The Uncles Come A-Visiting

Now I know y'all are familiar with Uncle Dave, Ted's oldest brother.

Cadence also has a series of other uncles who dote on her, including her uncles Phil (a.k.a. Teal) and John (a.k.a. Brown). It just so happens that they were in town this week (they live all over the place, most recently in Portland, OR) and paid a visit last night.

They had a chance to get caught up on Ted's latest homebrews over dinner.

John is leaving in the next 10 days for India where he will be studing music for 6 months.

Phil may be going to Ghana with their other friend Mikey for the funeral of Ghana's most esteemed xylophone player.

Some people get to travel everywhere!

Makes me want to renew my passport...

Photo slideshow of the visit is here, if yer interested.

Three Thoughts Thursday #3

#1—I've been missing the Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle lately. Maybe it's the whole turning 35 thing. Maybe I'm just stupid. Whatever the reason, I've determined to start going to more shows. Granted, if I get to see 3 shows in a year, that would qualify as MORE, but I was thinking more along the lines of at least twice a month. Holy shit. That sounds like a lot.

Anyhoo, I've got this lovely new camera that I'm dying to use on Chicago's best-lit venues, so who better to call upon than my dear friends Derek Becker of Satellite Booking and the Detholz! It just so happens that the 'Holz are headlining the I-Go Audio Emissions CD Release Party at the Metro tonight. I asked Derek if I could get a media pass so I could shoot photos, and he was nice enough to put me on the guestlist AND get me a media pass! The Metro happens to have my favorite lights in the city, so I'm really excited about the show tonight. And my friend Miss Mia of Chic-a-go-go is hosting the show, so I hope she tells all the tall folks to get the hell out of my way! Stay tuned for the photos…

#2—Speaking of the Detholz! show, I am hopefully going to get to meet someone at the show whose blog (erg, actually her Myspace page) I've been lurking on for a few months, and who it turns out has also been lurking on my blog! HA HA! That gets me a-thinkin' about the power of the Internet to establish relationships between folks who would otherwise be too shy to express their mutual admiration for one another in person. It also shows how the Internet brings out the inner stalker in all of us. I totally admit to that one.

#3—Cadence is growing up so fast. No, really. It's become more noticeable in just the past week or so. She's actually occasionally rational now. I can say to her, "We can't eat cookies for breakfast, but you can have an apple or an apricot," and she'll actually choose one of the latter two without argument 5% of the time. Or when I come home and she demands a nursing session right away, I can now say to her, "We'll do ma-ma-ma (her word for nursing) after I pee and change into something more comfortable (e.g., sans bra), and she'll actually say, "Okay."

Then again, she did have that screaming session yesterday evening about something I can't even remember, and I had to plug my ears or totally seriously risk hearing loss. It was flippin' loud, folks. I don't see how she's not deaf herself.

But still, overall I'm noticing that when I can't give her what she wants, as long as I get down on her level and give her some sort of explanation in a gentle, empathic voice, she'll resort to screaming in retaliation much less than she used to.

She's also beginning to understand aspects of the bigger world outside our little family. It kind of shocked me the other day when we were talking about church, and she tilts her head, nodding it up and down, and says, "Blbublaubl God? Blbublaubl Eesus?" Wow. So she knows that going to church has something to do with God and Jesus. Up to this point, she always associated church with Rudden (her best friend and baby love) and her other friends. And Matt the pianist whom we pick up every Sunday.

And then when we were at my cousin's house on Tuesday night, Baby Eden was propped up on her boppy while we were eating, and she started crying. Cadence was next to her, and looking really concerned, she says to me, "Blbublaubl wanna ah-zhoo!" No, she wasn't sneezing. Ah'-zhoo is her word for "be held." She knew that the baby wanted to be held and was alerting us to that fact.

So yeah, she's becoming spiritual AND compassionate. Totally growing up so fast.

Oh Crap.

You know, it was bound to happen. I bring my laptop home from work everyday, just in case something happens (like a blizzard, migraine, or the stomach flue) and I can't go into work the next day. So I shouldn't be too surprised finally to have my first accident involving liquid and my laptop.

Yes, it's true. Cadence spilled water on my laptop. I wasn't home when it happened, so I'm not sure what the details are. I don't think the laptop was on at the time, and it was in its closed position, but things aren't looking good...

After waiting a few hours for everything to dry, I tried turning on the laptop, and it just can't get itself started. It'll turn on, the fan will start, and then everything goes dead. It'll turn on, the fan will start, and then every goes dead again. And again. And again. Until I turn it totally off.

It's times like this that I can't help but start believing in miracles, because what else can you do but hope and pray or curse? Like how sheepish am I going to feel when I have to tell my boss the bad news tomorrow? The IT guys are totally going to make fun of me. I don't really care as long as they can resurrect the darn thing.

Well, that's what I get for leaving it lying around within reach of a toddler.

The good news is that I already uploaded my photos from our trip to our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm, Scotch Hill Farm, in Brodhead, WI. I spent most of yesterday weeding the strawberry patch and the lettuce rows, so I'm pretty sore right now. I have to say, though, that it was a great experience.

You definitely gain a deeper appreciation of where your food comes from, especially if you get your food from a local organic family farm. Holy cow, the WEEDS! The WEEDS!! And the ones invading the strawberry patch were the WORST. Crimeny! You could barely see the strawberry plants through the tall dense forest of weeds!

Pulling weeds is a great way to bond w/ your fellow human beings. I had a great time chit-chatting w/ my gal pals from church, collectively realizing what a blessing it was to have this opportunity to be close to the earth and see (literally) where our food comes from.

I highly recommend participating in a CSA if you have one available in youre area, or just spending some time getting your hands in the dirt.

Cadence's 15 Minutes of Webfame

I suppose it's silly pointing out the fact that a photo of Cadence is on another website, considering I've been plastering such photos all over this one since before she was even born.

But still. Humor a proud, silly mama, will ya? You see, Cadence and her playroom were featured as a Flickr Find on Apartment Therapy: The Nursery. Thanks, Alex!

Playing Catch Up Part Deaux

Okay, so the show on Friday night was pretty awesome. Tim had one of his art students help with the lighting to transform Berry's sanctuary into a music venue for the evening. I had a pretty hard time taking photos with Cadence running around.

I enlisted my brother's help in keeping an eye on her, and Tom from church also said he'd look after her. Nevertheless, Cadence managed to run around like a little sprite during the shows, and I believe she was actually on stage at one point. Here are some of my favorite photos of Tim's set:

This was actually during sound check. This is Matthew on piano and Ethan on clay jug (he also plays violin, very well I might add). I like how Matt's looking over at Ethan, giving him the thumbs-up. He's actually holding a melodica, not a cordless phone. Similar, but not quite the same.

And this is Ryan "And-They-Will-Know-Him-By-The-Yellow-Knit-Hat" Hammer. I bet his lovely wife Janelle made that hat, which I have seldom seen Ryan without.

Matthew and Ethan's shadow. I love this photo for some reason.

I know the band's not totally in focus here, but hey, it's more about the perspective, okay?

The rest of the photos for Tim's set can be seen on my flickr here. Slideshow can be seen here.

In the middle of Tim's set, Ryan and Jan Hammer performed a couple songs they had written. It was very sweet, even though Ryan totally forgot the words to the second song (he wrote it a few hours before the show). One of the songs they performed, Goodnight Sunshine, can be heard on the Tales from Tuckaway Myspace page.

Ben and Bruno made it to the show by the latter half of Tim's set. They were driving from Grand Rapids, and probably hit some knarly traffic with all the crazy construction going on. I had never listened to their music before Friday night's show, and I admit that they were nothing like what I had expected. I don't know why I had any expectations of them at all, but for some reason I thought they'd be more emo and a bit on the loud side (compared to Tim Lowly's music, at least). I couldn't have been more wrong. One of my favorite experiences in life is to stumble upon a band that I'd never heard of previously but whose music just blows me away upon first listen. It's like finding a loose diamond while lounging on the beach, lazily combing your fingers through the sand. (More photos from Friday night's Ben and Bruno set here.)

Tim and the gang reciprocated Ben and Bruno's road trip by driving out to Grand Rapids to play a show with them on Saturday night. Cadence and I tagged along, and we made a minivacation of it. I don't want to go into all the details of the trip, so I'll just give you the photo highlights. All the photos can be seen on my flickr account here.

Driving for 3+ hours with a 2.5 year old can be taxing on one's sanity. We did see some interesting sights, though, like this tough-looking band of bikers. There are around a half dozen bikers behind this guy. If you look carefully, you can see his face in his mirror.

We stopped in Dutch Village in Holland, MI, which is considered Tulip City USA. The town was just starting their Tulip Festival, and sure enough, everywhere you looked, there were tulips.

Cadence had a blast, and no wonder. There were baby ducklings!

Goats!

Dancing!

Slides!

And her favorite, I believe, was the carousel. This was her first carousel ride, and she LOVED it!

There was also a ride that Cadence was thrilled to see cuz she was thinking it was the Most Ultimate Swingset Ever. Unfortunately, she was too little to ride.

So Daddy rode instead.

But Cadence enjoyed watching daddy flying by.

We had so much fun that it didn't matter that we had actually intended to go to Windmill Island, but never made it because the Yahoo Map directions suck big time.

We had just enough time to check into our hotel before we had to show up for a 5pm soundcheck at the church where the show was. It was a beautiful church, and I wish I'd taken more photos, but I was pretty busy chasing Cadence. I actually had technical difficulties with my memory card, and so I didn't get to take any photos of Tim Lowly's set. I deleted enough photos to be able to take a few shots of Ben and Bruno, though.

Ben (of Ben and Bruno) brought his wife, also named Sarah, and their 2 year old daughter Eleanor, so Cadence had a playmate for the evening. It turns out Sarah and I had a lot in common, such as carrying cameras, being on flickr, parenting philosophies, having charming and active toddlers who want to be with their dads especially when said dads happen to be performing on stage at the moment.

I didn't get to see much of the show, but I really enjoyed hanging out with Sarah and Eleanor and chasing Cadence. I did get a chance to take some photos of Ben and Bruno, which can be seen here.

On Sunday morning, we planned on relaxing at the hotel. Cadence decided the relaxing should begin at 6:30 am (5:30 Chicago time), so we ended up dragging ourselves down to our free kinda-hot breakfast by 7am. I'd been telling Cadence for a couple days that we would be going swimming in the pool, and she was excited (I think she thought there was gonna be fish involved).

When we actually got to the pool, however, Cadence refused to go in. She's a pretty cautious kid, and without any other little kids around to encourage her, there was no way she was gonna get in that water. Oh well.

After we checked out of the hotel, we met up for lunch with our friend Lori and her son Devin at the Grand Rapids Brewing Company. We had a very *cough* active *cough* lunch, thanks to our rambunctious youngsters. Cadence was having so much fun with Devin that she started crying when we had to go in separate cars to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. She quieted right down though once I got her to understand that we'd be meeting Devin at a big park where they could run around to their hearts' content.

The kids had a blast seeing butterflies, floating little boats on a miniature version of the Great Lakes, playing in a giant sandbox, climbing in the huge treehouse, looking in the log cabin, and even having a little tea party. All this with endless running and giggling interspersed throughout the outing. It's amazing how quickly kids become friends. All they require is someone who'll run and laugh with them.

It was so nice to actually spend time with Lori in Real Life. She and her husband Scott and Dev will be coming to Chicago in June, so I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Cadence cried when we had to go our separate ways, but we promised her she could have a tea party with Devin in a few weeks.

We headed home after the Gardens, and Cadence was asleep within a few minutes. We were pretty exhausted and could have used a nap, too. We wanted to stop and get some coffee, but since Cadence was asleep, we decided to just keep driving, and we didn't stop until we got home.

So there you have it, folks. Our mini-vacation in a nutshell. A very large, cavernous nutshell.