Category Archives: Griffin

Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo, Sarah, Travel

Road Trip, Day 1

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This is the first post in a series about our summer road trip from Minnesota to Washington and Oregon, passing through the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Starting odometer: 144,354

We aimed to depart at 9:00 AM and were under way by 9:45—this was amazingly good timing for us. With young kids in the car, our general goal was to drive for only six-ish hours per day, leaving room for plenty of pit stops, slow starts, and time in the evening to set up camp and explore before bed. On the first day, however, we decided to shoot for Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a little over eight hours away. We loved camping at this relatively obscure park during our 2014 road trip to California, and we figured that we could push hard on our first day.

Imagine our surprise when we rolled into the park to discover that the campground, largely empty in 2014, was entirely booked! Not only that, but every nearby campground was also booked. Apparently there was a wildly popular vintage car show going on over the weekend. Doh! [Note for our next road trip: camping reservations are a good idea.]

We looked ahead on the map and found Makoshika State Park in Montana. This would get us a few hours ahead and the park looked incredible. We went for it, racing to get there before sunset. The park was as beautiful as advertised and the campgrounds were fantastic. Campsites were spread out around gorgeous canyons with plenty of privacy. Alas, even this 11,000 acre park was fully occupied. We enjoyed watching the magnificent sunset from the bluffs and then accepted defeat, tucking our tails between our legs and “camping” at the Days Inn in Glendive. Dinner consisted of granola bars since we couldn’t use our camp stove to cook a proper meal.

It was not the best start. On the bright side, all three kids were awesome in the car for a very long driving day. Admittedly, the older two watched movies for most of the day, but Oliver was surprisingly easy going about being strapped into his carseat for 10+ hours. The driving felt relatively easy, even though it ran long and ended in disappointment.

A few innovations we implemented for this trip:

  • We gave the kids their snacks each morning and let them decide when to eat them throughout the day. Seems like such a simple thing, but on past trips we would centrally manage the food and it was a constant source of conflict. This time they each had a labeled ziplock with all of their options. Sarah even organized things so that they could refill the bag each morning from the big food bin in the rear. They had a list of things that they should put in (e.g., 2 Lara bars, 1 popcorn, 2 trail mixes, etc.). They loved it and we avoided all of the arguments and cries of imminent starvation.
  • Sarah purchased small items as daily gifts. Each was wrapped and the kids looked forward to receiving them. Examples included fidget spinners, card games, activity books, etc. (Technically, Sarah came up with this idea for the 2014 trip and we continued it this time.)
  • Storage baskets for Griffin and Maggie mounted on the seats in front of them. They held books, art supplies, etc. (Despite this, however, the back seats were usually an appalling mess by the end of the day.)
Kids are ready to go!
Kitchen supplies ready!
Custom activity baskets will never look this neat again.
Oliver, road trip champion.
The whole gang on the open road.
Making the best of our first “camp.”
Griffin’s message to Sarah using his secret decoder.
Day one route; note that we intended to stop before Montana, but the campgrounds were all full.

 

Griffin, Maggie

Notepad Tale, Chapters 1 and 2

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Recently, we’ve allowed Griffin and Maggie to use an old iPhone to play music while they are in the basement (usually while building things out of legos). Naturally, they explored the phone to find out what other things they could do with it. I locked it down pretty tight, but they discovered Apple’s “Notepad” app and realized that they could use it to write a story. They’ve written two chapters and are part way through the third. I’ll post them as they finish them.

Note that the overall work doesn’t have a title yet, though each chapter does. Also, although Griffin is tapping out the story, Maggie definitely gives lots of input. For example, she specifically suggested the word stumbled in the second paragraph of chapter one. No adults have had anything to do with editing or revision, though Griffin sometimes asks how to spell words. (Mostly he depends on the autocomplete feature to suggest spellings, but sometimes he’s not even sure how to begin.) After writing the first paragraph of chapter one, he was also stumped about how to keep the story moving. I gave him very broad advice about how stories depend on conflicts where characters have to overcome problems. I barely finished saying it when he was bursting with ideas.

Finally, Maggie wants it to be clear that this story isn’t about her (the real Maggie), but rather a fictional Maggie.

Chapter 1
Maggie’s story

It all started on a snowy January night, when Maggie was born. It’s a girl!!!! Said Sarah. she was so little!

When she was three she stumbled into a forest. She saw something

Rustling in a big blue bush when

she looked closer she saw that it was a monster. It’s name was bogeys. When bogeys saw Maggie bogeys charged at Maggie. Maggie ran but the monster caught Maggie 😞. Bogeys took Maggie to it’s lair. There were lots and lots of bogeys.

Maggie said get me home 🏡. Meanwhile at home Sarah said where is Maggie? it’s past her bedtime, i hope she’s safe. Sarah went looking for Maggie and then she saw footprints 👣 .she followed them she came to a cave when she looked inside she saw Maggie. and 5 bogeys guarding Maggie. Sarah had to get Maggie back but there was one problem it was that she would have to get past the bogeys. Sarah decided to go home 🏡 but when she got there her house 🏡 was GONE!!

To be continued!

Chapter 2
The case of the missing house 🏡

Sarah was furious. if she couldn’t find her house 🏡 then she couldn’t find a rope than she couldn’t tie the bogeys in knots then she couldn’t get Maggie back.

Sarah decided to go to the bogeys lair when she got there she signaled Maggie to distract the bogeys well Sarah go’s and take the phone 📱 and she did that then she called all the Maggie’s in the world 🌎

See this post for chapters 3-5.

Griffin, Photo

Haircut

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Griffin told Sarah recently that he wanted a new haircut, short on the sides and long on the top. He was inspired by Brooke Allen’s illustrations of Mal in the Lumberjanes graphic novels (one of our family favorites).

This is the specific panel that inspired him. Mal is the one with the black hair and two earrings.

 

We’ve had some poor cuts recently for him, so Sarah made an appointment at Moxie on Grand. See below for the results.

Before:

Excited for his new ‘do.

After:

After… looking sharp!
He’s pretty pumped about it.

I think it is pretty cool that he came up with this on his own, though I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep that wave action going on a daily basis.

Griffin, Photo

My Superhero

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This morning, after Griffin returned from working out with Sarah, I mentioned that I was going to mow the lawn. It took me a while to get Oliver up and settled, but eventually I made it to the garage to get the mower. As I opened the door, Griffin said that he had already pulled it out to the front yard. I thanked him for helping me get started. Then I came ’round the corner of the house and discovered that he had not only pulled the mower out, but had mowed the entire front lawn by himself. Note that this is a manual mower, so it takes real effort to move the thing around, especially when the grass is long and still moist from yesterday’s rain.

Pretty proud of this guy!

Griffin mowed the front lawn entirely on his own.

PS: Yes, we have discussed the potential consequences of spinning blades encountering bare toes.

Griffin, Maggie, Oliver

Bedtime Routine

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Sarah wrote this up for our first non-family babysitter for Oliver. It sums up where our bedtime routine stands now. We’re loving it–short, simply, and successful.

Oliver

Oliver’s bedtime is anywhere between 6-7:30pm, depending on how tired he seems. Signs that he’s ready for bed include crankiness, rubbing his eyes, heavy eyelids, general discontent, arching his back, etc. Once it’s clear he’s ready for bed, here’s what we do:

  • Make a bottle to take upstairs. We usually make a 6 oz bottle, which is 6 oz of water mixed with 3 scoops of formula.
  • Change diaper
  • Get into PJs (we’ve left some out for you)
  • Read him a book (I Like It When is my standby) and give him the bottle, if he’ll take it. We usually lay together on our big bed. If he’s really eating a lot, you can read him more stories. I’m sure Griffin and Maggie can find some to read. Sometimes we skip this part if it’s clear he’s ready and doesn’t need any milk.
  • Once he’s done eating and you’re done reading a story, we say goodnight to Maggie and Griffin, and enter their room. We say goodnight to objects in the room (“Night night, clock! Night night closet! Night night, alphabet! Night night, Maggie’s bed! Night night, Griffin’s bed!”)
  • Lay him down and give him his lovie.
  • Say, “Night night, sleep tight! I’m right outside! I love you!”
  • Leave the room, closing the door.
  • If he cries, please set a timer for 5 minutes. Crying is continuous crying, not whimpers, moments of silence, whimper for a bit, silence for a bit. If he cries hard for 5 minutes, enter the room again, give him his lovie if it’s out of reach, and repeat, “Night night, sleep tight! I’m right outside! I love you!” Please don’t pick him up. He’s used to this routine now, and we’ve only had one or two times of really hard crying. He’s learning to soothe himself to sleep, and he’s gotten very good at it!

Maggie & Griffin

Bedtime for these guys is 7:30pm, unless Oliver is still falling asleep. We try to put Oliver down before they’re ready for bed, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. We start them getting ready for bed around 7 or 7:15pm. Their jobs are:

  • Get into PJs
  • Put dirty clothes down the chute
  • Brush teeth for 2 minutes
  • Go to bed

Their routine sometimes includes time for read aloud, but if you are busy putting Oliver to bed, I would encourage them to get into their PJs, brush their teeth, and take a little quiet reading time on our bed, if it’s available, or the back bedroom. They are sometimes really amped before bed and goof off in their beds, which sometimes wakes Oliver. Please remind them that it’s silent time once they’re in their room!

Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo, Sarah

Memorial Day at the Cabin

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We enjoyed a few days with away from the end-of-school rush at the cabin over Memorial Day weekend. Our friends Jess, Murray, and Olive joined us. (Sadly, Kevin couldn’t make it this year.)

The trip included a number of notable events:

  • Oliver’s first trip to the cabin, including relatively long drives, unfamiliar sleeping arrangements, and a wacky schedule. He was quite flexible, though he did complain that we were letting him freeze during the first night (temps dropped steeply after dark). We nailed it on the second night.
  • Oliver’s first kayak trip.
  • Maggie’s first time paddling the canoe and sitting on a proper bench.
  • Griffin and Murray’s first time being largely independent in the kayaks. This was not exactly our intent, but they got them in the water before the rest of us were ready and before we knew it they were across the lake, exploring the island. (Definitely wearing life jackets!)
  • Griffin caught a frog.
  • Relatively close encounter with a pileated woodpecker on a birch by the cabin. The photos, at the end of the set below, are blurry phone pics, but this sucker was huge.
  • Two new eggs in the loon nest. We weren’t sure if they would use the same nest site for a second year running. Last year one egg did not hatch. We’ll be checking back on the nest at our next visit.
  • Thunderstorms and hail kept us inside on Sunday afternoon, which allowed for a smashing D&D game. (Griffin’s elf wizard was nearly killed by an evil skeleton, but Maggie gave him one of her healing potions.)
Oliver enjoying the view from the porch.
Oliver’s first time out in a kayak.
Maggie’s first time paddling (occasionally) the canoe.
Griffin and Murray zipped all over the lake.
Two fresh loon eggs in the same nest that we found last summer.
Oliver working on some teething issues (and boosting his immune system).
Bedtime reading with Jess.
Pileated woodpecker is on the trunk of the tree above the cluster of green leaves. (This was the maximum zoom with my phone… alas I didn’t have time to get the telephoto on my camera.)
Profile of the pileated woodpecker on the large branch to the left.
Griffin, Maggie

An Unexpected Party

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The kids were ready for bed tonight with a good 45 minutes to spare. They wanted to play Munchkin, our current favorite game, but we’ve been playing a lot lately, so I suggested that we start a new book together. I told them that I had something in mind, and found the beautiful edition of The Hobbit that Sarah got for me many years ago. I’ve been putting off reading this with them because it is one of my favorite books; I didn’t want to drag them through it before they could appreciate it. And, truth be told, a small part of my heart would break if they didn’t find the magic in it.

With some trepidation I brought the book upstairs. Griffin was interested, with some reservations—we’ve had mixed results with chapter books. Maggie groaned and moaned, stating categorically that she didn’t like the book, despite knowing nothing about it. I told them a bit about the story—dwarves, goblins, a dragon—and we spent some time examining the beautiful cover. Griffin was in, but Maggie remained skeptical. I suggested that we give it a try.

As we began chapter one, “An Unexpected Party,” my fears were allayed. As I once was, they were captivated by the opening lines:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

They giggled about the worms and then wanted to know so much more about this comfortable hole. By the time the first dwarves made their appearance, they were laughing and exclaiming about everything. They loved Bilbo’s obsession with food, particularly cakes, and were in hysterics over the emptying of his many pantries. When things took a serious turn, with the song about the misty mountains and the dragon’s depredations, they were both completely hooked. Griffin announced, “this is the best book ever” and Maggie, in an uncharacteristic turn, agreed.

Tolkien’s original submission of the cover jacket for the first edition of The Hobbit. The 2007 Houghton Mifflin edition has a beautifully restored version of this.