She is the law

Heading home, we stopped for one more night in Phoenix to visit Rawhide Western Village. After mommy and Ellen squabbled, mommy got locked in jail, while Ellen had to swear to good behavior. Then she was deputized.

Organic

Those are called the Organ Mountains. We took a very mild hike (courtesy of our cousins) into the mountains above Las Cruces. Ellen took to hiking like a mountain goat and would have cheerfully gone over the top if we'd let her.

Going to ground

An extremely rugged rest stop in Benson, Arizona. Not much civilization on the road from Tucscon to Las Cruces. Lots of references to how Geronimo used to hide out in these hills, though.

Big cats

On vacation at the Firesky Resort in Scottsdale. This funky hotel, with great pools and firepits, includes leopard-print robes in every room. They even have child-sized!

Creationist Park

Road trip! We decided to take a family vacation across the southwest to visit my cousins in New Mexico, stopping for a few days in Phoenix on the way. Our first stop is the delightful Wheel Inn in Cabazon, California, known for its great homemade food and pies. Adjacent to the Wheel Inn is a classic example of road weirdness -- giant dinosaur replicas. They were originally built back in the 60s to attract tourists.

In the 90s, new owners turned them into a Creationist museum! Not what you expect to find in the belly of a dinosaur.

Is China Disney open yet?

Vacation week continues. Dim sum for lunch? Sure, Ellen. And you want to wear your bridal Mickey Mouse ears? Why not?

As Seen on TV

And let the games begin! For today's entertainment-during-winter-break, I was desperate enough to get out of the rain and go to Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, I did this by choice.

Teppanyucky

Ellen and I are both on winter break this week, so I have to keep her entertained! Today, I took her to the local mediocre teppanyaki joint, with the usual showmanship with knives and fire. Ellen was fascinated but afraid of the fire. Of course, later, she wanted to drag us here every chance she could.

Downpour -- trust me on this

OK, so it's hard to tell from the image, but it was pouring and pouring at the time. December is the rainy season for SoCal, what passes for winter here. After months of dryness, we got barrels of rain, almost every day. I was glad to not own a floodable basement, for once.

The show must go on

Rachel's a capella group performs at a nursing home (a big part of their fan base). Many of the members of the group may be checking out the homes for their own relocation.

Pageantry

Ellen's first school show. We had to wait a long, long time for the kindergarten class to perform. Ellen stood in the front row in her construction paper tree costume and forgot to sing her songs. We were very proud, of course.

Winter wonderland

Snow? What's that? Something up in the mountains?

The local mall dumps a few tons of snow on its plaza for a lark. Look, you can wear mittens and throw snowballs and pretend you're freezing to death -- just like up north!

And another holiday...

We even have a family Hanukkah party Thanksgiving weekend, regardless of the date. More family time! Ellen's enjoying wearing a kippah and waiting for her dessert.

A family affair

Thanksgiving is a chance for us to pack in months' worth of family time. Ellen gets a little baking in with her mother and grandmother.

Quickfire challenge

My brother and I helped out with a lot of the cooking and prep for Thanksgiving this year, as my mother wasn't feeling well. We both fancy ourselves top chefs. Here's Scott putting the final touches on his pumpkin mousse dessert.

Er... is this supposed to be a kosher manger?

My home town in Chicagoland has a public Christmas display and a public Hanukkah display. You can guess what the demographics are.

Touching down

Passing through Minneapolis on the way to Chicago. Just a few minutes in the airport monorail is all I get for a visit to my old home.

That's not right

This is what Target is selling as "holiday milk." Remember, America has no obesity problem. We might have a vampire problem, though.

Black tie affair

Our elementary school has a formal charity auction. Quite an array of prizes, too. We bid for and won a "date night" package that included dinner, a movie, wine, and babysitting by a Rose Parade princess!

Cold cuts

Found this on the cutting board in the morning. WHAT did Rachel make for Ellen's lunch???

Check off that milestone

Ellen's first list! She wrote it herself after asking me what we were going to do during the day. Making lists is a family obsession. I'm proud to have passed this down to her.

Poseurs

We realized we didn't have any recent family photos. After the proofs came back, I realized I should have had my hair cut.

Hanging out

Ellen hanging out in the kitchen one afternoon. I don't know why I took this picture. The paper fish on the wall behind her was her costume for her big preschool play.

Fairies

Guest photo by Ellen. While I was checking us in to the doctor's office, Ellen took a picture of me, then glammed it up with her fairy app.

Follow the pumpkin path

Halloween in Arcadia isn't nearly as much fun as it was in Minneapolis. Our neighborhood is only marginally walkable and not many of our neighbors celebrate the holiday. We drove to another town to trick or treat, and I think we only had two groups of kids stop by during the night.

Little witch

Ellen is dressed as Hermione Granger for Halloween. Today, she wore her costume for school. She loved the tie and cardigan and, of course, using her wand.

First guests of the season

Friends and former neighbors from Minneapolis Neil and Katie stayed with us for a few days. They were struck by how much Ellen had grown. They used to babysit for her occasionally when she was a toddler.

Flying Trabants!

October 24
I had a half a day between the end of the meeting and my flight home to catch the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Fun museum. I liked the flying Trabants decorating the lobby. I think they were from a U2 tour.

Party bus

Late fall plus far western edge of the Eastern time zone means that our pickup for the morning meeting was in the predawn dark. The bus has funky fiber optic lighting and a wet bar, clearly meant for a crazier crowd than us academic educator types.

Gehry

Meeting on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. The building where I am sequested for two days of long Powerpoint sessions is kitty-corner from this much more interesting Frank Gehry structure.

Passing through

Heading to Cleveland for a work-related meeting. Changing planes in Atlanta.

Nick Live!

We surprised Ellen with a trip to downtown LA to see the Nickelodeon Live show (including her favorites, the Backyardigans). She enjoyed the show but might have liked the popcorn best of all.

Part of your balanced breakfast

I took Ellen to our local bagel place for breakfast. Her breakfast of choice: a chocolate chip bagel and a basket of bacon. The kid has interesting eating habits.

Elliptical

I've started spending a lot of time at my local LA Fitness, mostly doing cardio sessions on the elliptical machine. I have a love-hate relationship with the machines. I like the exercise when I can get the machine's electronics to interface with my iPhone so I can watch a movie. When it doesn't work, which is all too often, I'm not so happy. At least I'm doing my workouts, though!

Batting lineup

Ellen's belated fifth birthday party was a big hit! She had a lot of girls attend, including some new classmates she's befriended in kindergarten. We held it in a neighborhood park. The entertainment included party games (hot potato, pin the tiara on the princess, freeze tag...), a Hello Kitty piñata, and crowns and helium balloons to decorate. We served pizza, crudités, and cake. No petting zoo, pony rides, rent-a-jumper, or any of that stuff was required.

Rite of Passage

Ellen is called to the bima to receive a teeny-tiny Torah and officially begin her Hebrew education. In her first class, she made a sukkah out of graham crackers painted with Hershey's syrup, although this required several attempts to get the roof on properly, as it somehow got eaten.

This is pretty much the rigor of the curriculum.

Oh, amber waves of cheese

I do love a good cheese counter. This place opened up a few miles from my office.

The card I was dealt

At a work-related meeting high above Marina del Rey. Isn't my place card impressive?

Everybody was jumpin' jumpin'

Even in California, there are some days where we stay inside. Ellen enjoys an afternoon at Jumpin' Jammin', a high energy joint full of inflatable bouncers, tunnels, ball pits, and dozens of screaming kids.

Little man in a big suit

I've been losing weight all summer. I give credit to the power trio of healthy weight loss -- diet, exercise, and pneumonia. My suits are all ridiculously huge on me, but a little tailoring will make them tolerable for a few more months.

Victory hug

So excited to see mommy! And All! That! Pink!

Ellen may become a breast cancer awareness advocate just for the colored swag.

Out cold

A two hour drive to Santa Barbara to see mommy compete in the Avon Walk for the Cure was ... a little too much for her. Even the scenery along the Pacific Coast Highway wasn't enough to keep her conscious.

Tagger

Give Ellen enough blacktop, and she'll color the Sistine Chapel for you. If you don't mind it being done in pink flowers and butterflies.

Nose to the glass

She really does love to fly, and she likes having the window seat. This is a brief ground stop in MSP on our way back to California. At MSP, she has her favorite restaurants and sights memorized. And she always reads along with the flight attendant on the seatback pocket safety card. I think she's even managed to sweet-talk her way into a few cockpit tours! As she told me, "there are buttons on the ceiling!"

Nap Zone 3C

Rachel loves to nap at Orzyland. She has several couches, hammocks, chairs, loungers, and other spots picked out for naps, and she tries to rotate between them over the long weekend. She's dedicated to her craft.

Scattered

Scattergories is the "women's game" at Thanksgiving. (Not quite as venerable as the ancient family poker game.) It's somehow been transplanted to the lake house for our reunion weekend.

Another early morning at LAX

Pre-dawn at Parking Lot C. A familiar starting point for us on a cross-country flight to Milwaukee for the annual family gathering. LAX is 30 miles away from home and only a really tolerable drive when we can avoid rush hour traffic -- hence the very early or very late departures. MSP used to be an easy ten minute drive from home in Minneapolis. Fortunately, Ellen is a great traveler.

GOOOOOAAAALLL!!!

Ellen took to air hockey right away. She wasn't very good, though. One of my first nights out, post-pneumonia, where I felt well enough to sit up and eat at a restaurant.

All grown up

Ellen's first day of kindergarten. We thought she'd object to the uniform. They don't allow her to wear big poofy dresses in pink and purple. But she liked the new clothes a lot. That turned out to be the least of our worries.

My plan is not to be dizzy. What's yours?

Another day in the hospital. Lots of tests, including an EEG. They finally decided I was free to go home, and I should take it easy and try to get my sodium level up.