Napster

Andy's naps are getting out of control. Every day it 4pm its like someone slips him a mickey.

On the bright side, it gives Katie and I opportunities to play games like "Uno". She is really pretty good. I especially like watching her use strategy. You can see the wheels turn as she thinks about what happens 'if'...

Memorable First

We went to the beach on Monday. It was windy, sunny, and warm. Some friends had brought a boogie board and I decided I would take Andy out for a first attempt at riding waves. he did great. He was a little scared going out, but once he caught that first wave, it was all good.

An Escalation of Power

Yesterday Andy and his friend Austin were playing "War" with one of the most classic toys ever; the good 'ol Green Army Men. They used the train table to serve as a battlefield and erected a glorious battle as you can see above. After taking a while to blow each others men up, it dawned on Andy that their other toys in the vicinity might be able to improve his strength against his opponent.

Andy then grabbed Donatello (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure), proudly planted him on the field and then things kinda went like this:

Andy: "I got Ninja Turtle on MY Army!"

Austin: (Joining in and grabbing his own ninja turtle) "I got a Ninja Turtle on MY Army too!"

Andy: "I got a Giraffe on MY Army!"

Austin: "I got an Elephant on MY Army!"

Andy: "I got a motorcycle on MY Army!"

Austin: "I got a X-Wing Fighter on My Army!"

Andy: "I got a Tie Fighter on MY Army!"

Things kept going like this until the toys ran out, and then the battle began. In the end, all toys were killed in this super mega battle. I guess I won't be holding out for world peace in Andy's generation.

Crazyhair

Another "Crazy Hair" day for Katie at school.

Homer and the Sneeches

About 2 months ago, Andy realized that we have a lot of neat leatherbound classics in the den. He likes being read to, and so he took an interest in the books, with their fancy covers with gold-painted pictures.

Not long after discovering the collection, Andy found Homer's Illiad and Odyessy. He really liked the two Trojan warriors on the cover, and since that day, has asked me nearly every night to read him that book. Often times, he will get the book from the shelf, and bring it to me. Each time I laugh and tell him, "You won't understand it."

Tonight he brought the book to me again, clearly undeterred by my warnings. Tired of fending off his ceaseless requests, I agreed to read it to him.

After about two pages, he stops me and says, "Dad, it's hard to understand." I smiled at him and said, "What do you want to read?". He says, "How about Sneeches?" (Dr. Seuess...)

And so I took Homer back to the shelf in the den, and I thought about the irony that my son could not understand that he would not be able to understand the book. I thought about how many other things I will try to help him understand that will inevitably fall on deaf ears. I then started to feel some urgency, to share with him the little knowledge that I have gathered over the years... maybe I should set up some 'life lesson time', or something...

Then it occured to me that Andy is one of the happiest people I know in this world. Not long after that realization, I decided with supreme confidence that he should be in no rush to understand life. After all, ignorance is truly bliss. Now, if I could only find a way to return to ignorance...

I think I am starting to understand why I am always so eager to keep reading Seuess, and the Sneeches.

Swimagain

We hit the pool again this am. Andy fared much better. Relxaing day. I saw Ironman tonight with an old friend of mine.

Summertime

It was in the 80s today. Warm in the house. The feeling like: "it's a little too hot but you don't care cause you want Summer to come so bad"

I worked from home today and took the kids swimming around 5pm. It was our first real swim of the season. The pool was 83, and felt great. Katie is simply a fish. I keep looking for the gills and webbed feet as she darts around underwater like a seal -- turning, lunging, popping-out and diving in. It makes me really happy to see her having so much fun.

Andy normally loves the water too, but not today. He took a late nap... that means monster-child upon waking up. We got him up at 5 and he basically screamed-crying for pretty much an hour. First it was because he didn't want to wear the Elmo swimsuit I put out for him, then it was because Katie splashed him before he was ready to get in, then it was because the swimsuit he was wearing was too big and he wanted his Elmo suit, then it was because Katie and I got out before he could even get in... yes he spent the whole time crying and missed out on the swimming.

Sorry not photos, was too busy having fun to capture the moment.

Flashback

I recently got a new PC. For you tech heads, its a 1.8GHz Dual Core, 1Gb Memory, 500Gb Hard drive, all for $295. I was very impressed by the value. This new PC has Vista. One of the neat features is this 'widget' that basically creates a picture frame on your desktop, and plays a slide show of all your photos.

This feature has proven to be very powerful to me. At first it had me giggling, as I was occasionally shown old photos and reminded how tiny the kids used to be. But now I find it a bit much, as the constant nostalgia tends to make me feel old! I am trying to figure out how to tweak the settings to get the right amount of memories in my life.

This is a photo of Dad and Katie. It was taken about 5 years ago. I find it hard to believe how much things can change in such a short time, and how quickly such a short time can pass. OK, enough deep stuff.. enjoy the photo!

Double Celebration

We had a pretty special day today, not only was it Mother's Day, but Daddy turned 38 at the same time! Whew, lots to celebrate. We had a pretty mellow day in response, highlighted by a trip to the ER to handle a ruptured ear infection for Andy... Still, we had a nice time celebrating each other.

Date Night

Ever since Katie and I had a "Date Night" in Hawaii, she has been asking repeatedly to have another one back here in SD. So tonight we decided to head over to Red Robin (WooHoo Fancy!) for a little Daddy & Daughter time. Katie got all dressed up, did her nails, hair, and wore her Easter Sunday dress. Daddy was a bit more casual, but still managed to put on a clean shirt and some nice shoes. Katie ordered a Shirley Temple, Hamburger and Fries. She macked it all down, but after eating about half her fries, she decided to hold off so she could, "Save room for the Ice Cream Sundae."

Indeed it was close enough to my birthday that we used a cupon for a free burger, and of course got the complementary ice cream sundae. Katie actually used a straw to get the last of the melted Ice Cream out of the sundae glass -- little girl was hungry!

Andy and mommy met us after dinner at the local ice rink where we watched some hockey before we all headed home.

Dead Tired?

One of the struggles with Andy is that he LOVES his naps. Now, please understand that this should not be confused with "Loves to TAKE naps". He hates to take them, but when he decides he wants to sleep... you had better get out of the way, or be ready to deal with the spawn of hell.

Typically, when he is riding in the car in the afternoons, you will sometimes hear, "I'M TIIIIIRED!!!" In a long, whiny, high-pitch tone. This is both a request for permission and a warning. The danger is, that if we let him sleep around 3, he is up till 10 (or later) of course. Sometimes the response is, "OK Andy, go to sleep." which is followed by a smile, closing of eyes, and a curling up in his car-seat.

Sometimes, the answer is, "No, you can't sleep, we're about to have dinner!". WHich is then followed by much crying, and well... you know.

Today Jen did her best, carried him in from the car, there was still some life left in his eyes, but somewhere between the kitchen and the hallway, he zonked out. Jen handed him to me, where I held him by his armpits and dangled him a bit... no response. I then set him down in the position you see here.

We finally dropped him in the bath about 10 minutes later. That was ugly...

Mr. Mom

Krispy Kreme
Matching Buzz Cuts
Living Room Fort
Round Table Pizza

What do all these things have in common? These are the shenanigans that we do when mommy leaves me alone with the kids for the weekend!

We started the day off by bringing a dozen yummy doughnuts to the local T-Ball game. We watched and hung out with some friends while we ate our gooey breakfast. It was a lot of fun, the only wierd part was that I noticed all the boys playing T-ball (from Katie's calss) were yelling "I love you Katie!" from the field and while running the bases... ummm, hey wait a minute here! No more friends for Katie, in fact no more leaving the house until she is 30. What the heck? She's 5! I thought girls had Kooties until I was 11...

Later we went and got matching buzz haircuts! (Well Andy and me at least). I gotta get a pic up, the little guy is so cute! Jen is gonna kill me when she gets home...

Last night we tore the living room apart and built a giant fort that the kids slept in in their sleeping bags. We had the whole thing tented. I was amazed that they actually went to sleep right away. I think they were so amazed at the experience, that when I threatened them with, "Now go to sleep fast or we won't do this again..." they actually believed me...

We sure do miss mommy though. She's having a girls weekend out. Come home soon, the house is a mess and we are running out of food!!! :)

Aloha

Aloha!

We’re back from our really big super exotic family vacation to Hawaii! It was quite a trip. We have never really done anything like this before, so we were all very excited. We took a lot of pictures and tried to keep track of most of the stuff we did, so here is the big recap:

Saturday, April 19th
We headed out the door here in SD around 12. Kim was awesome and gave us a ride to the airport, where we hopped a flight to LAX, hung around for a couple hours, and then zipped off to Kahului, Maui. The kids were really into the plane ride, especially Andy, who was amazed by the view and how everything goes white when you enter a cloud.

We landed after sunset, got the car (a mini-suv), and then drove for another hour to Kaanapali to our final destination, the Sheraton. By the time we got to our room, we were all dead tired and quickly fell fast asleep.

Sunday, April 20th
Considering the 3 hour (earlier) time change, we were all up before 6am rarin’ to go. We cleaned-up put on some fresh clothes (to match our fresh attitudes) and started to do some early exploring around the hotel. We wore the Leis that the hotel gave us the night before.

Katie and Andy on the Hotel Balcony, sporting the Leis at sunrise

Katie especially loved the leis – I know, ‘what a shock’. She also was excited about wearing flowers behind her ear.

Katie has become the photographer for all mom and dad pics

The hotel was amazing and we were instantly pleased with our decision to stay. Adorned with palms and tikis, set against the pacific – it was almost narcotic how quickly I found myself able to relax. (A little history on how we chose this place…) Sometime in February, I came home one day and said, “Man I need a vacation, lets go to Hawaii…” Jen started planning the next day. We got out my laptop and used Google maps to fine ‘the perfect place’. I told her that I wanted a resort, with an amazing pool, set against the beach. We quickly zeroed-in on the Sheraton. A couple moths later… viola!





We went to an early breakfast at the local hotel buffet. We were really impressed by the food. They have everything, and it’s all wonderful. Especially the macadamia and coconut pancakes (which were an instant hit with daddy and Andy). Jen went off to do some food shopping, while the kids and I hit the pool. When we got back, we started experimenting with some home cooked Mai Tai concoctions – we were diligent about continuing to experiment until we got the mixture just right ;)

After a little liquid courage, we headed down to the poolside where they were teaching the hula. The “Hukilau” as they call it in Hawaii, is famous and Katie and mommy went up on stage to learn from a very masculine Hawaiian…



Katie spent the first 10 minutes on stage looking confused and scared. You could tell she was thinking, “Hey, where are the grass skirts and the pretty girls?” Nonetheless, she was a trooper (with her mommy) in learning the moves and the words. Andy and I cheered them on.

That night we walked along the beach, watched a beautiful sunset and experienced the cliff diving tradition at ‘Black Rock’. Every night at the Sheraton, they perform a cliff diving ceremony and give a little talk about how the Hawaiians call this place sacred as a transition space to the ‘ancestral spirit land.’




Monday, April 21st

We decided to do some adventuring this day, and packed the car with some supplies with the intention of driving to the semi-secret Nakalele blow-hole about 30 minutes to the north, in a place near Poelua Bay. We knew we were in for a good day as we were greeted by the great little rainbow upon exiting the hotel. I later learned that we were staying in a building called “Hale O Ke Anuenue” which means: “House of the Rainbow”



Things were going well for our outing, the drive was beautiful, we had some good music – it was an adventure! When we got there we were greeted by a bizarre trail of tiny rock structures. Apparently these balanced rocks are ‘wishes’, a Hawaiian tradition of placing lava rocks at sunset. The other thing we were greeted with was REALLY STRONG WIND! I cannot overemphasize enough how strong it was… imagine worrying that your kids would blow away…

So we started on a short walk that would take us to the blow hole, thinking the wind was strong, but not preventative. Well the wind got stronger, and the kids got super miserable. We started losing hats, and quickly after that, we startled losing spirit. We had to turn back after a few hundred yards and never got to see the blow hole! LOL.



In the afternoon we hit the pool, more swimming.

Later that night we went to a big Luau at our hotel. One of the best events of the trip by far. Fire dancing, great food, hula… the kids had a blast. Jen had arranged for front row seats so we really had a great vie of the show. I gotta stop a sec and thank Jen for all her work on this trip. She probably called Hawaii every day for the past 2 months, working every angle to ensure we had the best of everything, for the best price  Mahalo baby!





Tuesday, April 22nd
We kicked the day off with a trip down the beach to the Westin. We wanted to check out the competition and see if we were missing anything. They had a pretty nice layout, I think we’ll try it if we can ever afford to do this again.




We then headed back to the hotel to do some more swimming. I haven’t talked much about it so far, but the kids were maniacs at the pool. Over the course of the vacation, I think we spent on average, about 6 hours a day at the pool. The pool was one of those fancy river-connected thingies with waterfalls and a slide in the middle. I think Katie and Andy rode the slide about 1,000 times each – and I think that is a conservative estimate. Andy is now able to swim and jump-in all by himself, so the 2 of them just go at it. They wig-out in that pool for hours on end and then totally crash out at night. It works pretty good, except that I do have to be in the water the whole time too. Andy is still learning his limits… he is psycho. He has me nervous that he is going to break his neck or drown during almost every flailing jump. I’m not complaining about having to watch him… it was great. We both love swimming with the kids, teaching them new stuff, watching them get better and have fun. Mommy was also an awesome aqua-woman.








That night we had dinner at the Sheraton. Mommy and daddy ordered up lobbies while the kids tried their first ever Shirley Temples! Yummy yummy!




Wednesday, April 23rd
On Wednesday, we headed to Lahina, a wonderful little town just south of our resort. We arranged for a submarine ride out to the local reef to see the sea-life. (Well, it’s kinda half boat, half sub… see pic.) I was a little worried that this was going to be a dud, since we have passes to the Scripps Aquarium where we get to see some pretty amazing stuff.

However, we were pleasantly surprised with this event. The sub/boat was really cool, as you climb down inside and get to look out these portholes onto the reef below. The boat divers then brought up all kinds of cool stuff, including an octopus! The kids, who are too small to snorkel, really got a kick out of it. I must admit, it was a lot of fun. Jen unfortunately got a little queasy, but the ride was only an hour and we were back to shore before things got too green for Jennifer.




After we got home, Jen needed some rest – so I took the kids to a local burger joint that has amazing burgers. Then we did some more swimming…

Later that night, Katie and I had a special ‘date night’ where we dressed a little fancy, and went to the hotel pool area to order some fancy drinks. We each got chocolate-banana smoothies and listened to some live music. Katie seemed thrilled to be able to act like such an adult. I had a great time myself spending the 1:1 quality time.



Thursday, April 24th
The next day we decided to head down to Wailea (about an hours drive to the south) to check out the scene down there. We visited the Grand Wailea Hotel which was really amazing, and equally expensive. It kinda felt like Vegas in Hawaii…



We then spend the morning playing on the beach there. They had a floating trampoline in the ocean which Katie and I had fun exploring. Later that day, we had a babysitter watch the kids while Jen and I went on a date.

Friday, April 28th
We were woken up at about 5am to a fire alarm on Friday. It was instant panic. Jen and I were grabbing clothes and kids and trying to wake-up. Almost as quickly as the alarm started, a voice came over the PA informing us that it was a false alarm. Apparently a prank from a guest with a poor sense of humor. I was able to go back to sleep, but Jen was too stirred-up. So she headed down to the lobby and managed to get some free vouchers for the inconvenience.

We spent all day in the pool, until we were wiped.

Later that evening, we pulled up some lawn chairs to an outdoor theatre set-up on the resort grounds. The Sheraton apparently does this once a week, they have this big screen and a projector near the pool. We were feet from the sand as we watched Bee Movie under the Hawaiian stars. It was great. Thanks again mommy for setting us up with food, blankets, and even popcorn!

Saturday, April 29th
Our last day… we scarfed down some more pancakes, and then spent the morning in the pool. The kids also spent some time feeding the hotel’s coy fish – and mommy finally broke down and ordered her one and only ‘from the bar’ froofie drink – a mudslide. You should have seen her face, it was clear she really enjoyed it.

Sadly we finally had to leave that afternoon and we drove to the airport to catch our red-eye flight back to the US. Before we left we stopped at ‘Paradise Pizza’ for an interesting but delicious pizza experience. By the time we got to the airport, we had over 2 hours to go before our flight… and we needed it. The security was just plan silly. We stood in the longest security line I have ever seen. We made it to our gate with just a few minutes to spare before boarding.

The flight home was uneventful and long. The kids slept but mommy didn’t. I did. When we finally got to San Diego the next morning it was 7am. Thanks Kelly for the pick-up! The airlines weren’t able to deliver 3 of our bags because we hopped on an earlier connection, but they brought them over later. We spend Sunday sleeping, and recovering from the jet-lag and travel.

It was an awesome trip, we can’t wait to go back.

The Lorax

I am thankful for a lot of little things in this world, and one of them is Dr. Seuess. I think I like the good Doctor a little more than the average person too.

Maybe it's because I like the silly words he creates like "Snergally" or "Lerkim". Maybe it's because his characters are impossibly absurd. Maybe it's the brilliant rhyming presented in surprising simplicity. But most likely I think, is that reading Dr Seuess with my kids is almost always a fun experience, filled with lots of silly voices, smiles and giggles. These events also mark the end of the day, and a time that I know is close to "me time"... a time of peace, and appreciation.

Lately we have been reading the Lorax. I really like the Lorax because it is about the environment, and about self-responsibility. One of my favorite passages is the lead-in to the story, in the initial 'frame' where the story outside the story takes place. Seuess uses some genius here, his descriptions are thought provoking. I pasted for your enjoyment....

You won´t see the Once-ler.
Don´t knock at his door.
He stays in his Lerkim on top of his store.
He stays in his Lerkim, cold under the roof,
where he makes his own clothes
out of miff-muffered moof.
And on special dank midnights in August,
he peeks
out of the shutters
and smoetimes he speaks
and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.
He´ll tell you, perhaps...
if you´re willing to pay.

On the end of a rope
he lets down a tin pail
and you have to toss in fifteen cents
and a nail
and the shell of a great-great-great-
grandfather snail.

Then he pulls up the pail,
makes a most careful count
to see if you.ve paid him
the proper amount.

Then he hides what you paid him
away in his Snuvv,
his secret strange hole
in his gruvvulous glove.
Then he grunts, I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone,
for the secrets I tell you are for your ears alone.

SLUPP
Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear
and the old Once-ler´s whispers are not very clear,
since they have to come down
through a snergelly hose,
and he sounds
as if he had
smallish bees up his nose.
Now I´ll tell you, he says, with his teeth sounding gray,
how the Lorax got lifted and taken away...
It all started way back...
such a long, long time back...

Psycho

So Katie continues to transition, looking everyday for opportunities to find 'adult' things that she can master. This week it is showering. It's funny to see her taking it seriously (aside from the pic.) She washed her own hair and tries to dry off with a towel -- just like her mommy. Yep, she's growin up fast.

Carlsbad

Every year about this time, Carlsbad Flower Fields opens its gates to visitors to come and enjoy the spring bloom. It is very impressive. As you can see from some of the pictures, it is literally miles and miles of raidant colors. We clowned around and had a grand time. The highlight was a hedge maze that the kids ran around in. If you ever come to San Diego in spring, I recommend the trip.

Shenanigans

Jen dropped the kids off at school today, pretty much like every other school-day. Except today one of the other mothers came up to Jen and said, "A little bird told me it was your birthday today..." Surprised and confused Jen began to open her mouth, to explain that her birthday was not until January...

Just then Katie jumps out from around a corner and yells, "APRIL FOOLS!!!"

Apparently Katie is improvising. She told the other mother that Jen's birthday was today. We weren't even sure that Katie understood the concept of April Fools Day. Not only does she get it, she is already planning pranks! Look out friends and family...

Troublemaker

Andy was in the hallway the other day acting mischevious as we were trying to get ready to go for an outing. He was playing with his new Darth Vader glasses instead of putting on his shoes.

Me: "Andy, what are you doing? Get your shoes on..."

Andy: "But DAD... I have to tell you something!"

Me: "What, that you are a troublemaker?"

Andy: "No, I'm a CAKE-maker!"

Me: "A Cake-maker?"

Andy: "Yes, I like cake."


You kinda had to be there for this one, but something about it made me laugh out loud for a bit. I was quite impressed that somehow my 3 year old was able to channel the conversation into a declaration of his love of cake.

Water and Rocks

Sometimes the best adventures are right in your back-yard. And since we don't have a back-yard, we have to settle for the local open-area city park. Mainly Marion Bear Memorial Park, which is less than a mile from the house, and really nothing more than a really big strip of undeveloped land. The girls went shopping at Target -- so and me and the Andyman hiked around a little bit, until we found some water with lots of rocks. Andy must have thrown about 300 rocks into the water before he started to get tired of it.

Sun Sun Sun, Here it Comes

We got a taste of swiming while we were in Santa Barbara and the kids have been in swim classes here in San Diego to get ready for the summer season. The days are definitely getting warmer, and spring is in the air. Our pool is still not quite warm enough, but I am eagerly checking the temperature every day, scrutinizing every millimeter of movement on the guage -- patiently waiting for the red bar to get into the 80s.