Sunday, November 30, 2008

November Trip to Florida

We took a recent trip to Florida this year. We went earlier in November to avoid higher airline costs around the Thanksgiving holiday - and what a great choice that was. The weather was spectacular!




Kaisa loved playing in Grandma & Grandad's pool, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. She also loved the beach, and tried to eat as many handfuls of it as she could. ;) I wonder why she sometimes refuses the food we give her on her highchair's tray, but will go ahead and put sand in her mouth. Yikes! :)

It was a very nice trip. Eileen and Megan drove down from Jacksonville for a couple of days. Ryan was busy winning one baseball game after another in his late fall tournament, so he & Mike had to stay home. We hope to see them in the spring.




Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Trip to Washington!

Last weekend, Oct 24-26, we made a nice trip to DC to see Kevin, Merkey, and for a performance of Andrea's piece "Halfmoon Nocturne." This was performed by her friend Armando's group on Friday night.


Things went well through the trip! Kaisa was great on the airplane rides (thankfully, no delays), and we had fun despite the Saturday rain (wow, another Amer/Reinkemeyer trip with some rain, imagine that).


Kevin's new apartment is very nice & before he got home from work on Friday, Kaisa and I helped by unpacking his kitchen... Kaisa mostly played with the paper. :)


Here's a pic!


Friday, July 25, 2008

Dad & Kaisa at the Columbia!



I like this picture, taken by expert photographer Andrea! :)

It was taken on the Columbia River in the Gorge.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Trashdale

Am I the only one who thinks our 4th of July traditions are among the stupidest in the world? Around here, in Troutdale OR, last night was like living in Baghdad, with small arms fire and the occasional mortar round. This went on until nearly midnight, with every boom from an M80 rousing our sleeping baby. Real nice, Oregonians. Way to spew unnecessary noxious gasses into the air. And, of course, these idiot rednecks didn't even bother to clean up after themselves. The streets around here were littered with shrapnel this morning, which will of course all flow to the rivers and eventually the Pacific Ocean. My Father In Law had to hose off his cars and house to clear off all of the debris left on them by the "celebration."

And don't tell me this isn't a celebration of war. You can talk all you want about the visual "coolness" of fireworks, and when I was 13 I would have agreed. But when a great deal of the stuff is just explosions (blowin' shit up) I don't see how that's anything but a celebration of war.

Oregon has a good reputation in the Midwest, for the most part. But it is undeserved in Trashdale.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Portland Trip - post #1

June 30, 2008 marked Kaisa's first trip to Oregon. Mom, Dad & Kaisa endured a looooonnng flight out here (saved a few bucks going through Houston - not recommended since the total flight time wasn't much less than going to Italy!) Flew on Continental, which we can recommend because they still give meals and drinks for free. We were expecting to have to pay for it these days.

The thrill of the day was sitting behind someone with some sort of issue. He would scold us out loud every time the baby made a noise. Made Andrea's blood boil! We think he must have been autistic or something like that. Blech! What a long day. :^P

Friday, May 16, 2008

Thursday, May 8, 2008

The Dances w/ Dirt Team - Tighty Whities!


Dave - Legal Expert & Scalia Hater!

Jim - Author Extrordinaire (check Wikipedia)!

Martha - Super Mom & Teacher!

Carp - Phonics Expert - Pats Fan!
B'Amer - Ford Guy - Ankle Twister - Leg 2 Avoider!





Monday, April 14, 2008

Florida Trip - Easter 2008



March sure isn't a bad time to be in Florida! We left cold, snowy Michigan (and what a snowy winter it was... I heard Ann Arbor broke a record for snowfall!) for 70's & sun in FLA. We got a chance to see everyone (including Mike, Eileen, Ryan, Megan, and Kevin) over the course of our week there.

Another highlight was a spring training game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. We had standing room only seats, but snuck our way into the right field seats that had tables in front of them for food, etc. Not bad! :)

Apart from that, most of the trip was spent on the beach or at Grandma & Granddad's pool!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Great!

Here's a quote from Dan Kurtzman:

Liberal Manifesto
Liberals believe in clean air, diplomacy, stem cells, living wages, body armor for our troops, government accountability, and that exercising the right to dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
Liberals believe in reading actual books, going to war as a last resort, separating church and hate, and doing what Jesus would actually do, instead of lobbying for upper-class tax cuts and fantasizing about the apocalypse.
Liberals believe in civil rights, the right to privacy, and that evolution and global warming aren’t just theories but incontrovertible scientific facts.
Liberals believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment that (1) prohibits another Bush from ever occupying the White House, and (2) prevents George W. Bush from ever becoming baseball commissioner before he does to our national pastime what he did for America.
Liberals believe in rescuing people from flooded streets and rooftops, even if they’re too poor to vote Republican.
Liberals believe that supporting our troops means treating our wounded vets like the heroes they are, and not leaving them to languish in rat-infested military hospitals under the outsourced management of incompetent cronies who think they’re running a Taco Bell franchise.
Liberals believe in pheromones, sex ed, solar panels, voting paper trails, the common good, and that, no matter how fascinating a story it may be, a president should never sit around in a state of total paralysis reading "My Pet Goat" while America is under attack.
And above all, liberals believe that it’s time to come together as a country and put a
collective boot in the ass of shameless conservative fearmongers, hate merchants, and scapegoaters who are sucking the freedom out of all our souls.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Cutie Patootie!



I think Grandma bought her this outfit. Pretty in Pink, I'd say. ;)

Superbowl Party!



We had a Superbowl party last Sunday & it was Kaisa's first chance to watch some football! A good time was had by all, despite the fact that most of the room (who had a rooting interest) were Pats fans. Quite a 4th quarter!

I made pretzels from a recipe found on epicurious.com. They turned out really well! They are a bit of work, but not too much. Everyone enjoyed them, so they should make another appearance in the future.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Kaisa Sleeps... sometimes!



Pretty cute when she's sleeping, huh? Last night, however, she decided to be wide awake & mostly crying from 10:30 - 12:30. I'm told this is normal. Andrea seems to be handling things better than me. Maybe she has more nurturing genes or I'm just a cold fish. ;)