Why we didn't blog in August

Here is our list of excuses, in chronological order, as best as we can reconstruct from last month's calendar, e-mail, and Facebook.
Aug 1: What, I have 30 more days left.
Aug 2: 29 more days. What's the big deal?
Aug 3: Went to Shakespeare Santa Cruz's Twelfth Night.
Aug 4: Drove to San Rafael to spend the weekend with friends.
Aug 5: Drove home from San Rafael.
Aug 6: Monday. You can't blog on a Monday.
Aug 7: Suffered minor breakdown resulting from overwhelming amounts of zucchini in the fridge.
Aug 8: Had a friend over for to watch some RuPaul's Drag Race, ate really spicy hummus.
Aug 9: Had friends over for dinner, and talked to them about how they're watching our kids for a couple days in September while we both skip town.
Aug 10: Got top layers of new mattress adjusted.
Aug 11: Birthday party for a 3-year old. Then a guest bagpiper/ukeleleist/etc. at our house, followed by s'mores around the fire.

Aug 12: You know. Chores. Bad movies on Netflix with the kids.
Aug 13: Monday again.
Aug 14: Finn and Graham's 1st and 2nd dentist appointments, respectively.
Aug 15: Packed for midwest trip.
Aug 16: Flew to Minnesota.
Aug 17: Drove to Iowa.
Aug 18: Bradfield family reunion/Cedar Valley Pride.

Aug 19: Family party.
Aug 20: Drove to IA City to hang out with long lost friends. Martini night with the girls.

Aug 21: Recovering from martini night with the girls.

Aug 22: Drove to Minnesota.
Aug 23: Went to Science Museum to learn about pirates. And dinosaurs.

Aug 24: Minnesota State Fair.

Aug 25: Fortney family cabin. Ate too much cake for Becky's birthday.

Aug 26: Drove home from cabin. Family party. Too much cake again.
Aug 27: Flew back to California.
Aug 28: Back at work: tried to triage work e-mail before vacation aftershock due to preschool closure.
Aug 29: Finished answering emergency work e-mail, braced for Labor Day weekend.
Aug 30: Preschool closed; spent day at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Aug 31: Preschool closed; spent day at Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Sept 1: Still felt like August: ordered new couch; Finn learned to ride without training wheels.

And today, we're driving up to San Francisco. I'm sure that, uh... Jonathan will blog about it.

Eclipsecation? Vaclipsetion?

Our family drove 5 hours away from our house this weekend, the better to see the solar eclipse on Sunday. That's normal, right?
We had to leave a little late on Saturday so that the grownup half of the family could go to a wedding reception first, which meant that we rolled into our destination - Redding, CA, right in the center of the next day's eclipse path, around 10:30 p.m. The boys' normal bedtime is around 7:30. Finn conked out slightly after the dinner stop, as planned, but Graham managed to stay awake until at least 9:30. ("I see a black spot, Daddy. Is that space?" "No Graham, that's a mountain. Go to sleep.")
Jonathan had selected Turtle Bay Exploration Park and the adjacent Sundial Bridge as our day's entertainment/eclipse viewing spot. He chose well. We saw a fish feeding, a wild animal show (a barn owl flew right over our heads! and a hawk! and a vulture!), and the "model river" area before heading out for lunch and a nap.

Then the boys went swimming. Bonus points for getting to wear the goggles IN THE WATER, instead of just around the house.

Then it was back to the park/bridge for parrot feeding and the eclipse. I was impressed with how well Finn did with the parrots - two decided to land on him at once, when I was maybe 8 feet from him, and he kept his cool. But I wouldn't go so far as to say he was a fan.
By the time the eclipse started, we were all pretty hot and tired - it was around 90 in Redding that day. And since it was about an hour from the beginning of the eclipse to the peak, the boys were bored with it long before we were. They liked to put on their cardboard glasses now and again, and told us what they saw, and they humored us with the pinhole viewer, but... yeah.

Not everyone is able to dress for an eclipse. My husband? Heck, yeah.

We didn't have a camera with us that was fancy enough to figure out what it was looking at, even through the eclipse glasses. But the lens flares showing the progress of the eclipse were pretty cool. (See the teeny bright circles/crescents?)

It was a large and fun crowd at the bridge. It was definitely an eclipse viewing destination - lots of people were from out of town, and one family we sat next to for a while was on a day trip... from Seattle. Today I found out that I guy I work with was there on the same bridge - we just didn't see each other. It was awesome time, and totally worth both the drive and the whining of our children. I'm sure some day they'll agree with us.

The next day we decided to check out Shasta Caverns before heading home. Silly us, we thought they would like it. Not so much, even though we did see the bats Finn had been so excited about. Basically, they would have been more than happy to leave just about right after we went in - apparently they found it scary (not the bats, just the empty cave). But we cajoled and bribed them through their doubts, and it was SO worth it. Neither photo nor video quite captures the size and awesomeness of the last chamber, but I tried.

The boys mostly liked the boat ride.

And the miners' helmets we got them as souvenirs. (I mean really, how do you NOT buy those helmets?!)
And then we went home. Five-ish hours, only two stops. 1.5 movies. A new and miraculous record for our boys.
So Tuesday morning we walked into our child care center, after missing a day of school, and no matter how much Finn whined *in* the caverns, he had brought the brochure to show off to all his friends. Jonathan hears him lecturing about stalactites, "See these? These are actually ALIVE." So at least the first half of the whole "living cave" thing stuck. Just not the whole "but not like a plant or animal" part.
And then one of Graham's teachers asked him "where were you yesterday?" And he replied "In a cage!!" Cave, Graham. A CAVE.

P.S. Hotel rooms with sliding doors between the kids and us? Awesome. But next time, can they have the DVD player, and can we have the fridge?

Quick post about our quick vacation

Presidents' Day Weekend! You have to celebrate that, right? And if you find yourself halfway through Saturday and realize you have no reason to be home before Monday night, shouldn't you celebrate that with an impromptu vacation? Isn't that what our founding fathers would have wanted? Staycations? I thought so.
First up, we met up with some friends and their new baby in Oakland to visit the Chabot Space & Science Center, and a good time was had by all. You would not believe how long a toddler can flip switches in an old space capsule and be thoroughly entertained. Also, grownups have fun. (Hey Fortney, nice job with the extra hand. No, I'm not going to Photoshop it out.)

On the way I downloaded a new app to play with photos on my phone. Aviary is not sponsoring this post, but you can send them hate mail if you're annoyed. Anyway, after the space fun we headed up to a hotel in Fairfield, and everyone had a pizza night out. At a table right next to all the video games.

The next morning brought swimming in the hotel pool (later deemed by Finn to be the best part of the trip), followed by TV while the parents showered. The boys are now familiar with commercial interruptions, and are justly angry at how unfair they are.

Once we were all dressed, we hit the Jelly Belly visitor center for the factory tour, and everyone ate as much candy as they wanted -- frankly, not much. We haven't even finished the free samples we got from the tour. But we are all stocked up on their new cocktail flavors if you want to come try them. Mojito jelly beans! Pomegranate cosmo jelly beans! What could be better? Well, lots of things. But we did have fun. See?

And now here's a video of Graham talking, because it's been sitting in the queue waiting for your enjoyment.

Growing up, and Christmas

Firstly, let's debut the new size chart! Since our last update, both boys have had birthdays. Graham has always been a little behind in height and head size, but has sometimes been a bit heavier. But now it appears the young version of Finn is ahead in all categories. What this means for the future, I don't know. Finn is undeniably a big guy--a 95th percentile type of kid.

Well, the holiday season is over, and the Fortney Family has survived, and enjoyed it! We spent 12 days in the Midwest, split between Minnesota and Iowa. The weather was relatively balmy (mid 30s), and there was no snow on the ground. So that was a little unusual. Grandparents were hugged, cousins were riled up, and raviolis were consumed.

Before we left, Santa was smart enough to come (I guess he got the letter!), and the boys got their very own 2003-era Fujitsu laptop, amongst other things, like color-changing matchbox cars. They are quite excited. (Actually, the computer just broke, but Katie is going to "share" her Mac with them for awhile until we find a resolution.)

Both boys were excellent on the plane ride out. Traveling with them is just getting easier and easier. Graham was especially interested in having his very own bag of potato chips (they bought us nearly an hour), as well as checking out the in-flight tunes.

Last year at my parents' house I spent a good 2 hours making Finn a hollowed out snow cave that he spent about 10 seconds in. This year I spent about 20 minutes raking leaves to make the ultimate leaf pile, and the boys loved it. Mostly they would get running starts and try to go right through it, with limited success.



After the trip down to Iowa (Katie may have pictures?) we spent a few hours at the Mall of America, before we caught our plane out of town. You have never lived until you've played mini golf with a 2-year-old and a 4-year old. At least 5 times, Graham had very short "My do it!" temper tantrums when we tried to help him. He was laying face down on the green carpets. Finn only did a full wind-up whack once (the 2nd hole). And no one got hit in the face, so it was pretty successful. We also rode on quite a few rides at the gigantic indoor amusement park, which is not longer called Camp Snoopy. Oh, and we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Yay!

Minnesota Cousins

Katie and I got back from England and France late on Sunday. More on that nice trip later. This is about our trip to Iowa and Minnesota from a few weeks back. How the time flies! I was going to post about the whole trip, but that was impossible, so I'm focusing on Justin and Becky's kids, cousins Jamie, Wyatt, and Heidi. What, you didn't know about Heidi? She is new and small. See here:

Whereas Jamie and Wyatt looked like little clones of Justin when they were born, Heidi only looks 75% like Justin, so maybe Becky's genes are finally starting to exert themselves. My brother and sister and I look 90% like my Dad (tall and fair), and 10% like my Mom (small and dark), so the Fortney genes are tough to overcome.

It was great to see my parents again, and we managed to see a few of the high school friends, who have their own kids. But mostly the boys ran around with their cousins. We spent some time over at Justin and Becky's "acreage" in Wisconsin. The boys drove around Power Wheels and then we went on Justin's boat, too. Finn did most of the boat steering. I think Finn would have preferred to stay there for the next 15 years. We lack a boat and any Power Wheels, sadly.

I thought that this one, above, was a great one of Finn and Wyatt. Wyatt is only a month older.

Of course, I took some movies of them driving round. Graham got a kick out of riding around with Jamie (the oldest!) but wouldn't hop in with anyone else. Smart boy!

Car Driving 1 from Jonathan Fortney on Vimeo.

Next summer we may try for an even longer trip than 10 days. If we're going to spend the money on 4 plane tickets, we should get out money's worth! And the state fair will have to be on the list.

Dispatch from Grandma Week

Yesterday:
Finn: Why are the brakes making noise?
Gma: They must be wet.
Finn: How did they get wet? It's not wet out.
Gma: Must be the fog.
Finn: Fog doesn't get in brakes.
Gma: Yes, I believe it does.
[Graham taking my side and echoing "fog. Fog."]
Finn: Last time when you drove in Iowa the brakes made noise too.
Gma: Yes, they did! You have a good memory.
Finn: So maybe you're not such a good driver.

This morning, unsolicited, he volunteered that his mom and dad were both better drivers than me, especially his dad, who is always learning more about driving.


******
Jonathan and I are currently in St. Ives, not far from Cambridge, vising Jeanna and Craig (Jonathan's sister and her husband). Today he gave a short talk at Cambridge, and tomorrow we take a train to London, and from there to Paris! Besides catching up on our sleeping, reading, TV watching, and eating of English foodstuffs (Wensleydale! Scones! Pasties!), we've also done some sightseeing and shopping. We're having a great time, more so thanks to updates like these from my mom. It's also neat that our rented Italian smart phone can use Google Voice to send text messages to my mom in California while I'm in England.
I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures to bore you with soon. Until then...

Chicken, it's the new gum

Tonight when I gave Graham his toothbrush he stuck it in his mouth, then took it back out and spit out a wad of chewed up chicken. From dinner. Which had ended over half an hour earlier. Apparently when you don't have all your molars, you can just work on a few bites of chicken all through tummies time, bath time, pajamafication and the like, without ever swallowing or giving up. He's a persistent kid.

Graham's a big chicken fan now, as Jonathan discovered while I was gone. I think the boys had a pretty good time without me, although I was told (and could tell) that I had been missed. Finn says I was gone for "soooo many days, Mama" but politely asked me "how was your day in Philadelphia, Mama?" He's so polite sometimes, I hardly recognize him.

Less than 3 days after I got back, Jonathan left again. The boys seem to be taking it all in stride, although Graham did look around for Jonathan to get his good night kiss after bedtime stories tonight. Here's a picture we took on one of the days we were actually all here, and a couple I took before my trip in case I got homesick.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the potty training bribes have gotten a bit out of hand. The peeing has long been easy, but like many kids, Finn's had intermittent struggles with #2. We started out with 1 M&M rewards, which quickly increased to 2 M&Ms, swappable for 2 chocolate chips, which were somehow more exciting. Somewhere in there things got crazy, and now he's getting daily girl scout cookies and has a chart that, when filled (4 weeks total, 12 days to go), is redeemable for a bike. I mean, we were going to get him a new bike this summer anyway, and the cookies will stop when the boxes are empty, but... geez. The way Finn usually works is that he responds really well to incentives (okay, bribes), and then once he does something long enough, he eventually forgets to ask for his reward. Toothbrushing, peeing on the potty, and I forget what else have all gone that route. I just hope we make as graceful an escape from this one, because it is a *big* one. Wish us luck.

Two grown-up boys

Finn of course has his own wants and needs. (yogurt, The Incredibles movie, bike riding, Gorilla Munch cereal). But Graham, little chubba jolly Graham, alas, also has wants, besides just being squeezed and tickled by his parents. The cutest is his sassy "Nooooooo!" in his little squeaky voice, if he disagrees with you. He's remarkably good at making animal noises, and has a few actual human words he can pull out as needed. But yeah, he's starting to have his opinions. He also is quite willing to "attack" Finn if he wants to have some fun, but that basically never goes his way in the end, since Finn is big and not afraid to be the victor.

Lately we've been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Happy Hollow zoo in San Jose, and to the beaches in Santa Cruz and in Pismo Beach, which is 3 hours south down the coast. (Hi to Sarah and Joel!) Being outside is certainly great for family sanity.

Finn is full of questions, as always. Lots about Mr. Incredible and the Incredible Hulk, which he certainly now knows are different people. We spent a considerable amount of time at the dinner table last night discussing how, often, big things can be faster than smaller things (horse vs. cat, say) but then something can be so big, that it can be slower than small thing (elephant vs. horse, say). I'm not sure that he bought it. Anyway, lots of active discussions, which can be repetitive, because he just won't care that we had the very same discussion the day (or minute) before.

Here is Graham at the aquarium last month. Both boys had a great time, although the Outer Bay tank is closed for refurbishment.

This is one from bath time just last night! Maybe a haircut for Finn this weekend? One thing that Graham can ask for (and does) is a bubble bath. "Bubbo!"

These last two are from on the beach in Santa Cruz. Finn spent most of his time under the boardwalk, while Graham preferred the open sand, after he finally woke up from his nap. It is about a 30-40 minute walk from our house to the beach, so that is a good weekend activity when the weather in nice. Finn even rides his bike all the way there. Coming back home uphill is a different story!

Christmas?

In what I think is a new record since we started the blog, it's been 25 days since our last post. I'm not sure we've been any busier than usual, although Jonathan is teaching this quarter and has this whole Kepler thing going on, and I continue to be surprised at how much fuller the weeks seems now that I'm working full time. I think the big difference is that the boys go to bed at EIGHT now, and we were so spoiled for so long with Finn going to bed at 7. Ah well.
Want to hear about our Christmas?
We went to a tree farm and picked out a tree. Finn helped cut it down and carry it to the car.
Then we decorated it.
We went to a lighted boat parade at the harbor. The boys' favorite entry was a fire-breathing dragon kayak.
We had great luck with weather flying back to the midwest, and both boys did great on the planes and in the car.
We celebrated in Iowa with my family, although apparently I did an even worse job than usual of documenting the event, and we have no pictures at all of any of my family. Here's some proof that we went to Iowa - Finn on Christmas morning in my mom's living room, with one of his favorite presents from Santa.

Christmas bugs from Katie on Vimeo.
We celebrated in Minnesota with Jonathan's family, and saw some of his friends as well.
Then we came home! We were asleep by 10pm on New Year's Eve, but since we had gotten up at 2am Pacific time, we figured that was okay.

Merry Christmas! :)