Oh What a Weekend - Part III

I survived the first part of the weekend and was awoken Sunday morning by a mob of kids who could hardly wait to show me their handmade Father's Day gift (that Julie somehow managed to get done during the madness of Friday and Saturday). In a matter of seconds my bed went from a heavenly cocoon of hibernation to a tangled mess of bed sheets and tiny ice cold hands and feet. After graciously accepting my ceremonial offering I promptly kicked everyone the hell out of my room so I could grab a few more precious moments of sleep on this third and final day of fatherly féting.

Sunday was the more traditional Father's Day celebration of beer, barbecue and backyard football.

Fathers of the day. Some old. Some new.

Truman giving Uncle Kip a lesson in perseverance.

Aunt Hannah, incubating her own Father's Day gift.

Pregnant women love public displays of affection caught on camera.

Eliana enjoying her final days as grandma's only grand-baby.

Grandpa with his only (as far as we know right now) granddaughters.

Another long, fulfilling Father's Day weekend in the bag. We should do this again sometime.

Oh What a Weekend - Part II

And now the continuation of Father's Day weekend...

Saturday morning was dedicated to Jameson. As some of you may know, he has a certain interest in science and dreams of one day being a famous scientist/inventor. When he was very young, Julie introduced him to the tale of the Wright brothers and the invention of the first airplane. He's been captivated by their story ever since. As it just so happens, our hometown is also the hometown of Orville and Wilbur Wright. This is one of the reasons Jameson is so intrigued by them. He loves the idea that one of the most important inventions in human history was created in the city where he was born - it gives credence to his belief that he will also one day invent great things.

Another thing that Jameson loves is old time photographs of Dayton. He thinks things looked so much grander a century ago and hopes that our city will one day recapture that distinguished look.

Knowing these things, I thought the perfect outing for us would be a tour of the Wright mansion on Hawthorne Hill. Jameson agreed. Hawthorne Hill is the home that the Wright brothers (and sister) built after they became filthy rich inventing the airplane. I never realized it, but their mansion is actually in walking distance of the tiny home in which I grew up. How sad is my local historical knowledge!?

And now for a little Wright brothers history for you. Wilbur Wright never lived at Hawthorne Hill. He died just before it was completed. Orville, however, lived there until he died. The brothers grew up in a modest home and built the mansion after making a boat load of money from their various patents related to flying and from the airplane company they started. There were actually seven Wright children, including a set of twins that did not live very long. Their sister Catherine talked them into building the place out in the "country" outside of downtown Dayton in the area that is now the City of Oakwood. All kinds of wealthy people from Dayton's history built homes in the same area. As celebrities of their time, the Wrights hosted all kinds of famous people in their home including Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh. The house is symmetrical from front to back and side to side. It looks the same whether you're approaching up the hill in front or coming up the driveway in back. After Orville Wright died the home was bought by the National Cash Register (NCR) corporation and was used as a guesthouse that has welcomed all sorts of important folks like visiting presidents, including both Bushes. While not all the current furnishings are original to Orville's time, NCR had the sense to thoroughly photograph every room in the house to preserve a detailed record of Orville's home. The Wright family currently owns the property and still hosts functions there.

Now don't you feel smarter?

As for the tour, Jameson and I both loved it. Nothing in the house is off limits, except for Orville's study. You can view it, but you can't walk through it. It's also the only room in the house where nothing has been moved since Orville lived there. The rest of the members of the tour group were adults and I think Jameson felt special being the only kid there that day. He was great, of course, asking questions and paying attention the whole time. He was a little quiet at first and was surprised at the size of the place (over 6,000 square feet). Jameson loved the stories about Orville that the guide shared in each room we visited. After the tour we decided to locate the Wright brothers burial plot at the unbelievably gorgeous Woodland Cemetery.

Jameson was expecting something much, much smaller.

This is the original table at which Orville Wright would have sat for dinner.

Orville's study is the only room in the home that remains unaltered from when he lived there.

Jameson contemplating the flying car he's going to invent.

The Wright family headstone at Woodland Cemetery.

After Jameson and I finished our tour, a cemetery hunt and lunch at Milano's, it was time for some father-son fun with Truman. Our activity: bowling. Truman is always entertaining in one-on-one situations. In many ways, he's the quietest and most independent of all of our kids, so it's always interesting to spend time with him without his siblings around. Much like Amelia was with the pool, Truman was incredibly stoked to be headed to the bowling alley with dad. Of course, he made dozens of observations along the way, and, of course, I cannot recall any of them at the moment.

Truman insisted that he did not need any help. Which was true.

Truman's unique form.

Truman celebrated every throw. No matter what.

Stop getting so old, T-man!

Kid sized bowling shoes are always cute.

What bowling trip is complete without alley junk food?

I'm not sure Truman wanted to leave the bowling alley, but after a couple of games it was time to go. Day two of Father's Day weekend wasn't over, though. I was sending Julie off to a Lindsey Buckingham concert which meant I was home alone with the kids. Which meant I was home alone with Miss Eliana at bedtime. Which meant Eliana and I were staying up late watching action movies.

Eliana didn't miss mom one bit. (At least that's what I keep telling Julie.)

Stay tuned to the exciting conclusion of Father's Day weekend 2012.

Oh What a Weekend - Part I

I don't know how many more Father's Days I can survive. I'm exhausted. Totally wiped out. This year's extravaganza lasted three days. Continuing the tradition from last year, I spent time with each of the kids in a one-on-one activity. This year, though, it took two days to squeeze it all in. (Julie, being the awesome wife that she is, took the day off of work on Friday to help make this all possible.) In addition to the kids activities, I played nine holes of golf on Friday morning, we checked out the community restaurant showcase for dinner one night, made it halfway through a tee ball game before getting rained out and went to my sister's house for a final Father's Day cookout.

The individual time with the kids was, as expected, awesome. In a house with five kids, big blocks of one-on-one time can be hard to come by. I do little things with each of the kids all the time, but I like the idea of dedicating a couple hours of Father's Day to each one of them. It let's us slow down and connect on a different level. Their individual personalities come shining through. It gives me a chance to bask in my fatherliness. Also, during that individual time I'm always sadly reminded of how old they're getting -- which adds all the more value to our Father's Day outings.

First up again this year: Darwin. I suggested some activities that I thought were surefire fun times for two-year olds, but I was repeatedly shot down. There was only one thing Darwin wanted to do and that was go to the grocery store. Seriously. His mind was made up. We go to the grocery store every week, so I was surprised that this was his dad activity of choice. With a little digging, though, his plans made more sense. What he really wanted to do was to go to the grocery store and push one of the kid sized grocery carts.  Duh! This is an activity he's seen his older siblings enjoy on countless occasions but one that he's been denied when we shop as a family. With grocery list in hand, we headed off on his big boy trip to the store.

When Jameson was little, I would make him little visually aided grocery lists.
I think this is the first time I ever did it for Darwin. He loved it.

When we got in the car, Darwin modified our plans and suggested we stop for coffee first.
Sounded good to me.

While we were there, we met a girl who was cross-stitching a painting of a Paris landmark.
She said it was going to take FOUR YEARS to complete. That's dedication.

I added another detour and insisted on stopping for lunch before grocery shopping.
We made an inaugural visit to the 'Boro Bistro. It turns out it's owned by someone who played soccer with my sister-in-law.
And it also turns out they make the best chipotle chicken sandwich I have EVER eaten.

I think this may have been the greatest moment of Darwin's life up until now.

Darwin received many compliments on his shopping skills. And his curls.

I guess even grocery shopping is an adventure to a two-year old.

The next event of the weekend was daddy-daughter swimming with Amelia. She was, um, a little excited. She couldn't stop running around the house before we left. And she could barely speak when we got to the pool. And, as fate would have it, we were THE ONLY people at the children's pool. With the pool to ourselves, I was even brave enough to swim with my camera.

Surveying the undisturbed children's area.

This was definitely the appropriate activity choice for Amelia.

NOT TOO CLOSE TO MY CAMERA!!!

As with everything else, Amelia is fearless in the water.

We finished off Friday with a "Taste of" celebration in our town.
That was a hectic trip. But the food was delicious. And ice cream never hurts.

The Darwin-fro never quits.

Father's Weekend

We're getting the party started early this year. I get the day off. For real. It's me and each of the kids, one-on-one, for the whole day. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to share on Monday.

The Day of the Fathers

My Father's Day gift came on Saturday this year. (Sunday will be for the cards, cologne and cookouts.) The truly awesome gift I got, facilitated by one exceptional (and very pregnant) wife, was extra time spent with each of my kids, one on one.

Darwin and I kicked off the day with a trip downtown for breakfast at the farmers market. After that, Amelia and I hit the bookstore, went shopping for some newborn clothes for Baby Tiny and then took a park stroll. Next, I whisked Truman off to the library to read a dozen or so books and participate in weekend craft time. Lastly, Jameson and I hit the preeminent miniature golf course in southwest Ohio for a round of 18. All this with dinner waiting on the table when I got home.

Yeah, we ate sandwiches that were bigger than our heads.

There was no doubt that some of Amelia's time with Dad would be spent outdoors.

I love you, Dad, but please STOP taking pictures.

Jameson's second hole-in-one for the day.

If a statue is looking off into the distance,
you must take a picture of yourself imitating said statue.
No exceptions.

Thank Heaven for the Park

Life can be stressful.  Especially with four young kids.  Especially when you're trying to build a new house.  Especially when you're living with your in-laws.  Especially when you're a stay at home parent.

In reality, these are very good circumstances in which to find oneself.  But it can be stressful nonetheless.

There is, however, one place where all that stress disappears.  The park.

Specifically, the park near our current, temporary residence.  It has become my sanctuary.  At the park, there are no toys to fight over.  There are no meals to prepare.  There are no bills to pay.  There are no towering piles of laundry.  There are no decisions to be made.  There are no in-laws to bump elbows with.  There are no rivalries.  There are no confines.

But there is a bench where I can actually sit down for more than a minute at a time.  It's heaven.

And it's where I chose to spend Fathers Day this year.

Why Don't I Own this Already?

OK, let's forget the neckties and cologne this year and get us dads something we can really use.  Like beer holsters.  With freakin' leg straps.  Actually, get me two -- one for each leg.  However, if you insist on getting me something on the more sensible and practical side (Mom) I could always go for a magnetic wristband -- the perfect companion for hanging new blinds on all your windows.  And while the last time I actually needed to wear cufflinks was at my own wedding, if I did indeed need to sport some again, I think I would go with something out of this collection.  With a pair of locket cufflinks I'd have just enough photo spots for each of my four kids.

All these non-lame Father's Day gifts and more are brought to you today by the fine folks over at RedEnvelope.  If you were planning on buying anything with "#1 Dad" silk screened on it, I suggest you visit their website instead.

Amusement Park Recap

There are definitely some major benefits to being a stay-at-home-dad. Jameson and I got to run off to an amusement park on a whim. No "vacation time" to use up. No meetings and schedules to rearrange. No checking a BlackBerry the whole time. I could get used to this.

So the MIL came to the house and watched the twins. Jameson and I headed off to Kings Island with no agenda. Last year Jameson could ride about 4 different attractions in the whole park. He seemed to enjoy himself a year ago, but I knew this trip would be a different experience. The few inches he's grown since his previous visit raised his ride options to at least a dozen. More importantly, he was now tall enough to ride a "coaster."

Jameson's ability to ride a roller coaster is a big deal. To me at least. I'm a bit of a roller coaster junkie and it's of utmost importance that I find out which, if any, of my kids are going to be into roller coasters too. I need riding partners and this was going to be the first test. As you'll see in the video below, the results are promising. (This is now one of my favorite videos of Jameson. High on the cuteness factor.)

The children's area of the park is Nickelodeon themed which is perfect for my cartoon addicted child. It really is a quality kids area (voted the "Best Kids' Area" in the world) and we had no problem wasting away nearly eight hours of the day there. Curiously, the things that gave Jameson the biggest fright all day were the costumed characters wandering around posing for pictures with the kids. We saw Patrick Star, Scooby-Doo and Wanda from the Fairly Odd Parents. Jameson was terrified. It was like they were out to get him. Later in the day after they had stopped making their rounds, Jameson noted, "I guess the puppets gave up." Yes, Jameson, their evil plot was foiled by the persistent burying of your face in my shirt and clawing of my neck with your fingernails.

Even though it was "man time," Mom stopped by for a couple hours to see how we were doing (and snap a few photos of us). We all grabbed some La Rosa's pizza for dinner which is nearly a requirement on any trip to Kings Island. It's good pie for scarfing down between rides, but I've got to be honest, it might be the most overrated pizza in the midwest. Overrated pizza aside, the day was a pretty awesome start to Father's Day weekend.

Enjoy the photos and make sure you check out the video.

Photo ops with Nick Toon characters abounded. We started off with Jimmy Neutron and his dog.



Timmy from the Fairly Odd Parents. One of my favorites.



I'm not a big fan of LazyTown. Sportacus creeps me out.



We warmed up with a little Blue's Skidoo.



A spin behind the wheel of this 1/2 MPH beast.



The Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle ride is one of the last remnants of "Hanna-Barbara Land" which became the current "Nickelodeon Universe." In a former life, this was also the Smurf Ride. And in high school it was also known as The Make-out Ride. So I'm told.



Are you sure you're not scared, Jameson?




The Scooby-Doo ride is like your typical haunted house but with targets and light guns to get your "pew pew" fix.



The classic swing ride. Kid sized.



The merry-go-round is about one year away from being on the "boring" list.



It makes for great motion blur pictures, though!



Tall enough. And cool enough.




The first ever roller coast ride. Followed by seven more consecutive trips.



A couple of shots of yet another coaster trip later in the day. Thanks for snapping us, Mom.



Not exactly built for comfortable riding by us bigger kids.



Are you sure he's big enough for this ride???



Despite the frequent trips on the roller coaster, this tower drop ride, Plankton's Plunge, was named Jameson's favorite ride in the park. I must concur. Sheldon J. Plankton also happens to be one of the funniest characters on TV these days.



They just keep lifting you and dropping you until you can't help but laugh from the tingling in your stomach.



The only thing Jameson wouldn't do all day? Run through this splash area.



And finally, the whiplash ride.



Can you tell this was the last ride of the day?

Luckily for us, Ohio is also home of the world's greatest amusement park, Cedar Point. We'll have to put that on the calendar.