09 So Far

Well, 09 so far has been pretty mellow. After the holiday craziness things settled back into their normal routine. The work-a-day life has returned, but not before we made a trip to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. It was very cool. Strange to think that such an impressive collection of space history has ended up in the middle of nowhere. A picture of D and E with a spaceman in front of the entrance.

And D by the biggest rocket he'd ever seen.

They have a very dusty SR-71 hanging in the lobby...as well as a strange out-of-focus little boy wandering around.

At the Cosmosphere there was also a I-max theater. The film was about fish...lots of underwater stuff. The volume was very loud. A more intense experience, I guess. But D was scared by the sound and the overwhelming visuals at times. He got used to it after a while, but E loved every minute.

Desmond loves to paint.

He also likes the way everything sounds when you put your head far enough under water that your ears are covered.


One sound he does not like is monster trucks. D, our neighbor and I went to see the monster trucks last weekend. We got there a few minutes after they drove them into the coliseum, so they were making noise as we were finding our section. We didn't even make it to our seats because D was very upset by the noise...even with ear plugs. We watched for a while from the breezeway, and would get closer to the inside of the arena, but D's distaste for the noise would overcome his curiosity and we would have to move back. He caught a glimpse of one or two, and he saw some of the cars that were smashed, but the noise... So, no pictures of trucks or rednecks, but there were these cool bull sculptures in the parking lot that were made out of bumpers.


As far as Diamond D was concerned, they made it all worthwhile.

Lady E has been practicing walking and shopping...at the same time!

She walks pretty good. Without the cart four or five steps is her range. It makes her happy to walk, and she get excited when she can manage it without falling right away. You can see that in the photo she is also enjoying one of her other favorite things: bashing her brother's toys.