Dan's Height Chart

Since we've been charting our kids' height all along, I've always been curious how their height compares to mine when I was growing up. I also often get asked, "how tall were you in high school?"

• 12/16/80 (12 yrs) -- 5' 2.5"
• 02/20/82 (14 yrs) -- 5' 5"
• 05/09/82 (14 yrs) -- 5' 5.5"
• 10/10/82 (14 yrs) -- 5' 7" (Start of HS fr yr)
• 10/10/83 (15 yrs) -- 5' 11" (Start of HS so yr)
• 02/09/84 (16 yrs) -- 6' 1" (Middle of HS so yr)
  

So I don't have data for when I was entering college (will have to get that from Freshman year Stanford volleyball program), but suffice it to say I grew a bunch in '82 and '83 !

Y = Th

In Ben-speak, the "th" sound is still too difficult, so a Y fills in the place just fine.

On the way home from Palm Desert last weekend, the kids were watching a DVD in the car. Ben complained that he couldn't hear it. We look back to see that he was fiddling with his headphones, after they had fallen down.

Asked what is the problem, Ben:

"I have yem yike yis, yen yem go yike yis ... " rrrrrr " .... (headphones falling down noise)"

Firestorm 2007 - Evacuation

Ugh - we've had a rough / stressful couple of days, along with everyone else in San Diego county. Once again, the October Santa Ana winds (notice Easterly winds from "90 degrees" direction) combined with dry conditions to create the perfect storm of fire throughout the county.

This time, we were almost affected, having been served a voluntary evacuation order here in Carlsbad. There is tons of info about it, but here and here are a couple maps that show what we were up against.

The reason I'm blogging this here, is because of the kids' reaction to it all. It was sad to see them worry about the evacuation. Jamie and I were busy packing up the essentials, and it was obvious to them something was going on. We had them pack each of their suitcases, explaining that they should take whatever they can think of that is important to them.

So here then is an inventory of their suitcases:

• Bennett - Piggy bank, Buzz Lightyear bank, and ALL of his "tags" (pajamas with tags that he likes to rub on his face). That's it - it's all that's important - money and tags.
• Avery - Books, various "Webkins" stuffed animals, some swim meet ribbons, money bank, soccer team picture, soccer trophies.
  
• Connor - Books, Webkins, baseball "game balls" (autographed), swim meet ribbons, money bank, pokemon cards, soccer trophies.
  

Luckily, it all turned out ok - evac for Carlsbad was lifted this evening. Others in the county were not so lucky. Something like 300,000 people evacuated (so far) in SD county, over 1,000 homes destroyed.

How to Make a Glowstick

Thought this might be a fun activity for Indian Guides / Princesses since they always LOVE having glowsticks at the campouts.

Ferris Buehler

Connor happened to catch a scene of Ferris the other day when we were channel surfing. He was cracking up. So we decided they could watch the whole movie (Jamie's DVD).

I don't know what the rating is, but there are some Sh!Ts in there, along with Rooney (principal) flipping off the tow truck as it's pulling away.

Connor's question: why did he point the sky? LOL

Bennett 3 Years Old

Took Ben for his 3 year old check-up a few weeks ago. It was a disaster. He was in a good mood going in, then just turned on a dime when the nurse called us in. Refused to get weighed, refused anything in the exam room (blood pressure, etc).

Eventually, Dr. Anna came in and did the exam while Ben sat on Jamie's lap. Screaming for most of the time. "Really Dr. he's not usually like this.." Ya right. :)

Bottom line - stats (as measured at home): 43 lbs, 39.5 " -- well above the 97% curve.

Love My Dad...

(SO much to blog about, so here's just a small dent)

Ben has been hearing us play the "My Dad ... So Cool" songs from Indian Guides/Princesses. Now he cruises around the house and randomly starts singing it.

His rendition: My dad... so tool - even takes me pool.

Also usually in the lineup when playing those songs on the 360 is Mary Mack. Sometimes Ben will want to hear it, other times not so much. "No may mat ! "