The Trip That Keeps on Giving...

For Memorial Day weekend us, the Monahans and the Woods loaded up our cars and headed to Trapani on the far side of the island, about 3 hours away. After a brief ticketing ordeal we were able to load our cars up onto this ferry boat and head off to Favignana the largest of the Egadi islands.We found this great little campsite with these perfect little camp huts for peanuts a night. They had just enough room for a shower, a couple of beds and a kitchenette surrounded by gardens and within walking distance to the beach.We spent most of the days playing in the sand.
Because we realized that it was jellyfish spawning season and the water was full of them! "Look out Logan!"
There was a little cove that the locals swam in, but we had to stand on Jelly patrol with shovels and fling them out of the cove whenever they were washed in. It was enough for the kids to have fun, then it was back to burying people in sand.And beating them with sticks!!!!At night we put the boys in their beds, and they were so exhausted that they would fall right asleep. We would then move Logan's bed next to Bruin's, because Bruin moves all over the bed, but Logan is a rock.
In the middle of the we heard Logan say "Ma-ma" in his sleep. We snuck out there and found the two little monkeys curled up with each other. Logan must have mistaken his cuddle partner for Mommy. After all the fun in the sun we were headed back, when a combination of exhaustion, carelessness, speeding Sicilians, and a moment of relaxation caught up to us. We had probably used up all of our luck driving into the ferry and then through the tiny streets of Favignana unscathed. When turning across traffic up onto this on ramp, a car hit our right rear tire. A truck had pulled out pretty far, and when I swung around them and scooted up the ramp we got tagged. We were very surprised that no other accidents were caused by the traffic congestion ours caused.
No one was hurt, thank God. Our car barely even looked damaged, a chunk was missing from the rim, so we drove it slowly to a Goodrich tire shop. They told us not to drive it because the A-arms were bent and the wheel could snap right off. So 4 hours and a traffic citation later we were finally back on our way home in a rental car. It was a good thing the Woods were right behind us so that Greg could help translate.
We still don't have our car back. Would you believe that it was $10k in damage? That's what happens when you have to have parts shipped from the States. $9k parts and shipping, $1k actual repair work.In other news, Bruin built our very own Eiffel Tower.And Logan fell right onto a Duplo and got the four little dots imprinted into his forehead.

Hopefully we'll get the car back from the Chrysler dealership at the end of the week. It's too stinkin' hot to be without it.

XXXXX Howard Allen

We have the gender, middle name and the last name figured out, now we just need the first name. We're thinking we'll follow the pattern of two syllables ending in 'n'. I know which way I'm leaning, and Kathy isn't offering any resistance, but doesn't want to go tell everyone in case she changes our mind...

Our favorite flavor of ice cream!

We went and had an ultrasound today! It's another boy! I'll post the proof tomorrow after I scan the print out.

Greta Who?

I was down at an outlying site doing some site investigation. It's an old target range that we are looking to get rid of that barely looks like its part of a military installation. We were out taking pictures and measurements and people kept driving right on because the fence is broken, and it is a beautiful spot. Well one lady, he husband and her kids come up and start talking to us. She tells us that she's from Milan, but one of her kids is half American, and that her current husband is more New Zealander, while they all currently live in England. One of the guys with us talked to her for a while after that, I had to go check out some more stuff. Well later the other guy tells us that she is Greta Scacchi!!! Yeah, I didn't know who that is either until I looked her up on Google. I guess she was real big in the movie "Heat and Dust." It's pretty cool to meet someone that is Googleable.

The dark water around it is all underwater reefs. Our use of it as a target range helped set up the area to become an underwater reservation.
Sicily is pretty right now, green and flowery. I
t's too bad that it doesn't rain all summer and this all dies off. So if you want to see Sicily at its' best, come in May.

Best Dad Ever (at least that's what I thought)

When we were at Disneyland the first ride that Bruin wanted to go on was the Dumbo ride. He had just seen the movie before we went to Paris, and was excited to ride with Dumbo, though he wanted Dumbo to have a feather. Kathy pushed Logan through the shops while Bruin and I waited. While I was waiting in line with Bruin, he noticed that some of their hats were green. He told me that he wanted to ride a green one. I realized that almost all of the hats looked green, some were obviously bluish, or yellow, but a lot seemed like they could be green. (I'm red-green color-blind mind you.) Finally, after an hour and a half, we got near the front of the line. The operator let a large group through, and it looked like we'd get second choice on the next round. "Great," I thought, "we're sure to get a green one." Then the operator came back and said there were two open. We had to go out. One of the Dumbo's was clearly not green, and when I asked Bruin where a green one was, he pointed toward the other empty cart. So I hustled over and hopped in before the other father son duo could get it. They had to ride the non-green one. Triumph I thought, Bruin must think I'm the best dad ever.


About 2 hours later as we were heading to lunch with the characters, Kathy says to me, "so was Bruin upset that he wasn't able to ride in a green one?" First I say, "how did you know he would want a green one?" Then it hits me, "that wasn't a green one! Gah!" Confidence fading, I murmur, "pretty good I guess, he didn't even complain..."

I guess Bruin was pointing at a green one near the one we got on.

Look what we made...

My Pregnancy This Week Hello, Alexander! Your baby is about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. The big development this week: Your baby's brain is beginning to grow! It develops from the neural tube, a structure that will also spawn your baby's spinal cord, nerves, and backbone. Since folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects, you can see why it's so important early in pregnancy. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

For even more fun details, click here
So you all better start getting your passports and planning on coming out this summer, because soon we won't have enough room in the car or the house. Of course you could come next winter and see the little bugger. Bruin says that he will be getting another baby brother. When I tell him it could be a sister, he says "no, that would be silly."

Kathy keeps saying "two is great and 'normal', but now that we are headed toward three, we become a circus family. The kids outnumber the parents, and so at least one of them can always be up to something. Plus we don't fit in a normal car..." So I tell her, "we might as well keep having more so we can fill up a whole Suburban. It's a waste to drive that huge 9 PAX vehicle for only 5 of us."

"Daddy, I shot those Pirates"

(Beware of Pirates near Notre Dame)

When we were at the Disney Village waiting for the train to bring us to Paris, Bruin found a derringer that Kathy agreed he could have. It turned out to be a great entertainer for him. Somehow he came to realize that the gun is designed to fight Pirates. Kathy and I can't really remember how he came about this knowledge. I think we told him it was a pirate gun because it was from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" stuff that they were selling. Throughout our entire day of exploring Paris, Bruin kept whipping out his pistol to shoot "Pirates". He would shoot them in cars that drove by, he shot a couple of gypsies that were obviously pirates, but the main thing were the people in the tour boats that go up and down the river.Logan tried to join in the "Pirate Hunt" with Bruin. He used a little bottle of sanitizer gel, chasing after Bruin pointing it around and saying "Ban Ban Ban".
When we were going through this park, Bruin ran over picked a flower and gave it to Kathy, saying "I love you mommy!" And then he shot her. Stinkin' little boys...The absolute funniest part had to have been when we were in the zoo. Liberal, free thinking Parisian zoo keepers absolutely loved having our little American "Mohican" (as the Brits kept calling him due to his haircut) running through their zoo shooting their beloved endangered animals. I think I saw one girl shed a tear. He was really into it, like he was on a big hunt. Let's go shoot big deer daddy... I want to go shoot the elephant now... When the day was done, and we rode the train back to the hotel exhausted, Bruin reached down and completely on his own stuffed his gun in his sock. I have no idea how he learned that that is the proper place to put your gun when you're on a train, maybe he's learning too much from watching Disney movies.

Boys on a plane!

Some people are amazed that we go on so many airplane rides. They seem to imagine that it's like Snakes on a Plane, but with children. Bruin for the most part is very good on the plane. He buckles himself up, pulls his toys out of his backpack and entertains himself. On the way to Paris we were on the same flight as our friends the Woods, and he sat with Abigail in some free seats and they had fun reading and playing with cars. He does try to get us to take him to the bathroom every fifteen minutes so he can watch the toilet flush purple, but that's pretty easy to deal with.


Logan on the other hand is tougher. Usually he spends the whole time going through check-in and security in his stroller. When he finally gets out of the stroller and into the plane, he is anxious to get down and play. But he has not learned to entertain himself, or understand invisible boundaries. He would run up and down the plane if we let him. So it usually turns into a juggling act between me and Kathy trying to keep him occupied. It would be easier if he didn't have such a flexible snake spine, but all in all, we have just gotten used good at it. Plus, it will be much harder to fly to Paris when it's 10 hours instead of 2.5.

Escargot

So guess who really likes escargot? Logan. He ate 6 of em. I'm not sure what they were, the waiter said they were a delicacy, I think they just tasted like burnt snails, but boy did Logan like them. I feel wrong about getting them at a faux Chicago Steakhouse at Euro Disney, but the French restaurants had better sounding appetizers, like egg and salmon in jelly on coleslaw - it really was good - and it was the last night so we had to get them. Plus I could get everything else on this restaurant's appetizer menu at Applebees. Don't tell Kathy's brother-in-law David (pronounced Dah-Veed in the vowelly French fashion) that we got them there. He would shake his finger and run out into a field, pick some and fry them up on the spot.

This picture is from lunch on a different day, but it looked cute. I'll post another snippet when I get a chance.

More posts coming soon...

We're headed to Paris for a week. I promise to post when we get back.

The Big Wish

Bruin had his birthday party a couple of weeks ago. All of his friends came over, we had a Gravedigger monster truck piniata, a big bouncy thing, pizza and cake.
Everything seemed to be a normal 3 year old party, but there was just something about the look in Bruin's eyes when we told him to make a wish and then blow out his candles.
He used to be such a nice, chocolate loving boy. But after that wish, things have begun to change. We think that we have put enough evidence together to conclude that Bruin wished to become a...

A SUPER HERO!!

He has the cool, yet eccentric costumes.

The super cool set of wheels, capable of rapid response and a smooth get away.
The goofy, often clumsy, yet forever loyal sidekick.
Side -Note:
Bruin has started to become protective of Logan. If Logan tries to walk into the road Bruin will say, "No Logan, look for cars!" If Logan continues to go into the road, Bruin will start pulling on Logan's shirt to stop him, and if he still won't stop, Bruin will tackle Logan and push him back onto the drive way.

An affinity for martial arts, weapons and fighting. He's generally obsessed with trying to "get the bad guys."
Like all super heroes, he has his evil arch nemesis who is always trying to destroy the cities he has set up for the "Little People", tear apart rail lines, steal cars, trucks and cause general mayhem. We call him the Red-Eyed Destructor! (Yes he does look a lot like his loyal sidekick, but that is mere coincidence.)

And of course, there's the girls.Bruin has lots of girl friends.
We should call him L. L. Cool B. = Ladies Love Cool Bruin.

And if you are still not convinced, just check out this recent sighting of him coming out of the closet with his costume on.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-733282711866852822

Now if I could get what I wished for on my 25th Birthday last Saturday...

Sliding down the Volcano

The first day of 2007 turned out to be a wonderful day. Warm, and sunny so we decided to put on our snowsuits and go play in the snow.
It is a pretty amazing thing to go from T-shirt weather at a hundred feet over sealevel to the snowline of a 10,991 ft volcano as an afternoon drive. Bruin has a much clearer picture of what we mean when we tell him that the Volcano is white because there is snow on it.
We pulled up to Etna Sud, the lodge on the southside of the mountain. You can see the single chairlift. They had a better one, but it got wiped out by a lava flow in 2002.
We parked along the rode in typical Italian fashion, and threw the boys into the snow.
They quickly figured out how to slide down on their bellies.
So we climbed up on the lip of a crater and started butt-sliding down into the center.

Bruin had more fun sliding like Superman, but I found that going on my back headfirst prevented snow from filling my shirt and pants.
Logan had fun sliding down with us too, but I think Kathy was so worried about his safety everytime that she forgot to take any pictures. If it's nice again this weekend we'll go back up. We'll have to get some pictures of the ultra-posh Italians too. They are rediculous, like the ski-lodge people from a 70s Bond movie combined with a Hip-Hop music video. Plus, Kathy can show off her super snow scaling abilities. The Italians have no idea how to walk up snow, and tend to line up and follow the same trail. It quickly becomes ice, and they start falling all over each other. Kathy walked right around the whole line, and when they saw her, some looked up, forgot what they were doing and fell down.
Oh, and if anyone sees a sled that I could use to drag the boys back up the hill on we could really use one. They have little sleds here, but what we really need is a tobagan type, probably an inflatable one. That way it will be cheap to ship and bounce easily off the lava rocks.