Also cool in the blogosphere...

So this looks like a photo of one of those oh-so-elaborate model railroad layouts -- but it isn't. It a photo of a real location that's been Photoshop'ed into looking like a model railroad layout. Not sure why you'd want to do that to a real landscape photo, but it's astounding that you can do it. Learn how (and see the original photo) here.

Bento box overachiever

Wow -- wouldn't you feel inadequate if one of your kid's classmates showed up with a lunch like this? For more in culinary self-flagellation, visit this Yahoo Japan blog. Again, I say "wow".

(Credit goes to Sarah J. Gim at Slashfood for the link.)

Cheeeeeese!

Ryan and Colin yuck it up at Katie's birthday party. 

Katie is 3 -- the party

Katie had a fabulous time at her 3rd birthday party, which we celebrated at Junior Gym. Thanks to all who came to celebrate with us!

We've always been impressed with one of the employees at the gym: courteous, energetic, and great with kids. It turns out that he and his girlfriend bought the gym from its previous owner! Hats off to a young person taking a risk and living out his dream.

See more pics on Christine's Flickr account.

Britney Spears in Hawaii

To put it mildly, Fedora is no big fan of Britney Spears. And Britney certainly didn't move up Fedora's list by luring her now-husband away from his then-pregnant fiancee.

So it's ironic that Fedora's family had a photo opportunity with the Britney herself last week in Maui. Fedora's sister's brother-in-law Jason was getting married at the Four Seasons, and Britney happened to be staying there. Britney posed for a picture the happy couple: you can see Jason, his new bride Irene, and Eudora in the picture at Access Hollywood. Hurry if you're a Britney Spears fan, as I'm sure she'll be rotated off the front page soon.

Click on the "Photo Gallery: Britney's Hawaiian Getaway" under Music Spotlight, and it's slide 4 of 53. I'd post it here, but I suspect that it's a violation of their Terms of Use. But if you missed it, let me know -- I think it's ok if I email the picture to you. :-)

Pole position

The kids had a great time at The Other Katie's birthday party (thanks, Dan and Evelyn!). Why is it totally unsurprising that Katie claimed the pole position, right next to the birthday girl and cake? Can you just see the anticipation? 

All together now...

Unfortunately, we didn't get a shot of all three of them looking at the camera and smiling. But two out of three isn't too bad. :-) 

"Baby is so cute!"

We feel quite blessed that both of the older kids have taken a real liking to Cameron. They constantly say, "baby -- you are so cute!" and spontaneously give him hugs. Of course, it helps when di di can reciprocate with a big toothless grin like so.

(The toothless days are drawing to a close; his first two bottom teeth are poking through.) 

Another great afternoon at the grandparents

We try to see my parents once a week, taking advantage of the time when the kids still think hanging out with the grandparents is oh-so-fun. Here's Katie doing I'm-not-sure-what. Watching The Little Einsteins, maybe? (My mom wanted to see where the song they keep on singing to her came from.) 

The Essence of Katie

Don't you love it when a picture captures the essence of someone's personality? This is not the most flattering picture of Katie, but it sure is her, don't you think?

(We were at home celebrating her actual 3rd parthday. Her party is actually this afternoon at the Junior Gym -- and trust me, she's about as excited as this picture shows.)