Why did they go and do that...

Piper and the kids returned to Germany this morning. They landed happy and chipper after 16 hours of flying (plus another 6 hours in airports before and in-between flights).

I returned to work after picking them up. Called a few times this afternoon and they weren't home. I was relieved and impressed that they were all up, out and getting acclimated to the local time.

Turns out, I spoke to soon. The whole crew took a five hour nap and turned off the phone. They're waking up just in time for me to come home.

Life will be interesting for me tonight.

Question of the Day

Went to the woodshop after work to do finish work on a project I'm doing for the kids.

I hate finish work. Table saws are much more fulfilling than 220 grit sandpaper. Hence the question of the day: "Which is worse, sanding or powerpoint?"

Baby Lowell!

Baby Boy Lowell arrived just before noon on Saturday, July 25. Mommy and Baby are doing well. Silva had him at the birthing center where about 15 people gathered to wait. We had to leave for a flight to Tucson at 12:40 so I was beginning to be resigned to hearing about it afterward when we heard a cry from tiny lungs from the birthing room. He is beautiful.

Dad brought in champagne and glasses for all. We all cried when Charles raised his glass to toast "Silva and our son."

Name to come when they get to know him a little better.

Ode to the iPhone

"Remind me to not let it fall (out of my shirt pocket),"
Uncle George exhorted us all
O'er the jet ski he bent.
To the water it went
And now he cannot make a call...

Other than the cell phone going to Davy Jones, it was a great day on Lake Travis. I got to ski and the kids had a blast being pulled in the inner tube. MAA yelled "YeeHaw!" as he helped Uncle George drive. All caught fish with Gramp. MM wanted to pet her fish for a few minutes before she put "Mr. Mustache" the catfish back in the lake.

The week in Austin was a dream. Lots of family, friends, books, TexMex, ice cream, swimming and more TexMex. Photos later.

Day Three of Tax Avoidance

I am beginning my 3rd consecutive day of income tax avoidance. My avoidance strategies have varied. Today, for instance, I worked, exercised, and then downloaded and installed completely unnecessary patches for my computer. Now, I'm processing and posting summer vacation photos.

The random photos include (1) school musical; (2) friends visit (Dom and Kat); and (3) vacation.

Apologies to those who's photos I missed. If it's any consolation, I'm not in any of them either. Then again, it's my camera so I'm hardly ever in anything... :-)

Click on the photo below to view the slideshow.

Home again home again jiggity jig

Returned to Germany yesterday. All went well and my assessment of Delta is slowly climbing out of the gutter. They were fine, really. My only complaint was I had to endure the worst in-flight movie ever (Race to Witch Mountain) after my laptop batteries died. While that sounds like a minor complaint, it truly was awful. Wish I'd had an Ambien.

11 more days of bachelorhood before the rest of the family returns. I am building my "to-do" list of projects to finish before then. First up tax-preparation (ah the merry life of an expat). If I'll goes well, I'll finally visit the wood-shop next week. Lots to do before that, though.

Planes and Trains

Sounds of joy from the other room. Micah is happily playing with the radio controlled truck that his grandparents gave him for his birthday. He loves it but it's quite loud on adult ears. I'm willing to accept bids on how long it will be til the truck has an "accident."

Today I board a plane for a 20 hour trip back to Germany. The rest of 5fordhams will stay in the US for 12 more days. They go back to Gramps house today and to Autie's house next weekend.

The flight into Germany should be uneventful. The trip after that will require 2 trains and a bus so that'll be more interesting.

Gotta run back to the family. The Tour de France is playing on the TV and I'm mindlessly addicted. Also, rumor has it that Grandma is making waffles.

And the winner is...

...Amy.

Tess finished Harry Potter on Tuesday. We drove over to the bookstore this morning in search of a suitable replacement and picked up this book. Actually, I picked it up and promptly started reading it in the store. I got so distracted that I never got around to researching the other suggestions that friends posted here. We'll be checking those out soon (since Piper and the kids still have 2.5 more weeks of vacation).

Tess did get a little testy with me after we got home and I didn't promptly hand it over (hey, I'm on vacation too).

This lapse of adult maturity was only temporary. Tess parked herself at the foot of the bed and gave me The Look. This expression, trademarked by firstborn daughters, is a sure-fire way to instill paternal guilt. In 7 more years, she'll be using it to get the keys to the car. Today, it got her the book even though I'd only read 2 chapters.

The first 2 chapters are great, though. She'll love it.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Vacation Teil zwei

Our U.S. vacation continues. We took 2 more airplanes from California to Texas to see family (on that, I will only say that Southwest is superior in every way to Delta).

First impressions. Ohmygosh it's hot here. It's unbearably hot. Africa hot. My alveoli scream in terror every time I step outside and inhale the air, it's so hot.

On the plus side, we get to see family. A photo of the Lowell side of the clan is shown below. It should not escape your attention that this photo was taken inside (Re. the heat, above).

Vacation Update

We're currently on day 5 of our communal beach vacation.

The women have decided to take the day off leaving us menfolk in charge of the kids. We just finished feeding them a healthy lunch of mac-and-cheese (made with real powdered cheese-food) and leftover barbeque. In a few minutes, we'll be taking them out for ice cream and to a movie.

...In the unlikely event that our plan succeeds, we'll never be left in charge of childcare again.

It's more likely that our plan will fail. In that case, we'll still have had a great time.

Vacation Happenings

We're on vacation in Southern California today.

We had planned to see some good friends of ours in LA today. Just got word that they can't make it down because the roads are a mess for Michael Jackson's funeral. Apparently it's a madhouse up there. Reference my previous post. I still don't get it.

In lieu of that, our first weighty vacation dilemma of the day is this: Beach or pool?

Headlines that make Andy go huh...

I'm on vacation back in the U.S. so I'll take a short break from blogging about the kids. Right now, I'm catching up on U.S. news. Lots that I don't understand. To wit.

Iran. I once listened to a government official describe negotiating oil prices with the Iranians. They wanted to charge more than market rates and buyers protested. The Iranians countered: "consider the fox, it's tail is longer than he is." 20 years later, Iran still makes no sense to me.

Michael Jackson. I never listened to Michael Jackson. I was ahead of my time and found him odd even then. More fundamentally, I assumed that those who did listen to him had moved on. Obviously I missed something.

Sarah Palin. Please be gentle with me but I'm totally not comprehending her newsworthiness. Not at all. Be merciful.

Farrah Fawcett. This one, even I understand.

29B

5fordhams left the Republic of Duetschland yesterday for their first visit back to the US in 9 months. Our 22 hour trip home was remarkably tame despite the presence of 3 sleep deprived children. I was incredibly proud of them. We're now in California adjusting to a 9 hour time difference.

For those of you who expressed horror at my earlier post, have no fear. No Benadryl tablets were harmed during our trip. I did get a little cocky near the end of the first flight and let Maddie have a glass of Sprite. This error in judgment was immediately apparent when her sugar rush plastered her to the ceiling of the plane (in a cheerful, let's sing another song, kind of way).

A note to the lady in seat 29B: I'm sorry that you were unhappy that Micah bumped your seat while he played with his trucks. I'm not sure, however, that you realize the truly manxome nature of your 4 year old foe. If I see you on the return trip, I shall let loose the dogs of war.