Ian'isms

Ian was peeling apples tonight for pie. "Peeling apples is kind of like Exoforce. Once you start fighting a new robot it's hard but when you learn all of its moves it gets easier. That's just like when you start peeling an apple and it is hard to get through the skin. Once you get through the skin it is easy."

Really Cool Car

Hot wheels / Lotus concept car

Found this on Gizmodo. Ian really digs it!

Aelyn'isms

At dinner the last night I suggested that in 1,000 years we'd be teleporting everywhere. Aelyn then suggested that in 2,000 years we wouldn't have teleports any more. We just eat a fish nugget and we'd go anywhere we'd wanted.

Why is there a dead eel in our fridge?

Smoked Salmon in the fridge
Originally uploaded by SquidgeyFlint

Sunday afternoon, when Kim and the kids got back from the Veteran's Day Memorial Service they went to, pretty much her first question to me was: "Why is there a dead eel in our fridge". The question surprized me seeing as how I hadn't bought any eels, live or dead.

I did however pick up a dry smoked Copper River salmon from Costco earlier in the day.

The dogs -- continued

On Sunday, the raccoons came back, 3 of them. Apparently they aren't as smart as I had thought. Nona and Simba cornered one on the deck and Molly went after one that went under the deck. Seeing as how they were under the deck we couldn't really get Molly's attention to unlatch although maybe we did because she started dragging the raccoon back out. She again had it by the haunch and this time was shaking vigorously.

By the time we got them apart, the raccoon wasn't moving its back legs at all. Sigh. It didn't live through the night.

Those critters may look all fuzzy and cute but they are not to be trifled with. Their size is deceptive and they are all muscle. Very heavy.

Molly went to see Dr. Jane today (Monday) to get looked over and to get her rabies shot up to date. No problems and all is well. We also haven't seen the raccoons any more which is a good thing.

The dogs

A raccoon decided to stroll around the deck last night around midnight to snack on some squirrel food. The dogs thought that this was both the greatest thing ever and the a significant and serious threat to the well being of the household.

I was up in bed and heard Kim in the backyard doing a lot of yelling at the dogs. I went down to see what was up and she had Simba and Nona by their collars on the deck and the raccon was up on the rail. By the time I went upstairs to unlock the upstairs slider to get the dogs in, and then went back downstairs to lock the downstairs slider to keep the dogs in, I heard Kim yelling at Molly. At first I thought she was trying to get her in but eventually Molly ended up on the deck in good tussle with the raccoon.

Molly had latched on to the raccoon's hind end (one of it's legs) and the raccoon was underneath her. Kim was standing to one side trying to get Molly to let go and stay out of the middle of it. I ended up having to pick up a broom and whack Molly on the head a couple times to get her to let go. The raccoon finally took of at that point.

Somehow Molly lost a front toe-nail and has a small wound on her front leg. Apparently, before I got outside the first time, Simba and Nona had the raccoon cornered in this blue tube that the kids would crawl through. Simba and Nona don't seem to have any wounds. They aren't licking themselves or each other so Molly's the only one injured.

We believe Molly's rabies shots to be up to date (we've only had her for just shy of 3 years and the shots are every 3 years) but we're going to call the Vet on Monday to be sure. So far Molly seems ok except for the missing front toe-nail.

Aelyn'isms

"I'm a sidekick because I knew you were watching TV even though I didn't know you were watching TV."

Ian's Theater Camp Play (2007)

Ian and Aelyn went to a 1-week (1/2 day) theater camp this past week at the Issaquah Theater.

Ian's class did some scenes from the Sound of Music and here's Do Re Mi:


For comparison, I found the actual movie clip on youtube as well:


Aelyn's class did "The Paper Bag Princess" which was pretty good but even better was the other one they did which the class made up by themselves.

The kids really enjoyed theater camp even though it wore them out each day. Ian really wants to go back for the Fall session and as you could see in the video, he really had a good time.

Racing Pigs at the King County Fair

We went to the King County fair yesterday and one of the highlights was the Racing Pigs!!!

Ian rides without training wheels

Ian's first day without training wheels on his bike. It only took about an hour or so for him to get the hang of it. Apologies for the grainy video. It's from my cell phone.

Aelyn's new hair

Aelyn w/newly short hair,
chillin' at the Alison Kraus Concert.
Originally uploaded by SquidgeyFlint

Aelyn went for a hair cut yesterday and decided to go short for the summer. Here she is chillin' at the Alison Krauss concert we went to last night at the Marymoor Park outdoor amphitheater.

Aelyn'isms

After reading "If I Were a Grown-Up" Aelyn casually mentioned that of the many things she wants to be when she grows up is President or Vice-President "because the president gets to decide where the new schools are going to be built and draw out the maps for the construction workers". When I mentioned that being President or Vice-President is a full time job and that she wouldn't have time to also do the other 7 or 8 things she wants to be when she grows up, Aelyn decided that "Well... maybe I'll skip being President or Vice-President then because just doing one job sounds boring".

Heelys

The paternal parents are in town this week (Flint's parents) with cousin Andrew. They decided to buy Heelys ("Freedom is a wheel in your sole!") for the childrens as birthday presents. When we got home tonight the kids put them on and rolled around a bit to get a feel for them. This should be interesting.

Aelyn'isms

Aelyn: Daddy, I think there's a thief sneaking into our house at night.
Daddy: Why's that?
Aelyn: My toothpaste and toothbrush and timer are always over here all lined up on the side but I never leave them there.

Ian and his A25 Interceptor

Ian and his A25 Interceptor
Originally uploaded by SquidgeyFlint

This is my unfinished model paper plane I named the A-25 Interceptor.

- by Ian

Frog

Frog,
Slimey, Gooey,

H        mm          ap
 o      u  p        a  p
  p    J    i      e    i
   p  g,     n    e      n
    in        g, L        g

Frog

poem by Aelyn
blogified by Ian

Ladies_Lake

Ladies_Lake
Originally uploaded by SquidgeyFlint

An optical illusion picture confusing your body for lake, trees, and ladies walking in front of a brick wall carrying lanters.
By Ian

Camp Sealth Weekend (June 2007)

IMG_0828
Originally uploaded by SquidgeyFlint

The first weekend in June, the kids' Campfire USA group hosted a family overnight at Camp Sealth (satellite map). The camp is located on Vashon Island which is only accessasble by ferry. We stayed in cabins. While we had access to a fridge, we cooked over the fire using basic implements of campfire cooking such as tin-foil (for tin-foil dinners), pie-irons (for french toast), and skewers (for the smores). We took a hike up to Ungle Wigglebottoms Cabin. They had a touch tank going at the pier and the kids had fun playing at the beach and in the general area. On Sunday, we did a fused glass craft in the morning before we left which was a lot fun. You can see the whole set at our Flickr site.

Aelyn'isms

Daddy, are you going to play your Intendo?

Ladybugs

LadyBugs
Originally uploaded by SquidgeyFlint

We saw bags of ladybugs at the hardware store and the childrens were intrigued. The Ladybugs were being sold as anti-pest devices (aphids, spider mite/somethings, etc).

Since we have a lot of wholey leaves and the kids were in the mood to release a bunch of ladybugs we picked up a couple bags and both kids got to distribute ladybugs around the front and back of the house.

Getting the ladybugs out of the bags was harder than you'd think. Once they figured out there was an opening, they were hip to climb to the outside of the bag but they seemed a bit nervous actually leaving the bag for their new leafy homes.

Later in the day we found a few ladybugs that had hitched rides in the girl's hair and on my flannel.

Levels of burp

The kids dig burping so much that they've developed their own set of terms to describe the burpiness of their burps, not unlike eskimos and their many words for snow.

• Burp - "Regular" (commonly accepted definition)
• Belch - A little bit louder than a burp (commonly accepted definition)
• Gelch - (pronounced jelch) Giant belch.
• Helch - "huge-mungous" belch.
• G-Helch - "Gigantic huge-mungous" belch.
• HH-Gelch - "Huge-mungous huge-mungous gigantic" belch.