Pics from Maman's visit

Maman swung into town at the start of the month... I'm only just now getting around to getting the pics up on the blog. She somehow squeezed the trip into her schedule on her way back from Europe, desperate to see Ranier before he gets too big. Of course, all of this was planned before we had any idea that we would end up in Berkeley in a few months!

Here is Maman with the two boys. Ranier is in his "quiet mode".

We managed a few decent pics of ourselves on the couch right before Maman left...

Ranier has been smiling quite a bit more lately. It doesn't take too many smiles to make you forget the fussy periods for a while.

Maman was also here during our annual Duke Park Neighborhood Beaver Pageant, an event that is sure to become renowned the world over before too long. Some history: When they started widening the nearby freeway, the NCDOT changed the flow patterns of the local creek, which sort of parallels the freeway adjacent to our neighborhood. Some apparently displaced beavers (yes, the real type, with flat tails, builds lodges, the whole bit) moved in about three blocks away from us and clogged up one of the new drain pipes, creating a large beaver pond and threatening to inundate some nearby houses.

Understandably, the owners of the threatened houses wanted something to be done, so the NCDOT came and checked things out and announced that they would send over someone to kill the beavers ASAP. This "solution" didn't sit too well with the owners or anyone else in the neighborhood, and after substantial activism on the part of the whole neighborhood, we eventually convinced the NCDOT to come up with a clever engineering fix that keeps the pond at an acceptable size for both the beavers and the home owners.

In tribute to this rousing display of neighborhood togetherness and compassion for our fellow mammals, several enterprising neighbors set up the "Beaver Local 506", based at the nearby Beaver Lodge, a regular gathering spot for neighborhood parties. They also inaugurated the annual Beaver Queen Pageant, a celebration of all things beaver. It's quite silly and quite fun. The turnout was very high this year, it's second in existence, and I expect that the turnout will just get better in the future.

I bring all of this up because at the start of the pageant, there was a special rallying song, led by a company of kids from the neighborhood. As they were going up to the stage, the announcer offered that any kids in the audience who wanted to come up and sing along should feel free to do so. Half-jokingly, we suggested to Dahrius that he go up there. To our astonishment (or mine, at least), he immediately hopped out of his seat and ran up to the stage. He was definitely a little lost and confused, and perhaps a little frightened, but it was an amazingly bold act. After the song was finished, he didn't want to leave the stage and I had to usher him off. Fortunately, there were some nearby beach balls that quickly captured his fancy. You can see Dahrius in the pics below if you look carefully. The first shows him just after arriving on stage with all the kids; the second shows him during the performance.

Apparently he is growing up. Sigh.


It's HOT here. Hopefully everyone else is staying cool.

-Ahrash