Hmmmm

So, I don't recall Kelly ever going to visit anyone in Tampa Bay 2 years ago, but I'm starting to wonder...

Is it already mid November?

Wow, it's November already. Where did the time go? October was a busy month for us. First, I had some work to do near Ocean Shores, so we all went down for a few days and stayed in a mostly clean motel on the beach. The weather left a bit to be desired (not sure if it ever really stopped raining) but we have fun anyway.

On the way back from the ocean, we stopped by Mama and Papa's house to celebrate Catie's first birthday. She honored us all by taking her very first steps while we were all watching! Then we went to the Great Wolf Lodge again for birthdays. Just like last time, Jack had a total blast, and Catie seemed to enjoy it quite a bit too, though she'll have more fun when she can walk a bit better.

Of course, since it was October, we also went to the pumpkin farm. Always a fun outing, and this time was no exception. Jack picked out a great pumpkin for Catie.

At the end of the month, we went to Buffalo for the wedding of Kelly's friend Carolyn. The first day were were there the weather was beautiful so we went to Niagra Falls. OK, I know they're supposed to be big falls and all, but MAN, they were impressive! We went on the Maid of the Mist. Mist isn't the way to describe it. Maid of the Deluge would be more appropriate.

While in Buffalo, Jack got to meet Ellie, the daughter of Kelly's pregnancy buddy Pam. Each time one gets pregnant, the other seems to follow suit. Don't know why. But so far that's the way it has worked. So Ellie is about Jack's age, and Pam's other daughter Cecilia is a month or two younger than Catie. Jack and Ellie got a long well. Perhaps too well. They spent most of the wedding cuddling and holding hands. At one point they were on the stairwell to the balcony, and they had several photographers shooting them like they were models. Pam's husband asked me to make sure Jack doesn't come visit again between the age of 12 and 25...

Going back to Catie and her walking, while she took the first few steps on her birthday, she never really followed that up much until November 3, when she decided it would be fun to do laps in the living room. Round and round she went. I shot about 6 minutes of video of it. But she went a lot longer. Always the same direction. Maybe she'll be a NASCAR driver...

Pig Roast!!

Following a long tradition of pig roasts done by my dad and his friend Wally, we decided to try roasting a whole pig for a backyard barbecue. Of course, Dad helped a lot, and Wally let us borrow his pig roaster. At one time, it was a tank for heating oil. But with a few modifications, Wally turned it into a top-of-the-line pig roaster.


The first step, of course, is getting the roaster home. It's heavy duty. Which means it's also just plain HEAVY! Easy to load and unload with Wally's tractor. But a bit harder with a hand truck and a piece of plywood. Still, nothing ventured nothing gained.






Guess what's in the box, kids? And why is Papa greasing up that pole?








Yes, that's the pig. And the pole is for... well, you get the idea. If you were a big fan of Babe, this might not be the activity for you.



Once skewered...er...secured, it was time for the stuffing. Following a new recipe we saw on the internet, we decided to stuff her (yes, it was a her) with chickens in additon to the standard medley of garden vegetables, including carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and even some apple. The stuffing went in just after a thorough rubbing with a one-of-a-kind pig rub. One of a kind because I made up the recipe and forgot to write it down.






Then we stitched it closed with wire, and wrapped it all securely so there would be no flopping around during the roasting.







Once everything was all seasoned and secured, we put her to bed for the night.





Next morning, we go up early to get the fires started. It was a bit rainy and cool, and with the fire it remined us of our last several camping trips. So, we decided to roast some marshmallows. The breakfast of champions.


Then it was time to get to cooking. We started with a couple big bags of charcoal, and once they were going good, we put the pig on. The spit is turned by a standard BBQ rotisserie motor, the kind you find at Sears for $40, or at a garage sale for $2.00. Just in case, we had 4 on hand. The motor is hooked up to a custom made gear set, consisting of the starter gear from a Mustang and a slightly modified ring gear from a Trans Am, if I recall correctly. Cooking with muscle car parts. Gotta love it. We also used a counterweight with an adjustable length arm to balance the load and prevent the motor from being stressed. Just move the weight farther up the arm (i.e. away from the axis of rotation) until the load is balanced.



After about an hour, the skin started to bronze nicely, though it would take about 7 hours to cook all the way through. We decided to name her Paris, because of her weight (74 lbs), the bronze skin, and, of course, the fact that she was HOT!

Finally, Paris was done, and it was time to take her off the fire and get to operating. Though we had at least two doctors and one PA attending, the surgery was left largely to my nephews. And they did an excellent job. Nicholas went above and beyond the call of duty, manging to extract even the brain. Sadly, no one would eat it. Mad pig disease and all that. Probably a good thing.


If you've never had meat from a whole roasted pig, you should. I could try to tell you how good it is, but anything I would say would fall short. So lets just say it's tasty, and you should try it. The chickens were tasty too.




And of course, Finn loved that spot in the grass beneath where we carved.

Jack's joke

OK, this picture doesn't have anything to do with his joke, but I liked it. See more at our Picasa site; http://picasaweb.google.com/mindrebo

So I asked Jack, "What is black and white and read all over? " He thought a minute, then said he didn't know. So I told him "A newspaper!". I don't think he really got it.

Then a few minutes later he aske me "Daddy, what's black and white and GREEN all over?"

I thought and thought, but couldn't come up with anything. So I asked him what, and he said:
"A black cat and a white cat with a lizard!"

Guess what Catie can do!

Last week, Catie took a nap and woke up knowing how to crawl. This video is from he second day of mobility.

Then, by the end of the week, she was able to pull herself up to a standing position. Walking won't be too far away...

I guess it's time to babyproof the house!

My Precious!

The Great Wolf Lodge

Like I said, May was eventful. We took our first ever family vacation with all 4 of us! Yep, we loaded up the minivan (sorry Kelly, the WAGON that just happens to have sliding back doors and three rows seating) and headed south to the great vacation destination of Grand Mound, WA. Not just any Mound, but Grand Mound!
And boy was it grand. Seriously! We had a grand time in Grand Mound. At the Great Wolf Lodge.

The accomodations were great. We got a room with a King bed, and it also had a hide-a-bed, and the staff brought up a portable crib/playpen for Catie. Which of course all added up to this...

But the main thing about the lodge is the waterpark! Jack thought it was pretty fun at first, but didn't like getting his face wet. So we stayed mostly in this area at first.

Well, actually we spent the VERY first part of the first day in the wave pool, as the kiddie area was closed for an emergency cleaning...

But once it was safe to go back in the water, Jack played in the kids area for a while, until he really got used to the idea of getting and staying wet. Then we talked him into going down the slide! At first he wanted us to be right there, one at the top and one at the bottom. But by the 2nd day, he was running back up to the top after each slide faster than I could keep up with. I had to settle for about one ride down for every three he made. And I must have ridden it a good 40 times.

At the top of the tower that houses these two slides is a huge bucket on a pivot, and water is continually pumped up to the bucket. When it is getting close to full, a little water drains off and spins a wheel which rings a big cowbell. And then it tips, and a wall of water splashes down! So to get to the slides, you have to risk the big splash. After getting hit by that 4 or 5 times, Jack was officially no longer afraid of getting his face wet.

At night (and in the morning, I guess) they had story time in the main lobby. The animals moved and talked. I was late getting to the story time (I needed a nap after trying to keep up with Jack) so didn't hear what the story was about, and I think Jack dozed off during it too. But it was surely a good story.

They also had a really cool fireplace. And a fun game played all over the hotel with a magic wand! Jack had fun using a magic wand and having magic really happen! You should ask him about it sometime.

They also have an arcade, a spa, a kids spa, restaurants, coffee bars - pretty much all you need. Check them out at http://www.greatwolflodge.com/Locations/Grandmound/utility/factsheet.aspx

Dentistry

May has been a momentous month for the Indrebos. Early on, we had our fist corn-on-the-cob of the year, "fresh" from California. But after months of frozen corn, we'll take what we can get, and to be honest, it was quite tasty. The only problem is that Jack immediately began complaining that his tooth hurt. His friend Brad had a cavity a month ago or so, and we figured Jack was just was parroting what Brad had said, and we told him to stop whining and eat his corn. But he kept on complaining. Then suddenly he shouts "my tooth is wiggling"!

Sure enough, it was loose.

So we questioned him. Did something hit you in the mouth? Did you fall on something today? Who were you playing with, did they hit you? Did Finn run into you? And the answer was no to all of the above.

Loosing a tooth? At 4 1/2? Isn't that too early?

So we made a dentist appointment for the next day, Jack's first ever trip to the dentist for real tooth work (he hadbeen to a dentist office for a preschool field trip a couple months ago). At the dentist he got his first cleaning and did a REALLY good job listening and doing what he was told and NOT biting. And when he got his X-rays, sure enough there was a great big Big Boy Tooth pushing up his Little Boy Tooth.

That day, Kelly sent him to daycare with a cute little pouch on a string around his neck, and strict instructions that if his tooth fell out, he was to put it in the pouch to keep it safe for the tooth fairy. And oh, was he excited! The tooth fairy!

Finally, that evening it was leaning at a 90 degree angle to the others in his mouth. So it was time to get out the string....

Soccer mom....er...dad

Last week Jack had his first ever soccer practice. And because its on Fridays, I get to take him! It's really fun to watch - I can definitely see why soccer moms enjoy being soccer moms.

Here he is shooting is first goal...

Help me reach my goal!Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

New Photos at Picasa

Catie had her 6 month birthday this month, and Jack was Jack this month. We have a number of new pictures on our Picasa site, but I don't know if I have time to actually write much about each of them...



So here is our site - keep checking periodically for new pictures.



http://picasaweb.google.com/mindrebo



We also have a pretty cute picture video of Jack and Catie playing with a five-finger balloon from Dr. Grossman...

Cassidy.

Our wonderful dog Cassidy died last night. She was 12 year old.

When I first met Kelly, she had this obnoxiously exuberant puppy named Cassidy, who loved to sit in your lap and tilt her head back and lick your nose. And she loved to play tuggy - she'd pull against ANY dog, no matter how big. The sight of this 32 lb whippet-looking mutt holding her own against an 80 lb lab was just hilarious!

Before I met Cassidy, Kelly told me that Cassidy talked back. I thought "Yeah, sure, the cute hippie girl thinks her dog talks to her". But then I met Cassidy and sure enough, if you scolded her, she'd act contrite for a minute, then give a little "huff!", or maybe a "Yowyowyow!" while looking at you out of the corner of her eye.

She always had that attitude about her. She met a pit bull once that was trained for dogfighting, and was barking hysterically, literally foaming at the mouth, at her from the other side of the fence. Charlie, the smart dog, stepped back from the fence and kept his distance, but not Cassidy. She went up to within a foot fo the fence and started barking right back! It was impossible not to think she was saying something like "Oh, heck no!, you ain't talkin to ME like that, ya mangy mutt! If I wasn't on the other side of this fence I'd whoop your butt!"

But the best thing about her was that she loved everyone, and in turn assumed that everyone loved her, too. I've never met a dog that could make people fall in love with her like she could. Even non-dog people would eventually warm up to her to the point that they would let her crawl into their laps, and be happy that she was there.

She was wonderful with Jack, even when he wasn't so wonderful with her. He could crawl on her, lay on her, and while she might occasionally look worried, she never got upset with him.

When Finn arrived on the scene a little over a year ago, Cassidy had a new playmate. And she was amazingly tolerant with the obnoxious puppy. But she was always careful to make sure he knew his place.

Cassidy had been slowing down the past year, but was still playful up until about 3 days ago, when she stumbled and couldn't get back up. I thought she might die that night, so I carried her into the bedroom so she could be with us. But the next day, she was looking good, walking on her own again, and wagging her tail. Then yesterday she stumbled again, and didn't get up again all day. We took her to the vet, and she seemed better for an hour or so, then collapsed again. X-rays showed that her pericardium was filled with fluid, probably as a result of a growth on her heart. Her condition worsened dramatically in the time it took to get the x-rays, and it became clear that she would not survive the night. So we had to say good by.

I'm going to miss her so much...

I hope that she's up in Heaven playing bite-your-face with Charlie, and getting treats from Great Grandpa.

Serresa's Birthday Song

Kelly brought some leftover birthday cake home from work today. But before Jack could have a piece, we told him he needed to sing happy birthday to Serresa. But of course, we couldn't just make it that easy on him.

Here is the result. He followed our instructions perfectly!

February

OK so my sister is doing a blog entry each day since the beginning of the year. In that tradition, we are trying to get approximately one blog entry per month....

Jack was VERY excited for Valentine's day this year. He was eager to make a cake because his class was having a 'Valentimes party' and what better at a valentimes party than a nice cake with lots and lots of rainbow sprinkles?

When we went to the store to buy the ingredients, he was sure to invite everyone he saw, whether they were listening or not, to come to his party at school. Sadly, those that were listening all had other plans.

So the night before Valentines, we all got together to decorate the cake. Catherine seems especially interested in the process. Or maybe she just thought that chocooate cake would go well with milk.

A few days later, Catherine got to try solid food for the first time. Though at about 105th percentile for both weight and height, the doctor isn't rushing us to start her on solid foods. But it never hurts to try an get her used to it a little bit. I think she's going to be a natural at his eating stuff. But I think she would have preffered the cake to the thin rice cereal she got.

Incidently, if you want to see more pictures, please visit out Picasa site at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mindrebo

Somebody got a haircut!

Actually, she got them all cut. About 10 inches, all together. After months of putting it up in a knot at the back of her head, Kelly decided that she might as well lop it all off, and get a cut that she can manage more easly between work and two kids. She also realized that she had enough hair to make a nice donation to an organization that makes wigs for people undergoing radiation therapy.

All in all, it was a lot of hair. Should make a great hairpiece for someone. Or, if you tied it up tight and put a handle on it, it might make a nice paintbrush...