Two-wheel Therapy

A few weeks ago, I decided to sell my motorcycle. It wasn’t an easy decision, but due to increased demands on my time at both work and home, the bike has mostly been sitting alone in the garage gathering dust. Yesterday afternoon I agreed to meet a potential buyer in Topeka, and took off around 3:30, burdened by a mile-long list of pressing items at work.

I got home, changed quickly and headed out. The weather was nice – a little warm, but much cooler than the sweltering weather we’ve had lately. Minutes after hitting the highway, work receded a little from my mind, and I focused instead on my surroundings. On a motorcycle, going through downtown KC on the interstate at rush hour requires your attention. A mantra – given to me by a safety instructor years ago - goes through my mind as it does every time I ride: “Ride like nobody sees you, and everyone is trying to kill you.” After a while, this traffic-target-tracking becomes second nature, and while you don’t notice it consciously, it still precludes you from total relaxation.

Regardless, as I head west and leave the city behind, the traffic thins and I begin to unwind. The difference between being alone in a car, and alone on a motorcycle is that only the latter provides the true opportunity to be alone with your thoughts, whatever they may be. Even with a little bit of glass and metal around you, you’re still cut off from the world, the smell and sensations of the environment around you. Not many people ride along without even the mild distraction of the radio.

I roll into Topeka, and head north for a few miles to my meeting. Afterwards, I decide to avoid the interstate and instead head back on Highway 24. I’m instantly rewarded with a pretty stretch of road, with a few wide sweepers and virtually no traffic. As I opened the throttle, the tension from the past week just got lost in the wooded draws, cornfields and pastures I was riding past. My senses opened up, as they usually do when I’m riding alone, and on the back roads of middle America.

A lot of the sensations brought back memories of growing up. As the sun began setting, I passed farmers still working their fields of corn and soybeans, smelled the fresh-cut smell of hay and watched balers gather the grass in rows, and passed small-town kids hanging out at the local convenience store, trying to keep themselves entertained during a small-town summer. Riding along the rolling hills, dips in the road, and river crossings all brought a noticeable drop in temperatures, along with the smell of cows, water, wind and grass. Hard to explain, but on a motorcycle it’s not hard to imagine why dogs like sticking their heads out the window.

As I continue taking the long, slow way back KC, the stresses of work and raising kids evaporate completely, and I‘m in a serene, peaceful place as I motor along. Getting hungry, I finally spot what I’m looking for - an established looking, small-town café with lots of cars in the parking lot - a sure sign of a good place to eat. As I sit and eat, I overhear the discussions of who was recently arrested, who’s child is a star athlete, how the crops are doing, and who has been disrespecting who.

As I leave to head for home, a little sadness hits me. While I’m looking forward to seeing my wife, and sorry I didn’t get to see my boys before bedtime, I don’t know when I will get this opportunity again, to find this kind of peacefulness on a bike. Motorcycle therapy has been a good thing for me, and after 14 years, I only recently got Mandy to join me on a ride. I still don’t think she is comfortable with it, but she gets a little of the appeal. But, it was definitely a good note to end on.

Tubes for E

Elliot had his ENT appointment yesterday. They tested his hearing and he needed noises a little louder on his right side than his left. His right ear has a lot of fluid in it (though not currently infected) and is the one that is always getting infected.

Since it's summer and ear infections usually go down in summer we had the option of waiting it out or being proactive and getting tubes placed. I am all about being proactive. Ear infections suck. Antibiotics are no fun. And last year in Colorado when we were hiking with him at 13,000 feet as he was spiking a fever.........really not fun. Do NOT want that to happen again.

So he gets tubes placed in 2 weeks. It's a simple and quick procedure (15 minutes) and I'm not worried about it at all. It will be at Children's Mercy and I know they'll take good care of him.

This morning he was pulling his ear and signed "hurt", but I think it might just be the pressure since I just had it checked late yesterday. Hoping we can hold out until his surgery with no more infection.

Sweet nap

Noah has had a sleep deficit the past week. It only takes one night and it is hard for him to "catch up". Even if he sleeps all night seemingly well, it's like he just needs a good long nap to catch up. Not easy for this guy. From day one he fights it.

Well sleep won the other day. It won for 3 hrs and 4o minutes when I finally decided to wake him up. He was the sweetest boy in the world after that. We let him close down the pool that night and I took him on a late bike ride as I knew he wouldn't be ready for bed at his usual hour. Still he was asleep for the night by 10pm. Not bad for such a long nap.

I had to snap this pic when he stuck his butt up in the air like a baby. So cute!

Elliot's new way of getting attention

I've talked about before how Elliot always goes up to strangers and gets in their personal space and stares at them looking cute until he gets food or toys. I mean this is a daily occurrence. Well, he now has a new thing. If they don't have food or toys, he goes up and "performs" for them so he can get their attention. As if begging for food and toys wasn't acting enough like a dog, he now does "tricks".

Basically he goes up to people (at the pool, park, wherever) and then does strong baby. That usually gets a laugh or comment and he gets this satisfied grin on his face as he continues with his act. He then goes through his entire repertoire of signs he knows. He starts with baby because it's the cutest. He usually ends by dancing and turning in circles. This is especially impressive at the deep end (2 ft) of the baby pool. If he falls and goes under the water and comes up happy that always gets some attention too. When he's done he repeats and will start again with strong baby. He is such a funny boy!

Movie night

We had a movie night the other night. This is how it works. Noah & Elliot share popcorn for awhile while watching Toy Story 2. Dad falls asleep. Noah retreats up high with the popcorn bowl to escape Elliot, and Elliot does a little climbing, which wakes dad up.

Colorado bound.

So it's hot. And miserable. Somehow, when it was all cooler out, Mandy and I convinced ourselves that it was too much trouble last year with little kids to do another vacation.

Vacations with little kids are hard work. The traveling usually sucks - who likes to be strapped in a car seat for 8-10 hours? - and getting there is only half the battle. Then there's the disruption of sleep, bedtime routines, etc. But our trip to Dallas surprised us. The boys traveled well, and slept well in the hotel.

So coming back to the 100-ish degree heat in Missouri caused Mandy to re-think our ban on Colorado this year, our favorite place to visit, summer or winter. Next thing I know she's using travel credits on Southwest to book her and the boys on a trip to the mountains, and there's no way in hell she's going without me (and half her family).

So we're headed to the mountains again in a couple months. This time, I'm sure one of them will like to ride contentedly in the backpack...

Sorry about the ugly blog

ARGH! Stupid blogger giving us a bunch of design options. I played around and don't know how to get it back to the basic template. And I know that's an ugly background. And the top picture is not as wide and it's generally unpleasant to look at.

I wish there was an undo button.

Crown Center Fountains

These are just a few pics I took from my cell phone, but I liked them enough to share. I love, love, love that I don't have to wait for them to open! The pool and sprayparks don't open until 11am. By then, it's nearly E's naptime. So we never go until the afternoon. And it is so hot out early in the morning, it's nice to get out and play in the water! Love that we can go here as early as we want!

Community Days

We had a fun Saturday in Belton attending Community Days again. I took both of the boys to the parade with Mom and Sam. The boys were thrilled with their candy and stickers and didn't seem to mind the lack of cool floats :) After the parade, we just hung out at my parent's house and let Elliot take a nap.

After E woke up we were about to head to the carnival, when Rick got home with some fish he was ready to "clean" (skin/gut/filet/etc). Well when my mom told me Noah was watching I was worried about him being horrified and disturbed. HA! He was totally into it! Me, not so much! So the carnival had to wait. The highlight came when Rick found a baby fish in one of the fish's stomach that he had eaten for lunch and had not digested yet. GAG! And my mom isn't fazed. Her response to my disgust was "it's free dinner!"

We had a good time at the carnival, but I didn't bring the camera. I got one pic on my cell phone of the boys together on a ride. E alternated from blank stares to crying on the one ride he went on, so we decided not to waste anymore over priced tickets on rides for him. Noah, Charlie & Jason's (Sarah's boyfriend) three boys Cole, Elijah & Luke all had fun on the rides. Charlie & Cole are DAREDEVILS! Noah's fave was the fast slide that literally sends you a bit airborne.

Once Elliot discovered funnel cake and the tent with the talent show/music/etc he had a blast! He was dancing and knocking over chairs and sucking sugar off funnel cake to his heart's content. He made friends with the Little Miss Belton baby who was the same age as him. We decided we should have entered him so they could have been in the court together. haha! There is NO doubt he would have won. Clearly!

After that, we went to Sarah's house and enjoyed grilling out and the company of family and friends until the fireworks went off. We were able to watch them from the field behind Sarah's house. Paul & E headed back early as E was tired, but Noah and I waited it out and Noah passed out on the way home at 10:40. What a fun day!

Noah is already looking forward to next year and says he wants to take Hudson & Addison next time.

Ready for the parade!

The politicians were out and targeting kids like a sugary cereal at the grocery store. Noah doesn't care what they stand for. He likes stickers and supported them all.

One of Elliot's new things is begging from complete strangers. He gets right in their personal space and stares at them all cute and pitiful until he gets A) food or B) toys (when we are at the pool). It always works. And he has no shame. He will go back for seconds, even thirds if I allow him. It's so funny! He bummed a tootsie roll & twizzlers from this lady.

Watching the parade together

This was his first sucker ever!

The once a year treat of cotton candy. And yes, he remembered that he loved it from a year ago, but at first was bewildered on how to go about eating it.

Funnel cake. Yum!

The one ride they did together

Charlie, Cole & Noah wrestling.

Hanging with the fam

Playing in the bird bath at Grandma's.

Elliot found his daddy's motorcycle

He likes to climb on it every chance he gets. At one point, he went into the garage grabbed my old helmet (the one with no face shield) and came walking out holding it. We put it on him, but it was so heavy, he could hardly hold his head up.

No accounting for taste

Last night Mandy went out and left me and the boys to fend for ourselves. I was making myself a salad when Noah asked me what I was putting on it. I told him it was gorgonzola cheese, and asked if he wanted to try some. He looked at it awhile, sniffed it and then to my surprise said "Yes". After trying some, he said, "I LOVE gor-ga-zolin cheese!"

He asked me to add some to his before dinner snack of apples and ketchup. So, that is a picture of him dipping apple slices in ketchup, then in the gorgonzola crumbles, then eating it. Yum, yum, I guess. He ate the whole thing up, then had dinner.




Noah and Elliot were making each other laugh hysterically during dinner. I wish I'd caught it on video, but I just got a few snaps of Elliot laughing and beating on his high chair.

Elliot's signing vocabulary

He is finally starting to take off with it. He will only watch Baby Signing Time in the car. And he LOVES it. But, it took him awhile to start actually signing. He is JUST starting and if he's anything like Noah I have a feeling it'll take off quickly. Here are the signs he is doing so far:

More
Eat
Dog
Baby (this one is C-U-T-E!)
Time
Cracker
Hurt (but it looks just like more the way he does it)

I love that he is able to do something more than point and whine, finally. Yesterday before his nap he signed that he wanted to eat something first. If he didn't sign that, I would have assumed he was whining because he was tired since it was naptime. I gave him a snack first. Love signing with my baby!

Signing "eat"

Signing "more"

Ear infection. Again!

E has had 4 ear infections since April. He was only off antibiotics a week when he was diagnosed with ANOTHER one this weekend. We even had his ears re-checked in between and they had healed up nicely. He is obviously just prone to them. On a 3rd antibiotic wreaking havoc with his digestive system, I am done with it. He has an appointment with an ENT in a couple of weeks to discuss getting some tubes. I can't wait. He is just so miserable. I feel sorry for the little guy!

Here are recent random pictures I wanted to share.

His latest favorite read. I think he's trying to tell me something. Sorry buddy, you are going to stay the baby of this family

Following in big brother's footsteps. First of all he has on his shoes. Then he pushed the ottoman Noah uses as a step stool and thirdly he got a box of mac & cheese to cook. E has figured out he can climb with this little ottoman anywhere. Good thing we can gate the kitchen off now for his own safety!

His first pony ride with Grandma at our neighborhood's annual picnic

"Too bad it's raining outside"

The weather here lately has been a little moist, to say the least. In fact, for the past week or so, it has been mostly rain, with the occasional cloud break. This morning, some massive rainstorms moved through the area dumping somewhere around 2-3" of rain on an already soaked ground, causing some huge floods and lots of runoff.

Some of my favorite childhood memories come from playing in the rain and flooded creeks that surged after storms like these. As a kid, my brother and I would often go out when it was really storming to investigate the nearby creeks and ditches, build dams, throw stuff in the fast moving water. We weren't worried about getting dirty, or wet, so the rain itself never bothered me. It was the loose, unstructured play that fewer and fewer kids seem to get these days.

Rainy days really bother Mandy, not just because she loves the sunshine, but also because it limits the outdoor activity time Noah needs to fully exhaust his energy. But when I heard Mandy say those words a few days ago, I thought, why not just take him out in the rain? He's not going to care that it's wet and messy. You've got a rain jacket, and an umbrella. Probably easier said than done when chasing two kids, and trying to keep the house clean.

But I didn't have those problems today, so I grabbed a pair of old shoes (one of many Mandy thinks I should have thrown out long ago, but keep for just such an occasion), put Noah in his water-proof fireman's boots, and a size-too-small rain jacket, and out the door we went. It was still raining, at times pretty heavily, but if he noticed at all, I couldn't tell. I asked him if he wanted to go exploring, and let him lead the way. We ended up at the flooded high school football field next door, where the field was ringed with ditches ranging from 2-12 inches deep of water, and even a drain where floodwaters poured leaves and other grass down a hole to nowhere.

We spent a good hour walking around in this mess. He didn't miss any opportunity to walk right through the deepest part of any "lake", stomping to make a splash as often as necessary, insisting that I follow him, which I did. The tops of his boots were only about 8 inches tall, and after I heard splashing sounds well after we were out of the water, I peeked into his boots. Being waterproof works both ways. In shorts, there's not much to stop water coming into the top of the boots, especially when you make it a point to walk in the deepest water possible, and I found they were filled with a good six inches of water.

No worries with him though. I asked if he needed to stop and empty out his boots, and he did stop, but then looked at me like I was crazy. He said, "No, I don't have any water in my boots." and kept on squishing along. My shoes didn't sound much better.

I tried to convince him to go home after a while, when even my rain jacket didn't keep me from getting soaked. Still recovering from pneumonia, I'm not sure my doctoer would have approved me playing in all this rain, but Noah insisted he wanted to keep "exploring", so I let him lead me. We walked onward, eventually making it to the Trolley Trail. Mandy saw us walking near the street and pulled over on the way to a doctor's appointment with Elliot. Noah was delighted to see her, but seemed to be pretty casual about why she was out in this mess too.

We kept walking, kept spashing and kept having fun. Now more than half a mile from home, and worried about his sockless feet inside wet rubber boots, I offered to carry him for a while if he agreed to head home. He told me ok, since he was thirsty. That offer may have been a mistake, as he insisted that I "Run super, super, SUPER, fast!!!!" about every 20 yards on the way back. I think blisters would have been a better lesson.

Where to explore first...?

Finding the occasional pool.

He walked a quarter-mile track doing this.


Dropping leaves into the drain.

Whoops, lost his footing. Ended up splashing down.

"Duh...that big pile of water over there. Where else would I be going?"

Pool Time

Texas Vacation

This past week we took our first family vacation in almost a year, going to see my family in Texas. When we made the plans, we didn't realize it would be close to a family reunion, but it turned into a graduation/baptism/Eagle Scout ceremony/birthday celebration with all of my immediate family making the trip.

Traveling with young kids is always a dicey prospect, so we planned on not trying to push it and instead making the 8-hour trip over two days. There was a time when we resorted to things like leaving for home at 9:00 at night to drive from Colorado to Kansas City, hoping to keep the boy asleep. But it turns out Noah has greatly improved, and Elliot is just better about traveling in generaly at this young age.

We stopped in Joplin for lunch and a brief playtime at a park, where the slides were too hot to go down and Noah fell in the water trying to jump a creek. Next we stopped in Muskogee at the world's smelliest McDonalds, and decided that was our last visit to McD's, ever. We stopped for the night in McAlester, OK, where trying to get two wound up kids asleep in a small hotel room at the same time actually proved to be doable. Eventually. It helped that we had a pool to play in beforehand. Noah became expert at perfecting the 60-second roadside potty break, especially after getting into a large quantity of Gatorade, and having to stop about 5 times in 10 minutes.

The next morning, we swam some more, then took off for Texas. We checked into our hotel about 11:00, and immediately went swimming. The heat and humidity made Missouri feel like fall. Later that day, we went over to Lisa's house for dinner, and the boys' first bath since Sunday. We usually bathe them nightly, but this week was out of whack from the get go, and several visits to the pool helped mask their funk. I'm sure we left an oil ring on the tub at the Johnson household.

That night, Noah slept as long as he ever has, not waking up until 10:00 - over 12 1/2 hours, and I was left to entertain Elliot, who woke up at his usual crack of dawn, for several hours. Elliot may be a picky eater, but he's not a dainty one, and we spend a good deal of time at the IHOP next door tearing up a ham and cheese omelet, some pancakes and some fruit. We eventually made it back over to the Johnson's for more playtime - mostly the park and soccer in the hot Texas heat, but also a nice dip in their subdivision pool/spray park.

The next day, the rest of the family converged and all 15 cousins got together. The house was noisy, loud and fun. That night, Mandy went to see Katie graduate 85th out of over 600 students in her high school while I entertained Noah and Elliot in the hotel pool. Afterwards, we had dinner at a great Italian restaurant (Siciliano's).

The next day, we met again at Lisa's house for Amelia's 4th birthday party, and a picture with all 15 kids. As you might expect, none of them were perfect, but it was as good as we could get. Shortly after the party, we headed back to KC, stopping in Joplin for the night. The boys were excellent travelers, with Elliot sleeping a great deal of the time and Noah playing well and watching his movies. We made one stop on the side of the road for Noah to pee (E never even got out of his carseat) and one stop at a gas station when Noah suddenly and urgently, and right after we arrived in the middle of nowhere, announced "I HAVE TO POOP! NOW!" It wouldn't have been our top pick, but it had to do. Noah got a lot of laughs from men in the other stalls as his sweet 3 year old voice loudly proclaimed things like "Wow, Daddy! I had a BIG poop!" "Get rid of those flies, Daddy!" Elliot got out of his carseat and stretched in the car, but that was our only real stop until we got to Joplin 5 hours later.

In Joplin we checked into a hotel suite, and checked out again about 10 minutes later after we saw the room and the noisy guests running the hallways on our floor. We've made the mistake of not trusting our gut instinct before, and we were in no mood to do it again. We found a better hotel, with a better pool a few minutes later. After a nice meal, and a nice swim, some laundry and a late night run for some Motrin, we went to bed.



The next morning, we headed home. It was a great time seeing all of our family, and we had a great trip. At night, we always ask Noah what his favorite part of the day was and he tells us. When we got home the next day, we asked him what his favorite part of the trip was, and he said "Aunt Lisa". This was the first trip that he did not get homesick on, and all the way back kept telling us he wanted to "go back to Texas."



Greta helping Elliot climb

Easy E, getting red-faced in the heat just like his brother
Noah hanging on the monkey bars. Struggling a little bit apparently.

Playing with little Olivia.

Noah adding leaves to his collection.

Happy "little" Finn.

Noah showing off his leaves to Greta and Lulu

Ludini getting her escape vehicle ready.

First bath in three days.

Bedtime snack at the hotel - PB&J.

Greta

Elliot determined to ride Greta's scooter. At least we've taught him to wear a helmet.
Having a rest in front of "Facedown Lake", as the Johnsons refer to the pond right next to the kids play area.
Thirsty boy.

All the little ones ready for bed.
Amelia wisely wearing a helmet in the Johnson household.
Olivia checking out the action.
Elliot having breakfast at the hotel.
Trying, yet again, to take his shoes off.
Elliot got quite adept at climbing up the playset, and coming down the slide.
Not coming down gracefully, but he got to the bottom.
Lulu fishing for marbles.
Dylan swinging in the heat.
Noah helping Finn. Or fighting him off, one of the two.
Playing Monkey Toes!
Family photo. There never was a perfect one, but this one had the most smiles. Back: Dylan, Asa, Bella; Middle: Amelia, Greta, Katie (holding Olivia), Braden (holding Elliot), Zeke (holding Finn) and Eli (holding Lulu), Vivi; Bottom: Noah
Vivi ambushing Grandpa
Grandpa has quick reflexes for an old guy.
Dylan getting in on the fun.
Todd getting doused.
Amelia chasing bubbles.
Lulu, looking like Lulu.
Todd, chilling in the shade.
Noah helping Elliot drink his juice box.