DadTalk

Swim School Success

While it’s not been quite a month since DadTalk opened his Swim School for 2, I’m happy to report that we had a major, major breakthrough over the last two evenings.

Sunday
For the past few weeks now, I take turns holding each child’s hand as we submerge into the warm water to retrieve torpedoes from the pool bottom. Both kids keep their eyes clamped shut.

Lael quickly retrieves her orange torpedo from the lowest step on the stairs. Seth holds his nose with one hand as I guide his other to the blue torpedo that’s about 3 feet below.

Both then exit the pool and run 50 feet to dry their faces off on towels that I purposely keep far away. Every day I encourage them to try goggles, but they refuse.

For some reason, I decide that today I want to push Seth and Lael to the next level. My idea: I want them to swim a couple feet from the steps to me.

Mexican Bird of Paradise

Nothing quite matches the orange intensity of the Mexican Bird of Paradise, which grows well in the Arizona desert. This one is at our community garden plot near Scottsdale Community Garden.

Okra: Gooey yet Beautiful

My daughter, Lael, loves okra. In one sitting, she’ll polish off two bowls of the gooey stuff as long as I microwave, steam or fry it and put on a dash of margarine.

What many people don’t know, is that okra is a handsome plant with attractive flowers. After all, okra is related to hibiscus.

Grapes of Math

A gardener next door to me grows grapes primarily for looks and shade over a garden arch. Who gets to eat the thousands of luscious fruits? The birds, of course!

Tall. Really Tall

I wanted to give readers an idea just how tall the sunflowers have grown at my community garden. I thought the best way would be to lie down on the ground and shoot up, but there was no way to accomplish this feat without killing the okra or watermelon plants.

So while this picture reveals some height, consider that I had to chop out the bottom three feet of the plant from the picture!

A Day Out on Goldwater Lake

On Father’s Day, I took the family up to Goldwater Lake for some hiking, kayaking and grilled burgers. The lake, which is near Prescott, Arizona, is perfect for young children and only costs a couple bucks to park.

Like last year, Lael didn’t want to stay out on the lake for more than a few minutes. Unlike last year, my wife, Anne there to take our daughter off my hands. At least Anne was able to shoot a few cute photos.

Seth and I enjoyed time together in the kayak, exploring coves and watching dragonflies skirt the water’s surface. We even saw ponies on the trail.

After eating, we walked to the far side of the small lake where Seth and Lael played in the water. After a while, we started collecting rocks for grandma, who has a penchant for such things.

The trip made for a great Father’s Day that was more about family than just dad.

The Amazing San Diego Zoo

One of the pleasures of visiting the San Diego Zoo is that an amateur can take amazing shots of wildlife (and of course of your own kids.)

We Love San Diego

Despite Seth’s burns, we decided to go ahead with our San Diego/La Jolla vacation, even though the doctor said Seth was not allowed to get ocean water or sun on his injuries. Plus, I had to change his dressings each night.

Because the air was pleasantly cool and the water relatively cold, Seth’s injuries did not pose much of a distraction. Even Lael didn’t get her upper body all that wet because the sea was too bracing.

While there, we did the usual touristy things: eating out at overly expensive restaurants, frolicking at the beach, spending a day at the fabulous San Diego Zoo (more on that in another post) and touring the Air & Flight Museum.

The day after the trip, the doctor told us Seth’s burns, which were a pleasant pink color, no longer needed to be dressed. (We still need to apply lotion several times a day.)

In the top photo, Seth and Lael play at different beaches. Below, Seth and Lael at the Air and Space Museum. Below this text, a crab guards its little crevice. In the bottom photo, a happily exhausted Lael fell asleep after her sturdy little body finally gave out.

What Our Garden Is Producing

Perhaps more than any vegetable, cucumbers represent what’s wrong with fresh produce today.

When we lived in California, we could get all types of (expensive) cucumbers at the farmer’s markets – pickling, Armenian, Japanese, lemon, English and Mediterranean – nearly year round. More importantly, the cucumbers were fresh, with firm rather than rubbery skins.

Then we moved to Chicago, where the farmers market had great, yet even more expensive cucumbers for only a few months a year. And then we moved to Arizona, where finding a decent farmer’s market, much less a cucumber, became still more problematic.

Enter my community garden plot, which I began this spring. As you can see from the picture, cucumbers are no longer a problem. This year, I decided to grow two varieties: Japanese and lemon, the latter which are in the white bowl.

Storm

My garden provides a nice view of the McDowell Mountains where I live. In this photo, a mid-May storm works it’s way down from northern Arizona.