Riding the Prairie Path

I had a chance yesterday to take a nice bike ride with the boy, we took a short drive to where the Illinois Prairie Path begins in Forest Park. I'm very much not a hard-core bicyclist and this path was perfect for us. Completely paved and well-marked, we started near the Des Plaines El stop (of the Blue Line) and took the path west to 17th Ave in Maywood. The only slightly weird time was the guy sitting in his car without a shirt in a CTA parking lot between two cemeteries.

The boy did great, old man me got tired more quickly and made us turn around before we got too tired. (ok, before I got too tired). I really want to do this path again and take the rest of the fam too.

Nerd In Training=Warms My Heart

A few days ago I took my boy to work (on take-your-kid-to-work-day) and he loved it. He even put on a tie (then blamed it on me later) and was a great help during the day. We even fixed a few computer problems. Then came the kicker: "Dad, can we fix computers together when I grow up?"

I love that little nerd.

And of course I said "Of Course" and immediately began scheming a way to make that request come true!

Bowling Birthday Again!

The boy turned 8 on Sunday and we had him and 8 of his friends out to the Mont Claire Lanes (same place as last year). Again- a great place for a party, they balance the two-hour party with one hour bowling, one hour party room with pizza. This time, though, they didn't call us till one hour and fifteen minutes so we got the extra bowling time, which was great because too much sitting around for 8 year old boys leads to extra trouble.

My girl (4) loved being there as well, she even held her own during her bowling part. She won't let me help her now when she bowls (and does probably as well as when I "helped" her).

Games for Little Kids + Big Kids

I have said before that I loves me a board game with the family. I'm stuck in a point now, though, where I want to play the same game with both my boy (age almost-8) and girl (age 4). There is a gap right now between the little kid and big kid games.

The girl can hold cards now, which has allowed us to play the Princess Card Games (includes Old Maid, Crazy 8s and Go Fish), the boy likes to play this as well (even though there are boring princesses involved.). We are also able to muddle through Sorry, but the game proves challenging to the 4-year-old attention span.

Anyone else have an idea for a developmentally-spanning game? That won't bore me to tears?

Bumper Bowling in Chi-town

Took the boy to the Bowling alley again, just us two (boys afternoon out) and wanted to say how nice (again) the Mont Clare Bowling Alley is. The bumpers are easy to request and setup, they don't make you feel bad about using them at all. I have to say it is great for a kid who is learning to bowl, really keeps up their interest. I have fond memories of riding a school bus (during the day!) to the local lanes in the MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL DAY. Who does that anymore? Certainly not with No Child Left Behind testing requirements.

Linux for Kids

I'm a geek and my day job involves much geek fun. I just helped J install SUSE 10 on a Toshiba laptop I had sitting around. Mostly it is working great, he usually just wants to get to Club Penguin and PBS Kids. It got me thinking about other Linux applications that would be fun, entertaining AND educational for him. I found this (a bit) old article about some fun software and wondered if anyone else had any suggestions. I'm going to keep digging, but J is really enjoying using the SUSE and Linux (he loves lizards and especially penguins) and I wanna keep him excited about it.

Krofft Guys Ate My Brain

And I loved every minute of it.

Salon recently reviewed the DVD RE-releases of H.R. Pufnstuf and other titles and it has left me with a hunger for more psychedelic foam puppets and talking flutes. Even though Jimmy is dead, I can hear him singing and dancing around with fantastic owls and crazy fireengine- type vehicles.

The kiddies love this stuff but I feel guilty foisting it upon them.

Neti Pot Action Shots

I wanted to update my original Neti Pot For Children post from October- my girl (age 4) is now asking for and using the Neti Pot. I can't be 100% certain, but I think we have avoided some nasty sinus infections this winter with the Neti Pot. I'll appear like some kind of zealot, but everyone is getting one for their birthday this year!