Category: General

Barney :Butter Doctor

Barney: Butter Doctor

Barney: Butter Doctor

We have a Barney the Dinosaur book that Katherine likes to read. In the book, ‘Barney What Will I Be When I Grow Up‘, Barney encourages the kids about them being good in various professions. I guess it is important for Katherine to think about that now that she is almost 2 🙂

In this picture, Barney encourages Mimi that she’d be a ‘dandy doctor’. I think it is fantastic how encouraging Barney is, but I do wonder how much I can trust his opinion since it looks like he would have treated the patient’s scrape with a stick of butter.

Reciprocity Has Its Benefits

Recently, Rebecca and I purchased a membership to COSI.  The most immediate benefits for us are the following:

  • Rebecca and Katherine have another option to get out and explore. Unlike the zoo, this will be good during winter months as well. I think this is as beneficial for Rebecca as it is Katherine.
  • The toddler play area is apparently phenomenal
  • Currently, there is a Dinosaur exhibit. Katherine loves dinosaurs. I recall when she was about 10 months old and we were at a toy store and I found a toy unicorn and a menacing T-rex toy and I held them up to her to choose which she liked better.  She chose the T-rex.

What I wasn’t immediately aware of were the reciprocal benefits conferred upon members. COSI is part of the ASTC Passport program, which grants you free access to other ASTC Passport museums and facilities. The list of participating museums is fairly large and if you travel a little bit, you can really extend the benefits and see some new things as well.

We were able to visit both the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Great Lakes Science Center with free admission and they were both fantastic facilities.  This turns out to be a great way to encourage both local membership of these museums and further exploration in other cities.

The Greater Threat?

Perspective of a fish about to become lunch

Perspective of a fish about to become lunch

I took this picture from the bottom portion of the Polar Bear exhibit at the Columbus Zoo looking at the fish. In the background you can see one of the Polar Bears looking at the fish as well. Or, is he looking at me?

Fourth of July at the Zoo

Rebecca, her parents, Katherine and I made a trip to the Columbus Zoo today.  Despite it being really hot, the animals were pretty active today. We had loads of fun and saw quite a bit on our relatively short trip.

Alligator

I didn't mind the Gator fan taking a picture behind me.

The Alligators were in full view today and I was in a good enough mood to not mind the Florida Gator fans enjoying the view.

Come and knock on our door, we've been waiting for you ...

Every time  I see Flamingoes at the zoo I think of the opening bit to the Three’s Company television show. There definitely weren’t this many the last time I was at the zoo.

Okapi

Okapi - It's pronounced 'Oh-Copy'

The Okapi had a lot of room to roam today and seemed very happy.   I am always impressed that when Katherine sees one, she calls it by name.

Katherine in her shades

Katherine in her shades

Katherine was having a great time with the animals and grandparents to chaperone her trip.

Rebecca, Bea, David and Katherine

Rebecca, Bea, David and Katherine: a photogenic bunch

Lion Roars

Lion Roars

We had such a great view of the Lion marching back and forth in front of us roaring and bearing his teeth.  Katherine loves to roar like a lion, but she was somewhat intimidated today.  This was up close and personal.

Our Trip To Chuck E. Cheese


Our trip to Chuck E. Cheese

Say Cheese! Katherine, Rebecca and I

Rebecca, Katherine and I visited Chuck E. Cheese last weekend for a birthday party. Katherine is at the age where she knows that there are a lot of fun things there for her to get into, but was still too young to play with a lot of the things there even though she did her level best to exert her independence. That led to some frustration on her part.

She did a good job about holding my hand to walk around the play area, but at one point she actually stopped, pointed up at a balloon and said ‘Ooooh!’ until I looked up as well. She then quickly freed herself from my hand and started to take off. At 15 months, I have no idea where she picked up this trick and I am not sure if I am more proud of her thought process or worried about the trickeration 🙂

They have a photo booth that takes just a single token and will print out a picture that you can take home. Below is one we took together that turned out pretty well — a very good value if you ask me.

I also was pleased to note that they had a system to prevent people coming in and out with ease. Upon entry, your whole family is stamped with the same code that only shows under ultraviolet light. The numbers are randomized per family, and they make sure that when you leave, you all have the same number.  It’s a shame that this is needed, but it is a very good idea.

Christmas Highlights

Now that the Christmas season for 2010 has officially wound down, I wanted to share a few highlights:

  • When we landed in LAX to visit the Swanson side of the family, the attendants said, ‘Welcome to Seattle’. It was a joke due to all of the rain that was falling there — which was actually far more damaging than we realized.  Huntington Beach, our destination, was spared.
  • Katherine, at just over a year old actually responded enthusiastically to her gifts. The craziest was when she announced ‘I love it’, while opening a Fisher Price Little People toy. She really does love these toys of characters and people she can hold in her hand.
  • Southwest Airlines – Sometimes it is wonderful to have unassigned seating and this is true when having infants. It means for the most part that if someone sits with you, they know what they are getting in for. We met a wonderful woman on the way out who was a saint in the way she treated sitting next to Katherine who was not having a good flight for the most part. It made us feel a lot better. Also, on three of the four flights we made, we didn’t have to share our row with anyone.
  • Time with family. It really doesn’t matter how much or how little we get with one another, but that we cherish the time we have. I feel like I have always had this appreciation, but this year was much different. It was the first time seeing it through my daughter’s eyes and the way she lights up getting to see her family.  It was also the first time seeing it through the eyes of an expecting wife, making the effort to visit even though I know she is exhausted. We all do it because it is important.
  • Fortunate to get home.  With all of the bad weather, we are really glad we didn’t fly through Chicago.  Otherwise, we might still be there. We feel lucky.
  • Family Pictures. I made an effort this year to attempt to get group pictures of the families from both sides as we got together. They didn’t all turn out great visually, but content wise, I am happy. I have below the pics from the Swanson and Jacobs crew respectively.
  • Sometimes, bad pictures are great. I found a few pics that I took were just noisy, blurry or otherwise ‘wrong’, but still captured a great moment.  Therefore, in my mind, they are great pictures. A few are included below.

Swanson Crew - (Back to front) David, Monique, Chris, Rebecca, Ryan, Linnea, Katherine, Bea, Luke

Jacobs Crew - (Back to front) David, Katherine, Steve, Ryan, Rebecca, Jen, Mark, Allison, Diane, Abigail, Grandma Curler, Greg, Cindy

Content trumps photo quality example #1 - Motion is everywhere. This is the way it is on Christmas Eve with kids opening gifts.

Content trumps photo quality example #2 - There are so many technical problems with this photo. However, I love the way it captures Rebecca's contentment with Katherine's joy.

Brutus Libre

Brutus Libre

Brutus Libre

We visited Chile Verde on Saturday for lunch. We love the food and Katherine is drawn to the artwork of the Lucha Libre or Mexican Wrestlers.  There were some new paintings there where both Brutus and coach Tressel were depicted as Lucha Libre. The photo is kind of blurry, but what can you expect with poor light, an iPhone and a toddler in tow?

I’ll admit that I love the artwork as well and in particular, I love this one of Brutus Buckeye.  The artist is Rob Jones.  I have enjoyed looking at his artwork on his blog.  Very good stuff.

Fall Fest At Fancyburg

We went to the Fall Fest at Fancyburg Park in Upper Arlington today.  I never knew they had such an event until yesterday, so we decided to go as they weather was nice.  I didn’t know what to expect, but it was a very nice and well attended event. Katherine is still too young to get into all of the activities they had for kids, but there were plenty of things to do including a huge inflatable slide among other inflatable play areas.

Inflatable Porpoise Slide

Inflatable Porpoise Slide

There were stations for making scarecrows, carve pumpkins and many other activities.  In a few years, Katherine should have a great time at this event. As it was, she seemed to really enjoy the atmosphere — she loves being around other children.

One of the first things we happened upon was a show by Mark Rosenthal of Animal Magic.  He combined showing and teaching about exotic animals with magic.  We didn’t get to see the whole show, but we did see a leucistic rat snake . The difference between a leucistic snake and an albino is that the leucistic snake has no color.  An albino will have pink in the eyes whereas the leucistic has black eyes.

Leucistic Rat Snake

Leucistic Rat Snake

This was a very nice surprise of an event for us and I am sure we’ll be back next year.

Fall Outing

Katherine and Rebecca Hiking

Katherine and Rebecca Hiking

Yesterday, we were invited to a family gathering at my Aunt and Uncle’s property in Logan County, OH.  They have a very nice property and cleared woods where we were able to enjoy a fire for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows to accompany they copious amounts of food brought in.  There also are some nice hiking trails which Katherine seemed to enjoy.  Who wouldn’t enjoy a stroll through the woods as the leaves are changing with mom carrying you all the way?

My Grandma Jacobs even made it back there — here she is at 92. She never ceases to amaze me

Grandma Jacobs @ 92

Grandma Jacobs @ 92

We had a great time catching up with one another and enjoying the surroundings — the trees are always beautiful this time of the year.