field trip to the zoo

The kids were fascinated by the Komodo dragon

Sea Lion Show

Penguins waiting to be fed

The boys really liked the Gibbons

There was much to see and we just about closed out the zoo. A fun day.

Weekend at Lees Ferry

Colorado River

Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River

Some people pay a lot of money to take mud baths...
my kids? they get it for free

squelch

hiking with Dr. Daddy in the Vermilion Cliffs

a delicate balancing act

this kid did some great rock climbing

In between this fun we kept about 40 undergraduate student plus faculty mostly well fed and hydrated. We went through 22 dozen eggs, 15 lbs of ground beef, 14 lbs of chicken, 12 lbs of pasta, 20 cups of rice, 18 loaves of bread, 5 lbs of green beans, 3 lbs of carrots, 2 lbs of mushrooms, 8 heads of lettuce, and MUCH MORE.

Parenting Fail

In our house we don't "do" Santa Claus. We do celebrate St. Nicholas' Day, but that is on  December 6th, and after that our stockings hang empty. We have read stories, told the history of St. Nicholas and done crafts involving a bishop and avoided Santa Claus as best is possible in our culture. We thought we were doing pretty well. Sure, Eirena noticed Santa Claus last year, but we explained how that is fake and based off of the real St. Nicholas. We thought it was all clear.
Until this year.
As we talked about Advent, Christmas and St. Nicholas' Day, Eirena ponderously said that she still didn't understand something. She didn't understand how St. Nicholas got all the way from Asia Minor to the United States of America to put things in our stockings.

Sotto voce, I answered, "reindeer".

Just another Wednesday

It just a typical Wednesday. Someone has an issue about getting into the van, but settle down once we're on our way to the grocery store. We march through the parking lot making a Rover, Red Rover line. Eirena and I get our samples of coffee (hers is ALWAYS decaf) and then my three eager helpers and I gather groceries. They launch the apples into the bag, pull the more interesting stuff out and grab produce bags, dodging other shoppers.
They have a little radar for when we're about to be done and immediately start asking for a little treat (a honey stick or lollipop). While we wait in line, elderly shoppers remark on how they are precious and well-behaved. (Sometimes I tell them it is the bribe of the honey stick.)
We go to our next store, we have less to get here so I let Eskil ride in the main compartment of the cart. While we're walking down the aisle Eirena dives in, not bothering to wait for me to stop. I've seen the look of panic on onlookers' faces while they watch my kids climb into the cart. No, they don't need help- they're experienced cart climbers.
We get eggs. I caution the E's about not stepping on the eggs. Eskil Realizes there are eggs. He starts examining the dinosaur eggs. I hurriedly put them back in the carton. They are distracted by the marketing on packages temporarily, waxing eloquently on whether some picture is a race car or a really fast sports car.
We're nearly done... but wait, there are plastic storage bins on sale. We need some, so I get one and dump it on top of two children and the groceries. Storage bin? Did I say it was a storage bin? Clearly I am delusional. It is a percussion instrument, as demonstrated by the E's all the way to the check out line.
Just another Wednesday.
 

Not so professional pictures

Here are some of the pictures that we took of the five cousins and Tayta:

Granted, a playground is perhaps one of the most distracting places to try and take pictures of small children, but I still have great respect for photographers that manage to get pictures of everyone facing the right way!

Introducing...

Dr. Daddy!
That's right, Joel successfully defended his dissertation and Eirena now calls him "Dr. Daddy" (with prompting).
Eirena got to see her old friends in Az and I think it helped her not feel like life was completely overturned.
We had a fun "cheesecake fest"- pumpkin, key lime, plain and mocha all for tasting... oh so very good and rich!
Congratulations to Dr. Daddy on an excellent job!