Going the Distance ( 90's Music Fun 001)

This is the first of a new series where I am going to share music that I like organized by decade.

Cake
The Distance

The Toadies
Possum Kingdom

Harvey Danger
Flagpole Sitta

Cracker
Movie Star

Blur
Song 2

Smashing Pumpkins
Bullet With Butterfly Wings

Silverchair
Israel’s Son

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

Wow, I can't believe it's been four months since I last did one of these Henry blogs. I assure you I wasn't consciously being lazy or anything. It's just like the cliché title of the article says, times flies when you're having fun. Henry is getting older and he's a lot of fun to just hang out with.


I think Henry might have a future in modeling just look at how he naturally strikes a pose in the picture on the left. 

There’s a park about 5 blocks away. On the weekends if I feel like I need a little exercise I put him the stroller and take him over there. Or if I’m lazy I’ll drive him over there. The park has swings and two big play areas with lots of slides (see the lead picture of this article), some of them are double slides and Henry constantly wants me to slide next to him. Must be a funny sight, me going down a kid’s slide.

When he’s not on the playground, Henry likes to play with his Duplos. He’s got this set for making car and he’s got a set for making animals so naturally he combines the two and makes an elephant-car. Or, I just put random blocks together on the car piece and stick an animal head-piece on it and let him play with some sort of horse with a sheep’s head that has a gas tank hump. The other thing he loves to do with his Duplos (or Mega Blocks) is to stack them. He’ll find every single piece that’s the same size and just start stacking them on top of each other and when it gets so large that it falls over and breaks apart all over the room, he just laughs and starts over again.



Henry is also a big fan of rock music. I’ll put on Pandora and rock out to some Rolling Stones or some Led Zeppelin, some Queen, STP, Credence, or whatever, Henry isn’t picky. If he’s digging it he’ll start dancing or he’ll go get his “drums.” He’s got two empty formula tubs that make a great pair of drums or he’ll grab the guitar-hero guitar-controller and start “jamming” with that. One time we were listening to the Beatle’s “Get Back” and Carol and I shouted “Get back Jo Jo.” Well, Henry thought this was hilarious, so to this day if you shout, “Get Back Jo Jo” Henry will shout it too. And it’s only rock music he likes, try to play anything else like classical music or something and he’ll just say “no that” until you turn it off.



Henry does a lot of running around, I’ve chased him around the living room over and over again until I think to myself, “What am I doing I’ve got to pace myself”. Taking care of him is a marathon not a sprint. So sometime while he’s doing laps, I’ll just get a pillow and lay down on the living room floor. Sometimes Henry will stop running too and say “Night, night” and get another pillow and lay down next to me. Of course he can only stay down for a couple of seconds before he wants to run around again. But he’ll sometimes turn it into a game and he’ll say “down” and lay down and then say “up” and sit up and then if I don’t play along he’ll say “Daddy up” over and over again until I sit up then we’ll go up and down until he gets tired of it.



We moved at the end of July so a swanky loft apartment a couple of exits north of where we were living. It is a great apartment. It has a beautiful spiral staircase and Henry can walk up it just fine with one of us behind him, but we always carry him down the steps. Anyway when he’s going up the stairs for “bath, bottle, book, and bed time” he shouts to whoever is still downstairs through the spiral staircase “Bye, bye Mommy,” step, “Bye, bye Mommy” step. It’s cute, but I’m always thinking just get up the steps kids. I made up a couple of rhymes like “less squawking and more walking” and “less chitter-chatter and more pitter-patter.” I know they must be good because Carol started using them now too.    

 
He's still a messy eater! 

We have a morning routine where Carol wakes him up gets him dressed and brings him into the bathroom and I help him brush his teeth and then he follows me back into our bedroom and he plays with exercise balls and an empty tool box while I get dressed. Then it’s downstairs and he sits in his highchair and has some toast while I make sure Carol and I have some lunch while Carol fixes Henry’s lunch. Then it’s off to work. Henry used to be able to have a bottle of milk or juice in the car, but after the 3rd time he poured the juice all over himself instead of drinking it he lost that privilege, but he stills says “my juice” or “my cup” every time you get him in his car seat

 
Daddies are like cars, they have to go from zero (calm) to 60 (screaming) in 3 seconds.

In the Henry is a genius department, Henry already has a job. Every evening he gets the cat bowls from off the floor and brings them to me across the room and I dish out the cat’s kibbles and Henry carefully carries the full bowls back across the room and puts them down by the cat’s water dish so the cats can eat. Every once in a while he’ll dump some kibbles out by accident. But Henry is so thorough when he does this that he will not stop cleaning up the kibbles until the job is done. I was in a hurry to get him upstairs and change his diaper or something and he spilled some kibbles and I was like “come on forget it.” But he was picking all the stray kibbles up and putting them back in Stella’s bowl. And he had spilled them as he was putting the bowl down so Stella is right there trying to eat her dinner and Henry is like stepping on top of her trying to get the loose kibbles. And I’m trying to pick the kid up, but he is wriggling around and shouting “No, Daddy. No, Daddy.” And Spock is about a foot away eating his food and not having any trouble. 

 
These two pictures help you see how Henry has grown in four months. The left one is from July 8th and the right photo is October 7th.

 
You can see how Henry has grown with these pictures too. The first photo is from July 30th, the middle one is September 25th and the last one is October 16th.



Henry loves to see both sets of his grandparents in person. But in-between visits he likes to talk to them on skype. Whenever I get a phone call it is hard to pay attention because Henry will start shouting "Pop-Pop! Pop-Pop!" (that's what he calls all four of his grandparents right now).  But he is used to video chatting. He doesn't know what to make of regular phone calls. He usually stares at the phone and wonders were the picture went. 



It's hard to explain this photo so I'll just say there's an alternate dimension where Henry is the 15th Doctor and I'm his bumbling but loveable companion and we'll leave it at that. 

 

Henry and his Momma. I'm partial, but I think Carol looks great in this picture. :)

 

Four months ago Henry (July 11th to be exact). It's funny but when I look at this picture today it almost looks like it's a picture of a different kid already. That kid was July-Henry of little resemblance to the older and wiser October-Henry. And I know February-Henry will be different too, but hopefully I'll do a blog or two before we get there.

Caution: Genius at Play

Henry is thinking "why won't this train go?"

Henry is getting older so quickly. I know I've been saying he's a genius from day 1, but he really is amazing. He can follow directions if you tell him to clean up your books or throw that tissue in the trash. In fact sometimes you don't even have to tell him. I've seen him clean up his books of his own volition and one time after ripping a tissue into a million pieces he started picking all the pieces up and throwing them in the trash can without me even asking!

Henry's vocabulary is improving. Sometimes he still points at things and says "Daddy, daddy" and we say no, Henry that's a wall or that's a potted plant, that isn't Daddy. But he also says "Mommy," "No!" (his favorite word), "Beep, Beep!", "seat," which unfortunately often sounds like something else, "cat," "nana" (as in banana one of his favorite foods) and just the other day he learned an important one, "eat" which he now says over and over again when he's hungry and like me, he is always hungry.

But what is even more impressive is the number of words he understands. Sometimes he'll just start pointing to things around the room or in his books. He is asking what things are called. He is learning! So eventually, I start quizzing him. He has a book with various farm animals and some of the pages have many different animals on them so I say "which one is the pig?" and he'll point to it, "which one is the cow?" and so on. He's getting really good at this.

One of his books has very simple text about a yellow car, but it also has a lot of various things in the background, so one day I start pointing out everything in the book. I say there's the bicycle, there's the gardenhose, there's the dog, there's the dry cleaning, there's the sky, there's the clouds. And I'm thinking he's going to end up not learning any of this because I bombarded him with too much, but the very next day when I took him outside he was pointing up at the sky and the clouds when he's never been interested in them before. I think the part about the sky and clouds had sunk in.

The other thing that makes me think that Henry is a genius is that often times you only have to teach him about something or show him something once before he gets it. We've taken Henry to a playground with a toddler play area a couple of times. My brother and my parents were with me the last time. And in one part of the playground there is this beam that is sticking out and it is at just the right height that Henry could have run right into it and hit his head. But I showed Henry that he had to duck, I pushed his head down and guided him under it. Well, the next time I let him run by it and sure enough he ducked under the thing all by himself. And I have my brother as a witness. :)

I'm still taking pictures of Henry at his daycare every day. Here are some of the best ones.



These three are Henry getting into trouble. In the first one he's going behind a cabinet he's not supposed to and he's roping his friend into it too. In the second one he's backing up against the cubbies like a criminal trying to get out of the spotlight. And in the third one he's reaching up onto the white board to get something the teacher was trying to put out of reach.
   

Whenever I try and take a picture of Henry it seems like it's meal time. Either I end up taking the picture at the same times each day or they feed this kid a lot! But no matterwhat Henry's doing, I try and get a fun shot. I love how happy the kid is in the above center shot and I love his hair on the upper right one. But of course my favorite is the one below center. It wasn't taken at school but it's still hilarious. It reminds me of one of those shots of a celeb trying to grab the camera.

   
I definitely think Henry is going to be a bookworm. I guess there was never really a doubt with two bookworms for parents. 
   
He is also going to be musically inclined.

 
Henry really is a happy kid he is constantly excited and screaming "Yeah!!"
   
The proud parents and the Kiddo

An empty diaper genie ring makes a great crown doesn't it?

Henry had a bad cold this month but his hair was always perfect!

Carol's mom sent Henry some clothes so I put them all on the boy at once so we could show her right away how grateful we were. I think he looks like a new superhero Raincoat Man.

 

Carol taught Henry how to take "Selfies" with my i-phone. I think technically Henry might have taken this picture himself. He's a pretty good photographer isn't he?

 

Looking at the ponies with mommy. Henry loves going to the zoo!
 

 

Sometimes you just need to take a good nap. 

Short Story of the Week (June 2013)

Hi! Most of you probably already know who I am and are aware that I am a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy who blogs regularly over at Stainless Steel Droppings.

This is not the first time I've had the pleasure of being featured here on John's blog as host of the Short Story selections for a month.  If you have not taken advantage of the chance to volunteer to pick our weekly short stories, I highly recommend you sign up now.  Slots are open and it is a great deal of fun.

Rather than rehash information from previous posts, let's hit the highlights.  The picture of my wife, Mary, and I posted above was taken last weekend by my future son-in-law while we were out celebrating my daughter's 21st birthday.  A few weeks prior to this Mary and I took a week off to stay in two of our favorite Inns located in Missouri's wine country to celebrate our 24th anniversary.  I know the words "Missouri's wine country" probably sound like an oxymoron, but trust me on this, the landscape is beautiful and the wine is very good.

In addition to celebrating our anniversary, May 2013 was a big month for me on the fan-boy front.  I was able to spend two weekends in a row with Hugo-winning artist John Picacio at conventions he was attending here in Kansas City.  I had the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with some of my long-time idols including Michael Whelan, Gregory Manchess and Charles Vess.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Charles Vess live on stage on the final day of the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 event.  I also was able to visit with Cathie and Arnie Fenner, editors of the outstanding, award-winning annual, Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art.  It is a memorable experience to be able to have more than just a few minutes with creative people who are a source of inspiration.

I am a big fan of short stories.  I think there is something special about this particular form of storytelling and when done well the temptation arises to resort to hyperbole and describe them as having a certain sort of "magic"--I know, heresy in a Science Fiction book club.  When an author can use a very limited word count to evoke emotion, inspire debate, provoke deeper thought or simply entertain I believe it is worth celebrating.  It is my pleasure to bring to you the short stories for June 2013.  In an ideal world you would enjoy each and every one.  But this is the real world and we all have different tastes.  At the very least I hope you find something that compels you to offer your thoughts and opinions.  Enjoy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Week #1- Deus Ex Arcana by Desirina Boskovich.  It was featured in the April issue of Lightspeed.  I reviewed it for SF Signal and wrote:

“This work of original fiction”...is a story the author wrote “that reflects the essential absurdity of humans interacting with alien technology” and she does this with great aplomb by juxtaposing her own visually absurd images against some that are truly horrific. The protagonist is Jackson Smith who is seven when the story begins though the reader also spends time with him as an adolescent. It was an ordinary June morning when the box arrived in Springfield, Missouri and from the moment Jackson spies, and then touches, it, the town and the people who inhabit it will never be ordinary again. Boskovich writes in an engaging style that compels you to enjoy the words themselves as well as the images they conjure. Jackson is a very likeable character and in the midst of all the chaos he grounds the reader and keeps the story from becoming silly. I couldn’t help but feel that the story reads like a very serious Outer Limits or Twilight Zone episode. Recommended.

Week #2- Mono no aware by Ken Liu

I'm very excited about this week's short story, the 2013 Hugo and Locus award nominated story "Mono no aware" by Ken Liu. Without giving away too much detail, this is the story of a generation ship bound for a new home which focuses on one particular Japanese boy who is part of the crew. The story was first published early last year in the anthology, The Future is Japanese, and it was one of my favorite short fiction reads of the year. The story's vibe reminds me of a popular classic work of short fiction that many of us have read and discussed in the past. I won't spoil the story by revealing which classic work that is here, we can talk about it in the discussion posts. Don't miss the author spotlight which talks about his inspirations for the story.

Week #3- The Urashima Effect by E. Lily Yu

E. Lily Yu is one of the hot up and coming authors and I've enjoyed the few stories of hers that I've read. For those interested she was the guest on the latest episode of The Coode Street Podcast. I cannot say much about "The Urashima Effect" without spoiling it. A man wakes up after three years of stasis to continue the rest of his journey to the planet Ryugu-jo where he is to establish a base. As part of an effort to combat loneliness and isolation, his ship contains recordings from family and friends, one of which is his wife telling him the story of Urashima Taro. I like the 'story within a story' element in this short as well as the fact that it is a fantasy story/fairy tale embedded in a science fiction story.

Watching All the Cars Go By...

Since the weather has been warmer, Henry and I have been going outside every evening before dinner. Most kids would probably run around in the grass or throw a ball around, but do you know what Henry likes to do? He likes to sit on the grass at the edge of the parking lot a wave at the cars as people get home from work. He doesn't often wave at the same people when they get out of their cars. In person he gets a little shy I guess. But, he really enjoys waving at cars. When we read books to him he even waves at pictures of cars. When we take him to get ice cream he barely eats it because the shop is on a main road so Henry gets transfixed with watching all the cars that go by.

The other thing that Henry likes to do is run on the sidewalk around our apartment complex. He likes the sidewalk a lot better than grass, the grass is too uneven and he ends up tripping in each and every divot. There are a lot of kids in the apartment complex and sometimes if they are playing outside Henry will just stand and watch them. He's just soaking it all in.

 

This picture was taken by one of Henry's school teachers. And I think she really caught his essence. Henry is looking out a window at who knows what, but he sure seems to be deep in thought.



I continue to take pictures of Henry everyday at school. In the third one above, Henry has another kid's shoe, but he was in the process of taking it over to the other kid and helping him get it on. Of course Henry can't seem to keep his own shoes on anymore. He's learned how to take them off and he loves to practice things. The embarrassing part is when he takes them off in the car and I don't notice until I'm already at a store or something. I had to stand in a long line at the post office right around tax day. I was the dad whose kid was walking around with one shoe.



So what new tricks has Henry learned in the last month? He recognizes a lot of words. I say Henry where does your hat go and he pats his head. He can point out his nose, ears, eyes and mouth. And sometimes he'll just randomly want to touch my nose and then he has to touch Carol's nose too.

Every night before Henry's bath time we have clean up time and we clean up his toys and books and Henry has to help us. One night he started cleaning up of his own accord. We're sitting there and he just starts putting his books back on the shelf.

He's very affectionate. Sometimes he hugs Carol and then runs over and hugs me and then goes back and starts over again.

In the last couple of days he's started to really enjoy clapping. He has this toy dog that will talk if you squeeze the paws or feet and if you squeeze a certain paw a couple of times it says "yeah!" and you hear clapping. Well he'll squeeze the paw over and over again because he wants to hear the clapping and join in. But now he doesn't even need the dog because if I say "yeah!" he'll start clapping.    



Henry loves walking through the woods mostly because he can play with big sticks and try to eat leaves.



Isn't this a great scenic local. I mean it's so pretty with the creek and the bridge. I think I'd have used it as a Christmas card or something, well except that Henry is screaming!
 

Carol set the track up for Henry and then took a series of pictures as he took it apart piece by piece. But when you look at the pictures backwards it looks like he's putting it together himself.

Short Story of the Week (May 2013) Women in Science Fiction Literature

Each week at the Classic Science Fiction Message Board we read a short science fiction piece (short story, novelette or novella). These stories are always available for FREE online so that anyone can participate in the discussion. The stories are chosen by a different member every month, so that we get to read a variety of stories. May's stories are being picked by Melanie. 

I'm 36 and have lived in Nashville, TN for 13 years now, which is about 11 years longer than I thought I would be here! I grew up all over the southeast US, spending time in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and finally Louisiana. I moved here after I graduated from LSU to live with a friend of mine and just never left. My husband and I got married this past summer and then bought a house. I'm also just finishing my 3rd semester of my Library/Information Science Masters program at UT, so life is pretty busy. That's pretty much why the majority of our books are still in boxes! 

I got my love of reading from my parents and my preference for sci-fi and fantasy from my father. I can't remember the first science fiction I read but I read things like the Hitchhiker's series, Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series, Michael Crichton and lots of short stories as my dad always got the big end of year compilation books. Now, my favorite modern sci-fi tends to be things by guys like Neal Stephenson and China Mieville. Classic authors: Ursula K. LeGuin, Bradbury, Asimov. I also read a lot of science non-fiction and by favorites are by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Carl Sagan, Mary Roach and Michio Kaku. Unfortunately, there are just too many books to read! 

------------------------------------------------

Women in Science Fiction Literature

Melanie- There's been a bit of discussion around the group regarding women in sci-fi. Personally, I've been thinking about sex/gender, equality, and human interaction in general. As I was looking over the short stories we've read in the last year, it appears men wrote 37 and women wrote 13. And when you factor in all the short stories we've read, less then 30% were by women. I think there are a few reasons for the skew; the stories have to be available free online which leads to choosing older or public domain stories. The more popular an author is, the more likely some of their short stories will be available free online, and the biggest names in science fiction, historically, are male. For the next few weeks, I want to concentrate on female authors and see what the group's thoughts are. I hope to spark some conversation and to keep figuring out my own thoughts on all these subjects. Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------

Week # 1 Hello, Moto by Nnedi Okorafor

Melanie- Okorafor is an American author who's parents were from Nigeria. She's won a few awards and had some honor/finalists works as well.

This story is a take on an old theme: person creates technology, technology used for evil, person tries to right the wrongs. here's a quote "There is witchcraft in science and a science to witchcraft. Both will conspire against you eventually."  What do you think? Do you like the ending?

Week # 2 What Would Sam Spade Do? by Jo Walton

Melanie-It doesn't appear that we've read any short fiction by Jo Walton before, though we will be reading her novel "Among Others" in October.

I mentioned in the comments of last week's story that I thought it was "ok" but that it felt very much like a woman wrote it.  For this week, I like the story much more, but it doesn't feel particularly female.  Hard-boiled crime doesn't usually.  I feel like there are a lot of ethical/philosophical questions that can be unpacked from this story; let me know what you think!

Week # 3 After the Days of Dead Eye 'Dee by Pat Cadigan   

Melanie-Jim posted an article about Top Women Science Fiction Writers earlier this week and, while I know we all disagree with various parts of the list, the article did send me off to read several really good stories.  This week's is one of my favorites.  What happens when aliens make contact with a helpless old lady, alone in the woods?

Week # 4 Nonstop to Portales by Connie Willis    

Melanie-A fun Connie Willis story this week!  Can't say too much or it will give stuff away but it's about a guy stuck in nowhere, NM with some time to kill, so he joins up with a tour group for an outing.

Week # 5 Annie Webber by Elizabeth Bear

It's been interesting picking these short stories this month.  I've read so many it seems! There were several that had striking images or disturbing plots but I decided to go with another fun story.  It has coffee in it!

Short Story of the Week (April 2013)

Each week at the Classic Science Fiction Message Board we read a short science fiction piece (short story, novelette or novella). These stories are always available for FREE online so that anyone can participate in the discussion. The stories are chosen by a different member every month, so that we get to read a variety of stories. April's stories are being picked by Neil.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Week #1- In the Year 2889 by Michel Verne

Neil-It was quite boring. It really never got beyond the hmmmm that's interesting as a story.

John- I think this story is only really interesting as an oddity. It's fun to see what Michael Verne imagined the future would hold. Newspapers being spoken to people. Visual telephone calls over thousands of miles through the use of mirrors. Scientists recommending they melt the polar ice caps. Human hibernation through death and mummification. And indoor plumbing!  

This story was too funny. Unfortunately it was mostly unintentional laughs.

I wish he hadn't called it 2889. I wish he'd only made it a couple hundred years in the future.

Week #2- Blood Music by Greg Bear

Neil- The novel is one of my favorite books so hopefully this works out for everyone.

John- This was a great story. Of course now because of this story in addition to being worried about killer robots and killer viruses I am now also worried about killer robot viruses.

Week #3- Cheering For The Rockets by Michael Moorcock (Sorry, it seems this link is no longer working)

Neil- Alright a bit of a risk this again I have not read it but I have enjoyed Moorcock since the first time I ended up in Melnibone. I seem to have spent most of the eighties reading him and Jerry Cornelius was my favorite. This may be a case of style over substance.

Week #4-Cross Roads Blues by Paul McAuley

Neil- Music and time travel, what more could you need.

The Night of March 31st!

It being a holiday and all, I couldn't resist posting this story. It's pretty silly, but it really makes me laugh. Hope you enjoy it! It first appeared in Superman 145 (1961)

Happy April Fools Day!

School Days...

I am very grateful that all of Henry's teachers at his daycare indulge me by letting me pop in on Henry to say hi at any time of the day. I mean the fact that I happen to work at the Church means I'm right there, but I'd understand it if they preferred to not have me distracting him at any time. Not to mention I keep the teachers on their toes because they never know when I'm coming. :)

There are days where I say hi for a couple of minutes and Henry wants me to stay longer and I hear him screaming after I leave. And forget about popping in late in the afternoon. Henry assumes I'm there to pick him up. After all, other kids have started to be picked up, why not him too? So if he sees me in the afternoon and I don't take him home, we are definitely looking at a probable melt down type situation.

Other than getting to see him throughout the day the best part of Henry being in daycare right where I work is getting to take his picture everyday and send it to Carol. And if I don't send a picture by 4 pm boy does she notice. I start getting texts, "where is my Henry picture?" at 4 sharp or sometimes 3:30 depending on how her day is going.

Here are some of the best pictures taken from his nursery days this month. Followed by some of Henry's other adventures.







We didn't put Cheetos in Henry's lunch. But one of his classmates had them and Henry always find a way to score some of his friends snacks. Today I caught him drinking out of his classmate's sippy cup. The kid is incorrigible.
   

I love the face Henry is making in that second picture. I think he looks like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. Henry is already carrying a stuff dog we call Ralph around everywhere. Well, if he gets to be as difficult as Calvin, I hope he's also as smart too. That would be a good trade off in my opinion. You never got to see 20 years later in that strip when Calvin buys his parents a new house with some of the money Calvin made from starting his own dotcom while he was still in college.





Looks like he's already inherited my ability to sleep through anything. Here he is at the tail end of nap time. the lights are on and the other kids are running around and he's still out cold. Of course this is after he woke up in the middle of nap time and wanted a snack.



Is it too early to say that Henry might be ambidextrous? This was him playing with some crayons at a restaurant. Carol and I were pleasantly surprised to find that Henry behaves well at restaurants. Or at least he has the couple of times we've taken him to one. It nice to know we can go out and not have to deal with a screaming kid and dirty looks from the other restaurant patrons.



More proof he's ambidextrous, he's got a puppet on each arm. The kid's a genius! (Okay, I might have helped him put the puppets on).



Yes, Henry is chewing on his sock. No, I didn't tell him to "put a sock in it."



Henry you got a little something on you...oh forget it...



Here's a fun one. Henry's already figured out the toilet....Well...he's figured out how to flush, he'll do that over and over again because he likes the noise. But he is convinced that the toilet is a table. Why not it's at a good height for him to read a book on, so of course it's a table. I just hope he never catches it when we've left the seat up, I'm not drying that wet book!



Here is Henry on his very first nature hike. He'd carried a piece of pickle all the way into the woods and that's what he's eating in that first picture. And as you can see Henry instantly discovered how fun it is to carry sticks and the bigger the better!

 
Carol took both of these shots on our first trip to the Please Touch Museum, a local museum designed with children in mind. If you're local, it's a lot of fun.



But Henry doesn't always need a fancy kids museum to have fun sometimes all you need is a camera and your mommy. :)