artistic abcedaries

Because some of my blogger friends have a thing for abcedaries, I thought I'd point out these finds on DaddyTypes:

P is for Peanut featuring images from the Getty Photo Collection.

Peter's ABC Book.

Turkey Talk: the supplies

I'm still too tired to actually write about our trip to Turkey, but here's some quick product reviews for things that made a two week trip with a 2 year old much, much easier:

A knockoff (from Target) of the Skip Hop portable diapering kit.

The Coppertone Kids Continuous Spray SunScreen. OMG, this stuff is so easy to apply that we all used it. I'm particularly proud that none of us got sunburnt despite 2 weeks of walking and hiking in 100+ degree sun. It came with a convenient sunblock stick, which was easy to carry for touchups.

Instead of a purse, I carried a small canvas drawstring backpack. (Sort of like these, but even simpler.) Big enough to fit the aforementioned diaper kit, as well as 2 water bottles, papers, money, guidebooks, etc. It was simple enough even Ben would carry it...


Although it's not kid-specific, I also have to endorse the Ricardo Beverly Hills 2 compartment pullman suiter rollaboard suitcase. It's not a fancy designer or anything, but I love these suitcases so much I'm on my second one (the first lasted for about 7 years of hard business travel). The neat thing about them is that they have a well separated hanging section, so you don't need to carry a garment bag (all in the space of a normal roll-aboard).

We were surprised at how much we used our stroller (and how little we used our backpack carrier), and while I was wishing we had a better stroller while we were there, I was extemely pleased it was an el cheapo umbrella stroller when Air France decided to keep it.

Turkey Talk: playing kitchen

playing kitchen
Originally uploaded by ccarlstead

What you get when you take a 2-year-old to Turkey: playing kitchen in an 800 year old monastery kitchen carved into a cave.

(in Cappodocia...)

Crazy Cool: Trash the Dress

Trash the Dress.

Top image from altf.com. Bottom from marceric.net.



Location ideas for the Austin area:
Water: Barton Springs (the shallow ledge), Tivoli Building water works, the flat fountain at the domain. Hamilton Falls. Wondering about the refurbished Deep Eddy pavillion and pool?
Nature: I'd love some good mud spots, but can't think of any. Cliffs around Lake Travis might be cool, though.
Dirt: Dad's shop. (lots of grease! I love this idea!!!) Climb on the fender on a truck, "work" on the engine, roll a dolly underneath the dolly, etc.

This just might be the incentive I need to fit back into my wedding dress....

Iestyn's Bike Car

My friend Iestyn's Harbor Freight fueled innovation: a 4 wheeled pedal and electric powered vehicle

uphill:


downhill:


Read all about it here.

Tiny Texas Houses

Neat, Tiny Texas Houses. I'm wondering if I could put one of these in my backyard for an office/guest bedroom instead of building on. Or if I could attach it to my house with a walkway or something?

See also.

Victoria Magazine Returns

I've complained before that all my favorite magazines seem to go out of business... However I'm happy to share that Victoria Magazine is back!

How it's back is even more interesting. A company called Hoffman Media has a partnership with Hearst (the original publisher) to publish the magazine. According to the press release, under the terms of the agreement, Hoffman will handle all editorial, production, distribution and advertising for Victoria. Hearst will contribute the Victoria trademark, copyright, URL (www.victoriamag.com), subscription database, and access to historical content of both editorial and art.

Interesting. Smart. I just hope they hire Nancy Lindemeyer, the original editor, for some role (even just contributor). She was the heart and soul of Victoria.

My new subscription form came the day after I had read one of my beloved back issues. If you want to understand why Victoria was so wonderful, I direct you to this blog post and the ensuing comments -- they could have been writen by yours truly, if I was a better writer.

If you are interested in the business story of Victoria, I direct you here. Very interesting.