Sweet Corn

 Everyone knows Brandon loves his Iowa sweet corn. He came home this week with some to freeze, Jack jumped right in to help.

Hats

Trying on hats while waiting for a watch battery to be replaced. Fun had by all!

Park

Enjoying some park time where he basically had the entire park to himself!

Bike Ride

He is getting more and more fearless on his balance bike every day. This trip he choose to walk it on our way back towards home as he was "too busy to ride it right now" - translated that means finding ants, sticks, and a few other creepy crawlies on the sidewalk.

Ice Cream

 

Enjoying an ice cream cone bigger than he is during a very rare Dairy Queen trip.

Sunglasses

Enjoying one of Mommy's pair of Oakleys.

Brandon's Cooking

A few of the meals to come out of Brandon being home last week:
-Rainbow Trout: Jack saw a recipe for a whole fish & wanted "fish with funny faces and eyes" - therefore, we took a trip to Whole Foods where he picked out the fish and helped with preparation.
-Carbonara: possibly the best I have ever eaten, at home or in a restaurant.

Boys

Our boys enjoying some very limited outdoor time this past week. Neither Sydney nor Jack handle the 100+ degree weather well.

Visit

Enjoying a visit with Jan Johnson today!

Utopia III - Elections

And for my next post about Utopia. We will cover the topic of political elections.

In Utopia, if you want to vote you show photo ID. Straightforward. No loopholes. No nonsense.

I have more to say about campaigns.   In Utopia we do not hold campaigns in the media circus way America presently does. Each candidate puts forth a brochure in multiple formats (paper, electronic, braille, etc...). In this brochure they make clear, straightforward statements about where they stand on all relevant issues. Each candidate answers questions on the same issues. Each resident gets the information and votes based on that. No advertising allowed, attack ads or not.

In this presidential election it is estimated more than $6 billion will be spent on advertising. Yes, billion with a B. Use this money to invest in the problems our country currently has. The list is long: education, sustainable energy sources, food, healthcare, the list goes on. And on and on and on.

I am not the only one fed up.

Take a moment and think - $6 Billion would go a long way.

Worn Out

We had Jerry & Cindy over on Sunday for lunch. Jack was a great host and excused himself by mid afternoon to watch a movie. We found him like this....

Helping

J's job in helping to make ice cream....needless to say he thinks we should make some every day.

"Swimming"

We went swimming at Mike & Ronda's last week. It has been awhile since Jack got into the pool. After a mild freakout session he spent the rest of the morning running on the pool deck and throwing toys into the water for Grigg to jump in and get....

Utopia Part II - Children & Family

In this second post about my Utopia, let's cover children and family.

First, Family. In Utopia, a family is people who love each other. Men, women, doesn't matter. Government stays out of the bedroom and focuses on macro-societal issues. Enough said.

Children: If you reproduce, you take full responsibility for that child. It is a straightforward idea that seems to escape many parents in today's society. By this I mean, you make sure they are tended to, fed, bathed, challenged, raised with the morals and ethics you deem appropriate - you take an active role in the development of your own child. If you choose to be a parent you are also choosing to be a role model, you lead by example and build a safe and comfortable life for your child.

Working: I am not advocating for a stay at home parent or working parents. Each family figures out what works for them. In our house, it works that I stay home. Some people are better parents because they do work. Stop judging other peoples' choices and do what is right for your household. No matter what work/home structure you choose - it is still the job of the parent to be involved in shaping the mind of a child.

If you work, it is up to you to provide safe care for your child. Find a center, an in-home care provider, a nanny or relative that will help you impart your values and shape the mind of your child during the hours you are away.

Needs: Children's needs supersede the needs of the parent, especially during the infant and toddler years. If you have a child, this is something you have already gotten your head around. Alone time may be minimal or non-existent, lazy mornings are a thing of the past. So what - enjoy this being that is with you for a short period of time. Soon enough that human will be away at college or doing something else and you will have a lot of alone time again.

Alone time:  everyone needs it! But, a child needs to know he or she is a priority for their parents. Staying out late every night partying like a college kid does not do right by your child. Regular time away from your child enjoying whatever activities you are passionate about sets a great example.

Safety: It is the job of a parent to provide a loving, safe home that fosters the growth of their children. In our current system, the rule of law is that the best spot for every child is with their biological parents. Even when there has been repeated abuse, neglect, or other such infringement on a child's well-being. In Utopia, a parent does not get a second chance (which often comes at the expense of the child in today's society). You abuse or neglect your child, you lose them. They are put up for adoption and are placed with a loving family in a timely manner. Your rights are over.

And that brings up foster systems. For a person to become a foster parent in Utopia, they need to prove they are not only capable, but want to, provide for a child. Foster parents in it for a paycheck are out. If you are a criminal, have a history of abusing others, abusing drugs, not being able to provide for the children you currently have - you do not get the right to be a foster parent. We set up a system where the rules in place to protect children actually protect them, not send them from one hell to another.

Parents are responsible to financially provide for their children. If you can't you should not reproduce. Harsh, maybe. Too harsh, no. People fall on hard times - illness, loss of job, etc... - but welfare (topic for another day) is not a perpetual state of handouts in Utopia and children should not be born to simply be a paycheck at the end of the month.

School: Kids are taught to be free critical thinkers. The notion that memorization is going to get them from point A to B is nonsense and in Utopia it doesn't exist. Schools (a topic for another post) focus on developing the ability to forge ideas, examine other ideas and theories, and draw conclusions.

Children in Utopia are seen as the next generation of amazing human beings.  In Utopia they are allowed to be kids, run, jump, explore, their curiosity is encouraged, those that excel in school are moved onto more challenging lessons, those that break rules are punished, those that lose a game - (gasp!) lose. Those that win, win.

This just touches on the topic of kids and family. My thoughts about how kids are raised and what is done within families has changed drastically since having our son. I am immensely more tolerant of parenting approaches and curious about choices. My heartfelt sympathies go to the parent of a screaming toddler. I get joy out of seeing parents loving being parents. Every child deserves a safe, positive environment and the systems in place within my Utopia provide the means to do that.

John Lennon

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Lunch

Enjoying lunch with Doriana @ Mill Valley Kitchen.

Baby Class Reunion

Jack & Max

Jack, Ali, Lucas, Mara, Max, Kaden, Ella, Aria & Gabby, sitting

The sitting did not last long

We had a get together with most of our baby class last weekend. The older kids are coming up on 4th birthdays - and as you can see everyone else has had baby #2! Great group of kids & adults.

Asleep

Last weekend we had lunch at Jerry & Cindy's. Brandon is always looking for a reason to buy Jack Legos, so this time it was a bribe - be good the entire car ride to & from their house (in Hanover)- you will get Legos. Jack fell asleep on the way home, Brandon ran into Target while I stayed in the car with him. He woke up briefly when Brandon got back into the car and Brandon set the box in his lap. He immediately fell back asleep, not even acknowledging the Legos. Upon arriving home Brandon tried to convince him this box of Legos was a dream. Mean daddy! That was met with complete insistence from Jack that yes, there had been Legos in the car. Needless to say they built Legos shortly after.

Airplane Fun

Enjoying some wooden airplanes Daddy picked up at REI. Note the super short Thomas the Train PJ bottoms that he won't give up paired with the Beastie Boys T-shirt. Now, whenever he puts this shirt on it on he points to one of the guys and tells everyone "he got really really sick and died". Sigh...

Chef

He baked for me today. This was presented as blueberry pie with cilantro...divine creation!

Lunch with Jasmine

Goofing around with Auntie Jasmine at Chipotle.

Artist

Creating

Admiring

Fending off the paparazzi 

Tortillas

 

He wanted to help and turns out he is quite impressive working the tortilla press. 

Toddler Fashion

This one is for Doriana :) His choice, guitar socks (pulled up) and sandals...

Cute

Random cute shot from Father's Day.

J & Z

Jack & Zoe, or as he calls her "my big girl".

Angel Foundation Fundraiser

We attended an Angel Foundation Event on Saturday. Jack enjoyed seeing Ken's race car and dozens of other vehicles (old cars, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, motorcycles, etc...). The bottom picture is him hiding from the woman who was serving organic options from her food truck, she and Jack had a running game of "boo".

Ready to go

Jack got himself ready to go for a bike ride. The helmet needs a little adjustment and we are off!

Pouting

Sydney, the master of the perfect pout after earning a muzzle.

Greta

Greta stayed with us on Sunday. It was really hot and humid, and they wanted to play outside nonstop. When they finally did come in, they crashed. The air conditioner was on so the house was cold, they came in full of sweat and sand (hence the blankets on the couch) and within a few minutes asked for blankets.

Ben's Party

Enjoying the slide at Ben's birthday party on Saturday!

All smiles on his bike.

Ouch!

First really awful knee scrape. Jack is a trooper, he was right back up & running.

Another Monday Morning

Enjoying our usual Monday morning routine - a visit to Dr. Kori Chiropractic followed up by chocolate milk (that's not Intelligentsia coffee in his cup!) at Angry Catfish.

Ineptocracy

Thanks to Greg Bruns for this contribution. Enough said!

Dentist!

First trip to the dentist and he did great. Both Van & Dr. Burt @ Park Dental Edina were excellent with him. He wanted to go back today - good sign for future teeth care.

The Hair District

Awaiting his turn for a haircut. As you can tell, he did not want to brush his hair before heading to the salon.