Jack and Cate Update -- July, 2005

Saturday, July 2, 2005

The fourteen-foot waterslide was delivered the morning of their birthday party. The kids decided it was unwise to manage its setup from inside the house.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

They were excited (understatement) about their upcoming birthday party, yet they dutifully waited for me to take a couple of photos. I really should avoid sounding surprised when they do as I ask...

Saturday, July 2, 2005

Jack atop the aforementioned waterslide. I took some coordination and practice to climb the ladder to the top. There weren't good hand-holds for the kids, especially near the top. Kelli Chabria actually manned the top of the slide for quite a while so she could muscle the kids up the last few feet. For the determined, however, it was just a matter of time before they mastered the process.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

Cate thought the waterslide was pretty cool; especially from a distance. She contented herself in the kids' pool all afternoon.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

I ask you: what could be better than eating chocolate birthday cake while in your swimming suit? Now I know what I want to do for my birthday...

Saturday, July 2, 2005

We literally couldn't pry Jack away from the waterslide (birthday cake excepted). When he wasn't sliding down, he was jumping into the small pool of water at the bottom.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

The other kids came and went, but Jack remained a fixture on the slide. He even reminded us to get his earplugs...

Saturday, July 2, 2005

Jack wasn't the only one who enjoyed the waterslide...

Saturday, July 2, 2005

She only went down once, and I'm sure she didn't think I would be so quick with the camera.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

It has been nearly a year since the kids entered pre-school and Betsy moved on to greener pastures. We don't get to see her very often, but the kids love it when we do.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

This is wrong; so horribly wrong. The kids' stuff overfloweth.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Once in a great while we're weak, and we'll have lunch-in-the-living-room day. But who sanctioned sitting-on-the-coffee-table day?!?

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Two of Jack's favorite gifts. The Spiderman glove may realistic crime-fighting noises. Grandpa unfortunately has a poor sense of fashion -- he turned Jack's firemans-coat into some sort of sissy-smock.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

What a wonderful technology advance! Now Jack's pop-up book is complete with Spiderman sound effects!

Sunday, July 3, 2005

After all the other presents had been opened, we gave the kids new bicycles from Grandpa Dick, Grandma Irene, Lisa, and me. They were so excited! With Jack trailing him by a few feet, Grandpa Dick asked me, "Can we settle-up for the bikes?" Did I mention it was still a few hours before we gave the kids their new bicycles? Jack apparently didn't hear a word.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Cate was proud of her new bike but a little cautious about actually riding it. She loved ringing the bell and putting things in the basket just as much.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Jack pedaled up and down the driveway, and Cate was struggling a bit to get the hang of it. If he headed in her direction, Jack would yell (in a friendly sort of way), "Watch out, Cate!" We had to keep reminding him that he was the one who was moving.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

He needed a little help getting on and off his bike, but he seemed right at home in the saddle.

Monday, July 4, 2005

In a shocking turn of events, it was uncomfortably cold before the Lakewood Fourth of July Parade began. It was cloudy and it sprinkled on us a bit, but it cleared up (and warmed up) just before the parade started.

Monday, July 4, 2005

If you look hard enough, you can find the fourth Peaslee, Leah, in the background. After the parade, we spent the afternoon lounging in the pool at their old house -- despite all their plans to move into their new home in Lakewood before Leah was born, they're still slumming in Preston Hollow.

Monday, July 4, 2005

After the parade but before our family swim-time, Jack did some more bicycling in the driveway. Grandpa and Grandma were anxious to get home, however, so they immediately began their drive back to Minneapolis (not pictured: Grandpa and Grandma).

Monday, July 4, 2005

We had a backyard cookout with the Peaslees and then had an evening swim. Cate seems to have really turned a corner with her swimming -- she seemed perfectly comfortable floating around the pool completely unassisted (except for a life-jacket and except for a swim-noodle, but completely unassisted other than that).

Monday, July 4, 2005

Jack too enjoys swimming but is a bit more tentative. We fixed that, however, with some swim lessons later in the month (be patient, the photos are coming).

Monday, July 4, 2005

I knew she was getting more comfortable in the water, but I was completely surprised (and enormously pleased) when she started jumping off one of the steps and into the pool.

Monday, July 4, 2005

She's a swimmer! Yippee!

Monday, July 4, 2005

Just a couple of flirts...

Monday, July 4, 2005

Left to his own devices, Jack demonstrates better directional judgment when wearing his fireman's coat.

Friday, July 1, 2005

The source of Cate's obvious pride? Without adult assistance, she just inflated her sleeping bag using a foot-pump. This takes me a good five minutes of aggressive foot-stomping, and it probably took her ten minutes or more. Take my word for it, ten minutes is a long time for a four-year-old to do anything that doesn't involve a television, computer, Mattel logo, or sugar.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

No, we don't normally dress the kids alike. Apparently, we don't clean their faces either.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

Is this kid a bicycle stud, or what?

Saturday, July 9, 2005

While Jack rides his bike, Cate still prefers her old tricycle. The kids recently had a bike-a-thon in the church gymnasium, and she rode her trike while Jack biked. Frankly, she's getting a much tougher workout on the trike.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Lisa's friend, Kerrie, had us over for an afternoon of swimming. She and Cate got along swimmingly. (Ha! Where do I come up with this golden material!?!)

Friday, July 15, 2005

Cate remains our good-eater but problem-sleeper (which neatly balances Jack who is our good-sleeper but problem-eater). This evening we found her sleeping in the doorway to their room -- as is her custom, she finally fell asleep sometime after 10 PM.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

For the second time in a month, Greg traveled to London for a few days of client meetings. But how cool was the view from my hotel room?!? I was immediately across the Thames from Big Ben and that's the London Eye turning in the foreground.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

This is a view of Parliament as a boat passes by on the river. Although I should never admit this, I was actually able to step out my hotel-room window to place the camera on a short ledge that prevented me from falling five stories to the ground below. I just wish I hadn't had so many pints... (don't worry, it's mostly a joke) Starbuck's inflicted a more serious threat to our health in the morning when both Mark Melone and I got some bad milk and were sick all morning. Unfortunately, we were meeting with our client -- it made for an unpleasant morning that was interrupted by many unscheduled breaks.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Big Ben at 9:25 in the evening. It continues to astound me how early the sun rises and how late it sets in London. To catch the rising sun hitting Big Ben, I actually set my alarm for 4:45 AM the following morning (I didn't have any other plans for the day other than heading to Gatwick for my flight home). For the first time during the week, the skies were overcast, so I traded several hours sleep for some bad photos of Big Ben.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

I was consistently entertained and amused by a Fuego colleague, Rick Mattock, who reveled in London's architecture and art museums while railing against the "grotesque" and "monstrous" London Eye. Unfortunately for him, I think London has become attached to the Eye, and it's not likely to go anywhere soon. This was the day of the second London bombings -- we had missed the first bombing by a week and it was extremely fortunate that this one was essentially unsuccessful. I was struck by how calm everyone remained and how quickly underground service was restored -- there was even a line of taxis available to take us from the office back to the hotel. As we tipped a pint at the hotel bar, however, the fire alarm sounded and everyone was quickly evacuated. It turned out to be a false alarm, but was a bit hair-raising given the day's events.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Josh (or "Joshie Chabria" to Jack) celebrated his third birthday at the Lakewood Country Club pool. The hired a man to tell stories and sing songs with the kids, and Cate was mesmerized. She mimicked his every move as he told a story using his thumbs as props.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

The punch-line was obviously worth the journey.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Who replaced my boy with a fish? After only a week of swimming lessons, he has been transformed and is much more comfortable in the water.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Speaking of fish, Josh is an amazing swimmer. All the more impressive given that he's a full year younger than Jack and Cate.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

After three days of lessons, Jack announced that "going underwater is my favorite thing." Lisa couldn't believe her ears.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

After careful experimentation, Jack and I have determined that earplugs effectively prevent brain-freeze when eating birthday ice cream. OK, I made that last part up. Still, safety first.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

It comes as no surprise to us that Jack can decimate a plate of cake and ice cream when he hasn't eaten a full meal in several days.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Eating -- birthday cake or otherwise -- presents no serious problems for Cate.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

It's not only good, it's lip-smacking good. I should be in marketing.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

There's no one-hour rule enforced in our family. It's pretty much straight from the dinner table and into the pool again.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

I'm detecting a little fatigue. When the Chabria's invite us to the pool, they pretty much have to kick us out the gate when the pool closes at 8 PM. Not coincidentally, that's the time the kids get ready for bed, so they often change into their jammies at the side of the pool.

Monday, July 25, 2005

What a difference a year makes. By the end of their two-weeks of lessons last Summer, Cate would reluctantly (and only occasionally) swim independently from an adult. This year, she seems right at home as long as she's got a swim-noodle.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Jack too has shown tremendous progress since last Summer. A year ago, he practically had to be pried off the pool-deck, but now he not only jumps, he does it with attitude.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

While Jack enjoyed going under water, he was particularly impressed with the other boy in his class who could "stay under water forever."

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

While she enjoyed swimming lessons so much more this year, she still required a little coaxing to get her off the pool-deck and into the deep-end.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

I'm not exactly sure if the smile means she's having fun jumping in the water or if she's simply pleased to be done with it. Probably a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B...

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

When you're four-years-old, patience while awaiting your turn isn't necessarily your strong suit.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Cate really enjoyed her swimming lessons as well as her instructor. They were really lucky to only have three kids in their class, and I think it helped that the other boy was such a strong swimmer.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

It took Cate a moment to realize that I was on the other side of the pool taking photos.