Kirk blAug

This morning I got up for my run while it was still dark. After the first quarter of a mile or so, I looked up at the sky. I saw a few very bright stars up there. While this normally makes me feel humbled and connected at the same time, today it just made me feel disappointed. My disappointment was entirely relative to what I saw this past weekend when I looked up. Being in the country pretty far from any significant light pollution, I could see so many more stars than I normally do in the city. I am talking tens of thousands of times more. It was amazing and beautiful. It was a display of stars that I had not experienced in a long, long time. It made me think of the star gazers of the past such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei. I thought of how they looked up at very much the same night sky, and probably an even more stunning display than the one I was seeing. I thought of other people at different places in the world who were also sharing the spectacular sight of that n

I spent the weekend in Nebraska City with the family. Chris said that she always wanted to stay at the Lied Lodge there so we took this opportunity to do it. We arrived Thursday night and had to try out the pool and we did. It was a big underground pool 4.5 ft deep in the center. There was also a "hot pool" as Jupiter and his cousin, Ryland, referred to it and a child pool that was 1.5 ft deep. There was a sauna in a connecting room which my brother and I tried out for a few minutes on one of the following days. I might also add that there was a very nice dining hall connected to the spacious lobby of the lodge. To sum it up, all of the features of a fancy hotel were in place, which is hardly surprising for place that was awarded the “Best of MidAmerica” award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. On Friday we went to Arbor Day Farm. We started off with some wine tasting in the gift shop. Arbor Day Farm produces a variety of wines that are all quite satisfying. I would have to say that my

A few days ago Chris, Jupiter, Tsunami, and I took a quick trip back to Nebraska to see our newborn niece. We decided to fly since we really did not have a lot of time to drive, visit, and then drive again. It was Tsunami's first time on a plane and Jupiter had not remembered being on a airplane when he was about Tsunami's age, so we did not know for sure what to expect. Jupiter had been excited about getting on the airplane since we told him about the trip. He wanted to sit by the window so he could look out and so we told him that he could. He loved almost every minute of it. From the time we got on the airplane, he was very thrilled by the whole experience. As soon as we were in the air, he was fascinated by everything outside the window getting smaller, the clouds as we started to fly through and above them, and even the novelty of the tray table kept him busy for much of the hour that we were in flight. The only time there was any problem was when he developed pressure in

Today my hair smells like watermelon. It is not because I got into a food fight in the produce section. No, that is still on my bucket list. It is because my shampoo is packed in a box somewhere and the only shampoo I could find belongs to my two year old. We are packed up and ready to load up the rental truck and drive it from Lincoln, Nebraska to St. Louis, Missouri. The family finally ready to make the move. It is about time. We have been talking about it for almost two years. Jupiter was surprisingly helpful when packing. He was eager to help me pack up the kitchen which was by far the biggest headache in my packing yesterday. He also packed himself in a couple of boxes, but we let him out eventually. Tsunami was also pretty helpful in that he remained mostly quite and sleeping while we were packing. We can not ask for much more than that from him. Today we load the truck. Tomorrow we hit the road and unload when we arrive. I am excited for some new scenery with some new experience

Say your kids keep trying to escape from the lovely home that you provide for them. What are some reasonable ways to prevent this from happening? You could provide the sort of home that the kids would be happy to stay in. For example, a home that is large enough for the eight people who live in it. A home where the animal feces are picked up once in a while. A home where the urine smell is kept to a minimum. We cannot all afford a luxurious option such as this though, so let's look at some alternatives. A home in North Platte, NE has their own solution : [The officer] said the child's mother put her 3-year-old and 5-year-old children in the kennel because she says they tried to climb out of the house at night. Now this is certainly an effective solution. It is low maintenance. You do not need to worry about keeping your eye on the kids. You know exactly where they are at all times. As long as you take them out of the trailer house on their leash and walk them a few times a day

We finally got out to one of our favorite pumpkin patches this weekend. We chose to go to Vala's because I thought there would be more for Jupiter to enjoy. The whole family is sacrificing sleep due to the new baby, even Jupiter. He cannot seem to sleep through the cries. So we did not plan to spend too much time at the pumpkin patch. A couple hours was enough for all of us. The first thing we did was ride the train. Aside from being a fan of trains in a general sense, this one is particularly fun for Jupiter because the engine is a half scale model of the infamous Jupiter steam locomotive . He really gets a kick out of that aspect. Then after having lunch at the Country Bakery, Jupiter rode around on the pedal trikes and we visited Bunnyville. Then we strolled through the Storybook Barn where Jupiter hugged a dragon and rode a school bus. After that it was time to leave. Jupiter was worn out. Tsunami was worn out. Chris was worn out. Kirk was worn out. So we went home.

The following is also posted at examiner.com . I occasionally write articles for Examiner under the title of Lincoln Early Childhood Parenting Examiner. If you are interested in more articles under that theme, I recommend subscribing to my content there. Pumpkin season is here and there are plenty of places to get pumpkins for pies, decorations, carving, and whatever else you might like to do with a pumpkin. The expedient option of finding one in a grocery or discount store bin exists. This involves all the fun of selecting one from a variety at the top of a bin in the main isle of the store while you are out tackling that always growing shopping list. Some families might find it more fun, however, to go out to a farm and select their pumpkins out of a patch. There are a couple of great places to go for this activity which include many other family fun activities as well. Roca Scary Farm In Roca, NE there is a  Berry Farm  which turns into a "Scary Farm" as Halloween nears.