Careers

At dinner tonight the kids talked about what they want to be when they grow up.

Danny--Either a hunter or a fisherman

Rachel--A person who works at campsites. And she already know what she'll buy when she has a job: a horse and a motorboat. Then Danny says, "You mean a boat like the Dean's have?" Rachel, "Yeah". Danny, "But yours won't be red right?" Rachel, "Definitely".

Aaron--a Policeman ("then I get to taser people"), a fireman and a guy who lives in a cabin.

Getting Black and Blue

We recently made a couple of trips to Central and Coastal California. I had wanted to take the kids down to see Grandpa Cliff's workplace - Munger Farms - east of Delano, CA. Their primary crops are blueberries and pistachios. They just happened to be in the middle of blueberry harvest, but we started the day out by picking blackberries. Years ago they planted blackberry bushes as hedges to keep people out and, more importantly, to gain a competitive edge on their new cash crop - blueberries.

It was an ideal Saturday with highs in the mid 80s. We picked blackberries for nearly an hour. The kids really got into picking berries that were as long as their thumb and twice as thick. Rachel ended up adopting a 2:1 policy - two blackberries for her bucket and one for her mouth. The kid's faces were all smiles - with spots of purple/dark red.

The kids were interested in picking blueberries. Grandpa Cliff was kind enough to take a break, take us over to some of the blueberry rows and teach the kids about the different varieties (star, emerald, jewel, santa fe, etc.) and the finer techniques of picking the ripe blueberries.

All three of the kids liked picking blueberries more than the blackberries, as explained in this video:

We had a great time - we ended up with five full one-gallon bags of blackberries and almost two bags of blueberries. We've been eating and enjoying the berries fresh, frozen, in homemade blueberry ice cream or blueberry dessert bars, etc. Come for a visit and we'll be happy to share.

The Changing Faces of Aaron

Aaron completed his first year of pre-school a couple of weeks ago. He came home on his final day with a number of papers and 'assignments' that he's worked on throughout the year. One of them was a series of monthly self portraits. We found these particularly entertaining and thought we'd share:

In September Aaron was a nice misshapen green blob with no hair.

Aaron grew some hair and slimmed down his face during October (in preparation for Halloween, I'm sure). He really liked to look at his hair (check out his eyes).

November 2009 - it's clear he hasn't slept off Halloween.

In January he apparently decided to join the USMC's boxing team, or as Aaron would call it "punching".

Wow. Aaron took Valentine's day a little too seriously. He needs to discard the evidence from kissing all the ladies.

Can't really tell what he's doing here in March - can't see him. Probably having to keep a low profile from all the ladies that were chasing him after his Valentine's encounters.

Finishing the way he started - green. Ohh how he's matured. Green happens to be his favorite color. I did notice that he appears to be wearing a toupe. He was able to come out from hiding, but still needs to wear a disguise. Maybe he'll play it a little safer come next February.

Do They Speak English There?

Aaron and I took a week-long trip in May to see my grandparents in the western part of Virginia, just outside of Roanoke.

In prepping Aaron for the trip, I told him we were going to see my grandparents and that it was on the other side of the country. I explained that it would take a while to get there and that we would have to travel by plane. He was fine with that. A couple of minutes passed and he came back to ask how long it would take to get there. I told him it would take most of the day and several hours on the plane. He thought for a minute and then asked "Do they speak English in Virginia?" Funny that the 'language barrier' was one of his biggest concerns. I told him that they spoke close enough to English that he'd be ok. I called my grandparents later to tell them they needed to polish up on their English.

We had a great time. Aaron and I took a redeye that left Vegas at 10:45 landed in Charlotte sometime around 6am (EST) and after a 3 hour layover, departed for Roanoke arriving around 10:30. We were pretty tired, but happy to touchdown in familiar territory. What followed were several trips for Aaron to Wal-Mart to get a new Lego kit or other toy, many Happy Meals, a couple of high points (Virginia and Kentucky), good home cooking, great company (grandparents and my Aunt, Uncle & cousin visiting from Germany), a graduation ceremony (my cousin Tanner graduated with honors from VMI - the Virginia Military Institute), vegetation and rain. Aaron enjoyed staying up late, all of the attention, getting to explore (and get lost in) my granparent's house, eating banana popsicles and visiting my great aunt and uncle across the street. Aaron did well and charmed them all - I was proud of him and had fun spending extra time with him and sharing him with family he hadn't met or barely remembered.

(Click here to view some trip photos)

End of the School Year

Rachel (1st Grade) , Danny (2nd Grade) and Aaron (pre-school) just finished up the school year. Danny and Rachel did very well ('A' honor roll for the entire school year, library award, etc.) and loved their teachers. We've had the kids write thank you notes to their teachers at the end of the school year. We get each of them to write to their teacher and thank them for at least two things. Rachel took this year's note to another level. Here's the transcription in case the scan is hard to read:

Dear Mrs. Watson,

Thank you for being such a nice teacher and let us get some fresh air out at resese (recess) and for letting me read to Mrs. MacIntosh's class (her kindergarten teacher from last year). They payed really (good) atenshen. You are one of the greatest teacher(s) in the whole wide world! You may even be better then my mom! Maybe you will, maybe you won't. But I have not desided yet OK.

Sincerely,

Rachel

She left Jean (and Mrs. Watson) hanging on the side of a cliff wondering if she is the greatest teacher in the world. Mrs. Watson was good (she's Swedish), but I don't know about the greatest. She'd have to be Norwegian or Jean to receive that accolade.