Battle of the Flowers Parade

As I've mentioned before, Fiesta is a BIG deal in San Antonio.  The whole city parties for a week and a half and there are over 100 events throughout the city.  There are three main parades, the Cavalier's River Parade (on boats), the Battle of the Flowers Parade (day), and the Fiesta Flambeau Parade (night).

We've seen the River Parade, so this year we decided to catch the Battle of the Flowers Parade.
 

Air Force

Cavaliers

 Snacking on barbeque turkey legs during the vanguard and before the start of the actual parade.

Basic Training Recruits from Lackland AFB.  I threw this in because I know what fond memories Chris had of his training there last summer. 

 King Antonio

Senator John Cornyn

 

Part of the parade court (I missed getting a picture of Miss San Antonio)

If you yell, "show us your shoes!"  the beauty queens oblige and show off their boots. 

Melissa waving.  She had a ball seeing all of the colorful floats and queens.

Later we asked Melissa what her favorite part was and she said that she liked the horses best.  "It was funny when they pooped!"

The parade lasts for 4 hours and we got there over an hour early to secure parking and see the vanguard part of the parade.  We lucked out with our seats since they were close to bathrooms and food and drink.  About an hour and a half into the actual parade the kids had their fill and we left.  They were really good parade watchers though.  They played with their bubble blowers, snacked on food, and had a great time.  Even though Isaac was really tired (it was waaay past his naptime) he was a pretty pleasant chap.

Kindergarten Fiesta Parade

 The kindergarteners all decorated floats for the annual Kinder Fiesta Parade.  Gee, it seems that it wasn't that long ago that Matthew did this!

Here she comes!

There she goes!

 Dancing.

 Melissa's turn in the middle.  She's leading the dance moves for her class.

The kindergarten class.

Melissa's buddy, Oliva.

Melissa with her teacher, Mrs. Chandler.

Cupcakes!

Grandma gave the kids a mini-cupcake maker. 

It makes 7 miniature cupcakes in about 6 minutes.  Matthew and Melissa each took turns with the batter.

Needless to say, those little cupcakes were a big hit.

Rub-a-dub-dub!

I reminded Isaac that he needed to go back and wash his hands after using bathroom.  Then I went upstairs to hang up some clothes.  When I got back, this is what I found:

He had the water running and was making soap bubbles in the sink.  Funny kid!

33 weeks

Here's a snapshot of The Belly at 33 weeks:

Annnd a closer look:  Oh my!

Baby girl can put on half a pound a week at this point so there's a lot more growing to do...

A year of DataStax (née Riptano)

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Originally uploaded by jbellis

We flew everyone* to Austin for the company's first anniversary: Jake from Connecticut, Ben and Mike from Utah, Sylvain from France, and a whole bunch of people from California.

We're up to 30 people now. Which I already knew, but it feels like more when you see them all in the room at the same time.

(Except one: we weren't able to fly Pavel in from Belarus because of visa complications.)

Soccer, visualized

Matthew is starting to look like a soccer player already. He's really a natural athlete. He's not the oldest on his team, but he's the fastest.

Melissa desperately wanted to play soccer this year, Just Like Matthew. But she's just not that into it. Here she is watering the lawn while she's benched; she's not a whole lot more involved in the game when she's on the field. If she looks in the same direction as the ball, it's pure coincidence. (To her coach's credit, she gets as much playing time as the others.)

They both agree that climbing trees is fun.

March Peanuts

• Isaac can open the fridge now. This is bad.
• Gave Matthew a good night kiss and turned to leave. Isaac shrieked and pointed to his cheek: "Mine!" I gave Isaac a kiss too and he was happy.
• Woke Melissa up for pre-emptive bathroom time. She never quite wakes up when I do this. "Time to get on the toilet and pee," I told her. Then I left. I came back to make sure she got back in bed, and found I needed to be more specific with step 2, "take off your underwear."
• Me: "Who is Dan C?" Matt: "New hire." I thought it would take longer before I had that conversation.
• Coach: "Okay, I want Daniel over to the left. Nate, play back." Melissa: "Can we play duck duck goose?"
• I haven't trained in years, but last night I dreamed someone was harassing Rachel, so I threw him to the ground with a beautiful osotogari. Then I broke his arm, and told him, "Judo, bitch." This is your brain on testosterone.
• Melissa: "You picked a big man, Mom."
• Melissa on Pixar movies: "When the words are coming down, there's silly parts!"
• Melissa: "My bottom doesn't like these pants. He's getting squished." (She was wearing Isaac's pants. I thought maybe they were supposed to be capris.)
• Me: "They have segway tours of downtown San Antonio. That might be cool." Dad: "We'll take the segways. You can jog alongside; you need the exercise."
• The only decent new york style pizza nearby closed (RIP Pizzabella). Guess it's a sign that we should move to Austin.
• Melissa's friend came to see if she could play, after Melissa's second post-sandbox bath of the day. "You can play, but NOT IN THE SAND." Melissa: "I promise!" I went to get her when the pizza arrived and found her playing in the sand. I think this is Melissa's first time to be grounded.
• Matthew: "What's this?" Me: "A red booger." "It's not a booger!" "That's what I said: snot. A booger." "DAD! It's not snot!" "Yes; snot snot." Sometimes I crack myself up.
• Just found out Rachel has never seen a mimeograph machine. Even my wife makes me feel old.
• Rachel: "Eighteen year olds are like puppies."
• I love replying to unsolicited resumes with, "Great! Let's see you solve this [challenging but doable Cassandra ticket], and then we'll talk."
• Business trip to Seattle; Thai for dinner with Telitha. Forgot that Seattle-ites don't like spicy food -- ordered the spice at a safe 3/5 but I could barely taste it; had to ask for some dried peppers to add.

Evil legos

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Originally uploaded by jbellis

This is all that is left of one after Rachel stepped on it in the dark.

Legos on the floor were a bête noire of my father, too.

10 Years and Counting

 Just married, April 6, 2001

 

What a handsome fellow!

We were married on a windy, stormy day.  It snowed the following day. In other words, a typical Utah spring.   Thanks for all of the great times, Jonathan.  It's been real.  Really good.

Since I am feeling nostalgic, some more pictures I found recently after developing some old film. These were taken in my parent's front yard.

You can tell that Chris is just thrilled about taking pictures. I think he is about 12 years old.

That's it.  He's had enough. 

Our first house we bought together.  May 2002

In June the roses started blooming like mad.  I had to deadhead them every few days.

What I did today

(Aside from fixing breakfast, making lunches, playing in the park with Isaac, bathing Isaac, sweeping up a major salt spill, wiping bottoms, general pickup, mopping up melted popsicles, picking up the kids from school, and things like that.)

I ordered a dresser from Furniture Woodworks, the same place I bought Matthew's dresser from 6 years ago.  They make solid wood furniture and it is pretty sturdy stuff.  It has withstood the abuse he has inflicted upon it.  The company also ships quickly, and when I was missing a knob from the box last time, they sent a replacement immediately.  Since they don't have a high google ranking, it took me an hour to find the site. I'm keeping a copy of the link this time. 

The flat packed box:

The goal:

 Isaac woke up from his nap early.  I had extra 'help' from here on.

Isaac's new dresser, all done!

Matthew's dresser, brother to Isaac's new dresser.

Mama Mia!

Homemade spaghetti sauce is one of the very few foods I cook that Isaac loves to eat.

Matthew likes it, Melissa hates it, and Isaac will eat it by the bowlful.

With noodles, without noodles- he doesn't care!

 

Three bowls later...

Portrait of a happy Pumpkin.

Today While the Pumpkin Napped...

The nesting urge has hit, but not the big bursts of energy yet. 

Pantry:

I'm breaking the tasks into smaller projects.

The tally:
Done
1 Pantry 
1 shower stripped and recaulked

Still to do
4 closets to clean
5 drawers sort/clean
a few minor repairs
a garage to organize (this is a huge project)
sort and store kid clothes
the freezer
2010 taxes
2 weeks of meals prepared and frozen

I'm glad I still have at least 8 more weeks!

February peanuts

• Dividing up McDonalds' Big Breakfast: Matthew and Melissa split the eggs and sausage. Each gets their own 3 pancakes. The only thing Isaac will eat is the hash browns. The biscuit goes in the trash.
• Matthew and I went 4-1 in Starcraft 2 today. I'm improving; I said GG after the loss. Matthew is just pleased when he isn't dead last in all of the post-game statistics, so he almost always has something to be happy about. (As Calvin said, "The secret is low expectations.")
• Me: "Complaining about a programmer's handwriting is almost as silly as complaining about a doctor's." Rachel: growls.
• Tonight Isaac spurned the chicken but filled up with edamame. Go figure.
• Bathroom forensics: Melissa leaves the light on. Matthew leaves the light on _and_ the seat up.
• For some reason, Rachel is less than 100% sold on my brilliant idea of spending our 10th anniversary at a gaming convention.
• Me: "If we spend our 10th anniversary hiking for two days, we are totally spending our 20th at a gaming convention." Romance!
• Melissa on Cinderella: "How come the glass slippers didn't disappear with the rest of the magic?" That's my girl.
• Rachel found the DataStax polo shirt I brought back from Strata. "Wow. This is terrible. Put this in the bottom of the drawer, wear the Riptano T instead."
• I'm stubborn, but when my dad forced ice cream into my mouth when I was three I admitted it was good. Isaac spit profusely. "Duck!" [yuck]
• Isaac is drinking a raspberry yogurt smoothie. Whenever he gets to a raspberry seed, he spits. He spits a _lot_.
• Matthew is preaching the gospel of Google Chrome to his unenlightened, Internet Explorer-using friend Conner.
• How picky is Isaac? He'll eat dark meat from poultry but not white.
• Matthew: "I just about killed myself [at gymnastics]." He sounds pleased.
• Matthew: "What's He-man?" We need to educate this boy.
• ‎"Matthew, even Daddy thinks wiping boogers on the couch is gross."
• Rachel to Isaac, eating an ice-cream cone: "Want some help?" Isaac: "NO."

January peanuts, part 2

• Rachel is pissed at Apple for using non-standard charging and data interfaces on the iPod. I approve because that is a pretty nerdy thing to get mad about.
• Isaac's Baby Genius keyboard has a "Cowbell" button.
• It is hard to schedule things when Isaac might be ready for his nap at 10:30, 11:30, or 2:30. You just never know.
• Rachel tells me that "Musical Therapist" is a real occupation. It makes me want to start making up jobs when people ask me what I do, to see how unusual I can make it before they stop believing me.
• Seen on Twitter: "The PhD student is someone who forgoes current income in order to forgo future income."
• Melissa and her friends are just constitutionally unable to use indoor voices. Referred to Rachel's Haagen Dazs Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Bars as "fudge bars." Boy, did I get an earful.
• Introduction to Guy Logic: if a mug has unusual blemishes when you take out of the dishwasher, scrape it with your fingernail. If it doesn't come off, it's part of the ceramic. If it does come off, the mug is clean now!
• No live TV is awesome. My kids are almost completely immune to fad-du-jour toys that afflict other parents.
• Rachel: "Do you know what happened to the strudel?" Me: "I ate it."
• Melissa came down the stairs holding both of her keychain flashlights. Me: "Oh, you found both of your keylights!" Melissa: "No; this one's Keylight, and this other one's Sally."
• Rachel has been chopping up Belgian chocolate bars to make cookies with lately. Ordinary chocolate chips hold no interest for me anymore.
• Holding Isaac on your lap is dangerous. Tonight he drew blood when he threw his head back into my lips.
• Me: "I'm going to buy more jeans." Rachel: "Do they even have dressing rooms at wal-mart?"

January Peanuts, part 1

• Matthew has an overdeveloped sense of order. His friend's dad said he'd pick him up at "about 9" this morning, and since 9:00 sharp Matthew's been telling him that "your dad probably forgot; you should just walk home."
• Isaac's dislike of nuts-mixed-in-food extends to picking the pecan chunks out of butter-pecan ice cream. And yet, he'll eat plain peanuts by the handful.
• A naive father would expect a game called "hide and seek" to be about, you know, hiding. The way my kids play it, it's about yelling: "I wasn't ready yet!" "Isaac, go away!" "That's cheating!"
• 15 minutes early to church today for the first time in years -- I thought it started at 11, but it was really 11:30. Rachel's family calls this "the Grandma VanDuker method of punctuality."
• Melissa was carrying her scriptures, the picture she drew, and needed to put something down to open her candy. She handed me the picture: "Daddy, can you hold this for me? I'm full of hands."
• Isaac helped Rachel take the ornaments off the tree. At first, he tried to put them back on, which was funny since he spent the first two weeks trying to remove them. But then he got enthusiastic about it, and now we have several more ornaments to glue back together.
• Isaac likes to do the motions to "wheels on the bus," with an attention span far exceeding his parents'. His favorites are "round and round," "swish swish swish," and "wah wah wah." Yes, Daddy sings it in French, after looking up the word for "windshield wiper."
• Heavy Rain is probably the most intense game I've ever seen, as well as the most convincing rebuttal to Ebert's "games cannot be art" view. It also deeply deserves its Mature rating (though not in the gratuitous blood and guts way that most M-rated games do).
• Isaac and I agree that Thomas the Tank Engine is boring.
• I heard Isaac running the faucet in the bathroom. "Oh, well," I thought, "that's pretty harmless. I'll just keep answering email for a few minutes." Then he reappeared, grinning, with an armful of unrolled toilet paper. That's our little Mr. Entropy.
• Isaac _really_ likes Matthew's Woody doll after watching the Toy Story movies. My job is to put Woody's hat back on every two minutes.
• Crap. Now Rachel banned _me_ from eating in the living room, too.
• "Windows did not start up normally." That's because a two year old kept cycling the power before it finished. I feel bad for poor confused Windows whimpering to itself in the corner there.
• Rachel: " What's your favorite kind of rock, Melissa?" Melissa: "Shiny rocks!"
• Matthew: "... never mind; I forgot." Melissa: what is it you forgot?"
• Matthew: "Why doesn't Isaac trust me?" Me: "I couldn't possibly guess." Fatherhood is making me a better liar.

Soccer

I took all the kids to soccer practice last Thursday. They're not very organized; they told Rachel that Melissa's was going to start at 5:00, but we arrived at 5:05 and nobody was there. We turned around and got pizza, returning just in time for Matthew's practice to start at 5:30. Melissa stood around and talked with anyone who wandered near where her team was supposed to be practicing; if she was disappointed, she didn't show it.

Meanwhile, Isaac ate two and a half pieces of pizza. Pizza is virtually the only food he hasn't decided was duck [yuck] at one point or another, so it's our go-to meal pretty often. Matthew ate one slice before practice and another when we got home, and Melissa had one and a half. In short: assuming Rachel and I want more than one slice apiece, a 14" pie can't be assumed to be enough for our family anymore.

Melissa's team trickled in and her coach got things started at 6:00. Isaac was starting to get bored. We went over to the small playground near the soccer field, but there weren't any other kids there so that didn't help much. There were several throw-myself-to-the-ground tantrums. At least he gets down on the ground more carefully now, instead of actually throwing himself. He's stubborn, but not that stubborn.

I would have rather stayed at the playground, poor amusement that it was, but I needed to go back to the fields at 6:30 so Matthew wouldn't panic. So I dragged Isaac over (another tantrum) and found Matthew. The three of us kicked two soccer balls around for a while, but Isaac was getting increasingly restive. I looked over at Melissa's team and she didn't look very into things, so when she walked off the field to get a drink of water I asked if she was ready to go home, and she said she was, and we left fifteen minutes early. (The coach called Rachel later to say that they didn't realize I'd picked her up and panicked at first when they realized she was missing at the end of practice. And could I return the orange lapel pin she'd been wearing to show her scrimmage team?)

Saturday was game day. We tag-teamed: I took Matthew to his game, then Rachel took Melissa to hers. Isaac stayed home for both.

Matthew's team was crushed 8-1. Matthew and #6 on his team were the only ones with hustle. This could become a pattern. (Melissa's team had the opposite experience -- they won, no thanks to Melissa, who just stood there, even when the ball rolled right past her. But, she had fun playing tag with the other kids while she was on the bench...) I don't know if losing so thoroughly took any of the sting out, but Matthew was more disappointed than angry or bitter. Bullet dodged!

Meanwhile, Matthew threw me his watch wadded up inside his shirt and didn't mention it until we were driving home. We went back to the field, but the watch was gone; someone had given it to one of the coaches -- they weren't sure which team's coach. Matthew took this additional blow with extraordinary (for him) grace. Fortunately, it turned out at his next practice that it had indeed gone to Matthew's coach.