In Which Girls Avoid A Crab

Before I get to the title story and pictures, let me update the Wright Brothers saga. Yesterday, Michael was reviewing bids for the new Mojave film, to be shown at the Visitors Center. One of the companies putting in a bid sent two of the films they've made for other parks, including -- is it karma? fate? what? -- the film shown at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Dayton, OH. Darcy has sat through it twice now. If I let her, I suspect she'd sit and watch a continuous loop for hours while making her various dolls and animals be Wilbur and Orville and everyone else mentioned in the film.

On top of that, I got her some books about the Wright Brothers at the library today because I'm tired of reading the board book six times a day. One of them is from the perspective of their sister, Katherine, who was a big part of their lives. She called them Will and Orv. Before Darcy fell asleep tonight, we heard through the monitor, "Orv, open the door! Come into my room!" Michael responded as required.

And now, back to the vacation pictures. Before painting horses, we walked out on a pier that took us through thick greenery (and bugs!) out into the Sound. We saw Canada geese with their goslings once we got to the end. It was a nice nature break from the tourist-y surroundings.

When we got out to the end, Liana very rapidly climbed up Michael's leg -- you can see her croc disappearing at the top of the photo. Video was really needed, but it happened too quickly. The cause was the small blue crab holding onto the orange pole in the bottom right corner. Liana is not fond of crabs.

Darcy doesn't really mind crabs -- they are, after all, much like bugs, which she loves. Nevertheless, she joined Liana in Michael's arms while the crab-wrangling was happening.

The crab really, really didn't want to let go of the pole, even when shaken inches from the water. Eventually, it did let go and returned to its watery home. And Michael got to put the girls down. It was good entertainment all around. Except for the crab, probably.

Ah, Those Crazy Wright Broth...Parents!

The obsession has moved to a new level.

Yesterday, Darcy started calling me Wilbur and Michael, Orville. That continues today. She woke up from her nap while I was hanging laundry on the line. I heard something from the direction of her room and looked over. Darcy had -- as is her way -- lifted up the blinds and was watching me through the window.

She didn't look distressed, but I went in to check on her anyway. "Wilbur!" she exclaimed, "I saw you outside, Wilbur!"

So our daughter is now being raised by the spirits of two long-dead bachelors.

Mojave Preserve Updates

Part of Michael's job is to create/edit/write for/design the park newspaper twice a year. His third issue came out earlier this spring and it is a bit of a Glore-fest. I (was) volunteered to write an article about the wildflower season that made the first page. I also contributed one of the photos. Michael was the featured ranger for their series about the rangers' favorite places (and got me to take the accompanying picture of him). And, of course, Michael's hand was behind many other features in the paper as well. You can read all about it here.

Many of you may have already watched Michael's interview on YouTube. He got tired of waiting for me to post a link here, so sent out a mass email. But if you've missed my fast-talking husband's YouTube debut, you can check it out here.

More vacation photos will be forthcoming.

Dresses, Reprised

Way back in 1972 (or 1973?), when we lived in Australia, we went to a wildlife center where a person could hold and pet a koala. Or, more accurately, where a person of sufficient size could hold and pet a koala, and a person who was not big enough could only pet a koala. Notice Ev's grin. I still maintain that she was lording it over me that I wasn't allowed to hold the koala, but I might be willing to admit that she was just excited. Or possibly in pain. They have sharp claws. I know this because I went back there as an adult and snuggled with Micah the koala early one morning.

The point of this post is not to re-open old wounds, but to show off the matching dresses made by my mother. And the reason one might want to show them off is because she tried to make identical dresses for Darcy and Liana for our stay in North Carolina. The fabric is different, of course, but it's pretty close and the style is the same:

Darcy's shoulder ties were extra-special long (we need to trim them) and Liana used one of them as a leash to pull Darcy upstairs to the "sleeping loft with ocean view", which had been claimed as the lego space. Or, as Darcy said when she first saw the legos, the "disaster toys". This comes from Christmas, when some lego towers were knocked over and Michael said, "Disaster!" Her memory, it is long.

I think that views on sun exposure and sun block usage have changed drastically in the past 35 years or so. Ev and I are brown! Darcy and Liana? Not so much, despite both living in hot climates. And, for the first time, I might be forced to admit that Darcy might look a little like me.

Darcy Loves Orville

Darcy returned from vacation with a new obsession. Orville. Wright, not Reddenbacher. As in one of the fathers of human flight. Airplanes are no longer just airplanes. They are Orville rides. She thinks every one is owned and piloted by Orville. Apparently, at the same time.

On Wednesday, we went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk. Darcy likes airplanes, so we thought there was a good chance she'd be entertained there. We didn't know the half of it. She sat through about half of a program about the engineering problems the Wrights overcame to create the first successful airplane and then she had a good time looking at all the airplane-related things in the visitor center bookstore. I bought her a board book called The Story of the Wright Brothers. Who knew that one could regret buying a book? (At least a little.)


Following the program, we asked a staff member what the other buildings at the Memorial contained, trying to decide whether we should just leave. For small children, he suggested a metal sculpture/model of the 1903 Flyer installed for the Centennial celebrations. So we drove around the monument hill and drove to the installation seen above. It has statues of all the people involved with that flight. The photographer whose perspective we borrowed had never taken a photograph before. Orville set it up before getting in the Flyer. Orville is flying the plane and Wilbur is the figure running by the wing. This is the famous "First Flight" shot seen everywhere. The 12 seconds that changed the world, so to speak. And again, who would have thought one might live to regret taking a small girl to climb on a reproduction of an airplane? (At least a little.)

Darcy and Liana had a ball climbing on the plane. Or, more accurately, Liana had a ball climbing on the plane and Darcy had a ball sitting on the plane, first at the end of one wing and then next to Orville. Walking on the wing surface didn't interest her. Liana was fond of fixing the engine and here, she explains the various parts to Darcy. Darcy, who has eyes only for Orville. Watch out, Adam! You have a rival for our girl's affections now!

Darcy sat with her arm resting on Orville for a long time, repeating his name and patting his shoulder. Here, she is suggesting the next flight path they should take.

Notice the clenched fist as Darcy waits breathlessly to see if the first flight is successful. She is Orville's best new friend and admirer, and he is very much alive and well in her imagination. She lay awake instead of napping that day and, through the monitor, we could hear her asking, over and over, "Did you have fun with Orville?"

I read the "Orville book" a half dozen times that afternoon, and a few more that night. In the five days since, I think I've read it at least 40 times already. Michael hasn't escaped, either, so she's heard it dozens and dozens of times, apparently without tiring of it one bit. It's possible we've created a monster, but I do love that she says things about Orville and Wilbur as kids and then as grown-ups that show she understands they were kids just like her and, therefore, she can grow up to be like them. While she can't be the first person to fly, she can follow her dreams as the Wright brothers did. It may feed the flames more than needed, but we'll be looking for more picture books about the Wright brothers next time we go to the library. A girl's got to dream...

In Which Horses Are Painted

I found the card reader: Let the vacation pictures begin!

Here is the house we (Grandma/Kathy, Granddad/Dave, Ev, Liana, and the Glores) stayed in for our week on the Outer Banks. Apparently, the architectural "style" of Corolla and other, newer parts of said Outer Banks was influenced by the question, "How many roof lines, cantilevered rooms, half-levels, and decks can we put on one house while raising it off the ground in case of hurricanes?" Truly bizarre. Ours tried to put as many languages in its name as it had roof surfaces: Castle de la Mar. English and Spanish and French, oh my!

In truth, the house did right by us, with plenty of space for active girls, a well-equipped kitchen, and beds and bathrooms for all. It also came with access to a community pool, kiddie pool, and playground, which will be featured in later photo installations.

We had an active vacation, with plenty of beach and pool time, and some exploration of the northern part of the Outer Banks. Darcy picked up a new obsession (Orville Wright -- more on that later, too). We all got a bit bronzed. And we ate lots of local shrimp alongside the agricultural bounty of the Carrboro farmers' market.

We also had some art time. The local wild horse museum does horse-painting as a fundraiser on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer. No, you don't get to paint a wild horse, but for six bucks, you do get to don a plastic apron, get a plate-full of paint, a handful of brushes, and a pretty big wooden horse cut-out to paint.

It was a great event and the horses are reusable, too! We got to old Corolla village early so we could do other things before painting horses and saw the museum workers painting over Tuesday's art. Here are our young artists tackling their equine canvases. Darcy needed a bit more help and guidance than Liana.

The artists were more than happy to pose with the finished products after painting the smaller wooden horses that they got to bring home with them. A fun time was had by all.

Think Of It As A Test-Pattern Screen

We are back from our wonderful vacation on North Carolina's Outer Banks and pictures will be forthcoming! Half the pictures are on Michael's work computer currently with him at, you know, work. The other half are sitting waiting for me to lay hands on the card reader so I can get them onto our computer.

In the meantime, here's a wildlife picture from our yard. I noticed a rabbit outside the kitchen window a couple weeks ago and it seemed very wary of something near the cars, so I craned my neck and -- sure enough! -- the rabbit was watching our resident gopher snake glide under the car a few feet away. Now, you might think that the PREDATOR would chase the PREY, but no, this rabbit followed the snake away from the house and under the car and then over to our propane tank to watch it cross the driveway to the other Cima house. Ah, nature! Full of surprises at every turn.