Post Crazy! Minnesota: Day Out with Marla

It's so nice to hang out with Marla! Not only do you get to hear her infectious laugh, but she takes flattering photos of you, too! As you all know there are not many photos of Ezra and his dear mother together, at least not many that his dear mother approves of. Marla has swooped in and saved the day! We went to the zoo. In the above shot we watch the baby orangatang swinging in the ropes with his large, hairy father.

Here we look for fish (there aren't any).

I can't remember what very important factual information I was bestowing on Ezra here.

Nicely captured Marla, don't look too bad for a Mom eh?

We went out to lunch to the fabulous Seward Cafe. Ezra didn't finish his rice and beans so he got a little take out box. What fun. He does love little handled things to carry. Yes, that includes purses.

I have him practicing for an hour everyday. He concentrates better if he's standing up.

Looking wild eyed!

Showing Grandma how big his belly had already grown since our arrival in Minnesota. I think we both gained some weight there let's just say.

Awwww. There we are. It was so so so so so nice to see Marla, even just for one day. I vote Marla to be the Woman of 2009. At least in Milwaukee.

You can see all of Marla's shots from our visit here.

Boy in a Box

I ordered Ezra a Big Bird stuffed animal and of course he's more interested in the box it came in. Ready to be shipped off to the Land of Balls, Fly Swatters, and Toothbrushes! (Those are some of his current favorite things.)

Here's a video of the goof ball in the box, and he shows off some of his stellar vocab!

Today was the first day back to school, and in the following video Ezra wears his backpack and runs a lap around the house. He's training for catching the school bus.

Ok I should do some reading now. Or should I just go to bed? It's turned cold here and all I want are blankets and pillows. At least I have a warm Back Pack on my lap.

Newness

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite picture of Ezra to date. He just plopped himself down on the floor in front of the refrigerator and started reading his book. Didn't even bother to tie his shoe.

This is another favorite shot of mine. It was skipped in the Guatemala post, but upon further review this is a good one worth sharing. It looks like a painting, he just has so much emotion!

* * *

Anyways, back to the "newness". We got a cat! His name is Back Pack Belt Loop. He is six months old, meaning he's not tiny like a kitten but not big like a cat. It also means that he is litter box trained. He is a Siamese, and a purr box. He purrs and purrs and purrs. He puts up with the boys poking and prodding him, in fact he purrs for it. He likes to sleep with Ezra, even though he is the most abusive of the bunch. Cats always like the person who likes them least it seems. Without further ado, here he is, Back Pack, the newest addition to the Mallory Crew:

On the ledge. Lovely coloring wouldn't you say?

Having some chicken.

With his devoted tormentor.

* * *

Aside from the cat, there's school starting tomorrow (a mix of joy and dread) and Ezra's new toddler bed (yeah!). I'll take a picture of it soon, it's small and red and adorable. He's only fallen out of it twice. Hmmm. Here's a smattering of photos from the week in between our Guatemalan and Minnesotan vacations.

Our dear friends Roberta and Dan got married and this is the only cotton picking picture I have of the lovely, quirky ceremony. Ezra with a rubber chicken wearing a bikini. The batteries in my camera died. It was a lovely ceremony, the bride was gorgeous as always and the food was delicious. It rained, but that's blessings, right? We're very happy for them.

Random shot of Ez in his pajamas.

Flowers from the farmers' market on the green gingham table cloth left over from the pizza party we held the night before. Homemade pizza, so good. I made a chicken, artichoke heart, red pepper, spinach pizza and Kate made a caprese pizza (mozzerella, tomatoes, and fresh basil) as well as a delicato squash and chantrelle pizza. All of that was washed down with some box wine. You really should have been here.

Usiah has found his inspiration! He has been painting up a storm. Here he borrowed Ezra's sunglasses to pose with his latest work. He and Ezra are getting along famously. Ezra is particulary obsessed with Usiah and says "Siah! Siah!" whenever he's not here. I'm very glad they have each other to play and dance with...

Speaking of dancing with, here's a short clip of the boys doing some boogie downing, which they do almost everyday, sometimes multiple times a day.

Happy Monday!

Minnesota: Hamming it Up

He's started to ham it up for the camera! Maybe we'll see less blank, gaping mouth shots from now on.

Our vacation is winding down, and with only 2 more days in Minnesota I'm looking forward to being home, in my bed. Staying with the grandparents has been a real treat, I love having other people prepare meals for me! I like to cook too, but oh man is it nice to be called for dinner like the old teenage years.

Ezra doing the dishes with Grandma in the soft evening sunlight glow. He was being so helpful, until he started to drink the soap bubbles.

Relaxing in the hammock with Grandpa Rick. Is that a little smile?

After a wonderful dinner on the front porch. Look at him, posing again!
Mama had a little too much red wine that night.

Captain Ezra on his maiden voyage. He likes to go fast folks.

Looking for loons on the horizon.

With musical accompaniment provided by Mama, playing the theme from Giligan's Island on the kazoo, which is quite possibly the best toy of the weekend. The only regret is that we didn't buy two of them so we could harmonize. Note to self.

Minnesota: Grandma's Boat

It's a fact, Ezra loves to go out on the boat. Can you hear the thick, Minnesotan accent in that sentence? I hope so. He puts on his life jacket in the house and says "boa, boa, boa" while pointing at the dock. Trolling around Pleasant Lake we see loons, gulls, fishermen, ducks, and the occasional eagle. Such a treat! We will have to look into buying a pontoon in Portland to explore the mighty Willamette.

Today we are headed to Oktoberfest in Longville. It's September and I think most folks in these parts are Swedes, but we'll see what they have to offer.

I've been slacking on my natural mothering role, this morning Ezra had Trix cereal for breakfast (gasp!) and watched Sesame Street on t.v. It's all grandma's fault for having those colorful balls of crunchy sugar in the house even.

Ezra especially likes this song, which brought back memories for me. Do you remember it?

Minnesota: Pillows

He is really enjoying himself in the above photos, I swear! He loves to be covered in pillows.

***

Sorry, the photo shoot at Itasca didn't work out. I was much too into the book I was reading at the time, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I was recommended this book by a co-worker, she even lent me her copy complete with a golden book mark. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to you as well, although I can't promise a golden book mark. It is so nice to read a book of my choice, at the pace I prefer. I finished the book last night, and today picked up a number of possible next reads. Nothing grabbed me, any recommendations from you out there?

***

It is lovely to not have to read anything I don't want to read, such is the case with school. I do love going to school, learning and strutting around campus, but it has been really nice to be on break these past four weeks. Ezra and I did a lot of dancing today, and as you can see in the above pictures he has developed a fondness for covering himself in pillows.

***

Yesterday we went to one of Uncle Nate's football games. He plays with the Park Rapids Panthers, and we are very proud to report they creamed those Frazee fools! I felt a little bit bad for Frazee, they had half the amount of team members as the Panthers, meaning they were really tired by half time. Nate's team kept switching people in and out, allowing them to rest. I cheered on the Frazee fellows as their shoulders slumped, much to the sneers of the Panther's fans around us. Ezra loved to watch the game, and I am praying that it doesn't develop a serious interest for him. I do not want him to play football, nor be a dentist when he grows up.

***

Speaking of which, I signed Ezra up for a gymnastics/dance class! You may say I'm raising a dandy, but there's nothing sissy about balance, rythm and socialization skills. I think the Gym Dandies class will be fun. Ok so I am raising a dandy. A Darling Dandy.

Minnesota: Grandpa's Garden

Ezra and Grandpa on the shores of Lost Lake

We are quite the movers and shakers this month. From Guatemala to Portland to Minnesota! Ezra has racked up quite the frequent flier miles. He has become very plane saavy. Shortly after boarding he falls asleep, and wakes up upon landing. Everyone around coos how wonderful he is, and I agree. The flight to Minnesota was really nothing, three hours with no connections. Compared to the eight hour (not including connections) trip to Guatemala it was like a stroll around the block.

The first day here we spent with the lovely Marla. I'll post some pictures of our time at the Como Zoo in St. Paul as soon as she sends me some (wink wink Marlsipoo). I'll save some details, but a highlight was certainly the baby orangatang.

Then we headed up to Pleasant Lake to spend some time with Grandma. There's no photos of this time because my camera decided to drain batteries of their juice when not in use. Bummer dude indeed. Highlights of Grandma's include: a bag a frogs, insects, snakes, turtles and the occasional pirate, a farm set up complete with animal noises and an annoying rendition of Old McDonald Had a Farm (not annoying at all for the wee one), and Lucy the cat who loves to rub up against Ezra, the tip of her tail licking the underside of Ezra's nose.

We'll go back to Grandma's next week and hopefully take some photos of the two love birds together. He does love Grandma. Who wouldn't?

Thankfully here at Grandpa's house Uncle Nate has a camera that he let me use for a photo session this morning. Grandpa has quite an impressive garden, and Ezra enjoyed grazing the strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, basil, and green beans. There are many more veggies to be had, and tonight at dinner we will see whether or not Ezra likes sweet corn. I think he will, but I'm not always right. (He didn't like Grandpa's famous home made waffles! He did however scarf the sausage. He's a savory guy.)

At the entrance to the garden, with an appetizer of a ritz cracker.

He loves the cherry tomatoes.

Sometimes he figures out to bite them.

Picking broccoli (the leaves anyway).

Fresh from the soil.

Thank goodness for teeth. Sitting on the new porch on the new porch swing catching some rays.

Inspecting the leaves of his apple tree.

We're off to Itasca State Park! Perhaps a photo tour will spontaneously occur...

Happy Sunday!

Hangin Out with Papa

Sorry about the lack of pictures, tales, and videos as of the past two weeks! I think I might have forgotten to mention that we were going to Guatemala for 2 weeks. We left the 18th of August and came back the first of September. It was a little long to be honest, but we did have some fun. A favorite outing was to the local swimming pool. In the above photo Ezra (Diego as he was called there) and Cristian relaxed on the swings. I did not relax on these swings because they're really freaking uncomfortable.

POOL SIDE

The boys do have similar tastes in footwear. These were left pool side along with Mama, who took the opportunity to take in some sun (and some pictures).

Will he catch him? He looks a little unsure...


He pulls it off! Ezra is completely fearless when it comes to jumping in water. That's a good thing, but a little scary. He also has no fear of any dog, no matter how large and barky. I haven't discovered many fears of Ezra, besides the absence of his dear, sweet Mother.

Here Ezra holds on solo. He really thinks he's 8 years old and can swim. He's always pushing me away in pools like, no Mom, I can swim, scram.

This is what happens when you believe him that he can swim. He pulled him up real quick like, don't worry. Ezra thought it was funny. Oh fiddlesticks.

Here's a little video of the boys in the pool, complete with excessive volume radio announcers speaking in Spanish. The one draw back to this pool is that they play the worst music really loud. Even worse news: Ezra liked it.

WATER VOLCANO

Getting out of the city, we headed to the Volcano de Ipala. This volcano is full of pristine, very chilly water. I have been here a couple of times before, but this was the first time with the Bunny Boy. The hike up usually takes about an hour, but this day it took about three. Ezra was not having it. I think he was just bored of being in the pack so he kept whining and wanting to get out. Once we got to the top and he saw the water he was all smiles. On the trip down we planned it better and he slept.
They've built a new road that goes all the way up to the top, but we opted for the hike. I think it is part of the experience. To really appreciate the lake, a sense of accomplishment is key. Not to mention being really hot and sweaty from the straight up hike.

This is a little fuzzy, but I still like it. Here's Ezra feeling pretty content after the dramatic climb.

Here's Ezra enjoying the clear, cool water with Papa handing him stones to throw and Anna, Cristian's Siberian Husky puppy, looking for chickens to chase.
(You might be wondering what a Siberian Husky is doing in Guatemala- sweating.)

We took a short hike up the the overlook. Ezra rests his eyes from the gorgeous vista.


Taking in the sights with some dirty little fingers.


We spent the night in a very comfortable little room. There were four beds. We used three and Anna (the dog, remember?) used the fourth. We brought up some food, and in this picture Ezra is enjoying some toasted bread with cream cheese. Papa looks on with a mix of amusement and disgust.

He really likes cream cheese apperently.

MOTO MECANICA
(Papa's work)

This is the only picture we took at the motorcycle repair shop where Cristian works. Here Ezra prepares to tour around with his father on a Choppy moto, a darling little thing that can climb mountains when needed. Buenicima moto, as Cristian would say.


THE NIECES

Cristian's older brother William has two daughters, Julie and Angie. He also has a son who was born the day after we arrived in Guatemala. I met the tiny guy once and he looked like a tiny, new baby. The grandma was excited to show off his "big" part in the nether regions. I took more notice in the extreme amount of hair that covered his arms, legs and head.
Anyway, back to Julie and Angie. Above is Julie, who is 7. She is crazy. She looks rather sweet here, hanging out in the hammock with her uncle.

However this photo illustrates her true nature. She always wants to wrestle. You'll be relaxed, maybe even about to fall asleep and she barges in and jumps you! I did not put up with her shananagans. Cristian is very patient with her, and pins her again and again until she gives up.

Here we see Julie (taking a break from the wrestling ring), Ezra, and Ezra's second cousin whose name I didn't catch. This second cousin is of course Cristian's first cousin, the daughter of his mother's sister. The sister's name is Lola, and she is the proud mother of NINE children. Her oldest is nearly thirty and her youngest just turned four. She had the youngest when she was 48. I think that's the last one.
The house where Cristian lives is always full of people going in and out. I didn't know many of them, and figured they were friends or something. Turns out that they are all children of Lola. Everytime the door opened it was another of her young. She's a woman of basic pleasures, telling me she is poor but free, and finds happiness in having a tortilla and some beans. I'd assume that to mean some for all of her herd as well. Oh Lola. Always with a smile. And some sound advice about raising children.

Here's the other niece, Angie. She is older than Julie by just one year. She is much more tolerable than Julie, but not by much. She doesn't listen, she buys Ezra horrible food (lolipops, chips that seriously smell like poop, pure sugar drinks), and she's a little liar. Sorry Julie and Angie, but it's the truth. I don't know how Cristian puts up with these little sasafrases.
A little bit about why they are such the way they are: their mother is not around. I've never met her but apparently she has no interest in raising her children. She prefers to hang out in the street. What that means exactly I don't know, but the girls spend the majority of their time with William, their father, who is constantly leaving and coming back, leaving and coming back, to where I don't know. He jets around all day and all night.
The girls do spend some time with their great grandma as well. She cracks the whip on them and is, in my opinion, a glimmer of hope. She has them washing dishes and sweeping the floor. She wears a switch around her neck if anyone misbehaves.
I'm sure that they will turn out just fine, but I found them particularly irritating.

ANTIGUA

Antigua, Guatemala is a lovely little tourist town just outside of the capital city. We stayed here for two nights before we flew out. It is very conveniently located near to the airport and there are dozens of shuttles one can take to get there. It used to be the capital of Guatemala, but when the volcano that you see in the above photo erupted, it destroyed everything.
Antigua has been rebuilt is an antique style, with all the buildings following the style. See an example of this here and here.
I'm sure you can google it if you're interested, but basically there's tons of gringos, tons of overpriced restaurants, and really bumpy, cobblestone streets. It's lovely!
The above photo (and those to follow) was taken from an overlook. You can see the whole of Antigua and the volcano towering over it.

Here's Ezra being a little super model. His hair is getting so long! In the background you will see some gringos making out. On Ezra's feet you will find the hideous shoes gifted to him by his great grandmother. He loves them, it kills me.

A rare shot of mother and son, with Ezra taking a little ride on my back. (Did I tell you I cut my hair? I did, on my birthday.)

We had to do some more of those take a picture of yourselves with your arm stretched as far as possible. It's just hard to get everyone in the shot. Remember this from last time?

Doubly difficult to get everyone smiling.

Cristian doesn't like the up close shots so he requested a man to take this shot of us from a distance. I don't like these kinds of pictures. Sure you can see everything, but you can't see anything up close! Cristian and I have many differences. He likes tortillas, I like bread. He likes to eat the tongue of pigs, I don't. He wants to gain weight, I want to lose weight.
We have some similarities too, I suppose. We both like beans, salads, beets, lemonade, nature, The Simpsons, hammocks, and are both madly in love with Ezra (Diego to him).

Yes everyone called Ezra Diego while we were there. It was a little confusing for him. Well, quite frankly he just didn't pay any attention to them. They were concerned that he couldn't hear initially, but then I explained that I indeed don't call him Diego, but rather Ezra. They can't really say Ezra comfortably, the letter combination just doesn't jive for their articulation. So Diego was in Guatemala. I'm happy Ezra is back.

I face the challenge of helping him to unlearn some unfortunate habits picked up down there. One day he was throwing rocks at the neighbors' faces. Just as I was about to reprimand him, they started laughing! And they handed him more rocks! Just what he needs.
He also enjoyed slapping his father's face, and Cristian laughed about that too. He know slaps me, but I scold him. Oh Diego, just go away.

We're headed out to Minnesota for two weeks, leaving next Tuesday. I have five weeks off from school so we're getting around to see everybody. I'm really looking forward to going to the home land and relaxing in the hands of my parents. Fridges full of food, shimmering lakes, ready and willing hands to play with the Bunson Burner, ahhhhh yes.

More news sooner than later. Happy September!