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Random Photo
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The other night I was sitting on the steps watching the end of Madagascar with the kids. The movie ended, music began and the kids jumped up and started dancing. “Wait,” I yelled. I ran and grabbed the camera. I backed the dvd up a bit and sure enough, the same scene played out. They crack me up. Check it out below.
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We recently returned from our first family camping trip- the first of many more to come. We had a blast! The boys loved sleeping in the tent and chillin’ in their camp chairs. Nana and Pawpaw (my folks) joined us along with our little nephew Ethan. The beautiful fall weather at Hanging Rock State Park was ideal- crisp air, blue skies, and vibrant autumn foliage. Friday, Dad and I drove up with the boys and set up camp- the kids were wild with excitement! Then we hiked a short trail to a waterfall. “Waterfall” is really a relative term- it was more like a trickle, but the kids thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. After that, we headed back to our campsite to play and start dinner. Josh and Nate made quick friends with our neighbors- special thanks to the Betts family for helping to make our weekend so special! Alan and Mom rolled in right about dark and we got the fire going, complete with marshmallows. Big eggs and bacon breakfast and off to conquer the mountain. Yes, we did in fact go to the very top of Hanging Rock with a 2, 3 and 4 year old- about 4 miles round trip, a lot of it straight up. (Props to Alan for carrying Nate up the last leg of the trail- you’re such a great daddy!) It was awesome! Needless to say, we were pooped after that- so naps were in order. Dinner that night was fabulous- Nana and Pawpaw served a fabulous london broil with mushroom sauce and all the fixings. Deeeeelish! The boys ate their weight in pancakes the next morning and we started packing up. We hiked one more short trail before leaving- this waterfall was more impressive and we got some great pics. We will be going back to this park again- I would highly recommend it to any of you outdoorsy types.
Well, if Josh’s 4 year old class’ voting results are an indication of how the country will vote on November 4th, it will be a landslide in favor of Obama. He won yesterday 12 votes to 4 votes.
Josh shared the election process on our way home from school yesterday. He described how the Blue guy, Obama, had a lot more votes than the guy who was Red. It probably helped Obama that Josh can’t ever remember the Red guy’s name. He and Nate shout out “Obama!” every time there is an ad on (which is quite often the last few weeks).
Earlier in the day I had read that Scholastic’s election had Obama winning as well; 57% to 39%. Other vote getters were Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Stephen Colbert. Since 1940, the Scholastic election has been right every time except twice. In 1948, kids voted for Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S. Truman. In 1960, more students voted for Richard M. Nixon than for John F. Kennedy. I guess this makes sense as most of the time the kids will vote for whomever their parents are voting for.
It was a beautiful day, so we took the kids up to Grandma’s for a visit. Her yard is park-like for the kids so it is a great place for them to wear themselves out. The drive back found the customary scene of the kids falling asleep before we are out of the city limits… a mile or two. My wife usually falls asleep before we get to the lake which is ten or so miles. The rest of the drive usually leaves me with my thoughts.
While in my thoughts I began to notice more bikers on the road than usual. It was a beautiful day and they were making the best of it. I happened to be trailing a couple of them and so I was able to witness over and over again the “biker wave” (as shown in the graphic).
I thought it was so cool that this group of people had their own “secret handshake”. Being the proud new owner of a Nissan Frontier truck and constantly spotting like minded purchasers, I thought it would be cool if we had our own wave.
Over the next few weeks I tried a bunch of waves; two fingers in a quick axe chop, flip flopping the hand in a three stooge-like manner, open handed Indian “how” while fluttering my fingers, and the list goes on. It took a while but I finally found a combination that people started responding to. I found that one finger, the middle one, raised straight up with your palm facing towards you worked the best. It is really catching on. Whenever I see other Frontier drivers, I give them the “Frontier Finger” as I like to call it and sure enough, they return the wave. Awesome.
I have a bunch of pics to share from the summer, but I thought I’d kick off with some pictures from Nate’s birthday party. Nate had a blast. The rest of the family… not so much. We had it on Sunday afternoon. The Thursday before he was sick as I reported in an earlier post. Well, Sunday found Amy sick… very sick. So, I had the boys and the running around for the party to myself. Fun.
Well, we get to the park; a park I had never been to. The park we usually go to was booked up for that day, so we chose one a bit farther down the road. We get there and I realize that there isn’t any parking next to the shelter. So, I have to lug the kids, cooler, presents, decorations, balloons, etc around three soccer fields to the shelter. Once again… Fun.
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Nate turns 3 years old today. Wow. It’s been 3 years already. I’m glad he’s feeling better and can enjoy his birthday. Two nights ago I went into his room to kiss him goodnight. When I sat down on the bed, I initially thought he had wet the bed (although that didn’t feel right as he is still wearing pull-ups). Amy was walking in behind me and immediately smelled the culprit. I don’t know how I missed it. Yes, what I had sat in was a pool of vomit. Yuck!
I pick him up out of his bed and take him to our room where he and I are stripped down. I then lay down with him on our bed and try to console him. I’m rubbing is back when I hear his stomach “gurble”.
"Do you need to go to the bathroom," I ask him.
"No," he says whilst hurling all over me.
Oh the fun of parenthood.
The guys in the IT department are out of control. Well, maybe just a bit silly. It’s standard practice around the office that when someone takes a vacation, the others (who aren’t so lucky) pull a prank on the vacationer. Last year my desk and computers were covered in Hello Kitty stickers.
This year, I was greeted on Monday morning after a wonderful week at the beach (those pics coming) with everything in and around my desk saran wrapped. When I say everything, I mean Everything. The guys at the office wrapped every cd, box of paper clips, pen, snack, you get the point. I’m still unwrapping things. Take a look at the pictures. Man, these guys are a hoot (jerks).