Still Phans (in a big way)

It's been an intentionally long hiatus since my last Phillies related post.  Those of you who remember the near avalanche of baseball themed posts last fall are probably greatful.  And even though I've been tempted to toss in a little commentary during the first months of the season I've resisted... until now.

There was something about the chill in the air this morning, and seeing Aiden in his Phillies t-shirt that made me think that the time was right to enter back into the "Phillies Zone."

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 months since the championship parade down Broad Street.  Watching as Brad Lidge got the last out of the game with a strikeout last night (followed by some celebratory dancing and shouting on our end) it seemed like no time had passed at all.

One of the great things about baseball is that you just never know- nothing is a given in this game.   But putting that aside, there is a lot to be excited about as we enter the last month of the regular season.  The Phillies have put some serious distance between them and the rest of their division, and it looks like they'll nab a third straight division title.  

Plus they really look poised for another serious post-season attack.  Between the other-wordly Cliff Lee, the unstoppable Ryan Howard, Jimmy "Gold Glove" Rollins, and the return to form of Lights Out Lidge (please!) the rest of baseball is on notice to watch out for the reigning world champions.  Here we go again!

Star Power

Aiden has been into wearing these sunglasses the last few days.

He thinks he's pretty cool.

Sunglasses while eating Cheerios?  Why not?

Yep... he's the center of attention.

And he knows it.

Polaroid Party

Good news everyone!  I've found a completley new way to waste hours of your precious time!

There is a website called Polaroid Project, and on that website you can download a nifty (and free) program that turns regular pictures from your computer into classic Polaroids (complete with blurry edges, light leaks, and even thumb prints.)  It took about 30 seconds to download, and I promptly realized that I could spend about 30 hours just playing with it.  The program 'prints' your Polaroid when you drag and drop a picture into it, then you have to wait for it to 'develop'- just like the real deal.  

So anyway, I used a bunch of pictures from earlier today when Aiden was playing outside with a tub of water.  Where before we had regular 'ol pictures of our boy enjoying some simple summer pleasures, now you'll see some sweet retro snapshots (of our boy enjoying some simple summer pleasures.)

See for youself...

Dizzy Dude

I'm not sure why, but we've been pretty heavy on the videos here recently at the abode.  So why fight it?  Here is another one!

This one is of Aiden doing his best whirling dervish impression.  Watch out -he's one dizzy dude...

Show Off

I don't think that I am off base in saying that it is every parent's inalienable right to show off their children.  When they are babies we show off their spit bubbles, when they are toddlers we show off their first steps, and on and on...  There is, it seems, no limits to the parental pride that we bestow on even the most trivial of accomplishments in the growth of our respective tykes.

So anyway, all that was a lead up to say that this is a video of our tyke showing off some of his skillz.  Nothing too exciting of course: a couple of animal sounds... pointing to his nose.. you know the drill.  I'm sure that somewhere in the world right now there is a child Aiden's age who can recite the periodic table of elements while doing cartwheels, but we're not quite there yet.  Maybe we never will be, and we're OK with that...

additional note: of course when I asked him to say the one word that he says non-stop, all day, every day (ball), I was met with a blank stare.  Go figure.

All Done

This video was from when we went to the Zoo a while back with Gwyn.  

Now, even though Jen tried her darndest, Aiden never really took to the whole "baby sign language" thing.   There are, however, a few "signs" that he uses pretty often.  The sign for "all done" is supposed to be waving both hands from side to side.  Aiden, though, has his own unique spin on it...

It's Benner Time

A few weekends back we were lucky to get a visit from our good friends the Benner's.  Mike and Rhianwen, originally from the Philadelphia area, are now living in sunny Los Angeles.  As they were home for a whirlwind tour of friends and family our time together was short, but it was great to visit and catch up.

Mostly while they were here we just hung out around the house, great fun of course but not providing much excitement in the way of pictures.  At one point however we did venture out- it was a beautiful warm day and we decided to take a stroll through downtown Phoenixville.

Here is Aiden geared up for some serious walking.

We go into town pretty often, but its fun to go with new visitors as it can make you appreciate your home streets with new eyes.  Often when we go into town it's on a weekend night when the restaurants are bustling and the sidewalks are busy with people/ strollers/ dogs/ etc.  This time things were pretty darn quiet, and that was nice.

There is an area in the borough called the "Children's Pavilion."  Not too much going on here- a nice mural, a couple of benches, but there is a pretty cool fountain that sits at kid-level for good touching and splashing.

As usual, Aiden started out a little tentatively, but in short order was splashing like a champ.

One of the best things about our friendship with the Benner's is how much love they have for Aiden.  They are always so excited to see him, and spend time with him.  No doubt that Aiden will grow up thinking that Uncle Mike and Aunt Rhi are the coolest of cool.  

Here is Mike gving Aiden the giggles.

As always, we had a great visit with the Benners.  Now we just have to figure out a way to visit them in LA so they can show us around!

Zoo Two

Before Gwyn had to travel back to Uganda for the fall semester we had the chance to go with her on our second trip of the summer to the Philadelphia Zoo.  This one was as good as the first, and maybe better because it was much less crowded.  

There were 2 exhibits that we were excited to see this time around that we missed last time.  The first was the Primate Village or "monkey house."  It was pretty cool.  We saw some cute little monkeys (Aiden is watching them in the picture below), a funny Orangutan, and a kind-of sad Gorilla.  

The most interesting part of the visit really was how much more aware of everything Aiden was.  Even in the short time since our last visit he seemed much more able to point out the animals and (attempt) to call them by name.  Strangely enough in Aiden's Zoo world almost every animal is named "Ball."

The other place we get to check out for the first time was the new bird center.  There was one big room where they had lots of different tropical birds just flying around which was pretty neat.  I think that after this experience "Bird" is another word that Aiden can now say pretty well.

We had a fun visit to the zoo, but it was especially nice for us and Aiden to get to spend time with Gwyn.  She is back in Uganda now and we miss her already!

Parting Shots

Here is the final batch of pictures from our Maine trip.  There are some shots from when we went kayaking on a perfectly calm morning, some family pictures on the bench, and some other good pictures just mixed in.

'Maine 2009' signing off...

Family Fun

A big part of our Maine trip this year was all the family time we got to enjoy.  It was great to have both sets of Grandparents on hand, and of course we loved spending more time with Gwyn before she has to head back to Uganda.

Having so many family members around made it pretty easy to keep a certain little boy entertained.  He quickly discovered that he could have one person read him a book, then move on to the next lap and read it all over again.  This was a technique he employed repeatedly throughout the week (as evidenced by the following pictures.)

We also had the chance to get in in some quality game time with the family.  Some old favorites like Dutch Blitz and 10,000 Places to See Before you Die are always hits, but we also expanded our gaming repertoire with a game called Island Bocce.  

Island Bocce was developed originally by the Little Raven Island Jones camp, thus the "island" moniker.  It follows the traditional Bocce rules with the added hazards of steep inclines and large boulders.  It can make for tricky shots, and tough bounces to say the least.  We all had fun trying it out though, and even Aiden wanted to get in on the action.

Here is a mother/ daughter relaxing on the beach shot.

Aiden checking out the kayak.

I think I mentioned before that Maine activites can, more often then not, revolve around food.  

Often we'll gather around the wood fire, or the picnic table as we prepare and anticipate the next tasty meal.

During our stay we were lucky to get a visit from the Little Raven Island Jones crew.  In this case that consisted of Uncle Dan, Aunt Kathy, Cousin Megan, and Megan's daughter Chloe.

Chloe looks bigger and cuter every time we see her, and it was fun to watch her and Aiden play side by side.

We also found time while Meg was visiting to take a quick sauna, which was our second of two saunas for the week.  Absolute relaxation was achieved.

As I said before Aiden was well loved on this vacation, with lots of comfortable laps to sit in and open arms to hold him.

Although far from all of the Maine pictures that we have, these have been the ones that best show our time with the fam.  We're not done yet though, I think we may have got at least one vacation post left in us.

Until then though, here is a picture showing Aiden battening down the hatches for a stormy lake crossing...