Logan 10.0

A decade of holiday cheer, that's what we've had from Logan's birthdays. They do tend to get swallowed up a bit by the holidays, but we try to make birthdays at least somewhat special.

Logan only had a couple of presents to open this year on his birthday, since most of his gifts were received the weekend prior. He still got some nice surprises:


Everything he ever wanted to know about hockey - thanks Jan and Kathy



And an iPod Touch, a.k.a. "In Which Logan Will Spend All His Money In the AppStore"


Just for nostalgia's sake, here's Logan over 8 years ago. Hard to remember what it was like to just have one of them. He's a little younger than Meyer is now in this video, but it's remarkable how similar they are. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

There are a lot of pictures we took on Halloween this year. Cute pictures. Funny pictures. Blurry pictures. Too-dark pictures. However, I think this picture sums up Halloween with the boys better than any other:



Hope everyone had a good one.

Cliff Notes?! More Like Whiff Notes!

Overheard on the staircase tonight, as Liam prepares to watch a cartoon while Logan is doing homework:

Liam: "I'm going to watch the Bakugan show."

Logan: "Don't watch that, I'll miss it and I won't know what's going on!"

Liam: "Logan, I'll TELL you what happens in the show."

Logan (indignantly): "But you're not good at summarizing!"

Eureka!

...Springs, to be exact. Fall vacation this year was a 4-day weekend in Eureka Springs with family, and then a quick stop in Branson for a Silver Dollar City trip with some more family.

The boys took to the lake lifestyle fairly quickly, although there was still a bit of DS-playing and a LOT of Wii activity. "Relaxing weekend on the lake" ain't what it used to be.


Meyer made a mess of himself as usual. Give that kid a piece of chalk and he'll rub it over every exposed inch of clothing he can find.


We took a day hike to War Eagle Trail, which ran right by War Eagle Cave. The cave was closed or Logan would have gone spelunking.



Pretty sure Liam doesn't have a license for this.



Meyer was still feeling the effects of "Margarita Night".


Next time I am SO throwing them out on the lake on an inner tube. Mwahahaha.

(Dirty) Boys of Summer

Well, school has officially started. We've all been having a grand old time this summer, as is evidenced by having no time at all to do any blogging. Too busy, people!! Logan and Liam started 4th and 1st grade yesterday, and Meyer once again rules the house during the day.

We had a great time over 4th of July, with family coming out to St. Charles instead of us going back to KC. A bit more crowded packing everyone into our house, but the thing is...fireworks are completely legal here. We had an awesome time (and probably spent a bit too much money) managing OPERATION: SHOCK AND AWE - HOME EDITION over the course of two nights. Sadly, it paled in comparison to what our neighborhood does firework-wise on the actual 4th of July. Crazy.

They also do a neighborhood "parade", consisting of one fire truck and all the neighborhood kids riding along behind it. The kids had fun, though, especially when the firetruck turned its water cannon on them.



Logan went to his first-ever overnight Scout camp this year, although he wasn't too crazy about the lodging. They slept in official Boy Scout pup tents, probably issued sometime around 1953. During the day they got to swim, hike, go to the BB gun and archery range, and generally run around and play and act like kids. It was fun, although a huge storm prompted about half the kids to bail after one night. Ah well.

Here's Logan at the firing range, in the middle.



We had a couple of visits to KC, including one to drop off Logan and Liam for a week with their cousins. That gave us time to focus on Meyer, who honestly didn't miss his brothers at all. At least not for several days. Even then, it was more like "hey, where are they anyway? Not that I care much. Hey, what are you eating? That looks pretty good, let me try some..."



Our annual camping trip was not to be, alas, thanks to the Midwest trying to rival Venus for "Hottest Solar System Vacation Spots 2011". INstead we drove up to Chicago to visit the Lennings, and had a great time anyway. We still got to get out for some fishing, and Liam actually caught a bass, although I didn't get a photo of it. I was off taking Logan to the bathroom. Thanks, Logan's bladder.



We'll get some First Day of School pics up soon.

Roll Call!

This one's for you, Grandma Soup.

Almost Ready for the Jungles of Borneo

Logan graduated to the next level of scouting, the Webelos level. Officially, he is no longer a Cub Scout.



So far, most of the scouting activities in Cub Scouts have been pretty group-oriented, and not very outdoorsy. A lot of crafts, a lot of discussions about helping out the family, being a good students, that sort of thing. In Webelos they are supposed to move on to more individual activities that focus more on personal development and skill-building. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to the changes and whether his interest continues. So far, though, he's been a good member of his Scout den and seems to enjoy it.

Congrats to Logan!

UPDATES! WOO!!

Our Garage Door Has Never Been Happier

The Fisher-Price basketball goal has been relegated to the basement, thanks to installation of this baby:



Part of Liam's birthday presents, thanks to Grandma Sue and Papa Jerry. Liam was a little skeptical at first, mostly because he can't get very excited about anything that doesn't have the words "Nintendo" or "XBox" on it somewhere. Within 90 seconds of the goal being officially approved for play, his verdict was a little different: "Dad, this basketball goal is AWESOME!!"

I am ashamed to say that Jill won the inaugural game of HORSE.

The Notification

We awoke one recent morning to find this taped to the inside of our bedroom door:



In Liam's defense, he's been having some issues and we DID ask him to let us know when he goes. I admire his adherence to the letter of the law.

Sweet Boy

Meyer is the cuddliest, sweetest, most loving boy. He gives us hugs (head nuzzled against your neck with accompanying "awwwww") and kisses (little smack while gently pressing his lips against your cheek...although this morning he just made the noise and poked Jason in the cheek). He shrieks with delight and shouts "Mamaaaa" or "DaDEEEEE" when the absent parent returns home. He just oozes love.

Did I mention how tiny and squishy and "baby" he is? Isn't it wonderful that he has decided not to grow up, so as not to break his mama's heart? He did add the words monkey and "Happy Birthday" to his vocabulary this week, but I'm sure that's an aberration. He's definitely still a baby.

Right?

He is. Mama's sweet boy.

That Madness of March

Logan and Liam made brackets for the NCAA tournament this year, and it's worked wonders at actually making them interested in the games. They don't watch them, but they're really keen on learning who won. Tonight we were discussing the games last night, and Logan offered this observation:

"Hey Dad, you remember when Arizona beat Texas? And I didn't really like that? Now that they beat Duke, they're really getting on my nerves."

------------

A little later the boys decided they needed a TV in their room, which Logan justified by saying they could "watch the games in their room, and you can watch them down here and not have to hear us!"

Of course our response was 'no way', so Logan started bargaining. "What about when I'm 16, will you buy me a TV then?" Still no. "How about when I'm 25?" We laugh. "Wait, when I'm 83!!"

Jill relented, saying "OK, when you're 83, if I'm still alive, I'll get you a TV."

Liam, all excited, blurted out "OOOOHHHH! When I'm 35??!!!"

Good Eats

Although he didn't finish, Meyer's a fan of Christy's Hamburgers.

A Quick Photo Dose

Wow, we are doing terrible with the blog this year. Sorry about that. I'm not going to do much to correct that right at the moment, but I am going to throw up some recent photos of the boys. We have a lot more old videos being worked on, along with some new ones, and once we get out of winter (bleah) hopefully the camera (and stories) should start ramping up again.

I mean, seriously. We've just been sitting around the house for the last 4-5 months. There's not a lot to tell.

Let's Get This Thing Up To 88!!

We're firing up the flux capacitor with 1.21 jigawatts here on Cobapple, while I'm in the process of digitizing our old Hi8 videotapes. Some of these we're a little fuzzy on the dates, because the camcorder only timestamped the video, but we have a rough idea. First up is a little taste of Logan's singing voice circa 2006. This was also the video wherein Liam learns that tables are not edible.



Next up will be some dancing!

It's Cold, It's Snowy, It's Derby-licious!

Logan's third attempt at the Pinewood Derby kicked off at about 10:15 this morning, and great leaps and bounds were made over previous years. You might remember the first year, where the Fire and Flames came in last place, barely limping across the finish line. This was otherwise known as the Year Logan's Rocket Scientist Dad Couldn't Build a Proper 5oz Pinewood Car:



2010 we resolved to do better, and the Killer Croc advanced in the ranks by one whole place, coming in next to last, officially. Hey, it was an improvement.



This year, the Pika-Bolt...well, it was still middle of the pack, but then again it was middle of the pack. Logan's car did MUCH better, in fact the entire Den 2 overall did much better than in the last couple of years. Logan's car was right up at 5oz, the wheels were slicked with graphite, the axles were polished to a high sheen, and he managed a respectable 13th place out of 20. We still did not manage to get away from the now-traditional (apparently) last minute prep work - Logan only finished the paint job last night. But it turned out great, he did all the painting himself, along with a fair amount of the construction work. (Sorry, 9 years old is still too young to work the power table saw).



I can't ever really tell what Logan thinks about the Derby - he likes hanging out with his friends, and they all sit by the track and watch the races, but he doesn't ever seem too invested in his car. I don't know if the relatively poor showing he's had the last couple of years has soured him on it, but next year I hope to turn over more of the work to him and see if he runs with it. He managed to come very close to winning a couple of his heats today, taking 2nd place by literally a few thousandths of a second, so maybe he'll take some encouragement from that. We're all very proud of him and the job he did.

Snowpocalypse 2011

It's not really that bad, but as anyone in the mid-Midwest is aware, last night brought a pretty hefty snowdump on Kansas and Missouri. School's canceled, work's being done from home with a warm cup of coffee, and the boys have yet to leave their pajamas. At least they're staying warm by clumping together.



Jill decided to brave the cold to get the driveway cleared off. Woo! Look at her go!



Will there be sledding? Snowball fights? Stay tuned.

Things You Never Want To Hear, Part XVII

"Suddenly, on my bottom, there was corn."

Remiss in Our Duties

Yes, I know it's been about two months since the last post. The holidays, they are a-busy. Rest assured there are lots more pictures and videos on the way. I swear. No, really.