Sounds of Lucy, then and now

Our grown-up little girl...
We haven't posted in a while. I guess Facebook took us away for a while,
not to mention preoccupation with our job situations in the newspaper business.

Recently we fired up the old Olympus recorder and made a few new recordings, plus we uncovered some Lucy sound bites from a while back.

Among the highlights:

This one of Lucy saying the Pledge of Allegiance makes me cry she sounds so young. She was 2, and you can really tell how little she was.

Here's a recent rambling that includes the Pledge. She's 4 in this one. We call it "Crazy Pledge."

That girl

This was taken on our vacation,
and I really liked it.
Lucy had me curl her hair,
and it lasted for like 2 minutes
in the Hilton Head humidity,
but it was nice for a photo.
I told her she looked like
Mary Tyler Moore or Marlo Thomas.
She just smiled at me, like "Whooo?"
(Remember when the kids on
The Partridge Family used to do that
to Shirley?)

Fun in the sun

Lucy with Jake, the Salty Dog

The weather turned out great. Only one real washout day, and we just did some indoor activities (read: outlet malls). Tomorrow we head home, but we'll take back some great memories of our fun vacation.


Trying to avoid the wave of C-J layoffs...

Vacation greetings

Joe and Lucy, sunset at Harbour Town

We made it to Hilton Head on Saturday around 7 pm. I was excited about documenting Lucy's first time seeing the ocean. I was planning to shoot video, then some stills (or maybe give Joe the still camera while I shot video). Video, I thought, would be great because there'd be some squeals of delight from Lucy. Well...we had just gotten on the island when I turned on the video camera and it started eating my tape. Then it ate another tape. So, while we hadn't planned on getting another camera, we made a stop at Best Buy and picked up a new one. Pretty frill-less, but it works. I was stunned at the prices, though. About seven years ago when I bought the now-defunct cam, it cost around $1,200, I'm sad to say. The new one we bought: $279. We still needed to charge the camera, so we don't have any video of Lucy's first ocean experience, but we do have stills.



It was a beautiful day on the island yesterday,
and we took full advantage at the beach and pool.
Lucy was a bit miffed at the ocean waves splashing water
up her nose, but she loved the sand. And loved the pool here,
like she does at home. We got a lot of sun yesterday,
which is good, because the weather forecast
looks really bleak the next few days. Ugh.

Maybe we'll catch a ray here and there,
but otherwise I'm going to start Googling
rainy day activities in Hilton Head!










Lighthouse at Harbour Town


Lucy's first sight of the ocean. Our condo is in the blue/gray building.


Beach baby, beach baby...

Lucy's Independence Day

Well, it's Independence Day and we're expecting Lucy to celebrate her independence the same way she does every other day of the year -- by doing whatever the h-e-double hockey sticks she wants.

"Lucy, get in your car seat. ... Get into your car seat now. ... Lucy, either get into your car seat or we're not going to the zoo. ..." You get the picture.

We're hoping to go to the zoo today to see Dora the Explorer. We haven't told Lucy yet and we've been spelling alot of words lately. Don't want to get her hopes up after we hyped going to church outside last weekend (for the Archdiocese of Louisville's mass for its 200th bicentenniel) at Slugger Field. Mary Ann wasn't feeling well so we didn't go.

Hopefully the weather will hold out. If not, it will have been a big week for her anyway.


She was off school all week and Mary Ann and I were off work. On Monday, Lucy went to the Kentucky Gymnastics Academy all day, giving Mary Ann and me a chance to wax the hardwood floors. Do we know how to live, or what.

(At the end of the day, we've never seen Lucy so tired.)

On Tuesday, her friend, Lily, spent the day with us. Again, exhausted.

On Wednesday, I put asphalt sealant on the driveway. Then we went to the Oldham County Aquatic Center. It's a great pool complex. It's got the best kids' pool area I've ever seen. A huge spiral slide for the older kids, a lap pool and a diving board.

It was Lucy's first time at a real swimming pool.



She loved it -- except she didn't like the lap pool because it was too deep for her to put her feet down on the bottom.

Again, exhausted. (Me, not her)

Thursday, Mary Ann took the great pictures of Lucy celebrating the Fourth of July and we ran some errands. And we ate "at China," which is what Lucy calls all Chinese restaurants.

Friday, the Zoo, hopefully. Saturday, maybe Lucy's first baseball game at Slugger Field.

On the Seventh Day, we plan to do like the big guy, himself. Rest.

And Lucy will celebrate her Independence by doing whatever she wants.

Hellooooo!

Just a quickie to let you know we are alive and well.  :)

I have plenty photos to catch up on, and I'll do that really soon, but in the meantime we're enjoying a new bottle of Mr. Bubble for bathtime...

David Caruso is my wife's favorite actor

I'm serious. Every Monday, it's a race to the TV so she can see the opening of CSI Miami, which often has Caruso's best acting. Watch this montage; you'll see what I mean:


She particularly likes the way he puts on his sunglasses. Best acting since William Bendix.

Joe

She sure was a good horse

(photo copyright 2008, The Courier-Journal/Bill Luster)
Eight Belles just before yesterday's Run for the Roses

I love the Derby, but I really only tolerate horse racing.
My profession means that the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports is a huge, huge part of my life every year, so in a way the race is in my blood, but I still fear during every race I watch that something will happen to one of these magnificent animals. In the relatively few times I've been to the racetrack over the years (not working, but pleasure trips) I've seen two horses get injured and have to be put down. I'm not one of those who doesn't understand that human life is far more important than animal life, but it still really bothers me when something happens to the horses.

Yesterday when I was at work preparing to watch the race with my co-workers, I said a little prayer that no horses or jockeys would be injured. Right after the race, I breathed a sigh of relief and gave thanks that while working and watching my 24th Derby (most of them spent at the racetrack) I had witnessed no tragic situations. A couple of minutes later, that all changed when the camera cut to show a horse down on the track. My heart sank. When I heard it was the gutsy filly, Eight Belles, I just felt sick.

They put her down so fast. But they had to. It didn't take long to assess her injuries, and to let her suffer would be beyond cruel. I don't know if horse racing is cruel. Sometimes it feels like it is. I do know that yesterday didn't feel like the greatest two minutes in sports.

Here's to the filly. She gave everything she had.

It's Derby Week!

Aww, you know I couldn't resist this cute little "Future Derby Princess" shirt we saw last night at the Derby Festival's Fest-A-Ville on the Waterfront last night.
If you don't know the Derby Festival Princess tradition, find out more about it here. Lucy was really excited because the shirt had a crown on it, and she likes the royal touch. I had just finished drying her hair, and there was still a hint of the "Mary Tyler Moore" flip I've been giving her lately (she loves this).

I really haven't paid much attention to the horses this year, so if anyone has a hot tip, please share! :)

Snow day

Well, Lucy's made her first snowman. Actually she calls it a snowmaM.
Here's the video.

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!

Lucy can't wait until tomorrow when she'll wake up to more snow. I think we might be able to use the snowman-making kit we have boxed up downstairs!

Here's what the forecasters are saying:

Kid's best friend

After dinner out last night, I strapped Lucy into the car seat, and started playing with her and the big stuffed dog her grandma RiRi gave her. I put the stuffed doggy's chin on on the edge of the seat and told Lucy to pet him "just like you do Harley (our golden retriever)." When I pulled into the garage and looked back at her, there she was, just like the obedient daughter she always is! ;)

Hat's off...

My friend Charlotte's 100-year-old grandmother crocheted this cap for Lucy for Christmas. I'm just now getting around to taking a photo (and playing with it, thanks to Photoshop) so I can be very late in thanking her with a photo enclosed in our note. Lucy will have some room to grow into the hat, which is good since I want her to be a bit more mature before she wears it. What a neat gift.

Tutu cute!

Though she looks like she's dressed for some sock hop/ballet gig, Lucy is really just donning a school outfit. Saw the sweater and skirt at the Gymboree over the weekend, and I couldn't really resist. Well, I had Gymbucks I needed to use. She's 3 years old only once. When she starts Catholic school she'll wear uniforms. OK, I thought it was cute.

;)

--Mary Ann