Day 1200 - Khadim's Birthday

Today, we went to the Fire Museum of Maryland, for one of Ruth's classmates' - Khadim - birthday parties. Ruth loved trying on the fire fighter clothes

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and climbing on the fire engine (though, of course, she wanted to drive).

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Everything was fun until Melissa and I made the mistake of chatting along with each other and Ruth, without looking towards Ruth in the back seat - who was covering herself entirely with melted chocolate lollipop (not shown).

Days 1193-1195 - Aunt Connie and the Great Movie Caper

Last weekend, we took a trip up to visit my Aunt Connie and her friend Sharon - I'd been in Liberia for Connie's 60th birthday proper, and so we wanted to celebrate a bit. Plus, Ruth really likes Connie and Sharon (probably in significant part because they indulge her princess desires, including watching Beauty and the Beast... over... and over... and over... and over...)

Since it was roughly 115,000 degrees while we were there, we thought as a special treat we'd take Ruth to see her first movie in a real theater with real air conditioning and real popcorn with fake butter. So Connie, Melissa, Ruth, and I all went to see Winnie the Pooh - which, much to my great surprise, I actually liked. Eyore is still a putz, though.

The next day, we went blueberry picking (early on, so it wasn't so hot).

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(Photos by Connie - the hat was Mem's)

Ruth didn't enjoy it as much as we'd hoped (she claimed to be scared of the bushes at one point, but I think she was just annoyed that she wanted to run off into the woods but couldn't). But Connie and Melissa did yeoman's work and we ended up with a ton of awesome NJ blueberries. Melissa made one of her yummy blueberry cobblers for dessert that night, and I just ate another of the muffins we made - plus we've been eating handfuls of them all week.

Back at Connie's, we just hung out for a bit more, and Ruth played outside until everyone turned to ash.

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(Photos by Connie)

Day 1174 - USA USA USA

Pics from the Village Parents July 4 potluck. That was some seriously dirty water by the end of the day.

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Day 1166 - Dear Future Ruth, We Were Not Poor When You Were a Kid and I Did Nothing to Encourage (or Discourage) the Activity Depicted Below

Ruth decided it would be fun to scoot around the house on a baking sheet.

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Day 1165 - Yes We're Goin' to a Party Party

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Kamil's (right next to Ruth) 3rd birthday party was at the Oregon Ridge "beach" (on a quarry), which is about the most awesome idea I've heard recently.

Days 1163, 1170 - Previous Dad & Ruth Day Breakfasts

Yes, the second photo is of a Dunkin' Donuts movie-tie-in breakfast pastry.

DON'T JUDGE ME.

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Day 1158 - I Have No Idea What is Going On In This Picture

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Days 1137-1139 Voyage to Grand-Dad

At the end of May, we went up to visit Melissa's Dad and step-mother in Boston. Lots of fun!

The frequent flyer:

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The frequent flyer in repose:

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We took her first to the Boston Children's Museum, which was a blast, even if she wanted to spend the bulk of her time in the Arthur room. We also saw the reconstructed Japanese home, and...

... climbed things...

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... did SCIENCE! ...

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... construction ...

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... and of course had ice cream from the giant milk bottle outside afterwards!

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But that wasn't enough ice cream! Not by a long shot. The next day, we went to one of Melissa's childhood favorites, Peaceful Meadows.

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Stay classy, Ruth:

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And, finally, we went down to the beach. Ruth and I splashed about in the shallows, and saw some cool things, like barnacles, and pink jellyfish (we didn't touch!).

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Day 1134 - Gardening

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Sasha and our half-feral child playing in the back yard.

Ruthville, Part 2

And here are some more photos from when Ruth spent some time with my folks in April while Melissa and I were on vacation. I'm pretty sure they gave her drugs, as you will be when you check out the photo with the bottle. I know they gave her McDonald's, but hey, that's what grandparents are for.

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See that machine over there? That machine has got to be destroyed. Nts nts nts nts.

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Heeeeeeeyyyyyyy...

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That's the picture we're going to show to the first girl/boy she brings home.

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Day 1126 - Macaroon Dress

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Another picture taken at Ruth's request (she intermittently wants pigtails). Cousin Ali, she tells us, bought this dress for her in Macaroon.

Day 1124 - Oh, C'Mon, Everyone Knows You Retrain Out of Chainmail Proficiency as Soon as Possible

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I will - over Melissa's strenuous objections - ultimately turn Ruth into a geek. On my side is the fact that she really likes going down to the The Walters Museum and putting on their medieval dress-up clothes. Working against me is the fact that I cannot convince her that this is not a pretty princess dress, rather than a chain hauberk.

Day 1113 - The Leaf Series

"Take a picture of the leaf."

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"Take a picture of me jumping with the leaf!"

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"Take a picture of me squatting with the leaf."

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"Take a picture of me breathing with the leaf."

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Day 1113 - Practicing Baseball for Granddad

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Day 1100 - Ruthville

At the end of April, my parents came to watch Ruth so that Melissa and I could take our yearly anniversary-ish vacation. This year, we just took a relaxing jaunt down through VA, where we found this.

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Meanwhile, this is my favorite photo my folks took while Ruth was staying with them:

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Day 1177 - Dad and Ruth Day

Because I'm leaving for Ghana soon, I've been trying to keep Ruth home with me one day each week for a Dad & Ruth day. The past couple of weeks, she has wanted to go to school every day instead (my feelings aren't giving me smiles). But two weeks ago, we took the day and went to breakfast and the zoo.

Here's Ruth at her favorite breakfast spot, Pete's Grille, double-fisting bacon and rocking out to Can't Hurry Love:

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And here's her on one of her favorite things to do at the zoo, ride the banana space ships:

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Day 1182 - Dance Class

Ruth is obsessed with ballet dancing (I think we've mentioned earlier that her favorites are Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn). So we decided - with help from my folks - to enroll her in a dance class, which she loves. It's at The Baltimore School of Dance, and taught by the Miss Amy of Nina Hagen/Artscape post fame.

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Getting ready for the tap portion:

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Day 1186 - Artscape!

Last Saturday, Melissa had a work thing, so Ruth and I went to Artscape and had a lot of fun right before the sun decided to devour the earth.

Ruth wasn't a huge fan of the Art Cars - too loud! she said, and I hadn't thought to bring the ear muffs we bought her after our ill-fated trip to see the fireworks at Oregon Ridge park. But she was a huge fan of the Art Car Lounge, with furniture made out of old auto parts. It looked sort of like my Dad's dream living room:

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From there, we went to the kid-friendly sculpture garden, where the big hit was all of the crazily painted and accessorized playhouses. Ruth fell in with a gaggle of kids, including one wearing a shirt the exact same color as hers (Dad pro-tip: do not try to check your phone while keeping one eye on your child when this happens, as you will end up following the other kid around for a while before you panic).

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Then, it was lunch time! Ruth wanted hot dogs, but I saw something better. Dad pro-tip: if you ask your child, "would you like hot dogs ON A STICK?" the answer will probably be yes, but you need to play up your enthusiasm.

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Then, as promised, ice cream.

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After ice cream, we headed over to the 80s tribute stage (this will explain the photos a bit) to see Ruth's dance teacher's rock ballet dedicated to Nina Hagen. This also included a good friend of ours, Claudia (with the red-brown hair - and yes, she always looks that stylin', but sorry boys and girls, she's married).

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Ruth's comment: "They're dressed up as space people!"

After all the excitement, back to Ruth's favorite spot:

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ME: No smiles?
RUTH: My feelings aren't giving me smiles right now.