An E&E first: They made me Father’s Day s’mores.

During a Father’s Day bonfire, Heidi suggested to Ethan the idea of making his father a s’more. Not just any s’more, Ethan thought; he made me a double-marshmallow triple-chocolate s’more. That’s a lot of gooey goodness! And that was before Eliana overheard the conversation and quietly went about making her own s’more for me. After enjoying all that goodness, despite the name, I didn’t want “some more”.

An Eliana first: She used glowworms as a light source to find glowworms.

She’s creative and resourceful: Once she had put some of the brighter glowworms in a jar, she used their light to help her find others that didn’t stand out a clearly.

Another Ethan first: He played Ultimate with the big kids.

Ethan has a natural talent at throwing a Frisbee. He lets go mostly crisp, level passes that lead their target well. He also has a solid ability to react to and catch the disc. He tried out those skills today when he joined in on a pick-up-game of Ultimate with my friends and me. He was the only person under 20 on a field that must have seemed huge to him. He had a lot to process with many bodies moving quickly around, but he adapted well. He had several fine plays and enjoyed the experience, looking forward to more to come.

An Eliana first: She fed the sled-eating tree.

This year Eliana has full confidence to tackle the backyard sled hill by herself. There is a gently sloped, wide-open diagonal path, with a long flat bottom, which makes it about as safe as sledding gets while still being fun. The only exception is a solitary cherry tree, about the same age as Eliana, whose six-inch trunk seems to posses magnetic powers. Fortunately, it’s near the top of the hill, so while it did literally stop Eliana in her tracks, it was only for a moment.

Upper deck independence

The Christmastime visit with my parents included a trip to a live exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Taking the train made it an especially fun adventure for the children. On the Metra, they rode in the upper deck. Ethan and his cousin Arron rode in facing seats. Eliana found a seat by herself where she could be a big girl – and as it turned out, also peak down at some reassuringly familiar faces.

He slices; he dices.

If it involves a sharp blade, it’s fun, not work. Whether it’s the chef’s knife or apple corer, there seems to be something satisfying about the artistry of apportioning food into bite-sized morsels. Even when Ethan just wants to eat an apple, sometimes he just takes bites, but other times thin apple slices call his name.

An Eliana first: She designed a pumpkin carving.

After Eliana drew her pumpkin carving vision of a baby dolphin swimming on the water, she didn’t feel ready to copy her drawing onto the actual fruit. She asked me to do that for her and along the way incorporate some artistic liberties, including tweaking the shape and adding a second dolphin.

It was a fun challenge, but looking back I wish I’d asked her if she’d rather use her picture. A pumpkin-stable design based on her original concept would have been ever so cute.