Oak Park Dad(s)

Here Fishy, Fishy (or something smells fishy in here)

2009-05-06T12:29:00.003-05:00

I just bought this FISH EMULSION for the garden. Every book I've been reading has been talking about this and I hope it helps my veggies get fruit and grow large. It is kind of brown and soupy and has pungent odor, but the container said it should be "odorless". Maybe after applying it. Hopefully. It says it is 5-1-1 NPK which is shorthand chemical speak for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, all good things your plants want and need to grow.

And HERE is a link to how Alaska Fish Fertilizer is created.

Container Gardening

2009-05-05T13:03:00.004-05:00

I was asked this weekend by a cousin about starting some vegetable gardening at her townhouse and found some great information from Texas A&M

I was pretty happy with the information, and the best part is this site doesn't overwhelm with too much useless chatter.

Peas and Beans are Up

2009-05-05T12:59:00.004-05:00

My Peas and Beans are up! Very exciting.

Raised Garden day - whatever

2009-04-13T14:13:00.003-05:00

I finished off the beds with the boy and had the soil delivered. Just started planting yesterday in the new beds (before the cold and rain today).

Raised Garden - Day 2 or so

2009-03-23T08:43:00.003-05:00

Here is the before shot (the tarp is to try to kill the grass)

And the after shot:

Project - Raised Garden Bed

2009-03-21T08:22:00.001-05:00

I've been silent for some time, but now I'm going to post about my next project:

A Raised Bed Garden - Urban style (I've a pretty small back yard)

I've started with this link sent to me by my Dad (my own personal PhD plant/garden/trees expert):

http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_raised_beds.htm#a

I'm going to drag the kids to Lowes today to buy some lumber. J helped me lay out 4 4'x 8' beds in the back yard with some twine. We then put down a blue tarp to kill the grass and weeds below.

Facebook and reminiscing (Love Junkies)

2008-10-20T10:49:00.003-05:00

I am enjoying Facebook for reconnecting to all my friends from near and far, but also keep remembering good times that aren't recorded anywhere else, and Google searches show up nothing. Here on my blog, then, I'll post some keywords and hope to shake loose some more old good friends.

Joe Mozzarella, or Ball State Fame
The Love Junkies, also of my BSU days. I played keyboards for this New Wave band, and my first gig with them was at the Flying Tomato in Muncie (Ball State). Ok, google spiders, do your work.

new game for us - RUMMIKUB

2008-10-20T10:46:00.002-05:00

This game rocks even more than Hearts. I'll post more later (yeah, right) but we've been playing it almost every night for a week. Now we are finally to the point where we have the rules down pretty well and our strategery is beginning to work. Yes, I said strategery. The Rummikub website is kind of kludgy, but HERE it is.

Quick Post - I Heart Hearts

2008-10-02T16:02:00.003-05:00

We have been playing Hearts recently and love the game. It is a quick hand and really allows us to stick the points to each other. A nice reverse-type points card game. I know it is all over the Internets and whatnot, but nothing beats sitting down at the kitchen table my Grandma and Grandpa used to use when they were first married and playing a fun game of cards.

Pool Video

2008-08-21T12:57:00.002-05:00

I am currently testing a Camera for work and have fallen in love with it. It blends decent video and decent camera functions in a great single-hand-use setup, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1. Awesome. I even had one mom gasp when I walked out in the lake with it "YOU HAVE YOUR CAMERA!!!!! IN THE LAKE!!!!" Then I put it underwater.

One Thousand Milestones

2008-07-10T09:03:00.003-05:00

Another new card game has been started at our house, Mille Bornes (yeah, say it like the French), an excellent travelling-style card game. The boy and I like it very much so far, it is fun and also keeps a bit of school-math going with alot of addition. I find it also very interesting how we have been drawn to games that are the most fun when we are trying to thwart each other (see Hearts and Ticket to Ride).

Community Gardening

2008-06-25T11:24:00.003-05:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to garden with the boy at his elementary school with his (now-ex) 2nd grade teacher, Mr. Pod. I had a great time and even better time watching my boy work! I am totally impressed by his work ethic and knowledge and drive. Another thing that warms my heart.

Here's hoping we can get to do more of this gardening between vacations and camps and all of the other whatnot of summer.

Weekend Dance Recital

2008-06-02T15:48:00.001-05:00

Another thing that melts my heart

Orcs are attacking! I summon the fireball!

2008-05-28T12:54:00.002-05:00

I have a few of my old Dungeons and Dragons books from wayy back in the day. My son has been asking about them and it is yet another thing warming up my nerdy heart. I gotta get some dice and help him generate his first character.

Meanwhile, we've been playing the open source Battle for Wesnoth, a free download for Mac, Linux or PC (we've been playing it on Ubuntu and Mac) and it is giving us a good taste of orcs and dragons. Oh my.

Swimming in the Storm

2008-05-27T15:54:00.001-05:00

The local swimmin' hole (at Rehm Park) opened Saturday. I took the kiddies (by myself) Sunday and Monday. Sunday was a Weird Weather Day but Monday was quite nice. They are getting to the age where it is more fun than work to help them in the pool. I still like it when we all go, the boy wants to dive and swim around, the girl wants to alternately cling and try to swim away (she can't swim at all). Urg. Urg when I am watching them both.

Riding the Prairie Path

2008-05-05T14:10:00.003-05:00

I had a chance yesterday to take a nice bike ride with the boy, we took a short drive to where the Illinois Prairie Path begins in Forest Park. I'm very much not a hard-core bicyclist and this path was perfect for us. Completely paved and well-marked, we started near the Des Plaines El stop (of the Blue Line) and took the path west to 17th Ave in Maywood. The only slightly weird time was the guy sitting in his car without a shirt in a CTA parking lot between two cemeteries.

The boy did great, old man me got tired more quickly and made us turn around before we got too tired. (ok, before I got too tired). I really want to do this path again and take the rest of the fam too.

Nerd In Training=Warms My Heart

2008-04-30T15:54:00.002-05:00

A few days ago I took my boy to work (on take-your-kid-to-work-day) and he loved it. He even put on a tie (then blamed it on me later) and was a great help during the day. We even fixed a few computer problems. Then came the kicker: "Dad, can we fix computers together when I grow up?"

I love that little nerd.

And of course I said "Of Course" and immediately began scheming a way to make that request come true!

Bowling Birthday Again!

2008-04-08T11:52:00.002-05:00

The boy turned 8 on Sunday and we had him and 8 of his friends out to the Mont Claire Lanes (same place as last year). Again- a great place for a party, they balance the two-hour party with one hour bowling, one hour party room with pizza. This time, though, they didn't call us till one hour and fifteen minutes so we got the extra bowling time, which was great because too much sitting around for 8 year old boys leads to extra trouble.

My girl (4) loved being there as well, she even held her own during her bowling part. She won't let me help her now when she bowls (and does probably as well as when I "helped" her).

Games for Little Kids + Big Kids

2008-03-11T11:11:00.003-05:00

I have said before that I loves me a board game with the family. I'm stuck in a point now, though, where I want to play the same game with both my boy (age almost-8) and girl (age 4). There is a gap right now between the little kid and big kid games.

The girl can hold cards now, which has allowed us to play the Princess Card Games (includes Old Maid, Crazy 8s and Go Fish), the boy likes to play this as well (even though there are boring princesses involved.). We are also able to muddle through Sorry, but the game proves challenging to the 4-year-old attention span.

Anyone else have an idea for a developmentally-spanning game? That won't bore me to tears?

Bumper Bowling in Chi-town

2008-03-10T11:40:00.002-05:00

Took the boy to the Bowling alley again, just us two (boys afternoon out) and wanted to say how nice (again) the Mont Clare Bowling Alley is. The bumpers are easy to request and setup, they don't make you feel bad about using them at all. I have to say it is great for a kid who is learning to bowl, really keeps up their interest. I have fond memories of riding a school bus (during the day!) to the local lanes in the MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL DAY. Who does that anymore? Certainly not with No Child Left Behind testing requirements.

Linux for Kids

2008-02-22T20:39:00.003-06:00

I'm a geek and my day job involves much geek fun. I just helped J install SUSE 10 on a Toshiba laptop I had sitting around. Mostly it is working great, he usually just wants to get to Club Penguin and PBS Kids. It got me thinking about other Linux applications that would be fun, entertaining AND educational for him. I found this (a bit) old article about some fun software and wondered if anyone else had any suggestions. I'm going to keep digging, but J is really enjoying using the SUSE and Linux (he loves lizards and especially penguins) and I wanna keep him excited about it.

Krofft Guys Ate My Brain

2008-02-20T16:23:00.004-06:00

And I loved every minute of it.

Salon recently reviewed the DVD RE-releases of H.R. Pufnstuf and other titles and it has left me with a hunger for more psychedelic foam puppets and talking flutes. Even though Jimmy is dead, I can hear him singing and dancing around with fantastic owls and crazy fireengine- type vehicles.

The kiddies love this stuff but I feel guilty foisting it upon them.

Neti Pot Action Shots

2008-02-20T15:40:00.005-06:00

I wanted to update my original Neti Pot For Children post from October- my girl (age 4) is now asking for and using the Neti Pot. I can't be 100% certain, but I think we have avoided some nasty sinus infections this winter with the Neti Pot. I'll appear like some kind of zealot, but everyone is getting one for their birthday this year!

Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35

2008-02-19T11:02:00.003-06:00

It was cold (again) this long holiday weekend and we promised the kiddies a trip to the mini-golfing place in Norridge. The place is called The Putting Edge, and it hides behind a Border's bookstore near the HIP (Harlem-Irving Plaza).

The boy loved playing there, my girl didn't like it, no sir, not one bit. I think it was the combo of never having used a golf-club/noise/blacklights that finally broke her.

The entire place is dark with black-lights and you take either the broken escalator or the elevator to the 2nd floor and are immediately deposited into a cavernous arcade area. Make sure to find a coupon before you go, if you pay full total price I don't think it is worth it. Putt-putt shouldn't cost more than 5 bucks per person. (of course I'm comparing the cost to 1980s rural Indiana costs). There was a coupon pile sitting next the cash register and we grabbed one right up. We had a 10 minute wait then were on the course. Overall, a decent putt-putt course, but only three (of four) of us had fun. The place has a Charles E. Quesa vibe, right down to the smelly pizza and game coupons that can be redeemed for plastic crap behind the glass case.

Maybe a 2nd visit will chill my girl out and we can have the fun.

Dr. Fish and the Afterlife

2008-02-07T12:55:00.001-06:00

I have killed more small pets than anyone else I know. It all started with a fish named Fishy. Fishy was won at the local downtown Oak Park festival a few years ago. Fishy was won in a carnival game and died the next day. This brought on the discussion of "what happens after you die" amidst hoards of tears and moaning. We covered the mirrors and invited the relatives over. This was opposed to the "Circle of Life" school of death-thought. Fishy did NOT go back to the stars and he would never speak (or burble) at us again.

We went through 5 hermit crabs. I couldn't keep those suckers alive either. Furthermore, you are a lucky person if you have never seen a hermit crab freak out and try to kill the other crab in the tank. (this normally ends up with one of the crabs (the loser) sitting on top of the coconut shell without a shell, and usually without one or more legs, looking like a sci-fi-horror creature) (not good for you son to wake up to)

Now we're on to freshwater fish and I'm doing slightly better with these guys (and girls). I don't kill them nearly as often, and we have had a few opportunities to discuss reproduction in the aquaria, as the Platys have given birth a few times, with several generations living in the tank together. (cue the banjo music, fish don't much pay attention to which sibling or parent is the father or mother)

Now we have Ich in the tank, a disease that can be fatal, but I'm a workin' to get it fixed before I lose any more fish. Wish me luck.