Ice Cream in December

Off season AND upside down

A Close Shave

Sometimes the oddest things bring the most joy. My first reaction to this gift was to wonder why in the world someone created a Star Wars branded pretend shaving kit. These photos give the answer to that question--because it's awesome!

Christmas Ninja

Given his own childhood obsession with ninjas, Uncle Grier really knows how to make some ninja fun. Origami throwing stars...

aluminum foil grappling hooks...

and an obstacle course to test their ninja skills.

Sand alphabet

We are enjoying this mild El Niño December weather!

Santa comes to Clarkston

My favorite image from the Clarkston tree lighting celebration: the teen-age girl in skinny jeans, hijab, and a Santa hat.

Lord Vader prepares for the ball

This is the last of our Darth Vader-themed posts, at least for a while.

Halloween

Happy Halloween from Darth Vader, General Patton, and the White Tiger.

Lord Vader turns 5

This year we celebrated Hazel's birthday party on Halloween.


Darth Vader was a popular costume.

Hazel Vader stands triumphant while Henry Vader has momentary technical difficulties with his light saber.

Fern was super cute and brought back memories of when Violet and Juniper were small.

She and Ona had a nature girl thing going on while the Vaders dueled.

Lunch (Hazel's choice) was hot dogs and lasagna...

...with a Death Star birthday cake for dessert.

Happy 5th birthday to the sweetest Sith Lord in all the galaxies.

Scything

Our favorite kids, in one of our favorite places

Happy memories of a nice spring hike on Arabia Mountain.

Happy birthday!

Only 7 months late on posting photos from Juniper's birthday. Wonder when we'll share photos from Hazel's birthday party (last weekend) or actual birthday (this Friday)?

 For the second year in a row, she wanted a PJ birthday breakfast party with chocolate chip pancakes.

Happy crowd in a full house, with nose picking!

Some people might not realize what an awesome gift a chameleon tape dispenser is, but Juniper has a particular fondness for tape.

 Happy snuggles!

Juniper's friends and family know her well. She was delighted to receive a big pile of books.

Big smiles

Yes!

Absolutely Hazel

Every so often you get a picture that captures someone perfectly. This recent photo of Hazel is one of those.

More Quotable Kids

Hazel: I heard on the news, there's a Really. Big. Spork, heading north.


Juniper: This would be a GREAT name for a god! Owlena. Get it? Owl plus Athena. OWLENA!
[Editor's note: as a former giant classics nerd who still has a very soft spot for the myths, legends, and literature of Ancient Greece, I cannot exaggerate how happy this made me.]


After hearing a news story about conflict in Syria
Hazel: I know! Juniper, when we grow up, we can be peacemakers, and then there won't have to be any more war!


Starting a "conversation story"
Sally: Once upon a time, a friendly dragon fell into a hole.
Hazel: And the dragon was trapped, and the dragon could only see the sky. The dragon couldn't get out.
Juniper: And then erosion (which is a natural process), erosion happened so that the earth around the hole was worn away, till it was all the same level, and the dragon flew away.


Hazel: For my birthday, I want some weapons and a necklace.
Aaron: Ok. For a necklace, do you want something like a pearl bead necklace?
Hazel: No, I want the kind of necklace that goes around your waist and you can hang weapons from it.


Juniper: If we all dressed up as a werewolf family, that would be really creepy!
Hazel: That's a great idea! We just need some vampire teeth.


Hazel: Was Macbeth a bad guy?
Sally: Yeah...complicated, and interesting, but a bad guy.
[Pause]
Hazel: Like Darth Vader. He's a complicated bad guy.


After reading a description of what infinity is
Aaron: Can you think of something that's infinite?
Juniper: Well, the universe is finit, but it's always getting bigger, so that's infinite. It's finit and it's infinite.


Hazel: Mama?
Sally: Yes ma'am?
Hazel: Don't say "yes ma'am." You can say "yes pumpkin."


Sitting next to her sister, not too long before Christmas
Hazel: What would be a good place to buy a book?
Sally: What do you mean? What kind of book?
Hazel: Oh, you know, a book with magic...and stuff...and adventures...and...things. A book that's full of fantasy and all the things Juniper likes.
Sally: If I wanted to buy a book like that, I would go to Little Shop of Stories, or I would go to Amazon, which is an online store on the internet.
Hazel: Let's go to the Little Shopping Stories, but don't tell Juniper.


Hazel: What's a scimitar?
Juniper: It's a curvy sword.
Sally: That's absolutely correct, but how do you know what a scimitar is?
Juniper: I read a lot of books.


While setting up our new bird feeder
Hazel: We just heard some birds. I think the birds are spreading the news about the bird feeder.


Opening a box of chocolates
Juniper: I got a white man's sampler!


Flipping through a street atlas
Hazel: I'm reading a GPS book.


Hazel: Sometimes when I'm at Waffle House, I have a growth spurt. Because I like the food so much.


Hazel: It's hard to put on lip goo.
Aaron: Why?
H: Because I have a dirty sock on my face.
A: Why do you have a dirty sock on your face?
H: To protect my nose from Juniper's farts.


Reading a counting book
Sally: What's this number?
Hazel: Seventeen.
S: And this one?
H: Eighteen. 
S: And this one?
H: Nineteen.
S: And this one?
H: Zeroteen.


Hazel: I don't believe in spirits, but I do believe in magic.
Juniper: I believe in the spirit of nature.
H: I believe in the spirit of fighting.


Hazel: When I'm 5, I'll decide whether or not I believe in God.


Juniper: That was wicked!
Hazel: What do you mean? That was awesome!


After reading the Percy Jackson books, Juniper was wondering whether she might be the demigod child of various Olympians.
Hazel: If you were a child of DiaNOsus, you'd really like beer.


Juniper: Due to the misunderstandment...

Japan: Goodbye

I thought I posted this one a few months ago with all the other Japan photos, but I just discovered it in the drafts list.


Take your pick on leaving, realism...

...or metaphor.

I'm personally partial to the children chasing the falling cherry blossom leaves, but tired kids and trains are certainly part of travel.

Japan: Playground zip line

Not actually so Japanese-themed, but just good, happy fun. Hooray for good public parks, in any country!

Japan: Gifu Festival

As part of the Gifu Festival, Sam and Nina's soccer club paraded through the neighborhood. (Nina is behind another girl and hard to see, but she is blowing the whistle as the parade goes by her house.)

Onlookers donated money, so the parade was both festive and a fundraiser for the soccer club. (That's Sam on the left, with the whistle).

Downtown, there's a bigger parade.

 Also a big flea market, where the girls got these kimonos.

The girls were excited about their kimonos, but for the most part they enjoyed a brief visit to this park more than the festival activities.

Japan: Gifu from Mt. Kinka

Gifu, like many Japanese cities, is nestled in among mountains. The city's most famous mountain is Mt. Kinka, home of a castle that had military and political importance in the 1500s.

 We took a ropeway train to the top of Mt. Kinka.

The replica of the historic castle apparently failed to make much of an impression--we have no photos of it. But the views of the city from the castle were terrific.

More than any other visual spot on our trip, the view from Gifu Castle was an amazing contrast between dense development and undeveloped mountains.

Gifu is also known for its rivers and high quality drinking water.

Mostly happy, but also somewhat tired