Merry Christmas

Christmas 2012 Slideshow from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

Rampart, This is Squad 51

The kids watch old episodes of Emergency! before going to bed each night. Robert enjoys the firefighting scenes a little more than the medical ones, but something tells us  both of them have been paying close attention to the show.

This morning Robert established an aid station in the living room because Skelly wasn't feeling well.

Physical examination began with listening to the heart.

Then a look in the ears

Bedside consultation

A hypodermic injection is administered

Only prayer can save the patient!

We wish we could say we staged this for the camera, but we didn't. This is our kids role playing what they saw on television. Which, of course, reinforces the importance of paying attention to what your kids watch on t.v.

The patient survived and is hanging back in Robert's room.

Merry Christmas Eve

Lazy Sunday

Layin' around the house.

Holiday Card BTS

We shot the pictures for our holiday card today, turning the living room into a studio for a couple of hours. It's rarely fun posing your own kids for portraits, but today went relatively smoothly. The card should be printed and mailed soon. These are some of the outtakes and behind the scenes (BTS) images.

Happy Holidays

Halloween

Halloween proved to be a welcome respite from the nightmare named Sandy. A few hours after the last post, about the fallen tree, the full force of the storm hit our neighborhood.

We were preparing for dinner as usual when the power went out. "No biggie" we thought since the lights had been flickering on and off for about an hour, as the tree branches rubbed up against the power lines. A few minutes later, Donna announced that the backyard was on fire! Our worst fear was apparent on both our faces: a power line had fallen and ignited our gas grill.

From the kitchen, it looked as if the entire yard was ablaze, mostly because the wind was whipping the flames and  smoke into a huge spectacle. Indeed, our neighbors thought our entire house was on fire and they came over to get us out. On closer inspection, however, the fire was limited to a single high tension wire jiggling about on the lawn, about 8 feet away from the grill and the back of the house.    Some of the neighbors helped move the grill as Bob stood-by with a fire extinguisher to protect the house while trying several times to call the fire department. It's tough to call for help with no land line or cell phone service! Eventually the wind took down the transformer located several houses over, and the fire burned itself out.

Tuesday was your run-of-the-mill day without power. Nothing for the kids to do except get on one another's (and dad's) nerves. Cooking was done with the grill and a small camp stove. First batch of food in the 'fridge discarded.

The kids woke up Wednesday knowing the significance of the date. We spent the day at a park, to get out of the house and warm up. We got home around 4:30pm,  donned costumes and hit the streets.

Sammy befriended a girl from down the street. 

A little blurry because the lighting was dim.

Robert, I mean The Hulk, working it.

A pretty good sized crowd considering much of the neighborhood had evacuated.

Halloween turned out the be the best part of the week. For an hour, all the storm-related worry disappeared. It was about kids having fun.

Sandy's Here!

Robert called me to the living room to see the "tree branch in our front yard." What an understatement!

And, actually, the branch is mostly in the street and our neighbor's yard.

That's one of the smaller trees in the neighborhood. It used to live in front of our house, where we usually park one of the cars. It was a problem tree, so to speak, because it had undermined the sidewalk causing a major tripping hazard. The trees and sidewalks are considered town property and we asked to have the situation corrected even before we took ownership of the house. The town's response was to make a cement ramp to cover the uneven sidewalk surfaces. Mother Nature had the final say on the matter about 30 minutes ago.

What's scary is that we haven't entered the most damaging phase of the hurricane yet.

Sandy Is Coming

Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on New York. The phone has been ringing every couple of hours with automated messages from the power authority, our jobs and the local government announcing evacuations. The neighborhoods just to the north and west of us are under evacuation orders. Living near the water can be a major pain.

Here are two pictures from last weekend. The kids decided to dress up. Hopefully the storm will not prove to be a major disruption of Halloween since the kids have been waiting for it all month.

What's Your Emergency?

October is fire prevention month. The kids have been learning about safety and what to do in an emergency. That's a good thing.

While eating dinner tonight, Sammy put her new skills to work, by picking up the phone and dialing "nine-one-one" as she ate. Bob grabbed the phone out of her hand, half hoping that she didn't actually dial, and hit the "end" button.

About 50 seconds later......You guessed it....the phone rang. "Police Department, did someone dial 911?"

Apology made and accepted, we reminded Sam only to call for help when there's an emergency. It's nice to know, however, that she learned something useful at school and that the police will call back a hang-up before sending the squad cars to the house.

Lancaster & Hershey

Donna having completed a milestone in her education, we set out last week for a mini-vacation in Lancaster and Hershey. We made the rounds to the kids' favorite activities: Dutch Wonderland, Strasburg Railroad and an evening visit to Hersheypark. The kids seem to have outgrown Dutch Wonderland, preferring the bigger rides at Hershey.

Sammy and Robert had a hoot on the log flumes at both parks, particularly the adult flume at Hershey.We entered the park at 5pm and, by the time we found the flume, it was around 9pm. We were among a small handful of riders. There was absolutely no waiting line and, as such, the ride operator let us ride three times consecutively. Darkness adds an element of mystery to amusement park rides. Mom and Dad even managed to enjoy an adult ride (just one!). Riding upside down in the dark is terrifying.

We haven't made a video since Christmas, so this one is a little longer than usual: 11 minutes chronicling the three day trip. Use the the "X"-looking icon in the bottom right of the window to enter Full Screen mode.

Back to school on Wednesday. Fall is just around the corner.

Congratulating Mom

Congratulating Mom at the airport as she arrives home from defending her doctoral dissertation.

Curious

Always paying attention to details.

Sunday Morning

They don't want to interrupt their morning shows!

The Park Bike

The kids are getting into the spirit of summer. A few weeks ago, we hosted Deana, Gino, Matthew and Emily at our house for a barbecue, and Robert and Samantha introduced them to their homemade water slide. The water slide is a small plastic children's slide, a Slip 'n Slide mat at its base, and a garden hose trickling water from above. It's a welcome relief from the heat and kids love it.

Robert and Sammy are proving to be little clones of their parents. They love to go shopping and, at any point in time, they can rattle off a detailed list of what they want. Sammy enjoys gardening and lawn care like her mother while Robert has taken to bicycling. He has two bikes just like dad and today we took him to the local park for a ride. As Robert was pedaling along, Bob asked him which of his bikes was his favorite. Without hesitation, Robert said he liked the bike pictured above (click on the image for a larger version)  as his "park bike" while the bike at home was his "home" bike because it has a handle for someone to help push it up the uneven sidewalks in our neighborhood. Just like dad; different bikes for different rides!

Samantha, like mom, could care less about biking but she has amassed quite a collection of stuffed animals. Though we've been trying to thin the collection, Sammy always seems to notice when something is missing and asks to replace it.

The kids are looking forward to a July visit from Nana and Pop-pop. Until then, they'll be playing outside, gardening and, of course, shopping.

Have a good summer.

Arizona for Easter

We set out for a mini family reunion in Arizona during the Easter break. Our last trip west was when the kids were seven months old, our travel plans in December 2010 ruined by Jet Blue. So this trip was a long time coming. The children handled the plane flight very well, with not a bit of crying except a moment or two during the descent into Phoenix as their ears popped. We had a decent rental car and opted to rent car seats rather than traveling with them on the plane. After just a few minutes in the car, you realize how nice the roads are on account of not having any freezing and thawing cycles to destroy the pavement. We arrived on Easter eve and quickly set out coloring eggs in the backyard.

Easter Sunday was spent at Aunt Deana and Uncle Gino's home, where we had an egg hunt and frolicked in the pool.

It was good to see aunts and uncles (Kenny and Debbie too) and have a delicious meal together. On Monday, we went to the McCormick Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale. It is a gem hidden in the middle of the city.

On Tuesday, and then again on Thursday at the request of the kids, we went to the Phoenix Childrens Museum. WOW. What a treasure, with hundreds of things to keep kids busy including this giant "sculpture" which kids can climb upon.

Wednesday we visited a local wild animal park.

And then it was back to the house for a joint birthday party for the kids.

The museum was so great, the kids asked to go back on Thursday, so we did. Friday was our travel day home. It was a good visit and the weather was perfect except for some strong crosswinds ascending out of Phoenix airport which made the flight seem more like an amusement park ride but without the amusement part.

  That's it for now.