Family Pictures

I'm not going to say that our kids take after my side of the family, but maybe Rowan would.

He saw this photo hanging in the hallway at my parents' house today and said "There's Rowan!". I pointed to Uncle Adam (circa 1974) and asked him, "You mean right here?" and he said "Yeah!" "Well, then who's this?" I asked, pointing to myself. "Lydia."

There you have it.

(If Grammie Donna would like to refute this evidence, I say, scan up some photos and send them in to the Squink.)

Road Trip to Sam's Club

Grandfather and I (with help from Jeff in the morning and Marmie in the afternoon) took care of the three little badgers today. Somehow I was able to do that AND work over four hours when my normal load is two hours a day. I guess it helps that Lydia took a three-hour nap for the first time in her life.

Our big excitement for the day was loading everyone up in the van and going to Sam's Club for diapers and a chicken for dinner.

Sorry I don't have more of a post for today, but I am totally whupped.

Happy Birthday

… to the best father and husband any family could hope for.

(Rowan's attire, or lack thereof, is in preparation for eating some very dark chocolate cake that Grandfather so kindly whipped up for Jeff's birthday today.)

Uncle Adam's Visit

My brother Adam decided that he needed a break from the old grind in Indianapolis and came over to visit us for an evening. We had a very nice time at The Pub in Faketown, sitting on the porch talking to our neighbors (Emilee and Aaron) and then going to see Grammy.

I think he was impressed by the quality of the Brown Bed and Breakfast, even though no actual cooking of breakfast was done. Or cooking of any sort, come to think of it. He did however get to hold Lydia many times, and that's better than bacon and eggs.

Bellbrook MegaMug

Many readers have heard tell the story of the MegaMug, a 32 oz. beverage served at one of our favorite Dayton bars, McGuillicuty's, that we used to live across from in our apartment days. Oh the MegaMug, how we missed it's ample frosty content. What was great about McGuillicuty's was that it was in easy walking distance and had fine bar food that includes the world's best bread sticks. It's so great that we spent at least one anniversary dinner there.

Joyfully, we learned that there just happens to be a downtown Bellbrook bar, not more than a half mile from us, with 32 oz. beers that share the MegaMug name. We also found that they have fantastic chicken wings, pizza, and pork tenderloins. It's a family friendly bar with a section set off from the bar with videogames (Galaga and Ms. Packman) and pinball. We had dinner with the Emilee, Lola, Aaron, and Gigi there tonight and all were equally impressed. So future visitors, plan on a stop at McIntosh's.

Moved

And so ends a busy week since our last post. How could we post when I had packed up my computer and brought it over to the new house last Tuesday? What's happened since then? Painting. Packing. Moving. Unpacking. As it turns out, we have an inordinate amount of things, stunning both us and our movers. Was it the 221 boxes? The basement full of cast off furniture, rugs, and equipment?

The estimated three truck one day move became a four truck two day move that crushed spirits of the 3 packers and 6 movers who were paid a princely $10 an hour for backbreaking labor. Lucky for them that we also took 7 van loads of goods to the house. We bought them 3 large pizza's at the end of the day so that surely smoothed things over. Here's the last truck leaving the old house.



Packing was last Thursday and Friday morning with moving Friday till 8:00 p.m. and Saturday till 3:00 p.m. Since then we've been diving through boxes and setting up the house. Angela is focused (obsessed?) with this task and is unboxing the Master bedroom boxes as I blog. Grammy Donna was here through the move and was a tremendous help in getting the house set up. There's still a lot of work to do there are only a handful of boxes that still need to be opened. The office was one of the last rooms to be addressed and the fact that I'm blogging is a good sign.

In between the 14 hour work days we've been really enjoying the new house. It's daunting to move, especially when you liked your old house, but being here is making it all worthwhile.

Belly Button Treasure

Some of you may remember me talking about how Lydia is not real big on going Number Two. At her two-month appointment, we expressed concern to our pediatrician that she sometimes goes a week or even two before giving her diaper the business. He said it was perfectly normal for some babies, and that the record for a healthy baby was 28 days between #2s.

Last week, Lydia finally had some action after two weeks. Happily, I was holding her in my lap at the time. And no, this isn't going where you think it is. I went in to change her and I noticed something seeping out the front of her outfit. This was a hot mustard explosion in reverse, with the result being a special mess for mommy to clean up in her belly button.

The above photo is a post-cleanup shot of my happy little girl.

Moving Reinforcements

Grammy Donna has arrived, and none too soon, to help occupy the children while Angela and I begin our southern migration to Bellbrook. Other than being granted supervisory status for Rowan and Lydia, she will filling any of her "free" time with random moving tasks. We certainly appreciate the help and hopefully the kids don't tire her out too much because there's all that stuff she needs to move.

Bad Hair Day

You may have noticed from recent posts that Rowan's was given a haircut that tamed his savage mane. It was really getting out of control as can be seen above. Don't worry, his new doo is much hipper and is already beginning to sprout new curls.

Grabby Girl

Lydia's new favorite pastime is grabbing for everything within reach, especially drinking vessels or long hair. The following video is a great sampling of both:



And just because there's no such thing as too many cute baby pictures, here's a couple of our little girl in a red gingham summer outfit.

New Owners for the Rose House

We just signed the papers and are now the proud owners of the famous Bellbrook residence known as the Rose House. This time next week, we'll be able to move in and start putting our mark on it. (It's debatable how long we'll keep the mauve color scheme, but it's actually not too bad when you see it in person.)

We met the original owners at the closing today – they are a very nice couple in their 60s who are sadly getting a divorce. The wife was very friendly and promised to leave everything she could find (photos, blueprints, manuals, etc.) about the building of the house. I think they were happy to be handing over their beloved house to a family with young children who are so excited to be moving in.

There are many parts of this house that we are excited about, but these are the biggies: for me, having a front porch and a shady back yard are key. Jeff likes the bonus room over the garage and the back porch. Best of all, this house is really made for entertaining, and we promise to have everyone over soon to see it.

Happy Daddy Day

We had what I would consider a pretty typical Father's Day today. In the morning, Jeff ran to the Waffle Ho to get some hashbrowns to go, and then we met the "other Browns" for lunch at the Blueberry Cafe where he had still more hashbrowns. This was followed by a photo that is strangely reminiscent of photos taken a hundred years ago, where everyone sits or stands awkwardly and no one cracks a smile.



I started first thing in the morning trying to get Rowan to say "Happy Father's Day", with poor to middling results. Most of the time he either refused or said "Happy Mother's Day". Finally when it was almost time to go to bed, we got "Happy Daddy Day" out of him.



(We're going to save those last few seconds for Grandparents' Day.)

One Last Visit at the Yellow House

Marmie and Grandfather came over to retrieve some random items from our house before the big move (which happens June 30) and to see their two favorite grandchildren (you heard me, Adam and Steve). Rowan and his Grandfather bonded over books about trucks and construction equipment, and Marmie helped organize Lydia's closet full of pink summer clothes.



We also had a bit of unexpected drama when Fitzy decided to pull a disappearing act right before they were supposed to leave. After the four of us searched the entire house and yard at least five times and even drove around the neighborhood, he just casually walked through the foyer as we were coming up from the basement. We're not sure where he was, but he was probably hiding under Lydia's crib. Thanks for giving Grandfather a much-needed heart-attack, Sargeant Fitzgerald.

Friday Dance Off

Here's a quick video of Rowan showing off some sweet dance skills. Not sure why he's so into it, but he danced for most of the hour that we were there. I need to get one of those hats you put on the ground to collect money. Rowan would get way more than the night's flaming baton juggler. That's right, nothing goes better with a bunch of kids running around than the inclusion of fire-hot shiny sticks.

Flying High

Here we see young Rowan flying a kite all by himself with two other boys anxiously awaiting their turn with the string. This is a good example of an activity that Rowan experiences during a typical daycare day. What I find amazing is that the other kids patiently wait their turn while another child has his turn. Aren't two year olds supposed to be blindly possessive? Well, usually they are, but for some reason children are on their best behavior at school. Is it their inherent understanding for a need for social order? Are the caregivers some sort of pied pipers who control the thoughts of youth? We may never know, but what I do know is that Rowan sure is flying the tail off of that kite.