Serenity

Becky and I put the kids in Kidz Watch and went to see Serenity tonight on opening night. Serenity is a movie written and directed by Joss Whedon, one of our favorite TV writer/directors. The movie is based on a TV show of his, Firefly, that was mismanaged by FOX 3 years ago and was cancelled after only 11 episodes (out of 14 filmed). Its briefest description would label it as a science fiction western set 500 years in the future in a new solar system that we had to travel to because we used up this planet. It's about a 17 year-old psychic girl who knows more than she should about awful things done by the ruling government, and the rag tag crew of ruffians/do-gooders that help her. However, it deserves more than a brief decripiton. The movie is well-written, well-acted, has lots of action, some humor. It will simultaneously pull on your heart strings and thrill you. As fans of Firefly, we really enjoyed it. If you've never seen Firefly, you won't get lost. This really works as a stand alone movie, too. Its not for the kids, but it is a lot of fun. See it if you get the chance and tell us what you think of it.

Alex's Nature Pictures

Alex and I (Jason) went on a hike through the woods of Wildwood Metropark here in Toledo. Alex has a new favorite TV show, "Go, Diego, Go!", who's hero uses a special camera to take animal pictures. We didn't see any animals, but Alex took charge of the digital camera and took several nature pictures in the woods. Included here is an old tree stump that looked like a chair with mushrooms sitting on it and a pair of green acorns.

Cookie Cutters

This is a bit of a late entry, but September 11th, 2005 we checked out a new hair cut place for the kids. It's called Cookie Cutters and they are starting several in our area. It was great. There was a jungle gym for the kids to play on while we were waiting and the "barber chairs" were really ride-on toys that they could "drive" while watching a plasma screen with a movie playing. The kids did great and we will be going back.

Aaron's 19 month pictures

Becky and Aaron went to Portrait Innovations today to get Aaron's 19 month photos. Here's a couple of them.

"Mama"

Today was a big day at our house. Aaron finally said "Mama" while addressing Becky. We knew he was capable of it, but it literally seemed like he was trying not to. Maybe our imagination. He's copying animal sounds and recognizing certain letters - O, D, E right now.

Katrina

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and especially its aftermath in New Orleans, is going to change our country forever - hopefully for the better. However, it also has the potential to rip us apart. Our country stepped up to amazing challenges forced upon us in WWII. This will be the challenge of this generation. When hundreds of thousands of our citizens are ripped from their home and communities and placed in makeshift shelters across the country, we're all going to be dealing with rebuilding their lives. Jobs were scarce before this. Where are all of these transplant communities going to find new livelihoods for their newest occupants? New Orleans may be habitable by next year, but it will take years to turn it back into an active city with jobs and lives for these people. Many of them are going to stay in their new communities or move near other family and friends elsewhere. Congress has already alotted tens of billions of dollars for the immediate relief efforts, but warns that much more will be needed. As a nation, we are going to have to realign our priorities and turn inward to address the issues of infrastructure, jobs, class, race, and international commitments of our troops that this crisis brought right to the forefront. We should not have days of lawlessness and starvation in a major American city, especially as a result of a crisis that we could see coming. These people need help now, but we also need to use this chance to rebuild our country into a better place. I don't know if I will be needed, but I have heeded the Department of Health and Human Services call for physician volunteers to the region for ongoing medical care of these evacuees. If needed, I'll be gone for 2 weeks, so please send some extra love to Becky and the kids. For now I have to wait and see if they need me, but I'll keep updating here of course.

The Library's Willow

There is an enormous willow tree outside our local library. It's on the opposite side from the parking lot, so we often drive by it. Becky has always wanted to take pictures of the kids around it and she took the opportunity today. It was even more fun than she had hoped. They had a lot of fun running in and out of the fronds and Alex found a large branch on the ground.

Home Depot Day

Every month Home Depot sponsors a craft day with kid-sized crafts. Alex has been doing them for almost 2 years now. He built a frame yesterday that he plans to paint in "power colors" - red, blue, green, and purple. Not sure yet what picture will go in it yet. These crafts teach following directions and basic tool use - hammering, glueing and screwing mostly. Alex gets better every time.

Fulton County Fair

This afternoon and evening we went to the Fulton County Fair near Waseon, OH. This one is a little bigger and nicer than our Lucas County Fair (which we skipped entirely this year). Alex rode a lot of rides - his favorites this year were a series of fun house type "rides" that he got to run through. We had corn dogs and BBQ and had hand-shaken lemonade and straight from the cow (sorta) milkshakes. We saw a few animals and the highlight of the entire day for Aaron was seeing the cows and pigs. Until today, he must've thought these were mythical creatures only to be found in his books. He didn't care much for the carousel or the pony rides. Both boys crashed on the way home. Until next year (Alex wants to go back tomorrow, since "it's a holiday and I don't have school" :)

A Day at the Beach

Today we went to Maumee Bay State Park to take the kids to the beach. They have a great sandy beach on a man-made pond that is much nicer than the rocky beach dozens of yards away on Lake Erie. They must've recently put in some new sand and the kids had a blast. They spent more time digging in the sand than playing in the water. It was about 80 degrees and a nice day for both. I (Jason) wasn't feeling so good, but being there seemed to help and I felt much better when we left. Alex and I found 5 tiny halves of clam shells (which we brought home) and one live clam (which we put back). Aaron tried to eat a little sand and didn't really like it. We'll try to go a little more often next year.