June Point Two

Shall we start out with a family shot? This particular one was taken at Glen Park after Julia's post-preschool gathering.

My parents and my grandma came to visit. My dad is reading a book to the kids. After that, his mom is posting her great-grandchildren on the steps.


Julia is already full force into summertime activities, much to the chagrin of our neatly trimmed schedules. She just finished up her two week swimming lessons. For a kid who doesn't like putting her face in the water, she did really well.


She decided to give soccer a try this summer and forgo gymnastics. She's had two so far and still has six more practices, each Monday. She's wearing an orange shirt and black shorts in the below pictures.


For a grand finale, let's end with a string of Julia and Finn pics!
Here is the duo at Teddy Bear Park.

I've been trying to teach Julia to salute me when she sees me. She's learned quickly, unlike her brother.


Finn watching his big sister get on the bus for preschool one last time.

The kids enjoying a nice downpour.

June

All of the posts I made in May somehow vanished. The only alternative explanation would be that I never made any...and we know THAT couldn't be!

For the sake of brevity (fine, laziness), I'm going to put all the picture descriptions right here and you can just match them up to the corresponding pictures. Fun, right?

Mandy and the kids at Finn's birthday party at (Great) Grandma Laverne's house. Finn always made this really goofy face when people sang him "Happy Birthday". The two balloons that Finn picked out for his birthday. Finn's new trike. Four pictures of the kids playing at a park while staying at my parent's house for a few days. Julia painting flowers onto bee boxes for my dad. The kids lounging in a chair, smiling but mere moments away from squabbling. Finn wearing a sun hat and Julia wearing one that's several sizes too small. Julia holding and instantly falling in love with (Great) Grandma Ruth's new puppy.

Live blogging a day with the kids

Note: For those not in the know, live blogging is when someone blogs an event live as it's happening. People live blog all sorts of things, like the Super Bowl or a presidential debate.

Friday, 6:15 am
*Yawn! Stretch!*
Good mornin'! I know, it's a little early to be getting up on a day off, but I'm only "off" in the sense that I'm not going to work. No daycare today, so I'm home with the kids. And while I love my kids, it's pretty stressful keeping them busy all day. But I can do it! Go me! Personal pep talks usually don't work well for me...hopefully this one is different. Amanda's getting ready for work and so I thought I would start this thing off. Julia promised she would sleep in today. Her normal bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:00 and I let her stay up until after 9:30 last night. That may sound irresponsible, but it was for a good reason! We watched the movie 8 Women. It was my 4 year-old's first rated R movie! But hey, don't worry, the movie is in French and she doesn't really know how to read (for the subtitles). And I covered her eyes for the death scene. And I've seen many PG-13 movies much more deserving of an R rating than 8 Women. But before I let her stay up late with me, I told her that we were staying home today so she could sleep in. She agreed that that sounded like a great idea and so the verbal contract had been made.
I'm going to go lay on the floor and stretch out my back.

6:45
Amanda's gone and Finn's up and I'm getting him dressed in the living room. Julia just came up the steps. The conversation went like this:
Me: Dude! You said you were gonna sleep in!
Her: I did.
Me: Yeah, like fifteen minutes.
Her: I can't keep sleeping if it's light out!
Giving up on that conversation.

7:00
Finn wants Fruity Cheerios for breakfast. I can't say I blame him, they're good. So we're all eating Fruity Cheerios and now Finn wants milk and a spoon like we're using. I've complied with his request and now he's putting handful's of milky cereal onto his spoon and then eating it. Eh, he's getting it half right.

7:45
I just fired up some Blue's Clues for the kids so I can take a shower.


8:40
Well it's already 60 degrees so we're going to head to the park to get in some early outside time. The kids are shoed and sunscreened and ready to go! Finn will ride in the stroller and Julia will walk. It's probably about a mile walk to get to the particular park we're heading to.

8:50
Barely halfway there and Julia's complaining about being tired. I just let her in on the secret that I brought a snack along and that seems to have given her a reason to continue on.

9:45
On the way home! The little yogurt ball thingys for a snack must have energized Julia. She's been telling stories about some of her favorite characters – Tinkerbelle, Care Bears, and Dora. Julia just started telling a story involving a princess. I'm not really paying attention but all of a sudden I caught something she said - "...and so Princess Emma got a gun..."
"Whoa! What are you talking about!?"
Julia let out a little sigh and started that part of the story again, "And so Princess Emma got a knife..."
Maybe I let her watch one too many rated R movies.

10:30
This exchange just took place a few minutes ago:
Me with exaggerated enthusiasm: Hey, should we just eat tons of cookies for lunch?!
Julia: No! That's not healthy.
Her again after a moment: We could eat lots of strawberries for lunch. Strawberries are healthy. We need to eat a healthy lunch. If you don't eat healthy, you might...
Here she paused and the continued in a harsh whisper: DIE!
Me: Oooookay. How about we got to Mariachi Loco for lunch?

11:05
Finn's got a new dipe, Julia went potty, and all three of us have our shoes on. Finn's been acting pretty tired so we're heading our for an early lunch to get him down for his nap at a decent time.

12:15 pm
Home again! The lunch went swimmingly! The kids ate well, we had plenty, and it was inexpensive. The salsa wasn't too spicy this time, which made me happy since the kids both eat a lot of it and I didn't want to have to deal with burning mouths.

12:20
Finn is in his crib and quiet. A load of towels is in the dryer. The house is content!

12:30
Ha! Julia asked if she could watch a movie and I told her she should lay down and take a nap like her brother. She got a funny look in her eye and asked if she could watch a movie if she beat me in a debate. Can you believe that! Her only stipulation is that she gets to pick the topic. Seriously, what do I care if she picks "Color pencils vs Crayons" or "The necessity of Boots as a sidekick to Dora." This should be interesting.

12:46
Holy crap. The debate topic that Julia chose was "Which man did more to develop the philosophy of Nihilism as we know it today, Kierkegaard or Nietzsche?" She took Kierkegaard, I got Nietzsche. I lost. Let's just leave it at that. She's going to watch Snow White.

1:40
I've been half-watching the movie and Julia suddenly started giggling and said, "Doc scrubbed Dopey's butt!" I looked up and asked her what she meant but she just kept giggling. I had to see what was so laughtastic, so I backed the movie up a bit to see it for myself. Sure enough, Doc was helping the dwarves get washed up and Dopey fell face-first into the tub, unbeknownst to Doc. Well good 'ol Doc just kept scrubin' and ended up giving Dopey's back end a thorough cleaning. I giggled too.

2:35
Finny is awake, gotta go get him!
He's all snuggly from still being sleepy and wants a snack. I'm going to hold off on the snack as long as possible to make sure the kids stay satiated til supper. He's being somewhat entertained right now by watching Julia dancing.



2:45
Snack.

3:15
Julia is ripping the paper off her crayons and so I told her that she should leave some on because it says the name of the color on it. She says, "Dad, you know I can't read!" I chuckled and said nothing more.

3:35
Back to the outdoors. Julia is adding to her chalked drawing on the driveway and Finn is playing in the sandbox. Actually he's still in this odd phase where he refuses to sit in the sandbox. He squats next to it and reaches in to play with the sand.

4:25
Mandy's home!

Final note: Everything is true in my live blogging, except for the debate. We pretty much tied, but I let her watch the movie anyway just so she wouldn't throw a fit. I'm good like that.

Kictures of Pids!

Julia and Finn usually play well together - here are some pictures of those times. I don't take pictures of the times they're not playing so nice together. During those instances, I'm usually rocking back and forth in the corner, muttering to myself.




Finn is starting to get interested in using the toilet. He wants to try it, but once he gets up there, he gets scared and wants to get down. He does the same thing with his little potty chair too. I'm not sure what his problem is, I told him I was joking about there being flesh-eating monsters that feed on children's hindparts while they sit on the toilet. Whatever.


Julia recently had another dance recital. Here she is posing and then amongst the other dancers.


We stayed home for Easter this year and had my parents and brother come to visit us. It was nice being the hosts! Julia got to color eggs and the next day she really enjoyed eating them.

We hid 52 plastic eggs for the kids to find. They had been practicing for about a month, so they were pros by the time they did the real thing.

Grandpa Dayton assisted Julia with a new puzzle.

Pretty good lookin' for an old timer. My mom looks pretty good too!

And here she is again posing with the almost two-year-old, Finn.

The kids got all prettied up on Easter morning. I was just wearing a nice shirt and jeans and I asked Julia if I was dressed up enough. She replied, "Dad, you look like a prince!" I felt fine after that.

Mandy and I were excited that we rearranged our bedroom to fit in a reading chair. If you've never seen our room this might not mean much, but if you have, the chair is sitting where the dresser was. Picture here.

Sleep Over!

Last weekend Julia had her good friend Sophie spend the night. During the day Julia and I (along with Sophie and her family) went to an open house at Circus Juventas, a performing arts youth circus school. There was a number of different activities for the kids and there were some performances for everyone to watch too. Julia got a pretty fancy paint job done on her face, which may be able to be seen below. Here's Julia getting to practice a little trapezing.


Sophie and Julia had a lot of fun. They did a lot of dressing up and dancing. The evidence is found in the below videos.


Direct links for the videos:
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The girls sharing a chair.

And now slathering paint on paper.

And finally having a snack and watching a movie before bedtime.

A Trip to the Zoo

Last weekend we went to the Minnesota Zoo. It was one of the first warm weekends of the end of the winter, so the zoo was very busy. We decided to go outside and go through the zoo's newest exhibit, Russia's Grizzly Coast. We figured it would soon be mobbed in there too, but were surprised that it was nearly empty. Apparently the 35 degree temperatures were cool enough to keep people inside that morning. It was really nice having it nearly to ourselves.

At the entrance to the exhibit, Julia pretended to kiss the baby bear statue.

The kids got to see the bears very close up.

Mandy and Finn sat and watched the sea otters play in the water.

Finn and I posed while trying to find the tiger down below us.

Julia climbed aboard a tortoise statue at the start of the indoor Tropics Trail.

Finn was a big fan of the sun bear, maybe because it was much closer to his size.

The three peak over the railing at the flamingos down below.

When we got home, we were all pretty tired. Mandy and Finn snuggled up and fell right asleep on the couch.


Stay tuned! Julia has a friend over this weekend - there should be some good pictures of the two of them!

Diary of a Single Father - Day 3

Dear Diary,
The end of my tribulations has arrived! My salvation came riding to the homestead on a steed named Cocoa! Smiles and hugs were distributed all around and then within minutes the children were finding issues to proclaim their displeasure about. Oh, but the tenuousness of dealing with such fuss-filled outbursts is nothing when the burden is split in two! Before the children went to their nightly rest, we all clamored and crowded together and took our photo. The protruding tongues is to indicate the jocular nature in which the picture was taken.

And with that, I end my diary of single fatherhood, hoping never again to have to repeat this most torturous of experiments!

Diary of a Single Father - Day 2

Dear Diary,
After a dinner of leftover lasagna, carrot sticks, blackberries, potato salad, and laffy taffy, I was cleaning up in the kitchen. The children were making a lot of ruckus in the living quarters and so I went to investigate for fear of shenanigans. When I arrived, the miniature hooligans were putting the finishing touches on their own stronghold. With my photographing device, I was able to capture an image of my daughter crawling in through the only entrance.

They undoubtedly thought their fort impregnable. Little did they know that I considered it the Bastille and me the French citizenry - their fortress would fall. I decided to start off stern but fair and so I informed them that the immediate surrender of their holdings would result in no formal punishment. No proper response was issued, but I understood the rebuke nonetheless. My son stared at me through a pair of binoculars as if to say "Do your worst, father, you shan't move us from this place without a fight!"

I realized that I could not hope to assault the walls they had crafted and come away unscathed, and so I opted for trickery rather than force. By making it sound as joyful as flying a kite on a warm summer afternoon, I lured them out by promising that they could help me finish cleaning a urine soaked davenport cushion. The offending cushions were supposed to be drying out after being washed, but were not completing their task hastily enough for me. I put boots on my night-clothed son and my pants-less daughter and bade them walk merrily on the cushions while strategically placed toweling cloths were on hand to soak up the evacuating moisture.

After the task was completed, I commanded the rug-rats to remove their boots and retire to their sleeping chambers. They boldly disobeyed by dancing a haughty jig for nearly a minute.

Nearing my own exhaustion, the children are finally squared away until sunrise. I will, myself, now retire for the night. My loving wife is set to return to me tomorrow. I look forward to abating my constant vigilance over my brood and once again sharing the responsibility.

Diary of a Single Father - Day 1

Dear Diary,
Oh what unforeseen but joyous change of fortune has befallen me!? My fearful blathering of yestereve has proven to be fully without merit! Not only were my offspring amicable, but the oldest was voluntarily helpful at times. 'Twasn't all peach cobbler though. When I arrived to receive my children back from their day-sitter, my son had a most cantankerous attitude! Thankfully, this illogical display of negativity was short-lived. After arriving home we had but mere minutes to ingest some semblance of a meal before my dear daughter was in need of being rushed to her dancing lessons. Back at home, the small one went to bed with blown kisses and promises to dream of his father. My stomach was then reminding me that the food I ate prior to the dance lesson could hardly be called a meal. I informed my oldest that I hungered for more nourishment and she responded likewise. She started with cookies, finished with cheese and crackers, and found the time in between to scold me for perching on the table. Just like her sibling, she went to bed without a hitch and left me to my own devices. Despite the surprisingly pleasant evening, my inner paranoia-laden self is screaming, "The little ones are preparing something hideous for you! Give them no quarter and show them no mercy!" I shall now retire for the night to my own bed, as cold and empty as it is.

Diary of a Single Father - Day 0

Dear Diary,
My wife is leaving me. She says she'll be back and I have no reason to doubt her, but... I just don't know. She's gone to this same school counseling conference the last few years and every time she's taken the kids with her (or just the one, before the other one was born) and every time she's come back. But this time feels different. Now she's going and leaving me with both children. Two of them. With me. For three days. Both kids. Right now she's asleep on the couch. Resting up for her big first day of three away from home, sans family. I'm still awake at three-quarters of an hour until midnight, fretting over what tomorrow will bring, hoping against all that is good in this world that I'll somehow prevail against the forces acting against me, the forces that I will stand against, solely, on the morrow. I fear I will have a restless slumber tonight, dreaming of small hands temporarily idle, awaiting to be used as the devil's tools. I, as the angel of their existence, must not cower before them. I shall keep my head high and my spirits aloft. I tell myself these things, Diary, but do I believe them? When the hour arrives for me to show proof of such strength, will said spirits be there when I need them? Will my constitution hold or will I be shivering in the corner, harboring my soul from the terrors that await it. This, dearest Dairy, is the question that I'll be faced with sooner than I would care to imagine.