Air and Space

I got to take Tenny for a little father-son outing last weekend to the Udvar-Hazy National Air and Space Museum, out in Virginia, by Dulles Airport. Tenny went with mommy a couple weeks ago and has been begging for me to take him back ever since. It's a great museum -- much better than the Air and Space Museum on the Mall in DC. Tennyson thought he'd died and gone to heaven.

Tenny loved the astronauts...

...the old planes...

...and the satellites.

My favorites were the Space Shuttle...

...the Blackbird (picture didn't turn out so well, but you can check it out here)...

...and seeing my little boy so happy.

Paul - the BlindSkierDude

Paul, my really good friend from my days at the State Department, is completely blind. He's super smart, he loves sci-fi, and he's got a knack for all things technology. But his real hobby is skiing. He saves up all his vacation days throughout the year, and then takes a month+ ski trip to the Rocky Mountains each winter. During that month, Paul skis hard -- every day, all day. To avoid major obstacles (trees, rocks, cliffs) he listens to the sounds and commands from a guide who skis nearby (I got to guide him once at Deer Valley). He does the rest on his own. Oh, and he's really good.




Paul just returned from his 2009 ski trip, and sent me a link to some videos and pictures from his adventures. I thought some of you might be interested (and jealous) in seeing Paul in action, so here is the link to Paul's videos and pictures. Enjoy.

Recent cuteness

We've been so busy lately that we have unwittingly deprived Tenny's biggest fans (his grandparents) of a post dedicated solely to Tenny's cuteness.  We're going to try to make it up to you, starting with a shot of our little sunshine (this should make you happy when skies are gray):

Everyone knows that dad's supposed to bring back a surprise when returning from a business trip.  Here, Tenny's sporting his new ball cap I picked up for him last week at Century 21 in NYC.

Tenny likes to be like daddy.  Here, he's ready to "Go to work at Cleary."

Similar theme here, though I usually wear pants, too.

Tennyson tries to carry on a conversation with the neighbor's dog.  "Hi doggy.  Woof woof.  Watcha doin'?"  No response.

Bed & Shelves

Remember back when we had a mini crisis with Tennyson climbing out of his crib and using his new-found freedom to destroy our lives?  Well, we decided to take your unanimous advice and build him a bed.  At first it seemed illogical, but what do you know?  It worked!  We really owe you guys.

The little dude really liked working with daddy.  Here Tenny is building the frame for his new platform bed.

Taking a little snack break after sheathing the frame with some lovely birch.

Voila!  Tennyson shows off his new bed.

Tenny's new bed is designed to fit a twin mattress, but we're just using the mattress from his crib for now.  Most importantly, Tennyson has slept better in his new bed in the last month than he ever did before.  He loves it, and likes to talk about making it with daddy.  We love sleeping through the night.

We had so much fun, we decided to build some matching shelves/cupboards for all of Tenny's toys.

We got the idea for the design from Pottery Barn.  Here are the nearly completed shelves, which have since been overrun by toys.  Tennyson now has the nicest room/furniture in the house.

Three sentence book review: Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton

In our continued quest to clean our bookshelves, I reread this favorite before donating it to the local library. It's a beautiful story, set in South Africa, about the darkness and light that makes up life. And since I made the three sentence rule, I also get to make the rule that says I get to use my last sentence to list a few of my favorite quotes from this amazing book:

• "The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again."
• "It is life you are going into, you are not afraid because you do not know."
• "I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering."