Thursday, January 8
Water Ballooning
In a world baked by a relentless summer heat, one man and his son struggle for survival in the scorching suburban wilderness. When all good reason was gone, only the love of a good water balloon offered any relief. In this tale of never-ending pursuit of a cooling trend from the onshore flow, only semi-filled colored rubber
orbs can save the day.
orbs can save the day.
The Muddy Tike
What started as a simple hosing down of the Mommy Wagon (also known as the Dani Doom Machine), quickly turned into filthy mayhem. Not one to turn down a chance to play with or in mud, The Sprite saw his window of opportunity and seized it with both hands.
A small (and I mean small, but it doesn't take much) puddle formed from the hose-down overspray, and quicker than a Republican legislator can erode your human rights, Mad Mudd McGuiness dives in bringing Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater with him.
Wednesday, January 7
Thursday, January 1
Look At Me, I'm A Shy Exhibitionist
The Sprite has reached that 'showoff' stage of his young development. Whenever he wants to attract, impress or get the attention of someone (it could be another child, a visitor to the house or a family member) he will often resort to some outlandish stunt. Usually this involves climbing and ultimately falling to the ground in a glorified flop. "Did you see that?" he'll ask. "Do you want to see this?" he'll inquire before repeating the stunt.
Recently we were at Irvine Regional Park for the annual Christmas Train that rides through the park to Santa's Village. Waiting in line for our turn to ride the train, a girl maybe 7 years old took a liking to our Sprite. This attention was met with cold shyness at first, but thanks to the young lady's persistence, was eventually returned with some very silly behavior of the "Do yo want to see this?" variety. Climbing on the railing, falling to the ground, fake-bumping into the wall, all including an array of sound effects to enhance the stunt.
His antics must have worked, The Sprite and his older lady friend were inseparable for our duration at the park.
I wonder how long this showoff phase will last. Generally, the little guy is very reserved and standoffish when meeting people. However, once he warms up to someone the antics usually start. He has started mimicking TV commercials and movies, invariably the slapstick physical comedy appealing to his sense of humor. Any time the Pepsi Max "What Is Love" commercial he rushes to the TV to ape the head-nodding and falling over. It cracks him up to no end.
I always thought he would be great on the stage or screen. He's a total ham and loves an audience. But he has to warm up and get comfortable first. Not ideal for auditions i would say. As parents I wonder what we could do to build his confidence enough to overcome his initial shyness. I'm not sure the showing off is a favourable trait but the humorous exhibitionism is definitely entertaining for now. We like to see this side of him more than the shy, reserved kid who won't answer when asked a question.
Of course on the other hand, a reserved kid is absolutely less likely to be abducted by a stranger. By my rationale, any douchebag looking to coax His Stubborness into the back of a bronze Toyota Camry will be greeted with nothing more than a stiff cold shoulder. Nothing can make this kid do ANYTHING against his will. So I take an ounce of comfort in this case. It's tough to know where to set balance between reserved/outgoing. For now it is not a problem obviously. We don't stop laughing at the non-stop goofball show when The Sprite gets going, and the lucky few he warms up to are treated to a great slapstick show. Hopefully eventually he will find enough self-confidence with other people to be his silly self right off the bat. It's s endearing.
Wednesday, December 31
A Monochrome Christmas
The Sprite explains why, contrary to popular belief, traditional Christmas colours of red and green are in fact incorrect. Instead, he proclaims black and white to be the colours of choice.
Building Christmas Cheer
The Sprite lends his hands to help ElectricMommy decorate the Xmas Tree. The whole house is given the seasonal sizzle in an effort to bring some yuletide cheer to one and all.
As you shall see, the little elf is quite deft at fetching and hanging. And his enthusiasm knows no bounds. Yahoo! This year has certainly been the most fun with the little fella, as he has been into the whole idea of it like never before. Christmas Eve he was wound up and ready to explode with excitement, he could barely contain himself.
We hope you all had a lovely warm and happy holiday season.
Wishing all the best for the New Year!
Tuesday, December 23
Kidz Soccer
Back in May The Sprite was signed up for the 5 and under soccer league at his preschool. It was a pretty good idea, get him out there and runing about with all the other kids. He's half Brit so naturally I was hoping his latent footie skillz would surface and he would run rings around all the Yank kids.
Sadly this was not to be the case. The latent Brit soccer skills will remain dormant for a while longer. Our little Becham wanted nothing to with the kids or the league. He wanted to ball, but got very frustrated when it would not come to him. He was fine in practice when he had a ball to play with. But come game time it all got a little overwhelming for him. Most of the other boys and girls were happy to get in there and battle for the ball. But The Sprite was one of several kids who didin't want to, er, play ball, as it were.
It was frustrating at first, but he got a little better a the 8 game season went on. I ended up going out there and running around with the kids. The Sprite kept close to me and ran about and got a couple of kicks of the ball. To be fair, he was one of the younger ones and the bigger boys were fast and dominated the control of play. A bit daunting for the little guy to compete with.
We'll try again in the future when he has more interest in doing it. And when he can bend a free kick around a 10 man wall into the top left corner of the goal.
Tuesday, December 16
Family Christmas Card 2008
Here is the family Xmas card we made this year. We had a picture taken at the Christmas Show that took place at the Church where The Sprite goes to pre-school. Trouble was, despite their attempts to dress up the scene with a Christmas tree and poinsettia, the background was so stark and white. This is the before and after of the shot I edited and composited into something a little more attractive.
The original shot
The final image
Thursday, November 13
Solace From The City
A recent family trip to Laguna Lake in Fulllerton. This little pocket of peace, quiet and solitude serves as a lovely break from the city. Only minutes away from downtown, you'd never guess this was in urban Orange County, and not somewhere more rural.
We like to go here in the evenings as the sun is setting, and do a lap of the lake. It is so relaxing. It is rarely busy there, but it has its share of walkers, bikers and fisherman. The Sprite loves to run and throw stones and scream. Not so much into the relaxing yet.
Laguna Lake is in an area known as Coyote Hills which is rapidly being developed (at least it was before the crash) despite passionate opposition and protest from the community. You can see why.
We like to go here in the evenings as the sun is setting, and do a lap of the lake. It is so relaxing. It is rarely busy there, but it has its share of walkers, bikers and fisherman. The Sprite loves to run and throw stones and scream. Not so much into the relaxing yet.
Laguna Lake is in an area known as Coyote Hills which is rapidly being developed (at least it was before the crash) despite passionate opposition and protest from the community. You can see why.
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