Vaccacion

Dude on a tube.

Probably...he's whizzing in the pool.

Totally not posed. Totally.

We caught Brady working on vacation.

Checking in with Uncle J.

Fashion aside, they love him like crazy.

Mackin' in the sandbox.

I dominated the coffee press.

Reeled it in. Dehooked it. Grabbed it. Released it.

Reeled it in. Dropped it. Slapped it back into the water.

You wanna race?

Brady caught up on his texting.

Bowling under the lights.

Buttcrack Junior.

Brother Putter.

Fudgestripe Peepers.

Evil Fudgestripe Peepers.

I am one ugly...I mean lucky guy.

Jake the Fish.

Brady the Fish.

We got back from our annual mini-vacation at the Princess. Dadgum great time. We went through two cans of spray on sunscreen. The boys each caught a fish...All by themselves. We watched two dive-in movies. Ate room service ice-cream last night at 11:45PM. Did a little lawn bowling. Practiced our putting. Saw a blue heron catch a fish. The boys learned to swim by themselves underwater. Jake got over his fear of staying underwater for more than a few seconds( I think he now holds the under 6 World Record). We took naps together every day. Uncle Jarrod gave us all free rides around the hotel and from our room to the pool and back. Brady got to slide down the slides all by himself this year...about a thousand times. All that and a bunch more I can't remember right now. My brain is sunburned I think.

Thanks for a great extended Father's Day weekend guys. The best ever!

Claymation

Today we learned about claymation. Not because we really wanted to. We HAD to. Turns out Brady was watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and happened to see the whole "Large Marge" scene. That apparently freaked him out to no end. He got himself so worked up about it last night that he couldn't sleep. It took both of us pulling out all the Jedi mind tricks we could think of. Nothing worked. One of the only things that calmed him down was promising to show him how clay animation works. So, this morning we busted out the play-doh, camera, and computer and got to work. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it was actually way easy to do and now we are all hooked on it. Brady wants me to animate all his creations now. If you are bored and have access to a digital camera, play-doh, and a computer with video editing software...I highly recommend taking 20 minutes out of your day to do it.

Kung Fu Panda

Now THAT was a good movie. The boys liked it and the grown folks liked it. Now Jake is running around the house putting a smackdown on invisible bad guys. I get a feeling there's going to be some serious battles that will end in tears and, "He kicked me in the face"! Ahh well, it was worth it.

Fun with Chinese lasers

I'm not so sure these rockin' tops will ever make it to the American market. They have what I believe to be military grade lasers inside of them and play an insanely fast version of "Axel F" from Beverly Hills Cop. But thanks to "O" who brought them back with him from China, we got a kick A little light show tonight. Maybe our retinas will be a little worse for the wear...but what the hey? Fun is fun. Thanks man.

Woo Hoo!

Been a bit. No big deal. We've just been enjoying the start of the summer together. I just haven't gotten around to blogging about any of it.

Anyhoo, after today I have 9 straight days away from work to just hang out with the fam damily. Next week we are going to be taking our 2ND annual almost-vacation to the Princess. You would not believe how excited the boys are for that. Four days of swimming day and night is right up their alley. We might go through a couple gallons of sunscreen before all is said and done. Maybe a couple gallons of room service ice cream, you never know.

Then, there's all the summer movies we get to watch. We've already seen Ironman and Indiana Jones. Next up is Hulk, Kung-Fu Panda and Dark Knight later in the summer. Finally a summer with some really cool movies to go see. I think the movie execs finally figured out that if they want butts in the seats, they need to make awesome movies for the whole family more than just once every 5 years. Nice job, suits.

After our little family fun fest, the Mrs. and I are taking a few days for ourselves and going to Vegas. The boys get to go to their own version of Vegas called, Ma and Poppy's house. Cindy and I get to spend a few days remembering why we actually like each other so much. The boys get to remember that they actually do like most if not all their everyday rules relaxed. A lot. Win-win.

So that's the story I'm going with for now. I'll post some pictures soon when all this wackiness really starts.

Memorial Day

We just got back from the National Memorial Cemetery we go to every year. I love going there. People jam pack that place to go see their dads, moms, brothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandmas, etc. This year was even more packed than usual, which was awesome. Nearly 49,000 people are at rest in that sacred ground. They aren't just normal people though. Each one of them is there not just because they died, but for what they did when they were alive. They set themselves apart, did something only 1% of our population will ever do. They served, or an immediate family member served our Nation. Some served in peacetime, but the majority of those men and women out there, served in wartime.

The names you see are those of men and women who went to War and came home. You don't see very many names out there who died in battle. No, all these people came home to try and live their version of normal lives. They got jobs, got married, had kids, then grand kids, retired, and then went on to whatever comes after. Even after all those years though, they return to be with their brothers and sisters, side by side for eternity. A lot the people there only served a few years in the service, but this is where they chose to be at the end. For them, "just a few years" meant more than most people can imagine.

Those few years helped shape our world, and forever changed their lives for worse or better or both. Many of these heroes probably carried emotional and physical scars from those few years, scars they got providing for our future. They put their bodies and minds on the line for us. Just like those that came before them, and those that are doing it now. Pure selflessness. That is lesson I hope my boys learn from going there every year. There are things more important in life than YOU. Than ME. No person is more important than WE.

Thank you to all those who have served this Country, and all those who have lost a family member who has served. We are forever in your debt.

Genius

I don't know if you enjoy oddball humor as much as I do, but if you do...watch this. Then watch every other video this guy has ever made or will make. He's not putting on an act, this is just who he is and He. Is. Awesome.

Love letter

Tonight I came home to find a love letter waiting for me by the laptop from my wife. Just what I needed. It's been a ridiculously fast paced week and we have barely been able to say two words to each other. She's a Mom, a teacher, a friend...but she's also my wife and I do miss her so. I really only get to see her on the weekends and it's truly just not enough. I miss talking to her about her day. I miss seeing her with the boys, all cuddled up on the couch before bedtime. I really miss kissing her, especially since the beard is an added hindrance along with the time crunch. I guess I really just miss all of her. Those of you who know us, know that I seriously married up, so a guy like me wants nothing more than to be with a woman like her.

Thank God for summertime. Two more days and I get to wake up with my wife every morning for a few months and give her long hugs and kisses before work each day. That's the good stuff right there.

I miss you and I love you too babe.

Last Game

Jake's last game was this morning. Not the last he'll ever play, just the last this season. Sadly, maybe the last with this group of kids though. The City of Phoenix decided to go ahead and cut out all youth sports for the rest of the year to save money so...yeah, there's that. I hope we can stay with Coach Jim and some of the kids as we all move into another league in the fall.

Anyhoo, the game was a blast and Jake played like he was going to get a trophy at the end, which well...he was, and he did. He is so dadgum proud of that trophy. You'd think he won MVP of the World Series.

Jake, I am so proud of you buddy. All of us had so much fun watching you play the game you love so much. I can't wait until next season when you and B get to play together. I'm sure you'll have all kinds of cool things to teach him. Love you son.

Mother's Day 2008

Wow. That was a long day. A good day, don't get me wrong, just a long one. The boys got us up early because to them, Mother's Day isn't about sleep. It's about getting up early and opening presents. Well, I can't blame them because they did make Cindy some really cool gifts at preschool last week. Makes me almost wish they would be in school for Father's Day so I could score the same coolness.

Anyway, after presents I made waffles with strawberries, powdered sugar, and syrup. Then after the boys (and Mommy) were stuffed we went to a park to feed some ducks and let the boys play on the playground. It was a hot day, but in the shade...nice. The boys had a great time and Jake would have been happy to just feed the ducks and geese all dadgum day.

Next we trucked it on over to Wal-Mart to buy a new pool for the outfield. Seems we only get one good summer out of those kiddie pools, but they are worth it anyway. We took it home and the boys swam, jumped, splashed and got a little color on those pearly white noggins.

Then, we all took a well earned nap. The boys didn't fight it one bit. They marched their little B-hinds right up to bed, blankets in hand. Awesome.

When we all got up, I grilled some ribeyes I'd marinated overnight, made some asparagus and Cindy baked some potatoes. You would have thought it was Father's Day. But nope, my girl likes some steak! The boys both liked it too...so much that Jake almost ate more than his Mommy. To top all that heaviness off, me and Brady made our famous bread pudding. He is quite the egg cracker/sugar scooper/bread ripper. Judging by his empty bowl I'd say he was pretty impressed with his skills as well.

So now, I am the only one awake in the house but not for long. Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommas out there. Goodnight.

Picture Day

We got up at 6:45 to go stand underneath some semi-shady pine trees and take Jake's T-Ball team pictures. Good thing he did so good in his game, or I might have fallen asleep on the bench.

Preschool Pizza Party 2008

Tuesday night was the annual Preschool Pizza party at our school. It was filled with lots of pizza, cake, and playing with friends. Jake and Brady's teachers do the most wonderful thing for each child. They make a book filled with pictures from the year for everyone to keep. I remember getting Jake's last year and looking at it over and over. The boys were very proud to give me their books.

First we looked at Brady's and it filled me with so much happiness. On the cover was a picture of him from his first day and a picture from about a week ago (end of the year). I couldn't stop smiling at my sweet, wonderful little boy on every page. No matter what he was doing in each picture, he had a true look of joy on his face. His teacher wrote captions about his creativity, his love for learning, what a great friend he is, and how smart he is. His first year of Preschool appeared to be as fun for him as it was for me! I am so proud of you, Brady!

Looking at Jake's was a little harder for me. On Jake's cover there were three pictures. One from his very first day of preschool last year, one from his first day this year, and his end of the year photo. My heart filled with so many emotions just looking at my boy from his very first day of school until now. He has grown so much in so many ways. I could hardly get through Jake's while I fought back the tears. Yes, I am a dork. But to think about Jake starting Kindergarten next year is just incredible and a little hard to believe. Jake's teacher us about how he has become a leader and a teacher for his friends. He is more confident and it really shows. The boy who hardly spoke in class last year, now gets up in front of the class to read things to everyone and share his ideas. Jake, I am so proud of you too. Thank you for not only be a good classmate to your brother this year, but for being such a good friend to everyone.

Boys, your Daddy and I were excited that you were going to be able to share this year of school together, and you made it more special than we could have imagined. Your teachers told us time and time again what a difference you two made this year with your friends. You made us so proud each time we heard that you were helping other kids make good choices and showing others how to be a good friend. Thank you for such a wonderful year.

**And thank you to Mrs. D., Mrs. H., Mrs. S., Mrs. H., and Mrs. B. for being the best Preschool teachers at the BEST Preschool EVER!!

TGIF on a Sunday