Music and Cats

On our trip to the Seattle Aquarium, these two octopuses (octopi?) were a big hit.

The last of the aquarium exhibits dumps visitors into the gift shop. By the time that we reached the shop, Max was not feeling well, and had taken Reed’s place in the stroller. (Turns out that he had a 101 degree fever.) He was not, however, so ill as to be oblivious to stroller-height merchandising… hence the transformation of two boys into the mighty Sharkface and his smiling sidekick Orcaboy.

Two little nephews after a morning at the zoo. Reed fell soundly asleep in the classic yoga position butt-up baby. Max, tired though he was, had no interest in napping. You can put the boy in the bed, but you can’t make him sleep.

Sergei likes to drink from the bathroom faucets, both sink and tub. Never mind that a frequently-refilled water bowl sits immediately adjacent to the pedestal of this sink; he often leaps up onto the sink for a drink immediately after I’ve filled the bowl.

Sergei seems to think that he’s getting away with something bad when he drinks from the sink. When I try to photograph him at it, he usually startles and flees.

Our nephews, Mr. Max and Boo, will be arriving in Seattle tomorrow, along with their mother and their grandparents. I’ll be taking a few vacation days from work so that I can participate fully in Boy Days 2005, a 5-day event in which five bright, creative adults attempt to entertain two active, curious little boys and carry on an occasional adult conversation. Hilarity ensues. Event locations may include: the Woodland Park Zoo, the Pacific Science Center (especially the dinosaur exhibit), the Children’s Museum, the Ballard Locks (the salmon are running), the neighborhood park with wading pool, one of several “libraries” (Max’s name for bookstores) and a U-pick farm.

During Boy Days 2004 last August, there was a marked decline in my posting on Paul’s and my blog (though nothing like the complete absence of posts there since mid-June). If, by chance, there’s not much here for the next few days, not to worry. I’ll be hanging out with the people I love most in all the world. Imagine, if you will, the seven of us all crammed into a rented minivan, heading off on a Boy Days adventure, singing silly songs.

Yesterday: beautiful, tender organic cucumbers, the first of the season. The older gentleman with whom I cleared out most of the basket said that Anselmo’s are the best, sweetest cukes in the whole market.

This morning: cucumbers chopped with red bell peppers and onions, before going into a light brine for the day. I’d never had cucumbers for breakfast before, but these were too crisp and lovely to resist.

Tonight: my first adventure in pickling. (Making pickles is so much simpler and less time consuming than making preserves! Why didn’t I do this before?) The first pickles that I remember are my grandmother’s wonderful bread and butter pickles. I found a recipe for these in one of my favorite canning books, but I know they’re different from my grandmother’s as hers didn’t have red pepper. For the next batch, I’ll see about getting her recipe. Perhaps I’ll be able to make pickles that taste as good as hers.