Costa Rica!

Earlier this year and old neighbor and friend of Jon's was so very kind as to bestow on this small family free tickets on Continental airlines. So the day after Christmas we packed up our shorts and swimsuits, threw the christmas tree out the back door, and headed to the airport. We only had four full days down in Costa Rica, but they were full of fun, hearty laughs, and many animal spottings. We failed to bring our camera on our little river rafting expedition, so we don't have proof of our sightings, but we think it was pretty cool to see a small colony of bats sleeping on the rock wall, to eat a snack below a troup of howler monkeys, and to spot gigantic iguanas and lizards sunning on the banks. Not as excited about the caimon (alligator cousin) that was as large as me, but it looked lazy in the afternoon heat, so I didn't totally freak out. We also got up our courage for a full day of adventure that included horseback rides, mud spa treatments, hot springs (not so relaxing if while sitting in them a monkey poops on your head- right Eli?) and then the dreaded zip line(s). There were too many of them, I think. Both the boys started out doing them on their own, but when on the third zip Theo's finishing move was to crash into the tree, he got 'taxied' for the rest of the ride. Eli also chose a taxi (you get hooked on to a guide) for the long rides, but finished out the last few lines under his own power. They were both much more fearless than me. It was a treat to watch them.

The return of the virus

We thought that we were in the clear- Eli had made it all through the holiday parties with just a few incidents of appetite loss. But then, this morning, he and the toilet had a nice roundevouz. He had been tossing and turning in bed for a few hours, so I had a feeling this was coming. He then went on philosophizing about what was worse, the anticipation of puking, or puking, or not puking....went on for quite a while about this, so I knew that he was feeling at least a little better. After a long day of lounging on the couch in his pajamas, he seems fairly cured, just real lackluster. I want this germ out!!! I can't believe it is the same one that struck the rest of us back before Christmas- but if it is, it atleast gives me some hope for a wee bit of immunity.

The dreaded virus

It rampaged our house- only Eli has remained unscarred. On Sunday I was sure I would never do anything productive again. On Monday I was certain that now that I could eat again that I would only provide my body with leafy greens and organic fruits. And on Tuesday....I broke into the chips. It's been a long time since I was brought so low by a germ.

Before the illness, we were busy whirlwinding through December, with parties and outings and doings galore. Jon and I have never seen so much of each other. At my staff party (after which Jon had to admit that I do work with a humorous, fun bunch) there was the much anticipated white elephant exchange. My co-workers took pity on Eli when he was stuck with the book "The Baby Whisperer" and took it off his hands. He ended up with the 'best white elephant gift ever!' which has since sat in it's box on the radiator. But Theo did dig through it and found a little book about the hula- including a flower comb for your hair. He put it in and taught himself a few steps. Never have I been so enamored with him. He was so serious, and adorable. Here he is:

After hitting the British Ad Awards with DuNordian pals I found myself longing for summer and lazy days sitting on the dock dangling my feet in Burntside Lake. This school year stuff makes time move so dang fast, it's hard to get my bearings.

After Jon and I went to the Dan Wilson concert, I sang myself "Hand on my Heart" for the next 36 hours. It's playing right now. Love that skinny 50-something guy.

And after 3 long weeks of exams and appointments and waiting- Eli is bespectacled. Turns out that the kid couldn't see much. During the wait, I wasn't sure if he was disappointed or excited about the upcoming change for him-he stayed so low key about it. When he expressed worries that he might start looking like a mole when he took his glasses off (apparently that is the fate of his friend Simon) I thought, disappointed. Then, the night before they were to be picked up, when he skipped dinner, then awoke at 5 am, ready to start his day, I thought, excited. Yep, he was excited. By now he might be disappointed, but I don't think that has happened yet. He is still thrilled to have them on, look at something, pull them down, look again, and be wowed by the difference. And I think that he thinks that he looks pretty cool. He does. But older.

Here's hoping that he continues to ward off the germ that is probably still lurking somewhere in our house. I have taken antibiotic wipes to any and all surfaces, but this one seems wiley. We have so many more doings to do in December that I don't know if we can handle another slow down. I do admit that having to sit on the couch and watch Harry Potter 1 and 2 with the kids was a nice break from the action. But it is time to jump back in.

Time

I've been thinking about it, wondering what I did all November...did I really spend so much time on Facebook? No. There was a lot of time spent watching the "Yes We Can" video on YouTube. But I'm done with that obsession now. Now it's on to the Jedi Gym video. If you haven't seen it, it is definitely worth a glance. Now that I think about it, I was alerted to both of these videos through facebook. shoot. Need more self control.....

Catching up

It's been a while since I have taken the time to update this old blog. To tell the truth, I started wasting time on that facebook thing and I don't get over here so often. But things are still happening in our world. The boys and I just got back from a quick trip to visit Jean and Rodg in Florida. I thought it was delightful to get away from work and my house and the cold. Wish Jon could have come, of course. While we were there Eli got into the habit of swimming laps in the pool with his grandparents. I often sat out of these sessions, and a couple times I got to watch them criss cross the pool from the balcony eight stories up. Eli does a good job keeping up with his grandparents. Theo, on the other hand, doesn't really do laps. He does zigzags. Hard to tell if this is on purpose or not, but it was fun to watch him do his little quiet backfloaty-flipper thing back and forth...he'd happen into the pathway of Jean and they'd share a smile and a laugh, she'd send him off in the 'right' direction and he'd soon enough bounce into Rodg's orbit and they'd have a little giggle, and on and on Theo went. It's very similar to how he goes through life- we're never sure exactly where he's headed, but he spreads a lot of love and smiles along the way. Anyway, now that we are back in the hinterland of MN, Eli wanted to continue his swimming, so we took him to the Y and he promptly churned out 20 laps using his unique left arm dominant trudgeon type stroke. I checked the chart on the wall, and sure enough, the kid had covered a half mile in really an impressively short period. He came home and started a chart with a goal to get to 1000 laps by 2010. Considering he has covered over 1/10 of that distance in the past week, I think he may make it. I've noticed him checking out his muscles in the mirror. Love that skinny kid.

When we weren't swimming laps, we perfected our beach combing techniques, uncovering such treasures as a full (and fully dead) crab, the picked clean skeleton of a sting ray, and lots of stunningly beautiful shells. Many of these will eventually find their way to The Collectors' Corner at the science museum and be traded for other fabulous natural objects.

One day Jean and Rodg rented a pontoon and took us out into the bay where we watched a flock of pelicans dive bomb a school of fish as a large pack of dolphins skimmed around the area. It was like we were in a real live "Mutual of Omaha" special. I was pointing and squealing and totally giving myself away as a landlocked landlubber from the frozen north.

I do think that the highlight of my trip was realizing that my two little guys have evolved into fully competent travellers who get a thrill out of new adventures. They hauled their own bags and navigated our way through the airports- I swear that they could do it without me. But I won't let them. Not yet.

Fraconia Sculpture Park

Here are some shots from another fall outing. The kids had many Fridays off this fall, and instead of being cold in our house, we decided to get out and check out some new Minnesota sites. These photos are from a trip with the NeskeMoens to the Fraconia sculpture park- a delightful little tribute to artists- plopped down onto the corner of a cornfield. Literally.

Fast Fall

I can't believe that I am sitting inside with freezing hands watching little pieces of ice spitting down from the sky. What happened to those glorious fall days? As the weather turns ugly, I have to keep reminding myself that it is not impossible to get out in this crappy November brown turdy season. I yearn for the first real snow fall- we did have a sloppy half inch or so this past Friday. The boys had the day off and delighted in the white view from their window. They quickly rummaged through the hall closet and found enough hats/mittens/boots to get out and use up every last flake to form about a half dozen snowballs. They then enticed me out and bombarded me. It was a great thrill, for 32 seconds. Then all was brown and mud again.

But we have gotten out- I started the last two Sundays with an energizing 'pole hike' out at Battle Creek park. Those are some hills. And this past weekend, as the sun started thinking about peeking out off a dreary Sunday sky, the family packed into the car to go to an undisclosed location for the fall launch of the rocket club. The original launch had to be 'scrubbed' (do you like the official language) because of gusts over 50 mph. As we waited in our car for the other members to show I found myself hoping that we would be stood up and could go back home to our luke-cold house. Then the cars rolled in and we bundled up and hiked across the field to the launch site. We spent a glorious 2 hours in the frigid sunshine racing down rockets as they dropped from the sky. I actually nabbed one out of the air before it his the ground this time. I only had to batter two boys out of the way to do so. As it approached 4pm and the sun had lost almost all of its weak power James prepared the final launch- he put in a big motor (is that what they are called?) and pointed the launch pad into the wind. As it took off it looked like it was going to disappear forever, then the chute came out and it drifted back so perfectly that all Theo had to do is reach up into the sky and grab it. I don't think he ever moved his feet. It was a perfect 'finishing move'- he was postively glowing with delight. We returned to the house chilled to the bone, our shoes covered in cold goose poop, but with light hearts and a firm committment to continue to get out, despite it being November in Minnesota.

Here's a shot from our wonderful October: