rabbitpirates

Climbing Boys

Ezra and Miles are becoming quite the climbers. We went to Red River Gorge this weekend. As you can see from this picture, we won't be able to keep Luke off the walls for long.
The weather was incredible - so nice and beautiful that Ezra declared it too hot. Check out the slide show, where I've put a bunch of pictures from the 5'7s we've been working on. We're getting better. Jeff is getting more and more comfortable cleaning the rope at the top. Ezra goes higher up the wall every time, and Miles is practicing some fancy moves - as you can see in the slide show I've put up.

Luke's first trip to the ER

Luke, Jeff and I went to Chicago last weekend, and, while Jeff was at a conference, Luke smashed his thumb in the heavy hotel door. He split it open and fractured part of the bone. It was a harrowing evening -- trying to figure out how to get to the hospital and how to keep a screaming toddler remotely calm. But another hotel guest was kind enough to drive me to the ER and I somehow managed to call Jeff (who met me there - he's holding Luke, conked out from pain, in this picture).
It wasn't a fun evening. Luke got 8 stiches in his tiny thumb, all without the benefit of any real painkiller because they didn't have the kid's dose. The thumb was numbed with a local anesthesia, but he screamed the entire time and yelled "Doggie" at one point.
By the next day, he was fine, other than the fact that we couldn't get his coat over his ginormous thumb -- a problem in cold Chicago weather. Here he is at the Children's Museum, where he had a blast driving a truck, digging for dinosaur bones, pretending to be a plumber and fishing for salamanders.

Sleeping Bags and Pretty Dolls

Here's another of the Pretty Dolls I (Sarah) made the kids for Christmas. As you can see, Luke likes it a lot. He also loved the sleeping bag he got from Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Earl. We went to my parents over New Year's, and he was eager to climb into it at night and during naps.

Sock Monkeys

Ezra and Miles made sock monkeys as Christmas presents this year. Below you can see the collection -- we had Backwards Monday (made upside down), Club-tail monkey and Zombie monkey, among other scary but cute additions.

Ugly dolls at the skatepark

So what do you do with an ugly doll at a skatepark? Ollie  him of course. Miles gladly laid his new, hand-made by Sarah for Christmas Pretty Doll (they're not pretty, but we need to avoid copyright infringement) down on the pavement for me. And I ollied over him, just for fun. Just to say I did it. We actually had quite a bit a fun skating the big bowls and dishes at Bowling Green, though we were all a bit rusty and no big airs above the coping were to be had. A few sweet front side grinds in the big dish made it all worth it, even the big hip bruise on my left side that is bloomed like a flower and is still growing. Sarah wouldn't let me post a picture of that. 2009 is off to a good start.

Medieval Medicine

You might be wondering what Opa is doing to Miles. So was I when I walked into the kitchen and found Miles bent over the kitchen table. Was it some kind of new cult? Medieval torture? I know Miles can be a little ornery at times, but what could he have done to deserve this? It seems Opa simply had some magic tonic to clean the wax out of Miles ears. Miles was actually pretty excited about the whole thing. He and his cousin Julien sat like this for almost half an hour just to see what would come out. 

Christmas morning, December 28th

The boys older arrived safely from visiting their grandparents in Memphis just in time to celebrate Christmas with us on the 28th of December. Christmas morning was different than usual, we waited for the boys to wake up. I actually had two cups of coffee before I even heard rumblings from the older boys upstairs. Luke on the other hand was up at four and trying to open everyone's presents. In the end, everyone enjoyed the exchanging of gifts and the celebration was concluded with waffles with whipped cream and maple syrup that Santa, wink wink, had left in the boys stockings. Here we all are as the gift giving gets under way.

The Narrows, part I

In case some of you have forgotten,the Rabbit Pirates took a family vacation out west last summer.

We met up with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Earl and went to Slide Rock, the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion, all in just over two weeks. Heading to the desert as we were with visions of rattle snakes and hot weather, we packed lightly, landed in Phoenix to the tune of 100+ degrees, but then ended up with snow and temperatures in the teens after just two days. Needless to say we supported the local economy in Flagstaff as we purchased long johns, sweaters and other high desert, early summer essentials. It wasn't until the final stop, Zion, and our final day camping that we took what Ezra still refers to as his favorite hike--the Narrows. The anticipation has been killing you hasn't it?

We waited until our final day at Zion to attempt the Narrows because all the snow that had fallen on us earlier in our summer vacation was melting and flowing down into the many canons of the southwest, including the Narrows. What this meant for us as potential hikers of the Narrows was that the water we’d be hiking through was cold, just above freezing, and deep, neck deep on an adult in places. The sign at the Visitors Center said “cold and deep.” We were up for an adventure, but didn’t figure the boys were up for swimming up rapids in icy cold water, even with their new long johns. That aside, I didn’t think I’d be able to manage Luke in such inhospitable conditions. Swimming in a backpack with a one year old can be tricky. But we caught a lucky break...

The water began to warm on our next to last day and, more importantly, was running almost a foot shallower. The boys, all three, were up for an attempt. We boarded the bus early, wearing water packs, bathing suits and smiles. [The pictures up above.]  These are a few of the highlights...

Point taken,

some people just shouldn't blog. They live by a different clock, one that clicks more slowly or not at all. Or they have three kids, a wonderful wife they love spending time with and a job. Needless to say there are Rabbit Pirate adventures galore that need to be reported. So after this, on to the Narrows, as promised nearly half a year ago. Until then, a bit of three boy Christmas cheer.

Just give me some coffee...

Luke does everything we do now. In the mornings, he wants to read the newspaper, just like mama and dada, and drink his "coffee."

He also wipes up spills, blows his nose, sweeps and vacuums with varying degrees of success. He spends a lot of time copying his brothers.