The Great Plains

New Piano

Julianne went for a walk down the street during our neighbhood garage sale weekend.  Here is what she came back with (actually, Brad, me and two strangers off the street....Julianne didn't help at all).

Oh yeah, it was free.  Julianne says that is the most important part of the story.

Prescott Piano Company (Concord, MA), 1895.

A walk in the park + Frank the Frog

We went for a walk in Pioneers Park today with Jody and the Hulses.

We found a frog.  His name was Frank.  It was awesome.

This scene looked very "Nebraska/Great Plains" to us, so we took a picture.

Trapped! Dad = Genius

Pete can crawl, Pete can pull himself up on things, but can he climb over large obstacles?!  Dad hopes not.  Pure genius!

The End of an Era...for now...

Major Surgery for Luigi

Back story:  Last spring I bought parts to fully rebuild Luigi's transmission and replace his brakes.  Before we could do that, the engine seized. 

This usually means that the piston has literally melted/fused to the cylinder.  Fun.  Well, he sat all winter being lonely, and now a local scooter friend, Matt, helped me drop the engine and fix him.  It turns out, the piston/cylinder were fine.  Our best educated diagnosis is that the clutch-side bearings are shot.  This is actually going to be a cheaper fix than what we had thought.  Here's what he looks like at the moment:

Misc parts + carburetor

 Parts of the engine, cylinder head pulled off, piston exposed, flywheel on the side

Note: I am 100% worthless in doing all of this and completely at the mercy of Matt.  A million thank you's to him.

Apparently, I Need to Grill More Often

We often grill more than once a week.  Apparently, that isn't often enough.  After letting the grill sit for about 5 days, this is what I opened it up to find.

I was wondering why that starling was hanging around the deck so much yesterday and today...

Emmie and technology

I am amazed at how well Emmie can navigate the computer and my cell phone.  She is a wiz on her favorite letter website.  She can also use my cell phone better than me.  I get pictures like this saved every so often. 

In case you're wondering that is a mermaid AND Curious George.  They must be celebrating a birthday because that is the only reason to have balloons.  

And then there is this....

She is practicing her photoshop skills. This picture obviously wasn't good enough, it needed a giant bee.  How do kids learn how to do this? 

Happy Mother's Day

We have the best mothers and grandmothers.  Thank you for your infinite love.  

We love you all...Happy Mother's Day! 

7 months

It seems like I was just updating the blog with Pete's 6 month info.  It is nuts how fast time is going!  Well, our boy is 7 months tomorrow.  He is a delight. 

His talents include:

Sitting up

Crawling backward

Eating and spitting out baby food

Playing with toys

 

Brenden and I both call him Pete but Emmie is much more formal always calling him Peter.  We all love this guy!