The Van Der Kims

I know they're funny, and not just because they're my kids

2009-01-22T00:01:00.007-05:00

Here, by demand, is an excerpt from our holiday letter. What? You say you failed to receive one last month? Do not fear. You have not been scratched off our list. We simply failed to finish sending out our Christmas cards. Our new goal is Arbor Day.
Anyway, here you go:

Happy Holidays!
We could say a lot about the year that was, and we will – at the end – but we thought we would give most of this year’s letter over to our muses, August and Reid, who are just finding their way in the world, and instructing and enlightening us every day.

They uttered a mixture of the profound:

Beaches never close because they don’t have doors. – August, June 12
Adults are just kids who weigh too much. – August, January 20
Maybe animals smile with their tails. – August, November 25

And they are never shy about saying the things you really think, but never say out loud:

You should pay more attention to driving, and not pay more attention to talking. – August, November 22
I wish grown-ups weren’t in our lives so we could do whatever we wanted to do. – August, June 22

If you’re done with all the grades, you’re done with high school. If you’re done with high school, you go to college. When you’re done with college, you go to work. When you’re done with work, nothing happens anymore. – August, November 25

Don’t you wish we were made of peanut butter? – August, March 29

Sometimes, they were humble:

Peanut butter and jelly is good enough for me. – Reid, October 31
Whatever Santa brings me, I want it. – Reid, December 7

At all times, they were the conscience of the household:

Are we going to church today? It’s Sunday. We’re supposed to go, you know. – August, October 26
Reid: Dad, Mom won’t give me goldfish. Dad: Well, you just had popcorn. Reid: She’s a bad woman. – January 13

They always had a unique interpretation of life’s events:

August: And God made Reid with really flat feet. God put a rolling pin on his feet. Mom: Hmm, how did you know that? August: I saw God make Reid. – November 20

If you die, I could make a present for you, and send it right up to heaven. That would be awesome. – August, December 4

My lovely, but silly, family

2008-11-25T23:27:00.004-05:00

My parents and sister, Michelle, were here during the week of Halloween. These were taken the day they left.

And here's Michelle, pretending to approach August for some love, but really, she just wants his candy.

Yes, she's crazy.

All I want for Christmas ...

2008-11-25T23:21:00.004-05:00

He's only missing one here, but August actually lost a second tooth last week. That thing was hanging by a thread forever and day, but he refused to let me yank the thing out.

Halloween

2008-11-19T23:08:00.006-05:00

I'm woefully behind on posting pictures of my little guys. I feel bad because I know my parents are dying to see these photos. And since they're the only ones who check out this blog....

Reid has a cush factor?

2008-10-18T14:11:00.003-04:00

August and Reid are going to be the ring bearers in my sister Amy's wedding next spring. She just added the boys to the "wedding party" section on her Web site. Check it out. Her descriptions of them are so dead-on:

http://www.mywedding.com/chadandamyrock/wedding_party.html

apple picking

2008-09-21T23:08:00.003-04:00

We headed to Homestead Farms this morning and brought home more than 14 pounds of apples. What the heck were we thinking? But they sure are tasty. Mmmmm....

Marty, hoping for work in the apple ad industry.

This is the point when Reid got tired of picking apples and just wanted to start eating the picnic we packed. His little red basket is full of nutritious snacks, of course.

What's that on August's head, you ask?

Why, it's the mask of his alter-ego, Nick, the Red Power Ranger!

Beware the strength of JUNGLE FURY, the RED POWER RANGER!

2008-09-21T16:37:00.006-04:00

Guess who's excited about Halloween?

First grader's first day

2008-09-12T15:50:00.005-04:00

This is what those silly conventions made me miss: August's first day of school! I can't tell you how sad I was not to be there. I'm told he was one happy camper that morning.

Waiting outside Sra. Cunningham's classroom.

A day riding trains

2008-09-12T15:04:00.008-04:00

I'm back from the conventions. Finally. I can't believe I left my three boys for so long. Somehow, they survived. Imagine that.

I've now cleansed myself from all the dirty political rhetoric and am back groovin' with my little guys.

Here's the first thing the boys did after I left: take a ride on an old-fashioned steam train. The boys rode in the red caboose. (Didn't they get rid of those things decades ago?)

Hugs and kisses via phone

2008-08-22T21:35:00.000-04:00

I leave for the political conventions early tomorrow morning. I'll be gone for two weeks, the longest I've ever been away from these little guys.

I hope I make it.

Knoebels

2008-08-21T07:38:00.001-04:00

We spent Monday at Knoebels, this awesome family-owned, old-fashioned amusement park in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. The place is incredibly cheap. Parking is free and so is admission to the park. Rides average about 90 cents for kiddie attractions, and $1.20 for the bigger rides. We probably spent less than $40 the entire day.

The kids had a blast and later in the afternoon, we met up with my sister-in-law Sandy and three of her four girls, whom August and Reid absolutely adore. Ah, good times.

The boys could't wait to try the kiddie bumper cars. Of course, Reid had no idea what to do when he got in. August later said this was his favorite ride, "even though it hurt my back."

I have absolutely no idea what this thing is, but Reid obsessed over riding it.

August, reflecting on the delicious sandwhich I made him.

Reid also obsessed over finding the trains on the park map. Once he found them...

...he was determined to go there.

The other vacation...

2008-08-17T23:12:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my previous post we were just starting our second vacation. I thought I should post some pictures from our first major trip this summer _ a visit to Rehoboth Beach. That week represented the most relaxed Marty and I have been for years.

I love this shot. August is trying to convince Reid to join him. Sometimes Augie can be such a wonderful big brother.

Does anyone see Reid's resemblance to Marty here? Beyond the blinding white belly, that is?

At Fun Land! (The boardwalk arcade)

This has been a great summer. I hate to see it end. In addition to our extended vacations, we've also had some fabulous mini-holidays, like the weekend spent camping beneath the stars, the trip to the county fair and the numerous days spent in the backyard swimming and eating dinner with friends at our Salon Sunday gatherings.

Farmer's markets and baseball games

2008-08-16T23:17:00.000-04:00

Today marked the start of our second vacation of the summer. This morning, we headed to the farmer's market in downtown Silver Spring. We bought some danish, sat down at a table and just basked in the beautiful weather. The boys were amusing as always. Fabulous, fabulous morning. We really didn't do much except roam around and yet, in so many ways, it was incredibly productive. Good times. I just wish I had brought my camera.

This afternoon we went to go see the Nationals. They lost, of course, but the boys had fun anyway.

At a certain point, August started eating his cotton candy like corn on the cob.

Reid, a ham? I know, a shocker.

This picture is signifcant for two reasons: 1) I actually got a genuine smile out of Reidie; 2) August is eating a hot dog. Until this evening, my boys were the only kids on Earth who disliked hot dogs. But I guess watching Marty eat a dawg from Ben's Chili Bowl stirred something inside August!