eternally chaotic» Isaac

Cooling off at the Duluth Fountain

Isi — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:41:30 +0000

We had a great time this past weekend spending some time cooling off at the Duluth Town Center Fountain. The Sun was blisteringly hot and the air might as well have been dripping water, but the water coming from the fountain was refreshing and cool. We grabbed some Chick-Fil-A along the way, ate on the curb, and headed in. Once they all got used to the water they had a great time. Isaac didn’t need any warming up and was racing in circles as fast as he could swallow his chicken and fries. Piper was on his tail but needed her hand held for the first few minutes – that was until she got wet and started play. Violet needed a bit more prodding and she wasn’t having anything to do with me taking her through. Carol grabbed them all took them on a few laps to get them all good and soaked – that’s all it took to get Violet all revved up as well.

Isaac’s Turns Seven

Isi — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:34:05 +0000

Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear Isaac,
happy birthday to you!

It might a few months late getting online but that makes it no less of an event. In November, for the first and last time, Isaac turned seven. We planned a dinner out with family and friends as well as a party at the house so we could celebrate properly with cake and presents. We gave Isaac the choice of where he wanted to have his birthday dinner and thankfully he chose the Olive Garden – a fantastic and much yummier choice over the more usual kiddie venues such as Chucky Cheese or Monkey Joes. We will still eventually go to one of the others but instead of being the focus of a birthday party, we can just go and have a great time playing games or jumping around.

Dinner was fantastic. With such a large group I didn’t know what to expect but the OG had everything organized. They even put us in a sectioned off part of the restaurant near another large family party so we could be as loud as we wanted. After dinner we all headed back to the house to serenade the birthday boy and eat cake.

Jacob and I spent much of the day making Isaac’s cake. Carol in the past has always done something special with the cake, so this time I wanted to give it a go. A grande battle was the idea we were working with. I had some old molds to help with the castles and Jacob was able to find a bunch of medieval men and siege weapons to make sure it was a battle that would not be forgotten. The cake was fun and rewarding to make. Plus we got to eat icing and play with toys for most of the day – not much tops that – except getting to eat more of it that night !!!

One of the great things about having a big family is that birthdays are sometimes likes Christmas. Isaac had a great time opening gifts. Even those that couldn’t be there in person sent cards and well wishes. Of particular interest were the G.I. Joes, Race Track, and Legos.

Happy Birthday Isaac. I hope the year to come is one to remember.

Indian Festival and Pow-Wow

Isi — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:27:42 +0000

A special treat this weekend. Stone Mountain Park was hosting the 10th annual Indian Festival and Pow-Wow. An interesting assortment of Indian cultures and traditions. Right inside the gate we walked into a show getting ready to start called “East vs. West”. Two Indians, one from the eastern tribes and one from the western Sioux tribes, compared and contrasted the lifestyles and traditions of their ancestors. Seems the eastern Indians were more civilized, happy to barter and trade to make life easier, while the western ones, the Sioux in particular, raided and pillaged to get what they wanted, or to advance their lifestyle. I am sure this is a gross over exaggeration about the differences but it was neat to hear what they had to say and see the difference in the everyday tools used by each.

One of the exhibits was a bird trainer. He had a falcon and an owl that he showed. It flew up into the tree, look around a bit, and with a signal from the trainer swooped back in. One thing we found interesting was to learn that an owls eyes don’t actually rotate in their sockets but rely on the head of the owl to swivel for it to look around. Also found out that they have fourteen vertebrae in their neck allowing them to look around with much more grace and at steeper angles than a human could ever hope to do. Both of the birds were beautiful. I think we came in near the end of the show and were only able to see a few flights before it ended.

We go to see a skin and tanning station, a pottery station – i found this process particularly interesting. The sculptor molds the clay into a shape, say a bowl or toy, and then placed it in the coals of a regular fire. By tending the fire with normal wood (pine, oak, etc…) and continuously scooping and piling the coals over the items they slowly lose any moisture and become hard but brittle. He had several things that he had created in the few days the show had been going on: bowls, plates, cups, other dishes, etc…

Toward the end of our day we got to see a few rounds of a dancing contest. I don’t think we really understood what we were seeing but the costumes that each of the participants wore were amazing to look at. The dance routines seemed to be about celebrating fall and the harvest.

As an aside we got a chance to go through the Antebellum Plantation and Farmyard. It was neat to see the various rooms, decor and furniture of the times. My favorite bit was that the kids had their own table on a different floor of the house from the adults…we got to have a little fun with the boys telling them “how it used to be…”.

The festival was fun. We certainly learned a lot and got picture of most of it. Something the kids can look at from time to time. I didn’t even think about it at the time but Carol mentioned it later – sadly I didn’t get any pictures of Us with the Indians. Oh well, maybe next year.

Antebellum Plantation & Farmyard

Suprise From Grandma Donna

Isi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:21:23 +0000

With a high level of excitement and glee, Jacob and Isaac, got to go shopping. They each received a gift card from their Grandma Donna. We gave them the option of saving it for later, surprisingly an option they have taken in the past, or using it now. They opted for the latter so we headed out toy shopping. With a figure in their head, limiting how much they could spend, they rummaged through the toys at Walmart for thirty minutes. The decision was complex of course. The selection had to be just right. Had to feel perfect. Jacob went patiently from one item to the next, meticulously inspecting its value, Nerf Swords, to G.I. Joe, to H.A.L.O to Lego. He finally settled on a pair of Lego sets that complimented each other. Isaac on the other hand created a moderate sized collection of his choices in the middle of an isle (wish I would have taken a picture) and mulled over the ultimate choice. Back and forth went the decision with the price climbing in to the hundreds of dollars and then back down into teens. With twenty-five dollars to spend it was a hard choice: does he get one larger toy that is “cool” or get a few smaller ones that offer more opportunity for play. At the end, with the clock ticking, he panicked and left his gathered assortment of mix matched items and narrowed his focus between Lego and a selection of Star Wars characters. Opting for the Star Wars route after some counseling from his clock watching oppressors.

Thank you Grandma Donna. Jacob and Isaac had a great time getting to shop for their gifts.

Bus Stop Mania Resolved

Isi — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:41:35 +0000

Today marked the first day Jacob and Isaac rode the bus into school. For various reasons it has worked out better in the past to drop them off on my way into work – reasons such as getting to sleep later…and…well sleeping later. They have however been coming home on the bus for quite a while now and without fear of being run over by the very vehicle that drops them off and is supposed to keep them safe. Working with the Gwinnett County School System worked out pretty well once the issue was escalated to someone that actually gave a damn…I mean cared. We found out that there was a bus stop diagonally across the street from our house that the bus should have been stopping at for both pick-up and drop-off. For whatever reason the stop had been removed from the paperwork that both the particular school and driver use. So in defense of the driver, she wasn’t even aware there was a stop near us and was just doing her job.

I am glad this is taken care of. With one car and four of our six going in different directions, all between 7:30 and 8:30, our mornings are hectic to say the least. My one complaint is that I think the situation could have been resolved much quicker than it was. It took nearly three weeks of working (or lack thereof) with the local transportation superintendent to realize that he didn’t care about what we needed or had to say – safety related or not – we were just another pair of complaining parent. Realizing this and believing that we were being ignored we wrote a letter to the county commissioner at the recommendation of Carol’s dad and friend Heidi. They both work for school systems and had some good advice on how to get the appropriate level of attention. Once the letter was complete, proof read a dozen times, we stopped before sending it and called another person up the management chain for the transportation department. She listened to what we had to say, asked for a copy of the letter we were going to mail (I mentioned it to her), and a few phone calls and two days later the problem was resolved. Thanks Patty !!!

A snow day but with rain

Isi — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:14:41 +0000

It has been raining for the past week in Atlanta. Literally. Mainly just on and off sprinkling followed by a short downpour followed by mugginess, wash, rinse, repeat. Over the weekend however heavy rain came down continuously causing flooding in most of the area. We woke up this morning to hear about school and road closures around the whole Atlanta area. Gwinnett County schools of course were only on delay which later changed to a closure as well. The flooding has been pretty severe closing surface streets and interstate junctions like “Spaghetti Junction” causing significant traffic problems all around town. The news said a few schools were flooded as well but we didn’t hear about any in our area that were affected other than just being shutdown – likely due to transportation issues more so than flooding.

Looks like the kids will get to stay home and play for another day. Isaac was concerned though that school was “closed forever”…oddly that upset him (maybe we should check his temperature). I don’t think we will hear the same complaint from Jacob he has been at home sick for the past few days missing much of school last week and was non to excited to go back today. Piper still gets to go to pre-school which stays open regardless and Violet is already at school when she wakes up.

Six Flags Over Georgia

Isi — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:19:50 +0000

Our school system, Berkeley Lake Elementary, offers a program that lets the students earn a pass to Six Flags Over Georgia if they participate in a reading program that spans the school year. Since both boys did well last school year and read some or all of a book, about 20 minutes a night, each night of the week, they received a pass to the park. Before school started again for the 2009-2010 year we took them and had a blast. They rode nearly all of the rides in the kiddie park and went crazy when we headed to the water slides. Carol didn’t come into the water but the boys and I did. Isaac and I went straight to the top to take the longest and fastest slide down. The lines were short, the water was cool and the day was warm – a perfect combination for roller coasters and water slides. We convinced Jacob to ride “Thunder River” with promises that it was “slow” and you were “likely” to not get “very” wet. He was nervous but rode anyway and had a blast, despite he and Carol getting hit by every waterfall, tidal wave and water gun on the ride. Isaac surprised us both when he asked to ride one of the bigger swing rides that lift high off the ground and spin you in circles – he rode with his hands up most of the time.

The boys had road most everything they could by early evening. Troy and Bonnie picked them up and gave us some free time to ride some coasters and grab dinner. I had only been to six flags once before years ago and only really recall the Superman ride. We didn’t ‘do Superman because of a very long line but we did do most of the others including a new coaster called “Goliath”. This thing was awesome. It was tall, fast and each time you went over the top of a hill or bump you floated until the track started to climb again. There were a dozen or so such hills and the experience was a blast. We road in both the front and the back – very different rides. I was able to get a video as well of us taking a ride.

The night ended with margaritas, chips and salsa and some good Mexican fare at La Frontera.

Bus Stop Mania

Isi — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:39:44 +0000

School started this week and with it so did the early morning routine. Up at 6:15 – well at least the alarm clock is awake at that time and the snooze button gets a good workout – the boys get dressed, eat and watch Quest on and off while waiting on the bus. That is how it is supposed to go at least.

This week, again the first week of school, there has been some confusion about what exactly defines a “Bus Stop”. According to the school transportation folks it is a place where the bus stops in the morning and in the afternoon to pickup and drop off precious packages. It is an exact, literal spot that you should be able to walk to and point at. Someplace where you can stand and wait for the bus to come.

Our bus driver didn’t get that memo.

The first week of school is confusing enough for kids, especially young ones, first and third grade – add onto that a new neighborhood that is somewhat unfamiliar and you have a recipe for disaster. Our bus driver likes to make up the bus stops on the fly. Sometimes she stops short, up the road and out of sight, and then passes the actual bus stop without so much as a pause or second glance. Another stop up the road is a secondary place where the boys might stand and wait but it too is not a guarantee.

The afternoon drop off is just as much fun and has an added element of danger. Danger – the exact element you want to be a part of your kids release from the bus, full of thoughts of toys and playing and everything “not” school as they exit the bus and dash toward the house. If the proper stop was used it might not be a big deal. They would get out on the corner, cross over the road, a weird crossing at that as they have to cross in front of the bus diagonally to get across two streets that make up the corner, and head for home. Instead the boys get let out some distance before the stop, have to run along side the bus, up the hill to the house, and cross the road right in front of the now moving bus which then has to stop to let them cross anyway – right in front of the house this time.

All this is assuming that the driver actually lets the boys off the bus. One time Carol got to watch the bus drive by while the boys were waving at her and telling the bus driver that they needed to get off “here”, that this was their new home. After all, each of them wears a tag on their backpack that says just as much – a tag that is issued by the same transportation office that the bus driver works for. Instead the boys were taken to their old address and let off the bus in a neighborhood that they no longer live – at least their Nana was their to get them.

Frustration has set in. Knowing that it is the first week and that such confusion might happen it does nothing to ease the burden of not being certain the school and transportation office are doing what they can, or are supposed to do, to ensure the safe and timely delivery of our kids from the school to their home – or designated bus stop.

The good part about this is that a few calls to the transportation office to explain the situation and understand their procedures and policies has raised some awareness that such expectations are not being met and that there is room for improvement with at minimum one bus driver and one bus stop. We will see what happens.