Day 7: A breakthrough at the beach

The kid rule at the beach is they're terrified of the ocean the first day, then gradually warm up to the idea that the surf won't kill them and might actually be fun! Well, leave it to finicky little Allen (who wouldn't walk in the dry sand and wouldn't get his feet wet all week... he would only walk on flat, hard sand) to wait until the last day to get up the gumption to put his toes in the sea. And of course, it was darn fun!

For all of us, it was a good last day at the beach.



Last lunch was at King Neptune's, up on the bayou, which we had never tried before. Well, it turns out they have the best food I've eaten at the beach. (And boy, do they have a cool website!) We had this amazing crab and avocado appetizer with spicy tomato sauce that I just have to learn how to make. Our tuna steaks were amazing... Allen dropped the shaker of cajun spice, it detonated, and some shrapnel got me in the foot... Even with the casualties, it was a very satisfying dining experience.

Lots more pictures of our last day... Click here for mine and here for Emilyn's.

Day 6: Corvettes, high in the sky and PIE!

On Saturday, we headed over to the Wharf... It's a kind of outdoor mall/hotel/development at the foot of the Foley Beach Express, which is a toll-road shortcut to the beaches. A high-traffic spot in the summer, I'm sure.

The big attraction there is a big ferris wheel, but we were lucky enough (for Daddy) to be there on the day they were having a big Corvette show, too!

The Wharf has the added attraction of being on the way to the Bayside Grill, home of the best key lime pie in the universe. It's like an explosion of fun on your tongue. Seriously. It's at least four different kinds of good. Plus, it's fun to play on the dock outside, and mess around in the live oaks.



Lots more stuff to see over at DropShots, including Emilyn's video of the ferris wheel ride (she and Allen got matching souvenir shirts). Click here for my stuff and here for Emilyn's.

Day 5: Good day for a ferry ride

It was gloomy and windy again on Friday, so it was a good day for a ferry ride to Dauphin Island and the Estuarium.

On the Mobile Bay ferry from Fort Morgan, I took this picture, which is now in my Top 10 favorites of all time:



The Estuarium is full of cool fishies and things to see and touch.

Click here for more of my photos, and here for more of Emilyn's.

Day 4: Ravenous seabirds, smooth as glass

We woke up on Thursday morning to the pelicans and seagulls having a breakfast buffet... Then we realized how calm it was out there! Allen decided even he could give this Gulf a try -- if Daddy holds on tight!

Day 3: Better for the beach

As always, the seagulls were happy to see us!

On Wednesday, we got in some beach time... Overhead, we saw a plane towing a banner touting "AYCE shrimp" at the Shrimp Basket... So, that was a no-brainer. Emilyn posed in front of their Ivan high water mark, showing how easily she would have drowned!



After lunch, it was a quick walk over to Souvenir City, famous for the giant shark entranceway! Allen loved that.


Click here for more of my photos and here for more of Emilyn's.

Day 2: Rain, planes and a pizza clock

There was no good news from John Edd Thompson, our weather source when we're at the beach. He told us it would be a rainy morning, no matter how much we wanted to get out to the beach.

So, Daddy was happy! Time for a trip to the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola NAS.

Allen gets to climb inside many of the little trainers there. He likes that very much. For Emilyn, there are neat weather games and other science-type learning. And the gift shop! There's also a large kids' play area for tired mommies.

After the museum, we headed to Perdido Key's famous pizza joint, Lillian's. It was our first time in the new place, a concrete pizza palace built across the road from the original location, which was trashed by Hurricane Ivan. Allen was tickled pink by this... a pizza clock!?



Luckily, the skies cleared that afternoon, and we were treated to the vistas we'd driven so far to see: (For more photos, click here for mine and here for Emilyn's.)

Oh, I wish I was in the land of... Czech pastry?

Driving to the beach in Alabama, we didn't expect to see... The Kolache Bakery? The woman who ran the place was from Texas, and she says all donuts there are called kolaches! Weird!

These were yummy, especially the cinnamon pecan and the cream cheese, and it was a welcome stop after so many hours of driving. We were so close to the beach... but it's hard to wait.

So it was that the Crabbes noshed on Czech pastries and chocolate milk in Robertsdale, Alabama, on the way to the beach.

Daddy also saw a right-hand-drive Jeep on the road to Gulf Shores. So, it was a pretty continental day all around!

For more shots from day one, click here for my pictures and here for Emilyn's photos.

In like a lamb... then a lion. A COLD lion.

Well, we're off to the beach tomorrow... But March has been its own kind of interesting already! We had 78 degrees. Then we had a foot of snow! You can see it all at my DropShots and Emilyn's DropShots. Let's hope Alabama has milder weather.

Sesame Street... on demand!

So far, we're loving our new AT&T U-verse TV!

Emilyn can play games, with the remote, right on screen. And Allen gets "Sesame Street" any time his little heart desires. AND we can pause it, rewind it, and watch Big Bird sing about the number 4 over... and over... and over...

Daddy has a lot more airplane channels. Mommy has a DVR... so cool! I'll never miss "Lost" or "Project Runway" again!

And it's all for about a buck less a month than we were paying for dinosaur cable. So, sayonara Charter. And good riddance.

More of Emilyn's vision

Our budding shutterbug has uploaded some new photos... after Mommy convinced the pink camera that it was not 2053, we got them all on Emilyn's DropShots. Click here to take a look.

Kiddie Vegas, with pizza

Today, to celebrate Emilyn's second snow day, plus to mourn the fact that the Daddy-Daughter Dance was canceled, and to ease Mommy's angst over all the people at work she inconvenienced... Yeah, for all that and more, we went to the Incredible Pizza Co.

As you gathered from my title, and the picture above, it kind of feels like Las Vegas for kids. And boy, there is a lot of fun stuff to do there. In 2 hours and 15 minutes, we did about half of it.

The place is styled like the '50s, so that was a good antitdote for missing the Daddy-Daughter Sock Hop (for which I bought 60 bucks worth of poodle skirt, cat glasses and saddle shoes!). They have a pizza, salad and dessert buffet, plus four dining rooms you can sit in: One looks like a diner; one looks like a drive-in movie theater; one looks like an old high school gym; and one looks like a '50s living room.

We picked the drive-in, which was showing some amazingly bad movie... (Laurie, this one's for you. I had to look it up.) James Garner, Eva Marie Saint... mid-'60s vintage, he drives race cars in Italy or someplace and his buddy is hurt in a crash. For the answer, click "Comments" below.

Anyhoo, the food was pretty good. Lots of choices. Allen enjoyed lots of big, honkin' baby corn, noodles, olives and garbanzo beans. And cookies. Emilyn, as always, enjoyed a buffet. She loves making all her own choices.



Then, it was off to the game room. No tokens here: Every machine has a swipe card reader. You buy a card, load it with money, and swipe away. And collect tickets, of course. How can you win cheap plastic crap from China without tickets!?



Daddy and Allen went around the go-kart track... Emilyn mastered skee ball and some other cool games. Mommy's best part was the shooting gallery (yessss!) and the mini, Canadian-style bowling. We blew through 25 bucks pretty easily, but it was fun.

Emilyn and Daddy then went out to the movies instead of the dance. Hannah Montana in 3-D. What better way to wrap up the day? (For more great pictures, click here.)

True love

This is one of the all-time greatest things Emilyn has ever done, so I wanted to share it with everyone... (If you can't read the whole thing, just click on the picture. That'll take you to DropShots, where you can click on the picture again and blow it up full screen.)

Not to be outdone, Allen also made Emilyn a Valentine... which is truly beautiful, too.

Big thanks to Emily and Aaron

Allen was the odd boy out on Thursday morning... Emilyn and I had to get to school for the field trip, and Daddy wasn't going to be home from work in time to take care of Allen. So my friend Emily graciously agreed to watch Allen for about an hour or so until Daddy could come and pick him up on his way home from work.

We were a little apprehensive, because Allen hasn't been around that many people, or kids (Emily's son Aaron is 4), or dogs (they have one named Bach). So, we toted along Grammy Shark, and lots of food, things known to keep Allen feeling secure and contented.

Turns out, we worried over nothing... When I got back from the field trip, I heard many permutations of this from Allen:

"Let's pretend we're going to Emily's house. Aaron has a lot of trains there. You can play with them. You can try the green one. It makes noise."

And Allen made quite an impression on Emily, too. She sent me this e-mail:

I am glad he had a good time. He made me laugh. I showed him the Thomas toy that fills the engines with "water" and he says "That's like a spout." Yes it is. I couldn't believe he knew what a spout was. And then Bach came up and sniffed him and he ran for Grammy Shark and I told him that he was a good doggy with a cold nose. His response was "A doggy is a type of puppy." That cracked me up! He is too cute.

Making history at the Old Courthouse

I went along with Emilyn and her classmates today on the third-grade field trip to the Old Courthouse. We did a lot of exploring in the building itself, and learning about St. Louis history, but the high point of the day was the mock trial they had all rehearsed for: The Bubble Gum Trial, held in a real, refurbished 19th-century courtroom. Emilyn portrayed the attorney for the plaintiff.

"Objection! That is NOT relevant!"

She made a convincing case, punctuated by a couple of strenuous objections, and in the end, she and her client, Sarah the "teacher," prevailed. Wise jurist Rachel sentenced gum-chewer Nathan to lunch with the principal and litter pickup at recess.

After the verdict came in, the whole third grade headed over to the Arch for lunch. Mommy snuck in to the Mercantile shop and bought some Valentine's fudge for Daddy. All in all, it was a great, if tiring, trip. Click here to see all the photos and read the captions.

Cramped or cozy?

He's started squeezing himself into corners and closets and other tight spots. As his closet's full of toys, it's easy to see what's so attractive about wedging himself in there.

The last of the snow

We had to have one more day to play in the snow. I think this'll be it for the season. But we had two sizeable snowfalls! Only one of which I had to drive in! All in all, that's a pretty good winter. To see more pictures and a little video, click here.

Please visit Brian's new website

Our friend Brian is a whiz with all things digital. He has launched a great new business, History Speaks, where he makes "photo narratives" -- montages of real people's voices and stories, intermixed with their photos.

I hope he gets rich, so he can hire me, because I am totally jealous. It's a lot like what I do with my montages, only much more meaningful, if you ask me. Especially when you're talking about preserving the real stories of some treasured someone who won't be around forever. I would love to have something like this from Mom and Dad.

Anyway, please visit Brian's website, and pass it on. Thanks!

What's better than a fuzzy bathrobe?

Nothing!

Check out more of Allen modeling Emilyn's bathrobe here.

Ahh, the Critchlow life

My grandfather Harry Critchlow was one of 13 kids. That side of the family keeps in good touch and is big into geneaolgy. I learned from them that Harry and my grandmother Pearl used to camp around for his work with the railroad, with my Aunt Dot, before my dad was born. Then, my cousin Darlene passed on this photo and little note:

"It is a photo of 'camp in Callihoon.' Pearl followed Harry and his work stringing telegraph cable along the railroad, camping as they went (only in the summer months). That's mom in the photo and she looks to be about 2 years old, so the photo is probably summer 1924. Mom said she slept in the trunk, and no doubt it was used to pack up camp items. The camping continued until mom reached school age."

Fun at the car show

Oh, baby, it was cold outside! But inside the Dome, all was gleaming metal and new car smell. We tried out the new Caravan, the one with the spin-around seats and a table inside... Allen got to climb in every one and press all the buttons he could. What more could a guy want? Check out more photos here.

A little bit of snow

Had a dusting of snow this morning. Allen did what he could with it. Check out more photos here.

Cool kids

A star at the Academic Rally

Emilyn took home six honors this year at the Academic Rally...

• Homework Hero
• Excellent Effort
• Star Musician
• Super Strings
• Super Citizen
• and Intermediate Outstanding Achievement

Check out some photos here.

Big screen "Sweeney"

MAN! The movie event that I've been waiting for for months (plus three weeks). "Sweeney Todd," starring Johnny Depp and brought to you in bloody glory by Tim Burton.

I went in with no preconceived notions, even though I've been a fan of the musical since I was 12. George Hearn, Angela Lansbury. Filmed on Broadway and shown on "Masterpiece Theater." I still have my grainy VHS tape. I knew the movie would be different. That was OK with me.

I loved Johnny. He was great. I loved the kid who played Toby. He was amazing. It was great to have an actual kid in the role. Not some 35-year-old tenor pretending to be a kid. Antony was OK, too. Johanna was a total loss. Yawn. She didn't even have any lines. Nice big Victorian bosom, to be sure, but that's hardly enough sparkle to justify to the audience why Judge Turpin, Antony and, in his way, Sweeney, would be so obsessed with her.

Helena Bonham Carter was a big problem. Or, the portrayal of Mrs. Lovett was. Mrs. Lovett, in the play, is a boisterous character. Bawdy. Brilliant. Yes, she is a cold and calculating survivor. But the insidious nature of the character is how much the life of the party she is. You want to root for her. Even though she's devious and, well, bloodthirsty.

The play is campy, cartoonish. It's funny. The movie is a little too dark to be all that funny. Even the funny parts. They could have empasized the humor more, and toned down the splatter. I think they were going for the campiness of the gore, but I don't know if they pulled it off. I mean, the play is a roller-coaster ride, because you never see the horror coming. You're having a rollicking good time, then suddenly someone gets his throat slit. Whoa!

And, I'm sure it hurt me that I knew the ending. All in all, though, the sets and CGI were amazing. The structure of the buildings is such an important part of plot, and I think they handled it really, really well.

And the kid who played Toby, I'm his new biggest fan. If I could remember what his name was. You'd know him if you saw him. He was spot-on. Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli... he was OK. I'd have preferred a little Danny O'Higgins, but the cockney probably suited Cohen better. Again, that was a very funny part of the play, and they just went totally without humor there. Hmmmmm. I don't know if they thought a splatter comedy would be too over the top. But I think they'd have been better off with more comedy and less splatter.

"O Zinnacup, O Zinnacup..."

"What the heck is a zinnacup?"

Well, owl be!

The other day, we found the scattered remains of some poor birdie in the driveway. Not much remained. Feathers and blood. Ick. Well, I think I've met our front-yard hunter: As I got home from work last night at midnight, I saw an owl sitting in the middle of the dark road right in front of the house. A big owl. As I pulled into the driveway, he flew up into our big pear tree. His hugeness made the tree look small. As I tried to figure out how to quietly get out of the car, get in the house, get my camera, get back outside... he swooped silently away, inches above the road, and into the night. Wow. Wild Asilomar, indeed.

71 degrees? Gotta take down those lights!

When the weather's this nice, there's no excuse. Allen and I headed outside yesterday morning to take down the Christmas lights. I thought he would be more traumatized by this, but he kept muttering to himself, "We're gonna get some new Christmas lights."

He drew the line at the wreaths, though. After I took them all down and put them away, he took them back out again and lined them back up in front of the windows.

Then he wanted me to take a picture of each color light on the multicolored strand... Click here to see more.

While he was napping, we took down the tree. That was a little tougher for him. The first thing he said when we went go get him? "Gonna go turn on the Christmas tree." Well, buddy... there is no tree. Emilyn told him we'd get another tree next Christmas. "We'll get a new tree," he said. "It'll have lights. They'll be on."

Someone else got published, too

These health questions may sound hearteningly universal, yet startlingly familiar... Click here.

Bodies and balls and stars, oh my!

Allen took his first trip to the Science Center, and he brought us along for the ride.

It was Mommy's bright idea to go on the day after the Highway 40 shutdown... maybe we'd be the only ones who could find it! No such luck, but it truly wasn't that busy.

We wanted especially to see Body Worlds 3, a special exhibit of "plastinated" real dead humans. WOW! No matter what you think of it, it makes you think. My personal favorite was the guy poised on top of three wooden balls, holding all his organs over his head. Then, there was the guy holding his own skin...


It was a great look at real anatomy, though. The whole digestive tract strung out and framed on the wall was amazing (Allen said, "That's where he poops!"). Emilyn and I held a real kidney! We saw what a smoker's lungs look like, vs. what our lungs look like. And we saw cross sections of a 300-pound man.

Allen was enthralled. It really surprised us. Emilyn had trouble with the fetus exhibit. No one likes to think of all those dead babies in jars. Allen said, "Those babies are taking a nap."

After Body Worlds, we headed over the bridge to the Planetarium. We took some time to build the Arch, and a nice passer-by took our picture. Click here to see it and all the other shots from our day. (No cameras were allowed in Body Worlds. Rats.)

Allen sat so nicely on his mat during the sky show. He especially liked Canis Major -- "the puppy in the sky!" We also saw a little movie about Pluto, the poor planet that wasn't.

Allen also loved the huge ball-carrying contraption in the new lobby. He would have stared at it for hours. His Grampy-ness is really showing. We think we may have to get this boy a membership to the museum.

We stayed at the Science Center until closing time. Then, we headed over to a (very) small pub, Three Monkeys, for dinner. Good pizza! In all, it was a very busy day.

Highway 40 swan song

If you're not from around here, you may not have heard...

Highway 40 is closing! For two years! Lock up your children! It's mass hysteria!

Or, it's no big deal. Who can say? Around here, it's been hyped to hell, and everybody's in a panic. It's our main drag, and it'll be tougher, for a while, to get to some places.

Like Yen Ching! My favorite Chinese restaurant, and a place we don't get to very often. So, our Highway 40 swan song included dinner there last night (wonton soup for two, pot stickers, Yen Ching beef... YUM!). Allen had fun playing with the soy sauce and vinegar bottles.

Then, we headed off to Tilles Park, another place right on Highway 40, for another gander at their Christmas lights display. We were there on Thanksgiving, but we thought it'd be good for Allen to get one more dose.

So, now we're ready for the darn thing to close. Close already! (Zero hour is 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.)

I'm published, again

It's the second time in three years! Or so.

I wrote a little piece for our Lifestyle Saturday magazine about... starting a family blog! (The last piece I wrote was about fantasy football. I try not to stray too far from my areas of expertise.)

Anyway, if you'd like to read it, click here.

Happy birthday, Dad

The ol' man would have been 79 today. WOW! He would have never believed the computing power packed into Emilyn's Nintendo DS. Or the sound coming out of Steve's iPod dock. And I bet he would have found a way to mute Allen's leaf blower.

Caurie's birthday is tomorrow (Happy-happy, Caur!), and that means it's officially the end of Christmas. So, enjoy the music and lights for one more day. (It's easy to pack away the holiday trappings on the blog. Not so easy at my house!)

Allen gets a load of Christmas

Our Christmas miracle

Laurie called me this afternoon and asked, again, if we'd gotten Allen's Hess truck. "Well, no," I answered. Then she tracked the package, and it said it had been delivered to the porch on Dec. 20. "Well, OK," I said. "Maybe I took the box downstairs and forgot about it."

Then she looked up the shipping order and noticed she had written 121 Asilomar Court. "Well, for starters," I said, "we live at 122 Asilomar Court. 121 is the old lady across the street, who I think is now in a nursing home."

So, off I go in my pajamas, four days later, to check Mrs. Fischer's front porch. Lo and behold, there's Allen's Hess truck, under the welcome mat. I banged on the door a few times, thinking that if I was going to steal a package off her porch, I ought to at least announce it. No one answered, and I made off with the box. It brightened Allen's sniffly day. The motorcycles light up when you turn the guys' heads, and the truck makes some awesome rumbly sounds. And we got it! It's our Christmas miracle.

Cookies for Santa

Tonight's the big night! But, Allen has a sniffle. Rats. He felt well enough to make cookies for Santa, though.

We made our big dinner, just like Thanksgiving, only minus the bread pudding and plus the huge turkey from Unca Pete. Thanks! For more pictures of cookie-making fun, click here.

Jennie's vacation journal: The wrap-up

Well, I did kind of get busy there... A lot of running around, house cleaning, making a list and checking it twice... that sort of stuff. I did manage to get everything on my list done -- except for going to the movies. I wanted to see "Sweeney Todd" on the day it opened. Or the next day. Or the day after that. Well, didn't happen. But, it'll keep!

On Friday, we had Emilyn's Winter Party at school. I was the official photographer, so I got a lot of shots of all three classes having fun. There was a craft project, a bingo game and ice cream sundaes. Yum! Click here to see photos.

Then, after school, we went to get our tree. After a day of rain, it was a muddy affair. But we got a nice one, and got it up and pretty in time for Allen to wake up from his nap. It was love at first sight. Check out the photos here.

On Saturday, Emilyn and I went to see the Nutcracker at Edison Theater at Washington University. It was a nice, cut-down version of the ballet, with narration for the kids. We enjoyed the Palace of the Sweets dances, especially the Sugar Plum Fairy and her consort, and the Russian candy cane dancers. Beautiful costumes. Lots of happy kids. Emilyn got dressed up fancy and had her hair in a bun. Click here to see some photos.

Sunday was Emilyn's swim lesson, then a trip to Aunt Amy's for gift-giving and merry-making. Plus, Brian took our picture, because we were so fancy. And he's so good at it.

I took some pictures, too. Not as good. You can see them here.

Jennie's vacation journal: Day 3

Got a little bit done today... Went to the post office to mail Stacy some of Emilyn and Allen's artwork. She's starting a kids' gallery on the wall of her house in Germany. Then, Allen and I went to the train store. Santa did a little shopping there while Allen played with trains. We also got some more Christmas cards and gifts... Thanks to Linda, Angela, Ellen, Lisa and Emily!

Later, after nap, we went to get Emilyn at school and headed out to eat and to Ted Drewes to "look at trees." What we actually went there for was to "eat ice cream." I had a butterscotch concrete with Dad's scotch oatmeal cookies. Steve had malt chip. Emilyn had hot fudge. Allen was lucky enough to share all three! Click here to see all of today's pictures.

We saw some nice trees. Surprisingly affordable. If we don't find one we like out here, we may just go back! And eat more concretes!

Jennie's vacation journal: Day 2

So much accomplished today! First, as you can hopefully see and hear, we've dolled up the blog for the holidays... Blinking lights and pretty music. Let me know how it's working for everyone!

Also, I cleaned all the baby clothes out of Allen's closet, and made room for all his toys. Now, the corner is clear for the Christmas tree!

We got a lot of holiday cheer from the mail lady today... Thanks for the cards and gifts from Jeanne, Ellen, Grandma and Grandpa, Linda, Derek and Caroline... The cards are all pinned on the mantel. And here's how you know it's Christmas: The hanging of the bells! My brass bells are now up on the mantel and chiming out their cheer. Allen loves them, as we expected.

After all that good work, we still had time to play outside in the snow. Allen had fun with a little shovel, and Emilyn spent time on her sled. Click here to see more.

Jennie's vacation journal: Day 1

Fueled by some tasty pumpkin waffles (thanks, Daddy), I started off by getting one essential thing done: I saved my photos on CD and cleared off my camera's memory cards. So, I'm ready to capture some holiday happenings!

This afternoon, Emilyn had her swimming lesson... she treaded water! Whoo-hoo! Then we joined her at the pool, and I got some time in the hot tub for my back. Apparently, I wrenched it shoveling yesterday morning. It feels a lot better now.

Then, dinner at Ruby Tuesday, where the table next to us featured a screaming baby. Nice. We realized Allen is very well-behaved!

A snowy night

A wallop of winter hit us last night. This morning, 7 inches on the ground at Asilomar. That's a lot of snow! Last night, it was really pretty, and Emilyn and I took a (short) walk and got a few photos. Click here to see them all.

One chair, one glass. Now that's love.

Here's a sweet little shot of Emilyn and Allen sharing some after-school Oreo sticks.

Christmas card photo shoot

My friend Brian has switched to Blogger, and has been using these cool Picasa slideshows. I just had to try one too! Hope it gets you in the holiday spirit!

A sweet story

Sometimes in the morning, Allen and I like to share a snack. If we're coming in from outside, he often climbs into a "big boy chair" at the table, waiting for his Teddy Grahams or whatever. The other day, he sat across from me, in Daddy's chair, and we nibbled while I worked on a sudoku. I looked up, and he was down to two Teddies. He pushed one across the table with his little arm and said, "Wanna save one for Mommy."
Awww! That's my sweet little man.

Quick update

I've not dropped off the face of the earth... Actually, I've been pretty busy getting ready for Christmas. The Christmas cards are printed and ready to go. Drop us a line if you've changed addresses since last year (I've already heard from some of you, thanks!). I also made my first photo calendar and a photo book on Shutterfly. Waiting to see how those turned out. Emilyn is mastering her multiplication facts up to 12 (earning pieces of a banana split along the way). Allen is currently fascinated by Mommy and Daddy's big bed. He climbs up there and spends hours happily. Steve is ramping up for the big December rush at work. Hope all is well with all of you... After I mail out the Christmas cards, I'll upload the rejected photos. Too cute!