in the morning. Just a tiny bit.

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