Irreplaceable

This is what happens when your colleague starts randomly tossing around the Father's Day gift your son made you not knowing it was special....

....how in the world am I ever going to replace a paperweight made entirely of Play-Doh and sequins???

Video Games

Whoever says video games are making our kids lazy hasn't played video games with Amelia....

Bribery

It was just me and the kids tonight while Meggan went on a girls' night.  Let's just say I'm not above using donuts to bribe them for good behavior....

Stages

Amelia and Everett are going through some different stages right now. She is turning into such a big, helpful, sweet girl....and he is turning into some form of feral 3 year-old animal that now smiles like a crazy person....

Breaking Point

How do you know your daughter has hit her breaking point? I'm guessing it is when she is standing 20 feet in the air at the top of the water slide bawling her eyes out and begging to come down while the line of kids behind her, the lifeguard, and half the pool stares at her. Amelia came so close to overcoming a major fear of hers today. We're proud of her for climbing to the top and almost taking the plunge.  However, she's disappointed, embarrassed, and being far harder on herself than any 6 year-old should be.  Ahhhh, the joys of growing up.

Off Week

For probably the 10th time in a row, Meggan's week off from work has been pounced on by misfortune. Her week of getting some alone time, working on home projects, and generally doing whatever her heart desires got off to a rough start with me getting sick. It didn't get any better when Amelia decided she didn't want to go to camp anymore.  It took its final hit last night when Amelia went down with a fever and nausea.  Luckily, today, we all woke up happy and healthy. Here's to hoping she can salvage the final few days and get some much needed relaxation.  Otherwise, she's going to have to stop telling us when she takes vacation so we can't find ways to sabotage it.

Cheater Cheater.

Warning: Do NOT play Headbandz with this man. In this game, everyone gets a picture on their head and they ask questions like "Am I an animal?" to try to get clues so they can guess what is on the picture. Everett, however, always cheats and steals a peak at the picture and asks only 1 question - "Am I [insert picture on his head]?" and then he celebrates winning like he cured cancer.  He doesn't get any better when you ask him questions. He just answers your question by describing the picture. "Am I pink?" gets answered with "Noooo, you're brown like a kangaroo" if you indeed have a kangaroo on your head. His cheating makes it hard to beat him. It's almost like 3 year-olds aren't mentally equipped to play board games.



"Uhhh, am I an airpwane??"

Useful

After years of hearing how badly I needed an IPhone, I finally got one. In the two weeks I've had it, it has yet to blow my mind. However, tonight with me quarantined in my room with a stomach bug, I was able to FaceTime with the kids. There are few things that make me feel better than seeing those two smiling faces. So, tonight, I say thank you IPhone. You have proved your merit.

Big Steps

In the last few days, Amelia has gone to sleep with very little parent involvement and stayed in her bed all night.  On top of this, she has showered with no assistance and let us sleep in while she read books to Everett in the morning.  If you add these to how well she is doing in her swimming lessons, I couldn't be more proud. Some of these things may not be that impressive for a 6 year-old, but trust me, they are very impressive for our 6 year-old.  If she starts riding a bike without training wheels or watching any movie without getting scared, I might pass out.

Amelia just finished her painting camp and brought home a collection of her works. It looks like I have a new sunflower painting for my office. 

Differences in Style

We learned this weekend that Everett and Amelia have two very different putt putt styles.


Here is Amelia's style. It focuses on power, wild inaccuracy, and cheating...

Here is Everett's style. It mostly involves playing in the woods and throwing your ball in the water...

Much Needed

We just got home from a much needed beach vacation. As is usual, I now want to live on the beach. I also want a pool and possibly a boat.  Unfortunately, those silly lottery winnings have still evaded me. I guess I'll have to rely on these pictures as happy reminders until I scrape up 10 life savings...

Risk

The risk you take when you let your daughter spend a week in fashion camp is that she will want to wear her winter gloves to go pick up the pizza because they are "her style"...and who am I to stifle her style???

Free Help

As a dad, sometimes you have to wash your car even though you know it is about to rain just because your kids really want to be your helpers...and what great helpers they are...

Missing Me

Meggan and the kids were all off today. While no school and no work is normally a good thing, you can clearly see below that they were all really sad I wasn't with them and missing me so badly they couldn't help but to be miserable...


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Celebrating

What is the best way to enjoy a great fireworks display when you're afraid of the loud noises and the shrapnel from the fireworks is occasionally finding its way around you? If you guessed strapping on your mom's sunglasses and sitting on your dad's lap, you'd be 110% correct...

Fall

My man learned tonight that the fall from the high of getting fresh donuts to the low of learning you shouldn't touch the exhaust pipe on the car that took you to get said donuts is a steep, unforgiving drop...