Summer Chic

It seems Cecilia has inherited her mother's thick hair, and the older she gets the thicker it gets. She just has massive amounts of hair. And because she's our Sweaty Betty already (you should see how overheated this child gets!), I thought it was time for a summer 'do. I let her decide just how short she wanted to go, and this is what she wanted:


So. Now she has short hair. Ta-da! Just to be fair, here is Ruby sporting her own summer hair. Yikes.

A Summer Weekend

It was a fun-filled summer weekend this past weekend, and we had some memorable moments from both of our girls, but a few things Cici said really stood out. Here are some of the highlights:

Cici watching Momlissa do a strength-training workout on DVD:

CICI: Why do those girls get skinnier but you don’t?

MOMLISSA: I don’t know. Why, do you think I should be skinnier?

CICI: [thinking hard, then] Uh…no?

A minute later…

CICI: Mommy, look at your shirt! It’s all bunched up because it’s too big for you. That’s because you keep getting skinnier!

Such a sweet girl – recognizing she had possibly hurt my feelings and working quickly to rectify the situation.

On Sunday we caught some of the pre-Olympic diving on television, a favorite event of mine and a sport that I’d like Cici to participate in someday. When I suggested that maybe she could go to the Olympics in diving when she’s older she said, “Yeah!” A little while later she looks at me and very seriously asks, “Mom, do you think I can go to the Olympics in diving and swimming?” And of course I told her yes because, really, who am I to get in her way? It’s good to have goals.

Other than that it was a great weekend. We swam, we grilled, we ate ice cream, we went to the park, we all got too much sun, we watched a softball game in the out-of-doors, everybody’s kidneys worked properly…what more can our little family ask for?!

So Much For World Culture.

On DVD, the girls have been watching Jim Henson's The Storyteller, a 1980s TV show that dramatizes ancient myths and legends from the Mediterranean, Germany and elsewhere. They're often quite dark, and after they watched an episode tonight Cici and I had this conversation.

DADAM: Well, did you like the show, Cici?

CICI: Yeah, I did.

DADAM: Well, there are two more left to watch, and they're pretty good stories: "Perseus and the Gorgon" and "Theseus and the Minotaur."

CICI: Do good things happen in them, or bad things?

DADAM: Well . . . some bad things do happen. Bad things can make stories interesting. You know, if nothing but good things happened, it wouldn't be much of a story. But when you get a story where somebody falls in love with somebody who doesn't love them back, or somebody is trying to get away from bad people who are chasing them, or somebody is sailing across the sea and the ship sinks - well, those are the most exciting and interesting kinds of stories, don't you think?

CICI: No.

DADAM: No? Well, what do you think makes a story interesting?

CICI: Care Bears.

The Pits.

[Cici and Ruby are having some cherries after finishing their breakfast cereal.]

CICI: Dad, Ruby's swallowing the pits.

DADAM: Ruby, don't swallow the pits.

RUBY: Yep.

CICI: Dad, she swallowed another one.

DADAM: Ruby, did you swallow another one?

RUBY: I didn't! [pause] It swallowed its own self.

A Fish Story.

This past weekend we visited Grandma and Grandpa S----- and their family in the southwest corner of the state. One of the highlights was a small fishing outing Sunday morning, during which Cici caught at least four and probably fives times as many fish as any of the rest of us. I've included some highlights in pictures; in no particular order we have Uncle Eli and Ruby, Cici and Grandpa, a truly magnificent sunfish caught by . . . well, modesty forbids, and just for fun a pic of Cici playing Guitar Hero and concentrating very, very hard.

Ruby Music.

Don't tell Cici, but I get the sense Ruby is going to be our more musical child. These are two nice examples of her talents in this area. The first is an original composition of hers we call "The Hamburger Song"; the lyrics (in case you have trouble understanding them) are just "I want a hamburger" over and over again.

And here she is singing "Home Boys Home," a bawdy song of the sea the verses of which involve hanky-panky between a comely young waitress and a sailor on shore leave (hi, Alex). The chorus is clean enough, though; the words Ruby is attempting are:

Home, boys, home! [clap twice]
Home I'd like to be
Home for a while in my own country
Where the oak and the ash and the bonnie rowan tree
Are all a-growin' green in the north country

Cheering Section

Last Saturday I competed in sprint triathlon with some friends in our fair city. I turned the corner for the final stretch of 4 or 5 blocks, and I could see a cheering section waiting for me at the finish line. Cici and Ruby were there with some other kids and they were holding signs and yelling and cheering for all the finishers. Best. Finish. Line. Ever! Here's a shot of Ruby and I, post-high-five. Cici is there in the background and, though you can't see him, Dadam is just out of the shot playing the bagpipes. Such a fun event!