Step One: Decide that sitting politely in the bouncer is booooooring.

 Step Two: Fake a little stretch.

Step three: Casually notice something interesting on the counter.

Step four: Lean over to get a closer look.

 Step Five: Realize the error of your ways.
"Biiiiiiiiinnnnnnnkeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!  Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Is it just me or is Thanksgiving rapidly becoming a forgotten holiday?  The fact that stores were stocking Christmas crap next to the Halloween flotsam just a few weeks ago with nary a turkey in sight makes me wonder.  And there are a whole heckava lot of Christmas decorations up already.  Not that I'm complaining (well, I'm complaining about the Christmas decorations, but that is another rant).  A holiday centered around a giant pile of meat isn't really my cup of tea.  Perhaps Thanksgiving should be renamed the Day-To-Hang-Out-With-The-"Other"-Side-Of-The-Family (you know, the one you don't like as much).  Or perhaps its true purpose could be teaching children about the importance of a hearty meal before venturing out in the middle of the night to buy a bunch of stuff* you didn't realize you needed until you saw it advertised in the Black Friday insert.  I'll get off my soapbox now and eat my tofurky quietly. Thank you for your attention.

*How much did you have the SPEND to save $3000? That's all I'm asking! 

Notice the Christmas crap already available for your holiday viewing pleasure on Nov 13.



This is a non-baby related post, so - sorry Mom and Grandma!

I like to read...a lot...according to my Kindle, I've read around 120 books in the past year and a half. I've probably read another 20 or 30 in non-electronic format, so let's put it around 150 total.  Now, I'm not saying these have all been great literature, in fact, the majority haven't been, but I like to read what I like to read, and sometimes I'm in the mood for teenage vampire romance, and sometimes I'm delighted to curl up with a Pulitzer Prize winning non-fiction on evolution occurring in real-time.  And Pride and Predjudice is required reading at least once a year (followed immediately by a viewing of the BBC's mini-series...ahhhh...Colin Firth...).  But I digress...

Anywho, since its been a while since I've done a book review on here, the baby is napping, so here goes...

What: The Hunger Games Trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay)
Who: Suzanne Collins
Setting: North America in the not-so-distant future. America has collapsed and has been replaced with Panem, a dictatorship consisting of 13 districts ruled by an all-powerful Capitol (which, in my head, was Denver). 
Story:After an uprising some seven decades earlier, the Capitol demands, myth of the Minotaur-style, that each district annually send one girl and one boy to compete in the televised Hunger Games, and makes the competition required viewing for all Panem's citizens.  Part "Survivor" and part Roman gladiator battle to the death, the Hunger Games are the "Circenses" to the nation of "Panem". 
Katniss Everdeen of District 12, takes the place of her little sister chosen to be a tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. 
Moral: Katniss' journey into the arena and to an eventual uprising against the Capitol examines humanity's relationship with entertainment, particularly of the "reality" style (which, you come to realize, has existed forever, or at least since the Romans were regularly feeding Christans to lions).  In particular, the triology explores the use of media in general (and entertainment in particular) in keeping a population in-check.
Rating: I loved, loved, loved this triology. In fact, I had trouble putting it down once I got my hands on it (which took longer than I wanted, as it took them FOREVER to be available in Kindle format).  Not only are they wonderfully written, Collin's examination of human culture and the role of entertainment is straightforward, but in no way "preachy".  I felt smarter for having read them.  A warning - all three books, particularly the first, include violence that is most definitely "R" rated, as most episodes describe the deaths of children in the Hunger Games arena.

*In which Minos demanded Athens regularly send seven youth and seven maidens to be devoured by the Minotaur as tribute for the death of his son.


P.S. Another post-apocalyptic Y.A. series that I thoroughly enjoyed was "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras), which examines the role of beauty in society, as well as the role of popularity and "rank" in a world of social networking sites. 

P.P.S. A less than wonderful post-apocalyptic book is "The Passage" by Justin Cronin.  800+ pages without an actual protagonist is a bit hard to handle...even with vampire-zombies taking out most of the characters.



I haven't posted in over a month, but it isn't from lack of material or interest...I've been frustrated with blogger cause I couldn't get it to upload videos. It kept freezing. So I quit trying.  As of today I started a YouTube channel so I can just embed videos on my blog and stop worrying about it...

Miss Nora is almost 4 months old and definitely out of the "grub" stage (newborn sleepy sleep floppy head etc.), and is quite a charmer for the video camera, so without further ado...(and apologies for the quality, shot on a $30 camera)

Nora will do anything to avoid tummy time:


And in the opposite direction:


She is also considering a career as Grizabella in the musical Cats (with a little help from her buddy, Jorge)


After being home for three nights, we headed off again...this time to Ouray, CO for my brother's wedding.

Ouray is my new favorite place on the planet, I think. 
Fun little town, and ridiculous
scenery no matter which way you look.

We got in lots of hiking:

We discovered the perfect location for the wedding ceremony on a hike:

Nora made some new friends:

Keyara, who came all the way from Sierra Leone to be at her Aunt Sonya's wedding.


And Julia, who lives in Rochester, MN.


We all got Sturgis Rally t-shirts.

We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner (Spicy Leprechaun Balls, anyone?)

And attended a beautiful wedding:
The bride and groom, Brendan and Sonya

With the bride and groom.

Brendan and Sonya with their three nieces: Nora (10 weeks), Keyara (2 yrs), Julia (3.5 months)

The Carrolls (yes, I'm barefoot...I could only handle being in 4.5 inch heels for so long on that terrain)

Miss Nora Adalyn Carroll after her first wedding.

The reception was at a local biergarten.  We stuffed ourselves with brats, spaetzle, pretzles, and a great selection of beer, and played darts, shuffleboard, and pool into the wee hours.


Where do I even begin? We're back in Wisconsin after three weeks, three time zones, six planes, seven states, and a nearly 10,000 foot change in elevation.  I think I'll just post pictures.  We spent ten wonderful days in Northern VA; Pottstown, PA; Bethany Beach, DE; and Assateague National Seashore, MD.

Nora and me at the Madison airport. She did delightfully in her Baby Bjorn.

Sitting on Daddy's lap during our flight to D.C.  She was perfect on all six flights and only cried occassionally after we'd landed.  What a good little traveler!

We arrived in D.C. on Friday, August 6th, and headed to Pottstown, PA the next morning for my mom's family reunion.  However, as you can see from the sign,
we could have just headed home to Lancaster.

Miss Nora was the center of attention at the family reunion.  I literally didn't hold her the entire time. Here she is with her Great Great Aunt Donna, Great Grandma Max, and Great Great Aunt Dot.


 We headed straight from the reunion to the beach. 
More driving...we were all glad to get out of the car!

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel in his fly. The bartender asks why it is there, to which the pirate replies "Yar, I do not know myself,
but it's been driving me nuts!"

 It was nice to just relax:
With Grandpy Steve.

With Great Aunt Vicki.

With Cousin Brooke ("Aunty Brooke")


We got in lots of beach time:


I finally got to see the wild Assateague Ponies, and we took some nice hikes on
Assateague Island National Seashore.


Mike even got a little disc golfing in at
Cape Henlopen State Park.




It is going to be a crazy couple of weeks. Tonight we head to Madison to catch a flight to D.C. tomorrow. We're attending a family reunion (Mom's side) in Pottstown, PA and then heading to Bethany Beach, DE for a week or so. Can't wait for Grotto Pizza and boardwalk fries!! Beside the obvious "beach time", I'm hoping to hike off the (delicious) junk food at nearby state parks and national seashores, and Mike is looking forward to playing some east coast disc golf courses and visiting Dogfish Head Brewery in Rhehoboth Beach.

We fly back in about ten days, will be home for two, and then head off again, this time to Ouray, CO for my baby brother's wedding. I'm really excited to visit Ouray and explore the surrounding area (and be there Brendan and Sonya tie the knot, obviously!)

Of course, the fact that we're going to be home a grand total of about two minutes in the next month* means that we'll be flying four times in three weeks with a two month old baby. Let's just hope there is a minimum of this:


But advance apologies to the people next** to us on the flight.

Wish us luck!

*Yes, I know you're not supposed to announce that you'll be away from home on the internet cause people might come and steal your crap. Well, I'd certainly HATE it if someone came and stole all our wonderful, fabulous belongings out of the basement. Especially the giant computer monitor and broken DVD player and all the clothes that I want to donate to Goodwill. I'd be absolutely crushed. Really. I would. Just watch out for the attack turtle! And while you're digging around, could you look for our passports? I can't find them anywhere...
**And behind us...and in front of us...
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