Maiden voyage of the bike trailer!
Building the Bike Trailer
Today was a warm and sunny day for the winter (up to low 40's F), so Silas and I decided to assemble the bike trailer we got from Grandpa Jack and Grandma Gail. It took some time, but we had some good tunes. Silas is a natural with the tools.
Old-time Electronics Store
Silas, Ryder, and I drove out to Boston, PA (about 30 minutes from the house) to check out the only electronics parts shop that we could find in/around Pittsburgh. It was sort of an anachronistic experience, but Silas had a lot of fun.
They didn't have what I wanted, and they wanted too much money for what Ryder wanted, so we didn't end up buying anything. It was a neat experience, but they haven't really kept up with the times so much. I'm sure they're great for some things, but I'm certainly going to call ahead if I ever need anything specific before driving out...
Poogweese
One of the books we read on a regular basis is Echoes of the Elders: The Stories and Paintings of Chief Lelooska. He loves the paintings of masks at the end, the ravens throughout, Beaverface, and especially, Poogweese. Poogweese is a mythological merman and a messenger for a strong water spirit/god/creature.
Carnegie Science Center trip
We went to the Carnegie Science Center with Becky and Calliope for a few hours to get some exercise and stimulation on a snowy day. Calliope, of course, is a bit young to find it much more than stimulating. However, Silas had a great time in the kid's area. According to the sign, it's supposed to be for children 3-6 years old, but Silas held his own just fine. There were other <3-year olds there as well.
Going for Calliope's belly:
The outcome of drinkin' and plantin' is ears of corn coming out of the ground instead of stalks:
Bathing in Syrup
A couple of days ago, after a 'breakfast for dinner' sort of night, while Bethany was teaching her yoga class, Papa and Silas had a group hug with Guthrie on his bed next to the radiator. However, papa fell asleep, and Silas did not. Papa woke to the sound of a fork banging on a plate to find Silas up on the chair having a wonderful time at independent play. He'd poured out the rest of the syrup on the plate and table, and was eating a second round of pancakes and tater tots.
Although it was not shown in the photos, because it took a few seconds to get the camera, he had the biggest grin on his face when I got up. He was pretty proud of his achievement. I'm proud of him too, but sort of hoping to not repeat it. :)
Snow Day Family Breakfast
An event that typically only happens on weekends and during summer break, we got to eat out together for a breakfast during the workweek. It was sort of cold and there was some snow, but not really enough (imho) to warrant a snow day for Pittsburgh Public Schools. However, we're not going to complain. It was nice to have Bethany with us on this outing. We went to a local Italian cafe, Grasso Roberto. I think it has new owners since we were going there a lot when we first moved into Bloomfield for their brunches. It was a respectable breakfast, enough to go back, but not the best we've ever had. The woman working there was kind and patient with the energetic baby dumping coffee and throwing pancakes. :) To some extent, she's paying the price for the shop not having any high chairs... hehe. At least we tip well.
See, the weather wasn't so bad:
It's not really "Silas" related, but it was interesting to see the pigeons huddled together to stay warm on one of our neighbor's roofs.
Hiking video
I'm finally getting around to editing the videos from our Las Vegas holidays. Here is a clip from hiking outside of Henderson, NV.
New Year's Day Hike
In pre-Silas life, we used to try to get out in the canoe for a bit of a New Year's Day paddle every year. However, small children and (now) pregnant women don't really mix well with wintertime water temperatures in Pennsylvania. We've reverted back to the New Year's Day hiking tradition. That's quite all right with us. Getting outside and having time some nonmotorized time to reflect and appreciate life and nature is what's important. Becky, Tim, and Calliope were up for wandering in the woods with us in mid-20's Fahrenheit temperatures.
Silas enjoyed it until the very end, when he'd had enough of the cold and having his arms stuck out at 75 degree angles to his body. The photo is pre-hike and used for arm angle illustrative purposes only, not to show his end-of-hike discomfort.
Guthrie had a blast. As far as he was concerned, it was the best day ever. That's the most beautiful thing about dogs.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Silas had a brilliant time at Matt and Kate's New Year's open house. He got to eat all sorts of sweets and potato chips, thanks to the Silas-height coffee tables with boxes of goodies and the inattentive adults. :)
Though, you can't see him in this photo, he was very enthralled with Matt's grand rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
We brought his Bumbo seat for Calliope to use because he has outgrown it. He found it very curious to see her in it.
Return to Pittsburgh
Silas enjoyed the airport experience and the flight home. He didn't sleep a wink on the plane, but played through the whole flight. He did get a little grumpy for a couple of minutes when he wasn't allowed to climb under the seat to play with the couple behind us making silly faces at him, though.
We did get to see the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead out the window on the way home...
Lake Mead Area Hiking
We spent half a day hiking at several spots on the north shore of Lake Mead. It turned out to be a sort of overcast day with a bit of a chilly wind, but that didn't stop us from having a good day of hiking and a lot of fun.
One of the hikes included a half-mile climb up to a nice vista of the lake. Here is a shot look up at Momma:
The view from the top was really nice. Behind us in this photo is Lake Mead. Hoover Dam is off the left side of the photo around a bend in the canyon, so it wasn't visible from that location. We did get to see it from the airplane, though.
Silas is working on the downhiking. He still needs a bit of a hand (or two)...
Another area we hiked was in a wetlands area between Lake Las Vegas and Lake Mead. Poor Silas couldn't really see around Papa's shoulders when in this carrier on his back. He spent half the time sideways trying to look forward. He still found it enjoyable. The other carrier (which we didn't bring on this trip) holds him higher, so he can see over the draft mule's head.
All in all, though, he didn't find it so uncomfortable that he couldn't sleep.
He remarked that there are nice colors in the desert before he fell asleep.
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