Beach Time

Queen Anne's Lace

In Michigan in summertime, the roadsides are profusions of Queen Anne's Lace or, as my mom used to call them when she was a girl in Maine, "My Lace." Its filigreed, flat flowers balance precariously like china saucers on pencil-thin stalks. They form white collars around the bases of fence posts and, in the open pastures, they nod in the wind like old ladies' faces vigorously agreeing with me. (If you've never been affirmed by a field of flowers, you must make a point to experience it.) When the air is still, it looks like hundreds of doilies have been tossed lightly all over the grass.

Maggie & Sam at Maranatha

Every July we make our annual pilgrimage to the shores of Lake Michigan near Muskegon where the Plueddemanns have a family reunion at Camp Maranatha. Here is Sammy with Maggie watching the boats and jet skis chugchug down the channel to the lake.

Samuel James Plueddemann

I love you, Sam!

Chubby Thighs

Deeeelicious.

More Cousins & an Inflatable Gazebo

So Sam went to Georgia where he met lots of his mom's cousins and their kids. They got to play soccer, bounce on a trampoline, splash in a pool, and grill out. Sam paddled around in his floating gazebo. His non-fear of water caused his parents several dozen heart atacks.

Ocean Wonders, Sticky Styrofoam

What Sam finds thrilling are spaghetti noodles, muddy shoes, and the increasingly sophisticated safety gadgets I attach to our electrical outlets to keep his fingers out of them. These household items present an unplumbed universe of smells, textures and tastables. His eyes and muscles fully engage such common wonders, sending synapses roaring across his brain like miniscule meteor showers. This is why being confined to his stroller and steered through ill-lit passageways of the Georgia Aquarium with a view of the spider-veined backs of adult knees was...boring.

Yes, he saw the rare Taiwanese whale sharks. Yes, the river gar like brown pencils floating in the water. Yes, the monstrous whiskered catfish. When we reached the 40-foot high tank of rainbow-coloured tropical fish, he pitched a royal, limb-lashing fit. So I scrounged around our things and offered him a... crumbly cookie and a... wait a second, here we are... sticky styrofoam cup.

All better.

Mystery Meal

One night the kids created a "Mystery Meal" for the adults. They planned the menu, bought it at the grocery store, and prepared everything. When the adults arrived, we each had to select items for our 3 courses from a menu in Russian. This meant we had no idea what we were getting! I had pizza crust with lemonade for one course, and pepperoni with spinach for the next.

The kids hung a shower curtain across the opening to the kitchen so we couldn't spy on their preparations. Leanna was Chief Chef. Sam specialized in getting underfoot, running off with utensils that he flailed in the air, opening and emptying kitchen draws, etc. I heard lots of, "Aunty Tabitha, would you please come get Sammy because he's in our way!" Poor Sammy.

The Georgia Aquarium

Didn't Mary Oliver once say the best sermon she ever heard was the sun? I choose the arctic baluga for my preacher till the world ends. I met this marine miracle at the aquarium in Atlanta. This watery cathedral shouts majesty majesty in the roving eyes of sea giants and holyholyholy in the gliding sting rays whose wingtips flick powdery sand along the ocean beds. Shells, fins, tails, flippers, suckers, stingers, whiskers, tentacles, teeth, gills, feathers, scales, bioluminescence, blowholes... all notes in a symphony beneath the waves. Did you know the whale shark's mouth is 4-feet wide but its throat is the size of a quarter?

Gasp.

Did you know that Africa has penguins and that these birds sprout up to 300 feathers per square inch?

Selah.

Dork Dads

Being a dork is one of every dad's Main Roles. Dorkhood is a primary way that dad's mortify their children---and mortification is an absolutely necessary developmental hoop for all children to jump through, especially during their emotionally-spastic teenage years.

Frankly, the men in our family are under-performing and/or not taking this seriously. They need to "up their game"--perhaps purchase some dork glasses or grease their hair. One of the fastest routes to dorkdom is to wear---with shorts---black socks and shoes. In addition, a true dork should have glowing white legs.

Uncle Talmage is an outstanding model of this high level of dorkdom. The rest of the males in our family would all do well to study these photos and emulate.

Recycling Center

All the cousins visited the recycling center together where they saw carpet made from recycled plastic bottles and lots of other wonders.

Fountain on The Green

Sam and his cousins play in the "sprayground" on a hot June afternoon. Actually, Sam was kind of scared by the water popping up out of the cement and squirting down from the sky. He preferred to loiter on the sidelines.

Cambodia Cousins

Sam's 3 cousins who live in Cambodia arrived on June 24. We spent an afternoon at The Green, a park in uptown Charlotte. Here are all the cousins: Tabitha, Jim, Myrna, Titus, Leanna, Phillip. In our family, we either look 100% Asian or 100% Scottish.