Helen (and Huck!) of Niles

A Day in the City...

This weekend while Hoss was in NYC for a wedding, I took the kids to the city to run a 10k race and explore the area around Aquatic Park.  Helen and Huck were surprisingly amenable to sitting (somewhat) still in the stroller for 6.2 miles (49 minutes and 45 seconds).  I think they were intrigued by the crowd of runners around us; the cityscape--including buses, trolleys, trains, and bridges; and the chocolate cookies I bribed them with at the halfway point.  Although it took much longer than my normal racing pace, it wasn't a bad effort considering I was pushing a 110-pound barge.

Afterward, in search of a bathroom, we found the National Historic Maritime Museum.  Indoors, there were replicas of steamers, clippers, schooners, and other assorted nautical stuff.  The kids were really fascinated by it, so we crossed the street to the outdoor portion of the museum on a pier extending in the bay.  There were anchors to climb, tug boats to investigate, and several full-sized, restored ships docked at the pier.  We boarded all of the ships and explored them.  Helen was totally engaged; she loved the ships and begged to stay longer.  Huck, too, was totally engaged, but his attention was largely focused on getting as close as possible to the edge of the deck.  Because there wasn't much between us and the bay 30 feet below, I had to cut short our adventures.  We'll go back when there's another set of eyes to keep Huckleberry from drowning.

Related Helen-ism: She asked repeatedly if we could go walk on the "big red sidewalk in the sky"--meaning, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lots of pictures below...

 

 

 

 

Monday Helen-isms

FYI, these are all from the last hour or so...

• A long time ago, did Santa ride a dinosaur?

• Do you see those flying rats over there?  I think it's flying rat season right now.

• I know what to get Huckleberry for Christmas!  He needs a soft, soft nightgown!

• [After I found a stack of paper in the freezer...] Mommy, those are pictures of snowflakes that I made.  You can't take them out of the freezer or they will melt!

• Mommy, you know those pouch things that kangaroos have for their joeys?  I'm going to make you one out of yarn so Huck and I can go for rides.

• Can we get a dungeon or a basement for our house?  Can we call some guys to make one for us?

• Mommy, can you take me and Huck to Target?  We need to pick up some things on our list.

• I ran out of room on my Christmas List for bonus presents.  Can you get me a BIG BIG piece of paper?

• I don't think Huck remembers about Texas.  So, I'm going to tell him.  Huck, in Texas there are lots of people... Mana and Papa and Aunt Sheila and Mia and Mamama and Papa and Pop and Mama Joyce and I think Strawberry Shortcake used to live there.

Part boy, part baby

It's easy to forget that Huck is still a baby.  He's so, so big, but really, he's still a pretty little kid.

He's very much devoted to his pacifier (or, in his parlance, his "bop").  Today he didn't have one in the car, so he borrowed one from Helen's baby doll.

He still drinks milk, often from a bottle (with a sippy-style top).  He thought it would be a good idea to put the bottle in Helen's rain boot and drink from it like that.

Kids at play

Helen loves to hang and swing--on the monkey bars, on tree branches, on pretty much anything even vaguely horizontal.

 

 

And here's her new, not-exactly-improved, 3-year-old attitude on display...

 

Huck likes to scale the slide.  About a third of the time, he face-plants near the top.  But he's fairly impervious to pain and physical setbacks.

 

Halloween Night

We celebrated Halloween this year with our family friends, who have kids (roughly) Helen's and Huck's ages.  Helen and Laurel were, respectively, Laura and Mary from The Little House on the Prairie books.  Huck and Maryanne were clowns--and fittingly so.  My mom made all of the costumes, and they were fantastic; the kids received appreciative (and occasionally awe-struck) comments from everyone they encountered.  The clowns, in particular, were one-of-a-kind and perfectly suited to Huck and Maryanne's penchant for goofiness and mischief.  The big girls loved their aprons and bonnets.  Helen insisted on being called Laura all night, and she referred to us as Ma and Pa.  After dinner, the kids made a trick-or-treating trek around the block.  The big kids were expert candy collectors, and the little kids were merry followers.  See below for the contents of Huck's jack o' lantern: a pacifier, some flowers and rocks, and several pieces of candy that he tried to eat through the packaging.  He actually succeeded in eating an entire mini-Kit Kat through the wrapper.  Thanks again to Mana for making the incredible costumes!

Huck didn't like to pose for pictures:

He finally consented to pose when bribed with a "bop" (pacifier):

Laura and Mary:

 

Huck's loot (note the mangled candy):

 

Laura and Mary enjoy their lollipops:

Pumpkin Patch

Because the pumpkin patch is across the parking lot from our favorite farm park, we've been there half a dozen times over the last month.  Huck insists on picking up (and subsequently chucking) gigantic pumpkins, of course.  Helen likes to run all over the patch, hurdling pumpkins and racing invisible ghosts.  Note: in the last picture you'll see Uncle Andrew, who was in town a few weeks ago and helped tackle Huck on one of his mischievous sprints up the hay pyramid.

 

 

Playing at the park

The leaves are falling, which makes park time more fun (lots of leaves to throw and crash into) and fleeting (fewer minutes before twilight).  The kids spend a lot of time in "the ivy"--an area at the edge of the playground overgrown with ivy, both underfoot and overhanging the branches of low trees.  There are tunnels and paths through the area, and Huck and Helen love to explore and play pretend back there.  Generally, one tree is "REI" and another is "the grocery store."  Another area is Helen's "house."

 

 

Sticks

Huck loves sticks, and they exist in abundance at the neighborhood park.  These are all from last week...

Birthday Preview

Helen turned three today!

 

The Diva and the Strong Man