Seaplane!

Last week Ezra and I were casually beaching it in downtown Hackensack on Birchlake, when suddenly out of no where appeared this plane coming straight towards us! There were a dozen or so gaping mouths staring as the pilot nonchalantly exited, who one by one walked away as the amusement wore off gradually. Ezra did not waver, his gaze held steady, until he was the last of the admiring onlookers. The pilot told him he could come and have a closer look (lucky devil!) and I took some quick pictures. A very cool day at the beach indeed!

I will study no more!

Yessssssssssssss I am dooooooooooooone with my undergraduate education holy crap it feels great! Calm, peace, bumble around time here I come. See you later textbook city, I already sold 'em to the highest bidder.

To celebrate we (Ezra, Grandpa, Uncle Nate, Sofia & myself) went out to eat at a nearby restaurant called Something er other BBQ. It looked nice enough, with a fire place and quality decor, however I had the first sign that something was amiss when our drinks were brought to us in styrofoam cups. Wha? Isn't styrofoam illegal yet? Then our food comes on PAPER PLATES! Not only paper plates, but the kind with three different sections, and not only that, but there was food in only two of the three sections! There is some unstated rule that if you elect to use paper plates at your restaurant (please don't) the least you can do is put something in each of the three sections. Dessert was peach cobbler in (you guessed it) a styrofoam bowl. I am praying that their dishwasher is just broken- sheesh!

It was a memorable dinner.

I know I mentioned the seaplane, but I am feeling lazy about uploading photos this evening. I stayed up until 3 last night writing my final of all final papers so I have some tiredness going on. Just thought I would mention my undergraduate victory, and tell you budding restraunteers to spring for real dishes.

More soon, happy weekend y'all.

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.)

It's Already July 9th

A minnow net, a brewski, a pajama man

Wow I am seriously blog-slack-tastic. I am telling you, this pursuit of higher education of mine is really getting in the way of sharing about our daily adventures here with you. The good news: I only have ONE MORE WEEK LEFT! I know, holy mackerel. It's going to feel so good to sit and read the paper, or casually leaf through a magazine, or read any number of books for pleasure. Not that reading my art history textbook isn't pleasurable (it is, occasionally, although it just makes me want to go to Greece, Spain, Egypt and see these things with my eyes, with the exception of the tomb artifacts because there's something wrong with grave digging even in the name of science).

We did have a good Fourth of July, thanks for asking. We went to the thriving metropolitan of Walker where there were some inflated jumpy kingdoms for Ezra to get his yah yahs out- and he did. He jumped and jumped and jumped. Everyone was all dressed up in their red, white and blues (especially the little girls), t-shirts blazing USA pride. While Ezra jumped happily I suddenly realized that I had dressed him in his Guatemala shirt that day- oops! O'well. That night I put him in a red stripey romper so there. He loved the fireworks here in Hackensack, and requests more nightly. Tonight there were some random ones across the lake, so his belief that he governs the world with his desires has been confirmed yet again.

Ezra and I are getting psychologically prepared for our trip to Guate. Ezra has been saying 'gracias' and doesn't tell me to stop speaking Spanish to him (he used to not like my "que quieres mi amorcito" at all).

Sorry it's been so long, in roughly a week I'll post everyday, I promise! I'll tell you all about the interesting life beyond academia! Unless you want to hear about how film adaptations hollywood-ize Asian American literature... send me in email, we'll talk.

Robots, Cousins, Sunshine, Rain

The latest favorite past time is being robots. Bucket on head=robot. We chase each other around and do robot dances. It's pretty awesome.

Pleasant Lake was overwhelmed with the visit of (from L to R) Hanna, Ella, Ezra, Connor, and Isaac. They swam, swam, swam and watched local favorites Mamma Mia and Cottage Cheese.
Bread Man is a hero among this crowd.

Sparkly water tube time with Grandma.

Crackers at Itasca State Park Beach. We saw a snapping turtle and a crawfish! They're doing some construction on the building site, to explain the orange fence. Ezra's sunglasses collection is growing!

Thanks for the underdog, Grandpa!

In his swimsuit, with his umbrella, in the rain, eagerly awaiting the sun.

Je suis fatigue

I am too tired to write very much. My eyes are blurring. Ezra didn't nap today and I had quizzes, comments, responses, pod casts, and readings to do when the clock finally struck 11 pm.

Do you know what I seriously just heard? Ezra.

O'well I can't really remember what I was going to say.

Happy Birthday Marla!

And happy summer to the rest of y'all! Our dear friend Marlita came to visit us last week, and we had some good times let me tell you. Swimmin, boat rides, the works! We even got ourselves some tattoos! Mother is thoroughly disturbed, but Marla and I have been talking about doing it for at least a decade so we decided to just do it. Marla got a darling little patch of grass on her arm (that's right: grass, the tattoo artist said it was the weirdest tattoo he had ever done, imagine that?) and I got some pine trees on my back inspired by this painting. I think it turned out well, and as I am currently living among pine trees, received the tattoo in Pine River, and really enjoy pine nuts, it seemed only logical.

Ezra in the tunnel at the park in town. The white residue on his face is from a candy necklace we got him. It never did make it around his neck.

I thought the eggplant parmesan was delicious, but apparently there was something about it that didn't sit well with Ezra.

I am proud to share that I made this little green and white striped tank top for Ezra, as well as one for myself.

Remember that super fast speed boat I mentioned? Marla was put to the test as well, and captured my concern. On the way home their dog fell off the front of the boat into the water, and then the boat went over his body. I thought for sure the motor had shredded the spaniel, but Casper emerged unscathed, soaked, and somewhat oblivious to what had just happened. (I later learned this wasn't the first time he'd tumbled in.)

On calmer shores, enjoying the lovely sunset.

Did I really get no pictures of Ezra and Marla together?????
Shame shame know your name.

We hope you have a great birthday today Marla! Thanks for making the long haul to spend some time with us, and we'll see you in a month!