Storytime at Dow Gardens

This morning was our first visit of the summer to Dow Gardens for storytime. We all listened to a few stories, the kids all got to make scarecrows for the children's garden, and then Ben, Megan, and I all went on a scavenger hunt. Afterward, a lot of the kids started playing in the water exhibit, and then they all started running through the sprinklers. It was fun.

Touch -A-Truck

Yesterday was "Touch-A-Truck" day at the library. It's a day where kids can climb on and inside all kinds of trucks. They had a fire truck there, several city landscaping vehicles, and a few construction vehicles. Ben got a fire hat, and Megan got a construction hat.
Ben had a great time. This is like a "dream" event for any 4 year old boy.

The "remote" phone

Megan did a cute trick the other day completely by surprise. Jenny was on the bed watching TV and working on her laptop and she had Megan on the bed with her. Megan picked up the remote and put it up to her ear and starting talking and gabbing. She either thought it was a phone or was pretending it was a phone. Very funny.

Photography from Ben

Here's some of Ben's latest photography. He got some good shots of Megan and I.

What is Megan Up To?

Megan has now officially started to crawl. She's not very fast right now, but she's definately moving now at a slow and steady pace..



Also, Megan has started to say two distinct words. She likes to say "uh-oh," and she likes to say "da-da" over and over again. Here she is talking.

At The Movies

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - In my comic book reading days I loved the Hulk. But I was also a big fan of the television show (Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, etc.) I didn't mind so much the Hulk 2003 release (directed by Ang Lee), but I wished there had been more "hulk smash," and less "hulk sad, and confused." So here we have the 2008 version of The Incredible Hulk. After a military experiment gone bad Bruce Banner is on the run from the military and himself. As Banner's adrenaline gets pumping he becomes the Hulk and the rest is history. I will fully admit there isn't really a script here to be concerned with. We just want to see the Hulk smash, and the Hulk does indeed smash in all his greatness. This is a fun movie. This isn't great cinema, and in many respects it's not as good as Iron Man. But again, it's hard to compare the two. The characters are just so different. Lastly, the very last scene really does a great job of setting up a future Hulk movie in an unusual way.


MICHAEL CLAYTON - Finally got around to seeing this one, and I thought it was worth the wait. George Clooney plays Michael Clayton, an employee of a law firm that is paid to clean up messes and make problems go away. The script here is greatness, and some of the dialouge exchanges here make the movie all by themselves (especially between Clooney and Tom Wilkinson). Forget the Ocean's Eleven kind-of roles, this is the kind of role I like to see Clooney in. The deeply flawed character on-the-run. This is a great movie. Definately worthy of all the academy nominations it received earlier this year.


GET SMART - I'm a Steve Carell fan, but his last few movie roles have left me shaking my head. However, he's a perfect fit in GET SMART. In this new tricked-out version of the classic 60's series, Carell plays the Don Adams role and does it very well. There's nothing special here. This isn't the greatest comedy you've ever seen. But there's enough laughs here to keep you interested and entertained. I would say this would be a better rental than a trip to the theater, but either way I doubt you'll be disappointed.


PRINCE CASPIAN - Just like IRON MAN might be the biggest surprise of the summer for me, PRINCE CASPIAN might be the biggest disappointment. I was really looking forward to this one. After seeing how they treated the first installment (LION, WITCH, and the WARDROBE) I was very happy with the direction the series was headed in. But after watching this second installment I'm all of the sudden concerned. What should of been more of the enchanting and magical world of Narnia turned into a 2 hour non-stop battle. The director completely abandoned all the charm and magic of the first one, ignored the central theme of the book, and instead gave us an endless display of warfare and carnage. By the time the closing credits came up I was greatly disappointed and Jenny was asleep. With VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER already slated for release in the future I question the success of the franchise. I've heard a new director will be at the healm for the 3rd installment. A new set of eyes is exactly what this franchise needs at this point.


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON 3 - This is season 3 of the on-going sci-fi series on the Sci-Fi channel. It's a re-imagining of the classic television series from the 70's. Just like in seasons 1 and 2, season 3 gives us more of the same conflicts between the humans and the cylons. More of the continuing story of a race of people trying to find earth before the cylons wipe them out.
At times this series is the best on television. At other times it's so bad it's almost unwatchable. I constantly ask myself how can a show be so good at one point, and so bad at another? But somehow I've gotten sucked into watching this thing. Season 4 will be the series finale, so I'll just wait until it comes out on DVD and finish this thing. I've gotten this far...might as well see how it all ends.

Fun at the zoo

Yesterday we went to the Children's Zoo in Saginaw. It was Megan's first visit to a zoo. Everyone had a great time seeing the animals, petting the horses and cows, and spending time outside.
Ben went on a train ride with Grandma and Grandpa, and Megan got up close and personal with some friendly peacocks.

Hiking at the nature center

The other day I took the kids and my parents to the nature center for a quick hike. Ben and I got new "Camelback" backpacks, so we wanted to try them out. We did Ben's favorite hike, the one that takes us by the frog pond and by the river. No frogs this time.

Ben kept gulping down his water so much that half way into the hike he said "I gotta go potty." So we decided to cut the hike short and head back to the car.

Going to the dentist

Ben had his first real trip to the dentist yesterday. He had been once before but it was just an orientation kind of thing. Yesterday was more of the real thing. A cleaning, flossing, and some fluoride. He did great. Didn't seem to fuss a bit. He was more curious about everything than anything else. Then of course afterward he got a bag full of surprises. After we left he said, "I like going to the dentist."

I was thinking to myself, "that's probably the last time you'll ever say that buddy."

Speed Racer

I finally rented some of the old Speed Racer cartoons for Ben to watch. He's been bugging me about watching Speed Racer ever since he first saw the commercial for the movie that came out this summer. So I went ahead and rented a disc from Netflix and we've been watching some of the episodes. It's fun. Man, I loved this show as a kid. He seems to like it too. He really likes the Mach 5 obviously, and he thinks Speed Racer is pretty cool. And of course he thinks Chim Chim the monkey is hilarious.

The thing about Speed Racer though is you have to be careful with some of the episodes. One of the criticisms about Speed Racer back in the day was the cartoon violence. Granted, we never see anyone get killed on camera. But certain events happen at times where someone gets shot or crashes off camera and you never see them again. People commented about that when I watched the cartoon back in the 70's.

So before I showed any of the episodes to Ben I scanned through the disc and found the episodes that were appropriate, and found the ones that weren't. So we watch maybe half of the episodes that are on the disc. We'll watch this for a while and then maybe rent something else when he starts to lose interest.

FANFEST at Dow Diamond

This weekend was the start of the All-Star Game festivities at Dow Diamond. The Great Lakes Loons are hosting the Midwest League All-Star Game on Tuesday, and in addition to that they also featured a Home Run Derby and a "FANFEST." We all went to the Fanfest on Sunday. Ben got to jump around in an assortment of various "bouncy houses," as well as throw some pitches and try to hit a wiffle ball. It was fun.
Monday night I took my parents and Ben to the Home Run Derby at the stadium. That was pretty fun. Then on Tuesday night we'll watch some of the game on local TV up here. I've been doing a lot of work for the team leading up to this weekend, so we'll be able to see some of my work on TV tonight.

Ben's Father's Day Card

Ben and Jenny got me a great card for father's day this year. In fact, it was probably the best and most touching card I've ever received from them.

In addition to the "Happy Father's Day" message, Jenny and Ben made a list of "Nice things that Daddy does with Ben & Megan."

The following are in Ben's words...

* Go swimming
* Go to the nature center
* Ride bikes
* Go to the park
* Watch shows together
* Do puzzles
* Play games
* Get out toys to play with
* Change diapers
* Make lunch
* Make dinner
* Read stories
* Give hugs & kisses
* Go for walks
* Do play-doh

In addition to the card that Jenny and Ben made for me, Ben also made one for me at school.
His father's day message on his card from school was "I love Daddy because he takes me to the nature center."

Those were probably the best two cards I've ever received.

What does Ben want to be?

For one of his last projects at school Ben was asked what he wants to be when he grows up.

What did he answer you ask?

Answer: Spider-Man

What's Megan up to?

Megan is starting to crawl. Well...almost. She'll get into a crawling position, take one or two crawls, and then fall down on her stomach. She's practically there. She'll be crawling in no time. She also likes to wave and clap, both on command and to copy someone. She gets a kick out of it. Lastly, she's starting to say "uh-oh." She'll say it over and over again, and she especially loves it when you say it. We go back and forth saying "uh-oh."

Midland Highland Festival

My uncle here in town is a member of the Midland Bagpipe Band, and the main organizer of the "Midland Highland Festival." This year's event (held on Saturday) was the second annual.
It's very much a grass-roots effort. After last year's debut few of us believed in its future. But this year's event was more crowded and better organized. My uncle and his band are the organizers of the event, and I pitched in with the production of a commercial for the event.
Anyway, my parents were in town so we all went to the festival. We watched a couple of bagpipe bands, sheep dog demonstrations, and scottish games. Ben had a lot of fun.

Our new bike trailer

This is our new bike trailer for the kids. Jenny found this used one from a co-worker at Dow, and we quickly grabbed it up. We had been talking about getting one for a while, but we were hopeful about finding a used one. So here it is.
For the past two years I've had Ben in a bike seat strapped on the bike and it's worked out great. Last summer I started a routine of trying to bike at least one day a week for all of our excursions and errands. Just trying to push the gas money further and further. Well, with Megan now with us I thought that routine would not be possible this summer. But now that we have the bike trailer I'm going to try it again this year. Especially with gas now over $4 a gallon up here.

The issue now is that Megan doesn't like wearing her bike helmet. Let me correct that. She "hates" wearing her bike helmet. So we're trying to get her used to it by taking short trips.
Anyway, by having the bike trailer now it allows Jenny to get back on her bike and back to riding again. She was off of it all last summer due to the pregnancy. So it's nice for all of us to get out again on our bikes.