Lachen 7th Birthday

Lachen celebrated his 7th birthday with a party entirely of his own inception. He wanted three friends to come, Conor, Jeffrey, and Henry, and his brother. He wanted to go to the Minute Man National Historic Site which chronicles the fateful day of April 19, 1775 when Paul Revere did his midnight ride, the minutemen came out from their homes to stand up against the British regulars, and the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. Now, that battle road where the fighting occurred is a popular biking route, and there are lots of bikers pedaling along. There are plaques every few 100 feet marking the time of day and night the British soldiers marched through, where the skirmishes happened, and that sort of things. The interpretive center features an exciting presentation about the battle with cannon sounds, flashing lights like musket fire, and storytelling by people in period dress. Lachen LOVES this place. To be truthful, he also loves the gift shop where a boy can find all manner of compasses, quill pens, tricorner hats, Revolutionary War plastic figurines, and endless commemorative regalia.

Following the trip to the interpretive center, we took the boys back to our house, and they feasted on what Lachen determined to be war camp food: meat (beef jerky & hotdogs--all organic, but still :( ewww), cornbread, apple cider, caramel apples, and a fabulous recipe for a Colonial era cake a la Aunt Lizzard which we made into cupcakes. Lachen permitted no balloons, ice cream, or frosting as those things would not have been in the war camp. Snakes, however, were allowed, compliments of Jeffrey's dad, Paul. He hails from a farm in Anamosa, Iowa, and while he and I have many things in common, an interest in snakes in certainly not one of them. You'll be glad to know I had the pleasure of seeing the snake again the next day, dead, in the street, about 200 feet from our house. Again, ewwww.

Back to the party...Shawn and the boys had set up a tent for battle planning and strategizing, which also worked well as a locale for eating meat on a stick. The boys, I mean Minutemen, headed out into the woods around our house and rooted out all lingering bloody backs (a.k.a. Redcoats--Lachen knows several synonyms for them.) Shawn read the book about the early presidents of the U.S. from the Mittmans, and Lachen opened his gifts of geology kits and Legos. This was also on his order, because kids don't open presents at their parties in Massachusetts. They wait until all the kids have gone home. But, I let the birthday boy rule the day; Massachusetts social norms be damned.

Lachen had what may go down as the birthday party of his dreams. The parents came at dusk to fetch their minutemen, and everyone stayed well past dark. So, I think everyone was having a fun time. Lots of grass stain by the end of the evening, but no blood. And really, in my book of parenting, that equals success.


Here's the link for more information for all burgeoning historians like Lachen: http://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm And, for your listening pleasure, here's a bit of the annual Birthday Storybook Reading by Daddy. And, yes, that's Reilly you hear who is feeling left out after snitching a caramel apple.

First Day of School

Wow! Both of our boys are in school now! Lachen is the part of the upper class at Mary Finn School. Since the school is preschool-1st grade, he is living large as the king of the hill. His teacher, Miss Perry, seems to be all right. He's being a bit aloof about the whole scene. But, there's a rumor that there is homework in 1st grade, and Lachen is not quite sure what to think of that. I think he's all too aware that the St. Mark's students are silently studying for 2 hours every night. "Might that be my fate?" he wonders. He'd much rather listen to Harry Potter on audio CD or build yet another Revolutionary War set-up with Legos, wooden blocks, and playmobil figurines.

As for Aksel, he LOVES school. He gives the full play-by-play report after school, he gleefully skips of to school, sings the transition song the class sings when they're lining up to go into the hallway, "Stand up straight, eyyyyyyyes forward, arms at your side, (and now staccato) when we're walking, we're not talking, when we're walking, we're not talking." Aksel is ecstatic about his very own mailbox, his very own coathook, oh, it's all too much joy for one five-year-old. He is in absolute raptures about the music class, and the music teacher recommended a group piano studio. Aksel starts in mid-September. We'll report back on that scene.

Most days the boys will be chauffeured to and from school, but sometimes they'll take the bus. They already know lots of friends on the bus, and theirs is the last stop, so they aren't on the bus long at all. Here they are waiting with their buddies, Alex and Nicolas, who also live at St. Mark's. Little sister Rebecca is NOT happy that she is not welcome on the big yellow school bus. Shortly after this picture, the four boys started chanting, "Where's our bus!?! Where's our bus?!?" which was quite reminiscent of the "Move that bus!" mantra of Extreme Makeover Home Addition.

Happy Back-to-School to you all!

New York, New York

Our summer of travel culminated with a weekend trip to NYC. We celebrated Sid and Carol's 40th wedding anniversary and 60th birthdays with Pat, Blaine, Tony and Lisa (and of course Sid and Carol). We stayed at the Desmond Tutu Convention Center which had incredible architectural features like 150 foot ceilings! At least that's what Aksel thought. When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, this Reid family was, of course, starving. So we found a little Italian pizzeria just down the street and had a brick-oven pizza. Then the rest of the family showed up.

The next stop was the Chelsea Market which really reminded me of downtown St. Paul...back when downtown St. Paul had activity past 4:00. While most of the extended family wanted to walk to the Hudson, this Reid family and Blaine decided to go to the American Museum of Natural History! We saw Dum-Dum who wanted some gum-gum but never saw Atilla the Hun Hun. A stroll through Central Park provided music and dance entertainment in the forms of random singing and roller skating exhibitions. The "best" skater was this 75 year-old man who decided that a shirt was optional. He talked smack to the bystanders about his skills and proceeded to shimmy around a bit, dropped his cane, cursed, and then he decided to go to a different area to showcase his skills.

Our six-hour drive home (which should be only three) allowed us to reminisce about Lachen and Aksel driving the horse-drawn carriage through Central Park, taking in the first morning session of the US Open, eating at Carmine's, taking a long tour through Manhattan and the continual neck strain of trying to see the top of all of the skyscrapers. The best part of the trip for me was a nice walk through NYU, then stopping for appetizers and drinks at Slane's. I think it is wise to expose the boys to the pub scene at an early age, particularly when it's open to the street with loads of interesting people milling around. The bartender made Aksel a juice concoction while Lachen scarfed down chicken fingers. While us three boys watched the Mets on TV, Anna found the bag she has always wanted at a little boutique a few doors door. We topped off our time on Bleecker and Macdougal at a creperie: nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream, anyone?

So, summer is over and now the school year begins. Our fall athletes arrived a couple of days ago. We had three full days of faculty meetings and are back in the swing of things.

New House

Some folks have been asking for some images of our new pad. Here are some shots so you can envision us going about our days and nights. And, don't worry, Dad, about the chimney. There are workers outside the house right now repairing it.





Lachen and Aksel have taken charge in decorating their own rooms, and thus their personalities shine. Lachen's is orderly and every last paper clip has a special and precise spot. Aksel still has some boxes to unpack and he already has piles amassing in the corners. They also have a guest room/playroom where they are currently building a cardboard brick castle. Cardboard bricks: best present ever! They took Shawn and I much of an evening to assemble, but that was an evening now over 4 years ago. Time well spent, dollars well spent. And, glory of all glories, when they do finally destoy them, they're recyclable! I have also commandeered a little room for my sewing room. I made some outdoor cushions for some chairs I found roadside. I would take a picture of them, except the workers are currently taking a Dunkin' Donuts break and sitting on them. I'm trying not to care that even my own family has not sat upon the cushions before the chimney workers.

Great Spruce Head Island

We spent a glorious five days with our friends, the Porters, on Will's family's island. Just a four hour drive north and a 30 minute boat ride east from Camden, and we arrived in a magical place. It is the stuff dreams are made of. Drawings of lobsters, battleship rocks, seals, and secret private islands are already filling the dining room table, and we've been home a few hours. I don't think the boys would have been remotely surprised to see Goblinnea roll out of the woods. She would have fit right into the world of wild blueberries, mussels attached to rocks later to be seen on dinner plates, lobsters turn from brown speckles to bright red, a treasure hunt with a real message in a bottle buried deep in the sand. Dragon murals were painted on the walls of the Big House where we stayed, and the world of Monopoly was revealed to Lachen and Aksel by Will on a rainy day. Magic and wonderment at every turn!

We learned so much about island life in Maine. We saw seals sunning themselves, learned all about the history of the island. See http://www.kennealy.com/Galleries/GSHI/ for more. We even visited Iza Trapani and her husband on their miniature island. She is a children's book author and illustrator. Her tongue twisters are a real workout. Lachen loved her books, and Aksel loved her 150-pound Mastiff puppy.

So, aside from Aksel's dozens of barnacle scrapes, Will's bloodied lip from a lightsaber duel with local accoutrements (a heavy spruce stick), and some lessons about respecting dogs' personal space, it was completely perfect. Thank you Porters!

Aksel's Golden Birthday

Aksel turned 5 on August 5th. Hence, his golden birthday commenced. We spread out the celebration (my favorite way of making a single day less crammed full and making the day after less of a letdown) and Aksel had a party in Minnesota several days before his birthday, a family blotkake on his birthday, and a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's with his friends 5 days after the 5th...The party was at 5:00 and yes, he had 5 friends there (Robby, Henry, Libby, Quinn, and Lachen, of course.)

Shawn and I are still getting over the shock that we actually allowed a party at the crazy pizza kiddie arcade. It seems to be opposite of all things we espouse: pre-packaged, processed, commercialized, overstimulating, and so it goes. Yes, it is the same venue that we knew as children. I went to Showbiz Pizza, but the companies has now merged, so actually we also were supporting a conglomerate. Agghhh!!! So, scruples were tossed aside--or at least they were tossed down the skeeball ramp to earn a few tickets. It was our boy's golden birthday, and the eco-conscious, Montessori-trained, organically-raised, socialist-leaning, fresh-air cured ways of the Reid family were put on <pause> for a few hours.

In the attempt to follow the Monty Python tune, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," we've added a new verse:
When a party's held at Chuck E.'s, just smile and listen
To Aksel's squeals of glee and endless grins.
There's diversity within, languages throughout, and
It's just one afternoon of Aksel's 1825 so far. (365 x 5, btw)
<whistling ensues>

Aksel may never know his parents' philosophical struggles on fulfilling his dreams. To our relief, Lachen is planning a Revolutionary War-themed party. He either wants to camp out as if he and his men were on the banks of the Delaware River, or take a trip to the Minute Man Museum for the historical media presentation. Hopefully, his three best buddies are free to put on the Minute Man garb and go all late 18th century on us. I'm already researching colonial cake recipes...

Minnesota Zoo with Olivia and Kayla

The new Grizzlies exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo brought us for a visit. It was a hot day for bears and boys alike. Luckily, there were misters for the boys strategically placed along the trail to cool them off. The bears had their own pools to wallow in. Check out the wingspan on Olivia and Lachen!

After the zoo, it was time to head to the lake at Grandma and Grandpa Reid's house. The shoreline drops off extremely quickly. It's 10 feet deep at the end of the short dock. Good thing we have so many strong swimmers!