Fort Worth Stockyards

This morning, Diego, Luis and I went to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Fort Worth is about 35 minutes from us, and this was our first trip. They herd cows everyday (except maybe Thanksgiving and Christmas). It turns out, however, that the size of the herd is proportionate to the size of the expected crowd. On a Sunday morning in August, they weren't expecting a big crowd...

First we saw the cows in their pen. Diego and I were impressed with the size of the steer and their horns - both very large.

Luis, on the other hand, was impressed watching them poop. (I decided to take the picture of Luis laughing, not the cow pooping.)

After that, we walked around the commercial part of the area, waiting for the "cattle drive". There was all kinds of "Texas" memorabilia (read: cowboy hats & boots and Dr. Pepper), and almost every store offered to ship your merchandise. It was definitely made for tourists. Luis's two favorite things were the cowboy hats and the "merry-go-round" horses (that were everywhere).

He really, really, really wanted to try on the pink one.

We staked out our little patch of sidewalk to watch the cattle drive right next to a saddled steer and near a dog. Luis was initially much more impressed with the dog (who he rightly identified looked like Ashley). After a while, he warmed up to the steer and eventually agreed to sit on him.

Finally, it was "herd" time. Diego and Luis moved up to the edge of the sidewalk for a better view.

And, about six and a half minutes later, it was over. We found a place for some lunch (in a touristy spot like this, we didn't have to look far). Diego enjoyed beef brisket, a Texas version of BBQ. Luis enjoyed grilled cheese on Texas Toast. And not being a fan of any kind of BBQ, I enjoyed my turkey sandwich.

The proverbial carrot that we used to get Luis to eat his lunch was the promise that he could ride the "horses" again. Since Luis kept up his end of the deal, we kept up ours. Diego took Luis out to ride while I settled up our tab (often, Luis loses his restaurant stamina approximately 3 minutes before the check comes - so one of us takes him "for a walk" while the other pays). This particular ride was a horse pulling a cart. Luis b-e-g-g-e-d me to ride too, which I did. Then, Diego put a quarter in the machine. The way the whole thing lurched - as if the horse really was galloping - made me laugh really hard - which Diego tried valiantly to capture on film. But this scene really needed video.

Just before leaving, we took one last picture of Luis...

PS - When we got home, Luis slept from 1:30p until 5:15p!

The Master of Disaster - The Sequel?

There is a story about me that Sandy loves to share. I was about 6 or so and was home with him on a Saturday when everyone else was away. I was playing outside and fell down a few steps in the back yard. I came into the house, crying and bleeding. Sandy got me patched up and calmed down. The next thing out of my mouth was a plea to go back outside. He relented, and let me go. I'm not sure that more than 30 minutes passed before I was back inside - bleeding & crying - having fallen down exactly the same steps. One of many stories backing up his nickname for me: The Master of Disaster.

Last week, Luis was out playing with his new dump truck. He was running down the sidewalk, pushing the truck in front of him, when he lost his balanced and fell. He got a nice big scrape on his knee. It was just about healed when, on Thursday, he fell inside on carpet, and scraped it all raw again. Friday, he was running around inside the house and skidded on the hardwood floor, and managed to scrape it raw again.

After this last scrape, Luis was really upset. He wanted Diego, who was at work. So we did the best we could, and called him. Through sobbing tears, Luis plainly told Diego that he was running around and fell and hurt his knee again. Then he told Diego that he was crying and sad. Finally, he asked Diego to come home. NOW. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I imagine it was much harder for Diego who was stuck at work for 5 more hours...

The Greatest Show on Earth

Last weekend, Diego and I took Luis to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as The Greatest Show on Earth - which is not really a shorter name). Luis knew about the circus from some of his books and was eager to go. We also invited Bethany and Caleb to join us.

Before the show, many of the performers were down on the performance floor greeting people, performing, and posing for pictures. Luis was eager to go down there, but soon felt overwhelmed by it all.

Luis posed for this picture because I asked him to, he was not overly fond of the clowns

Walking around before the show, Luis was a bit overwhelmed; he preferred to be as high as possible

I haven't been to the circus in at least a decade - I think since my senior year in high school. I was surprised with this show at how much singing and dancing there was. The ringmaster sang between almost every act. It wasn't bad, but it was not what I was expecting. Luis and Caleb were pretty enthralled with most of the show. Caleb sat on his mom's lap and took it all in. Luis rarely sat the entire show - squirming between Diego and I, dancing, jumping, climbing in and out of his chair - but always with an eye on the performers. The tigers were neat to watch, as were the acrobats. But to me, the most amazing act were these motorbike riders inside a big steel sphere. It's difficult to describe, but there are some great pictures here.

Luis's own circus act was to eat his foot during intermission

The show was two hours, with a 20 minute intermission. I think we all would have been happy with a one hour show, but then we would have missed the tigers. Also, intermission allowed me the opportunity to purchase a $5.50 "souvenir" cup of diet coke and a $4.00 bottle of water. I passed on the $12 cotton candy!!!

Diego carried two happy, but very tired boys back to the car

Kitchen Update

The kitchen renovation project is coming along very nicely. They have the floor back in, the cabinets back in and the tile laid and grouted. All that is left is to seal the grout and touch up paint - both of which should happen early next week.

Overall, construction went really well. I am still a bit surprised at seamlessly the project flowed and how little time there was between subcontractors. Jason, the contractor, did a great job scheduling the work and the subs did a great job doing the work. All the same, I am eager for it to be complete.

It looks great AND it is wonderful to have the kitchen back. We celebrated yesterday by inviting our friends Chris & Leah over for dinner.

Lesson Learned

On Tuesday night, we ordered take-out pizza for dinner. The kitchen renovation is on-going and I wasn't able to cook in the kitchen. Luis chose pizza, so we got pizza. Then, as is often the case, Luis ate NO pizza. It was "too hot", then "too cold", then "too spicy", then just plain "I don't liiiiiiike it". Instead, he sprinkled the fake Parmesan cheese all over his plate (and the place mat and the table). This took a few minutes. He would like his finger, dunk it in the pile of Parmesan and then stick his finer in his mouth, declaring, "YUMMY!!". Once the wasn't enough Parmesan to pile up, Luis started eyeing the red pepper flakes. Diego and I issued warnings and said no and told him they were hot and that he wouldn't like them and that it would hurt his mouth. The more we warned, not surprisingly, the more interested he was. And, to be honest, Diego and I were exhausted. So we let him have them. Just like the Parmesan, first he sprinkled it over the pizza and the plate and the place mat. Then he made little piles. Then he licked his finger. (Diego and I braced for the inevitable.) Then he dunked it in the flakes and stuck it in his mouth with blinding speed and a dazzling smile. The smile didn't last long. Tears. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow" More tears. "It's hot. My tongue is so hot." "I don't liiiiiiiiiike it." "Mommy fix it."

"My tongue is so hot!"

The New (Outdoor Only) Dump Truck

Luis has been to three birthday parties in the last 6 weeks. At all three, he watched the birthday boy receive this dump truck. And each time, Luis was awed by the greatness of the big, plastic dump truck. So this week, I went to Target and got him his own. [It's apparently the end of the "season" so it was discounted. They don't realize that dump trucks don't go out of "season" for 2 1/2 year old boys!]

He spent 20 minutes yesterday morning picking up sticks in the front yard, loading them into the dump truck and then finding the perfect dump site (the front walk). He then ran up and down the front walk, driveway and sidewalk, pushing the dump truck. This toy is a HIT!

"My Dumptruck is SOOOOO Busy"

Halfway Down

Halfway Down A. A. Milne

Halfway down the stairsIs a stair where I sit.There isn't any other stairQuite like it.I'm not at the bottom,I'm not at the top;So this is the stairWhere I always stop. Halfway up the stairs Isn't up and isn't down.It isn't in the nursery,It isn't in the town. And all kinds of funny thoughtsGo running round my head:"It isn't really anywhere! It's somewhere else instead!"

Lately, when Luis wakes up from his nap, he brings his "baca and blankie" down to the landing for a little extra rest. Sometimes, he lays there for 5 minutes; sometimes for 30 minutes. Luis knows that he can't bring the Baca downstairs. Luis and I have come to a silent agreement that the landing is a "Baca-OK place".

Practicing for the Swim Suit Edition?

It's been a week since I took this picture and I've already forgotten what was going on - why I allowed Luis to lay down on the kitchen island and why he wanted up in the first place. Oh well, I still think it's a cute picture.

Luis Gives Dance Lessons

The other day, Luis was watching TV and got up to dance to a song. He called me over to "show" me how to dance. His instructions included:

-Stick out your tongue

-Stretch out your arms

-Shake

Mr. Chatty

At some point, when I wasn't looking, Luis's vocabulary expanded exponentially. Not only is he using more words, he's building more complex sentences.

In Mr. Kyle's pool: Mommy, my cup is floating away and I need to swim after it.

Coming home from the store: When there are lots of cars, that's called traffic and you have to be careful. That's true.

About the construction in our house: The kitchen floor is missing. But the men (the framers) are there (at the house) and they have lots of work to do. They are good workers.

Then there are the funny things he says-

Talking to Todd, with some coins in his hand: I've got the money AND the honey.

He's also starting to make connections on his own. The other day, he noticed a man going into Kyle's backyard. I asked something about the Pool Man. Luis: Mommy, can I go into Mr. Kyle's back yard to see what the Pool Man is doing?. In the past, despite being pretty sure who the guy was, there would have been some back and forth to make sure (Mommy - who is that? It's the Pool Man. Is that the Pool Man? Yes.).

Recently, Luis has added several affirmatives to his regular vocabulary, that's true, absolutely, sure, and Yeah- let's do that. I like to hear so many agreeable things coming out of his mouth. But it also makes me feel good: while it feels like I say a whole lot of 'No', clearly I am saying enough Yeses that they are sticking in his vocabulary.

Craziness

Two weeks ago was a crazy week with Diego home sick for two days (he's feeling much better now), Luis's school closing on Wednesday to clean up after a swine flu case was reported, and the cable guy being here all day Thursday. I am enough like my dad that THAT much disruption to the schedule threw me for a loop. Friday night, I went to be at 8:30p!

This week is crazy because half of my kitchen, the back entrance to our house and the laundry room floors are being torn out (of the house we are renting in TX). It's a complicated story, but when the owners did a big renovation 5 years ago, somebody didn't properly account for rain and runoff water, resulting in water under the sub-floor and a completely rotten sub-floor and floor. (Who that "somebody" is is the million dollar question - I don't know the answer.)

This week was demo week. Next week, they'll put new sub-floor in, reinstall the cabinets, reinstall the tops and stove top. The week after new tile floor will come in. The plan is that the whole duration will be about 3 weeks, but I should only be shut out of my kitchen for 5 days.

I'll post more next week.

The first day they removed the counter tops

The second day they removed the cabinets

The third day they removed the floor and some of the rotten floor joists

This is the pile of what they took out

If I were to actually walk in through the back door this morning, I'd fall into this hole

Hair Cut

(Before and After)

Since moving to Texas, I've taken up cutting Luis's hair; a job that was Diego's when we lived in Mumbai and Genet's (the supercut's lady) when we were in Virginia. I've had some decent cuts and some not-quite decent cuts. However, I'm feeling very proud of the job I did last night. I still need some practice, but I feel my technique is getting much better.

If you can't take the heat, stay out of the tent

I am beginning to wonder if a person's internal thermometer isn't something they are born with. Luis's interest in playing outside is completely independent of what the temperature is like. And when it's extreme (very hot or very cold), he's usually happy to keep playing until his face is the color of a tomato or his fingers fall off from frostbite.

Yesterday, it was 102 degrees in the afternoon. That's not what it felt like, that was the actual temperature. It felt hotter. Occasionally there would be a breeze, which made it tolerable to be outside.

Luis wanted to play outside. I was about to start making dinner. Diego wanted to air out our tent (which hasn't been used for camping in Luis's lifetime, though probably a few years more than his lifetime). The perfect solution was for Diego and Luis to go outside and pitch the tent (and for me to stay close to the air conditioning vent).

Once the tent was pitched, though, Luis came and got me so he could show it to me. Then, he wanted me to get inside with him (and Ashley, too). I obliged. (Diego, politely declined.) And I lasted approximately 4 1/2 minutes before heat stroke set in. Luis stayed in about 5 more minutes. When he finally got out he said, "Mommy, the tent makes me verrrrrrrry sweaty."

Not Just Every Seventeen Years, EVERY Year

In Virginia, we saw cicadas every seventeen years. And when I say "saw", I mean that at the height of cicada season, every flat surface was covered with a cicada carcass. It was a big deal, too. I remember my first cicada year in 6th grade (though now that I think about it, it could have been 7th). We got them again when Diego and I were in Falls Church together. The newspaper did loads of stories about them - even going so far as to offer up cicada recipes.

Last week when Jeanette and Eric were visiting, Eric asked about the all-day-long droning noise that was too loud to be crickets. Turns out, cicadas come to Dallas (TX?) every year. We've been listening to them for over a month - like a distant neighbor running a power yard tool ALLLLLLLL day long. In the last two or three days, their carcases have started gracing the yard.

Saturday night, Diego found one and put it in a jar for Luis. Sunday morning, Luis was in awe of it. When I woke up he said to me, "Mommy - Daddy got me a special treat this morning. Come see; come see; come see. It was not chocolate milk, as I had suspected, but the cicada. You can't really see the cicada in the picture above, but you can see how Luis is holding it; how he held it for about 2 hours! While it's true that the cicada was alive when presented to Luis and not alive when Luis finally lost interest in it, to his credit, Luis did not squish or manhandle the little insect in any way.

Not Quite Sure

This picture was on the camera when I downloaded today. Diego took it on Thursday when I wasn't around. The more I look at it, the less I can begin to guess what, specifically, he was trying to capture. But what I do see is a good snapshot (figuratively and literally) of the toys Luis most loves to play with at the moment:

Thomas the Tank Engine (which is slightly defective and often makes the beep-beep-honk-honk noise of a train endlessly until one of us threatens to take it away unless Luis turns it off)

Tonka Trucks (a wonderful birthday present from Bibi & Grandpa Sandy)

Ikea Blocks (which, interestingly, he most likes to use to build boats)

Playdoh

Do A Dots (an awesome gift from Sarah)

Imagination Showing Through

Tonight, as I was cutting Luis's hair, he said to me: "Mommy, when I was a grown up, I used to cut YOUR hair."

(haircut pictures will be posted tomorrow, assuming it looks OK in the morning - it was still wet at bedtime)

Good Questions

This morning, we were all (Diego, Luis and I) on our way to Target. Luis asked, "Can we go to the library and be quiet?"

After 20 minutes inside Target, with Luis running around and using his outside voice, Diego asked me, "Can we convince Luis that Target is the library so that he'll be quiet there?"

Wouldn't that be nice...

Happy Anniversary Dodie & Alison

Today marks Dodie & Alison's eleventh anniversary. Five different US addresses (and countless in Tanzania and Kenya), four post-graduate degrees, three children, two free cars, and one amazing adventure after another later - they are still two people I admire, love and respect immensely. I hope you have a great celebration in Mombasa!

(I had to search my photo archives to find a picture with the two of them - and didn't come up with a great one. This is from July 2007.)

What would YOU call them?

Bethany & Caleb came over for a play on Tuesday. It was HOT. After a bit of running around and sandbox play, I turned on the sprinkler for the boys. Caleb stripped down to his undies. Luis looked at me, a bit distressed and said, " Mommy, I need my.... uhm, my .... (turns and looks at Caleb), my ... SPRINKLER PANTS!!"

Dallas From Jeanette & Eric's Camera

Jeanette, Eric & Aaron were here for the long weekend. This is the weekend in pictures - get the story here.

Luis and the penguins

It was SO HOT at the zoo, that we relished cooling off in the misters!

... and Aaron relished cooling off in the stream at the children's zoo

Jeanette & Aaron sharing some kisses

"Mommy - it's really HOT in Texas!"

Eric & Luis on the carousel (at the zoo)

Luis and his map - he carried it around for most of our trip at the zoo

Luis on the island in the kitchen - not sure what was happening here...

Aaron trying out the Exersaucer; jury is still out

Luis & Aaron in the kitchen

Ashley showing Aaron some love

Happenings in the kitchen

Luis & Thomas (the tank engine)

Chugga chugga chugga chugga CHOO CHOO