Recent introductions

Going out to the grandparents is always a big treat for the kids, it's out in the country where adventures run aplenty, especially when you're a tike. They're getting old enough now that they've got the capability and the brains to get a crack at some stuff they haven't ever done before. Here are a few recent ones.

Misc. firearms:
There will be a few who read this who if you don't already think I'm irresponsible, are gonna come to that verdict in the next few minutes... I'm ok with that, won't hold it against you for too long, but here's the deal. I grew up on a ranch, where life was simple, entertainment consisted primarily of stuff that took place outside the walls of my house, and guns and hunting were something I was never introduced to - it was just part of life from as far back as I can remember. And here's the next deal - I'm fairly confident that that's the best way to make sure a kid isn't scared of, nor ever has an accident with, a gun.

So, Grandpa the cop went through the safety demonstration and the kiddo's fired they're first shots recently - even the two year old. And they loved it. And Annie and I loved it. And Grandma and Grandpa loved it - kind of a right of passage type thing for the kids. They know that guns are a serious thing, not toys - and it was a perceptible boost to their confidence when they realized we were really letting them in on one of the bigger people activities, and even bigger boost when they were successful with it.

And Annie - she took her first shots with a big kid firearm that didn't have a stock on it: It was a little bigger than anything she'd shot before, and she'd had enough when it scuffed nail polish or something on the second shot.

Kylie cracking a few shots with the littler guy gun - they were a little small yet for the pistol.

Have to exclude Brock from the notes on confidence and self esteem that came from being trusted to a big kid activity, etc... he hasn't reached the stage where he's not full of it yet - he squeezed of his 3 rounds in about 1.5 seconds.

The oldest is ready for rabbits

And the next introduction started the same day, when they surprised us with their competency in scrambling up this slab of rock, before we could tell them to wait for help.

So, we decided then and there it was time to introduce them to a little bouldering and wall climbing.
And they were awesome...

Couple of notes to self:

1 - There were a few activities that Annie and I enjoy that have been pretty non existent since starting our little family - rock climbing and kayaking being the primary losers. Rock climbing looks like it will be coming off the DL within the next year or so, kids are looking to become one of the drivers to get out vs. an excuse not to.

2 - Good reminder to take a break from telling them what not to do and let the rats of the rug remind us that they're pretty damn capable when turned loose, and pretty great adventure buddies to boot...

3 - and to get the pig husband comment in - I really like belaying Annie in whatever pants she was climbing in.

Mother of all house forts

Annie and Kylie flew to Denver for a girls weekend - claim that I'm earning some race equity with the wife for some weekends next year by giving them a break while chilling at home with the two pre k's. Annie would probably tell you she's still got some collecting to do before I start ramping up any equity in that bank. Either way it makes for a fun time for Annie and Kylie, and it leaves me and the pre k's to our own devices. So what do we do????

1 - Pizza and gigantic sugar cookies we decorated with frosting for dinner, late night movies - Rudolph and Frosty - twice for Rudolph, and slumber party in dad's bed where I collected one elbow to the ear and groin kicks - one from each kid - over the course of the night - offset by their being good cuddlers when not kicking.

Chesney comes from Venus - she took her time, put some thought into it, ultimately deciding to not even eat it, preferring instead to save it and show it/give it to Mom and Kylie when they get back.

Brock is from Mars - and said "why the hell waste time putting this on the cookie"?

2 - Padding the race equity account by taking care of some Christmas related returns/purchases that I knew Annie needed done . Not sure what the fuss is about hauling young kids around stores - they were great....... until they weren't. And once they weren't, they never went back to being great. And then I began the fine balancing act of communicating enough violence without inflicting it, in a manner that would convince the kids that the threat was for real and everyone else gathering around to watch that they really come from a loving and safe home environment, mostly. And then facing the unfortunate realization that neither party was buying what I was trying to sell.

3 - Building the mother of all living room forts... Behold....

Materials used - two couches, kitchen table, large ottoman, one spin bike, two kitchen chairs, and some blankets. There is a working stove, bunkbeds, a bag of cheeto's and some drinks, and probably a few more days worth of rations in there. They haven't come out for what's going on about an hour now...

Rookie tooth fairy

All the buzz around the house the last few days has been the race between Kylie and I, and if I could lose the cast on my arm before she could pull her loose tooth out. I lost yesterday afternoon. Couple of rookie questions: 1 - what's the going rate for teeth these days? I don't want my kid talking to your kid and having to learn I underpaid, or worse yet, overpaid. Either way, pretty sure the tooth fairy stage of parenthood is easier on the pocketbook than at Dug's stage, with his rookie round of that right of passage, 16th birthday. 2 -What do tooth fairies do with teeth? Don't know why that inquiry never crossed my mind when I was the one selling teeth. Annie chucked it, against my idea of collecting them and one day making her a mothers necklace, and some matching earrings.

Got the cast off the hand today. Replaced by a real small splint. One of life's simple pleasures taking that first shower and getting to scrub that dead itchy skin off. Hand acutally feels relatively good, but have a little work to do on the tendon's through the wrist, it only lasted 15 minutes on the trainer tonight in a few different positions on the handlebars before getting pretty uncomfortable. Should loosen up in a day or two I'm guessing. Really happy to be past the immobile stage with this thing.

I refuse

Here it is, the toy the girls are hoping Santa will bring this year. Couple of thoughts I've had about this:

• I overshot the mark. Spent a lot of money to put myself through college, and I'm not complaining, it's paid off nicely. But, while I admitedly have no idea what the margins are on a toy like this, I am fairly certain that whoever came up with this will make more money this year than I will. Here's what get's me bent - if you look closely, the primary features of this doll, as highlighted on the package in large purple letters, are that it takes a piss and also takes a dump - and they've marketed it well enough that my 5 and 4 year old girls want it. Here's what really get's me bent, I have to face the music that the bozo who thought of this is smarter than I am, or at least better at making money. Maybe there's still time to create a toy pony that will be fun because you have to clean it's toy stall, or a fake puppy who warns you to set it on the newspaper? Seriously - people are paying money for a doll that pretends to pinch one off? Kudo's to the brains behind this one.
• On one condition only. Maybe I'd consider buying something like this in a couple of years when the girls are old enough to understand the condition under which I might consider buying this for them. One cool thing I've loved watching with my girls is their innate sense of being motherly, they do it with their dolls and they do it with Brock. It really is amazing. But, were I to cave into this one, it will be under the pretense that they get comfortable with the idea of cleaning up human turd, and that they vow/sign a contract, to clean up mine and Annie's in the event we get dementia some day and can't or choose not to do it ourselves - I don't have much shame, but it might be embarrasing to have a stranger do it...
• I can save you some cash. If anyone else has kids who want this thing, I've got a sweet deal for you. We've talked before about how Brock is growing up. So are his poops. I'll let your kid take a run with the real thing for $5 bucks a shot. Guarantee they'll quit asking for this with no more than $10 bucks out of your pocket. All proceeds will go to figuring out a way to block "Baby Alive" commercials from coming on my tv.

Scene from the Kindergarten Halloween Party

We're at Kylie's Halloween Party yesterday, the kids are all sitting politely on the rug in their costumes, with the teachers leading them in their Halloween songs that they're all singing pretty enthusiastically. They finish one song, and the teachers are in the process of picking new little helpers for the next song when we hear the following dialogue...

5 year old boy -
"Mrs. Jensen, he said a mean word"
No response, so he followed with the graphic details...
"He said bitch"

To his credit, it worked.

Mrs. Jenson - cool as a cat and not drawing any additional attention to the culprit or the tattle tale..
"Please use nice words" and on she went into the next song, handled like a true master.

Except - every adult in the room got the giggles, the kind that got me and my buddies kicked out of sex ed class everytime they tried to talk about sensitive material in middle school. One adult would get it under control, only to lose it again when they made eye contact with another.

Oh yeah, the kids looked cute in their costumes too...

Gotta hand it to him...

Brock is now 17 months old and is being proactive about distancing himself from "baby" behaviors and graduating to toddler type stuff. These changes include his insisting on sitting up to the table for dinner instead of sitting in his high chair, getting to use utensils instead of his hands, walking with his sisters during family walks rather than riding in the stroller, and - the highlight of this post, refusing a bottle in lieu of drinking from a cup like the bigger kids.

He's become adept enough with a cup that we've had to start using the lock on the water dispenser in the refridgerator. This frustrates him because he'll see his big sisters go fill up, immediately go to fill up his own cup, only to find they've bought into the family plan of locking it to prevent Brock from using it as a shower. The perk is that this strategy put a stop to the large puddles of water we'd find in the kitchen shortly after Brock learned he could get water from the fridge. The unforseen and unintended consequence of this strategy has to do with our shortchanging Brock's ingenuity in solving the problem it created for him - namely, sourcing some water when he's thirsty.... I started to suspect something yesterday... and caught him redhanded tonight.

Here's the moral question for all you parents...... do you stop it early, or hold out so you can get the 2nd to last photo of the series?????? Don't judge me!

Bringing down the house at the Atlantis Hotel & Casino in Reno

I'll start with the less exciting news of the day. The weather forcast for the race saturday continues to deteriorate. As of today, the High, and I'll stress that I'm talking about the HIGH, is supposed to be 42, and the low - a balmy 28 degrees. The one positive, it's a pretty dramatic cool off the next few days so the water temp shouldn't have time to drop nearly as much. Regardless, it's going to be a pretty brutal day - can't help but think there's a good chance of getting some snow at the top of the bike course.

So back to the title of this post. We got into Reno about midnight last night and checked into the Atlantis. The girls are just hitting the sack tonight with their booty after making a killing at the Atlantis arcade. They figured out how to play the arcade version of Deal or No Deal and after a bunch of big pots, and one gigantic one, they cashed in just under 3,000 of those tickets that these arcade machines spit out (usually 5-20 per play). The take? A Strawberry Shortcake pony, and Baby Shrek doll that wears a diaper the girls can pretend to change, and some booby prizes for Brock. I won't try to articulate how many tickets 3,000 is, but it's a bunch - and the dude behind the counter had to refill the machines we were playing more than once. Think I'm going to give Kylie and Chesney a quarter each and have them sneak a pull on a slot machine on the way out of here, they're on fire!