Category Archives: Photos

The photo evidence that will one day be our ruin.

Bubble-Palooza

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So aside from hauling the kids back to their trailer every night during their visit, my in-laws also entertained them with pre-planned, coordinated, age-appropriate, creativity-inducing, skill-building, MENSA-entry-level activities including (but not limited to) the bubble extravaganza that ’bout near drove my poor father-in-law to drink straight from the wine bottle. Massive quantities of WATER and SOAP were involved and so were my children– need I say more?

stella
(click photo to see the entire set)

My Summer Vacation: 2009 Edition

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Okay, so we recently completed our annual pilgrimage to our homeland. I know you know this, and I know you have been waiting. But life returned from vacation, does not equate to life without interruption, and I have spent the better part of the week trying to exhale.

Basically, it was pretty much our typical summer outing. We briefly interrupted regular scheduling by immediately heading out East and leaving our precious cargo behind with the grandparents. Those kooky grandparents – they always insist they love it, but I know, deep down, that is the heat hallucinations talking.

We enjoyed our visit with Andrea and Brian – it was almost like we had never left. Except for the part where their house actually had furniture this time. I’m fairly certain that in the 7 days we were there we doubled our physical selves. I can’t even blame it on water weight because I was so busy experiencing the lovely, sweaty, goodness of the deep south in the summer. We ate infamous hot dogs of rural Hanover County, notable BBQ and sides (um, collards, oh yeah), elegant thai cuisine, greasy local faire and the piéce de resistance: the bar and grill that was prominently featured throughout every season of Dawson’s Creek. There is quite a story surrounding Brian and I’s relationship with Dawson’s Creek – his while he was recovering from cancer, mine while I was stuck on the couch breastfeeding without any cable. I don’t need to tell you how magical of a moment it was for us to each witness the life-sized autographed poster on the wall. It was almost like Pacey and Joey were right there. Sigh.

While gone in NC, the kids effortlessly transitioned between grandparents, living large with all the sights and experiences of summer. The Grandparents Walston kept them busy with swimming, science museum, library and art projects. The Grandparents Anderson kept them busy with rustic cabin living and blow-up backyard water features. There has also been this bizarre ongoing ritual that my kids have established with my mom called “Wedding”, which explains why Porter seems to always be dressed like a low-rent street-walker these days.

And speaking of Porter, this brings me to the part of the vacation that will, undoubtedly be the most triumphantly memorable. Don’t get me wrong – this was a wonderful, and memorable vacation full of friends and family and relaxation – however, when I remember this summer, it will be memorable for one gigantic reason: by the time we returned from North Carolina, Porter was 2/3 of the way potty trained. I KNOW! We were periodically updated on the progress via the various phone calls home, but it wasn’t until we returned that we stood witness to the beautiful glory of Porter running in announcing that he had to go pee, and shooting off to take care of business. Plus, yes there is a PLUS! HE GOES AT NIGHT TOO!!! Wakes up, announces his intentions and heads on in. It is like a Christmas miracle. Except that it is July. So, back to the 2/3rds part. He refuses to wear underwear (will only wear pull-ups) and he REFUSES to poop on the toilet. I have been trying to force the issue by stripping him naked from the waist down the moment we get home. Watcha gonna do now, son? Yeah, that’s what I thought – you’re gonna wait me out until I put you back in a pull-up so you can run into your bedroom and hide in the corner and poop -THAT’S WHAT! So close, yet so far away.

Riding on the high of 2/3rds of the way potty trained, we headed back to our freshly painted home. WOO HOO! No more fluffy bunny yellow and white. Now it is a more appropriate and earth-toned green and brown. Viva lá 1960s!

I gathered up photos from three different cameras and 3 different phones to compile this photo set -which explains the variations in quality and content. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up taking very many photos – except for the ones capturing the Arbogast tattoo outing, and the gist of the set is my mom’s camera. I’ll see what else I can round up and add them as I get them.

porter & stella
(click to see the entire set)

111 exterior paint job
(click here if you want to see 16 variations of angles of our newly painted exterior, otherwise, this one will probably do.)

Mixing it up a little

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Another hand of the clock has ticked, which means Stella has lost yet another tooth. The other top front one, to be exact. At the pace she is going we are about ready to buy her a set of Billy-Bob teeth so she can chew her food.

The last Tooth Fairy visit proved to be a little bit traumatic in that she mistakenly left the pillow at the foot of Stella’s bed, which means that the Tooth Fairy must have forgotten that Stella’s sleep habits resemble someone making a snow angel – for 8 hours straight. When Stella woke up in the morning her loot was scattered all over her bedroom, at which point she ran into my bathroom sobbing that she couldn’t find all the parts.

This time, Stella would be having none of that tomfoolery and came up with a plan that would insure the safety of her precious tooth loot. She commissioned her father to draw a map where the tooth pillow was safely stowed for tooth withdrawal and reward. Voila! Problem solved. One slight flaw in her plan was that she did not clearly articulate that the Tooth Fairy was then expected to relocate the pillow and draw her a map. Um, somebody needs to tell that Tooth Fairy to GET WITH THE PROGRAM! Doesn’t she know who she is dealing with here?

stella

The Walstons Take a Walk

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Ever since Stella discovered the joy of riding on two wheels she has insisted on going on the evening walk with bike in tow. Then Porter insists on taking his bike. At this point you might as well invite a venomous snake and a couple of circus performers, because this parade ain’t going nowhere but straight to Crazy. Trying to coordinate a consistent pace is virtually impossible due to the fact that A.) Stella rides like a bat out of hell, B.) Porter alternately rides for about 13 seconds and the demands you carry the bike, C.) The dog about loses his mind because he JUST WANTS A DECENT WALK ALREADY!

stella
(click photo to see the entire set)

Never a Dull Moment

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Hoo boy! Have I been cashing in some serious parenting points this summer. So far, I have accumulated two child-free outings, leaving Steve alone to play zone defense with our sweet but endlessly spunky children. He hasn’t complained even once, and has even been remarkably encouraging. Stupid? Generous? Just plan crazy? I’ll let you be the judge.

My first trip was a couple of weeks back when I went to Mendocino to celebrate Shannon’s 40th birthday. Then, this past weekend I traveled to the Russian River Valley to meet up with my mom and sister for some bonding time that I have been prohibited by law and notarized confidentiality release to ever detail here on these pages. I was allowed to take pictures, but chose to carefully parse and edit them according to the guidelines enumerated in clauses 3, 7, 9 and 14 – pretty much all the clauses pertaining to “excessive ridiculosity”. Instead, you are left with the safe-for-general-consumption set – which should give you some perspective when you get to the photograph of the heart-shaped sign that reads “Tattoos”.

And that’s about all I am legally authorized to report about that.

natalie, celene, dani
(click photo to see full set)

I arrived home to find that not only had my family survived weekend number two (complete with a birthday party outing), but that Stella had lost yet another tooth, AND had learned to ride her bike without training wheels – ALL WITHIN A MATTER OF THREE DAYS! She and Steve had this hilariously choreographed set-up wherein he was going to ask me to stand out on the front porch and chat with him while Stella retrieved her bike from the edge of the yard and then nonchalantly ride down the street in front of the house. Unfortunately their plan hit a small snag when Stella was unable to get the kick-stand up and Steve had to run down there to assist her. The whole thing became so ridiculously adorable, I could hardly contain myself. I couldn’t have imagined a better homecoming.

After dinner and bath I had Steve shoot a little bit of footage, including a quick interview before she and I headed out for our evening dog-walk / bike-ride. Pretty much the only thing missing is a yellow jersey.