Team Daddy Storms the Park at Norma(vo)ndy

This morning, Kian woke us around 6AM, much to our chagrin - particularly Laura's, as she'd planned to sleep in a bit and let me handle the boys first thing. As usual, Kian would accept no substitutes to mommy's arms, so we both got out of bed. After a morning breakfast, I could see that Laura was really worn down, and needed to get back to sleep for a bit. After we'd eaten, I proposed to the boys that we, "go check out a new park and play, maybe even take a walk and explore some woods and trails."

Surprisingly, this was a well-received suggestion, so Team Daddy packed up some gear, some water and some snacks, and we headed over to Avon-Washington Township Community Park. The playground was recently overhauled, and I knew they had some decent trails we could walk, should the boys exhaust themselves on the new equipment. Turned out, we had no need to explore the trail system, as we blew through 2 hours invading and conquering the nice-sized playground area. Here are some pictures documenting our morning adventure...

We love the smell of recycled-tire mulch in the morning!

Our fearless commandos begin their assault by scaling the formidable rock wall barracading the grounds from outsiders!

SUCCESS! First obstacle cleared, Captain!

We will take no prisoners, and we will leave no jungle-gym unscathed!

Corporal Jackson, preparing his ascent to the command center. We wished him luck as he penetrated the enemy's enclave...

Crucial to any successful invasion is the commandeering of the enemy's livestock and pack animals. Our forces quickly gained the upper-hand with these hearty creatures.

Field Seargent Kian rejoicing over his mastery of the ever-elusive and powerful Cement Tortoise. Well done, soldier!

Sabotaging our foes' defense grid. This will prove to be a key maneuver in aiding our progress through their bunker!

The Field Seargent's lone weakness: being mesmerized by shiny circles. Advance, Seargent, before the enemy recuperates! THAT'S AN ORDER!

Corporal Jackson, proceeding with the mission statement, and overtaking a vital air command vehicle. Excellent work!

"OK, Captain...I'll make my descent down the orange evacuation tube, to ensure I neutralize any of the enemy's escapees!"

"FS Kian to Corp. Jackson, do you read, over? Rendezvous at the escape tube, I need back-up!"

"COPY THAT, SARGE! At the escape tube in T-minus 2 minutes."

"2 minutes, 15 seconds...DAMMIT, where is the Corporal!?!?!?"

"Rendezvous complete, Captain! I was side-tracked by a biological need! We're making our way down the evac tube, ASAP!"

"Ah ha...I LOVE it when a plan comes together!"

"These evac tubes do little for my complexion..."

"Jackson! I need you to shimmy yer narrow behind up this rope thing-a-majig and give me a report on our progress from the top of this apparatus. Survey the damage to-date, and let me know of any remaining hot spots!"

"Yes sir! Survey outpost scaled, the enemy is in full retreat!"

"By Jove, he's right...the front is finally quiet...maybe TOO quiet."

MISSION COMPLETE! The bridge is ours!

"Well done, men, well done. Time for a well-earned bit of field R&R. Fruit snacks and water for everyone! HUZZAH!!!"

Celebratory swinging and gravity-defiance commences in the wake of Team Daddy's complete and utter victory. Savor it boys, for wins this sweet come all-too-rarely.

That's right...we do, in fact, rule.

(K)

Not to Flog The Horse, But...

Laura's covered a lot of what we were going through with Jackson being away for a couple of days, but I wanted to just add a couple of quick thoughts.

First, this was not our first time away from Jackson for this amount of time - he'd spent a couple of consecutive days with Papaw and Nana Hop when we were in the hospital for Kian's birth. That was tough, but knowing he was pretty much just a phone call and a bit of a car ride away was comforting. Further, Tammy was awesome about bringing him up to visit, so it wasn't like he was away-away. Also, being the family traveller, I've spent a bunch (and, too much, probably) of time away from all of the family, but that also didn't have the impact this had on me.

Second, it sometimes feels a bit melodramatic to have gotten this worked up over him spending a few days with his Nana P, and the rest of his Jasper-based family. And, I don't want to give the impression that we'll never allow this to happen again - it's good for all of us for the boys to get used to being away and spending time forging their own personal relationships with our extended families; mom and dad just need to adjust to the reality. But, at the end of the day, who WOULDN'T want to maximize their time with these two amazing little people? I mean, they've taught me more about life in the nearly 5 years we've had them both in our lives than I learned in the previous 27 years of my own life. I feel like I truly enjoy each and every day that I'm alive now because I get to look forward to their hugs and kisses and words of love and actions of annoyance. The perspectives they bring to us about all the minutiae of life - the details that go unnoticed to the adult eye - allow our minds to engage in a healthy exercise of reverting back to the time when experience wasn't filtered through a sieve of jade. And, I've come to crave that every day. I need their insights, or else I feel my mind start to wither and harden with re-directed focus on the boring bullshit routine of the "adult world."

Anyway, Laura put it best in an email to me yesterday. She wrote, "What a great kid he is. I can't wait to see what life has in store for him next. He always keeps us entertained. I think that's what I enjoy the most about him. Let the journey continue..."

Let it continue, indeed...for both of these awesome little dudes.

(K)

He's Baaaaack!

We received a call yesterday morning on our drive in to work that Jackson was home sick and wanted to come home. Evidently he woke up a few times and said, "I love you Nana, but I really want my Mommy and Daddy." How sweet! So after dropping Kyle off, I headed down to meet them. I was able to get him to day care just before lunch. Man, he sure missed his friends and Michelle. He loved on her for a good while when we arrived and then dished out some luvin' for all of his friends. He kept saying he had a great time with Nana, but that he missed us and was happy to be home. On our drive home last night he said, "Mom, are you happy we are a family again?" Oh, how he knows how to melt our hearts.

Collectively, I think Kyle and I received about two hundred hugs and kisses from Jackson. I guess it takes being apart for a few days to remind you how special your children are to you. I missed him terribly and am so relieved and excited to have him back home. I know the time he spent with my mom will be forever "bemembered" by the two of them and we are very thankful for that. They both seemed to have enjoyed each other and overall had a great time. What a great experience for the two of them. From fishing to the library adventure and swimming to their blanket making, they seemed to have packed quite the punch into the 3 days they spent together. I'll have to get him to tell me a story or two to share with you on here. I'm sure we'll all enjoy them.

until next time...lc

"Are you going to cry?"

Unfortunately that's what I heard as Jackson was on his way out the door today. Rewind a bit...My mom came up for a visit this weekend. While eating breakfast Kian was clowning around like normal and making request after request. About that time I turned to Mom and asked if she wanted to take him home with her. She said that she wouldn't mind taking Jackson, but she would never get anything accomplished with Kian around. Thankfully Mom's on vacation this week. She was due to travel to Detroit with Katy for the week, but Jacob was sent as a replacement, leaving Mom with the week off. She agreed to take to Jackson back to Jasper with her until Thursday. Now if Katy makes it to the top 16, Mom is going to drive to Detroit to watch her finish up and at that time drop Jackson off in Indy. If not, we're going to meet her in Bloomington on Thursday.

Jackson, Mom and I ran a few errands around Indy this morning before the headed out. During a leg of our journey, Jackson said, "I'll be a little sad to not be with you Mommy, but I will have fun. Don't worry. It's OK if you cry. Are you going to cry just a little or a lot." I just about lost it right there. Of course, Kyle and I cried when he left, "just a little." We both know he's in good hands, but not having him around is a bummer. He's a great kid and we can't wait for him to come home. I just got a call that they've arrived safe and sound in Jasper. That was shortly followed by, "Where Jack at?" We know it will be hard on us, but poor Kian. They are together nearly 24/7. He's going to be lost without him.

Have a great time, Bubby and Nana!!!

until next time...lc

Oh, By the Way...

Laura reminded me this morning that there are a bunch more pictures from our day at the arch that were downloaded from our video camera. Our still camera's batteries died about 15 minutes after we got to the Arch Park.

Those pictures are in a different folder on our home computer, which is why I forgot them. I'll try to make an amended vacation post later this week.

(K)

Finally, Some Pictures from Vacation!

Man...you don't really comprehend what an undertaking putting together a few choice shots from a vacation is until you sit down to tackle it! I thought I'd never get things re-sized, cropped, and loaded to the blog - I don't see how photographers have the patience to do this regularly. And, with stressful deadlines looming over their heads!

Anyway, here are some pictures I selected from our vacation. There were a bunch more, but these were among my favorites. We start in St. Louis, and end at Holiday World. We also visited Cahokia Mounds together, and Laura and I spent a night in French Lick at the French Lick Casino and Resort. It was a great vacation, and I think everyone had a wonderful time! The boys did quite well, but we're still feeling the effects of the schedule variations between this trip, and this past weekend when they spent the night with Nana and Papaw Hop while mom and dad went to a wedding reception in Evansville.

Well, on with the show!

Early-morning view out of our hotel window in STL (this is actually the beginning of day 2 in STL, but it's a great way to start the pictures, I think!)

These next two are the sea lions that performed a little show for us at the STL Zoo. The first one is one of the 2 females that performed, and the second is the only male in the show.

What a GREAT zoo!!! Very big, lots of neat, in-depth exhibits, plenty of shaded areas, and VERY clean. We really enjoyed our day there...this is where we drove directly upon arriving to STL.

Laura and the boys in the stands for the sea lion show.

Here's Daddy being a little ornery with Jackson. He'd stopped to get a drink from a very differently-designed water fountain, and I decided to have a little fun at his expense. What you're not seeing, however, is the retribution he levelled at me afterward, soaking the entire bottom-half of my shirt!

These are pictures from the zoo's penguin and puffin exhibit. This was an amazing exhibit, in that the birds' water tanks were at eye-level with an adult, and they'd literally swim up to your face! There were even a couple of rock outcroppings above the glass separating the viewing area from the water, and a couple of birds were just chillin' on top of the rocks so that they were situated directly above your head if you were standing in the right spot. I was thoroughly impressed with this exhibit's design.

Kian expressing concern over polar bear escapism. I calmed him down by reminding him that the duck-and-cover technique thwarts 95% of all polar bear attacks in zoos.

Requisite zoo carousel shot. They're always SO jazzed to ride the carousel, it's great!

OK, beginning of day 2 (again) here. This is a shot of our hotel from across I-70, at the entrance to the Arch Park. We had a pretty harrowing crossing to make to get over to the park from the hotel!

Jackson and I at the base of the Arch. That's the awesome power of my aura reflecting off the metal, there, you know...

These next couple of shots were taken toward the end of the day, at Union Station. Our riverboat cruise, lunch at the Arch Landing Cafe, and bike rental for riding along the Riverfront Parkway were all kaiboshed by the uncooperative Mississippi River levels. The river had risen to the point that the entire Parkway was completely submerged, as was the entire infrastructure that leads out to the riverboat docs and the Cafe. Oh well, we're supposed to get refunded for that...in any event, we took the Metro up to Union Station and hung out there, then had dinner before riding the Metro back over to the Arch park area and walking back over to the hotel. Jackson saw this bungee/trampoline thing and just HAD to try it. I'll give it to the little guy, he showed no fear as he was jumping a good 30 - 40 feet in the air! He just wouldn't do any flips for us, which, was probably due more to not understanding what he needed to make his body do than being due to fright.

The rest of the pictures are selections from out day at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari. This was our second trip to the park as a family (the first since Kian's birth) and they've really put some effort into keeping it one of the best amusement parks I've ever visited. They've disallowed smoking in all but a few select places, which is a big bonus to families with little guys, and continue to have free drinks available throughout the park. Plus, free sunscreen in the water park, and just a very family-focused, kid-friendly series of rides and attractions make Holiday World a HIGHLY recommended stop for anyone with a family. Plus, there are more than enough adult- and older-child-themed attractions to make it enjoyable for a very wide range of attendees. If you've not been, and find yourself in need of a day or two (honestly, two days would be the ideal amount of time to spend here) of entertainment, check it out!

I don't have a lot of funny side-stories about the following pictures, except the one of Laura and Jackson making the pukey faces. That was their anticipatory expression while waiting on line for the Octopus ride, but it was probably more poking fun at Daddy, who CANNOT handle any ride that involves repetitious horizontal circles. Put me on the loopidy-loopiest crazy roller coaster in the world, and I'm fine - but you start spinning me in circles on the horizontal plane, and you'd better be ready to wear the latest meal in my stomach, cuz it's a-comin' up on ya.

You Know...Griswold and Campbell Are Both Names That Have 8 Letters In Them.

While the above statement is true, I'll never EVER hold a candle to the family patriarch that is Clark W. Griswold. The man could plan a vacation, and follow through on his promises to lead the family on a quest for fun wherein everyone had so much fun they needed plastic surgery to remove their godd**n smiles - I don't know if I could make such claims on our vacations. But, we've had a great time thus far, and have one more excursion to make today, to Holiday World.

I was trying to get a synopsis out of Jackson, but he's currently more interested in playing with the boat-car he found in Nana's stash of toys. So, just a quick check-in from Jasper from us to say we're having fun and doing well. Lots of pictures and stories are on their way once we're home and recovered!

(K)

It's So Awesome That Summer's Finally Here!

I don't know about any of the rest of you, but we're absolutely ecstatic that the weather's warmer, the days are longer, and we're all 1000 times more active together, as a family. It's always so amazing how much more energy we all have with the transition from winter, to spring and finally, to summer.

Nearly every night during the week, we're out walking the neighborhood, playing at the park, and exploring our surrounding communities on our bikes, on our rollerblades (well, that's Laura on the blades, actually) and in our strollers. The weekends are even more stacked with outdoor activities, and we're really looking forward to cousin Dylan's birthday party this weekend out at Splash Island in Plainfield.

Until we actually get into a pool, we've let the boys beat the heat the old school way: by running through our sprinkler. Actually, they also had an afternoon playing in our next-door neighbor's little Wacky Worm spraying toy that you hook up to a hose, as well, but we got the pictures and video in this post the day they were running around in our yard...

We (more specifically, Jackson and I) got a little ornery after the boys had played for a little while, and decided to trick the most innocent, naive one in the family: Poor Kian...

Now, this video I'm uploading here will probably mark the beginning of the end of any kind of long-term love and affection Jackson's going to hold for dear old dad, but I'm willing to risk that to display to everyone the personification of hilarity that is our son. WATCH THIS DANCE!!!

As Laura mentioned below, we're off to vacation next week. We're trying to stay relatively off-the-grid, so we'll try to post a big blow-out update with pics and vids from our week away from Indy.

(K)

George Romero Stopped By, Made Us Smoothies, and Zombified Kian!

Laura's found this REEEEAAAALLLY kick ass smoothie recipe, and she whipped some up for all of us a couple of weeks ago. As you'll see below, Kian was, what you might call "a fan" of the smoothie - as were we all. This progression of photos, though, just made me see him like some little flesh-and-brain smoothie-drinking little zombie, ala Day Of The Dead or some such thing.

"Hmm, wow Mommy, this drink is sooo good! What's in it?"

"Ummmm...what's that you say? The flesh of the dead?!?!? In my drink?

"OH MAAAN! Oh, Mom, Dad, I don't feel so good. I'm getting...cold...sooooo cooollllllld....WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?!?!?"

"I...I feel...I feel it all...it's all just, just...slipping awaaaaayyyy. Bubby...Bubby! Jackson...you, you take my toys....take them, I know you'll put them to good use."

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH....AAAAAAMMMMMM...I ACCEPT WHAT I'VE BECOME. DADDY, COME HERE...COME HERE, I CAN SMELL YOUR BRAINS!"

(K)

Blog Hiatus

We've been too preoccupied for a while and have neglected our blog. Believe me, it's not an intention of mine. I suppose since it's getting so nice out, we find ourselves spending more time outdoors and neglecting things indoors including this blog. Last weekend we decided to dust off the tent we received for our wedding shower that has never been used and pitched it in the back yard. Oh, what fun we had with that. Sadly it was dismantled Sunday evening awaiting the next opportunity to be used. Maybe we'll get around to it again this summer. I'm sure it won't be another 7 years. We're also getting ready to go on vacation in a couple of weeks. The day care is out for the week of June 15th, so we're packing up and hitting the open road. I'll post a vacation summary when I get time....hopefully before we actually go on vacation.


until next time...lc