Brrr...it's chilly here today.

The weather has changed! It is raining and cooler. We close windows when the sun goes down and we're all wearing long sleeves. I try not to rave about this too much but it's impossible not to say, yet again, the weather here is simply perfect.

We spent the morning playing at our neighborhood beach a short 1.5 block walk away from our house. The tide was out and the beach was empty save for a few sea birds. G-Funk had a blast. We saw a dune buggy and he was still talking about it at bathtime.



No pics of The Pirate from our time at the beach as he was sleeping soundly on mama's back the entire time but here he is (according to G-Funk) washing dishes after lunch.

Wasabi is for babies

The Pirate is a charming lunch date when he's full of milk and well rested. (Dinner is another matter but I digress.)

I recently took him along when I treated myself to an impromptu sushi lunch. Yummy! Excuse the exposure on this pic, I only had my cell phone on me at the time. While it's not the best, I think this photo shows a new change in The Pirate's countenance. His personality is peeking through more and more each day and Daddy has summed up The Pirate with one well chosen word: tenacious. Here you see him simply happy to explore the delights of chopsticks.

If chickens are free, shouldn't we all be?

While we celebrated the historic election of Barack Obama to the Presidency, and California chickens won the right to spread their wings at will, we also marked a sad day in this sunny state with the shameful passing of Prop 8 which took away the previously held right of gay Californians to legally marry. Our family believes that ALL families are entitled to the right to live together freely, openly and with full access to all of the rights and legal recognition that heterosexual individuals enjoy. We will celebrate the inevitable overturning of Prop 8. In the end, bigotry is always on the losing side.



We hope to teach the boys to act with integrity and compassion and so it seemed fitting that we all participate in the national protests on November 8 for equal rights and the right to gay marriage. It was a beautiful day and a great thing to witness so many people standing up for equality and basic human rights.

I'm sorry about the dorky hat Pirate.

'Nuff said.
:love:

We'll be having plain oatmeal tomorrow for breakfast.

We are out of cinnamon.

As I merrily typed out my silly attempt at some Jane Goodall humor this morning for your amusement, G-Funk was merrily amusing himself. This was decidedly not good.

Those of you that don't live with a toddler probably do not realize just how quickly their natural destructive impulses can wreak havoc but I currently clock it at two minutes or less. As a parent I know that when my tyke is either unnaturally silent or, as was the case this morning, spontaneously erupting into maniacal giggles, I better go get him FAST.

So imagine my dismay this morning when G-Funk started cackling in his demented 2 year old way and I turned around from my laptop to discover that the little imp had grabbed the container of cinnamon off of the kitchen counter top and was gleefully shaking the entire contents onto the kitchen floor. And then he stepped in it. And then he spread it around more with his hands. And then he hopped up and down in it and ran away with the cinnamon container to his Hiding Spot.

This all took under two minutes. As luck would have it, I had the camera in hand and I now have photographic proof that he's a rascal! See his smeared foot and finger prints?



He escapes! (or so he thought)



I chased him to the Hiding Spot where he quickly put up his hand to tell me to stay out. Nice.



At least while G-Funk is running wild, I still have a few more months of relative calm with The Pirate. Isn't he sweet? Oh Pirate, how I love your immobility!

Field note 1

DATE: 13 NOV 2008

TIME: 0832

LOCATION: Back patio

WEATHER: Sunny with a high of 79

NOTES: After many months of quietly observing oldest subject's inability to procure balls and other wayward toys that have rolled out of reach, I was delighted to witness the use of tools this morning. G-Funk was playing with a wiffle bat and ball when the ball rolled behind a row of heavy planters. Instead of whining and crying and asking for help in a fervent and quickly escalating manner that often sets this field researcher's nerves on edge, subject was observed quitely using the fat end of his bat to fish out the ball from it's resting place. The toolkit of homo habilis has been mastered!

Pics of the day

Here's The Pirate looking jolly this afternoon.




And here's G-Funk from a few months ago in the middle of painting a VW Beetle parked at the children's museum. I love this pic!