Category: Photos

A Leaf Walking Trip With NHL

Fatherhood, NHL, Outside, Parenting, Photography, Photos, Wildlife

The day after Yom Kippur, we were deciding what to do with the boys.  NHL had off from Hebrew School, so this was a rare opportunity to do something fun the whole day.  We started it off by going apple picking.  Perhaps it was the Irene and Lee rains or perhaps it was the freakish 80 degree day (resulting in shorts instead of our usual apple picking pants), but we didn’t have as much fun.  The apples didn’t look as good and we got tired quicker.  After much complaining, we called it a day and headed out.  Of course, being hot and tired didn’t stop us from picking 39 pounds of apples.  Yes, THIRTY NINE POUNDS!  Much slow cooker apple sauce will be made.

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(As usual, click on the photos to enlarge them.)

After apple picking, the boys were tired and thirsty.  We considered going for ice cream, but every place was too crowded.  Besides, the apple orchard had affected B’s breathing.  (Which was already impacted from recovering from being sick.)  We needed a nice spot to relax for a few hours and B’s parents’ house got chosen.

After a short rest, NHL wanted to do something.  B and I considered it and we came up with going on a leaf-photography trip together.  First, we went home and dropped off the apples.  (This is when I weighed them too.)  I got NHL’s camera and off we went.

First stop was back to B’s parents’ house to drop off the car.  Then, we began walking.  As we walked, we talked and occasionally took photos of interesting things that we saw.

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Despite the warm weather, there was no denying fall was in the air.

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Eventually, we reached our destination: A local pond.  As I had guessed, the ducks were spending some time by the shore.

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NHL spotted a small playground nearby and I let him play there for a bit.  Then, we went back to taking photos.

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It was nice spending some quiet time bonding with NHL and he did me proud by spotting some nice shots.

Before long, though, a mistake I made prior to us leaving caught up with us.  I had forgotten to get NHL to go to the bathroom.  We had no car, there was no bathroom at the pond and we had a good 10 minute walk back to B’s parents’ house.  NHL held it in and didn’t complain much as we walked back.

Along the way, we spotted landmarks, like the stairs where we saw a chipmunk hop by as we had walked to the pond.

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As we got closer, NHL was definitely slowing down more and getting a bit more cranky (as any tired, potty-emergency-stricken kid might be).  Still, he had moments when he’d ask me to take a photo.  Like of this tree that he thought looked like a monster.

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In the end, we made it back.  We had a great time, made some great memories, and have some great photos to boot.  I need to take more of these walking trips with NHL before the snow begins to fall.

My Weekend With The Boys While TheAngelForever Was At #SheStreams, Part 2

Food, Fun, JSL, NHL, Outside, Photos

I woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of a kid out of bed.  This is a usual affair.  NHL will wake up at 6am and ask if he can watch TV.  When I opened my eyes, though, I saw two kids looking at me.  JSL was out of bed also.  I approved them going to watch TV on the couch and tried to get some more sleep.

I gave up soon, though, realizing that I needed to get moving.  NHL has Hebrew school every Sunday morning at 9:30am.  This meant I needed to get the kids fed, get the kids dressed, get myself showered, get myself dressed, and get us all out of the house by 9:15am.  I decided that we would all wear matching Perry the Platypus shirts.

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Dropping NHL off at Hebrew school, I found out just how many people were Phineas and Ferb fans.  As we walked up the steps, NHL in front and JSL and I behind, I heard someone singing “doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-wa”.  They had spotted NHL’s shirt and were expressing approval.  Then, as JSL and I came into view, they stopped.  Their appreciation was quite apparent.  For the record, these weren’t kids.  These were adults.  To rephrase my statement above: I found out just how many parents in our temple are Phineas and Ferb fans!

After NHL was in Hebrew school, JSL and I did some grocery shopping.  Then we picked NHL back up, stopped by the house because I had forgotten my camera (bad camera geek!), and headed to lunch.

My first thought for lunch was Cici’s.  However, eating pizza the night before had soured me on the thought of an all-you-can-eat pizza lunch.  Instead, we went to Moe’s Southwest Grill.  There, the boys each had a Mini Masterpiece (kids cheese quesadilla).  I opted out of my usual Homewrecker (beans, seasoned rice, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream, tofu and guacamole on a whole wheat tortilla), deciding instead to get an Art Vandalay.  This burrito has everything that the Homewrecker has except for the tofu and is $1 cheaper.

While they were making mine, they asked if I wanted grilled veggies.  That sounded good so in went grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms.  When it came time to roll it up, the guy somehow succeeded.  I have no clue how they do this.  If I were rolling that burrito, the tortilla would rip, toppings would leak out of all sides, and the burrito wouldn’t be able to be closed.  It’d be a mess.  A delicious mess, but still a mess.

This guy somehow fit all of those toppings into a rolled up tortilla that by all rights shouldn’t have been able to hold them all.  The end result was so delicious that the Art Vandalay with grilled veggies has now replaced the Homewrecker as my new favorite Moe’s burrito.

After lunch, I figured that the boys needed some time running around.  So to the park we went.  First up, was the hedge maze.  This is a favorite of the boys.  They run around hiding from each other (and from me) and having a blast.  I tried taking photos of them, but was only partially successful.  They were just too busy having a good time to wait for dad’s camera.

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With the hedge maze run through (multiple times), it was time for the boys to tackle the playground.  JSL and NHL had fun on the slides, swings, and various other fun activities.

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A favorite of theirs was the telephone.  There is a hollow pipe which winds under the playground to two separate locations.  Through either end, you can talk and be heard on the other side.  At first, NHL and JSL spoke to each other.  Then, as NHL lost interest and went on to other activities, JSL found himself talking to other kids.  He would chat for a short while and then shout “I’m coming over to see you!”  At this point, he’d dart as fast as his little legs could take him across the playground to say hi to his new friend.

I noticed that our time was running low, so I herded the boys to the lake.  There were ducks, fish, geese, and even remote controlled boats.

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Before long, our dad and kids time was coming to an end.  We had to go get B from the train station.  Reluctantly, we left the park and went to the train station (stopping by briefly to buy an iced tea for B since she texted that she was thirsty). 

Despite my worrying that we’d get there late, we arrived with plenty of time to spare.  The boys got busy looking around in wonder at the train tracks below.  We spotted a train pull up and then pull back.  NHL worried that the train was leaving without dropping B off.  I reassured him that B’s train wouldn’t leave her behind.  Sure enough, B’s train (a different one than the one we saw earlier) pulled in a few minutes later.

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We looked as people came out and suddenly I saw a familiar figure.  B was back!

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(Click to enlarge and see the returning Angel.)

The boys ran up and hugged B and off we went back home.

I want to thank the folks from SheStreams for taking such good care of my wonderful wife.  You tired her out, but in a good way.  She returned with lots of new ideas and excited about her blogging future.  Best of all, from the kids’ point of view, she brought back gifts!

My Weekend With The Boys While TheAngelForever Was At #SheStreams, Part 1

JSL, NHL, Photos

On Friday, we all woke up early and took B to the train station.  She was off to SheStreams and my weekend with the boys had begun.  Ok, technically speaking, it wouldn’t begin for quite a few hours more.  First, I needed to drop NHL off at school, drop JSL off at school, go to work, work a lot, come back from work to B’s parents’ house to pick up the boys (they picked them up from school) and then bring them home… THEN our all-boys weekend began.

The weekend started pretty uneventfully.  After a quick dinner, I gave the boys each a big brownie that I had brought home for them.  NHL devoured his, but JSL didn’t want his.  He was acting funny and I asked him if he was tired.  He said he was so I wrapped his brownie for later and got the boys ready for bed.  JSL fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, I slept late.  In this house, this means that I slept until 7:30am.  At about 7:45am, I was trying to justify staying in bed longer when the doorbell rang.  I quickly tossed on some pants and a shirt (no answering the door in my PJs) and went to the door.  Nobody was there.  But there was a package there for B.  I took that as a sign to get up and get moving.

Our main restriction for Saturday was that I celebrate Shabbat.  Mainly, this meant I wouldn’t drive them anywhere.  It’s kind of hard to go out and do things when you’re limited to walking distance only.  (At least it is where we live.)  That was ok, though.  I noticed that the living room could use a good cleaning.  Then, NHL asked to watch Roku and we couldn’t find the remote.  That was the final straw.  Off I went on a cleaning bender.  I tried to get the boys to help, but quickly gave up on this.  (Though JSL came back from time to time to help until he tired of the task.)  Toys got put away, papers got stacked neatly.  The couch was even moved to dispose of hidden dust bunnies (and retrieve lost toys).  Oh, and I found the Roku remote hidden under the couch cushions.

As my cleaning wound down, and after we ate lunch, I decided we should go for a walk.  NHL resisted (of course).  He demanded that we should stay in the house watching TV.  (Because, apparently, half a day spent in your PJs watching TV and playing Nintendo DS isn’t enough quality time with your electronic buddies.)  I offered that we could walk to B’s parents’ house.  (Yes, they’re within walking distance.  A bit far, perhaps, but doable.)  He relented and agreed to go.

Only then did it dawn on me: What if they were out?  Another Shabbat restriction is that I won’t use the phone.  So I couldn’t call them to see if they were there.  For all I knew, we could walk all the way over there only to have to head all the way back when we found out they were out shopping.  I asked NHL if he wanted to call B’s parents and he jumped at the chance.

I talked him through how to use the phone and he called them up.  It was around here that I lost control of the situation.  Nobody was really dressed yet and I figured we’d walk over together.  Suddenly, the doorbell rang.  Again, I rushed to put on some presentable clothes.  At the door this time was B’s father, ready to drive us over.  Apparently, NHL told him that they wanted to come over RIGHT NOW and have dinner there.  B’s father saw we weren’t ready to leave yet and left to go to the mall with B’s mother for a couple of hours.

IMGP2601 After he left, we all got clothes on and headed outside.  After a quick run-in with a big spider (wonder what kind this was), we I got the boys’ helmets on and they had some biking fun.

A month or so ago, I’d removed NHL’s training wheels and he still doesn’t know how to balance properly, so I spent the time holding him steady.  Supporting him if he leaned over, guiding him to a slow, safe fall if he leaned too far, and trying to remind him to keep his mind on riding the bike and not singing various songs while biking.  Meanwhile, JSL was on his big wheel burning rubber…. or plastic as the case may be.

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After some biking, the boys and I decided to play something else.  Out came the balls for some soccer fun.  (Where “soccer” really means “kicking the ball aimlessly up and down the block without any clearly defined goals in mind.”)

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Finally, it was time to go to B’s parents’ house (driven by B’s parents).  There, the boys played and we had dinner (pizza).  As the day ended, B’s father drove us back home and I got them into bed.  Our boys’ day together was at an end.  The next day, would bring more fun and picking B up, but that story will need to wait for tomorrow.

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