Bowers do the Fair

Well, the state fair has come and gone.  Last year was actually my first year ever going and both times I found it no more exciting as the Alameda County Fair our family frequented growing up.  That's not to say it wasn't fun, because it was.  I just always assumed it'd be much bigger or something.

Anyway, Dave and I took Eddie last Friday from about 4-9:30pm.  We took some money and decided to say "yes!" to everything until we ran out of money.  I mean, if you're going to "do" the fair, you might as well eat and play and ride to your heart's wallet's content, right?

We had so.much.fun.  I loved being able to say "yes" to most of Eddie's requests (mine, too).  Rides? Yes!  Petting zoo?  Yes! Climbing around in the empty livestock stalls to watch the 4H-ers milk their goats? Yes!  Watch the dancing horse show?  Yes!  Fried food?  (Okay, that was actually just me...he only asked for an ice cream cone and popcorn.)

I love eating all the crap food at the fair so our first stop was to get a corn dog and lemonade. I seriously wait all year for fair food.

Mmmmm, fried food.

We'd talked up the rides a lot to get Eddie excited about the fair so that was the first thing we did after eating.  It was warm out and super sunny in the kiddo ride section, which didn't bother us much but it meant that the rides were pretty much empty.  Last year he was too short for all the rides, but now as a 34 incher he got to go on lots.

Choo choo!  Good thing there was no one else on this train ride because he rang that bell the whooooooooooole time.

While Dave got us a refill on our giant lemonade, Eddie and I went on a super
fast airplane ride, the type where you get to control if it flies up or stays down.
Fast and Eddie got to control it meant he LOVED it.  

When he saw that this one had water, he insisted on this one a few times.
Again, he rang the bell the whole time.

This Jeep ride was a nice change for us parents...because it actually had some shade.

We used the last tickets for the boat ride again.  This time he had to share a boat
with another kid...and that poor kid sat in front. As in, right in FRONT of
Eddie's bell (which he rang the whole dang time).  Sorry kid!

We were able to pull Eddie away from the sun to see the livestock birthing area.  I think this exhibit is awesome (although a little weird when you realize that they knock up the animals on purpose so they'll deliver during the three weeks of the fair).  If you happen to be there during a birth you get to see the whole thing.  And if you're not there, well, there's a video loop playing of bovine, sheep, and goat births...complete with stadium haystack seating.  Eddie and I sat next to a couple of 5-6 year old girls who were grossed out at the videos at first.  They kept saying, "eeeew, gross!" I told them it wasn't gross, it was pretty neat--after all that's how they came out of their mommies, too.  They got more interested in what was actually happening and intently listened to me explain what they saw (water bag; veterinarians putting their arms up inside the cow to help guide the baby's hoof's out; contractions; that yes, babies really do come out of that part of a mama (they asked), etc.).  Afterward they thanked me before jumping down to find their families.  It was shocking how many grown men and women would walk by the tv, pause to look for a moment, realize what they were looking at it, make a grossed-out face, and walk away quickly.  COME ON PEOPLE!  Fairs are agricultural events (at least historically) and what's agriculture without birthing animals?

Birthing video.

Along that same vein, a couple of weeks ago a friend posted a picture of a rabbit cage from the Alameda county fair with a sign on it that said "meat rabbits, $10 each."  A few people commented about how utterly sad it was and if they didn't already have too many pets they'd drive right over to buy those bunnies to rescue them from being sold for meat.  I don't like prodding people on Facebook, but I had to mention that historically fairs were agricultural events meant to bring rural people out to show off and sell livestock (for meat), crafts, wares they'd made on their farms, and the latest technology for farming.  All those 4H animals the kids raise and show off?  They are sold there at the fair for meat.  So there's no reason to be sad...that's the purpose of the fair.

After all that placental goo, we were ready for some ice cream!  Eddie chose chocolate dipped...

And so did we.  Mmmm.

Next up was the petting zoo.  Eddie wasn't old enough to be able to feed the animals, so I had to do it.  He commented that this super nosy/pushy goat was a lot like Sister (Rhubarb, our girl dog)--they both jump up on me when they see I have a treat for them!  We got to pet goats, donkeys, pigs, chickens, sheep, alpacas, deer, and wallabies.

He went on this horsey ride last year after the petting zoo so we let him go again.  

We went over to the livestock show areas to see the cows and goats.  It was getting a little late and all the shows were over for the day.  So when we made our way through the goat area, many of them were standing up yelling for their dinner or being milked.  Eddie saw a girl milking her goat and he asked her, "'Scuse me!  Where's the baby goat?  That milk is for the baby!"  It totally cracked us up.  He's such a breastfed boy!

Even Dave enjoyed the goats.  I'm sure he doesn't like them as much as I do, but he's
warming to the idea of someday having our own milk goat. As long as it's nominally
border collie colored, he's game for any animal.  =) 

But me?  Oh....so many varieties.  Which one should I get?

After some tri tip sandwiches and the cheesy/gooey-est mac and cheese ever,
we watched the painted ponies and dancing horses show.  

And the best part of the fair?  The funnel cake!  We all shared a strawberry
one just before leaving that night.  It was goooooood.

This year the fair was so much fun because Eddie enjoyed it as much as we did.  Having an older child who can participate instead of just accompany us makes family outings/activities 100% more enjoyable.  And we all got our fill of fried foods for the year--wowza my hair was noticeably greasy the next morning.  Mmmm, but it's worth it once a year.

Independence Day 2012

As always, playing catch up!  Here's the 4th of July post I know you've all been dying to read.  

This year we hosted a BBQ at our house.  Like other years, we assumed we were the only family without plans...but as it turned out there were plenty of folks who were available to celebrate with us.  Dyani and Batiste came up and two sets of Williams brothers (David and Brian) came with their families/significant others, plus the Dalys came for a bit.

Batiste and Eddie played well together all day.  We think Batiste wasn't feeling too well, though, because he was a bit cranky.  Of course, he perked right up when we took him to the garden to see the chickens.  Poor Dyani spent a good deal of the day in the garden so Batiste could get his poultry fix.  

Batiste kept saying, "coq coq coq!" in his sweet baby French.

Before most of the folks arrived, us Bowers and Gaudillieres went to the city pool for a swim.  It closed at 5pm that afternoon so we stayed until the end.  The boys had a great time!

We dined on deviled eggs made with loads of fresh taragon, chives, and basil from the garden, plus bacon jalapeno poppers, veggie kebabs, and smoked ribs and chicken.  Sipping selections included margaritas and my newly invented iced herb tea (steeped lemon verbena and mint leaves sweetened with honey).  For dessert we made wild blackberry sorbet and pistachio ice cream, the latter of which was absolutely aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing.  

The Williamses all left before we walked to the fireworks.  So the remainder of the group got suited up in sweaters and walked the 10 minutes to our favorite firework viewing spot along Pole Line Road just north of the Nugget shopping center.  We thought the kids would love the fireworks, but they were more interested in running around like crazy people than sitting still on our laps to ooooh and aaaaah like us adults wanted them to.  (Figures.)  

I didn't take many pictures of the day since I was busy cooking, socializing, and playing with the kiddos.  But the few pictures I did take show the increasing chaos of the day.

Dyani and Eddie shelling eggs.

Batiste quickly figured out how to use our paddle handle on the front door.
Luckily we have flip door lock, which is the best baby proofing item we ever bought.

Two adults who wanted their picture taken + two kids who don't = the above picture.

The best group shot of the Bowers and Gaudillieres we could get.

Bowers, Gaudillieres, and Dalys in a rare moment of actually watching the fireworks.

And then began the chaos of getting all the crazy children strapped into strollers for the walk back.

Eddie and Morgan...we like to think of them as love birds...but I think that's
because us parents would love to be in-laws someday!

The Smallest Bee Keeper

Dave and I were chatting online one night a few weeks ago, after I'd spent the evening working the bees with our friend, Tim, while Eddie sat to the side with Amanda.  I told Dave that I needed to find my old bee suit, made for me by my grandma when I was about 6 years old.  But since I have no idea when and if I'd ever find it at my folks' house, we decided to poke around online looking for a new one for Eddie to wear.  I figured it'd be too expensive, but we found one on ebay for only $50 (suit, gloves, fencing type veil, and a carrying case).  Of course we went ahead a bought it, even though it was listed as being for 4-6 year olds.  He'll grow!

Tim has come over a few nights after work to check the bees but it's always been too hot for Eddie to suit up.  Heck, some nights I didn't even want to.  But tonight it was nice and cool so he got to try the suit out for the first time.

Oh good heavens.  Have you ever seen anything so cute?  

He hath approcheth the hive.

Here we go!  My little Umpa Lumpa was able to walk surprisingly well in that huge suit.  

Mama and her pint sized bee keeper.  His Papa John is going to be so happy to have another helper with honey harvest this summer!

Eddie and first looked at the big hive, but since these bees were outright mean a couple of weeks ago, we decided to leave that one closed tonight (they bred out into local Davis bees are not as nice as calm as they once were).

We looked in the "nuc" hive for a new queen (as in, nucleus).  And while we didn't find her, we had fun looking and were able to see evidence that a queen hatched.  So maybe we'll find her next time.

Did you find the queen, Tim?

Tim was explaining that he could see honey and pollen in that frame.  Eddie responded with, "Oooooooh."

Eddie did very, very well in his suit.  He was a good listener about where to stand and what to not to touch.  He adores his "friend Tim" and listened to him very intently, watching for the queen and whatnot.  It was beyond adorable.  Next time Amanda will bring her suit along so she can get closer to the hive with us.  As it was, she took a bunch of the pictures for us (I took a few closer up so you can see Eddie's adorable widdle face better).

Isn't this just the most adorable thing you ever seen, ever?!

And if pictures weren't enough, here's a video, too.

Jane Levie Update: Hospitalized

I am behind on the blog because of life.  Life has gotten a tad crazier recently (at least in my noggin).  Along with all the regular stuff (Eddie, data, house duties), I've also been confronted with my mom being sick again.  This time, super sick.  She's been coughing, having trouble breathing, and having weird fevers and heart rhythms since before Easter.  Trips to the doctor and the hospital never seemed to completely clear things up.  Last week it got pretty bad, though, and she ended up in the hospital again.  


Unlike other times when her health declined rapidly, I was kept in the loop before she was hospitalized.  Thanks to my daddy for letting me know what was going on before I started getting frantic phone calls/emails/Facebook messages from my mom's concerned friends.  (Which, by the way, I totally appreciate, especially since my mom's MO is to keep things like this from her kids, lest she "worry" us.  Knowing ahead of time is so, so much less worrisome than learning about it after the fact.  Just so we're all clear.  Thanks, Daddy!)


Remember how I loaned our car out last week?  Yeah, strike three for most-inconvenient-week-to-loan-car-out  situation EVER.  First, 104 degree weather, then a possible broken arm, and finally my mom being ill in another county.  But the fellow to whom we loaned the car was able to bring it back to me (full of fuel and washed!) on Friday afternoon so I could depart for Livermore.  Of course, first I had to arrange for a baby sitter, then file paperwork at Cassie's so that she would allow a stranger to pick up Eddie, THEN get a hold of Dave while he was out logging to tell him I wouldn't be there when he got home that night at 11pm.  


Anyway, I went to Livermore Friday evening and planned to return on Saturday evening.  But, as these things go, I ended up staying through Sunday midday.  We were advised against visiting my mom that evening (she was asleep anyway) so us Levies+Jennifer went to Hanabishi and then us kids went to see Ted.  (Wowza, going to a spontaneous movie at night feels amazing!)  


On Saturday morning, Edward, Jennifer, my dad, and I had a late breakfast.  My mom was scheduled for surgery that afternoon so we didn't get to visit her.  The day was spent at the house doing laundry (E+J), cleaning a little, processing some preliminary data to send to my professor, checking out my dad's amazing garden, and cooking/eating.  

My dad in "Jennifer's" garden.  He planted it specifically because she wanted to have one. 
No matter that he himself as wanted a proper garden at that house for the last 15 years.
It provides fresh produce for him, my mom, Edward and Jennifer to eat.

Jennifer has learned to frame her photos!

Donovan was at his sister's apartment for the weekend, baby sitting, and asked if we wanted to come over for dinner that night.  He just so happened to have made a couple of gluten free quiches so it was Jennifer friendly.  Of course we said yes.   Edward was nice and let his big sister drive his Miata while he drove the minivan.  Woooooo!  He also stopped by our ex-youth pastor to pick up three huge sacks of hand-me-down clothes and toys for Eddie.  

Who's that sucker in the minivan behind me?

Blind spots, what?

We headed over there, just in time to see Dyani arrive after work.  Brice was working at the hospital so we didn't get to see him, sad.  


While we were there, my dad phoned to say that my mom was out of surgery and that she was stable.  We made a plan to visit her the following morning.   The surgery was to remove fluid from an abscess in her right lung where it was discovered that she had "significant" pneumonia.  To aid in her recovery, she was put into what amounted to a medically induced coma and was on a ventilator for a couple of days.  So she had to be in the critical care unit and was limited to two visitors at a time.

Dinner by Donovan.  C'était magnifique!

Dinner with the Joneses was fantastic and the company was even better.  We all bolted out the door just in time to get a cone at Rick's ice cream, during which Batiste slept soundly in Eddie's car seat so us adults could chitchat unencumbered  (and we didn't have to share our treats--I had coffee molasses crunch and ube).  Another hour back at Dyani's and we were tired so we headed to E+J's apartment for the night.  

Dyani, Jennifer, and Batiste.

Siblings!

Sweet, sweet Batiste.  He hates his own car seat but seems to love this one of Eddie's!

Sunday morning Jennifer, Edward, and I drove BACK to Livermore so we could finally visit my mom.  

My dad and I went in to her room together and spent some time looking at all the monitors while a nurse finished moving an IV line to her other hand.  My mom was pretty much out, but was slightly responsive.  All I could think to do what rub her arm so she'd know I was there and then ask her if she wanted us to leave.  She sorta nodded "yes" and I told her that we'd have Edward and Jennifer visit very quickly and then she could get back to sleep.  Since she had the ventilator tube in her chest she couldn't speak, but I could see her tongue try to talk.  It wasn't as hard to see her in this condition compared to 4 years ago when she was completely lucid and only had a chest drain installed.  I think I've forced myself to be more academic rather than emotional about the whole situation, as a way of coping (and to preserve my emotions for a situation when I really need them).  But the image of her in that bed, hooked up to so many things and unable to communicate or move will never leave me.  *shudder*


We went to eat at a place called Red Tractor Cafe in the Hacienda shopping center.  My dad was, as usual, skeptical of any place other than Emil Villa's, but we were all happy with the meal.  I went back to the house with my dad so I could get a few things (like a jar of 15 year old compost of his that I'd like to run on my instrument and some onions from his garden).  I departed for Davis after gassing up and buying myself a Starbucks treat for the drive.  


My mom's friends have slowly been finding out about her hospitalization (with all the above detail) only by accidentally getting my dad on the phone when they happen to call the house or her cell.  So to be fair to everyone and avoid any confusion/concern, I sent out a mass email to the folks on my "Updates on Mommy" email list that I put together back in 2008.  Here it is in case you're not on that list.  If you'd like to be on that list, please just leave me a comment and I'll add you.


Hello everyone,

I thought I'd send out a quick update on my mom since some folks have heard and others have not.  For the last week, she's been back in the hospital recovering from pneumonia.  She seems to have been struggling with it since before Easter and hopefully it will be fully resolved this time.  Last week she had a procedure done to drain fluid in her chest which went well and she's being weaned off the oxygen now that she can breath on her own.   

She's not in a position to have visitors right now and has requested that any correspondence be sent to the house instead of to the hospital.  My dad visits her twice daily and is happy to bring cards and notes in for her to read.  

As always, prayers and wishes for full recovery are appreciated by everyone in our family.


And what did Eddie and Dave do while I was away?  According to all the pictures and texts I got from Dave that weekend, they had a great time playing at the park, eating lots of watermelon, and swimming at our friends' daughter's second birthday party.  Happy birthday, sweet Morgan!  

Injured Bower Boys

My goodness, time has been flying by!  I have some catching up to do on here.  Independence day happenings will wait until I am at home with the camera so I can share a few pictures.

This past Sunday Dave tweaked his back and decided to spend the night in Davis with us to give his back some healing time before sitting in his [super ghetto/uncomfortable] car for a 3 hour commute back to work.  I woke up at my normal time and noticed that he was still there.  Poor guy didn't miss his alarm--his back hurt more than before so he decided to skip work that day.  He ended up having to skip Tuesday as well.

Our friend's motorcycle broke down on the weekend, leaving him without any transportation to work in Sacramento so I let him borrow the minivan so he could get to work.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem since Eddie and I rarely drive during the week.

Only after I loaned it to him did I realize that the forecast was for >100F weather all week..so perhaps driving would have been a good idea.  Eddie gets super red and sweaty when it's over about 95F so I try to keep him inside during these super hot days.  Biking to school in the mornings would be okay, but I didn't like the idea of biking him home when it's 104F outside.  So being carless, we took the bus, which is always a big hit with Eddie Pie.  (And as a bonus, it was a Spare the Air day so rode for free today!)

Of course, I also didn't anticipate needing the car to take Eddie to Urgent Care last night for a possible broken arm.  (I should always anticipate these types of things with an active boy child, right?  When will I learn?)

Since Dave was home with a hurt back yesterday during our afternoon off, he entertained Eddie in the living room so I could take a 15 minute cool-down-nap on our bed.  I was sooooooooooo tired and just wanted to rest for a few minutes before getting dinner ready.  But of course, Eddie kept coming in to bother me.  I told him to leave the room and that I'd come out in a few minutes.  I really did only have like 10 minutes left on my phone alarm.  The next thing I knew, he was crying intensely on the floor.  I think he walked right off the bed!  He was holding his right arm, saying that it hurt a lot and that he needed a bandaid to make it feel better.  I took him into the living room, hoping he'd let Dave take a look.  We tried EVERYTHING we could think of to get him to hold both arms out, side by side, so we could compare and see if anything looked swollen.  With his adorable pudgy arms, it was sorta hard to see if anything was actually wrong.

I think Dave and I must be the only set of parents who've never broken a bone, leaving us sorta clueless as to what we should expect. So I ended up Googling the symptoms (breaks can be hard to detect visually and usually don't swell, sprains tend to swell rapidly and bruise and hurt more).  We also suspected that Eddie was being overly dramatic and that if it did hurt as much as he said, then he'd continue to complain and coddle that arm beyond his normal attention-seeking 15 minutes.  It's probably common with most kids: they act a certain way to get some attention and then find something else to do and abandon the annoying/pathetic/crazy/whatever behavior.  After about 1.5 hours of him being only slightly sidetracked from the pain by watching a show and eating popcorn with his uninjured arm, I called Cassie to ask if we could borrow her car.  Dave's [supper ghetto/uncomfortable] car doesn't have functioning air conditioning anymore so I was hesitant to drive us in it since it was still over 100F outside.  Normally his non AC car is fine since he only drives it at night for his commute or in Gualala where it is rarely hot enough to need AC.  Cassie agreed that she'd take him in at this point so I planned to bike across town to her house to get the car.  I decided that it was less hot outside than I thought so we put Eddie's eat in the Saturn and zoomed off to Urgent Care.  By the time we actually got there, I decided that I really should have gotten Cassie's car.  It was hoooooooooooot.

The doctor couldn't get a good look at Eddie's arm because he was being cranky and shy but the doctor was able to narrow it down to pain in the elbow (as opposed to the shoulder or wrist).  I actually wonder if it isn't the shoulder, but I'm no medical professional.  He took some xrays of the elbow but didn't see anything alarming.  I didn't realize that baby bones don't always show up on xrays, though, because they often aren't fully formed or dense enough or something.  So after conferring with another doctor, he decided to wrap Eddie's elbow up in the smallest ace bandage they had and put him in a sling.  I laughed at that because there's no way Eddie would use a sling for more than a few minutes.  It turned out that they didn't even have a small enough sling for Eddie anyway.

So now we're just waiting a couple of days to see how he does.  He was in enough pain when he moved his arm during his shower last night that we gave him acetominophen before bed and again this morning.  Hopefully his adorable little arm is just sore and not actually damaged...but I guess only time will tell.  I'm thankful it isn't broken for a lot of reasons, one of which is that it's swim season and I can't imagine NOT taking him to the pool to cool down and burn off some energy a few times a week.

The doc held a lollipop out for Eddie to grab, in an attempt to make him extend his arm. 

This morning I asked him if I could take a picture of his "owie" to email to Grammy.
He said yes but immediately put on his "feel sorry for me" face. He's mastered it, right?

It's hot again today (104F!) so we took the bus to school again. He looks pretty tough
in his pink shoes, bandaged arm, small hat, and sun glasses. 

I also need to post about Eddie and Dave's vacation to Uncle Edward's house last week...but again, once I have the camera to off load pictures.

Sibling Rivalry

In our family, we have one human boy child and two dog-children (one boy and one girl). As you probably already know, we refer to the dogs as Brother and Sister when talking to them or to Eddie.  The dogs, Ruby and Taters are about as different as they can be from each other.  The fact that they are border collie mixes is just about the only thing they have in common.

When I was pregnant I assumed that our baby boy would be like a lot of babies: cuddly, interested in sitting in his adoring parents' laps, etc.  Given my assumptions about his personality, I predicted that he and Ruby wouldn't like each other much--that she'd stay as far away from him as possible.  She's a total Mama's girl and hoards balls; so I assumed she'd stay away from him because he'd mean competition for my affection and she'd want to hoard her toys from his grasp.  I assumed that Taters and the baby would love each other.  Taters loves to snuggled up on the couch or in the bed and just "be" near you.  

Boy was I WRONG!

Eddie is super active and has been from day one--literally.  He never wanted to be in a carrier (Ergo, Moby, Baby Bjorn, etc), always held. And he insisted on being held outwards to see what was going on and so he could wiggle around.  And it turns out that he and Ruby are soul mates, while he and Taters avoid each other.  

I was thinking about this the other day, how similar Eddie and Sister are.  Here's what I came up with...they both:

• Don't care much for snuggling, unless they're sick
• Can't sit still for more than a few minutes--they are always jumping up, running off to check something, and then coming back to the table/couch/etc.
• Are eager to please, but quick to disobey if it they think they can get away with it
• Are quite intelligent
• Are very noisy (Ruby barking, Eddie yelling/singing/talking loudly)
• Are relentless when they want something.  Ruby will bother you constantly until you get her ball that is trapped behind the couch or whatever and Eddie will keep asking and asking and asking (eventually just figuring out a way to get whatever he wants himself)
• Are ferociously jealous of other people getting Mama's affection/attention
• Are happiest when Mama is within touching distance
• Love to have the ball the other one has (it is a constant back and forth of Ruby taking a ball from him, Eddie taking it back or screaming for me to help)
• Love to get in each other's faces just to pester the other
• Are slow eaters but get pissed when you (try to) take their food away before they decide they're done
• Love to dig holes
• Love to be in the sun, no matter that they are getting over heated
• Love to play in the water

Taters, on the other hand, is pretty much the complete opposite of everything on that list (except for the sun part).

Just this past weekend, Dave said he was sitting on the couch with Ruby and Eddie, watching a show.  Ruby would walk over to Eddie and position her face near his.  She'd wait until he moved a little closer so she could justify growling at him.  Eddie doesn't really sit "still" on the couch, he's always sorta moving around so it's just a matter of waiting until he got close enough to bother her.  Dave reprimanded her to "go LAY DOWN!" which is how we get to her knock it off and leave Eddie/us alone.  THEN Eddie would scooch over to her face and get juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust close enough to make her growl.  And then he did what he usually does: climbed right over her, which we all know she secretly loves.  But come on!  They are definitely siblings--perpetually bothering each other just for the fun of it.

Of course, her annoying herding tendencies were wonderful when he was smaller.  When he was learning to stand and then cruise the furniture, she'd swoop right under him when he was falling, to cushion his landing.  Once he began walking, she'd follow closely at his side in case he toppled over.  It was really sweet.  

I'm trying really hard to reinforce that Sister is a dog and dogs have different rules than human people do.  Dogs can't speak: instead they growl, bark, and wag their tails.  And that each of those things means something different and he'd better learn what they mean...lest he piss her off too much and she bite him.  I've also told him (hundreds of times) that Sister listens to Mama best so if he needs help with Sister that he shouldn't just yell at her, but he should come ask me for help.  He's finally starting to understand that concept.

We keep an eye and ear out whenever they are together because you just never know.  So far, so good: it's always been herding, not hurting.  But when she's being too overprotective of him or when we can't check on them every few minutes, we put her and Taters in our bedroom just to be on the safe side.  I'm glad Eddie at least has dog-siblings, if not human-siblings yet--because he's learning to share, communicate, and (hopefully) a little about boundaries from Ruby.