First Twins game of 2015

On Friday evening Ted took Joe to his first Twins game of 2015. It being April in Minnesota you are risking cold weather, but the boys got lucky with 70 degrees at game time.  So they enjoyed their hot dogs and ice cream as well as the mascot race (Babe won) and a visit to see Sue play the organ and lasted a full 9 innings and headed home after 10pm.  However the game ended up taking 11 innings with a Twins HR to win it but the boys couldn't make it that late!

Nighttime Antics

 Fans, your reporters, editors, and photographers all bring you this post from their room where they are reading while listening to one Clara Jane Birdie blow away--at 9:39pm mind you--on the noisemaker she got at her friend Josie's My Little Pony-themed party yesterday. Moments ago, Julie was called in there whereupon Clara blew out the noisemaker and then said, "I'm not tired," before blowing it out again. Julie managed to keep a straight face and say, "Well, I am," and make it out of there before her face crumpled in laughter.

In other news, about an hour prior, while your reporters were watching the always-uplifting Mad Men, Our Hero appeared downstairs to announce that he had finished Gooseberry Park. Gooseberry Park is a long-ish chapter book so this was rather a big deal. It wasn't long before Joe spotted the pile of pastel foil squares next to Julie and broke his stream-of-conscious style narration to say, "And I see you've been eating Easter* candy!" He asked if he might have one, quickly adding that he'd not tell Clara. Stinker. It takes on to know one, Fans, and all of us here at the Casa Blanca know one. (Our Hero has been promised two pieces of candy tomorrow.) 

*Report forthcoming.

Good Friday

Last week was spring break week for Joe, so his days were spent at Kids Place. One day they saw the movie Home, which was a little nerve wracking for our hero when it was uncertain if the child would find its mother. Another day they walked up the street for Chipotle lunch, where Joe had to swap meals with a friend because he didn't want the chicken in his quesadilla. But on Good Friday there was no Kids Place option so Ted took the day off and brought Joe to the Science Museum for the first time. It was a particularly crowded day with all kids off school, but they had bought tickets online and walked right in. We scoped the place out and not surprisingly realized it was a never ending series of hands on exhibits. They started in the dinosaurs which was relatively calm and where Joe learned the word coephelopod, which we thought would be a good "C" word for the letter game at dinner.  From there Joe tried to navigate the various exhibits, but didn't want to wait so ended up at many of the broken or less interesting ones.  Lunch was taken early before the rush which turned out to be very smart, and is where they overheard a live demonstration. So after lunch the boys grabbed a seat and watched a demo of rockets and another owith liquid nitrogen. These were better for Joe to focus on and learn.  Joe got to climb around the Tape Tunnel, which was exactly that and required some expert maintenance crew armed with a roll of packing tape and scissors. Lastly we did the ticketed Space exhibit which showed what it will take for humans to get to Mars. Joe said he would volunteer to go to Mars-Ted declined.  So it was a long fun day which we wrapped up by picking up Clara and getting ice cream at the DQ.

Thunderstorm Theater

We had our first thunderstorm of the spring season last night, Fans. It rolled in right around bedtime. So Julie pulled the blind up on the window next to Birdie's bed and they settled in for "thunderstorm theater." It wasn't long before Joe padded in and all three then hollered for Ted. He came for a bit, but it was Julie and the bambini who squashed themselves together like a pile of puppies and watched the lightening flash and the rain start to fall. The lightening was also viewed through a pair of the bug eyes the Grandparents Trump gave them for Christmas. ("Do you want a bug eye?" Was a common refrain.) The bambini agreed that rain was cloud pee. (They also considered lemonade and orange juice.) They both remembered the fierce storm that swept through St. Louis Park two years ago about a month before we moved from Raleigh House, that took down trees damaged cars and houses. Clara said they were scared but Mommy got them, and they went outside in their rain boots while Daddy helped the neighbor get a tree off his car. She also  said she was maybe four, and Joe was maybe three or so. Other than that, she had it just right. And this new springtime memory felt just right, too.

True or Fazzle? It's Pronounced Cell-O

Our Hero has learned the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. One of his favorite non-fiction books is The Story of the Orchestra, which was once his Cousin Nick's. It details the history and assorted fun facts of all the instruments in the orchestra. The book includes a companion CD with snippets of music that feature that instrument.

Monday night, Julie was reading to Joe about the cello. "Cello," she announced. Joe softly said, "Cell-o," pronouncing it like it rhymed with Jell-O. He added, "There's no h." Julie chuckled and explained this was an Italian word so the letters followed different rules. She drew an analogy to Spanish.  Joe was not convinced. He believes cello is pronounced Cell-O.

At least he believes that false--as in "True or false?"--is not pronounced "fazzle," which he still nevertheless often says. But there, he would undoubtedly note, the s does indeed follow the l.

Oh Fans! True or fazzle? We can't make this stuff up?!