This Fall

September was beautiful and we spent a lot of time at the Lake -- walking the pier,

playing on the rocks,

and simply goofing off.

We also spent a lot of time at ArtPrize.

Being bombarded with paper airplanes from the sky.

Appreciating art on a grand scale.

At the Beehorst encampment.

An extraordinary, even sacred, installation.

In October Henry continued his important work of emptying out the pots and pans cupboard each morning and banging the contents on the floor to announce the arrival of another day.

Ellie and Cate helped rake leaves and . . .

. . . then jumped in them.

"Dad, yes I assure you it makes more sense for you to be out here raking leaves than in the house watching the Irish lose another one."


At Halloween Ellie was a banshee and Cate was Tweety. They designed their own pumpkins and helped carve them.

And, amazingly, in November the weather was still nice enough to go to the beach . . .

. . . and enjoy the sand . . .

. . . and the sun.

Henry Christian's Summer

Henry had a great summer.

He celebrated his first birthday. While he got to lick the frosting off the beaters all by himself . . .

. . . he did have to share his gifts with his sisters and cousins.

He hit the beach. "You ladies need any sunscreen?"

He played with his sisters which, as you can see from the smile on his face, is one of his favorite things to do.

He held forth on the important issues of the day. "The stimulus is bound to have an inflationary effect. I'm loading up on TIPS."

"Yeah, I hear what you're saying Josie, but I just don't think the Dawgs have what it takes to win the SEC this year.

He hung out at the playground. "So, you think I'm kinda cute, huh?"


And, most of all . . .

. . . he enjoyed the love.

Attack by The Kids' Liberation Front Foiled!

I recently received a public service e-mail from Atlanta correspondent cousin Josie about how her Mom foiled an attacked by a copperhead snake. The e-mail explained how to identify the copperhead and then how to call a parent to beat it with a shovel. That was a very helpful e-mail.

I now need to post my own public service notice for the benefit of all parents about how I foiled, single-handedly, a water balloon attack by the Kids' Liberation Front (the "KLF").

As you can see from the picture above, the KLF first built an impressive arsenal of water balloons. Don't be cowed parents; you can defeat them!


The KLF then sang boasts over their cache. As you will soon see, however, their boasts all came to naught.

This series of pictures pretty much demonstrates how the battle went for the KLF. They first attacked with great enthusiasm.

They were drawn into a trap by my strategic retreat.

At the end of the lawn the KLF fighters were forced to throw their water balloons after having exhausted themselves running across it. But, oh no! Dad was too quick. The throws were usually dodged, or sometimes caught (as was the case here).

And, if I caught the balloon, an immediate and accurate counter-attack was the result.

This lack of success on the part of the KLF didn't, however, slow down the boasts from the KLF's second in command . . .

Or the smack talk from the KLF's leader.

In the end, they ran out of ammunition and hunkered down in their hide-out to discuss what to do next.

But, they didn't foresee Dad discovering their hideout or his ingenious re-purposing of broken balloons.

Another direct hit!

So, out of water balloons, the KLF reverted to their usual tickle tactics (which, I assure you, also failed).

So, all Dads and Moms out there, if you are under attack from the local branch of the KLF in your neighborhood, please give me a call and I will be able to advise you on successful counter-KLF tactics.

May, The Friday Evening of Summer

Ellie running on the pier.

Cate posing on one of the "mushrooms" on the pier.

Henry enjoying his first trip to the pier.

Henry enjoying his bath.

Ellie enjoying the reception after her spring choir concert.

Cate helping in the garden.

And the classic, Mother's Day breakfast in bed.

Dancing Queens

This past weekend Ellie and Cate had their dance recital. Ellie performed an Irish dance and Cate performed to "Dancing Queen". They both did a great job.

Kudos to Aunt Lindsay for a great job on their hair.

Ellie had to perform twice, but one performance and all the excitement tuckered Cate out and she fell into bed for a nap as soon as she got home.

Meanwhile, Henry continued his important work of taking all of his toys out of the storage tub, exclaiming over them, and then hurling them down. I tell you, that never gets old. You might be able to see the shades of a shiner he received on his right eye after he reached forward too far for a toy and pitched over. His story? "You ought to see the other baby."

And, as usually happens, a nice Sunday afternoon photo op with the kids . . .

soon dissolves into sheer silliness.