Attack of the Baby Seals

To those who have never blogged, written a company update, or composed a Christmas letter, the endless stream of pithy yet topical post titles may seem effortless. Untrue, oh gentle readers. In fact, it requires a team of highly paid and over-educated stunt writers to craft each demi-poem to maximize reader interest across all demographics. Once a candidate title is developed it is vetted by test groups of grandparents, child psychologists, and sports writers to ensure buzz and website click through.


Since the title has done it's work, you, gentle reader (hi mom!), can enjoy a few select images of a recent trip to the Portland Childrens' Musuem. No alligators, baby seals or plastic babies were overly-gnawed upon in the making of this blog.

New Flashs: Tiny Cossack Invades Park

Through no planning on our part, Sylvia's current cold weather gear resembles that of a small cossack. Instead of the traditional horse, Sylvia's chosen mount is bunny. Scary.







Papa did his best to create the illusion of speed by rapidly circumnavigating around child and said bunny.

Then the bunny grew stale we moved onto the super, spring-loaded see saw.

But sticks, our perennial favorite, proved the most fun.

Marching and singing were also observed.

Papa kept the troops warm with a rousing rendition of "head, shoulders, knees and toes." And no, Aurelia, what I do towards the end is not a herkie.

Every 365 days...there must be a pattern

As a new parent, it has begun to dawn on me that childrens' Birthdays seem to reoccur with some regularity. As evidence, our buddies Nina and Jake invited us, for the second time even , to their son Akio's party.

(Aki investigates some ribbon. Almost as fun as the gift itself).

(Jake in the fray).

(Cupcakes. Great idea!
If you look carefully you'll see they stack is supported by Legos. Cool!)

(Time for some serious eating).

(no caption required).

(Cute but Jake keep yer boy away from my daughter).

Footage (get it, nudge nudge)

Some of you careful viewers may have noticed that the last post used images so old that Sylvia's leg was still in it's cast. Lest it be thought that the Sweetbean spent her month of healing in a swoon, here is video footage (pun intended) to the contrary.

We are happy to report that her leg is fully healed.

Twenty Questions

It's been a busy time at the old dinner table. Too much to summarize in one post. Instead a few microposts will suffice.

Let's start with a twenty questions theme:

Where is Sylvia?

In a box,

Near an Ox.

By a vase,

In her new bookcase!

Perhaps I have been reading a few too many children's books (aka sleep propaganda).

Red Wig Ride

I'd like to thanks everyone (and there were lots of you) who sponsored my ride for Harper and Amy. As a group, my firm alone magaged to donate over $60,000 to help them manage the finalcial distress that comes along with ALS.

The ride was amazing. Over 200 people arrived from all quarters of the city to ride. All is wigs and other crimson headdresses.

 As you can see, some wigs were redder than others.

The throng grew and grew as people from my office (THA) and others arrived. When we had critical mass the group departed on our five mile route. We stretched for over a mile and stopped traffic on a number of intersections. But people were positive, marveling at the parade of red, and no honking or agro occurred. 

Harper and Amy rode along in a rickshaw, absorbing the good vibes.

 

In Amy's words;

"Harper and I thought this bike ride was going to be a few friends getting together for a bike ride and raising a few hundred dollars to help us with some medical bills.  What it turned out to be was what some people estimated as 200 people, stopping traffic, making a ruckus and raising $60,000!!!  This tally doesn't even include the funds raised from San Fransisco, Boulder or Amsterdam. 

The Portland total alone has shocked us.  Completely shocked us.  And you all know that THA is responsible for raising a little over half of this total.  You can only imagine Harper and I's reaction as we explored the enormous envelope that held all of your donations.  Our wish is that we never have to touch this money but instead turn it into a foundation for others with ALS.  However, if dealt the cards that we may need to use this money, we are thinking this will go towards the demands of a more accessible lifestyle. 

Thank you all for being so amazing.  I am so proud to be a part of the THA family."

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KIND AND LOVING GENEROSITY!!!!

Love,

Miguel

Tales from the Crib

All Hallows eve finds the shortest amongst us a bit taller than before. And this time the Duck of Terror has been discarded for the even more terrifying Ladybug of Doom!!!!

 Since we Portlanders will do anything that involves a brewpub we carted our dudded up child and selfs to the local McMenamin's brewery for the big costume candy trick-or-treat-a-thon. I took this picture below to ensure that my trusty readers (hi mom!) would get a sense of the fantastic costumes and frivolity that ensued. Instead I managed to take a single shot that not only fails to capture anything fun but also does not reveal a single child or costume.

(For those who look closely you'll see the

guy is wearing a Boston College Hockey sweatshirt.

Go BC, I guess.)

Luckily this shot has frivolity and cuties so I am redeemed.

Despite the fact that "trick or treat" is still beyond Sylvia's vocabulary, we managed a pretty good haul.

Here, Sylvia inspects her optimistically large bag. 

And Ronald McDonald on his day off, as I was christened by the check-out clerk at the QFC, shares in the bounty.

Cute!

 

Cuter!!!

What to do with Super Large Hands

As the days turn to rain, we have begun our regular visits places of indoor activity. The Portland Children's Museum, known as "'zeum" to the under three foot set, is one of our favorites for the following reasons:

1. Super Large hands

2. Diaphanous Scrims

3. Iridescent fish that don't get you wet and smelly.

4. "Dirt" that doesn't get you muddy.

(Actually ground up tires that I am a bit suspect of).

Five boxes makes a tower.

A bit of Saturday morning fun.

Stacking Boxes

I count five...

Six was just too much.

Sitting on the boxes is fun too.

This post brought to you by the letter "c".

 

Grey + Rain = Summer

 It is the oldest of old saws: it rains a lot in Oregon. And perhaps it's an old saw because it happens to be true. But perhaps a more accurate statement would be, " It rain a lot in Oregon when guests come from out of town." So it was that the latest visit from Susan, Stephen, Vic and Andy coincided with a spate of drippy weather in an otherwise sunny September. But that didn't stop us from hitting the beach sporting our SPF 3000 jackets.

 

 

And, of coarse, another visit to the zoo. We do seem to go there a lot.

And some fine time at the pub. We do seem to go there a lot too.