Hold you me!

That's what the Tornado always says when he wants you to pick him up. He's got tons of other great ways of saying things, like "Please you..." whenever he wants you to do something for him. All of his drawings are "his masterpieces". He lives in "Flordida". My favorite is "You my best friend." "I get it, I get it" with the hand held out at you, eyes closed and head nodding. When Cooper needs to go out, he announces "DOG AT DOOR!!!" "You don't turn the light off on the people" when he's in the closet picking out a tshirt. "That's an accident" after doing something to agitate his sisters.

There are many more that I can't recall at the moment - but as O called him when he was just a year old, he's "The Happy Machine". He brings joy to many people, and for that I am thankful.

IS SANTA REAL??

The question finally came 10 days ago. It was after basketball, and O was getting ready for bed. She had been asking about getting a cell phone, and I had been telling her no. I asked her "if Santa doesn't bring you a cell phone, what would you like for Christmas?" She responded, "I know it's you and Mom." I tried to act like I didn't know what she was talking about, then she added "it's OK Daddy, I've know for a while". I asked her how she knew and she mentioned some time about me saying how much it would cost to replace a present that Santa had brought.

She started to tear up, and then so did I. We talked about growing up, about how some of the magical things in life suddenly don't seem as magical anymore. Like Santa Claus, like the Tooth Fairy, like having a baby. We talked about Morgan dying and how that was a "grown up" thing to deal with. I told her that she'll be facing some disappointments as she gets older, like finding out about Santa, but there are other things that will be magical in a more grown up way. As she was crying, I told her that it's still fun to enjoy Christmas, and believe in the idea of Santa, and the Tooth Fairy. It's fun to imagine that magical things can happen, because sometimes they do.

We talked about not trying to grow up too fast, to enjoy the now. Of course it's natural to be looking forward, to driving, to boys, to high school, whatever. But enjoy being 10, feeling free to be silly. She is the serious one of the kids, and I just don't want her to rush herself through a lot of good times.

It'll be a great Christmas, as we talked about watching The Tornado and Bear still believe, and seeing Christmas from a different vantage point. So yes O, Santa is real, and he loves you very much!

RAYS PARTY!

So Sunday we headed back up to St. Pete for a Rays game against the Blue Jays. The Rays are hanging on the fringes of the playoff race, about 4 games out of the Wild Card, and need every win they can get. With two outs in the bottom of the 8th, tied at 1, Maddon sends up Greg Zaun to pinch hit. After working the count full, Zaun launches a fastball deep to right, two rows deep for a grand slam!! FEEL THE HEAT RAYS!! The Rays went on to the 5-2 victory, and kept hopes alive for another day.

After the game, the kids got to hit wiffle balls out in left field for the first time, as usually they decide to run the bases. Then we headed to Ybor City in Tampa for the season ticket holders party at GameWorks.

WOW! What a great night. 14 of the players came to the party: Matt Garza, James Shields, David Price, Jeff Niemann, Scott Kazmir, Ben Zobrist, Jason Bartlett, BJ Upton, Gabe Gross, Gabe Kapler, JP Howell, Lance Cormier, Grant Balfour and Dioner Navarro. We had been expecting a couple to show, but it was cool to see so many of them make it. The kids got lots of autographs, and pictures with about 10 of the players (David Price shown above). The food was great, the kids loved the chocolate fountain, they all got to play some games too. The Bear got a "big head" picture done of herself (a caricature), which she is something she has always wanted...who knew?? They also had a green screen picture thing that allowed us all to be put into a shot of a home plate celebration after a Longoria walk off homer against the Red Sox. The picture is pretty funny.

But the definite highlight was the kids getting to meet the players. Most of the players were very easy to walk up to and ask for a picture, or talk with them for a bit. For the most part they seemed very down to earth and genuinely friendly, which was great to see. It makes them so much more likeable and easy to root for. Scott Kazmir and Ben Zobrist were my favorites, as they seemed very humble, and interested in being there with the fans. We were able to get some really great shots with the players and kids together, a nice memory for them down the road. BJ Upton was someone the girls really wanted to get a pic with, but he was just swamped by people. He moved from one part of the room to the other with a swarm of people moving with his every step. The girls tried to get into the swarm and get an autograph, but the adults were pushing and shoving, and the Bear got jostled pretty good. He left, and the Bear was pretty disappointed, but got over it.

It was a great night all around, and a wonderful job by the Rays and the players to do something nice for their biggest supporters. Go Rays!

First Day of School

Monday was the first day of school for O and Bear.

O is entering 5th grade and Bear the 3rd grade. Bear has the same teacher O had last year, and O has her religion teacher from 3rd grade. The introductory meeting with the teacher for O was pretty interesting as she seems very stern. O came home on Monday and said "I think I'm gonna like her a lot, she's very organized." That's my O!

The Bear also liked her teacher. Bear is much different than O, she needs to be treated with kid gloves. O likes the more firm disciplinarian, while the Bear likes the softer, gentler leader. So Bear says,"I like her, she says things like schtuff". Bear is too funny, she likes that she can laugh with the teacher.

So the first couple days have gone well. Bear moved up to neon orange in AR, she's cruising right along. O, I don't know if she even has a color anymore. She's such a wonderful reader, and enjoys it so much she just cruises through her assignments. Hopefully they will both continue to do well, I'm sure they will.

Tornado, quite a shock how he's responded to not having his sisters around. I figured he would miss them terribly, but he really hasn't. Seems as though he's more than happy to have his Daddy time back. We've been building marble towers, reading, playing on the computer and playing in the yard. I just want to make sure I enjoy as much of this last year with him as possible.

Let Them Be Little

Thursday was a life changing day for The Big O. She's a little late to the "tooth fairy isn't real" party, OK really late. As far as we know, she still believes in Santa too. That's one of the great things about O, she allows herself to believe the unbelievable, to dream about the unimaginable. She's always been that way, she thinks about how things can happen, most of us think about why things can't or won't happen. I absolutely love that about her.

But she just learned that the tooth fairy doesn't really exist. To understand how much this devastated her, you have to understand that the Tooth Fairy was her pen pal for almost 3 years. She told the TF things she wouldn't tell Mom and Dad. She shared school stories, "crushes", feelings of joy and disappointment. To find out that this being didn't exist, well, I think it's going to be less upsetting when she soon finds out about Santa. This was a friend who wasn't there anymore.

But The CEO discussed it with her, told her how we saved all of her letters, and our responses, and she was pretty excited by this. in fact, she told The Bear she could now be pen pals with the TF as O was almost out of teeth. Then she asked if she could help writing the letters to Bear and Tornado. Of course we said sure.

After this talk, the CEO sensed an opportunity. The Birds and the Bees. It was time. So they discussed it, and O's response was "so Daddy had to do that to you?? Disgusting." In the morning I mentioned it in passing, and she said she didn't want to talk about it with me really. Which is fine. So now she's a little more informed, and a little less a little girl, a little more young lady.

I decided to write this blog because I thought this might be a year of changes. This wasn't one of the ones I had in mind. Sure, I knew it was coming, probably like O sensed the Tooth Fairy and Santa weren't real. But when it hits you, when the reality is staring you in the face, it's pretty jarring. Wasn't it just yesterday we were learning to ride a bike? Heck, learning to walk? Laying in the bed at Gateway with Oreo cookie all over her face laughing so hard the bed shook?

I see her getting older and it makes me so sad and happy and excited all at once. I think about what was, what is, and what will be. Whatever the time, I'll love her all the same.

Settling Back In

We've been back for a week and a half now, and O arrived last night. So the summer vacations are all over, and it's back to the regular schedule.

We had a nice week getting back into the routine at home, as the Bear and Tornado spent some time playing on the computer and playing outside. The CEO was giving Tornado some grief about how to do something two nights ago. He throws his hand up, as if he's telling her to stop and says "I get it Mom, I get it". Pretty good stuff.

They both had their basketball practices, and he is really enjoying those. He started crying the day after his practice because he thought his "game was this day", which it wasn't. Bear keeps getting better, she's so quick when she wants to be. It'll be fun watching her improve as she gets older.

We went up to a couple Rays games on Sunday and Monday. James Shields lost a no hitter in the 8th on Sunday. I've never seen a no-no before, and that was the longest I've ever see one go in person. In the bottom of the 7th, I look over at the CEO and say "are you aware of what is going on here?" She glances over at me, gives an eye roll and says no. I look towards the scoreboard, she looks at it and says OOOOOHHHH. Unfortunately, he gave up a hit to the leadoff guy and the magic was over. They went on to lose the game 4-1, ugh.

Bear, Tornado and I went back up to see Kazmir vs Greinke on Monday. The Rays went bananas and pounded the Royals for a nice win. After the game we were talking to Mrs. Martha, another season ticket holder who has fallen for Tornado. Her husband asked the Bear when O was coming home and Bear told him Tuesday. Then he asked if she was excited, and she said "Yes" emphatically. He said "Really?" She smiled and said yes again. She loves her sister, and boy did she miss her.

So now O is back, we were back out on the driveway working on the hoops games Tuesday. We went to get O's school shoes, and hopped over to Sports Authority for some athletic shoes for the Bear. She informed me as she was whining "I don't like shoe shopping", and I replied "Guess how much I love it!!". After a while of back and forth on a pair of shoes that most definitely fit, she informs me that "they fit great but they aren't comfortable." Oh boy. Well, we got them anyway, and headed out of the store. I'm sure there will be some good times ahead with these shoes :)

We'rrrreeeee Baaaaaack

The family arrived back in town on Sat. the 25th. 3000 miles of driving up and back the east coast always makes for big fun. We spent a little over a week in the Poconos, and the trip is detailed below. ENJOY!


July 14th - Tornado, Big O, Cooper and I hit the streets about 9am. It's Cooper's first road trip, so it takes him a couple hours to settle in. Overall, the day goes great and we arrive in Pooler Georgia around 4:30. We check into the hotel, take the dog for a walk, then head to the pool. After some splashing around in the pool, we grabbed some pizza at Lovezzolla's next door. This was the night of the all-star game, so we all tuned in to watch. During President Obama's appearance in the broadcast booth during a lengthy half inning, Big O says "Is this a talk show or the All-Star Game?" The girl loves her baseball! About mid-game everyone had fallen asleep getting ready for a long day ahead. All in all it was a pretty relaxing day 1...the next day...not so much.


July 15th - Ugh. We had planned on getting to my sister's house in Silver Spring Maryland around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. That would have required us to get on the road by 7 or so. Well, between taking forever to get the dog to go to the bathroom, making waffles in the breakfast area, getting gas, loading the dog crate, etc. etc, we didn't get on the road until well after 8. As I looked for a place to stop for lunch, the Tornado announces he has to go to the bathroom. Traffic had started to back up on 95, and in the middle of NC, there isn't an exit every other mile, so I knew we were in trouble. I finally find an exit and rush into the Wendy's parking lot, jump out of the car and whip open the door next to the Tornado's seat. Unfortunately, I was too late. The seat was soaked, as were his pants and shirt (the bottom half). I take him out of the car and instruct O to walk Cooper around the grass surrounding the parking lot. The Tornado gets his clothes off and decides he still needs to go! So BOOM! Here he is in the Wendy's parking lot, totally naked, holding himself and peeing!

Everyone, including me, decides that Wendy's isn't where we want to eat for lunch and head back onto 95. As soon as we get back on, the traffic comes to a halt. We pull off at the next exit and decide that we'll get chik fil a for lunch. Sadly, it turns out the chik fil a is almost 5 miles from the exit ("only 3 lights from 95"!!) We get our lunch and head back out. "I need to go poooooooooopies". AAAAAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHHH! We stop once again in the general Raleigh area at one of the strangest places I've ever seen. It was a multi-stall co-ed bathroom! O was mortified by this development, as there was another man in the room while we were there. She decided to wait. Meanwhile, Tornado is again taking his clothes off since he can't sit on the toilet with his pants on for some reason. Another 20 minutes down the tubes so to speak, and off we go.

But not too fast as the traffic is still ridiculous. 3 hours and 30 miles later we finally escape the Raleigh area. We manage to drive a couple more hours before entering the Gates of Hell, otherwise known as the Northern Virginia/DC corridor of 95. I call my sister and tell her we are "close" but probably still far away. We pull up to my sister's place around 7:30 - and filled with excitement Cooper starts to relieve himself in the car. Luckily I had blankets and towels all over the car so there was no damage to the car. The kids smell, the car smells, the dog smells, I smell, but at least we are there. I'm amazed at how well the kids did in the car. O liked watching the movies, but Tornado just likes "looking at the cars and trucks go by". No whining, no arguing..rather helping each other, some laughs along the way. One more day to go.


July 16th - We all got up at my sisters house had some breakfast and headed down to Sligo Creek. The kids love going down to the creek and playing in the water and on the rocks. It's some good ol' fashioned fun. We went back to the house had some lunch and we were on our way. Four and a half hours later we are in the Poconos, and everyone is excited! The long trip was over and it was time for fun.


July 17th - Not much happened this day, I was exhausted and just wanted to hang out in the house. I flipped back and forth from one side to the other on the couch, watching the British Open. The kids went outside and pretended they were riding horses in the woods, played horseshoes, went to the pool, just kind of a lazy day. Big day tomorrow.



July 18th - The CEO is due in town around noon, me and the kids are going to Allentown to pick her up. We grab her and head to the suburbs of the Big Apple to see some close friends. They have 3 kids, all a little younger than ours, but 2 girls and a boy. Driving through the NYC was brutal, and we arrived a little late. But once there, all the kids were playing together and having fun. It's always great to see how kids, who really don't know each other at all, can just jump in and play together without any hang ups. One of the many beautiful aspects of children. The visit gives my buddy and I some time to plan our baseball trip this fall, hammer out a roto baseball trade (I got killed as it turns out), and play with the kids. We take off around 9 and get back to the Poconos exhausted about 11 and hit the sack. Great day.

July 19th - Sunday was going to be a day for the CEO to rest a little, I was going to watch Tom Watson at age 59 try to win the British Open and the kids were going to play around the house. We lounged around in the morning, as Watson missed a putt on 18 that cost him the title. He went on to lose in a playoff, and we went on to see the new Harry Potter movie at Split Rock. Yikes - was that bad. The girls seemed to enjoy it, but man, I fell asleep once, went for more popcorn once, tried checking baseball scores on the phone (no service), basically anything but watch the movie as there was next to nothing to hold your attention. With HP mercifully over, it was back to the house for some horseshoes (Bear and I beat O and CEO). Then we settled down for the night with a couple games of chinese checkers and Yahtzee!

July 20th - Monday the wife and I drove to the Lehigh Valley Gorge for a bike ride then to Jim Thorpe for lunch. The bike ride was wonderful, it was a spectacular day - and what's better than a day with my wife! (answer - nothing). We rode about 7 miles, not a long ride, but we took it slow. Then we walked over to the cave that is by the river, which is really cool. The CEO had not seen it before, she thought it was neat too. We drove the couple miles to Jim Thorpe to walk around and have some lunch. We had lunch at the Molly Maguire restaurant. Pretty decent, we ate outside on a 2nd story deck, it was nice. Unfortunately many of the shops were closed, so there weren't as many places to visit as we expected. But like I said above, I got to spend the whole day with my wife, so it was a wonderful day all around.

July 21st - Honestly, I forget what the heck we did this day. I'm sure it was fun. I do know we roasted marshmellows outside and made s'mores at night - hmmmmm s'mores. Oh wait - I just remembered - we went to Boulder Field. This awesome collection of giant boulders that we visit every time we come up. It is larger, much larger than a football field, of nothing but boulders. It takes about 30 minutes to cross with the kids, and this time with Cooper. There are blueberry bushes at the other end that the kids like to pick. Unfortunately this day the blueberries hadn't ripened yet, so there was no loot to haul out. But the kids and parents still enjoyed it, and Cooper was shot by the end of the morning.

July 22nd - Wednesday was Knoebels day. This is an old fashioned type amusement park that is about an hour from Grandma and Grandpa's house. We head out there in the afternoon and let the kids loose. Tornado went absolutely nuts. He ran from ride to ride, huge smile on his face, exclaiming "I wanna do that one!" over and over. O likes doing the larger rides, and I went on one of the old style wooden coasters they have. You get the feeling your life is about to end because of the noise the wooden coasters make, but it is a fantastic ride. She did many other of the bigger rides, mostly on her own. She rode one thing over and over, spinning fast, bouncing up and down, I could barely watch it. The Bear likes the calmer rides, but she seemed a little preoccupied for some reason, until the Ferris Wheel.

This was the last ride of the day, and was the only ride the five of us went on together. As we were going up the first time Bear says "I've never been on a ferris wheel before" with an ear to ear smile. She liked this one. As the workers are loading people at the bottom, and we are near the top, Tornado announces he "needs to go paaaaaaattttteeeeeee" and starts bouncing in his seat. We try to convince him he can hold it, but he thinks otherwise. The CEO makes a decision that he can go in the extra shirt we were holding for him in case he got cold instead of going in his pants. She tells him to take his pants off, on the ferris wheel, and to go into the shirt. Being three, and not yet a great shot, he does it as best he can, but it starts spraying all over the cart we were in. The girls found this to be beyond hilarious and were laughing hysterically, which in turn caused him to begin laughing, which caused his already questionable aim to deteriorate even further. We all got a good belly laugh, and when we departed the cart (we wiped it up) I had to laugh as he was leaving footprints on the exit ramp.

July 23rd - Our last day in the Poconos, and I decided that we should go to Bushkill Falls for a hike. we had not been there before, heard my Uncle had proposed to my aunt there 50+ years ago, and heard it was a nice place for a day outdoors. we took Cooper, and GMA decided to come too. Once there we decided on the long route - which was about 2 and a half miles. Midway through we found out that we went in the more difficult direction causing us to have to do more climbing. It was fantastic though! The falls were beautiful and the hike was great. All the kids were fantastic, Cooper climbed without problems, and GMA held up well too, was proud of her.

It took us about 3 hours to make it all the way around, and a great 3 hours it was. The kids even got to "mine for gems" and came away with some goodies there.

July 24th - Today we hit the road and leave O behind with GMA and GPA. We took off at about 7:15 in the morning. Oh, I forget to mention that the A/C in the car stopped working the day before, so were heading back without it. No problems making our way through PA and the northern part of Maryland. You know it's coming though. You can't avoid it. You pray it won't be there but it is...the ramp onto 95 in Northern Virginia. Words cannot describe how awful this part of any drive is. I cannot ever remember driving through this 15 miles stretch without cursing everyone and everything in sight. This time was no different. There we sat, barely moving, passing a sign that reads "Speed Limit 65", and I laughed out loud. The windows are down, exhaust fumes from the large trucks filling the car, dog panting, it's reading 94 on the car thermometer, good times. If only we knew just how good. A few minutes later, Tornado gets a "my belly hurts" out just in time to say he let us know before he vomited all over himself. Out of wipes? Check. Out of trash bags? Check. Out of towels or napkins even? Check. The CEO hops in the back to clean him up the best she can before we get to a stopping place. But alas, with us going less than 5 miles an hour, and a flashing sign reading "expect delays...next 14 miles", who knows when we will get there. Finally we find an exit with a gas station about an hour later, get some water and stuff to clean him up, then back onto the parking lot that is 95.

The plan was to head to UR and have lunch on campus. The 2-3 delay had us wavering, but I decided i was not going to let the miserable part of the trip ruing the good part. So we stopped at the Ukrops down the street from campus and got some more cleanup supplies and lunch and made our way to UR. As always campus was beautiful. Lots of construction going on, building the new football stadium and more residence halls/academic buildings. We ate lunch and walked a round a little. I went and checked out Freeman Hall where I spent 3 wonderful years. It was locked and thus couldn't get in to see the old rooms - kinda bummed out by that, but oh well. We walked down to the commons, showed the Bear the bench where the CEO and I discussed gettin' serious, and Boatwright Beach where I lazied many a day away. A stop at the bookstore for some goodies, a chat with a prospective and her Mom, and we were back in the car and on our way.

We found our resting point in Fayetteville, NC. Finally. Got some chow at the Cracker Barrel next door to the hotel and of to sleep. What a day.

July 25th - ON the road by 7:30, staring down a 12 hour drive with no A/C. But wait! The travel gods were with us as the A/C started working sporadically, which was enough to be able to keep the windows shut and keep the fumes out. Today was much less eventful, no vomit, no traffic, all good. We make it home just before 8, and the trip is officially over. It was another great trip to the Northeast, even if there were some pitfalls, but those are to be expected. We made it up and back safely, had lots of laughs while we were there. One of the things I like the most about the road trips is that we all really get to spend some time together. Life is so hectic, everyone so busy that we rarely get to share time together, all enjoying the same thing. We are blessed to be able to have that time together, and for that I am very thankful. I've got some ideas for a road trip for next summer, but those plans are for another time...