Well, hello 2012!

January 21, 2012 //

Well, I’m finally getting to a post in 2012. Yikes! And in December I only had a single entry. What’s my world coming to? I realized not long ago that my online life has changed pretty dramatically over the past couple of years. My two places to be used to be my blog and Flickr. I was obsessed with Flickr. I met so many awesome people on that site. And then there’s been a steady march of new places on the web. Facebook. Twitter. Ning. Pinterest. Yadayadayada. How is a person supposed to split themselves into so many different pieces?

I’m finding myself gravitating to different spots now. Facebook mostly. I suppose because I can see what my friends are up to. (Even though I complain about the shallowness of it all. Do I really know what they’re up to from a two-sentence post?) Twitter is still a good spot, but I can’t seem to keep up. The updates on Facebook are every 5 minutes or so. Twitter dishes them up every .5 seconds. I’m way too slow to handle that. Plus, I’m deep into the launch of a social intranet at my workplace, adding yet another online destination and cutting into any time I would have somewhere else.

I can’t seem to give up this blog, though. Even if I can’t seem to post regularly, it’s still my place. I’ve had this domain since 1998 and I started blogging on it in 2000. Maybe I can get better at the posting in the near future. I’ll pepper this one with photos from a recent playdate we had. Kids and parents. With two of Devin’s oldest pals. With the high ISO and the low grain, I went documentary-style with most of my processing. If you can’t beat the grain, embrace it!

Random Thanksgiving post in the middle of December

December 13, 2011 //

Because that’s the way I roll.

We made a pie. Apple. It was tasty. And the kiddo has some serious nutmeg-grating skillz.

At Grandma’s house we took a nice walk with the dog after dinner. The light was lovely. The boy was good company.

Adventures in the city

November 13, 2011 //

The kiddo had Friday off from school so I got the bright idea to take a trip to Chicago. We signed up for a membership to the Field Museum when we visited in April and I thought it would be a good time to check out the whale exhibit. (Which was indeed very cool.) So here’s our 24-hour recap.

We headed over on Friday morning and spent four hours pounding the marble in the museum before checking in at the hotel and heading out for dinner at Goose Island Brewery, via the subway, which elicited a lot of smiles. I had some tasty hummus, but he pronounced his mac ‘n cheese less than special. Then we visited a bookstore to pick up something for the night’s story time and had a relaxing evening in the very comfy bed, with five fluffy pillows each, at the JW Marriott.

Saturday morning we got up early. So early that I advised him that bath time would be better at that point since the restaurants wouldn’t be open for breakfast yet. (As you can see by the pic below, the bath tub was REALLY deep.) The concierge pointed us to Wildberry, which turned out to be my kind of place. Pancakes, crepes and french toast galore. Dev ordered the oreo s’more pancakes and then complained that there was too much chocolate and claimed that all of a sudden he didn’t like marshmallow fluff. Harrumph. Breakfast is my favorite meal out and I don’t see how he can be such a breakfast scrooge. I wolfed down my wildberry french toast and helped him out with his a bit. Because that’s what moms are for.

Then we headed across the street to Millennium Park. It was a perfect morning. The sun was beautiful and the fall leaves are still on many of the trees right now. Dev wanted to visit Cloud Gate since he doesn’t really member the couple of other times he’s been to see it. And what 7-year-old can resist hamming it up in front of a gigantic bean-shaped mirror? Afterward we hopped on the el for another requested “train ride.” We had no destination. We just headed to Belmont on the brown line and then crossed over and took the red line back downtown. He refused to sit and was happy as a clam standing and holding the bar and adjusting his balance as needed.

Our plan was to stop at the Lego store next, but we got to the mall early so we walked over to the river. The bridge was going up for boat traffic. I had to laugh since I lived in the city for five years and never saw the bridge go up. That took a good 10 to 15 minutes of observation and then we returned to the mall to discover that the Lego store was gone. Gone! My phone informed me that, luckily, it hadn’t moved very far. Just down the street. So we walked back to the hotel (with lots of grumbling from the kiddo) to check out, then took a cab to the mall (to avoid further grumbling).

After that it was a carriage ride and a trip to the Hershey’s store. Their sundaes, by the way, pale in comparison to Ghirardelli’s, but he was heavily swayed by branding and the big G lost out due to obscurity in the childhood lexicon. He’s agreed, however, to visit the competition next time because he was underwhelmed by his ice cream concoction. (Once again, I ended up finishing it.)

So there you have our Chicago adventure. We went back to the hotel and grabbed our luggage and car, then headed out of town to Grandma’s house for the night. Now we’re back home and relaxing before another week of work and school.

He loves Sue

Check-in treats

Let’s do this in order, shall we?

November 3, 2011 //

I have some lovely Halloween pics of our own little Harry Potter, but we went to the Meijer Gardens the day before and I just can’t bring myself to post out of order. I’m crazy like that.

We’d gotten free passes months ago and they were about to expire. Sunday turned out to be a lovely day to explore everything, including ginormous pumpkins and bear sculptures. We had ourselves a dandy time.

We took on the maze again…and won!

October 24, 2011 //

This weekend was a wonderful demonstration of why I love fall. It’s my absolute favorite season. The sun was shining, the temps were nice and the sky was blue, blue, blue.

Although we were fresh off of a high-energy birthday party, Dev and I spontaneously decided to head to the pumpkin patch. We came across Schwallier’s when he was two or three and it’s been my favorite ever since. (Although they’re starting to charge for more of the activities now. Two dollars to climb on hay bales? Sheesh!)

We visited Schwallier’s with Kevin and Chloe last year. (And Scott, who turned us down this year in favor of a plumbing project. Crazy man!) Between the five of us, we managed to get lost in the corn maze and stumble back out the entrance instead of the exit we were aiming for. So when Devin finished petting bunnies and goats and asked if we could do it again this year, I hesitated slightly. Then I threw down the $10 and we went for it.

And this year we triumphed! Without the help of the 3D glasses, mind you. You were supposed to peer through them at the map and find your way. I’m the impatient sort, though. We stood gawking at that thing for a while and I just said, “Never mind that map. Let’s just walk!” (I was also so impatient that I talked the kid into skipping the “clues” that were scattered around and meant to be fun for people his age. I’m such a mean mom.)

But we did it! And it was fun. So much fun that I decided to give the cow train a shot too, even though I’d initially told him he’d have to ride alone. I got a ticket for myself and we both settled into our “cows” and off we went on a bumpy, speedy ride.

Afterward came the apples, donuts and cider, of course. Although we managed to leave without pumpkins.

See what I mean about fall? How can you not love it?

Seven years

October 18, 2011 //

This photograph makes me smile and also makes me pine for Devin’s younger days. It seemed like a great way to start out this post.

I know myself well enough to realize that with tomorrow’s busyness, I’m not likely to find the time to put this together. So I’m going to celebrate Devin Day one day early.

Seven years ago, on Oct. 19, Devin flew into Detroit on a Northwest Airlines plane. It was one of those moments you don’t ever think is going to happen. We waited six months from the completion of our forms to the day he arrived. And although that seemed like forever, most international adoption takes a lot longer. We were so lucky that things went so smoothly and so quickly. Except for the part where the passengers disembark from the plane and go through customs. That part took A VERY LONG TIME.

Every time the frosted-glass doors would open, the three waiting families and their entourages would stand on our tiptoes and search for babies, but instead it was always the other passengers streaming out. And we’d sigh collectively and go back to nervously biting our fingernails. (OK. It was me doing the nail biting. I’m not sure what everyone else was doing because I was totally focused on the doors.)

When A VERY LONG TIME finally came to an end, the whole mob rushed forward and I couldn’t see the babies at all. So I was confusedly walking in the wrong direction and Scott had to steer me over to where Gail was holding Devin. And there he was. So tiny and adorable.

I love remembering that day. Even the part where I put his diaper on backward.

And I love when we came home and set him down on the floor and he took off at an army crawl at an amazingly fast pace. It was kind of an indicator of what to expect. When walking commenced, it was basically a few steps and then he was running. Always moving. Always on his way somewhere. Always curious and going after what he wants.

I also love that we have this day every year. We celebrate his birthday, but we also get an extra day where we celebrate our family’s seven years of togetherness.

The Meadows

October 11, 2011 //

I always wondered what Las Vegas translated to.

To me, it translates to kind of otherworldly. It was my second visit there and both have been for business. I never had it on my personal travel agenda. And I think I had a pretty good instinct about that. I’m just not the Vegas target audience. Glitz. Glam. Extravagance. Meh.

That said, the hotel room was gorgeous and I learned a LOT of stuff during the conference. I was in control of the remote for four nights in a row and the pillows were amazingly fluffy.

Now for the photos:

I was booked into a suite, but pretty much stayed in the bedroom/bathroom area. I never used the “living room” or the kitchen. I did venture out onto the terrace a couple of times, but being terrified of heights (and being on the 50th floor), that didn’t last long.

Dev wanted a souvenir. He was very specific about his request. (He got the lion, by the way.)

I’m always taking mirror shots in hotel rooms. Why stop now?

The place where I bought the stuffed lion had a couple of real ones too. Devin actually called me when I was standing beneath them. Perfect timing.

During my quick souvenir excursion, I happened to choose the same time to walk The Strip as the Occupy protestors did.

Chewie!

The last night of the conference there was a closing party, which included a photo booth for snapping some avatar pics. The makeup artist kind of went to town. I had to laugh when I got back to my room and saw my eyes!

I’m in the holiday spirit

October 10, 2011 //

Art spotting

October 4, 2011 //

It wasn’t that easy to find time to get to ArtPrize this year. We finally made it down on Sunday. And it was mobbed, of course. But we managed to do a couple of hours of exploring before the crowds and sore feet got to us. The animals were Devin’s favorites, of course. What kid wouldn’t love a gigantic dog?

They lie!

September 30, 2011 //

In endless magazine articles and books, I’ve read that if you get your child involved in choosing and preparing the food, they’ll eat it.

They obviously haven’t met Devin.

Devin was home again on Monday with strep throat. (I say again because he’s managed to catch it twice in two weeks. Quite the talent!) We had planned the weekend before to make banana bread, but never gotten around to it. So I whipped up a batch before the bananas went bad.

A couple of days later, when he was feeling better and could eat more than applesauce and saltines, Scott encouraged him to try a piece. A piece of the banana bread that he (the littler he of the two) had asked me to make. The bread he’d wanted to help me with. The bread he’d asked me to add chocolate chips to. He took a bite and said, “It’s all right. Can I have a piece of candy?”

Oh, for the love!

I’ve somehow raised a kid who would prefer to have something from a package than something homemade. I’m not quite sure how that happened. Although my cooking prowess has diminished over the past couple of months, I was doing plenty of it when he was little. He even baked with me several times. He’s also made his own salad creations that he’s been so proud of. Filled with spinach, strawberries, feta cheese and pine nuts. But then he sits at the table and chooses everything but the salad to eat. How does that work?

He may be cute, but he’s not chock full of vitamins and wholesome ingredients!

My little “guest” photoblogger

September 27, 2011 //

In early September, Devin and I drove across the state to visit some good friends (and their adorable dogs). During our visit, we traveled to the Toledo Zoo for some animal antics.

Before we left, I was packing up my camera and Dev asked if he could bring his along. He was gifted with a nice point-and-shoot from a friend of mine a few years back and he’s taken quite a few shots with it. But one time when changing the batteries, Mom (me) broke one of the little plastic pieces off of the battery compartment door and the thing won’t close right anymore. We’ve used tape to try to keep it shut, but it tends to squirrel loose within minutes and the batteries lose contact and, well, it doesn’t work anymore.

So when I went to get it out of the drawer, Dev stopped me and said, “No, Mom…can’t I use your old camera?”

Um.

Well.

Uh.

It’s my D70 that I had for five years. A nice DSLR that cost me a pretty penny in 2004. I haven’t used it since I got my D90, but it’s still in nice enough shape and I thought Scott could put it to use sometime. But a 7-year-old?

It’s not like I haven’t ever allowed him to touch my cameras. Proof.

But the thought of him carrying that heavy, still-valuable camera around the zoo gave me pause.

A short pause, though!

And he was really very careful with it. He kept the strap around his neck and he didn’t complain about hauling it around. (I did nicely swap him my lighter 50mm lens.) Later in the day (the very hot day!) he finally decided to pack it up. After shooting 130+ photos.

Yesterday, several weeks after the fact, I finally downloaded the photos and I was very impressed with many of his shots. Yes, he was using a nice camera, but he was choosing his subjects and angles and composing things from his vantage point. Here I’ve curated some of my favorites for your viewing enjoyment:

At this point, a “month in review” is in order

September 25, 2011 //

Because I’ve gone all month without a single update! I’ve been really bad with updating and with taking photos this month. So even though we did a lot more than you can see here, I have no record of it. Let’s just assume we had fun!

September started off with Devin and me helping out at the Women’s City Club, laying carpet squares for ArtPrize. This turned out to be very hard work. Hot and sweaty. And the next day my hamstrings were KILLING me. But it was all for a good cause.

Then we headed to Monroe to visit friends and check out the Toledo Zoo.

Then it was time for school! First day of second grade.

Then we “dug” for dinosaurs and found a velociraptor. Not my favorite dinosaur since we had just seen Jurassic Park in the theater and it brought back those lovely memories of sacrificial cows and people getting gobbled up. But the kid was happy.