Swimming Lessons

Zach took his first swimming lessons, called Seahorses for some reason.

Except for how cold it was the first week of June, he really loved it.

Especially the slide.

New Garden Plots

I'm working on converting the dirt clogged river rock in the courtyard into new garden plots.

Cuppy totally approves. She thinks the new plot emphasizes her sleek physique as well as her sense of feng shui (notice how she aligns herself with the bricks).

Powell Gardens Water Trough

We took Zach out to the new Harvest Garden portion of Powell Gardens on June 5th.

He loved the pump and the windmill emptying water into the big cedar water trough.

Of course, he loves anything to do with water.

Guy's Night Out In the Ditch

We all went to Shane's house for a guy's night on June 11th. At the end of the evening, Aaron tried to explore the moisture content of the ditch across the street while demonstrating his 4WD prowess with his new truck.

It's official. When you mire your new 4WD vehicle, you are officially an off-roader.

Shane demonstrates the barefoot, cigar in mouth two step while helping to yank the truck out of the ditch. It's good to get stuck at a house where the homeowner has a loader in the driveway. It keeps towing costs down.

Tank Q

This is how Zach learned to say Thank You.

He discovered dandelions and was picking them and handing them to Andrea, who said "thank you!" each time he did it.

Eventually, he would pick them, hand them to Andrea, and say "Dan Q" or "Tank u" each time. It's a good sign when first words & phrases are polite things.

Big as the Wind

Here's Zach, growing to seven times his normal size to confront his arch nemesis, the wind mill.

I'm a Cowboy!

Here we are at the Grand Opening of the Northland Emergency Vet Clinic.

They had horses, so we had to get our little cowboy up and riding.

It's quite a bit different than the play horse in the family room.

Tree House Mania

It may look like he's too short to climb these stairs, but no, with a little perseverence and baby can-do attitude, he makes it.

Once on top, he climbs up on a little step stool to further his dominance over the ground based world!

First Time in a Rain Coat

Andrea found a very nice raincoat for Zach, and then we waited for the right day to try it out.

Here he is standing in the rain. He was anxious to get out as quickly as possible, took about 5 steps and stopped cold. He was frozen in place, transfixed by the sound of the rain on his hood. It was like he was locked up. We already knew he likes puddles, so now we'll have to get to work on playing in the rain.

The Known Universe

I found this on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website for January 20, 2010, see http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100120.html if this video doesn't work.

We are really tiny.

Play with me!

Cookie Monster tried to get Zach's attention, but he was busy playing in the condensation on the inside of the windows (note the wet face).

This Cookie Monster toy makes all these little noises when its jaw opens. So you can shake him and the top of his head bounces up and down while he says funny things. One of the things he does is burps, then the next time you shake him he says "scuse me!"

We put the wrapped box he was in under the Christmas tree and he must have been sitting right at an angle where the jaw was on a hair trigger. Whenever you walked in the room, he would do his little Cookie Monster sounds from inside his gift box.

I give this toy the "Zacher's two thumbs up and put it in your mouth" seal of approval.

Comics Box

Here's a picture of my favorite gift this Christmas. I got Kyle a little Leatherman multitool/knife that came with a little flashlight.

I got a diaper box to wrap it in, which is huge. I taped the knife and flashlight inside the box to the side. Then I wrapped it with Sunday comics, which was fun.

Andrea thought that Kyle would be disappointed to have a box so large with such a tiny gift, but he liked it. He read the whole box first, and then he wasn't disappointed at what was inside because it was so cool.

I think, growing up in this family, he has to be ready to be messed with.

Christmas is Coming

Here's Zach in front of our Christmas tree at home. It looks like a lot of presents for his first Christmas.

It almost looks like someone asked him if he's been good and he's avoiding the question.

Which is ridiculous, because he's a baby, he's always good. Wait, I forgot about the way he chews on electric cords and throws his bottle on the ground and attacks the cats and ... Oh well, he's a baby, he gets a pass on all those things.

Fireplace Fixation

When we took Zach to Grandma & Grandpa's, he did the same thing he does at home, which is to hang out at the fireplace.

I think it's just that it's a nice child-sized ledge. It's not like he's making a fire or studying masonry. Well, he might be studying masonry, we can't tell what's going through his mind yet.

Baby's First Christmas

We went up to Des Moines early in order to get Christmas in with the Grandparents.

It was a hit, and Zach thoroughly enjoyed the tree, the Grandparents, and all the holiday cheer.

Elmo is a hit

Zach got a laughing Elmo for his first Christmas, which was a huge hit.

I'm not sure what Elmo is, exactly, beyond being fun. I'm thinking maybe the bear family.

Weightless Hawk

This Redtailed Hawk seems to weigh almost nothing, if you look at the branch he is perched on.

I have never understood how these big birds can be at the very top of a tree and not seem to weigh down the branches they perch on. I wonder if they can put a little bit of twist in the limb by the way they grip it that unbends the branch and reverses the effect of their weight.

Or maybe they are made of air.

Harvest Garden

We went back out to visit the new Harvest Garden section at Powell Gardens, with a little more of the area finished than on the opening weekend.

We found more randy grasshoppers, this time of the variety that I've known about since I was little.

I think Andrea thought that the big one was giving the little one a ride.

The cold frames were very cool. I've read for years about how you can grow lettuce up until December sometimes with a good cold frame.

Grasshopper Love

We went for a nice visit to Powell Gardens back when the weather was still nice.

You expect to have to explain to your small children big animal's behavior, like horses or cows, but you don't expect to see such randy grasshoppers. Fortunately, Zach was oblivious.

I've never seen such big grasshoppers, let alone these dark green ones.

Legacy Fields

We got into the habit of taking long walks down the east side of the Legacy Park walking trail, which gives you some nice silhouettes of the ball fields

Two Bucks

Here's two almost identical bucks that were coming up to our back yard for about a week. They had a doe with them, too, and they were play fighting for her. They were in practice for the real thing, which was still about 2 months away at that point.

Hidden in Plain Sight

How can this "Pointe" be hidden if they have a big sign for it?

And why the lighthouse in Missouri? Last I checked, we don't have an extensive coastline.

I'm not saying it's not a really cool entryway for a subdivision. I'm just saying that they were a lot more creative with the naming of the subdivision than with the design of their houses.

Baptism by Slide

God loves a good water slide.

Reflective Walk

We went around the lakes at James A. Reed on a pretty fall day that had no wind. This made some nice reflections on the water.

James A. Reed's Susans

This fall had so many yellow flowers that were similar to black eyed susans. That's not what these flowers are, because the centers were not black, but the flowers around James A. Reed's hiking trails were very pretty.

Spider vs. Wasp

Some wasps catch spiders, putting them in a state of suspended animation in their egg chambers, as food for their young.

I've broken open wasp nests and found the spiders before, but I've never see one being captured and taken back to the nest. This wasp could not fly, because the spider was so big.

Sunset Vista

Here's another view from Lake Vista Trail, this time across the lake past a dead tree full of birds watching the sunset at the ramp that takes the trail below the Jacomo dam on the other side of the lake.

Opossum Hollow

One of my favorite approaches to the Vista Lake Trail around Lake Blue Springs and Jacomo was called Opossum Hollow.

It was an old road that was access to a quarry or farmer's fields in the bottom land years ago.

The old road was covered with gravel, but was still washed out. Someone decided to pave it from the parking area down the hill to where it ties in to the loop that follows the lake.

Very nice. Especially for bikers, but for the hikers too.

September Cute

Here's Zach from back in September, looking cute. He was starting to push up and try to stand, and he liked the area under the table. We had weaned him off of the pacifier, but he liked to play with them occasionally, when he found one.

Fish Log

This fallen hollow tree looks like a large fish trying to bite a tree. You have to picture a gar to see it.