Museum Thursday: The Umlauf Sculpture Garden

Dear Jack,

Today I took you and your sister to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. As a bonus, I also took my friend Carol Edwards and she took some truly amazing pictures of the three of us. The funny thing to me is that the last time Mrs. Edwards took pictures of you, it was your birthday party and you were wearing the very same shirt. It is a very photogenic shirt.

I am so glad that I checked to make sure touching the sculptures was allowed. Your little hands were all over them. I had to draw the line at riding the rhino and hippopotamus, though.

Such an interesting setting for a toddler, isn't it?

But, like I said, Mrs. Edwards got some beautiful pictures of you and your sister.

Aside from touching the sculptures and being the subject of pictures, you spent most of the morning as you are spending a lot of your time lately... studying your sister and following her lead.

First, your sister ran down a hill.

Then you ran down a hill. And then the two of you took turns back and forth for an impossibly long time.

Next, your sister swung from a rail.

Then you swung from a rail.

I love the expression on her face as soon as you first did it. She was shocked that you were big enough to do such a stunt. Truthfully, so was I. Big strong boy!

Last, your sister cried. Mostly, she was tired. But she said she was sad because no one would save the world with her... she was being a Powerpuff Girl, don't you know.

So you did for her what she has done for you so many times. You gave her a hug. She took that as a sign that you were there to save the world with her, called you "Powerpuff Boy" which you promptly changed to "Super Guy" and the two of you were off.

I hope those other patrons didn't mind a two year old pointing at them screaming, "Bad guys!" Surely your sister yelling "Don't step in the lava!" was a clue to the nature of your game.

Some days, I just don't know what I ever did to be this lucky of a mama.

Love,
Mom

Gymboree

Dear Jack,

The other day, June 9th actually, I was bored. I had just dropped your sister off at preschool camp and you and I had nothing to do.

So I called my friend Elissa. I don't see her often, but she's the kind of friend that makes it okay to go for awhile without seeing and then still feel like friends. Her son Ben is about six months younger than you and I thought she might let us come over to play.

She did us one better and invited us to a Gymboree class.

Gymboree is one of those things that I thought about with your sister and then got too busy to actually look into. Then with you, I had already found so many other things that I didn't feel the need for a structured play class.

But I have to say, you loved, loved, loved the time we spent there with Elissa and Ben. Ben is, as his mother says, "a baby giant" so the six month difference is completely unnoticeable by size alone.

It's funny to me what a difference six months make at this age and then again how little difference it makes. You and Ben and pretty much at the age where the months start getting to mean less and less. Six months to twelve months is a huge age difference. Apparently twenty months to twenty six months, not so much. You both enjoyed the slides and the inner tubes and throwing everything from balls to Gymbo clowns into the net was great fun.

And everybody loves bubbles, of course.

Mostly, I thought it was nice to see my friend. I miss her and I'm excited that you and her sweet boy will soon be more or less the same age, instead of being a baby and a newborn, or a toddler and a baby. Soon you will both be little boys together.

And maybe the two of you will be friends, too.

Love,
Mom

What did we do before Hoppin Hippo?

Dear Jack,

It used to be, back in the old days, that kids played on outdoor playgrounds. These playgrounds would have swings and metal slides and maybe some strange springy horse-type ride on things.

Kids would be taken to these playgrounds and their mothers would sit in the shade on the benches and kids would burn their bottoms on those slides and the horse-type ride on things. So they would try swinging. Only no one would push them because it was too darn hot and their mothers wouldn't want to leave the shade. So the kids would play tag or something else in the heat and get heat stroke.

Well, maybe not actually heat stroke. But it sure felt like a heat stroke. And to be fair to the picture I'm painting, there was lots of high fructose corn syrup flavored popsicles and Kool-Aide to help with the heat and the loss of energy due to impending heat stroke, but you get the idea.

In this modern age, though, there are indoor playgrounds. No burning your bum on the slide and plenty of air conditioned space to run around in. And all of the mothers bring 100% fruit juice and graham crackers, just so you know.

Anyway, one of these indoor playgrounds near us, The Hoppin Hippo is closing on Friday, so Mrs. Hazen, who had some extra passes, and I just had to go one last time.

You had a great time. It's a playground. What's not to like?

But I guess with the Hippo closing, you had better start wearing your big boy pants 'cause it's the metal slide for you next time, buddy.

Love,
Mom

Legacy

Dear Jack,

I put you in the car today for eight and a half hours to go back and finish our Houston vacation. Really, I did.

We started at the bay.

You did love the bay a lot, and so did I. But I have to admit that the bay really isn't worth that kind of drive. Nothing in Houston is, really. I mean, lots of things are worth going there and staying for a few days to see, but to do a "there and back" in one day? Not one thing in Houston merits that kind of drive.

But there are some people in Houston who do.

I cannot quite express how much fun you had with Uncle Mark. There are few people you will go with if I'm around. Your father only made it on to that list in the last year. But Uncle Mark got his spot secured today.

Last time you were at the bay, you were all about the water and the waves, and so you missed a key ingredient to the bay experience: mud. You love mud, apparently. And Uncle Mark loves you. So he made you mud balls. And then the waves would come and wash them away. "No! Wave! No! My mud!" And so Uncle Mark would make another mud ball. And then he buried you. And then you got up and sat back down. And then he buried you some more. All morning long, while Aunt Kathi and Sydney and I played together, you played with Uncle Mark.

After Uncle Mark wore you out at the bay, we went back to the house to get cleaned up and meet up with Aunt Dani and Myles for lunch.

From lunch, we went to the north side of town to play with Aunt Jennie Sue and her family and your Grandma and cousins.

Somehow having eight sons makes Aunt Jennie Sue's house particularly little boy friendly and while we were there, you and your cousin David were only two of the four "extra" boys running around and playing hard.

Your Grandma thought it would be fun to give you and your sister some colored bubbles. She said that the commercial advertised that the colored bubbles would not stain. Of course, she was thinking of small drops of bubble solution here and there....

...not of a little boy who might just have to know what green bubble taste like.

Happily, Aunt Jennie Sue ran out to Wal-Mart and soon you and your sister were in the backyard in a kiddie pool, splashing away the bubbles, which were indeed washable.

We're waiting to hear if Uncle Fritz's fish survived the bubble solution being washed off into their pond.

In the evening, after dinner, the grown-ups played cards and you played cars.

It was a lot of time in the car for some very simple memories... mud balls on the bay, green bubbles in a red kiddie pool. But I had an interesting conversation with Uncle Mark and Aunt Dani that really resonated with me about the whole thing.

The conversation was all about legacy. What will we leave behind when we move on from this world? For most people, it's their kids and grandkids. Your Uncle Mark plans on a broader legacy. He wants his to include you and your sister. He doesn't just want two children remembering their dad; he wants a whole family of children remembering their uncle. So he made mud balls with you and taught your sister how to fly a kite.

It was the kite that finished the connection for me, though. Uncle Fritz let me fly a kite once. It was the only time I remember flying a kite. I don't know where we were or who else was there. I just remember Uncle Fritz and the kite. He has eight sons. In so many ways, his legacy is already established. But he is also my uncle and I know for my sister and myself, he left a different kind of legacy. When I looked around in my childhood for an example of a family man, a spiritual head of his household, a man of character and integrity, I found Uncle Fritz. I imagine that many have seen his example and been inspired by it -- he's that kind of man. But I got to be the little girl he took to go fly a kite. I have always loved my uncle. But it was only recently my understanding that he loves me, too, and that I also get to be part of his legacy.

So I drove you and your sister to Houston. Because our trip had been cut short and I wanted to make sure you got the time I had planned for you with my side of the family. Because I'm not sure anyone can plan out who will impact a child; whose legacy that child will be a part of, but I had given your dad's side of the family three days and I wanted to make sure my side of the family had their chance. And I am so glad that so many of them took it.

Love,
Mom

Mama's Taking Us to the Zoo (Again)

Dear Jack,

You now know what to expect when I say "zoo." I told you we were going to the zoo and you said, "Yay!" Maybe you won't be such a homebody after all.

Of all of the mammals in the zoo, you and your sister were most taken with the elephant.

I say the elephant was your favorite mammal because of course your favorite part of the zoo was the fish.

I couldn't get a decent picture of you with the fish, though, because inside the aquarium, you kept asking me to pick you up for a better look and when you were down, you were running to see the next fish.

You also enjoyed the fish swimming in the little man-made rivers around the zoo, but even there, I couldn't get a picture because you were so anxious to see the fish that you actually prompted a young docent to ask his mentor if he was allowed to jump in the river after you if you fell in. She assured him that your mama was watching you. So no pictures.

I did get you playing with the docent's lobster hand puppet which you thought was very neat. I thought it was neat that they had so many docents around. This pair was at the fish and there were a couple of games to play to learn about why net-fishing isn't the best (too many sea animals get caught by mistake). There was also a group of teenage docents in the bear area with games there to learn about bears and keeping your campsite safe. Another docent was hanging out in the Africa section with a giraffe skin and skull to talk about giraffes and other African animals.

My favorite part of this zoo experience, though, was the Mold O Rama.

What is a Mold O Rama you ask? Well, let me tell you. It's this very old machine that they first made in the 50's (although I don't know for sure that this one is that old, though a quick search of the internet reveals that no new machines have been made in the last forty years, so probably this one is that old). The machine injects liquid polyethylene plastic into a mold and then quick-cools it with a blast of automotive antifreeze, making a very cheap yet unique souvenir. This visit, we made a giraffe and an elephant.

On our way home from the zoo, we stopped at Joseph's Storehouse for the other half of my perfect trip to the zoo requirements, carrot cake.

Ah, what a wonderful day. Fish and an elephant for you, carrot cake and a giraffe for me. Your sister seemed happiest with the chance to put the money in the machines and was therefore happy for both of us. Everyone wins.

Love,
Mom

Museum Thursday: Williamson Museum

Dear Jack,

One of the things I like about the summer and the way I try to plan out what we do is that it forces me to be creative. Once I had decided that Thursday was "Museum Thursday" I was then challenged to find not just one or two, but at least five museums to take you and your sister to. Normally the Children's Museum is a no-brainer and the Austin Museum of Art has a kid-friendly room at least. But to take a two year old to an actual historic museum? I'm not sure I would have thought to do that had I not challenged myself otherwise.

(Your sister insisted that her doll be a stand-in for herself in this picture. I wonder if someday I will find myself taking pictures of two dolls while the two of you go on in to the museum or wherever we are. Or worse, yet, the two of you taking pictures of me with the two dolls. I guess that's what I get for taking so many pictures.)

Today I decided to try the Williamson Museum, which fortunately was very kid friendly with "Discovery Totes" and other touchable displays. You cooked at the Chuck Wagon and touched cotton at the spinning wheel.

You played with some old fashioned toys and also just enjoyed the openness of the floor plan which let you run around quite a bit.

We found a geography tote which included a magnetic puzzle of the United States. I took it as an opportunity to teach you a little bit about where you live. Hearing your little voice say "Texas" was priceless to me.

Next week, I think we may try the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens.

Love,
Mom

A Day with Cousins

Dear Jack,

After several days with your dad's side of the family, it was time to have a day with your mama's side of the family. We met up with Grandma, David and Alana at Chick Fil A for breakfast. You ate all of your breakfast and a not insubstantial part of your Grandma's. It's a good thing she loves you so.

Back at Grandma's house, I took a picture of your Grandma and her four grandbabies. Aren't you guys adorable? I was a little surprised to note that you are the dark haired baby of the bunch.

After playing at Grandma's house, we went across town to the Woodlands Children's Museum. They have a lot of different things for a little guy to play with, but your favorite by far was their train table. You spent the first forty minutes and the last thirty minutes there playing with just that.

We were joined by Uncle Nick, Aunt Kay, Aunt Suzanne and Baby Zoe.

Your cousin is a beautiful little girl. She has your eyes. Betsill eyes, those are. I love the visual reminder of your kinship and the connection to my Mema, Nora Jane Betsill Frazer.

We then went over to Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Dave's house where the rest of the family joined us for dinner. You had so much fun playing with your cousins. You also ate four whole pieces of pizza. And a dozen strawberries. And three or four cookies.

I mention your big breakfast and your absurdly big dinner because the next day, the day we were supposed to see Aunt Kathi and have our last day with Aunt Rachel and Gram and then spend one more night so we could see Aunt Jennie Sue and have another day with cousins, on that day, you woke up throwing up.

Poor miserable boy. We never did decide if you were sick or just ate too much greasy Pizza Hut pizza, but you did very well on the car ride home for such a sick boy and Uncle Mark and Aunt Dani were very understanding about you getting sick at their house. And while you didn't get to see Aunt Jennie Sue, I did as we stopped by her house for a quick bathroom break and to get a towel that she said we didn't even have to get back to her -- it could be all yours.

I hate that our trip was cut short, but I think it may just mean that we get to go back to Houston one more time before the summer is over.

Love,
Mom