Heat Wave

The weather is scorching hot here. Last weekend we disregarded the heat and went to pick grapes at a vineyard about an hour's drive away. Actually, we hoped to pick grapes, peaches and apples. But turned out that peaches were all killed in the late spring frost and apples weren't quite ready for picking.

But the grapes were excellent.

We picked a lot of grapes and also had some grape slushies. These are always great!

The entire last week we mostly stayed indoors. This weekend we thought about going to a lake, but it's been record heat today, so we tried staying indoors as much as possible. Except, of course, at some point we went to Target and got a slip-n-slide, which was, conveniently, on sale.

So the rest of the day was pretty great. We set the slip-n-slide in the shade and ran it for a little while. I think Chris and I enjoyed it just as much as M did.

Our 4th of July - Done Right

Finally, after years of mediocre 4th of July celebrations, we finally got it right! And yes, we've got pix to prove it.

But first, if you've ever had to spend a holiday weekend with a four-and-a-half year old who's going through a phase, then you know how we felt on Day 3 of the long weekend (and tell me honestly, is there an age when they don't go through a phase). On Day 1 we poured over the Events section of the local paper, critically assessing all the offerings - this one's too crowded; that one's too expensive; this one is outside and it's way too hot. Well, let's just say that on Day 3 we were ready for just about anything in order to get M busy.

First, we went to the Bond Park in Cary for an event that was called "The Old Time 4th of July" or something like that. At first it was kind of boring and crowded, plus we missed the children's parade. Unexpectedly, M got quite taken with the little Bond Lake and spent a while watching the ducks and throwing little twigs into the water.

We were just about ready to head home when the Doughnut Eating Contest was announced. Needless to say, M was only too eager to participate. But first we had to wait for 1-3 year olds to eat their doughnuts. Then it was the turn for 4-7 year olds. To my surprise, everyone got the same size doughnuts - the big, nay, giant ones, even the littlest kids.

Another thing that surprised me was M's adherence to the rules. To begin with, he waited very-very patiently for the doughnut to be tied to the string (oh, yeah, I forgot to mention - it was eating doughnuts without using one's hands contest). He then waited for everyone else to get ready (and there were lots and lots of 4-7 year olds) and not once tried touching the doughnut that dangled right in front of his nose. By contrast, some 5-year old girl nearby ate most of her doughnut right away, before it was even tied to the string and had to be issued another one.

But that wasn't all. When the contest began, most kids used their hands to hold doughnuts. But M is not like most kids. He did not, would not. He followed the rules and, whenever he felt like grabbing a doughnut, just clenched his fists. Needless to say, he lost the contest. However, I'd say that it was the classic case of "losing the battle to win the war" since he got to eat his entire doughnut quietly, enjoying every bite.

There were plenty of doughnuts left over after all the kids were done so the contest was open to the 18+ category. Wadda ya know! Chris decided to enter. He did really well and showed some amazing doughnut eating prowess. Yet he lost to some dude who seemingly inhaled his doughnut.

After a short break it was time for the sack race. I was worried 'cause M never tried anything like this and jumping isn't something he is very eager to do. But Chris encouraged M to enter the race and was absolutely right. So what that M came in dead last! He really loved the experience and didn't fall or trip once!

But it was getting very hot and after a celebratory hot dog and lemonade we headed home to cool off and get some more ice-cold water. We then drove to the Joel Lane House. Last year we went there, they had all sorts of cool period crafts and games and the whole living history thing going on. Except last year M fell asleep in the car, so we parked in the shade and then took turns running through all the festivities and hurrying back.

This year was very different. M participated in almost everything even though he felt very shy. First, we stopped by the old colonial kitchen and, if it was totally up to M, we would've stayed there for at least an hour. He loves this stuff. He knows now why we can't have an open hearth kitchen in the house, so now he wants Chris to build it outside for him.

We also toured the main house and looked at the kids' rooms. What impressed M the most were the fireplaces - one in each room, and the fact that back in the days there was no electricity. He then tried his hand churning butter, writing with a real quill pen and real ink, making a lavender-filled satchel, a rag doll, and a tin ornament and pushing the pedals of both the loom and the spinning wheel. And then he volunteered for Her Majesty's Army and got to march around with a real wooden musket that was painted red.

We thought that after such a busy day he would fall asleep on the way home. No such thing! Instead, M and Chris grilled (salmon) and, after a dinner, went to the yard for some fireworks (sparklers, mostly). Except he tried stuffing sparklers into the barrel of his toy rifle, pretending that he was loading a musket. He also insisted on calling Grandpa and requesting 2 more rifles - one for me (red) and one for Chris (yellow) and said that Xander, our cat, would just have to scratch the enemies.

So all in all, it was a great 4th of July. We just need to work on our doughnut eating and sack racing skills and the next year's 4th will be the best yet!

So here we are enjoying the fireworks.

Maker Faire NC 2011

It happened, it finally happened! Something I've been waiting for since last year - the Maker Faire NC! Ok, so what it was just a 1-day mini-Faire. It was still absolutely amazing. Besides, now I know what to prepare for when we go to the big HUMONGOUS Faire in NY in September.

There was so much going on at the Faire that it's hard now to write about it in a coherent way. I tried taking pictures, but lots of times it just didn't happen because I was either busy having fun or there were just too many people around hustling and bustling.

To M's great delight there were LOTS and LOTS of robots. In fact, the very first thing that we did was to watch robots play hockey (M is the blond shortstop in the middle of the row of spectators). Actually, Chris and M watched and I took an opportunity to learn a bit about tatting (something I overheard the other day on NPR).

Then we walked around a bit and M got to try a sewing machine. He said he liked it, but at that point he wasn't much at ease with the whole experience, so I'm not sure if he really did or not.

Fairs and festivals like this are pretty hard for M to get through. He gets overloaded with all the sights, sounds and movements of hundreds of people. So he withdraws, shoulders raised and voice very-very quiet until he finds something so interesting that he gets fully absorbed in the process, forgetting about the discomfort and the overwhelm.

This time around M started to warm up weave a rope and keep it too! He was so happy and proud and made sure to impress it on us that he was going to use the rope in all sorts of construction projects.

But what truly changed the whole Faire experience for him was the Thinker Linkers. He stayed there for a while, building with the linking boards.

It was really a very cool thing. He still has some fine motor problems and playing with Legos (even Duplos) can be a very frustrating experience. Smaller or smooth surfaced blocks present a different problem as he has a hard time lining them up just right to make the entire structure stable. So I was a bit apprehensive. But never fear! M did need just a bit of help at first, but once he really got into it, he was doing just fine.

And he stayed with the Thinker Linkers for quite a while, at least half an hour if not longer. Eventually another, older, boy joined him and then the boy's dad. In the end, they built a "superstructure" as M referred to it. And then the rope came out and M tried to weave it through the structure and make it do something that only he knew.

Other notable finds included a real Star Wars light saber, a display of rockets (yep, M is still heavily into rockets and a trip to a hobby store isn't too far in the future) and a giant marble run.

If I had to narrow my list of Maker Faire "Wow"s to just 3, these would be Thinker Linkers ('cause M did so amazingly well with them), a huge marble run ('cause I love marble runs and Rube Goldberg machines and dream of one day creating a giant one to go all around M's room and then downstairs into the kitchen) and a Feltronics board ('cause ever since our experiment with Squishy Circuits I've been looking for similar preschooler-friendly ideas).

Last Weekend - Chicken Tour and More

It's almost time for the long weekend and I'm finally catching up with work stuff. So I realized that I didn't post anything about last weekend.

Well, the big news, of course, is that the world didn't end. I wanted to be the first one to know so I stayed up 'til midnight Eastern Time. But then I thought well, what if the Rapture was scheduled for Central Time? So I stayed up 'til 1am. Nothing... So then I thought what if it's on California time, but at this point I felt too sleepy and didn't care much.

We had a long day on Saturday. First, we went on a much-awaited (by me) chicken tour called Henside the Beltline Tour D'Coop which I think is a pretty clever name. I think this is our fourth year going to this tour. It's not just the chickens that you get to see, but other people's yards.

And since most people who keep chickens here also happen to have some kind of veggie gardens, it's of particular interest to me. Also, most families on the tour have young children so their yards are very kid-friendly.

This year M was very interested in petting a chicken. In many of the houses we went to chickens are truly free-range, roaming around the yard. But catching a chicken is not very easy, as M found out. Fortunately, one of the houses we went to had a pet dwarf potbellied pig who just loved being petted.

The next day after the tour we went to pick cherries. I did mention some time ago that I am now on a Craigslist scavenger hunt. I search their free ads almost every day looking for things. One time I picked up about 50 or so magazines, mostly with recipes and gardening tips. Another time I picked up pine logs to edge the paths in the garden.

Then one day I saw an ad that said "come and pick cherries - free". Well, so we did. The place is kind of a drive from us, but we didn't have much else going on. So we went and picked about 8 pounds of delicious sour cherries. Now even taking into account gas money, this is a good deal. Besides, it seems impossible to buy sour cherries around here, even at the Farmers' Market.

And they are just perfect for pies!!! So Chris and M were busy making a delicious cherry pie from scratch!

At the Tree Farm

We got our X-mas tree from a X-mas tree farm. Yes, the pick-your-own obsession of ours continues even with snow on the ground. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. First, the place looks very much like a toy forest with little toy trees, almost perfectly triangular and different shades of green. There were also two huge pecan trees which we first thought were oaks until we saw pecan nuts on the ground underneath.

So last Monday M and I picked up Chris after work and drove to the farm. Where he proceeded to cut the tree we chose the weekend before. Yep, he was cutting the tree in his dress clothes and dress shoes. That's my guy!

But check out M - he's totally into cutting down this tree! He was asking about it all weekend, ever since we chose the tree on the first visit to the farm. He wanted to cut it, bring it home and decorate it.

Turned out that the tree was a bit taller than we thought. It almost reaches the ceiling in the living room. And we almost ran out of our decorations.

Twice the Fair - Continued (Includes Pix of Me)

Amazing how it works, but the first time I went to the Fair this year, with my whole entire family in tow, I didn't get a single picture of myself taken. It's like I wasn't even there. Not to fear, one can almost always rely on the kindness of strangers. And that's exactly what happened when M and I returned on the last day of the Fair.

We went very early in the morning to avoid the stampede and getting stuck in the dreadful traffic. Think Raleigh can't get big, busy and uncomfortable even if it tried? Well, 1,091,887 people attended NC State Fair this year (the new all-time record) and 110,567 of these people showed up on that last Sunday of the Fair (another record set to which we contributed so now I feel like I've played my part in making history. Maybe I can write a memoir. Wait... I already have this blog!)

Back to the Fair. This time around it was just M and I since grandparents went back to NY and Chris was away for the weekend. With nothing better to do, we spent about 5 hrs roaming the Fair.

Here's the cool part. One of the books I bought for M recently was Russian translation of Paddington Bear stories (BTW, adorable and highly recommended). And one of the stories in the book was about Paddington going to a fair, riding different rides, winning a little toy fish and enjoying himself immensely. So our second time at the Fair was very much Paddington Bear-like.

We walked all around the Fair, looking at pretty much everything. Just like the Bear, we went on a few rides (yeah, I had to go on the horrible spinning cups ride, grhh, yuck). Then M played a little fishing game and won a prize. Guess what the prize was? A little stuffed yellow toy fish, just like the one Paddington'd won in the book!

Here's the funny part (in retrospect). I think I read the Paddington Bear story one too many times 'cause I started believing it just like my not-quite-4-year old did. At the end of the story, Paddington feels very sleepy. Well, that was my secret plan - to stay at the Fair long enough and do enough to get M good and tired so he'd nap for a couple of hours. Wishful thinking! As a matter of fact, he went on a no-nap strike that whole week. So the only thing I accomplished walking around the Fair for 5 hours was getting myself VERY tired for the rest of the day.

Twice the Fair

I don't remember last year's NC State Fair probably because we didn't go. Or if we did, we didn't stay very long. Or we didn't have much fun. Or we didn't eat any of the fair food. Well, to make up for the lack of memories from last year's Fair, we've done this year's Fair TWICE.
The first time the entire family - my parents, Chris, M and myself - went there on the opening weekend. Aside from Grampa's complaints and total lack of enthusiasm, it was a good outing. We walked around just a bit, mostly in the Garden Exhibit area (my favorite); took M on a few rides; and had some mediocre fair food.

FRESH FRIED FOOD

So let's start with food. The big question this year is did he or didn't he. We all know that Chris got to eat this year's top contender for the title of "Most Disturbing Fair Food Item" - the Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger (yeah, it's a bacon cheeseburger with a KK donught instead of a normal bun). But did he really enjoy it? To his (Chris') credit, he actually didn't. What's it going to be next year? How about a deep-fried PBJ sandwich?

Everyone else was a bit more cautious in their food choices. Well, Grandpa got some kind of sandwich that was big on sauteed onions and chunks of deep-fried grease. Grandma went for a turkey leg and corn on the cob (actually, good choices both, but we'll attribute them to the beginner's luck since that was her first ever State Fair).

M had a corndog and cotton candy. And I had a grilled corn and fried green tomatoes (delicious while hot, afterwards just greasy).

RIDES

This year was the first time M got to go on a couple of rides all by himself! Hooray! He went on a kind of a carousel ride and also on a kiddie roller-coaster. Of course, he was thrilled with both! But he also loved the Jungle Adventure maze-obstacle course, spinning cups and a mega slide.

But that first time we didn't get to see much of anything, just the kiddie rides and the food and some old time-y arts and crafts (predictably, M was thrilled by the loom and the spinning wheel).

MUSIC

And then, as we were about to leave, we came across this one-man band. It was clearly a show for kids since there on the ground, in front of this guy, was a box full of shakers, rattles, and various noise-makers. The kids were encouraged to grab whatever noise-maker they liked and join the performance. Needless to say, M loved the idea, especially after he spied a pair of cymbals, lying neglected on the bottom of the box.

Oh, but here's the funniest part - while all the rest of the kids faced the performer (and turned their backs on the audience of, mostly, approving or at least amused parents), M quickly moved closer to the musician guy and turned to face the audience. The only kid to have done so!