my dad hoisted elliot up to check out the flame job on this buick that he is restoring.

i am sure that elliot has never been this close to a car in parts or the source of a flame paint job.

out of all the stained glass we saw at the museum today this was my fav.

elliot stepped away quickly, "dad, that one is freaking me out."

it's good to know he's got his mom in him.

elliot and maggie had a blast playing in the street and making these bubbles.

the people that were sitting down wind, not so much.

the kids were great tonight at dinner. was time for a special treat after putting up with me all week and elliot catching one on the head.

i am becoming more certain as a parent that ketchup can make almost any situation better.

as elliot blazes new medical treatments for the family, we are left with nothing to say, but he was lucky to have caught the gardening hoe on the head. better the top of his dome than an ear or finger finding their way under it.

he was quite upset when it happened, to be expected, but his little friend that was wielding the hoe was crying even harder. i think the blood freaked him out the most as he refused to come into the house.

as a parent, this situation didn't bother betsy or me that much given his past medical history.

Pirate Elliot extended his arm in hopes of making my bagel his. Being the captain of this pirate ship I couldn't let such mutiny go un punished . . . I caved and gave him half.

from lunch yesterday, maggie was in no mood to smile. elliot, however, was a bit of a prankster.

Elliot spotted these ants on the sidewalk on our way back from the park.

Strange how taking the family with me on what was supposed to be a walk of solitude turned out to be so much better.

the man is pretty excited about putting a shelled crustacean under his guard.

I wish this beastie the best of luck and will maintain an open eye for its welfare. I swear, betsy.

This in no way reflects our real world size, computing prowess or joy of gadgetry.

These are the laptops that make up our mobile computing power. One Asus running Linux, a VAIO running Vista and a VAIO running XP.

Took the kids to breakfast and then the riverwalk this morning.

Maggie wanted to see the ducks and Elliot wanted the park. Got them to agree that both were good.

I do have to say that it is quite a disappointment that the busiest portion of the riverwalk with be under construction for the entire summer.

I'm not really sure what the city parks people were thinking with this. It is going to hurt the businesses that are in that area as well as the amount of people that come to festivals that are held in that exact spot.

And since I have my gripe on, it also appears that for the remainder of the riverwalk they have removed about a third of the trees and nearly all of the other foliage that lines the banks of the river. Elliot pointed out that this year it looks "gross" and "dirty". Just blows my mind that a city would muck up their prime summer attraction.

The man looking lost as we make our way back from people watching at the lakefront.

Who knew that professional bass fishers would throw down right in front of Shedd Aquarium?

Elliot and his favorite of the two dogs.

For some reason he likes Pup-pup. aka Benji, aka Pup-a-lup, aka Little Deaf Dog much more than Zeus.