my favorite fanatic

according to Winston Churchill, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject".

Sorry to Gary, but this pretty much sums him up. It's not just about one subject. God love him, it's pretty much anything bright and shiny that catches his eye. Fortunately for him, he can admire several bright and shiny things at the same time, with equal fervor. And, also I must give credit, that this is a trait I have noticed elsewhere in his family. In all things from religious views to politics, and in Gary's very special case, health concerns and hobbies. In some ways it is fascinating and fun to watch. Like a child with a special new toy on Christmas morning. But it is also frustrating for those on the outside. Like the friend that wants to play with said child, or anyone who wishes to see that special toy, and is met with an enthusiastic slap and whine. It elicits many responses, such as the sibling who suddenly smells burning onions when you walk into the room, futile attempts to cut the conversation short, bold attempts to change the subject (HA! HA! HA!), smiling and nodding politely (my favorite), or just flat-out walking away (that's NOT his favorite). But, to all of these responses, I have to say that if you're family, you 've known him (and yourselves) all your lives, so quit with the nasty looks and deal with it. If you're friends, you've invited him into your lives, so either uninvite yourselves or shut up and take him for what he is....a pretty nice guy. Or if you're me, love him and cherish his enthusiasm and accept him for all of the ways he has made my life better. And while we may all be busy thinking "there he goes again" stop and listen for the sake of listening and realize that somewhere in something (or even everything) he says, there is something we need to hear, and maybe even something that we can learn.
Nope Gary, I'm really not too excited about doing a juice fast in the new year. Just as much as I love you for who you are. Love me for who I am.

'Tis the Season for some Readin'

We've always read to Neil before bed. But, now with Kindergarten, we've started reading chapter books. We started out with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I picked that because he wanted something with a dragon. And he's seen the movie, and we could watch it again when the book was over. Next was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, again we could watch the movie when we were done with the book. Same thing with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Then we were done with that and I didn't want to go on to Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, because it makes me cry and Neil gets really upset about that. So, the search was on for the next book. I was looking at Barnes and Noble and had the decision down to one of three books: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, A Wrinkle in Time, or The Tale of Despereaux. I went with Despereaux, because there will soon be a movie, and the lady at the bookstore said it was the most age appropiate for my 5 year old reader. I knew as soon as we opened it that it was the right choice. Neil was sooo excited and trying to read over my shoulder, spotting and shouting out words that he recognized. Stopping me mid-story to talk about what just happened. Those were some fun nights. And I know I am looking forward to reading it again. Definately looking forward to the day that he can read it himself. It took us maybe two weeks of sporadic reading to get it finished. We would stay up reading for an hour most nights. And we LOVED it! Search on for another book. Neil went to the bookstore with me on that quest, and we could not agree on ANYTHING. Tears were shed. He kept picking books that were the middle of a series. I wanted to start at the beginning of a series. So, better judgement won out and we chose How To Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) by Cressida Cowell. It was the right choice. The rest of the series will be read. Again we made it through in under two weeks. Search on...again... Being close to Christmas, I had seasonal books in mind. So, he went with me to the bookstore, and right away we spotted Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas. Yea...that was a quick read, but it was fun and the illustrations are incredible. We also got The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I remember that one from my childhood, and wanted to share it with Neil. It took three nights. He had a nightmare about the Herdmans. Something about being chased by dinosaurs and Gladys Herdman not making it across the bridge to safety. The rest of his class survived. And now that the book is over, maybe he has changed his mind on the fate of Gladys. I'll need to remember to ask. So, last night was a book of Nursery Rhymes that he found on my dresser. Leaving tonight to start.... A Christmas Carol. Never having read it, I am crossing my fingers that it will be a hit. Previewed pages have looked promising......

Halloween season 2008

If anybody were to ask my son what his favorite holiday is, they would get a VERY emphatic "HALLOWEEN"!! To be honest, it's never been mine, but thanks to the miracle of parenting, I'm seeing it in a completely different light.

Neil starts planning the decorating and the partying in June/July. So this year I had to tell him early that we were probably not going to host a Halloween party for him. Maybe just have "the cousins" come over to go to the Pumpkin Walk at the Benson Grist Mill. He was okay with that, since it would still mean a gathering and time with "the Cousins". We have to say it that way, because he adores them all: Sophie, Xavier, Xanna, and Jessa, and "cousins" is MUCH easier to get out of the mouth. But, we had a pleasant, though be it, later than we planned get together. We had quite the full house (our house is small, so that's not saying too much). Emails started fairly early that day. "Would it be okay if we bring a couple more?" "SURE" "Be there around 6ish" "Okay" then one I did not see, but was told about "We're bringing two more" All I could say to that was, glad I got extra hot dogs. It turned out that Xavier has two friends Alex and Tony, who also enjoy Neil. And that's not a problem, because they are fun kids. So, around 7:30, when everybody arrived we headed over to the Pumpkin Walk for about an hour. Got in a dress rehearsal for the trick or treating to come the following Friday. Ran through a straw maze, a few times, and followed the spooky light, that turned out to be not really very spooky...at all. And viewed the pumpkins decorated by kids at the Kids Park (Neil's daycare). Then, it was home for some social time, dinner, and goodies. I had bought little pumpkins to decorate, but we ran out of time. The night was a BLAST!! And, honestly the more the merrier on a night like that!! So, Neil got that Halloween party afterall.

The following night the three of us got dressed up and went to Abravanel Hall for the annual Utah Symphony "Halloween Hi-Jinks". They joined up with the Utah Opera for some music from Act III of Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel". It was Incredible!!! I was a bit nervous about Neil when it came to the singing, but I think it made it that much more magical. He grabbed my hand as the lights when down and asked me in an excited whisper "Are you scared? I'm scared". It was the first concert that he sat absolutely completely still for, no wanting to go shortly after intermission, no squirming in his seat, just a boy completely rivetted by the story being played out for him. Wonderful.

The rest of the week brought Monday and Tuesday out of school, excitement to be going back to school on Wednesday, as well as a violin lesson that he was actually looking forward to and he enjoyed. Then on Friday "the BIG day" dressing up for the Kid's Park Halloween party, dressing down for the kindergarten Halloween party, and dressing back up for trick or treating with Dad (it was his turn this year). About an hour later, they were home, and watching Hocus Pocus and Casper with me. With Neil handing out the candy to the late coming trick or treaters. He's so good about taking only one piece while he's going door to door, that he's just as good at only giving one piece. So, we have tons of the stuff left over. Hiding somewhere in the house, so I don't eat the rest of it.

Then on Saturday it was the Halloween recital for violin. Another chance to wear a cape and vampire teeth! I got a picture of Neil before we left the house, and I remembered to take my camera to the recital hall, but when it was his turn to play, I couldn't take the picture. I got the camera out and looked through the window, but didn't take it. I'm telling myself it's because the chandelier was directly over his head. But, I could've had Gary take the picture, I don't know why I didn't. Nerves I guess. I think that was a night that I was more nervous than Neil was. Neil did great. No stage fright, right down the aisle and up on the stage for "Old McDonald arranged by Hall" Very well done.

Now, I just need to finish cleaning up the Halloween decorations, and find some way to either ration or get rid of the rest of Neil's trick or treat candy. He had a full scale sugar induced tantrum last night during violin practice. Tears, screaming, "I didn't have too much sugar" the works! A big hug, and a there's nothing wrong with you, you just ate more candy than usual talk and things were fine.

Sometimes Plans Change

The original plan for the weekend was to go to Moab and see some dinosaur tracks down there and do a little hiking. That's what Neil wanted to do, that's what we all wanted to do. But, that didn't happen. For a lot of reasons. Mainly, we got started too late. I had looked up all sorts of dinosaur "hot spots" on line and found a few in Moab, as well as some more information about the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. It's outside of Price and one of the stops on the "Dinosaur Diamond". We had talked about going there on the way home from Moab. Their hours during September are 10:00-5:00, so the later we left, we knew we'd need to go there first. And also, the later we left, the farther away Moab was really looking. So, at a rest stop on the way to Price, we decided to scratch the Moab trip and give it the minimum 2 days that it would deserve. Some other time. It turned out to be a good idea.

We got to the quarry about lunch time, and by some great stroke of luck and a day I'd never heard of (National Public Lands Day), the usual $5 admission was waived. Kind of nice.

Right away Neil wanted to see what was there and he was pleasantly greeted by this guy

And, No Gary, it's not "Alice" it's Allosaurus. And it's not a GIRL, at least not if you ask Neil. I guess so far in his mind, girls can't be that scary. I hope it can keep that thought for a long time. Anyway, we looked around, talked to the man at the desk (would that make him a docent?) And marveled at the percentage of carnivores to herbivores found in the quarry and the mystery of why they're there in the first place. No one has a concrete answer for that, there are several hypotheses, but no actual theories. I favor alien abduction and dismemberment, then being dropped out of the spaceship (how else to explain sooooo many bones in such a small space). Only, I was told, they couldn't have eaten them, because there are very few teeth marks. Interesting.

Next, we walked down to the quarry where two butler buildings have been put up to protect the site from the weather, and allow visitors to see an actual "dig".

We couldn't decide which of the three hikes around the quarry we were up for, unfortunately, at that time Neil wasn't up for ANY!! So, we decided to break out the picnic, and see how he felt after lunch. Which as it turned out he still wasn't up for any. We started off, anyway, with the reason that Mommies need to get taken for walks. He really still didn't care. Gary ended up putting him on his shoulders for a time, because I was a bit nervous that he was going to throw himself off a rock and get hurt. We wanted to see how fast we could hike the 1.4 mile Rock Walk, to see if we could make it to the CEU Museum in Price before they closed at 6:00. And, we did it. Here are some pictures along the hike:
the black on the rocks is called "desert varnish" don't know why, but I thought that was interesting. And, you can's see this guy too well, but it's the creepiest looking spider I've ever seen.
okay so this is really the only way to get all three of us in a photo together.

Neil likes the lizards. He was even brave enough to sneak a touch of this one, then of course it showed us how fast they move, and found shelter.
Neil LOVES rocks. He wanted to bring at least one home with him, but we kept telling him no, when he asked why I said they were protected by the federal government and had to stay there. I did ask if he wanted a picture of the rock (it would be almost like bringing it home) from the look on his face it's not even close!
After the hike, it was a very dusty drive back to Price, and we made it in time to see the museum. It's a nice museum, but very small. Considering that Neil is used to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. But, an hour was really all that was needed for the museum in Price.
If all of the fossils, and skeletons aren't enough to remind us of how very small we are and how very large they were...try the old your hand in theirs.

So, that was our Saturday September 27, 2008. Not exactly what we had set out for, but so much better.

This Weekend Moab

So, we're planning a quick trip to Moab this Saturday. It's not really a mountain bike trip for the cyclist, but more of a paleontology expedition for the dinosaur obsessed. We've been watching "Dinosaur Fight Club" on the history channel and Neil heard that Moab is a hot spot for dinosaur tracks. Soooo, that's where he wants to go. ( A lot closer than the Canadian Badlands, which is vacation choice.) And I am sure that Gary will get a quick ride in on Porcupine Rim (a bit leary of the word quick, because sometimes he is, but... Oh well, he's feeling good and it's his favorite mountain bike trail). The dogs have to stay home, I've been wanting to take them with us. But, I think an all day trip in the car with them might be more than some nerves can handle...like theirs. And since it should just be a quick trip down and back, with a couple of stops in the middle, they should be fine at home.