Pigs Running in Circles!

Sunday we attended our first ever Pig Races, held in Nevis, a little town not far from where we are spending our summer. We were pretty excited about it, and let me tell you: it delivered.

This is the famous "World's Largest Muskie" in Nevis. Not even he was immune to this event.

The following short videos give you a peak into the non-stop action:

Tired from their day of racing.

If you're into it, here's a short video to show the intricacy of how they get everyone really excited to see these pigs run in a circle. It's an art. These people drive around to different towns putting these races on, and they know what they're doing, let's just say.

Can you believe that thus far in this posting there has not been one shot of Ez? Crazy! I guess the hog fever is something serious. Here's one of Ez, Uncle Rog, and cousin Emily on the pontoon. Emily is 3 and can read. What? I know. So much for keeping up with the Jones.

Coming soon: our run in with a seaplane! (Not literally.)

Adventure Seeking

I haven't been posting as much lately because if I did the pictures would all pretty much look like these. Boating, boating, boating! Although the neighbors have been inviting Ezra on their super fast boat lately, but I'm too busy holding on for dear life to take a picture. Yes, they invite Ezra and I think "Could I let him go with them alone?" and I try to entertain the thought but quickly realize that no, I am not quite ready for that. I would be SUCH a wreck the whole time he was gone, and I already have enough grey hair sprouting.

By the way, the neighbors are 7 and 3, with one other adult in the boat who is driving. So it would be 3 kids, one adult, and one torpedo boat speeding along at 50 miles per hour. No bueno! It's amazing how much smaller the lake seems when flying around at this speed. With the pontoon we rarely putt out of the little part by our house, but with the speedster the whole lake is gone in moments. My stomach churns with the guilt of this excessive waste of gas much less the disturbance to wildlife. We need neighbors with a canoe.

On a happier and less disturbing note, Ezra attended the Kids' Fishing Contest here in Hackensack this morning. His rod didn't even have a hook on it, much less bait, but he seemed content to dip his bobber in the water and watch the other kids catch Sunnies and Northerns. Then this little know-it-all professional fishergirl had to butt in and insist Ezra have a hook and worm. She tore a worm in half and laced his body with the hook. I swallowed hard and informed her that in the case that he should catch something she would have to remove it. She agreed, and his true fishing began. Luckily, he didn't catch anything. A clever little Bass snuck the worm off the hook (we could see him not far from the shore), and then we quickly made our way to the minnow races so I didn't end up lacing any worms myself. (I'm not squimish about much, but I do not like piercing worms bodies with hooks, nor removing hooks from fish.)

No, we didn't catch a fish, but we did catch a hot dog.

We also caught a spelling error in the nearby general store.

Here's a little video of Ezra hanging out with the neighbor girl, Tea (pronounced "Tay-ah"). They made this little club house and then read some books together. She really likes Ezra, surprise surprise, and he really likes her.

What have I been doing with my two weeks off from school? Reading "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and sleeping so much that I am having a hard time distinguishing between real life and my dreams. Marla comes tomorrow, so I'll get some fun in yet!

What a Weekend!

This past weekend Ezra and I ventured to Bemidji, a special place for a number of reasons. Most notable, it is the birthplace of Paul Bunyan. Now I don't want to hear any arguments about this, in the museum near these statues there are a number of Paul's personal belongings, including his finger nail clippings, sealing the deal that this is his rightful birth place (take that Brainerd!). Also, Babe the blue ox is so blue it's almost too blue, it's breathtaking blue, it's authentic blue.

Another great thing in Bemidji is this old train ride that yours truly remembers riding when she was as wee as little Ez. The other rides that used to delight are all gone (insurance reasons I hear) but this little choo choo will still take you on a lovely trip along Lake Bemidji for $1.50. You know who was ecstatic, although as usual I didn't capture his enthusiasm on film.

The awesomest part of Bemidji for this visit was seeing our old pal Max and his gal Tracy. They let us camp out in their back yard under a big, shady tree. Max took Ezra out on his skateboard, which was even more overwhelmingly exciting than the train. I captured a little bit of this fun in the following video, although it does not show his beaming face sadly, but you get the idea:

Another fun thing about Max is that he has cool stuff! Bongos, devil sticks, skateboards, but guess what they ended up playing with?

An empty beer box. Ezra started this by putting it on his head and pronouncing that he was a robot. I found this pretty hilarious and took the following short video:

The night that we spent in the tent in the backyard was magical. There was some thunder and lightning, along with a light rain. Ezra was a little scared at first, but with me going on and on about how cool it was he caught on pretty quick. We stayed dry and woke up the next morning feeling fine.

Then it was off to Grandpa's house! We had received word that there was going to be some music at Itasca State Park (very close to Gramp's) later that afternoon, so after a nice nap we headed over to enjoy hot dogs and a symphony under the pines. Here's a little glimpse of the pleasentness:

Last night I didn't sleep well at all because there was a stupid mosquito in our room that kept biting Ezra that I couldn't manage to get rid of until like 3 am, so we spent today napping for the most part. I finished my last final last night so I can do that now! For the next two weeks actually- yip yip yippee! Anyhow, we did get out a little in the afternoon, and here's Ezra playing with Nate who was in sore shape too because he had his first football training last night. Sorry Nate, but now the whole world knows your butt hurts! (Listen close, you'll hear.) Hardy har har. I really like how Ezra throws the baseball, notice his full body wind up. I think the leg motions he must be getting from the occassional Twins game we watch.

To continue attempts to embarrass Uncle Nate, here's a short clip from a few weeks ago showcasing his saxophone skillz:

What a guy! More from the relaxing weeks of break soon..

Rainy Days

We've been having some cold, rainy days here in Northern Minnesota and it's kept us pretty housebound. The good news is that Ezra now likes baths! (He liked them at first, then went through a stage of traumatic hair washing that ruined baths for some months. I think the spike trick in picture #1 helped.) So here at Grandpa's house Ezra has been taking advantage of fitting into the big bathroom sink. What a dream come true, warm sudsy bath water up to his chin! He's quite permanently pruned I fear.

So with little actual news to report, I'll just take this opportunity to make note of some of Ezra's current turn ons:

* He takes a few steps backwards before running forwards. Is this from watching wind up cars?? It's kind of cartoon-ish, and come to think of it he has just started watching old Pink Panther cartoons, maybe that has something to do with it. BTW there is so much unacceptable racial stereotyping in that show. Ezra and I talk about it a lot, don't worry he won't be a bigot.

* He really likes playing hide and seek. However, his only hiding place is in bed under the covers, preferably with Grandma or Uncle Nate. So I have to keep finding him over and over again, acting surprised each time (I'm getting theatrical!) even though while I'm looking for him I say "Ezra, Ezra, where are you? Are you in the closet?" and from under the covers I hear "No! In bed!" It's absurd. And adorable. By the 10th time a little tiresome. Just keep repeating to myself, soon it will be over and I will miss this, cherish it cherish it cherish it.

* He likes me to nibble on his ears. Sounds kinky, I know. He specifically requests, "Mama, eat my ear" or sometimes just "Mama, eat me" or if he hasn't had enough "Mama, more eat me."

* He is starting a doctor phase. After that last one this one sounds really kinky. No, he likes to put his toys through accidents (truck crashes, bunny falls off chair cliff, baby thrown from crib, repeatedly) and then have a doctor look at them to assess their wounds. Grandma is really good at this one, since she is a medical transcriptionist she knows all the lingo that impresses me probably more than Ezra. Although if he starts using them too I'll be truly amazed. When I'm the voice of the doctor there's lots of stitches, x rays, and ice packs. Grandma's got cat scans, ultra sounds, and other acronyms that I don't understand. I might have to get him a stethoscope.

* He still loves sports, football, baseball, soccer, and the newest addition is ping pong, although he calls it "ting tong" which is adorable. Grandma's got a table in the basement and we freeze our butts off down there trying to play.

* He loves to eat vegetables! Broccoli is his all time favorite, along with carrots. He's into fruits as well, with pears at #1 and clementine oranges, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries tying for second. Other than that he's really into meat. Hmmm. Here at Grandpa's house he ate FOUR whopping breakfast sausages the other morning. Yikes. After doing some research on CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) for one of my classes I am pretty grossed out by the majority of the meat available around here. Do you know about these places that supply us with this cheap meat and dairy? The cows cramped all together, standing up smooshed in a horrible stinking warehouse for their entire lives? It's like the holocaust for animals, it's so disturbing. Not to mention the environmental effects or the effects of the people who live near by. A medium size CAFO produces the same amount of excrement as a city with a population of 70,000 people. In one night. Mercy it's revolting. Buy local, buy organic, please, or you might be one of those cows in your next life. (Sorry for the disturbing regression.)

* He is counting pretty well, always forgets the number four, and is getting interested in letters. He knows the letter E, and whenever he sees it he says "My ledaw E!" Next is Z. Doesn't seem that interested.

* Other general likes to end this list: favorite shows- Calliou (why is he bald you may be wondering if you're familiar with this television personality, it is because "calliou" means bald headed in French! Voila!), Clifford (his favorite, he cried for about 15 minutes this morning when the show ended), Arthur, Sesame Street, favorite books - "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!", "The Last Puppy", Richard Scary anything, "Boo Hoo Bunny", any books that are songs (There were ten in the bed and the little one said roll over, roll over... I have sang that at least 20 times in the last few days), and "Katy No Pocket".

Maybe this is interesting/entertaining for you, and maybe not. Remember that this is sort of Ezra's baby book so there will be some entries like this. I'll label them "Baby Book" so you can determine whether you want to spend the time, or not.

Lastly, here's a very short video showing off some of his vocabulary. A limited, random sampling, but cute nonetheless. Ciao!

Da Boat

Yesterday we took a putt putt around the lake on the old pontoon. Ezra drove, and he's got some skillz but just needs to work on paying attention to where he's going. A wide open expanse of water might be the perfect place for driving lessons.

Fisherman

Ezra had his very first fishing experience this morning! He is quite fond of the idea, although he didn't catch much. Well, he didn't catch anything at all to be perfectly honest. He was really looking for those fish, as is captured in the following video:

Another highlight of Grandma's house is this pirate ship. There's tons of pirates as well as little instruments for them to hold, like a compass, sword, and plenty of goblets for them to drink from.
Other ways that Ezra keeps himself busy is by tormenting Lucy the cat. He calls Lucy "Puss Puss" however, I guess because the cat at our last house was named Puss Puss. I do find it entertaining to hear him say Puss Puss, so I am not correcting him as much as I could. Here's a short clip showing how gracious Lucy is putting up with his antics.

Back to school work... Did I mention that I am taking 5 classes this term? It's kinda craptastic.

Little Scientist

I haven't taken many pictures this week. This one is from last Sunday, Easter, at the beginning of Ezra's egg coloring experiment. He enjoyed it very much, and made some beautiful eggs to boot. We finally got around to hiding them the next day, but that part wasn't quite as fun as this part, as you might imagine.

He's pretty much adjusted to life here. It's really great to walk out the door and be able to run, play, get dirty, and see animals. In Portland I spent a lot of time fending him off from streets, traffic, and gross trash on the ground, so I don't miss that dialogue at all. Now I just watch out for chipmunks, beavers, and bald eagles to point out.

We did get out one night to see a duo called Brothers Burn Mountain. We saw them at this funny little hippy haven called Terripin Station in a nearby town. Ezra was dancing his socks off, and was in fact the last person at the show to still be clapping for an encore. He is a party baby. I think we're going back tonight for another show, The Urban Hillbilly Quartet. Should be fun! It's somewhat of a life saver to have a place like Terrepin Station around. Music, movement, and organic coffee can really help a person's psyche. I only wished we lived closer. I think I would go there everyday.

I'll try to take more pictures this week of our carousing in the woods.

Here's a couple of left over videos from our train rides. What do you do on a 30+ hour train ride anyways? These give you an idea. In one we're sitting in the "dressing room" down in the bellows of the train and Ezra's fiddling around with the sink. You pretty much just try to make everything take as long as possible when on these epic journeys...

This is a long posting.

Happy Easter! Here's Ezra proudly displaying the 14 Easter eggs he "found" at the Easter egg "hunt" we attended the day before we left Portland (Wednesday). I put the quotes because the eggs weren't really hidden. It was a small field with eggs every three feet. It was limited to only 2 and under year olds, so it was a real accomplishment if the kid could pick up the egg, much less find it. If they were hidden that would have been way too much work for us parents.

Here's a little video of Ezra scrambling for eggs...

Ah it feels good to have my computer, wireless internet, and a glass of train wine. What is train wine? Wine left over from our 30+ hour train ride. I didn't quite finish it last night when it was purchased for me by a man from Kenya who used my phone and payed me back with booze. He got Ezra a juice too. Unfortunately we had to abandon him mid sip due to Ezra's need to sleep.

Ezra made some friends on the train too. His favorite was Rory, a five year old who shared his tastes for football, shrieking, rough play, and drawing. I took the following short video of them deeply involved in creating their masterpieces during a lovely sunset. Ezra draws Mama, a balloon, and a boat as he is narrating:

Yes, the train ride was just fine, and has brought us to our current locale of Hackensack, MN. The ice on the lake went out today and we're talking about packing away Ezra's mittens. Did I really escape winter? At the beginning of April? I am really hoping this is not a cruel April Fool's joke. My recommendation is to just keep the spring ball rolling. No looking back!

We will sure miss our great Portland peeps. Here's a little assortment of recent shots of us in the land of Port...

Riding the worm at Peninsula Park!

Here's a little video of the "Car Park" indoor event at the park. I pulled those boys around in the wagon for at least a half an hour. I took over for Bat Boy and that was that.

Cruisin' round town. It's not sunny very often in Portland so we get confused.

At our March digs, Kristine's Killingsworth Spot. Ezra liked it there. Little chubby smile.



We went to see this matinee bluegrass band play a couple of times, and Ezra got his hands on a little guitar to play along. In the above video he thrashes it up.

Off to the Easter egg hunt in the tripler with the ladies. He likes it in the middle.
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Then of course that trip to Santa Barbara to visit Aunt and Uncle must be reported. Many of these pictures were taken by Uncle Jeff. I hardly took any pictures the whole week because Jeff has a pretty itchy, clicky, talented finger. I admit it was nice to be off the hook for capturing everything all the time. Here's a smattering:

We got a little sunburned in the California sun. Jeff sure captures some nice moments : )

Santa Barbara has some very impressive parks. They almost compared in awesomeness to Ezra's pants.

He rode the carousel three times. Twice in a row and then once a few days later with friend Jim, who you will see shortly. He maintained a very low key facial expression, never bursting out with joy or exhibiting any sort of inclination that he was experiencing happiness. But he asked for more, so I assume he was just overwhelmed with loving it.

Out for breakfast I try to keep Ezra entertained until his pancake shows up.

Grandma's technique: spoonfuls of jam.

At the skate park Ezra was cooler than everyone, even the roller blade guy.

Havin' some candies at the seaside.

Ezra really wanted to achieve something with this ball...

and he did. Mission accomplished.

It's hard to catch an Ezra smile, which is why I am particularly impressed with this one:

A wallet size of that one for everybody!

Clearly I took that one. There's Jeff. I had to get a full shot of that balloon! It lasted about 20 minutes. Ezra likes to pop balloons by biting them.

The fantastic Jimmy came to town from Los Angelos and even let Ezra share his super deluxe sundae. Actually Ezra swiped his spoon and good luck getting it back.

That cup is as big as Ezra's head!

I packed up all of our belongings for the move to Minnesota, and had forgotten to keep myself out a pair of socks, so I had to get a couple from the mis-matched bag. The stripey one with the individual toes is apparently from Japan. It was a little strange to have my toes separated from one another like that, but I got used to it about 20 hours later, somewhere in Montana.

* * *

I wonder if anyone made it to the end of this one... sure was a doozy. In fact I started this posting yesterday but fell asleep before I could finish it. Hopefully you're awake.. and having a great Sunday! More from Minnesota soon...

My Little Man is Two!

As promised, here are some photos from our lovely weekend on the Oregon coast. Sunshine on the coast is rare, so we really got lucky. Not quite warm enough to go swimming (or take off your coat), but warm enough to hang out for a couple of hours without your limbs getting numb. We'll take it! Our friends Cayce and Justin took these shots of me and my guy prancing around in the surf.

It's hard to get him to look at the camera. Why look away from the glorious ocean?

Now he's looking and I look freaky. O'well.

Here's a video of Ezra approaching the ocean:

The sand feels so nice between your fingers (and in your mouth, he's still into eating sand...).

Kate and Usiah brought a really nifty kite to fly on the beach.

Ezra took a turn, and I did a lot of running down the beach to catch the kite after he let it go. He found this game highly amusing.

This is Ezra and Maya at the breakfast joint where we ate that morning. It was called the Pig n' Pancake, and there were these little stuffed pigs that were holding frying pans with bacon in them. You could buy the pig frying pig while you ate pig. It was darling.

Gabe and Koali got Ezra this really cool dump truck! It's made from recycled milk jugs. Amazing. Here Ezra and Maya fill 'er up with rocks in front of our yurt. You can see the port o potty in the background. Ezra was a little scared of it. Understandably.


On Sunday morning it was a little gray so we went into town to the free science museum. There were little model tide pools that had sea creatures that you could touch. Ezra did not want to touch them, but the option was there. In the above picture he is looking at what is in the below picture (a really flat fish that likes to be pet, the say).

He liked the clown fish a lot. So do I.

Here's a video of Ezra and Maya checking out the interactive elements:



Yes, Ezra did get a turn:



On the car ride home he fell asleep with this bag of white cheddar popcorn on his lap. When I tried to remove it he would wake up and sleep eat a kernel or two before closing his eyes again. He ate almost that entire bag of popcorn. Yes, not the best thing, but for a 3 hour car ride I just want him to be content and if that means a bag of white cheddar popcorn, so be it.

I snuck this while he was sleeping. It's his super cool sea horse tattoo that I put on his leg upside down so that he could look at it right side up.

In all that fun and excitement we never got around to lighting candles, singing happy birthday or eating cake (much to the disappointment of Usiah who kept asking "Birthday cake?"). Fortunately our good friend Roberta had a potluck that night so we brought over Ezra's tiramisu birthday cake and they helped us complete the birthday necessities, even putting on party hats. In the above shot Ezra sits with Grace, who was the real reason for the potluck. She's Roberta's sister who is visiting from Atlanta. Grace and I used to work together at the Tin Shed oh so long ago... She's a great gal.

Ezra had A LOT of fun.

Here's the candles, the cake, and the singing:

Here's a video of him making short work of the candles:

What a success! I am so thankful to all of the people who could join us to celebrate Ezra's second birthday. Also, those who could not make it, we really appreciated the phone calls (he got to listen to 3 people sing him happy birthday on speaker phone while he was in the bathtub), and birthday cards (and cookies!). What ever will we do next year... Chuck-E-Cheese?