Great Fathers day Jens Hegg Sunday, June 21, 2009

What a great fathers day. My mom decided to make up blueberry pancakes that were cooking just as I woke up. Yumm!! Then Berlyn and I went to Moscow and met up with Mommy. Berlyn did an admirable job of keeping his fathers day secret from me for a whole week...then slipped on the way to the mall with the revelation that we were going to the batting cages. That was alot of fun. I haven't hit a ball in a long time.

Berlyn is a natural with a bat. He has no fear whatsoever of the yellow balls flying at him, and steps right into the pitch. He got two turns in the cage adn hit 8 balls by himself, and a bunch more with my help. He really smacked the last one of the day. You can see it on the video.



Then we dropped into the icecream shop in the mall and had ice cream cones. Yummy! All in all it's been a very nice fathers day.

Trick Candles and a 4 Year Old Jens Hegg Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Today is my Mom's birthday and Berlyn had a ton of fun outfitting her cake with candles. He even made sure to put in two trick candles and could hardly contain the secret. You'd never know he put them on by the surprise in his voice when they relight, and relight, and relight again. This is a pretty funny video.

Skiing with Berlyn Jens Hegg Sunday, February 15, 2009

My lab group went to Silver Mountain last week to go skiing. What a blast. My advisor brought his kids so we had a gaggle of youngsters plying the slopes for the first time. Berlyn is a natural. Here is a video taken in the first 15 minutes of skiing, followed by a video from later on in the day. Sorry for the poor quality of my phone cam.





about 5 minutes after the first video was taken some skiers saw berlyn in mid run and gave him a thumbs up. Berlyn had the presence of mind to look at them and give a thumbs up while hurtling at toddler speed down the hill. The effort unbalanced him and he nearly wrecked but pulled it out into a sweeping spin that left him gliding the last 25 feet or so in a reverse snowplow. I know that I was not that coordinated when I was his age.

For more pictures of the mountain, and riding the worlds longest gondola to get there, check out my photobucket page here.

Down the Big Hill Jens Hegg Monday, December 22, 2008

Here is a taste of Berlyn and his adrenaline junkie streak. I especially like the "Gaaarrrrr!" at the end. He doesn't giggle or shriek, he makes it known he has conquered the slope. I like that about him...as long as he doesn't take up base jumping in his teen years.

I can fly..I can fly..I Can Fly!!! Jens Hegg Friday, December 19, 2008

We just watched Hook with Berlyn and he is suddenly obsessed with Peter Pan. Not that that is in any way strange. I played Peter Pan for a large portion of my childhood. Still, Berlyn, as usual, takes things to an extreme that shy little Jens never would have attempted.

He was "fighting" captain hook (Papa) and jumped up on the couch to exclaim, "Tink gave me fairy dust and I can fly, watch...I'm going to flip in the air".

The wild look in his eye told both of us that he might try something beyond his physical envelope so we warned him that he should just jump down and pretend he was flying. He nodded his head and let fly... a perfect 180 twist with a horizontal roll...into a bellyflop on the floor.

Although he hit pretty hard I think most of the tears were not in pain but for the realization that indeed he couldn't fly. Oh, well. That's what dreams are for. He'll fly in that space between sleeping and dreaming and be happy I'm sure.

Other pics of the little guy Jens Hegg Friday, December 19, 2008

For those of you in need of a bit more of a Berlyn fix there are more photos. Here is the address of my Photobucket album, or you can click on any of the pictures to take you there.

Whew! I'm caught up. I promise I'll do a better job keeping you updated with Berlyn's antics for the second half of the year. I see a New Years resolution coming out of this.

The Snowstorm Jens Hegg Friday, December 19, 2008

As everyone has been commenting, there was a big storm here over the last couple days. Berlyn, myself and my parents braved the wind and falling snow to take advantage of the fresh powder for a round of sledding and a bit of a midday walk...er, slog...through the newfallen snow.



What a cute laugh he's got going there!

Here are some stills of the adventure:

Palouse Days Jens Hegg Friday, December 19, 2008

Yeah, I'm behind the eight ball. Palouse Days happened months ago. I even posted about it. Still, I wanted to share this gem of a video that I haven't had the time to upload. It's a first person video account of the mayhem that ensues when a helicopter drops a bucket full of ping pong balls on main street in Palouse Washington. Have fun...

Christmas Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

My, alot has changed since last Christmas. Here is Berlyn decorating the Chrsitmas tree. Perhaps one of the biggest changes is that Berlyn can now evenly distribute ornaments over the tree rather than on a single branch. It's nice to have a tree that doesn't need a flying buttress to keep it from tipping from the eccentric weight.




Speed Decorating!!!

Christmas Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

We picked out a Christmas tree last week at Junction Lumber outside Potlatch. Berlyn had fun running around in the snow.



They have a little menagerie going at Junction Lumber. Berlyn loved the geese, even when they nibbled his hands.




Earlier he had a blast playing in the snow.



Ever since this summer he has liked to push a rake around the yard and "harvest". The rake is is combine and different rakes are different combine headers for different crops. He settled on a pea-bar header as the best way to harvest snow. According to him it works the best. Don't ask me about details, his logic is a bit tortuous when he's pressed for details.

Talent Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

Berlyn is so amazing. A month or so ago he was drawing on a card for his friends birthday gift and decided out of the blue to write his name. Pretty good for a 3 and a half year old.



Up until a few weeks ago he was drawing abstract blobs and telling us what they were. He didn't need to tell us what this one was. I'm not sure what switched in his head but the change happened literally overnight. Does anyone see a bit of Basquiat in there?



But the proof of his genius happened one morning before preschool. I left him alone at the table to get ready and came back up to see this.



Apparently this trick spread like wildfire through the preschool earlier in the year. Cute!

The Green Frog Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Green Frog Cafe is one of several awesome businesses that have sprung up in Palouse since I left. They have an excellent open mic on the first Friday of the month. Berlyn likes to come up on stage with me while I play. Tiana, the co-owner, often lets him play with a vintage toy guitar that usually sits behind the counter. This time he got to go up without me to sing Clementine on the toy guitar (That's the only song it plays). He was in heaven. Attention from Tiana and the crowd all at once, what more could a 4 year old want?

Playing at the Park Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

I still remember "The Big Slide" from the Palouse Park. I remember it being scary up there and that the metal gets really hot right about the time the open swim ends at the pool across the way. Berlyn learned all about the freakiness but loved every second of it. He's an adrenaline junkie already.

"The Big Slide"

Whao, that's a long way down!

Down by the river, my baby and I Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

Berlyn and I took a little walk down to the river the other day. What fun!

Near...

Far...

Kasploosh!!

Harvest Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

Here is the video of Berlyn's first combine ride during harvest this August. Actually, it's the video of him coming back from his first combine ride. Guess what the answer to my question is...An emphatic, "No, daddy. I want to ride more." So, he spent another 2 hours riding around in circles harvesting wheat with Papa. Our little farmer.

Halloween Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

I realize that these posts are all mixed up time wise. I'm pickign the low hanging fruit of the pictures I've already uploaded to Photobucket and uploading others in the background. Please forgive the temporal whiplash.

Here is Berlyn carving pumpkins and all dressed up as a monkey for Halloween.

Digging in

Carving

Finished Product

Spooky!

Chef Pumpkinseed

Don't forget the salt

Put them in the oven for you and me

The Cowboy and His Monkey (Trick or Trating with the Neighbor)

Trick or Treat

The Fastest Trick or Treat in the West



Type rest of the post here

First day of Preschool Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

I can't believe I never managed to post these pictures of Berlyn at his first day of Preschool. What a cutie. Now he's just finished half a year of preschool and last night was listing off the letters in all his friends names. What a smart kid!

Sitting with Mommy

Headed down the stairs

Looking cool

Futures so bright...

Heading in for the first time

What a cute little student he makes

2 Minutes and he forgot we were there. He's been loving it ever since

Catching up with the little guy Jens Hegg Thursday, December 18, 2008

So...I told many of you that you should check my blog in order to keep tabs on Berlyn. Then, as usual, I got behind and haven't posted pictures for a while. The following posts will be quick updates on what we've been up to.

Merry Christmas!

Berlyn, Master of Semantics Jens Hegg Sunday, November 02, 2008

Background: Berlyn walks up to me with a stick in his hand. He makes a gunshot noise and says:

Berlyn: "You're a bear. I shot you and I'm going to make you into a rug!"

Me: "We don't shoot at people, even with toy guns. Where did you learn about bear rugs?"

Berlyn: "At preschool."

Me: "We don't pretend to shoot at people, it's not nice."

Berlyn leaves the room then returns in the same way and "shoots me". With a broad grin he says:

Berlyn: "You're a bear, not a person. When I shoot you it turns you into a rug."

Someone is headed for a career in semantics.

The Reluctant Dragon Jens Hegg Saturday, October 04, 2008

Not long after the move was Palouse Days, the annual town celebration in these here parts. Berlyn is a social animal and wanted to walk in the parade so we suited him up in last years halloween costume and headed in after breakfast.

He loved getting ready in the staging area and petting the prize sheep one of the other girls was showing off.

He was more than a little reluctant to be there after he saw all the people looking at him from the sidewalks. But he did soldier on, despite refusing to wear the hood of the costume. He might not have been a scary dragon, but he certainly had a unique dragon scowl going.
Of course, afterward there was candy to scramble for from the adult parade.
As a kid Palouse Days seemed like a much bigger deal. It seemed awfully sparse as an adult.
Fire engines are LOUD!