The English Gardens with Oma Epp

The English Gardens with Oma Epp

Nate, "My eyes are very tired, can you rub them for me?"

We had friends over yesterday and Nate had done a really good job playing with their son, who is even younger than...

We had friends over yesterday and Nate had done a really good job playing with their son, who is even younger than James. They had gone home, Nate was contentedly colouring on the dining room table, and I sensed a great parenting moment in the making.

I walked quietly up to Nate, gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and said in my most fatherly encouraging voice, "Nate, I was really proud of the way you played with Rudy today, that was very good."

Nate looked deep in thought. Maybe he didn't quite understand. So I began to elaborate on how he had done a good job playing at Rudy's level, how that had probably made Rudy very happy, that it made me very happy, and perhaps that made Nate feel good too. I paused to see if this had sunk in.

Without skipping a beat, Nate goes, "Daddy.... I think I should get a treat for playing so nicely with Rudy."

I'll just leave this here....

I'll just leave this here....
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1239438--u-s-tourist-s-pro-gun-letter-sparks-social-media-storm#.UCltgIMBHnU.facebook

Obvious bonus points for playing "Insane in the Membrane" through an actual membrane, but it got me thinking, how...

Obvious bonus points for playing "Insane in the Membrane" through an actual membrane, but it got me thinking, how long before somebody puts out clothing that hooks into your audio feed and looks like this. I've seen equalizers done before, but how awesome would a pulsating polka dot shirt be?
http://kottke.org/12/08/squids-membrane-goes-insane-while-listening-to-cypress-hill

At the English Gardens.

At the English Gardens. It's great to see Nate sharing an enthusiasm for flowers with Sara. He walks around the gardens asking Sara what the names of all the flowers are, and gets excited when he sees certain flowers he likes.

This is kind of fun.

This is kind of fun.
http://kottke.org/12/08/traditional-style-woodblock-prints-of-video-game-characters

When I mowed the lawn, Nate used to faithfully follow me around with a toy lawn mower.

When I mowed the lawn, Nate used to faithfully follow me around with a toy lawn mower. He was quite dedicated and would follow me for a good portion of the time I mowed. I thought it was cute. Now he follows me with a stick and pretends to chase me... hopefully the neighbours weren't watching.

Trying out Windows 8, so thought I'd give Internet Explorer (and therefore Bing) over Chrome a try, as it has a...

Trying out Windows 8, so thought I'd give Internet Explorer (and therefore Bing) over Chrome a try, as it has a native Metro UI. Sad times, I was searching for "Office 2013" and Bing doesn't even show Microsoft's own site in the first page of search results, which is what I was looking for, works much better with a Google search.

One of the interesting things about living with kids is finding unexpected things in unexpected places, like toys in...

One of the interesting things about living with kids is finding unexpected things in unexpected places, like toys in my work bag, or cheerios in my suit jacket, or, as was the case today, a grappling hook hanging out the back of my car.

Five years of marriage!

Five years of marriage!

We were taking a long car ride as a family to avoid the rain while camping, and I guess Nate was getting bored,...

We were taking a long car ride as a family to avoid the rain while camping, and I guess Nate was getting bored, because he tried to engage us in some conversation (which I thought was cute).

"Mom, what's your favourite farm animal?"

"Ummmm, a goat."

"Why?"

"Well, because goats are fun and like to play and bounce around."

(pause)

"Daddy, what's your favourite farm animal?"

"...farm dogs. Dad likes farm dogs."

(pause)

"James, what's your favourite farm animal? Pigs. James likes pigs!"

After a library run. Great to see both our boys so into books.

After a library run. Great to see both our boys so into books.

True Story #231. Story by Dan Telfer.

http://www.mikeholmesdraws.com/post/28495057941

Nate was full of unexpected kindness this weekend.

Nate was full of unexpected kindness this weekend.

Friday, we were enjoying time with the neighbours on their patio. I told Nate it was time to leave and started gathering our stuff. When I looked up, Nate was nowhere to be seen. We eventually found him inside the neighbours house cleaning up the toy he had been playing with. He told us later he had trouble finding the room (he had never been upstairs in their house, but he did manage to find the right place to put the toy by finding the spot for similar toys).

Saturday, I was working in the basement with my Dad and Nate, and I cut myself. As I was upstairs (2nd floor) putting on a bandaid when I heard somebody coming up the stairs. Then a small voice, "Dad are you okay?"

"Yes, Nate, I'm fine."

"I was just checking if you were alright. It's good to check on people when they get hurt."

"Thanks, Nate."

Sunday, Sara's helping Nate with something in the kitchen. Meanwhile, James starts running from the living room, runs right through the dining room, comes to a quick stop in the kitchen doorway and throws a toy with all his might at Nate and Sara and takes off. James gets admonished. Once Nate's done in the kitchen he starts searching around the house until he finds a ball and gives it to James. "Here you go, James. Here is something you can throw."

Fun at the beach.

Fun at the beach.

Just because post.

Just because post.

Brilliant. The commentary is great.

Brilliant. The commentary is great.
http://kottke.org/12/07/what-cricket-looks-like-to-americans

Nate was having a night snack.

Nate was having a night snack.
"Nate, I put a surprise in your yogurt."
"Is it milk?"
"No, it's round and purple."
Nate now excited, "Is it olives?"
"No, it's grapes."
Dissapointed, "oh."

Brothers in a box.

Brothers in a box.

MoCAT: the Musuem of Contemporary Art Trash

http://kottke.org/12/07/mocat-the-musuem-of-contemporary-art-trash

Sara and I were sitting in our room waiting for the kids to fall asleep, when I hear Nate singing all the way from...

Sara and I were sitting in our room waiting for the kids to fall asleep, when I hear Nate singing all the way from in the boys' room. I'm about to go in and tell him to be quiet when I finally make out what he's singing, "I need to be quiet, sooooooo verrrrrry quiiiiiet, so my brother can fall asleeeeeeep, and doesn't waaaaaake uuuuup......"

Me, "Nate, I'm telling you to go to your room right now!"

Me, "Nate, I'm telling you to go to your room right now!"
Nate, "No, I'm going to go to James' room!"
(it's the same room)

Impromptu picnic at the forks.

Impromptu picnic at the forks.

Brothers

Brothers

Always fun when Winnipeg gets a random mention in my regular internet wanderings.

Always fun when Winnipeg gets a random mention in my regular internet wanderings.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/cowboys-must-be-deranged.html

This morning:

This morning:
Sara, "Nate do you want cereal for breakfast?"
Nate, "No, I want ... [pause while trying to think of something clever] ... broccoli!"

It's a shame we didn't have any on hand, or we could have called his bluff.

Kites in the park.

Kites in the park. 

Went out with good friends, had a couple drinks.

Went out with good friends, had a couple drinks... discovered something fundamentally new about the way the universe works. 

(Picture taken at the newly reopened Basil's on Osbourne. Fantastic restaurant by the way.)

I'm not quite sure how this is physically possible.

I'm not quite sure how this is physically possible. I understand that our boys eat a lot of cheerios and that they drop quite a few of them, but what I don't understand is how you amass a pile that big directly underneath you without crushing it into cheerio dust.

(Striped car seat is James, check is Nate)

Note to self: Do not use the term "We need to jet" around a three year old.

Note to self: Do not use the term "We need to jet" around a three year old.

The next ten minutes included repeated requests to fly in a jet, an explanation of why "We need to jet" implied we need to go fast, explanation of why jets are considered fast relative to other modes of transporation, explanation of what physically makes a jet go fast, more requests to fly in a jet, explanation of why travelling by jet isn't an efficient means of travelling within the same city...

Posted purely because of the name of the game.

Posted purely because of the name of the game.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/17/3091922/play-this-snakes-on-a-cartesian-plane

Went with our kids and the Ifland kids to our regular park, only to find out it was a full on kids' carnival.

Went with our kids and the Ifland kids to our regular park, only to find out it was a full on kids' carnival. They had music noisily blaring, and there were two boys (between 10 and 12) waiting in line for the train in front of us, they had the standard boy of that age hair mop under ball caps, and were practicing their we're too cool to care poise when they suddenly looked at each other in unison, shouted "It's Beiber!" and started popping and locking like little gangsters. Oh to have had a pair of Google glasses to capture the footage.

Microsoft is really surprising me these days.

Microsoft is really surprising me these days. Launching a neat app first as an Android exclusive, and having their big E3 announcement be open platform.

Unfortunately, this app requires Facebook login for some reason, but still...
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/05/onx/

Nate likes to "shave" with me in the morning. (He's using my single blade razor, with the blade removed.)

Nate likes to "shave" with me in the morning. (He's using my single blade razor, with the blade removed.)

Sara and I went on a date to a restaurant last week, the food was good, but they had the unfortunate habit of using...

Sara and I went on a date to a restaurant last week, the food was good, but they had the unfortunate habit of using "real" as an adjective in their menu, as in "real chicken" or "a salad with real eggs" (it actually said that). Using "real" as a descriptor in a menu falls under the category of things that while good that they are true, are actually more disconcerting to mention than positive. Examples of words that fit this category are "edible", "palatable", and "non-toxic".

If I'm in your restaurant and I'm reading the menu, I'm just going to give you the benefit of the doubt that the ingredients you list are actually going to be provided (especially if your entrees are $25 and up). If you mention that the egg in your salad is "real", now I need to challenge my basic assumptions. The egg is real, but they didn't say anything about the tomatoes... or, what were they thinking of providing instead?

While I'm ranting, the other restaurant peeve that they triggered, was listing olives as part of their salad and then only providing two. At two olives you are not exceeding anyone's expectations, there's no room for you to go any lower, and you're dangerously close to not qualifying for the "s" at the end of "olives". Seriously though, at two olives it's not part of the salad, it's a garnish You don't need to mention it, surprise me. It's like noting that it comes with a sprig of parsley. Also, as a basic rule of aesthetics, things look better in odd numbers. Is that extra olive going to break your profitability margins? Live a little, throw in some extra olives.

A child's perspective.

A child's perspective. Normally I just come home from work and think nothing of it, but the other day I was crouched down giving James a hug, when I caught this perspective of our front yard. Thought it looked nice, so I took a picture.

James gets a much needed haircut.

James gets a much needed haircut.

Impromptu picnic in the park after watching our godson's Cello recital.

Impromptu picnic in the park after watching our godson's Cello recital.

Bonfire Bistro

http://plus.google.com/103258002873602516201/about

Felt like a certified Lifehacker the other day.

Felt like a certified Lifehacker the other day. Woke up to find the only butter we had was in the freezer. Was about to give up when I thought of using the cheese grater to "shred" the butter on top of the hot toast. Worked perfectly. It grates easily and the pieces are small and thin enough to melt with the heat of the toast.

...much better than that time in university, when I tried using the heat from the toaster to warm up the butter dish directly on top of it. Let's just say that trying to clean melted plastic from the inside of your toaster isn't a pleasant task.

I love scripting up solutions to problems.

Originally shared by Alexander Lucas

I love scripting up solutions to problems. You get all the satisfaction of being lazy, but all the points for being smart :P

Sara, upon reaching the outskirts of Calgary, "Look, Nate, the mountains.

Sara, upon reaching the outskirts of Calgary, "Look, Nate, the mountains. We're going to go to a cabin in the mountains."

Nate seeing the snow capped ridges, pauses for a moment, "There might be polar bears. That could be dangerous."

Me, "No, Nate, there won't be polar bears, but maybe black bears, or even grizzlies."

Nate thinks about it for a bit, then excitedly, "I have a good idea! I'll bring a gun! ...and wear a pirate hat!"

Prolonged, and probably futile attempt to convince Nate that we don't need to shoot bears if we respect their space. Concluded by a compromise that since we're in Alberta now, bringing guns along probably is the acceptable solution.

Allow me to elaborate for a moment on the fact that I am a Computer Engineer married to a woman with a Masters...

Allow me to elaborate for a moment on the fact that I am a Computer Engineer married to a woman with a Masters degree in Computer Science. We are going on a road trip soon, and the following is our natural solution:

We are running three Android devices, one tablet, and two phones, as our mobile (in more than one sense) computing system.

My phone is the hub of the system, it provides a wireless hot spot (when needed ) for the other devices while in the car, and sits near the dash as my head's up, turn-by-turn, GPS navigation system. It also interfaces with our car's sound system, and uses our Rdio account to provide a flexible playlist as we drive. The stalwart choices, though, are the Pixar Cars soundtrack, the Vinyl Cafe series by Stewart McClean (http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/), and a playlist inspired by one created by Veronica McKinnon for a joint road trip long ago (http://www.rdio.com/people/Jonathanepp/playlists/329226/Road_Trip/).

Sara's phone provides her entertainment, small games (Triple Town), plus eBooks downloaded from our local library. However, it also serves as the co-pilot computer, looking for local hotel deals via Hotwire, and nearby Tim's and play places for the kids via apps. She also uses it to text our current ETA to people we're meeting up with.

The tablet provides kid's apps, self reading kid's books, and kid's movies, for... well, the kids while in the car. When in hotels, it serves as our Netflix provider, and with the keyboard dock, a long form email and Google+ post writing device. The SD card reader allows us to easily see the photos our SLR took on a bigger screen and post them if desired.

The funny thing is, we didn't really plan any of this out, we certainly didn't purchase any of the devices or apps with a road trip in mind, it just that our (and the public's at large) "computer" usage has become so mobile in the last couple of years that this naturally happens.
http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/

Took the afternoon off and went with the family to the zoo!

Took the afternoon off and went with the family to the zoo!

Nate, "All the animals are thirsty, they need to drink water. They are very thirsty. All the people get thirsty too. We need to drink water."
Sara, "Nate, are you thirsty? Do you need water?"
Nate, "No, I was just talking about how everybody is thirsty."
Sara, "Oh, okay. Why don't you tell me some more about the thirsty animals."
Nate, "No, I'm all done talking about thirsty. I told you all about thirsty."
(Nate's Mr. Contrarian now a days.)

Also, in a separate incident, we went into the monkey house, and there was a big group of people inside. They all started laughing at the monkeys, but with the acoustics inside they sounded like a bunch of monkeys. It was pretty amusing.

I often post about the boys, but I should also mention, I have the best wife.

I often post about the boys, but I should also mention, I have the best wife.

A conspiracy revealed. Preach it brother!

A conspiracy revealed. Preach it brother!
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/scocca/2012/05/how_to_cook_onions_why_recipe_writers_lie_and_lie_about_how_long_they_take_to_caramelize_.html

An unconventional pirate:

An unconventional pirate:

Nate puts on chef's hat.
Me, "Nice hat, are you a chef?"
Sara, "Are you going to cook something for me?"
Nate, "No! I'm a pirate!"
Sara, "Arrrrrrrgh!"
Nate, "No! Don't say that."
Sara, "...but, pirate's say, 'Arrrrrgh!'"
Nate, "No, I don't say that. I say, 'Please.'"
Sara, "...oh, are you a polite pirate then?"
Nate, "Yes."

Nate on the "Panda Sauce" (Schezwan peanut sauce that has a picture of a panda on it), "We kill the pandas to make...

Nate on the "Panda Sauce" (Schezwan peanut sauce that has a picture of a panda on it), "We kill the pandas to make panda sauce."

Nate was walking (stomping) up the stairs, when he stopped suddenly, looked down at his feet, and said, "Quiet, you!

Nate was walking (stomping) up the stairs, when he stopped suddenly, looked down at his feet, and said, "Quiet, you!" Then, whispering while laughing slightly, "Silly feet, we need to be quiet when James is sleeping."

This is fun.

This is fun.
http://kottke.org/12/04/radio-time-machine

Took some quick photos of the boys having a lunch outside.

Took some quick photos of the boys having a lunch outside. Looking through them later, I thought it was funny how in most of the pictures they're both looking the same way or sharing the same expression.

Nate likes water.

Nate likes water.

On the weekend Nate "baptized" his stuffed horse with water... on our bed.

Later that day, as I was outside deep frying (homemade fish and chips), I began to notice him placing pails of water a couple feet away from me, as the collection silently amassed, I asked him what he was doing. "Getting water ready in case you catch on fire." Thanks, Nate.

James likes to eat.

James likes to eat.

On Friday James ate so much and with such ferocity that I had flashbacks of eating at my parents place with my teenage brother. It also prompted Sara to start an honest discussion about the best strategy to divide food equitably so that every member of the family could get enough food to eat. (There was an unspoken understanding that just making more food until James had enough to eat wasn't a viable option.) James is barely one.

On Saturday we caught James on multiple occasions trying to eat dirt from the potted plants. With a fork.

On Sunday James came and offered me his hand. I took it assuming he might want help walking. I was wrong. He began pulling me across the living room, and then the dining room, right up to his high chair. "Ah, you want to eat?" I begin rummaging around the kitchen. The next time I look back, James has procured some plastic food from somewhere and has placed it on a plastic plate at the base of his high chair, and is poking at it with a plastic fork. Okay. I get the picture!

James and the foam sword.

James and the foam sword.

I was helping out with Sunday School yesterday.

I was helping out with Sunday School yesterday. It was Palm Sunday, so lots of "Hosanna"s. We had just finished singing a song with it in it for the kids, and one of the girl's stops and goes, "But, seriously, who's Anna?"