Pilato Family News & Notes

Father/son camping trip

2009-11-23T15:45:00.013-05:00

Gavin and I just returned from our father/son camping trip to Pilot Mountain State Park, and man was it fun!

We left after church yesterday, arriving at Pilot Mountain State Park at about 2:30pm or so. We met the campsite host, who informed us that we were the only campers for the night, so any site was ours for the picking (as was any firewood we found at any site). Rain was in the forecast, but fortunately had not yet started. Gavin helped me to pitch the tent and get our stuff all settled inside. Afterwards, he wanted to drive to the summit lookout, where he told Amy on the phone that he'd get a picture of the view off the mountain.

We got that picture:

But as we were taking the picture, the rain appeared! We drove back down to the camping area. As it was still just mid-afternoon or so, I didn't want to climb into the tent and stay there. Fortunately, I had a spare tarp, so Gavin helped me make a little lean-to-ish thing by attaching the tarp to two trees and then pulling the bottom of it back at an angle. It was plenty of space for us to put our chairs — and our firewood!

We sat under our little shelter and ate our dinner — sandwiches and chips we'd prepared at home. Once the rain died down a bit, I took a crack at getting a fire going. It took a bit for me to remember how to do that well, but eventually I remembered what I needed to remember. While the fire established itself, Gavin and I played with some Star Wars characters. (I'm sorry, but Droidekas are just cool.)

Once the fire was roaring, we toasted some marshmallows. I don't really know why we did — Gavin and I don't even really like toasted marshmallows. I guess it's just something we feel you're "supposed to do" when camping. After we'd filled our bellies, it was getting pretty dark out. So I surprised Gavin by bringing him into the tent and informing him that I'd brought our portable DVD player with WALL*E loaded and ready to watch. We managed to see all but the last 5 minutes or so before the battery died. We told a couple of made-up bedtime stories to each other, and then finally drifted off to sleep.

Sleep came easy at first, but I was awakened at 1:30am by the loud sound of the rain which had returned. And stayed. And poured all night long. I was also reminded of how limber I no longer am — sleeping on the ground just isn't as easy as it once was. But I managed to get a decent amount of sleep, and when I wasn't sleeping I was covering Gavin up to keep him warm (the temperatures were in the low 40s). He slept pretty well, and I was glad for that.

This morning we woke around 7:15am or so. Rain was just a light drizzle, so I got another fire going. This time was even more difficult than the first thanks to lack of good kindling. Fortunately, my camp axe made quick work of some larger firewood to meet that need. We heated some water and used it for our instant oatmeal and hot chocolate breakfast. I even grilled a couple of Pop-Tarts for kicks. Gavin insisted that his oatmeal and hot chocolate were the best he'd ever had. The Pop-Tart? Not so much. After we had breakfast, we set about tearing down the campsite. This took much longer than the setup because everything was so wet. We were both quite wet and dirty ourselves when it was all said and done. But after our stuff was fully packed away in the car, we went down to the bath house, changed clothes, and left the park, thus completing Gavin's first ever night of camping (and my first in many year).

In all, it was a wonderful way to end a weekend which began with Gavin's soccer team winning it's championship game (with Gavin's shootout goal being the point that won the game).

Summer 2009 (so far...)

2009-07-20T10:38:00.003-04:00

Summer 2009 has shaped up so far to be a pretty fun — and pretty busy — one. Much of the activity has been centered around our new church family:

Vacation Bible School was a fun week. The boys had a great time participating, and are still singing the VBS songs around the house. Amy helped all week long, and led the little story time segment one night. Mike even dropped in one night to rock out "You're Powerful" with drummer-dude Evan for the kids.
Providence is keeping the kids active through the summer with events about twice each week (one for Gavin's age group, one for Aidan's, though often both are invited). These are wonderful deviations from the typical arc of our days. Two young boys trapped at home together all the time does many a feud incite.
We joined the church's Compass Youth Program for a mission trip to Charleston. The work was more hot than hard, but everyone enjoyed themselves. You can read more about this trip on the Youth Minister's own blog.

In addition to all this stuff, the boys wrapped up their soccer seasons in early June, rode in a float in the Harrisburg Fourth of July parade, have attended numerous of their friends' birthday parties, have taken a few field trips, and have basically been "on" with their energy knobs "turned to 11" from 9am to 9pm every day. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad have busied themselves with yard work and music and a new two-service church worship schedule and every possible date night we can get our hands on.

Oh. And Summer is only half over.

North Myrtle Beach spring vacation

2009-04-30T22:40:00.007-04:00

What a great week at the beach! We had a blast swimming in the pools... and jumping in the waves! We walked around at Barefoot Landing... and grabbed a sweet snack at Krispy Kreme! Our days were filled with digging in the sand... bowling... and chillin' out on the couch watching a little TV. We couldn't have asked for a better family vacation... except maybe that Grandma and Grandpa could have joined us!

Church search complete. 1 result(s) found.

2009-02-16T23:54:00.002-05:00

Five weeks ago today I wrote about the fact that Amy and I had decided to leave our former church in pursuit of a location for worship and service in our hometown of Harrisburg. Those have been an eventful five weeks for us, filled with excitement and enjoyment. Where do I begin?

On the first of those Sundays, we visited Southbrook:Monroe, and had a very interesting experience with God there. But that was more of a show of support for our friends Geoffrey and Nancy Janes than a maybe-this-is-our-new-church type of visit. After all, Monroe is quite a bit farther away from Harrisburg than even our previous church.

On subsequent Sundays, though, we've attended Providence Baptist Church in Harrisburg. That has been a truly rewarding thing for us. The Young Couples class there is a great group of folks who actively share their lives together. We've been extremely blessed to find friendship with the youth pastor and his family. Senior pastor John Cashwell is a down-to-earth guy with a clear vision for the church, and I've had the pleasure of talking at length with him about some aspects of that.

Providence is, like many others, a church in transition. The church is over forty years old, and like most other Baptist churches, fell behind the curve in adjusting the methods it uses to take its message to the surrounding community in a culturally relevant way. Those familiar with our previous church might be wondering why in the world we would be drawn to yet another church in transition. The answer is pretty straightforward: the folks at Providence, young and old, seem to genuinely be aligned with the transition vision, and that was not the case in our previous situation. At all.

As a church in transition, there are of course still parts of the methodology that remain behind the curve. But that's okay. Amy and I agreed long ago that we'd rather find an imperfect church where we can make a positive difference than a seemingly perfect one where we'd be of no service to anyone. We don't want to be mere consumers of the church experience — we want to be on mission with a church in serving the community.

So yesterday, Amy and I walked the aisle of Providence Baptist Church in Harrisburg, NC, to say to that congregation, "We want to be on mission with you. May God use us in whatever capacity He so desires."

Leaving Plaza

2009-01-12T09:40:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday marked the end of a chapter in the life of the Pilato family. After attending and serving in various capacities at Plaza Baptist Church (which is a thirty-minute drive from our home) since we relocated back to North Carolina in 2005, Amy and I both feel God is leading us to local worship and service in our hometown of Harrisburg. For reasons that we can't humanly explain, we've both been picking up vibes of yearning for service in our immediate community. This has been a sort of ongoing thing for some time now — almost like a spiritual nagging, if you will. And over the recent Christmas holiday, Amy and I independently came to the conclusion that "it was time" — we simply must be obedient to what we feel is a Divine nudge.

This wasn't a particularly easy decision to make. My parents have been members of Plaza for almost twenty years, and even while in Chicagoland, I continued to think of Plaza as my "home church". Though Amy has only attended there for a few years, she very quickly made some close friends at the church. And our young boys don't fully appreciate why they have to leave the teachers and friends they love so much. Amy and I were both very active in the music ministry of the church, and were involved in several other committees and areas of service as well. Yes, it's no secret that the church has experienced a serious decline of membership in recent years, and a non-trivial amount of leadership churn. But to call our leaving an "exodus" belies the semantics of this life change: it's more that we are "moving toward" whatever God has for us next than that we are "moving from" the place we were.

We let Plaza's leadership know of our decision a couple of Sundays ago. Pastor Stephen Bounds and his wife, Juli, expressed personal sadness but rejoiced with us nonetheless. Amy and I had been contemplating how to let the church membership know of our decision — simply disappearing seemed like a stunningly awful approach, likely to leave others with unanswered questions and encourage gossip and misinformation. Fortunately, the Boundses believed similarly. And so yesterday morning — after an amazing and uplifting time of corporate worship — Amy and I explained to the congregation from the stage about our decision and the reasons for it. Then the church members present gathered around us to pray for us and release us for service in Harrisburg. It was a wonderful time of celebration with sadness, and another in a series of ways in which God has affirmed this decision.

And so we now begin a season of searching for a new place of service in Harrisburg. We don't know what the future holds for us, but we know Who holds it.

Amy's acting debut

2008-12-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

Our church put on a Christmas dinner comedy production this year. Amy has said for some time now that she'd like to try acting just for kicks. So she auditioned for the production, and was awarded the role of Beth, one of four silly servants in the Bethlehem Inn. The cast performed their show this past Saturday and Sunday evenings, to a combined audience of around 100 folks, I'd guess. It was a fun show, and I think the attendees enjoyed themselves. And in my completely unbiased opinion, Amy did a great job in her role.

The boys also played a part in the show, as part of a troupe of child Bethlehemian(?) dancers. Take seven energetic kids, add one tambourine and two colored streamers apiece — instant cuteness!

I'm proud of my wife and kids, of the rest of the cast and crew, and of Pastor Stephen Bounds and his wife who really drove the thing from concept to completion.

Our first trip to Urgent Care

2008-12-13T12:49:00.000-05:00

Last night, while salmon steaks were baking in one oven, battered fish portions in the other, and the spinach was awaiting its trip through the microwave, it happened. I was upstairs at the time, reading the latest edition of WORLD magazine, when Gavin ran into the room and announced somewhat calmly: "Dad, as soon you get finished, could you come downstairs? Aidan hit his head on the fireplace."

On a list of things I least want to hear, that's gotta be somewhere near the top.

I came downstairs to find Amy holding Aidan in the kitchen floor, trying to apply an ice pack to his bleeding and swelling nose. Seems the boys were running around playing "rocket cars" (which unfortunately seems to require great bursts of speed best experienced outdoors), and Aidan-the-Rocket-Car crashed bridge-of-the-nose-first into the front edge of our very hard, stone fireplace. Fortunately, the cuts on his nose weren't bad at all — in fact, they appeared to be no more than abrasions. But out of concern that he might have broken his nose and that his injuries could impair his breathing, we packed the family up and headed out to an urgent care facility a few miles away.

Aidan was pretty upset (understandably) as we tried to get into the car, and dozed off a couple of times during our trip to the facility. Once there, he quieted down, but mostly out of fear of this new place. Fortunately, the nurses present were able to assure him that he would be treated well. They took a pair of X-rays of his head that didn't reveal anything alarming, and as expected he wasn't in need of any stitches. We were sent away with a recommendation of some Children's Motrin (for the pain and swelling), the promise of a follow-up call from the radiologist, Tootsie Pops for the kids, and a smiling little boy with a busted up nose.

So, after this, our first trip to an urgent care facility, we say, "Thanks", to the fine ladies at Expressmed's Concord Mills location, and to God for protecting our little guy from what could have easily been a much more serious situation.

North Myrtle Beach again

2008-10-12T02:58:00.001-04:00

The Pilatos never get tired of the beach. So for the second year in a row, we've claimed the week before the Columbus Day holiday as our beach-trip week. As we did last year, we returned to the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach, SC, and did the overlapping visit thing with my parents. (We were in the three-bedroom suite from Monday to Saturday; my parents were there from Wednesday thru the next Monday.)

We had wonderful weather—not too hot or cold, and dry for the most part. We scored that three-bedroom resort suite by accident, even. I thought I was driving hard for a bargain on a two-bedroom place, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the deal I got was not only a great rate for two bedrooms, but was being applied to three! We all had plenty of room to spread out in that oceanfront suite, and my and Amy's bedroom was waterfront with a balcony to boot!

Of course, we didn't spend all our time in the suite. We did some mini-golf. We bowled. We shopped. Amy and I even caught a Medieval Times show. The boys were in good spirits most of the time, but tended to be a little preoccupied with hanging out in the various pools at the resort. Have water wings, will cooperate, it seemed. (Admittedly, Amy and I loved the water wings, too—it can be quite tiring to hold a forty-pound kid for an hour, even in the water.)

Our vacation week was a full one, but a good one. But don't assume that we returned to find more peace and relaxation. Oh, no. I'm hovered over a new laptop (which was shipped to Amy's parents' place in my absence) trying desperately to get Ubuntu Linux installed, and to get all my data off my previous work laptop, which has an ailing fan and only boots about 20% of the time as a result. Why the rush? Because tomorrow I leave for Germany and SubConf 2008! Busy times, busy times….

Labor Day apple pickin'

2008-09-02T13:30:00.000-04:00

Today, Amy and I began the day by doing something I never imagined five years ago I'd be doing — marching into our own back yard and picking apples from our own apple trees.

We picked about eight plastic grocery bags full of good apples, plus another six or seven bags of apples that were rotten or soon-to-be rotten. Our neighbor Hilda even came over to join the fun. She grew up on a farm, so was seasoned in the skills of harvesting. We were somewhat embarrassed, though, when she used those skills — or maybe just her eyes and brain — to inform us that a second tree which we'd come to think of as a particularly bad pear tree was, in fact, another apple tree. (In our defense, we had been told the tree bore pears).

Amy even used a few of our apples to make some homemade applesauce the other day. I am not exaggerating a bit when I say hers was better than the brand-name applesauces we routinely purchase at the grocery store. Yum!

Flooding in Harrisburg

2008-08-28T02:58:00.000-04:00

See spot. See spot run. See spot swimming in his own front yard in flood waters. Swim, Spot, swim!

March Illnesses: a poem

2008-03-03T01:40:00.000-05:00

There once were two children beside us, Who, when given medicine, would fight us, Though both Amy and I Wished to soothe their pinkeye And the youngest one's tonsillitis.

WANTED: One (1) drop-in or slide-in range, soon

2007-12-11T09:39:00.000-05:00

Amy's been somewhat less than excited about the range/cooktop included in the purchase of our current home. So, I'm sure there's some part of her that's not altogether saddened by the fact that it died on Sunday afternoon. Yep, while eating lunch, we heard a really loud pop coming from the kitchen. My guess is that the bottom element cracked or something, because it now generates no heat. The cooktop still works, as does the broiler (but who uses that?). But as GE's website lists no available replacement parts for this 18-year-old oven, I suppose we'll be making a trip up to hhgregg in the next few days.

[UPDATE 12/13/07] Much to Amy's chagrin, my Dad was able to locate a dealer that had a replacement element for our oven for a mere $30. Sorry, Sweetheart—looks like you'll have to hold out for the kitchen remodeling after all.

Fun at the Fair

2007-09-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

Last year at this time I was in Romania, which was a neat experience, but it meant two weeks of missing my wife and kids, and missing the annual Cabarrus County Fair. I purposed at that time to do everything in my power to make it out to the 2007 fair. So this evening — on the anniversary of a very somber day in American history — we chose energetic family together-time over quiet reflection, and fulfilled that goal.

Now, Amy and I had taken Gavin to the fair in 2005, when he was two years old and right at 36 inches tall. Aidan was only months old back then. But now, two years later, Aidan is where Gavin was at the time. That makes him eligible for many of the rides at the fair, and made the whole idea of the thing that much more exciting. So tonight after work, we packed the kids into the car, grabbed a fast bite of dinner, and headed off to the fairgrounds.

The first thing Amy and I noticed was that there seemed to be more rides than there were in 2005. The second thing we noticed was that we needed to take out a second mortgage on our home to cover the anticipated costs of the evening. Rides take a minimum of three tickets per ride, per person. 24 tickets cost $20. So, for a yuppie foodstamp the family could ride maybe two rides. Ouch. Fortunately, for $15/person, you could get an armband which granted you unlimited rides. Clearly, it was the best financial decision we made this week.

The boys were, shall we say, a bit excited. But honestly, they demonstrated stellar behavior the whole night. They patiently waited in lines, didn't try to drag us from ride to ride at a harrying pace, and were respectful of both each other and those around them. Surprisingly, they weren't really afraid of the rides we rode, either. Two years ago, I remember Gavin crying a bit on one ride that did a fair amount of spinning, and so I expected similar responses from Aidan tonight. But there was none of that — both boys loved all the rides (save for one that Gavin and I did together that neither of us liked much because it was literally difficult to breathe while on it). Ferris wheel high above the tallest trees in the area? No sweat. A smallish roller coaster with hills and thrills? Rode it twice.

Fifteen years ago, as a student in the Cabarrus County school system, I couldn't have cared much less about the fair. And I certainly never dreamed I'd actually be looking forward to it. I guess that belongs on the growing list of things that inexplicably change when you become a parent. I suspect we're not alone in these types of transformations, nor that parenthood is finished transforming us just yet.

But for now, I'm anticipating the 2008 fair!

(Mostly) wallpaper-free!

2007-08-21T01:16:00.000-04:00

Amy and I finally came to terms with the fact that we would never, ever, get around to finishing the wallpaper removal task in our house. So a couple of weeks ago, a crew from SouthEnd Painting (in Charlotte) came in and spent three days removing wallpaper from, floating, sanding and priming the walls of our kitchen, living room, dining room, and the downstairs half-bath. The crew was professional, very respectful, and did their best to keep our home orderly and dust-free (which is no easy task in jobs like this). And the end result met our expectations (also no easy task). Of course, it pained me to write a check for the cost of this service, but as my friend Fitz observed, Amy and I "finally recognized the value of our time."

Unfortunately, I'm not able to give quite the glowing review of the whole process that I'd like to.

I noticed shortly after the crew left our house that the glass break sensor in our kitchen (part of our home security system) was not functioning. Upon removing the front panel (just as I'd shown the crew leader how to do the previous day) I noticed that one of the microphone lead wires was missing, and that the microphone itself was sorta shoved up into the backing instead of in its proper mounting location. I called SouthEnd to report the damage. I wasn't sure if this kind of damage was covered by the service plan we have on our security system, so I told SouthEnd that I'd get a quote for the repair or replacement of the sensor. If there was no charge to me, then no harm, no foul — SouthEnd Painting wouldn't hear another thing about it. Otherwise, they'd be responsible for any costs incurred in the repair. I also advised SouthEnd to ask their work crew about the damage, just to make sure there was no dispute on the responsibility. I called our security provider, got the quote ($150), and relayed that to an assistant at SouthEnd, again advising that they verify the quote by calling our security provider themselves.

A few days later, I got a call from Todd, SouthEnd's owner. What happened next was simply unfathomable — after admitting that the work crew had claimed responsibility for the damage, and acknowledging the cost of the replacement, Todd had the nerve to suggest that they send me a check not for $150, but for only $125. "Why", I asked incredulously, "would I cover $25 of damage your crew caused after just writing you a check for over a hundred times that amount?!" Todd replied curtly, "Well, it doesn't hurt to ask — I'll send your check."

On the contrary, Todd, it does hurt to ask. You just lost the business I'd intended to give you for the upstairs of my house.

Gavin and Rapunzel

2007-07-15T09:34:00.002-04:00

Aidan was having an off morning with his basketball routine, only hitting 20% of his 15-footers instead of his normal 80%. So I started playing guitar and singing a made-up song to try to encourage him not to get frustrated when he missed his shots. While doing so, I was reminded of a song I composed and sang to Gavin when he was just a baby. Here are the lyrics.

The Ballad of Gavin and Rapunzel
by: C. Michael Pilato, December 10, 2003

It was a late hour / When Gavin approached the castle with a flower. / It was a late hour / When he tried to save Rapunzel from the tower. / But a witch was waiting there / When he climbed that rope of hair. / And she warned Prince Gavin his vision would fade / And that she'd banished fair Rapunzel far away.

It was a dark minute / When Gavin's flight the witch tried to inhibit. / It was a dark minute / When he toppled toward the thornbush and fell down in it. / As the witch had prophesied, / The thorns tore into his eyes. / And so in blindness Prince Gavin did roam / Miles and miles away from his princely home.

It was a grand second in their lives / When Gavin's face Rapunzel thought she recognized. / It was a grand second in their lives / When stumbling through the desert he heard her beckon through her cries. / And all of those painful years / Washed away in Rapunzel's tears. / Then all of their sorrows turned to laughter again / And they lived happily ever after. The End.

I admit the subject matter is a little advanced for a six-month-old. We haven't made a habit of exposing our boys to graphic storytelling or anything.

Oh, wait. That's not true. We do read them the Bible...

South Mountains State Park

2007-05-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

South Mountains State Park has been a favorite day-trip destination of mine for about fifteen years. We took the family up there today (Memorial Day) for some hiking and escape from daily life. Well, Amy, Gavin and I were doing all the hiking; Aidan had it easy. Nothing says, "I love you, son" like strapping him into a backpack frame carrier and toting his extra thirty pounds of weight a half-mile to the base of a waterfall, 150 steps straight up to the top of the falls, then a mile back around and down to the starting point again. And nothing says, "You need some exercise, man" like the pounding heart and heavy breathing that hits you about 100 steps into that bottom-to-top climb portion of the trip. Were those vultures circling overhead, or was I imagining things?

Happy B-day, AJ!

2007-04-22T02:32:00.000-04:00

On this your second birthday, Aidan, I find myself looking at the journal entry for your first birthday to see what's changed. "Cars, trains, and anything spherical" it reads. So based on that, you might say nothing has changed over the last half of your life.

Fortunately, you are so much more than what you like to play with. Your personality continues to shine. I can't even count the number of restaurants and other establishments where people know you and your brother as "the cutest kids", your eyebrow flirtations and toothy smile among the most memorable displays of said cuteness. Your speech improves daily. Your manners are incredible and natural and seem tenderly genuine. You have a bit of a tendency to react to displeasure with swinging fists, but also have a bit of a tendency to react to most things with smiles and hugs and love.

Your favorite indoor toy is at the moment actually shifting a little bit from the basketball goal to vehicles—you seem especially pleased with the Thomas the Tank Engine train/flashlight that Gavin got you for your birthday. Outdoors, you and the bubble mower are nearly inseparable. And recently you've developed a love of music, too. I mean, you've always liked singing, but now you beg for the chance to watch a Cedarmont Kids music video or listen to a Little Peoples music CD. You even like watching Barney, but prefer to skip to the end for the "I Love You" song. You are comfortable around the folks we are most often around at home or church, and count all such folks among your biggest fans.

You, my son, are a natural charmer. You've stolen my and your mother's hearts.

Happy Birthday, buddy.

The beach, in perspective

2007-03-05T09:31:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, Amy and I took the kids down to Myrtle Beach. This was one of those things that, as a father, I've been looking forward to for the entirety of my sons' lives — their first time seeing the ocean.

We had a fantastic time, despite the weather being a little cold. (We had no greater expectations — it's the "off-peak" season for a reason, after all.) Shopping for hotels online is never fun. You see those photos showing the sparkling clean rooms and well-tanned über-family in Cleaveresque bliss, but you know those pictures were snapped ten years ago before the place begin to rot and crumble in the sea air. Stil, we placed our bets on the Avista Resort, and were thoroughly pleased with the place.

Oddly, though, upon reflecting back on my boys' reactions to the beach, I find that it doesn't really match what I'd expected. See, you say "beach", and Amy and I tend to think about water as far as the eye can see, touched only by the sky and offering no reason whatsoever to believe that there's anything but more water beyond what's visible. And as a bonus, it's bordered on the near side by beautiful, white, super-fine-grained sand.

But not to my boys. To them, the beach is a most enormous and wonderful sandbox they've ever played in. And it happens to have some (cold) water on one side, too.

To Santa, from Gavin

2006-12-21T09:31:00.000-05:00

Today, Gavin wrote his first letter to Santa. Actually, it was his first letter to anyone. Amy told him to start with "Dear Santa", and then asked how he would ask someone for the things he wanted. He responded with a polite request for two things. Then he put pencil to paper and started writing, sounding out the words with minimal help from mom. The result was beautiful:

DER SANTU, MA I HAV A TREX AND A BEL PLES. LUV, GAVIN

(Translation: Dear Santa, may I have a T-Rex and a bell, please. Love, Gavin)

Why?

2006-11-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

Or should I say, "What for?"

Yep, Gavin has reached "that stage". You know, the one where every description and directive provoke him to question the reasons and purpose behind them.

"Hey, Gavin. Can you take Mommy's shoes over to her?"

"What for?"

"Hm?" (I am biased against that particular phrase.)

"Oops. Sorry, Daddy. I mean, 'Why?'"

"Because she needs to put them on her feet."

I wish I could claim that that's really how all these exchanges go, but that would unfortunately be dishonest. I mean, generally I have a meaningful answer for him. And, even better, my plan to respond to "Why?" with "Can you think of a good reason?" — encouraging my boy to try to think through things just a bit before calling for help — has a hope of actually working. But today I actually did it. I said the thing I wanted never to say: "Because I asked you to." I mean, it's not exactly the same as "Because I said so", but I'm not fooling anyone here. I said The Phrase. I'm so ashamed.

Aidan is picking up more words, and starting to build phrases. This would be truly helpful if he actually spoke English instead of Old Aidanese. Oh well. Between Amy, Gavin and myself, we can typically figure out what the general notion of his somewhat less-than-precise babblings are. And of course, there's the cuteness value of it all.

But on an entirely different note, I just found something in my attic that's not so cute, and that I'm fairly certain shouldn't be there — several small, dead, animals (possibly bats… not sure) and a snakeskin.

And so it's my turn: "What for?!"

A day in the high country

2006-08-28T02:28:00.000-04:00

Today was an incredible day.

It began much like every other day. The whole family was awake, up and about by 8:30am or so (okay, so that's new—I'm sorry to say that I usually sleep in until later). Cereal for breakfast. No real plans for the day. It was just another Saturday in the making.

But then something deviated from the normal path. I can't even remember now how it happened, but one minute we're downstairs doing much of nothing, and the next we were in the car, toting ourselves, some bottled waters, and a frame backpack kid carrier towards the North Carolina mountains. We were embarking on our first agenda-less little mini-getaway since our move to this state almost exactly a year ago.

[Sidebar: holy moly! It's been a year already. In, like, three days, we will have been non-residents of Illinios for a whole year. Where (besides house-hunting and setting-up) did it all go?!]

We left the house around 10:15 or so, with Linville Caverns as our target. Gavin seemed thoroughly intrigued by this cavern concept, referring multiple times throughout the day to "going underground". Around 11, Aidan fell asleep in the car, and caught a much-needed 45-minute nap. We grabbed lunch at a Wendy's about 15 miles away from the caverns, and then made our way to the site. In all, the trip took about three hours.

After parking, we transferred all our stuff into the kid carrier. (This turned out to be a mistake, as we were later informed that there'd be no room for that carrier in the caverns.) We hung around for a little while before entering the caverns, trying to let the boys see the nearby creek and boulders and such, snapping some photos, etc. The caverns were cool (literally, and figuratively). Gavin enjoyed walking around in there, and was surprisingly obedient to the no-touching rule that our guide, Candice, laid down. Aidan didn't seem to mind the experience either, save for the bit where total darkness is experienced. But he calmed down when I spoke gently into his ear, and when I let him walk back to the cavern entrance, he seemed to completely forget that momentary fright. And then as quickly as the tour began, it was over.

It was now only about 2:30pm. Me being the type of person who loves to cram a day full of activities, and loves being out-of-town (even when I have nothing against the town), we just started driving deeper into the mountains. I was hoping to do a little hiking—by golly, I brought that kid carrier, and it was gonna get used! Fortunately, Linville Falls is quite close to the caverns, and offers a hike to the falls that's less than a mile round-trip. Amy was cool with the idea, the boys were in good moods, so we took the opportunity.

Hiking to and from the falls was fun. With Aidan loaded onto my back, and Gavin helping Amy down the trail (or maybe it was the other way around...), we made it down there in pretty good time, and without too much work. We spent a little time at the viewing point, just taking it all in. Gavin and I took more in than we were really supposed to, hopping over the ropes to climb around on the rocks closer to the water. It just can't be helped—God built this world to be enjoyed, and I want my boys to experience the same thrill that I get when actually touching nature beyond the safety of man's well-manicured little walkways. In all, we probably spent only 20 minutes or so at the falls, then began the return hike. Gavin was in a silly mood, and Aidan wanted to walk, so this time Gavin and I paired up (with Gavin energetically leading the way), and Amy and Aidan walked hand-in-hand behind us. Some fellow hikers even remarked about Gavin, "That's one tough little guy." I beamed. And Aidan—wow—four-tenths of a mile, uphill the whole way, and he walked every bit of it!

Figuring there was still a little more to be squeeze out of this day, we continued up Highway 221 toward Boone. We passed Grandfather Mountain, but decided against stopping. Besides, Aidan was grabbing another quick snooze at the time. We ate dinner at a little homestyle cooking place in Boone itself, and then headed home. With two sleepy boys (Gavin hadn't napped all day), the return trip wasn't the most peaceful thing. But eventually we made it, and the trip ended in characteristic Pilato style—with Gavin serenading the bunch of us. Tonight's feature: a tortured mishmash of "The Wheels on the Bus", the alphabet song (as delivered by Tad et al on a LeapPad DVD Gavin owns), and "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea", that included such verses as, "The horse on the bus says 'Move on back, move on back, move on back' ... The log in the hole goes bump, bump, bump ... Every letter makes a sound ..."

Today was an incredible day.

Home ownership, defined

2006-08-14T09:28:00.000-04:00

In a word—or non-word, as it turns out—home ownership has much to do with being anti-Nature. Not, like, "Nature's no good" or "I hate Nature", but more like, "Why can't Mother Nature keep her kids in line? What kind of mother is she, anyway?!"

Okay, I admit that I'm just a little battle worn. Nursing a pair of matching beestings, each strategically placed equidistant from the poison ivy sores in their respective locales, I am quite literally itching to finish ripping out seven ugly bushes that line the back of our home and harass passers-by with their leafy tentacles. To Nature's great credit, reproduction is her strong suit—these suckers shoot their root systems every which way, popping up little micro-bushes all over the place. And not just all over the easy-to-excavate place, either. No, we're talking about under and around such interesting artifacts as the main cable, television, and electrical trunk lines to the house.

Mike pauses to scratch.

Anyway, I'm starting to get the hang of it. Four down, three to go. Another six hours in direct 98-degree blistering sunlight, sweat dripping uninhibited down my buzzed head (I have recently realized one of the benefits that a non-trivial amount of hair provides), and I'll be free of those bushes.

Then I can move on to the other 2,371 home ownership responsibilities.

Ahem. Home at last, I said

2006-05-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's true that way back in March, we finally closed on a home purchase. But now it's mid-May, and last night we actually all slept in the house for the first time. See, we've been really busy as of late. I've had a bunch of business travel. And we're just now starting to realize that from March to June, there are a thousand different birthdays and anniversaries in our close family to celebrate. Plus, we wanted to replace the carpet in the home before move-in, and we wanted to drive screws through the floor boards before the carpet came in, and … well, you get the point.

But now, at long last, we can really say it—we're home.

One down, many to go

2006-04-22T02:24:00.000-04:00

Aidan reached an exciting milestone today—the first anniversary of his birth. Yep, an entire year of craziness has passed since he was born. With the relocation and house hunt and colic and business trips and living in a temporary place, it's a wonder that any of us remains to tell the story. In fact, I've been in Monterey on business since Wednesday, but arranged to leave early from the CollabNet 2006 Engineering Offsite so that I could get back in time to say "Happy Birthday" in person to my boy. We're thrilled to have reached this milestone, and thank God for our wonderful second child.

It's really interesting to contrast who Aidan is at age one versus who Gavin was at that age (and to some degree, remains). The two are just completely different souls. Gavin was making strong, focused attempts at a handful of real words; Aidan is much more vocal, babbling incessantly with mostly nonsense sounds. Gavin was content to sit and play alone with one thing for long periods of time; Aidan is always moving, always redirecting his focus. He doesn't hold things but long enough to wind up and pitch them across the room. Cars, trains, and anything spherical—that's where Aidan's attention is.

Nothing drove these differences home to Amy and I more than our recent attempt at buying birthday gifts for Aidan. We admitted from the start that non-first children are disadvantaged because parents don't want to buy perfectly good toys that the child might like if the child's older siblings already have those toys. They are further disadvantaged when those older siblings aren't keen on sharing those toys! But the work we put into this shopping trip was much less an artifact of the available options being superficially minimized than it was the result of our two boys just being so different. But different is good; different is cool. Is it more challenging to us as parents? Sure. But I think in the end it's more rewarding, too.

Home at last!

2006-03-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

It's finally here. That day. The one where we (again) sign our lives away into the servitude of a financial institution. We've closed on a new home. She's a fine girl, in her late teens. And as a full-brick structure with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and a bonus room across 2600 square feet, you might say she's got a … "healthy" build.

At any rate, we couldn't be happier about seeing this long search come to an end in such a pleasing way, and are thanking God as often as this wonderful thought crosses our minds. Hats off to our realtor, Donnie Icenhour of New Carolina Homes realty, for putting up with us for as long as he did!