Today we took a family walk.
We decided to walk down to the stop sign at the highway and back up the hill again, about 1.5 miles round trip.
It was a beautiful walk. We are lucky to live in such a wonderful place.
#bydhttmwfi
We had a bit of a rough night. The boy was not feeling well and we were not sure if he was going to be up to the traditional Easter Egg Hunt, family gathering, and celebration of the birthday of Cesar Chavez or not. But he bounced back this morning, and we were back on track for our countdown to the Great Santa Easter Egg Hunt!
I should explain. My son has figured out (with my learned assistance) that if the Easter Bunny goes to every house on the same morning to hide eggs, then this bunny must have some special superhuman powers. In fact, as we all know, the only person that has the power to visit every participating house around the world in one day is Santa. We all also know that nobody just works one day out of the year. My son strongly suspects that this "Easter Bunny" thing is just a costume/disguise that Santa wears while hiding eggs so he can work off-season. He has his suspicions about the Tooth Fairy too, he says he thinks Santa has a tutu in that closet.
Anyway, to get back to my story, Logan had a two stage hunt this year. The first part was a traditional egg hunt, providing eggs filled with jelly beans, chocolate candies, and tootsie rolls. (including multiple easter packages with iTunes cards in them, and one with a spot of cash, that easter Santa knows what kids want!).
Then, his sister and her fiancee, Joe, along with their friend Leeann had a clue driven hunt for him. He had to decipher six clues, each leading to the next, to find his easter basket from her which not only had candy and treats, but two movies he has not see yet as well, Goonies, and Coraline. I especially liked the twist on the final clue. The basket was hidden behind Logan's iMac. For the sixth and final clue, he had to "buy" hints from the adults using his candy as currency. I told him his basket location would get him "all keyed up" for a tootsie roll. His sister told him the present would be the "apple of his eye", this clue cost a chocolate. Finally, his mom told him "once you go Mac, you never go back" for some Jelly Beans, at that point he figured it out and searched his computer desk, finding the basket!
Here are a few photos from today:
by Susan Gehr
My son Logan and I have been working on a project. We built a playlist based on the musical artists used in Melissa Duke Mooney's 2009 book The ABCs of Rock. We tried to pick songs with lyrics that won't give me too much heartburn when Logan asks me to explain what they mean, songs that could be played on the podcast Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child.
The ABCs of Rock
AC/DC – Back in Black
The Go-Go's – We Got The Beat
Heart – Barracuda
Iggy Pop – Real Wild Child (Wild One)
Joan Jett – I Love Rock 'N Roll
KISS – Rock 'n Roll All Nite
Led Zeppelin – Ramble On
Bob Marley – Three Little Birds
Nirvana – Sliver
Ozzy Osbourne – You Can't Kill Rock and Roll
The Police – Walking on the Moon
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody (Muppet Version)
R.E.M. – Driver 8
Sonic Youth – Scooter and Jinx
Talking Heads – Stay Up Late
U2 – I Will Follow
Velvet Underground - I'm Your Mirror
The White Stripes – Rag and Bone
X – The Hungry Wolf
Neil Young – Long May You Run
ZZ Top – TV Dinners
Additional Tracks We Considered For the ABCs Playlist
Led Zeppelin – Fool in the Rain
Sonic Youth – Kim's Chords
U2 - New Year's Day
Velvet Underground – What Goes On
Neil Young – not technically a Neil Young song, but we love Jimmy Fallon's impression of Neil Young covering Willow Smith's Whip My Hair
Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who helped with this playlist: my husband Greg Gehr, Bill Childs ofSpare the Rock, Spoil the Child, Michael Logan, Adrienne of Baby Toolkit and M_Smucker.
Because We're All About the Bonus Tracks
Our favorite rock artist these days is Derek Miller, and we have three bonus tracks for you: Mystery Train, Music is the Medicine and Corn Cob Soup.
Just One More Thing…
This one isn't from Derek Miller, it's one of Logan's other favorite artists, Link Wray, the inventor of the power chord. The song is called Run Chicken Run.
Bye!
The Redwood Acres Fair is different this year. They have made substantial changes to the "usual and customary" format. One of the biggest changes was the addition of a "Made In Humboldt" exhibit hall, containing the best of what we make and do here in Humboldt. There was local food, local beer, local wine, and lots of local folks.
I took my 5 yr old, as well as my grown daughter, her fiancee, and a good friend. We spent the better part of the day there, and we had a great time. The link takes you to a gallery page of photos of the day. I recommend clicking the "slideshow" button. Well done, Redwood Acres, well done!
Jay's first real costume party. Spiderman! They were REALLY into it. His friend, Bryson, dressed as Superman, was turning 4, and they had well over a dozen other cute kids in costumes.
