Haircuts for school

First day of school!

Fall walk at the Sculpture Gardens

Apple orchard and hay ride

Ian on World Down Syndrome Day

Today is World Down Syndrome Day. Ian's amped! And then he's not.

Brother and Sister - Fall 2012

Editing on a rainy Sunday

Annie, Ian and I went down to Turtle Bread for breakfast. Silvi spent the night with my parents, one of her favorite things to do. Candy, ice cream and mac and cheese around the clock; no wonder she loves it.

Then we took a drive around the lakes in the area, looking at the houses decorated for Halloween and the gorgeous, colorful trees. The tops of the skyscrapers in downtown Minneapolis were hidden in low clouds, adding to the moodiness of the overcast, wet day.

I'm down at my office, a stone's throw from our apartment, editing a video for Dan Wilson. I'm also working on a few documentaries that have been sitting on my to-do list for way too long.

All in all, a nice and relaxing day...

Community

Annie works at an Episcopal church once a week as well as sings in the choir. She's developed quite a few good relationships through this and it's wonderful how Ian is so accepted in this small community.

The choir director especially gives him a lot of love and Ian is a favorite in Child Care. We are so incredibly fortunate to have this for both he and Silvi, and plan to hold onto it for as long as we can.

Sometimes, she wins. Sometimes.

Some nights, those nights when Silvi is more Wicked Witch of the West than Snow White, she wins. She gets to sleep with us. With me, that is. Annie sleeps on the futon because even though we have a king-size bed, Silvi is a snuggler.

Last night there was a wide open space where Annie usually sleeps and one contented little girl snuggled up to her restless daddy.

Sesame Street Live

We took the kids to see Sesame Street Live last week. They absolutely loved - the first ten minutes of it. We made it to the intermission then it was time for something new, like playing on the escalators. Next time I say we save the thirty bucks and head to the mall, where the escalators are free and a hot dog won't set me back a week's paycheck.

Do I sound like a grumpy dad or what?!

Seriously now

I am going to seriously lose it. I'm not joking. Someone has been sick in our house every day since at least Thanksgiving. Ian's finally home, but now Silvi has her fourth bout with a fever. And this morning I woke up with one.

What do we do?! Leave all the windows open and hope the Arctic air will kill whatever is living in our home?! Spray the place with ammonia!? Wear SARS protective gear all day?!

I'm about ready to check into a hotel for a the rest of this blasted winter.

Merry hack, cough Christmas

We're all sick. Both kids have pneumonia; Annie and I have colds and fevers.

Christmas Eve Day and all four of us had fevers. Ian is doing the nebulizer every four hours. Two trips to Urgent Care. One trip for Silvi. Lots of lying on the couch and watching movies. Poor Ian is miserable.

That was also the day I shot a music video on three hours of sleep after Silvi had a reaction to cold medicine and spent the night tossing in our bed. I shot all day with 102 fever, then crawled into bed, aching. Had to skip the Christmas Eve party with my parents.

Christmas Day we made it to Annie's parents house - barely - and probably should have stayed home. Fevers and, well, you get the jest of it. Send Kleenex.

Yesterday I worked for five hours shooting for my new company, again with a fever. Salsa dancing and performance art.

Right now I'm down at my office, editing the music video, and yes, another fever. Wonder how it will affect the finished video? Did Lewis Carroll have a fever when he wrote Alice in Wonderland?

I'm pooped

Just for the record, Annie's job of staying home with the kids is ten times harder than my little video production job. Annie, you deserve more than a four-day weekend in Chicago.

But please don't stay any longer than tomorrow.

Sunday morning

How we're spending today, Annie's Bday

Twelve things

Twelve things about our vacation:

1. Our kids are champion travellers. Silvi and Ian laughed, slept and ate their way across the Midwest without any major meltdowns.
2. The four-hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan was sticky and hot. Ian slept, Silvi raced around the deck and Annie watched Iron Man in the movie theater. We would do it all over again.
   
3. My sister, Tracy, threw Ian a great party for his birthday. She picked out the cake with extra frosting, which Ian promptly redecorated. She always throws fun parties.
   
4. I watched two full seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on my brother-in-law's Mac while I tried to fall asleep on the couch cushions on the family room floor.
5. Silvi and her cousin, Emily, were cloned by clandestine scientists while in the womb.
6. We had a water balloon fight in the back yard. My brother-in-law throws like a washed up quarterback.
7. We stayed with Annie's aunt Nancy - who loved all over Ian and Silvi - and where Silvi and I hunted Cicada bugs in the back yard.
   
8. We took the loooong way into downtown Chicago, and drove with our doors locked.
9. Silvi was more interested in swinging on the handrails in the lobby of the Hancock Building than looking out of the 94th floor. The sky was blue and the views were spectacular.
10. Ahh, the beach, the beach. Perfect sunny day, nice sized waves, people-watching heaven and pristine sand as soft as powdered sugar.
11. We visited the town where Annie lived as a child and were able to find her old house, school and swimming pool.
    
12. Silvi and I pushed our way to the front of a BoDean's concert one gorgeous evening surrounded by hundreds of Harley Davidson riders celebrating the 105th anniversary of the motorcycle.
    

Happy First Birthday, Ian!

Jet ski

I took Silvi out for her first jet ski ride last week. She loved it until we hit some pretty big wakes. As we hit the waves, I asked her if she liked it. "Noooo!"

Date

Our first date since Ian's birth, and I think the smiles say it all. Twenty thousand fans, watching Beckham bend it, Alexi Lalas and Cobi Jones in the crowd, five dollar hot dogs, an unseasonably warm night and an hour-and-a-half alone with my wife.

Perfection.

Family Picture Time

Annie's parents, brother and sisters and the rest of the bunch.