The kids at dusk at Hazard’s Beach View at Picasa The kids at dusk at Hazard’s Beach08-Jul-2008 08:41, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100

There’s nothing like the dead of winter for looking at summer photos. Since Maria wasn’t teaching last summer, and I was working for myself, we were able to spend a few weeks in Newport. Below are some highlights (if you want more, you can see all the Newport photos I uploaded for 2008). I was actually doing quite a bit of work while I was there: trying to drum up some retail distributors for the candy business (with no luck), selling candies at the Black Ships Festival (it was a good venue since we were selling Japanese candies), and doing web site work for two clients. Newport in July is a much more pleasant place to be than Philadelphia, and the boys always have a great time with their cousins, so it was a really nice trip.

View at Picasa Kai at Hazard’s Beach08-Jul-2008 07:27, SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 8.2mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Eidan at Hazard’s Beach08-Jul-2008 08:00, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Kai and Eidan getting pulled by Paul08-Jul-2008 08:14, SONY DSC-W55, 9.0, 9.4mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa E’loise and Alexandar08-Jul-2008 08:22, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Alexander the sand monster08-Jul-2008 08:25, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa S’mores!22-Jul-2008 08:24, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Roasting s’mores at Hazard’s Beach29-Jul-2008 07:32, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Eidan on the pier at Carnegie Abbey07-Jul-2008 01:06, SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 7.2mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Alexandra at Carnegie Abbey07-Jul-2008 02:44, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Kai in a magic show at Carnegie Abbey30-Jul-2008 08:33, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 320	View at Picasa Michael and Maria at Carnegie Abbey30-Jul-2008 08:41, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Kai, Eidan, Matthew, and Alexandra30-Jul-2008 08:45, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 320

Kai’s graduation to blue belt View at Picasa Kai’s graduation to blue belt27-Sep-2008 14:35

Kai’s graduation to green belt View at Picasa Kai’s graduation to green belt20-Dec-2008 14:45

Kai’s been taking karate lessons 2-3 days a week for about 3 years now, at Mr. A’s karate school. Every time we go, he protests that he wants to stay home, but then he always has a great time when he gets there, and half the time doesn’t want to come home when the lesson is over. Back in September he graduated to blue belt, and then he quickly moved on to green belt in December. The videos above are from each graduation. Each graduate puts on a small demonstration. In September Kai did a “free form” demo (when the kids do free form demos, they can do whatever they want, which means they typically put on their best impersonation of Darth Maul). His demo elicited a collective gasp from the audience, when he discarded one of his weapons a little too spectacularly, flinging it into the seats (fortunately into an empty area, so no one got hurt). His performance in December was more subdued – he did a demo of one of the basic forms.

Below are pictures from the Haverford Township Day parade in October. Kai’s karate class marched in the parade. They periodically stopped along the route to do short demos for the audience, while the McCain campaign’s Straight Talk Express bus stalked closely behind us.

View at Picasa Kai with Mr. A	View at Picasa Kai with his karate class on Havertown day04-Oct-2008 23:56, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Kai and his karate class doing a demo during the Havertown Day parade05-Oct-2008 00:31, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa The guy who owns this Delorian lives a few blocks away from me. He brought it out for the Havertown Day parade04-Oct-2008 22:59, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Straight Talk Express hunted us on the parade route05-Oct-2008 00:02, SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 7.2mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa I just couldn’t resist04-Oct-2008 23:02, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100

Our pathetic Christmas tree View at Picasa Our pathetic Christmas tree21-Dec-2008 12:53, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	Ice in our backyard, a few days before Christmas View at Picasa Ice in our backyard, a few days before Christmas22-Dec-2008 00:29, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 100	Closeup of the ice that coated everything View at Picasa Closeup of the ice that coated everything22-Dec-2008 02:32, SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 8.2mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
Eidan in his Iron Man costume View at Picasa Eidan in his Iron Man costume21-Dec-2008 22:42, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	Kai on Christmas Eve View at Picasa Kai on Christmas Eve25-Dec-2008 09:33, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 250	Mike and Eidan at Terry’s house on Christmas Eve View at Picasa Mike and Eidan at Terry’s house on Christmas Eve25-Dec-2008 09:33, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 320
The next generation, at their finest View at Picasa The next generation, at their finest25-Dec-2008 08:01, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 250	Eidan and Kai wrestling with Uncle Paul View at Picasa Eidan and Kai wrestling with Uncle Paul26-Dec-2008 01:57, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	Eidan passed out on a chair after all the Christmas excitement View at Picasa Eidan passed out on a chair after all the Christmas excitement27-Dec-2008 05:32, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100

Christmas started early for the boys, as they opened their presents on the Sunday before Christmas. Our decorations were even more pathetic than usual this year. Maria is always overwhelmed with grading work for all her students at the end of the semester, and I was preoccupied with the repair work in the wake of our plumbing disaster. But of course the boys still made out like bandits.

They got their presents early from us because a few days later, we went to Newport to spend Christmas with my family. Holiday trips to Newport are always a whirlwind experience for us, as I have a ridiculous number of relatives to visit in such a short time. It’s complicated – I’ve got half-siblings, steps, ex-steps – but to me they’re all simply family (and the boys may not have figured out exactly who everyone is yet, but they do know that they get plenty of presents). The standing joke in the family is that my half-brother and half-sister – who are not related to each other in any way – should get married, so that we can all become each others in-laws too. It would be like that old song, I’m My Own Grandpa.

View at Picasa Eidan on the Awakening statue at Villanova	View at Picasa Eidan and Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
View at Picasa Eidan on the Awakening statue at Villanova	View at Picasa Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
View at Picasa Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova	View at Picasa Eidan plays dead on the Awakening statue at Villanova

Last month I killed some time with the boys at Villanova for about an hour, while we waited for Maria to finish a meeting. They gravitated to the “Awakening” sculpture, known more commonly as the Oreo. We ran around on it for about 30 minutes. Then it was on to the pine trees nearby, where we tried to knock down pine cones by throwing already fallen pine cones at them.

View at Picasa Eidan at Kai’s back to school picnic

Eidan was the only miniature beach ball wielding, Mexican wrestler mask wearing toddler at Kai’s back to school picnic a couple of weeks ago. Every day for the past month or so he has insisted on wearing some kind of crazy outfit. This mask is his current favorite. He doesn’t even let us take it off for bed sometimes (we take it off after he falls asleep). He goes to bed each night with a different assortment of objects – last night it was rubber bands and a flash light. More typically it’s action figures or matchbox cars. Anything but a soft fluffy stuffed animal.

Eidan sprays Kai with water on the first hot day of Spring View at Picasa Eidan sprays Kai with water on the first hot day of Spring28-May-2008 05:56, SONY DSC-W55, 3.2, 8.2mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100

Today was the first hot day of the year, so the boys went at each other with spray bottles in the back yard. And it wasn’t long before they turned their sights on the cameraman (me).

On Sunday we took a trip to Franklin Square so the boys could enjoy some miniature golf. An unexpected sight while we were there was a freshly completed sand sculpture, celebrating Philadelphia. It was no Fukiage Beach Sand Festival, but it was fun to see, and reminded me of our time in Japan last year. Then we ended the day with dinner at Pho 75 in Chinatown. It all made for a very pleasant day.

View at Picasa Kai on the mini-golf course at Franklin Square Park24-May-2008 06:24, SONY DSC-W55, 3.2, 7.2mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa A sand sculpture at Franklin Square Park24-May-2008 05:47, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Kai and Eidan getting the cameraman (me) wet28-May-2008 05:58, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100

Eidan’s preschool picture, April 2008 (2 years old) View at Picasa Eidan’s preschool picture, April 2008 (2 years old)

Eidan got his report card for pre-school the other day. One of his teacher’s written comments was: “Eidan continues to be a joy in our classroom. His strong willed demeanor made potty training easy, but it also makes it difficult for him to be cooperative when given commands he doesn’t agree with.”

Yup, that’s our boy.

He was slow to start talking at first, but now he’s a chatterbox. We can’t always understand him, but that will come with time. My current favorite expression of his is “you scare me,” which he’ll say with a big smile anytime you show up unexpectedly.

Most kids get attached to a stuffed animal or a blanket, but not Eidan. He’s very attached to his Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks toy cars right now (from the movie Cars – he calls them “kachow” and “chicka chicka,” since those are their catch phrases). He carries them everywhere, and even sleeps with them. He was also very attached to Maria’s earlobes for a while, rubbing them as a way of comforting himself. She finally made him stop when it got the point where he was rubbing her ears raw.

He also really enjoys going to Kai’s karate class. While Kai’s doing his class, I’m with him on the side, helping him practice his own version of karate. The teacher is kind enough to let him borrow a helmet, a small padded practice sword, and a kicking pad. He has a great time flailing his little arms and legs wildly, pretending he is a karate master.

He loves books now. He doesn’t know how to read yet, but he’ll happily flip through the pages and look at the pictures. His current routine is to go to bed with a stack of books (this is after Maria and I have already read to him) and look through them by himself until he’s ready to sleep. He’ll usually sneak out of bed at some point too, and bring some toys in bed with him. Tonight it was a toy hammer and goggles. He’s asleep now, with the goggles still on, a race car in his hand, a stack of books on one side of him, and a big toy fire engine on the other. I’ll go in soon to take most of it away, so it doesn’t all crash to the floor during the night.

View at Picasa Kai rocks out20-Mar-2008 09:39

Kai refused to let me make a video of him dancing. I tried my best paparazzi camera-hiding technique, but as you can see, it got me only about 10 seconds of video.

View at Picasa Eidan rocks out24-Feb-2008 07:40

Who knew he’d develop a taste for heavy metal at such a young age. Click the image to watch.