Alana, foolishly, neglected to ask for another pony (or six) while she was adorned with pigtails (the pigtails being a rarity that make her father even more malleable to her whims than he normally is). But, she did proudly show off her pierced ears, which were just past the point where she was able to start switching them out with choices from the array of styles she received for Christmas.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Benton and Carson got so involved with their respective handheld devices that they didn’t realize they’d actually been sitting next to each other for more than 3 seconds without requiring adult intervention. I was optimistic all year long that it would happen at least once in 2011, and they squeaked in under the wire.

And, not one of our kids, but I’m including the picture anyway, because this picture of “‘Taterhead” just makes me chuckle (I simply can’t look at this picture without thinking, “Yes, he IS!”):

He wasn’t just walking around wearing this on his head — it was a part of a game he was playing with several of the other kids:

We started out at The Columbus Commons, which is a 9-acre outdoor space put in to replace City Center, an old indoor mall. There wasn’t much going on in the space during a dreary weekday, but we did get a picture of the kids in front of the large Christmas tree erected there:

From there, it was a couple of blocks over to The Scioto Mile, a riverfront walkway that has been somewhat controversial locally, but really is well done, even if the onset of winter meant the various fountains were drained and off:

With the fountains and pools emptied, we took the opportunity to snap a family photo next to “Gavel” — a silver sculpture inside a (drained) pool at the Ohio Judicial Center. We got this picture just before getting booted from the pool by a passing security guard.

From there, it was over to Battelle Riverfront Park, which has a replica of the Santa Maria (it’s never been open when we’ve been down in the area, and this trip was no exception), as well as a sculpture garden with a series of mythical creatures depicted and the tale of those creatures told in a large plaque set in the ground near the entrance. Carson posed with the owl sculpture:

From there, it was a late lunch, and then Alana availed herself of her grandparents’ arms to swing her way all the way back to the car for the trip home:

As always, if the video below doesn’t display, you can hop over and view it on YouTube:

But, for now, an unedited 2.5-hour gift-opening experience this morning compressed into under 2 minutes. If the video below doesn’t show up, you can view it on YouTube here.

Merry Christmas!

• Egg cartons (Carson eats 4 eggs a day for breakfast these days…followed by a couple of waffles; these were easy containers to come by!)
• Sawdust (courtesy of the collection bag on my dust collector)
• Old used/warped candles (courtesy of my parents)
• Dried moose poop (also courtesy of my parents…who stopped on the side of a road in Alaska and collected a large bag once they were told that moose scat was an excellent firestarter)

Growing up, I made firestarters with these same basic ingredients sans the moose poop (not a whole lot of moose wandering around Sour Lake, Texas), but, let’s be honest, dried excrement makes any project more exotic!

We mashed up the poop:

We melted the candles (the initial attempt to line the pan with aluminum foil was not successful, but the pot cleaned up fine with a couple of rounds of boiling soapy water):

We filled the egg cartons with a mix of moose poop and sawdust and then poured in the melted wax:

After cooling for an hour or so, we cut up the cartons and had 3 dozen firestarters!

We used one to start a fire in our firepan in the driveway that evening, and it worked like a charm! We should be set for the winter.

The boys devised a 2-on-2 football game that seemed to run semi-continuously throughout the weekend:

Alana and Claire were inseparable:

Drew and Ella at Upper Falls near Old Man’s Cave:

Alana at Old Man’s Cave:

A walk in the woods — Julie, Amy, Ella, Drew:

Julie at the dam near our campsite:

We ate well, with corn chowder, tamale pie, and pineapple upside-down cake for dinner on Saturday night:

Randy was recovering from rotator cuff surgery, so he got his daily physical therapy from Amy:

And, on Saturday evening, we pulled out some Michigan-acquired sparklers and turned the kids loose:

Not a bad weekend getaway at all!

Starting off, Benton made his first foray into school-run sports by running cross country this fall. We’re not sure where exactly he got the idea (none of his close friends ran), but he’d announced in the spring that he thought he would give it a try in the fall, and give it a try he did! What I now realize is that cross country — any distance running I suppose — is something of an engineering problem, in that the goal is to find a pace during the core of the race and then starting the final sprint in such a way that you’re out of gas right as you arrive at the finish line (but not before). Below are a couple of pictures from one of the invitational tournaments near the end of the season. Benton bested his personal best in this race by over half a minute, finishing the 2-mile course in 13 minutes and 20 seconds — a solid, middle-of-the-pack finish in the varsity race (7th and 8th graders):

We headed straight from that race over to some soccer fields just east of Columbus so he could knock out his second fall sport — soccer. Benton is now on a team in a mid-level league that has a couple of his good friends on it. The team is one of the best in their league, having lost only one game as they head into the end-of-season tournament (that loss came on the one weekend when Benton…and his two friends…were off camping — more on that in a later post). As with cross country, Benton is a solid, above-average player who genuinely enjoys the sport and his teammates, so that has made for a fun fall.

All in all, it’s been an active fall!

The Pond

We were in the camper tucked back in the trees (you can see some blue chairs in front of it)

The Fishing

Carson had a hook in the water within 15 minutes of us arriving at the site:

Benton also got into the action:

And, at one point, even Alana (with doll in tow) gave it a shot:

The Paddle Boats

We didn’t get around to renting a paddle boat until our last evening, but all three kids piled on…

…and quickly decided that the fun thing to do would be to paddle through the fountain in the middle of the pond:

The Playground

Alana went swimming, but, before swimming, she tried out the playground:

Alana Knows the Art of Baseball Spectating

(My favorite picture from the weekend)

Around Cooperstown

Downtown Cooperstown is eminently walkable

And…eminently stoppable (for ice cream):

Since Benton doesn’t eat ice cream, he got a blue sorbet/gelato or somesuch:

And…a gratuitous picture of a bumblebee on a flower outside a house on a side street:

Saturday Evening at Dreams Park (HDR-Enhanced)

The Parking Lot of Dreams Park (the fields are down below in the background)

Just After the Opening Ceremonies: ~1,200 kids!

Jack — The Kid We Were There to See

Jack Gets a Hit

Jack Digs for First Base