Thursday, October 30, 2014
Esqueleto
Yesterday Ben wore one of his two Halloween outfits. Since he currently fits into them, we figured he minus well get some use out of them. We had a relatively nice day so we walked to the park to feed the ducks and Ben got a chance to chase them around. I will admit that I felt guilty at the end that I got to enjoy this moment with my son so we headed to the park once again later in the day so Traci could feed the ducks with Ben as well. I tell ya, watching Ben giggle as he chased the ducks makes me feel lucky that I get to be his dad. It's also fairly easy while he wears that outfit to find his funny bone. Maybe I should work on putting more meat on them bones.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Avery, ID
This post continues my efforts of updating my blog with the various adventures from earlier this year.
The weekend after Traci's Birthday, we had the chance to take Ben on his first camping trip with the grandparents on the southern shores of lake Couer D'Alene. Since I more recently have been intrigued by Milwaukee Railroad history, Traci's folks found this place suitable to keep me distracted while they spent time with Ben. Anyhow, our trip began on Friday and we got a chance to see a few new town on our route to the campsite. Oakesdale had several well preserved buildings and we got to enjoy a nice sunset as we briefly got a glimpse of the Milwaukee Road bridge at Tekoa. That evening we spent a good portion of our time trying to locate our campsite. It turns out that the eloquent road signs are missing some basic information so we ended up driving in circles and noticed we were at our campsite half an hour after we arrived.
Our plans for Saturday were to explore the area where the Milwaukee Road crossed the Bitterroot Range east of Avery, ID. We had a chance to drive on the old right way for a big portion west of Calder, ID but had to turn around since an old bridge has been deemed unsafe for vehicle traffic. Turns out that a simple sign saying "Dead End" could have saved us a 12 mile round trip. Anyhow, we arrived in Avery and were not let down on the amount of history the Museum/Depot had from both the great 1910 fire and the Milwaukee Road. The old Train car was well preserved and gave us a glimpse of how traveling was far more enjoyable back in the days than our present day train cars. We had a picnic just outside the depot and had a great time feeding a giant fish bowl of hungry rainbow trout for the price of $.25. East of Avery the main gravel road is the right of way as it ascends up towards St. Paul Pass and the old road is for bicycle and hikers use only. That means that we were able to traverse a few bridges and several short tunnels from the comfort of our car, pretty exciting.
That evening after arriving to our campsite we found out that the campground was located besides the Trail of the Couer D'Alene (A former Union Pacific Railroad). The railroad crossed the southern portion of lake Couer D'Alene and since it's been turned into a trail, the draw bridge has been left permanently up, hence it was needed to construct a ramp on each end to traverse the bridge. Feel free to search "Chatcolet Bridge" in your favorite search engine. Anyhow, Ben enjoyed picking up sticks, rocks, pine cones and even got a chance to make friends with other campers. He wore himself out that day and slept like a rock that night. Maybe I should wear him out more often but that means I wear myself out more... what a conundrum.
I was eager to see tunnel 41 of the Milwaukee Railroad so I made sure to make a quick stop on our way back home on Sunday. It's a 1/2 mile tunnel south of Plummer that has seen some interesting crowds through out the years since the tracks were removed and was rather scary to approach since the western entrance was littered with filth and scattered with animal remains. Although it was not my favorite place we visited, I can now say I've seen it. Which actually, the land that tunnel 41 sits on is currently for sale for $650,000 and that includes 54 acres. Anyhow we visited Toy's R Us before heading back and quickly drove through Spraque, WA just to see something new on our way back. Overall it was a great camping weekend with beautiful scenery along the St. Joe River. On top of that, Traci's folks bought me a fly-fishing rod so I'm excited to try it out and tell stories of the one that got away. I can see the story developing in my mind...
"There I was, minding my own business. When suddenly! Out of of nowhere!..." You get the idea.
The weekend after Traci's Birthday, we had the chance to take Ben on his first camping trip with the grandparents on the southern shores of lake Couer D'Alene. Since I more recently have been intrigued by Milwaukee Railroad history, Traci's folks found this place suitable to keep me distracted while they spent time with Ben. Anyhow, our trip began on Friday and we got a chance to see a few new town on our route to the campsite. Oakesdale had several well preserved buildings and we got to enjoy a nice sunset as we briefly got a glimpse of the Milwaukee Road bridge at Tekoa. That evening we spent a good portion of our time trying to locate our campsite. It turns out that the eloquent road signs are missing some basic information so we ended up driving in circles and noticed we were at our campsite half an hour after we arrived.
Our plans for Saturday were to explore the area where the Milwaukee Road crossed the Bitterroot Range east of Avery, ID. We had a chance to drive on the old right way for a big portion west of Calder, ID but had to turn around since an old bridge has been deemed unsafe for vehicle traffic. Turns out that a simple sign saying "Dead End" could have saved us a 12 mile round trip. Anyhow, we arrived in Avery and were not let down on the amount of history the Museum/Depot had from both the great 1910 fire and the Milwaukee Road. The old Train car was well preserved and gave us a glimpse of how traveling was far more enjoyable back in the days than our present day train cars. We had a picnic just outside the depot and had a great time feeding a giant fish bowl of hungry rainbow trout for the price of $.25. East of Avery the main gravel road is the right of way as it ascends up towards St. Paul Pass and the old road is for bicycle and hikers use only. That means that we were able to traverse a few bridges and several short tunnels from the comfort of our car, pretty exciting.
That evening after arriving to our campsite we found out that the campground was located besides the Trail of the Couer D'Alene (A former Union Pacific Railroad). The railroad crossed the southern portion of lake Couer D'Alene and since it's been turned into a trail, the draw bridge has been left permanently up, hence it was needed to construct a ramp on each end to traverse the bridge. Feel free to search "Chatcolet Bridge" in your favorite search engine. Anyhow, Ben enjoyed picking up sticks, rocks, pine cones and even got a chance to make friends with other campers. He wore himself out that day and slept like a rock that night. Maybe I should wear him out more often but that means I wear myself out more... what a conundrum.
I was eager to see tunnel 41 of the Milwaukee Railroad so I made sure to make a quick stop on our way back home on Sunday. It's a 1/2 mile tunnel south of Plummer that has seen some interesting crowds through out the years since the tracks were removed and was rather scary to approach since the western entrance was littered with filth and scattered with animal remains. Although it was not my favorite place we visited, I can now say I've seen it. Which actually, the land that tunnel 41 sits on is currently for sale for $650,000 and that includes 54 acres. Anyhow we visited Toy's R Us before heading back and quickly drove through Spraque, WA just to see something new on our way back. Overall it was a great camping weekend with beautiful scenery along the St. Joe River. On top of that, Traci's folks bought me a fly-fishing rod so I'm excited to try it out and tell stories of the one that got away. I can see the story developing in my mind...
"There I was, minding my own business. When suddenly! Out of of nowhere!..." You get the idea.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Thantum
I've had these two pictures sitting in the draft section of my blog for about three months now and I'm thinking it's time to publish them on my blog. I don't exactly have a story to tell with them except that I wanted to take a few pictures with Ben and he didn't want to spend time with me since he had just learned how to walked the previous week. He ended up falling and hurting himself which placed him in less of a mood to have a camera in front of him.
Many of the stories I have with Ben are short and perhaps I will begin to write them down even if there isn't a picture to go along with the text. At about 13 months Ben began saying his first words, on one particular day during our morning walk around the block I gave him a handful of Gerber Graduate Puffs. While he was sitting in his stroller he signaled that he had eaten all his treats and wanted more. I grabbed a handful to place in his small tray and as I began to place them down he looked up at me and said "Thantum!" I was surprised yet quickly exclaimed "Good job, Ben!" The more interesting part is that not a second later Ben placed his hands together and shouted, "Aahh." It was his simple little one word prayer, "Amen".
I often find myself amazed at how much he understands me at such an early age. Just last week I mentioned to Ben that we needed to find his shoes and socks before we went outside. I continued getting myself prepared to leave the house meanwhile Ben went to his room and brought me a sock and a shoe. It completely caught me off guard since I was not expecting him to understand me, especially to go look and find shoes and socks. It's pretty amazing if you think about it. Most grown-ups can't find a way out of being lazy and have others fetch their clothes... Way to be outdone by a 15 month old kid.
About a month ago Ben took a plastic shovel over to the neighbors house and eventually lost interested when he saw the neighbors toys. Eventually he noticed that the neighbor's little girl had picked it up and that made him want his toy back. They are only a few months apart so he began chasing her in circles yelling "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" If you think about it, what else could you say when you have a limited vocabulary.
All of this makes me wonder how useful is it to speak baby talk to kids? From skipping words to taking the "R" out of words, are we doing them any good? Ben understand way more than I give him credit and he will have to relearn how to talk if he continues hearing baby talk. This past week he said "Awesome."... Gee, I wonder where he learned that? Now if I can only get the words, "like" and "dude" out of my vocabulary.
Many of the stories I have with Ben are short and perhaps I will begin to write them down even if there isn't a picture to go along with the text. At about 13 months Ben began saying his first words, on one particular day during our morning walk around the block I gave him a handful of Gerber Graduate Puffs. While he was sitting in his stroller he signaled that he had eaten all his treats and wanted more. I grabbed a handful to place in his small tray and as I began to place them down he looked up at me and said "Thantum!" I was surprised yet quickly exclaimed "Good job, Ben!" The more interesting part is that not a second later Ben placed his hands together and shouted, "Aahh." It was his simple little one word prayer, "Amen".
I often find myself amazed at how much he understands me at such an early age. Just last week I mentioned to Ben that we needed to find his shoes and socks before we went outside. I continued getting myself prepared to leave the house meanwhile Ben went to his room and brought me a sock and a shoe. It completely caught me off guard since I was not expecting him to understand me, especially to go look and find shoes and socks. It's pretty amazing if you think about it. Most grown-ups can't find a way out of being lazy and have others fetch their clothes... Way to be outdone by a 15 month old kid.
About a month ago Ben took a plastic shovel over to the neighbors house and eventually lost interested when he saw the neighbors toys. Eventually he noticed that the neighbor's little girl had picked it up and that made him want his toy back. They are only a few months apart so he began chasing her in circles yelling "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" If you think about it, what else could you say when you have a limited vocabulary.
All of this makes me wonder how useful is it to speak baby talk to kids? From skipping words to taking the "R" out of words, are we doing them any good? Ben understand way more than I give him credit and he will have to relearn how to talk if he continues hearing baby talk. This past week he said "Awesome."... Gee, I wonder where he learned that? Now if I can only get the words, "like" and "dude" out of my vocabulary.
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