Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday: We went to Hannibal to see Grandma and Grandpa Waldron. Austin LOVED playing there and was so excited that he didn't sleep at all the night before. Austin pretty much monopolized Grandpa the entire time, playing with construction equipment. Poor Grandpa...he is actually accustomed to using the real thing at work, so playing with miniature versions on the floor cannot be the most fun in the world...but Austin does make it a worth-while experience.

Sunday: We had a BBQ for friends (mostly neighbors). Everyone seemed to have a really nice time, especially Christine. Keith will never understand how it is worth it to people to host functions such as the one we had yesterday. The people are nice, please do not be mistaken. It is simply hard for Keith to understand how it is worth all the work. BUT...again, it was nice to have people over, Keith did a good job cooking hamburgers (he remembered his lessons from Kevin last year), Christine was the consummate hostess and Austin seemed to enjoy having all the company over, even if Harvey didn't.

Monday: Austin finally caught up on some sleep and didn't wake until 8 in the morning, just in time to get into the car and go to the Memorial Day Parade in Fayetteville (the next town West of Chittenango). Austin's "big thing" this year was waving...it seemed as though he needed to wave to everybody! After the parade, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (the chocolate donut-holes are Austin's favorite) and then we parted ways for a while so the Christine and Austin could go visit Anthony and Tiffany and Keith could pressure wash the deck. Austin and Christine had a lot of fun, Keith did not.

All in all, it has been a very nice Memorial Day weekend.

Some Time With The Family

Kevin and Peggy came to visit the family last weekend...and we had an enjoyable time throughout the day on Saturday. They arrived shortly after lunch and got an opportunity to play outside with Austin for a while...

They played at the pool...

...played with bubbles...

...and chalked the driveway, all before nap-time.

After Austin went down for his nap, Kevin helped Keith by climbing up to the 2nd floor of the house and cleaning out the master-bathroom exhaust fan's exterior vent. You see, we have these annoying birds in the neighborhood called starlings, who have (with their cunning wit and ingenuity) discovered how to lift the flap that opens when the fan turns on. This is troublesome during nesting season, as they nest and have babies in the vent. This causes problems in clogging the vent for practical purposes, but also presents a risk of possible infestation from bird-bearing parasites (e.g. bird mites).

So, this spring, Keith decided that he would purchase and install bird-proof covers for the exterior of the house. The job was pretty straight forward: simply climb up a ladder, use an old wire hangar to pull the nests out, vacuum out the tube, and install the cover (simply screwing 2-3 screws into vinyl)...no big deal. With ease, Keith managed to clean out the first vent (1st floor guest bath, approx 10-12 feet high).

When he cleaned the first vent, no one was home...so he waited until Christine came home to work on the 2nd floor vent (approx 20-22 feet up). When Austin went to sleep, she came out and held the ladder for him...but not for long. You see, your author has a serious fear of heights, and has had one since he was a wee child. So...he says he made it 14 feet, she says 10, but regardless, he couldn't climb the distance to do the job. Thus, Kevin (who was planning on coming over to visit anyway, saved Keith the humiliation of asking a neighbor (or worst yet, a handy-man) to climb the ladder to do the job.

After Austin woke up, we had a nice BBQ dinner and played indoors for the remainder of the evening, with Kevin getting his fair share of the "Austin Waldron Digging Experience".

A big thanks to Kevin for helping us out, and to both of them for coming over and having a nice day together.

Elizabeth's Visit: Day 2

It was a beautiful day yesterday...sunshine, light breeze (that disappeared as the sun went down) and very few clouds. The family made the most of the nice weather and had a very nice and productive day.

In the morning, "Aunt Lizzie" and Christine went to Christine's spinning class, came home for breakfast and went to church while Keith and Austin (accompanied by Harvey) made a trip into Home Depot and Petsmart. By the time everyone regrouped at the house a little before noon, Christine was already packing a "bagged" lunch to take to zoo...so whlie Keith stayed at home to mow the grass and clean the garage, the girls took Austin to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

When they came back, it was time for Austin's nap...and trying to get Harvey to accept Elizabeth. You see, Harvey does not often have to deal with visitors in the house, so he was not initially happy with her arrival. It was funny, because every time he would get accustomed to her, she would leave, change clothes, or shower (only returning a while after seeing each other or looking/smelling different)...thus making them get reacquainted every few hours. So every few hours, Elizabeth had to deal with our dog barking at her for 3-5 mins straight, with Keith and Christine trying to get Harvey to quiet. So, with Austin napping, it was the perfect opportunity to go outside with Harvey and Elizabeth and let them get to know each other. After a few short minutes walking outside (with some treats) Harvey was walking by Elizabeth's side and was grinning from ear to ear. Of course, then she went upstairs, took a shower and came down 30-45 mins later with Harvey acting like he had never seen her before, but he quieted more easily from that point forward.

After a barbecue dinner (hot dogs/hamburgers), Austin was given a bath and Keith started a fire to finish off the evening. It was a very nice evening with little to no cloud cover and lots of stars with less than a 1/4 moon. All in all, a nice way to end a great day!

Lizzie is here!

Christine's cousin Elizabeth flew into town yesterday while Keith was at the Race For The Cure.

We were trying to think of what would be a neat thing to do in CNY with a woman who grew up in NYC and has spent 5 years living in Boston...admittedly, it was tough to do. We realize that she is just here to visit and see Austin and she doesn't need to be "entertained", but you still want to do something different/nice.

We decided to take the route of "different" and introduce her to roller derby. As you may recall, Christine and Keith went to a roller derby event last year and it was cool. The teams were competitive, the announcers were a riot and enthusiastic, and the crowds were cool (you have not seen a "melting pot" of people until you have gone to roller derby).

Well...yesterday's event was a farce. The people were as diverse as ever, but nothing else was quite right. They advertised the event as starting at 6pm on their facebook page, but that was the time the doors opened...the bout started at 7pm. So...we were there 1 hour early early with a 2 year old who hasn't eaten dinner yet. Before kids, you don't think much of an hour here or there, but now an hour is the difference between a successful or disastrous day. As it was, Austin was as good as we could have asked him to be: he was great while we waited an hour for the bout to start and made it half way through the first half before he started getting bored, fidgety, and unhappy.

So, as a result of poor timing, we left at the intermission between halves...which is a good thing as the score was 80-30 in favor of Rochester, who were completely out-classing the local team. Considering the score, it was probably better off that we had to go anyway...we felt bad the Lizzie ended up driving with us to roller derby to sit waiting on wooden bleachers for an hour to watch a blowout in a fringe "sport" with scantly clad over weight women falling over themselves on roller skates, but we were to do? Things don't always go as planned.

At least dinner was good afterwards...

Thank You

I did indeed participate in the "Race for the Cure" today with 14 of my colleagues at MLCPT. Thank you to my parents, grandparents, Jeff and Angela for the contributions to the cause...it is greatly appreciated.

-Keith

A Rule Broken...Cuteness Ensues

Okay...so there has been an informal rule that there are to be NO children's music CDs in the home; we have been in homes where kids listen to their music all day long, and it is the most irritating thing to possibly happen to a parent (in Keith's estimation anyway).

So, yesterday, Keith arrives home to discover that Austin has received a CD with 25 kids songs it. Granted, this is a breach of Waldron Parental Code B14, Section C, Sub-section 4ii, however, you gotta admit the results are really freakin' cute:

Walking For The Cure

A message from Keith:

Sadly, in just the last 4-5 years, I have witnessed my grandmother, the mother of a dear friend and 2 colleagues undergo treatment for breast cancer. Even more sad, is that if cancer rates continue to increase at their current rates (and considering what we do to the environment, there is really no reason to think that they won't), the National Cancer Institute hypothesizes that nearly 13% of all females born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer sometime in their lives. That equates to 1 in 8 women being afflicted with the disease.

In an effort to do my part in the fight against this horrific disease, I am participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. To be clear, there is a race to find a cure, but I will NOT be racing a bunch of people on my way to get there...translation: I am walking. I have found that if I run over 1 mile with the dog, I begin suffering from symptoms of OOSS* and would prefer to avoid the embarrassment.

If you would like to help me reach my goal of $100, I would be appreciative for any support that you and/or your friends or family members would be willing to provide. Should you be so inclined, you can click on this link to be redirected to my Komen Page. Once you are at my page, you can simply make a donation by clicking on the "Make a gift!" link as pictured to the right.

The event is this Saturday, and any contributions that you would like to make to the cause (no amount is too small) will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for listening.

*OOSS: Out of Shape Syndrome

It's Been A While...

Between extending work hours and dog training, there has been very little time for your author to spend on the 'ole PC to type up cute anecdotal stories to share with you, the last remaining fans of a once great blogging destination (if I may say so myself)...for that I am sorry. But alas, I have decided to take a few moments to expand on the last month:

NOT MUCH HAPPENED

Seriously...we were just unloading the camera and realized that we barely took any photos after Easter, and the ones that we did take were not even "blog-worthy". It was simply a month of continued existence without significant storylines or milestones.

Austin continues to be awesome...only a little tantruming here and there, but no big trials and tribulations for either of us parents. He still loves construction equipment and has been in his glory with the continued construction of homes in the neighborhood. The poor kid is going to go into withdrawal when the last few homes finish up their yards (application of top soil) and the resident excavator leaves for another site.

But seriously, there has been very little to report...thus the lack of postings. Fortunately, we have a few videos to share that we hope you enjoy:

Mother's Day Gift For Christine

Austin playing with a balloon

he got at Red Robin

<

Just Him Talking In The Tub

ALBUM: 2010-05