Cute Pictures from the 4th of July Cookout at the Kuehney's and The Cogan Cookout and some Fun In-Between

Pictures above are from the Cogan family Cookout. It was fun...and Christopher had a great time "pushing" the cart. I love the second picture, it reminds of the "Beat It" video when Michael Jackson separated the gangs and they settled their differences with dance....Christopher didn't end up dancing though.

At the Kuehney's house for 4th of July. Me and Christopher in the pool...a posed shot with "the kids"...and Christopher with Sarah


Here's some photos of Christopher's latest discovery...how to open the toy box, climb inside and make funny faces.

...and here's the Cheese-it Terrorist himself thinking he's posing for the JC Penny catalog or something...(he actually posed for the last photo in this set...we both love that photo)

...and finally, Christopher outside playing at his "water table" that he got from his Nana Marianne and Pop-Pop Bob.


I'm so damned suburban...what has happened to me?

Peek-a-Boo!! (really needs no further explaination)

The New Living Room

Well, we got all bold and stuff and completely changed the look of the living room....we went from and orange-tinted brown with a burgundy accent wall to a medium khaki with a light blue accent wall. (the official colors were Mesa Tumbleweed and Shark Fin Blue). Dig the before and after pictures...and excuse any mess that's visible.


As a reminder...this is what we did with Christopher's room (obviously prior to Christopher's breathing gaseous oxygen). Colleen's mother painted all the little polka-dots you see around the entire room above the chair rail. She did a great job and I'm glad she did because I wasn't going to go through that mess. Thanks, Marianne.

Christopher's Kansas Trip

Christopher had a couple of "firsts" over the last week or so. The more noteworthy "firsts" he's experienced were his first airplane ride and his first trip to Kansas to see Daddy's family and friends...which, for many, were firsts. The only Kansas family and friends who have seen him before this trip were his Aunt Marie, Uncle Justin, Cousin Isabella, Grammy Stevie, and (Aunt) Karen. None of them, however, had seen him since we was but a wee lad of 3 months of age.

I can tell you that his first plane ride was an experience. He had fallen asleep and I inadvertently woke him up within the first 1/2 hour of the 2 hour flight from Philadelphia to Kansas City. There were many other problems that we encountered at this stage as well which all involved not being able to bring his backpack with all of his "stuff" onboard the plane due to the plan being a rather small jet. Anything that couldn't fit had to be checked at the gate, so Colleen had to grab what she could (which wasn't much) from the bag for the flight. It should just be said that this flight was an incredibly long flight for everyone on the airplane until we were saved by the very kind flight attendant who gave us some ginger crackers. They ended up holding him over until we landed.

Christopher wasn't really his usual chipper self during the Kansas trip. This, of course, probably due to the fact that he was off his routine and the environmental situations that he was exposed to (including, but not limited to, the incredibly high temperatures for the 1st half of the trip (noted above), being in a hotel for the Salina leg, then Alan and Emily's house in Baldwin City (which was great, but not Christopher's "home"). All-in-all, I thought he was a trooper throughout the trip and had shining moments from time to time.

We were picked up from the airport by Michael, who took us to lunch at Bigg's BBQ on Iowa St. , then to Hertz Rental in Lawrenceon 23rd St. for our rental car (actually saved us over $250 not renting from the airport). We then drove straight to Salina, checked in at our hotel, went to my mother and step-father's house, and went to dinner at Logan's Roadhouse (pictures 1 - 3 below)

(Above: Isabella playing on the floor at my mom's, Isabella and Christopher at my mom's, Christopher at Logan's Roadhouse)

My Uncle Jimmy hosted a cookout for the family (motivated by our coming to Kansas) the day after our arrival. That was a great time. We got to see some aunts and uncles that I usually don't get to see when I'm in Kansas. The part I enjoyed the most was getting to see and hang out with my cousins and one second-cousin. Getting to see them and talk with them made my whole Salina trip a much, much better experience than my usual visiting Kansas experience. The only problem with the cookout was that it was about 104 degrees before sunset. I also got to send an hour or so with Dave and Maridee Armstrong (my second set of parents during my high school and college years). That was a wonderful experience as well.

(Above: left to right: Kathleen, Megan, Jenna, Rachel, me (cousins) = Daniel and Rachel (cousins) = Avery (my cousin Tyler's 14 month old) and Christopher)

(Below: left to right: Isabella in the sprinkler = Christopher in the sprinkler = Aunt Cindy and cousin Tyler = Uncle Kenny = Avery = Uncle Jimmy and Avery)

We left Salina on Friday to moved on to the Lawrence/Baldwin City area. We were very lucky that our good friends Alan, Emily, and Cooper (their son) let us stay at their house in Baldwin City. They were gratious hosts and made our stay more than comfortable. Christopher really liked it there too. He got to play with a lot of different toys that Cooper shared with him while we stayed there...he loved it.

(Below: Alan playing with Christopher)


We did get to meet up with some friends that I normally don't get to see when I'm in Kansas. This was also a big part of what made the Kansas trip such a good experience for us. Most of the friends I got to hang out with a bit didn't get photographed, but they were still worthwhile for us. Krista, Jacob, and Heather...sorry I didn't get any pictures. I did get pictures of Dan and his daughter, Cadence. They met us at a Mexican resturant in Ottawa, KS (20 miles south of Lawrence). It was nice catching up with Dan. I regrettably didn't get to talk with Susan much during the lunch. Regardless, its always wonderful to get to spend time with Susan. I'm not sure Susan shares the sentiment since Christopher peed through his outfit while she was holding him on her lap...but we were glad to see her.


Of course, we also got to see and hang out with our "old" friends and their children. It was very fun to get to spend time with all of them. I really hope it continues so that we (the parents) and the children continue to grow together.

(Below: Zooey = Daddy and Christopher = Cooper = Parker =

And Christopher got to try lots of different types of food that he normally doesn't get to try. He had BBQ for the first time and Mexican...he liked both of them. And we even tried The Mad Greek in Lawrence. He wasn't feeling the lamb, but he did really enjoy his grilled cheese sandwich. (Don't worry...I only let him have that huge monstrocity for the photo opportunity. I cut it up for him after I took the pictures...when he was distracted by the beverage). Note the double-hinge jaw...he does love his food.

It was a great trip for all of us...we only hope it was the same for those we visited and shared with. Thank you all...and I can't wait to see you all again.

How to Use a Spoon.

For those who might not already know how to use a spoon....

There is a true art form to using this simple eating tool, also known as.....the spoon. As you can probably see, the spoon has 2 functioning parts. The scoop (picture a), which is used to lift the food from a flat surface (in my case, it will be my "tray") to your mouth. And the handle (picture b), which functions as the grip, making the actual "scooping" of the food a simple and safe (to help prevent you from biting yourself while eating) for even the novice spoon user. (picture c)

a b c

Hmmm....well, I....yes, yes, yes....well, if the spoon doesn't "scoop" the food as quickly as you might like, or, as is my particular case, your fine-motor skills haven't quite developed so as to make the actual application of the tool effiicient, it is considered socially appropriate to just grab the food and stuff it in your mouth. The key element being that you're able to do so while still holding the spoon tightly in your non-dominant hand. (picture d).

However, if you find that the food on your flat surface, in my case, once again, my tray, is just too delectable not to shove down your face with both hands, it is deemed socially acceptable as long as you keep your spoon within reach at any given moment (in case you decide to return to the spoon to regain your social elite status)


d e

Thank you all for tuning in to "How to Use a Spoon" Watch us next week for, "Maybe I'll Actually USE the Spoon This Time". Until then...

good day