road trip!

ramona went on her first road trip last weekend, and it was a success. we drove to grand rapids to visit ramona's aunt libby, uncle bob, and cousin lilly. it was a great time.

baby's first backseat diaper change, in the parking lot of the michigan welcome center.

ramona loves her musical pig, which provided endless car seat entertainment.

yesterdog! david indulged his long-standing craving for grand rapids' (the world's) best hot dogs with a visit to the local favorite.

three yesterdogs, a cheddar dog, and a kraut dog. yum.

ramona's first visit to her namesake medical plaza (unfortunately, the medical building is now gone, and all that remains is this sign).
lilly communicates with the ducks on reeds lake, upon docks in the formerly named ramona park.

egr pride. that's east grand rapids pride, and that's david and ramona seated with the bronze statue of jimmy gerken.

a trip to the grand rapids art museum did not disappoint. the current calder jewelry display is well worth a visit. below, lilly and i take in the 2009 art prize winner--a painting of waves breaking at shore. the detail is breathtaking.

who's a good boy?

mildred's

we picked up some warm sandwiches from mildred's sandwich shop last night. my favorite is the blystone.
david had to tie his shoe before we started the walk home.

young me, now me

old photographs revisited, re-posed, re-shot years later never fail to entertain. the good people at young me, now me know this and made a website. good stuff.

moo

holstein cow print diaper cover = dairyland pride

thin ice

indeed.

shopping list

farm & fleet

• chicken feed
• wood chips
• straw
• storage bins
• white paint
• cocoa bean mulch
• oyster shells
• outdoor fire pit
• grass seed

ace hardware

• water softener salt
• electrical wire
• electric outlets
• phone wire
• phone jack
• pick-up hatchet and axe from sharpening

who have we become?

grillin'

dusting off the grill and making dinner in the backyard makes good weather even better. the grill has been returned to the patio, and it still cooks up a fine meal.

tummy time

st. patrick's day parade

we attended madison's st. patrick's day parade this past weekend. it seemed like a nice, kid-friendly event. despite the music (two elvis impersonators!) and the fire engine sirens, ramona and her tiny buddy sam slept through the whole thing.

sleeping ramona

sleeping sam

there were the requisite highland dance troups,

dogs in wee little hats,

elvis,
and general cuteness.

test shots

as paul simon said, "i got a nikon camera. i love to take a photograph."
of course, our new nikon camera is digital. sorry, kodachrome.

ramona, the character

our daughter ramona was not named after any fictional literary character. however, there are two literary ramonas worth mentioning.

the first, likely most well-known, is ramona quimby, beverly cleary's lovable 8 year old girl. ramona quimby, age 8 is a memorable read from my childhood.


perhaps less well-known to my generation, and certainly not for children, is ramona the orphan from helen hunt jackson's 1884 novel ramona. our friends matt and lia found a copy of the 1970 edition of the "classic romantic bestseller" and bought it for us. they're the best.

from the back cover...
"Ramona blushed as the handsome young Indian Alessandro looked upon her with favor. A great, star-crossed love was born. But the adopted daughter of Senora Moreno was defying the custom of her people. Her forbidden love would drive her from place to place with Alessandro until tragedy would strike and Ramona would at last come to an understanding of herself."

whoa. heavy stuff.

and, of course, there's our favorite little character, ramona staple.

bread machine love

thank you breadmaster pro TM for another perfect creation.

new buddy

our friends reed and molly had a baby! ramona's new buddy sam arrived 2 days ago, and he is sweet and tiny and soft and perfect. ramona can't wait to start playing with him. we can't wait to start taking adorable pictures of babies hanging out together.

mama and baby

buddies

he felt so small and light, which begs the question: when did ramona get so big?

congratulations molly and reed! job well done.

spring?

these plucky little plants in the front yard seem to think it's spring.



i like their enthusiasm.

add to cart

shopping for chickens online at mypetchicken.com yields the best online shopping basket ever.

we are getting close to final breed selections and ordering our chickens. unlike our other family members, these gals will be purchased online, and will arrive by mail. this is what they'll look like when they arrive:

baby glow worm

dopplegangers?

four lakes

last summer, madison installed the sculpture "four lakes" on state street at frances street. it sits between the beer garden at state street brats and the entrance of the campus inn. the abstract sculpture uses four boulders and a stream of water carved into a raised stone slab to represent the distinct inland water features of the madison area. i like it quite a bit.

but, in addition to the smooth gray stone structures, there is also a mean-looking bronze badger with two baby badgers. the animals are bolted to the end of the stone slab. in my opinion, it is jarring to view. it is incongruous at best. david disagrees with me; he likes the badgers with the rest of the sculpture.

on a sunny family walk this weekend, we visited the four lakes sculpture. here are some photos of the bronze badgers. (unfortunately, i don't have any photos of the entire sculpture, so you'll just have take my word for the fact that the badger statue doesn't fit with the rest of the sculpture).


they are less friendly looking than bucky, the standard by which all badger disposition ought to be measured.

here is a short excerpt from the isthmus newspaper from august, 2009, regarding the sculpture.

Lakes made of stone

The city of Madison has quietly unveiled its latest piece of public art.

Called "Four Lakes," the $230,000 sculpture sits on the pedestrian section of Frances Street on the south side of State Street (next to State Street Brats). The final piece of the State Street redevelopment project, it was paid for with a combination of tax incremental financing and a federal grant.

The sculpture was created by Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Gray Sears of Stockholm, Wis. It consists of four large pieces of granite, representing the area's major lakes (Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa), with a fountain down the middle. At one end is a badger with her offspring, carved out of bronze.

"It was such a challenging piece," says Karin Wolf, Madison's arts program administrator. "They had to leave an 11-foot clearance for emergency vehicles. They couldn't move any of the light poles."

Ald. Verveer, who pushed for inclusion of public art on State Street, is pleased with the sculpture. "I've seen a number of people enjoying it, particularly kids," he says. "That was the intention behind it."

these are a few of my favorite things

visits with baby wesley, and baby leg warmers. what's not to love?