A Fair to Remember

Top of the morning to you chappies! Lately, I've been going through a three month phase where I like to eat every couple of hours. Sometimes regular baby food and sometimes not regular baby food as seen below.

I think my new phase has been brought on by my environment. Notice that I'm receiving liminal (they are not subliminal because they are written in an obvious fashion) messages from my sister's outerwear.

Knowing that I will never be successful in life if fully 50% of my wakeful hours are spent eating, I decided to seek help in ending my food obsession. After telling my older sister of my goals she decided to help me out. She said that taking me to the fair would be the best way to help me forget about food for longer than 3 hours. Here she took me to a racetrack at the Ohio State Fair. Racing! The perfect antidote!

Crikey! It was a pig race! Not the way to keep my mind off of food. Snoop Hoggy Hog beat out Britney Spare-Ribs to take the checkered flag. Mmm...spare ribs.

Next, my unaware mother purchased a funnel cake and proceeded to eat it right in front of me. The sky was thick with powdered sugar as she blew on the cake to cool it down. My sister, knowing my plight, ponders what she can do to help the situation.

"A-ha!" she thought. No food is ever allowed in the art museum. She told my dad that she wanted to see some artsy sculptures in order to become more cultured. My dad's version of cultured art, however, involved a gigantic butter sculpture of the eight US presidents who hailed from Ohio. Dad sure is urbane.

Well, the fair might not be the best place to keep your mind off of food. I am still obsessed and eating every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day despite my sister's best efforts. But my boundless optimism does not permit me to end my post in a negative fashion. Therefore, I include a fun quiz for the readers. Although I include this picture mainly for Uncle R, who has just accepted an assistant professor job in American History (Congrats!), anyone can try and guess the identity of three presidents facing the camera.

What I learned from Sesame Street...

She seems sure...

2 Month Appointment

Whoa! Stop me if you've heard this one before...

After my two month appointment back in '06 they photographed me with my uncle in order to track my growth month to month. You can see that I wasn't as comfortable as I could have been.

A couple years down the road, JC is telling me about his upcoming two month appointment. Here I laugh while telling him how they are going to stick him with a hairy, scary bearded guy to chart his growth. Notice that JC's hair is standing on end in fear as I tell him this.

But lo and behold, he gets a soft, friendly lamb as the yang to his yin for photographic growth charting. Notice his "sly" look. "My big sister is full of it" he is thinking.

I am not full of it. And, in addition, I have outgrown my car seat and now ride like this everywhere.

Well, maybe I stretch the truth a bit...

Doing Margery Williams Proud

"Zounds! Did you hear that?"

I crawled up the stairs and spotted my sister, M, busy making dinner for all of us, including my Aunt JKC.

Fed up with her Aunt JKC who kept saying no to the clam linguini and yes to the hot dog quesadilla, M appeared razzled.

Enough of this whining. She forced everyone into the car, including me! She said that a family outing would do all of us good. We headed to Utica to visit the Velvet Ice Cream Factory. My Aunt JKC rode in the back with me and M. What a trooper!

What is there to do at an Ice Cream Factory? A more appropriate question is what can't you do at an ice cream factory, chap! Here I lounge in complete comfort after catching every part of the root beer float that my dad dropped.

Where else can you be photographed next to a neapolitan corn cob? M was VERY impressed.

They also have the legions of animals needed to entertain ice cream eaters. Here is one of their newer employees who has only been on the job for a few weeks -- a real spring chicken.

This rabbit, though, had been working here much longer. In fact, he had been working here since his birth in 1995 making him...wait for it...the Velvet-Teen Rabbit. If you aren't impressed by the pun, you can at least be impressed with my reading level.

Thanks Aunt JKC for our trip to the Ice Cream Factory!

Independence Day 2008

Sorry that I haven't updated the blog in a while --- I've been feeling under the weather -ugh!

Here I am decked out for my second July 4th celebration ever. Fireworks have nothing on my pigtails!

My brother was so excited for his first July 4th that he threw up.

Why include the unflattering picture of my brother? What can I say, this is payback for him taking every one of his naps during vacation!

Now that everyone was ready to go we headed downtown to take in the parade. It rained and, as you can see, I needed a sweatshirt.

Despite the poor weather, nothing could dampen our patriotic fervor. Here we wave flags in the rain gleefully while chewing on Tootsie Rolls thrown to us by the Fire Department. Go America!

W'burg -- Part III -- Busch/Water Country

A big welcome from Dragon Land in Busch Gardens!
At the slides, I waited at the top and held the line up. Here a big lug waits none too patiently for his turn on the slide. Soon after this shot, I received a push from his foot that sent me back to earth!

So I hear in NASCAR they only make left turns. On the Ladybug circuit, however, you only make right turns. Let's see Dale Jr make a right turn!

Ah yes! I came in numero uno in the race. That's number one for those who don't read Dora books.

After winning the race, I took a victory lap with my Cousin S. But I didn't rest for long...

I was soon back at the helm and racing water craft. Some hot shot drivers deal with clingy girlfriends. I deal with an overbearing father.

Here you can see after 400 laps, my competition (Cousin G) has given up!

It felt a little weird being the only one left in the race as my face below shows, but I completed it none the less.

I was a bit tuckered out after racing and when my dad led us to the FestHaus - I knew what we were in for. He quickly went about joining the German version of the Vanlig Matsmältningbesvär club (see 14 April 2008 post "They sell furniture at Ikea?"). Having seen this before, I went to sleep. Interestingly, in a show of sibling solidarity my brother also fell asleep despite not having been present at aforementioned Ikea.

After a nap we hit Water Country USA. Since my mom was not yet cleared for water sports I stand next to my Aunt J. Thanks for being my lifeguard Aunt J.

My dad sure didn't act like a lifeguard. Here he show's my mom that he is using no hands! Shaken by the experience I headed back to the gentle care of my Aunt J.







Water Country USA was so fun, I forgot to take my nap. My brother (already trying to steal favored child status from me) showed he can take his nap anywhere, anytime. I will not give up my title without a fight!

W'burg -- Part II -- Colonial Experience

Back in colonial times (the 80s when my dad was a kid) everyone worked harder. Instead of being pushed in the stroller -- kids pushed themselves. After shoving my stroller through the gravel and cobblestone streets of Colonial Williamsburg for a few blocks, I requested help from my cousin G who graciously helped me push the stroller the last few miles before lunch.




At lunch, I decry my aching feet and fail to hide my dislike for the limited amount of water.

Lucky for me, the afternoon consisted of us living like rich people during the colonial period. Instead of pushing my own stroller, a horse pulled me in a gigantic carriage. After the ride, I lovingly stroke the horse and thank the animal for it's hard work. Mo' Money Mo' Problems has never been further from the truth in this case.

Another perk of being a wealthy colonial involved receiving more water. Actually, my GGma from Utah shared her ration with me. I was very appreciative.

By the end of the day, my dad said we no longer had to pretend we were living in colonial times. I immediately asked to watch what the whole human population had been working towards since the days of yore--- the Doodlebops! In this picture, I have grabbed the camera to get my mom's attention and yelled "Moe!"