A nature walk

Zoë, Gus and I decided to take a nature walk on Saturday, before the Nor'easter hit. We had a lot of fun and found few interesting things. We took some pictures of the interesting things we couldn't document. It was really cold so we didn't write in our field journals. When we got home we looked at some of the rocks and things we collected. We took out our journals and began writing. Here are some photos from our adventures.

The sign says Menotomy Rocks Park.

Here is an entry from Zoë's journal.

Gus had fun skating on the ice and collecting pieces of ice and climbing "mountains".

Some old marker for this tree is now a part of the tree. I believe this is a red oak.

Some lichen on one of the rocks. I wonder how many kinds of lichen there are?

Some interesting mushrooms growing on a tree in the winter!

More fungus. this type was much smaller than above and covered a lot of the dead trees in the area.

This moss covered most of the highest hill in the area. It was 1-2" thick and made the ground soft. We thought it was kind of strange since we have never seen anything like it before.

What a bunch of cute scientists.

I suspect that the poison ivy sign is referring to the vine growing up this dead tree... I wonder why they want to leave it there?

Some strange eggs on the underside of a rock...I was thinking they looked like praying-mantis eggs? That was the end of our adventure. I hope that we can return and see how much things change as spring begins to come...well after yesterdays blizzard I guess we should go back just to get some pictures of the park in winter...maybe go look for animal tracks!

What is a marionette?

Zoë and Gus decided to put on a puppet show today. They invited Julie and Sam and I to come into the front room for a performance. I want to put up a video, but it is very late now. Perhaps tomorrow I will bust out something quickly. The play consisted of two stages, 12 characters, several in audience apperances, stunts, love, surgery, and death! I actually liked it a lot more than Death of a Salesman starring Dustin Hoffman , sorry Dustin it wasn't you, it was the material. Maybe it was because the topic was very disturbing, maybe it hit a little too close to home, or maybe it was all the talking to themselves, whatever it was it makes me feel sad I ever watched it. It is my fault I watched it though. After reading the play in High School I wanted to see the play but opted to rent the movie instead. I never really appreciate a play when they are just read. Plays really take on a whole new meaning when they are acted out, and shouldn't they? I mean they are meant to be performed! Besides, it seems when I read a play it takes 4-8 hours to read it. When I go to a play they usually last 2-3 hours! What is up with that? I must be a slow reader. Oh, sorry back to the kids. Gus and Zoë had an amazing performance. I say Gus and Zoë because they never mentioned the title of the play, however the opening scene was by far the best part. It opens with two narrators discussing the type of play that will be watched. They are comical and give us a good awakening. However, the play does decend from there without plot or purpose. It lacks consistent character growth, and in this viewers eyes really needs some work in the presentation department. The scenes were non-existent. The play consists mostly of puppets, however, they all seem to have a very similar voice and repeat nearly the same lines. Although the puppet outfits are cute, I had a hard time sitting still for the 8 minutes they were performing. To its benefit the play ends on a good note. The doctor performing surgery does all he can but the patient dies and Sammy walks! Sam can walk! Seriously he can walk 4 steps now. He was taking a few steps between furniture later this evening, but Julie got him to walk from me to her and that was 4 steps. We did get video of the entire play...well most of it and some walking, but of course not the 4 steps...I had just turned off the camera when he took the steps...Video to come soon, I hope.

Gus is a photographer!

This weekend we borrowed a new camera! The new canon 20D. It was awesome, and I think we got some good family photo pictures. Since we had the camera I thought the kids should learn how to use it. Right now we only have a point and shoot so the look, feel, and response of a digital SLR was new to them...and they wouldn't put it down. Before long there were 300 photos taken on the thing from shots of the television to face shots of them eating pizza and candy. Gus especially enjoyed using it. Ever ten minutes he would stop what he was doing and ask "Can I take a couple of pictures again?" Of course, I indulged him. He liked it so much I thought we should buy one too. We don't have the money. Perhaps he will become a great photographer. So if you would like to help Gus and I become world renowned photographers, please send us a donation...a large one around $1200 would be nice! The first photo is Gus a self portrait and the second is one I took, but I just loved how the water was caught so well and the reaction of Sam! The timing would have been nearly impossible with our other digital camera Olympus C-740 ultrazoom, of course that's like comparing toothpaste and chocolate.

A humid day in New York

Today we spent the day in New York and it was humid. Not only was it humid but the kids seem to think it was a punishment we took them there. Zoë was actually really good, and Sam hardly said a word. Gus and I seemed to start off grumpy and even Julie was dealing with some grumpiness by the end. Minna and Dan took us out for a day on the town, and it was actually a lot of fun. We went to the Sony exhibit, Godiva chocolate for a delicious chololate treat (if you haven't tried one, don't let the $4.50 pricetag scare you, and if you are on a low carb diet, eat this on your free day), then we walked accross the Brooklyn bridge and ate pizza. It was a short train back, but in the end we were all glad we went, and even Gus was enjoying the short walk to their home by telling us all about 100 four year old jokes including why the poo crossed the road. So we had fun. Sorry we didn't see Jake.

Batman and batman

Julie and I couldn't stop laughing when she put this outfit on Sam! The batman mask on Sam was meant for a teddy bear, but it looks smashing on Sam don't you think?

I don't feel like I want to...Gosh!

Yesterday Gus didn't want to go to bed, so after a lot of encouragement from Julie she thought he would head to his pillow. Instead he sat down at the top of the stairs and said "I don't feel like I want to...Gosh!" I love it when Napoleon says that, but it is even cuter when my 3 year old says it. Today he got the first star wars movie and was loving every second of it. I also wanted to post this cute photo of sam in his sailor outfit.

Welcome

Welcome to our family blog. Hopefully we will post here often. We will update the links later, but for now you can go to our website for more information and photos. taddtruscott.com