Iowa Photo Journal 18, 19 & 20

Some catchup on the photo journal today, as we, sadly, close out this great Iowa trip. We're home at the moment between running some errands, and the guys were having fun so I decided to let them play a while before we resume our tasks and for myself to take a break. Tomorrow we start the journey back to Maryland, but it's not looking like it will be an early start as there is so much to do and so little time. Anyway, mini entries 18, 19 and 20 are up on the photo journal, titled, "Family Fun Night", "Corralville Pool" and "Max's Art - Close-ups". I'm not providing direct links yet to save me some time. I'll make real links at some later date. There are more pictures to catch up on, but that won't happen until after we are home in Maryland.

Too Bad About The Circus

We had a fantastic time at Adventureland today, utterly and completely wearing everyone out. It was great, but there was the ugly incident of taking Bek and Emmett on the water ride that spun wildly (neither Bek nor Emmett liked it), and the perhaps even uglier incicent of my taking Max on the "Outlaw" rollercoaster (it was "too much", he "didn't like it", then he "kind of liked it" but it sure didn't look like it), but otherwise it was pretty sublime.

No theme-park mentality at all at this independently owned theme park (ride again if no one waiting, for instance, even change seats without leaving and coming back, if no one waiting for the seat). Short lines. Lots of kids rides that the boys liked. A real skyride that actually takes you to the other side of the park (rare these days - at best you get an out and back ride nowadays.) A fun magic show that the boys liked. The park was also pretty. I even got to ride the 3 coasters that were open (one was not, but it was the looping metal coaster so I didn't mind too much) and I was able to ride both of the big wooden coasters multiple times (the Outlaw twice and the Tornado three times.) I also rode the flume 3 times and Max rode it 4 times (once with Bek). Yes, Max! A real flume! It was a good flume too - faster running water than other flumes I've ridden and a fun big hill. Max liked it, then loved it and wanted to ride it again. At the end of the day we got to go around twice without stopping because no one was waiting. Rides 3 and 4 for Max.

Well, there was the circus. They have a circus at this park, and seeing it reinforced a feeling I've always had about circuses, but which I had mysteriously forgotten or ignored: I hate them. I'll just say that it started off on the wrong foot with an opening act involving a pretend old couple performing "hilarious" stunts on a pair of horses, the hilarity deriving from the two accidentally and intentionally pretend hurting each other, especially the pretend old man pretend hurting the pretend old woman. Then the usual array of deriving-pleasure-from-apparent-and-to-some-degree-real-risk-taking-acts in front of young children (think Siegfried & Roy). It was also painfully loud. The circus ended with a huge American flag and a rousing patriotic song. That part was pretty funny.

Marvin At 2 AM

The boys and I spent a long time at the playground outside of the library this afternoon. They were running around on super hero adventures and such. While I was sitting on one of the benches a man wearing a tie-dye shirt came up to me. I think he was deaf or mute as he said nothing. He pointed to a turtle on his shirt. Not knowing what to say, I just said what it was, "Turtle." Then he pointed to the word below it which was "Chicago". I said "Chicago". There were other words on it, probably the name of some restaurant or something, but I don't recall. Anyway, after "Chicago" he walked off. The boys continued to play and after a while I saw him walking back from the direction he had gone and heading toward me with his hand outstretched. Again unsure of what to do I took his hand and shook it, which seemed to be his intent. He then pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to me. On it was written this: "Marvin will get up at 2 AM to go to Chicago". With that he left. I didn't see him again.

Tonight we went to a cookout at Laurie and Warren's house, they now back from their trip. Burgers, corn, salad and peach cobbler (was that it?) with icecream. It was a tremendously good time, which I say in part because Warren requested the address of this blog, and so I better lay on the accolades before he arrives, but also because it is quite true. Once again the boys started out looking a bit unsure of the situation, but before long they were playing and playing and having a great time. Laurie has lots of "OT" toys which the guys love to play with. One hit this time was a little bowling set.

There probably should be more to this blog entry, but it's late and, while not as early as Marvin, we are getting up early tomorrow to go to Adventureland near Des Moines, Iowa, allegedly the biggest amusement park in Iowa. They have kids rides, a magic show and a circus, but more importantly, they have 4 roller coasters. Two large wooden coasters, one small, indoor dark-ride wooden coaster and one metal looping coaster. Yeah!

Oh, and in spite of the dire pronouncement of a colleague of mine, the corn in Iowa is not lousy at all. It's great. Aside from the local corn we had tonight, we bought some almost local corn last week and it was quite good too (but not quite as good as the truly local stuff.)

100th Anniversary

Today there was a 100th anniversary celebration at City Park. Aside from some events, none of which we attended, the swimming pool was priced at 10 cents a head, as were the amusement rides. Of course we went to the pool. It was crowded, but there was still plenty of room for us. By the end no one wanted to go. Later in the day Bek and I took turns at the diving boards. She dove off one of the lower boards whereas I, daring Daddy that I am, leaped from the high board. I didn't dive, of course, and I have to admit that I was so scared that each time (I did it twice) I felt like my legs were collapsing as I bounced on the end of the impossibly springy diving board. It was fun, but scary. Rather than getting easier, it was worse the second time. As I dropped down I found myself pulling my legs up, in a bit like a fetal position. Upon my telling them of this knee buckling affair, Max and Mommy both told me that I really didn't have to jump off the high board. What fools! Of course I had to jump off the high board - I'm the man and I must prove my manhood, buckling knees and all!

It was a great time and with the temperature as it was, it was the obvious thing to do. The water was fantastic. Afterward we had dinner at Pagliai's Pizza, which we've come to love. Then we went to lower City Park to take advantage of the 10 cent rides at the end of the day when it wasn't quite so hot. The fish ride was there this time which was exciting for the guys. They rode all the rides once, plus Max and I rode the train a second time and Emmett rode the airplanes a second time. We had one ticket left over because Max had wanted to ride the ferris wheel again but it was closed by the time his turn would have come up. It was a great day, and cheap too!

Java House - How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways:

1. Great cappuccino - there is nothing even nearly this good back home, at least not that I've found. I'm really going to miss it! Starbucks? Cough! - Cough!


2. Great coffee made in a great fashion (individually brewed via Melita-type manual drip brewers) which also allows them to offer a large number of types/blends of brewed coffee to choose from


3. Great pastries


4. A couple great children's books our boys love to read every time we go ("Some Dogs Do" and "Cat and Mouse - A Delicious Tale"). "Some Dogs Do" was immediately appealing and we've since sought and read other books by its author, Jez Alborough. "Cat and Mouse" wasn't as immediately appealing, but it has grown on me wildly and now I like it perhaps just as much. Some very funny illustrations in a more weighty than "Some Dogs Do" but still fun story. Both books are great.


5. Checkers and crayons! These plus the books make our boys want to go, and enough can not be said about having your kids want to let you go get great cappuccino. They also have chess, scrabble and some other games.


6. Free wireless network. Admittedly this is conceptual for me as I haven't actually used it so far, but free is obviously much better than not free


7. Just about the perfect distance from our Brown Street house for my morning fast walk. Well, I don't do this enough, but when I do it's great. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes each way, and what a motivator!
   

Followup: Max says, about "Some Dogs Do": Sid (the main dog in the book) gets sadder and sadder each time he tells other dogs how he flew to school and they don't believe him. First he says to them, "'But I did', said Sid. 'I did. I did.'" Then he says "'But I did', said Sid. 'I did'" Then he says "'But I did', said Sid.". Finally he doesn't say anything at all. In the end he goes home sadly, and tells his Dad only, "Dogs don't fly." Then his Dad says he has a secret, and that secret, as Sid sees, is that he can fly! Seeing that, Sid becomes happy again and flies again too!

Iowa Photo Journal 17 (Special Edition): Swimsuit Issue

Today we have a speical video entry that I'm quite proud of in the now inappropriately titled "photo journal"! Today's entry is titled Swimsuit Issue. Check out the sexy [male]supermodel footage! The pool was an absolute blast. It took a while for the boys to warm up to it, but then they went crazy. I tried both of the water slides you can see in the video and give a thumbs up to the purple traditional water slide, but while the red mixing bowl one was fun, it felt like it scratched up my back. I probably won't ride that one again, but definitely the purple one I will, and given the forecast for the next three days (97, 96, 95 degrees), I think it will be sooner rather than later.

Iowa Photo Journal 16: A Little Game Of Checkers

Here's todays entry in the photo journal, titled A Little Game Of Checkers. The game was played just outside of the public library, near the playground. We borrowed the checkers from the library.

Iowa Photo Journal 15: Special Delivery

Care package, crepes, fountain, library. The 15th entry in the photo journal is titled, Special Delivery. On a related note, we now have a library card and have put it to good use, borrowing kids books, kids DVDs and a book and DVD for me. Regarding the kids books, one of the biggest hits at the Java House downtown is that they have some kids books to read and one of those, "Some Dogs Do" by Jez Alborough, has become one of our alltime favorites. The guys always want to read it when we go there. What a fantastic children's book! Dogs who can fly when happy? How can you go wrong? Of course we had to try some other books by Mr. Alborough, and indeed those are great too. The guys picked out 3 of his books, all involving a small boy and a giant bear in the woods, both of which hold teddy bears (of appropriate size) close. They're a little bit scary, but not too scary. Fun!

Rube-ics Cube

Heading to the doctors office at the UofI we passed by the radiation treatment center in the same building, and discovered another little treasure. A fantastic Rube Goldberg machine. Download rube.asf (4 MB). Unfortunately the only thing I had handy that would allow me to take a video of it was my PDA, and it not only produces awful video quality, but it uses some Windows Media video format that isn't natively supported on the Mac, and isn't even supported by the Windows Media Player for Mac that Microsoft makes.

I imagine that Windows users should be able to play the video as is. Mac users can view the video using some alternative programs. I recommend downloading the free VLC media player. Then drag the "rube.asf" file you downloaded onto the VLC application to view it. Though the video quality is deplorable, it does at least give you the idea.

FOLLOWUP: Techically this isn't actually a "Rube Goldberg machine", because it doesn't actually achieve a task. This machine does nothing more than entertain. A Rube Goldberg machine is suppose to do something simple, such as starting a toaster, in a wildly roundabout fashion.

Iowa Photo Journal 14: Mission Select: Sidewalk Chalk

Yesterday we went outside and saw a bunch of neighborhood kids and parents/adults gathered down the street a bit, so we went to see what the hub-bub was all about. This afforded us the first real opportunity to get to know the neighbors. Of course I'm terrible with names, but some of the Mom's were Susana, Rachel (maybe?) and two or three others. There was also a Mr. ??? who lives with his wife across the street. I don't think they have kids. They run the B&B there. It turns out there are several B&Bs on our street.

Everybody was super nice, and all seemed to love living here. They did say that it gets pretty crowded when school is in session, and the weather we've been having has been a bit unusual. Normally it's hotter this time of year, but one Mom also said the real hot part of summer is usually only a couple weeks long. Bek liked talking to the Mom's as they have a lot more in common with her than the young people in her class.

One of the activities all the kids were doing was drawing with sidewalk chalk. Emmett joined in right away. The older boy there, who Max & Emmett recently purchased some hotwheels cars from at his "yard sale", was jumping on a pogo stick. Max tried it once without much luck as it requires you to be heavier than he is. I tried it too - it's harder than I remembered, but I was unquestionably plenty heavy for it.

One or more of the kids had drawn a long path on the sidewalk that Max, Emmett and I investigated, and which led to some sidewalk chalk play today. One of the Mom's left some chalk on a chair on our porch, which the guys put to use.

Todays photo journal entry is, Mission Select: Sidewalk Chalk. So titled because the newest movie rented from Netflix is "Rescue Heroes: The Movie" and they have loved it, with resulting related play.

It's a pretty dopey movie, but it's certainly infinitely better than the previous Netflix rental, "Hotwheels Acceleracers: Ignition", which is the first of a series of mini-movies that, at least in "Volume 1", more or less glorifies gang life. You get the impression that by the end of the series they'll all be best of buddies, having learned their lessons, but it still depicts and pretty much celebrates the sometimes violent rivalry between the racing teams (gangs). Indeed the film starts with one member of a team trying to kill, or at least seriously injure, another teams member during a street race, because apparently the intended victim had caused the death of one of their members, though all of this isn't entirely clear, and he isn't successful in his goal.

It's painfully difficult for an adult to watch this, as you might imagine, mind-numbingly idiotic Hotwheels movie, and perhaps its creators had hoped that parents wouldn't be able to stand watching it and thus would never notice the gang life stuff in it. I don't know. Even though I have this problem of not being able to avoid watching a turned on TV (or equivalent), I was never able to actually watch all of it. It's impossible. However, I was able to see enough of it to become wildly unsure about letting the boys see volumes 2 and 3. Having said that, they certainly were completely enthralled with the Hotwheels show and, from talking with them about it, it's not clear that they actually understood the gang life parts of the movie. For instance they don't seem to have any understanding of what was being depicted in the opening of the movie other then that it was a super fast race. It went over their heads. I've tried to tell them of the parts of it that I didn't like, and that has left an impression on them. They both now state that it wasn't a good movie. Of course, they also state that they can't wait to see volume 2. Emmett several days ago said to me that the Rescue Heroes movie is good, but the Hotwheels movie isn't, because after he watches it he usually starts bopping people. It's pretty much true too.

Miscellaneous Catch Up

Yesterday, during their bath, Emmett wanted to do some of his own washing, so I let him do it. After he finished, he turned around, stuck out his backside a little and said in a goofy voice, "Does this look like a nice, shiny bottom?"'

The last two days Max, Emmett and I have gone on a walk to John's Grocery store. It's a fairly big walk for the boys, so I'm real happy to see them not only willing to do it, but wanting to do it. Of course the fact that I got them a treat each time at John's didn't hurt. Today it was a big bag of M&Ms. We also went on the walk today to re-find a sign we saw yesterday that made note of a "Family Fun Night" at one of the parks next Thursday. We found the sign and noted the details on my PDA this time. It turns out it is at the park on our street. There's going to be music, art and games like a bean bag toss and others as well as sidewalk chalk and other activities, plus the playground. It's free.

On the 4th of July we went to the Corralville fireworks. We found that not only were their fireworks, there were also carnival rides. They were kind of expensive, though, at 2 tickets per ride, and tickets costing $1 each (a little less if bought in quantity), so we let them ride 2 rides each. Emmett chose to ride the train and the flying sharks. Max rode the tanks and the super slide. The rides were a hit, but they were all in need of a lot of paint and some basic maintenance. For the price, we weren't impressed. This was where the pool is that has the water slides, and that pool did look like a lot of fun, so we hope to get them there sometime soon. Regarding the fireworks, I didn't really like the main part of the fireworks. They went on too long in entirety, and some of the fountain type fireworks, of which there were far too many, individually went on far too long (and were way too loud). It got pretty tedious IMHO, and I was ready to leave before it was over, but I'm glad we didn't because the finale was absolutely unbelievable. The sky was completely filled with color like nothing I've seen before. It was amazing.

Guilt On The 3rd Of July

We put Max and Emmett to bed tonight and Emmett fell quickly to sleep, but Max struggled. He was screaming and screaming at times, but Emmett stayed sound asleep. Bek went off to the grocery store and I worked on the dishes. Finally I went up to see what the trouble was and Max said he was scared because he heared a sound, a sound that he described by asking me to do the "pop" sound I make by putting a finger inside my mouth, pressed against the inside of my cheek, and popping the finger out. I told him it was probably just some people setting off fireworks in preparation for the 4th of July and that there was nothing to be scared about. I told him I'd go finish the dishes and then come up and check on him afterward. Well, I was running the water and the fan was running and I could hear him yelling, but this goes on not unfrequently, and I like to let him get some of the yells out before I go back up. Eventually he quieted down and when I went up after finishing the dishes he was sound asleep.

A little bit later Bek came home and said that the fireworks were tonight, not the fourth, that there was a mob scene on our street! I couldn't believe it. After putting some groceries away I decided to go up and see if I could wake Max up, but I couldn't. He was completely out. I felt utterly and completely guilty. The sound he was hearing wasn't the real fireworks, probably was somebody's home fireworks, because the real ones are quite loud, but still. We should have done our homework. They've been so looking forward to it.

I went to see what the hubbub was all about, and not surprisingly, Iowa City fireworks are the bomb. I only watched part of it, then came back to let Bek have a turn. There were stars, hearts, Saturns, atomic symbols, and all the staples. Loud blasts loud enough to set off car alarms all over the place. Even the little bit I watched was pretty spectacular. They are still kablamming on now.

While she was at the store, Bek asked about what was going on, and then finding out it was fireworks night, she also found out that Corralville does have fireworks actually on the 4th, so we'll take the boys to it, but it's not the same as being able to walk out your house just a short distance up the street and see the big show. I have a feeling there's going to be some tears tomorrow morning. Sigh.

FOLLOWUP: what was obviously the grand finale just happened and it was so loud that the windows were rattling in the house. I ran upstairs to see if the guys had woken up, but I guess they really were tired as they were still asleep. Bek came back and said we shouldn't even tell them that the fireworks happened here, as if we do it will just make them upset for no reason. I guess she's right. I have difficulty not being truthful to my kids, but of course it's not always the right thing to do. Good thing I have Bek to keep me crooked.

Iowa Photo Journal 13: Lake Macbride State Park

From yesterday, entry 13 in the photo journal is here, Lake Macbride.

Water, Water Everywhere

We met our neighbor in the house next to us today (she had been away on her honeymoon), I think her name was Joanie. I'm really bad with names. Bek thinks it was Joan, so I think both are at least close. She is very nice and has a 6 year old daughter. She told us we have to check out the city pool in Coralville which is nearby, as well as their city park. The price for the pool is exactly the same as the Iowa City park pool (cheap), but it has water slides and is basically a water park! We're going to see if they will be open on the 4th and if so give them a visit as the weather looks to be pretty good for it. 84 and partly cloudy. The Iowa City park pool will be open, so hopefully the Coralville one will as well.

Apparently Coralville use to be a sleepy town, but they built the Coral Ridge Mall (with the ice rink, movie theater, etc), have been making lots of money from it ever since, and putting the money back into the community.

She also told us that a town about 2 miles northing of Coralville also has a really nice city park which we will have to check out as well.

This Isn't Much Fun Yet

Thursday we went for a visit with some friends of Liz's who live in Iowa City, Laurie and Warren. Did I get that right? "Laurie"? Now I'm not sure, but I won't let that stop this post! We were also going there to borrow a mower, as we have to cut the lawn here, and there is no mower. Amy (the young woman we subletted the apartment from) said they borrow the neighbor's mower, but the neighbor is on her honeymoon and the grandparents are there watching her children. I feel a bit awkward about borrowing the mower from strangers in the first place, but on top of that the actual neighbor isn't there, so it's fortunate that Liz's friends don't live far away.

When we first arrived at their house, within a minute Max said to me, quietly, "This isn't much fun yet", and looked somber. By the end of the visit Max and Emmett didn't want to leave and Max said he wanted to come back. L&W had a bunch of toys for the boys to play with, including a lot of little cars, airplanes, buses, etc, which the guys used to set up a town on a walkway. Lots of other fun stuff too. The toys kept the guys occuppied so we had time to sit in the yard with Laurie and Warren and chat. It was a great time and L&W seemed really nice. I guess they thought we were nice too as we got invited back for a barbeque later in July. They are going to Switzerland this Sunday, so the bbq will be when they get back. They have a pretty little house and a really nice yard that the boys liked exploring. Also when I took Max and Emmett in to use the potty, we met their two cats, Possum and (I'm forgetting the other's name). Possum was super friendly and let us pet him (her? I think him.) They boys wanted to do more exploring inside the house, but I told them we shouldn't snoop around. However, I had to take a peek at the record collection (yes, records), so there was some snooping. Good stuff in the collection!

Yesterday Max said to me, "all we ever explore is the city." I have to admit that he's right. Last night, after the boys were in bed, I went to Target to pick up some things, and on the way took a long route to get there, in part inspired by a "Dave's Rootbeer Stand" sign, saying to turn at a light. I never found the rootbeer stand, perhaps a victim of the road construction, but I really enjoyed the drive. I felt like I was free and there were some interesting barns and things on the way and it made me want to go back with a camera. So we're going to branch out more and see more things in the area.

While we were at Laurie's house we asked where to go for fireworks on the 4th, and they told us that they'd be right over our house. The big fireworks are at the city park and there will be a big crowd. We'll be able to walk there, or maybe just stay at the house for the show.