SATURDAY: The day of "rest"

Saturday, we really had nothing planned, but to go to the beach again, but this time take swimming suits, and toys are really "go to the beach". We had a chance to just hang out in the morning, and head out with Grandma Julie and Granddad to one of the beaches in Carlsbad.

Bucket... check! Shovel... check! now unleash a toddler to the worlds largest sandbox, and let her go crazy!!
dig and fill... dig and fill...why is this so much fun for her?
One of the few things she talked about wanting to do in California, is have a beach party, and play in the ocean. well this was her chance...

Maggie really liked to walk in the water and feel the waves crash against her. I started to pick her up and splash her legs against the waves, and she thought that was pretty fun. it is really nice that we could keep her so close to the shore, and wade around in it. That was as close as I wanted her to get the the big waves. She had an absolute blast!! We all had so much fun watching her experience the beach really for the first time here. I know that Dan and Julie loved being able to take her to the beach and be involved in such a fun experience like this. We think that we may have to make this a yearly event. We are all having a great time down here, and I already know we will have to go home way too soon...

Saturday night, Dan and Julie offered to put Maggie to bed while Arin and I went out for a night on the town. So we headed to Ruby's Diner, a favorite place for us to go down here, and then went to see Get Smart. Absolutely Hilarious!! After dinner and a movie, we went out to the cheesecake factory. THE best place for desserts. it was nice to be able to go out and be just a couple again, and know that Maggie is well taken care of, and sound asleep, so there was no rush to get home. It was a really nice evening.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Meet the Cousins

As if the firestation and beach weren't enough to fit into one day, we still had to get to Grandma Julie and Granddads house. Julie had gotten a blowup pool for the grand kids to play in, so Maggie went straight for it. I mean, what good is going to San Diego if you can't spend all day either poolside or at the beach?

We may have a pool in Yakima, but ours doesn't overlook a canyon of multimillion dollar homes and a golf course. How can we ever expect her to be happy again in Wiley City?!?I think that she would fit right in here in San Diego. I think this is the look of a little girl who is really enjoying her vacation. (But, what a 2 1/2 year old needs a vacation from, I have no idea)

That afternoon, Aunt Heather and the cousins, Cameron, Blake, and Kayla came over to see all of us. Aunt Heather brought her a really fun fairy princess outfit with butterfly wings that Maggie LOVES I think the San Diego Jr. Firefighter badge really completes the outfit.
Maggie loves to sing and dance, especially with a guitar. She is having a great time with it even with dead batteries. Imagine how much fun it will be for everyone when we replace the batteries and it starts to make noise!!

all done with her wings of course.

FRIDAY MORNING: The Beach and the Firestation

After spending the night at Uncle Neil and Aunt Liz's house, we wanted to take Maggie to the fire station. following in the footsteps of every one of Uncle Neil's nieces and nephews. We took a trip to the Pacific Beach Fire Station, that is about 100 yards from the beach. Maggie was very excited to get in the BIIGG Firetruck!

She had to make sure that Gary was able to experience it with her.
oh and Dad too...Uncle Neil even let her get up front and "drive". I think she thought it was pretty cool.
While we were there, there was a call, so the other truck had to leave. so she got to see them leave, I don't know just how necessary it was, but the turned on the siren as they were leaving. it was really loud! (even for a seasoned firefighter like Uncle Neil)
I think she had a really fun time there, and we are so happy that she had a chance to go and see the station. I think the only thing that she will probably remember about it is that she got to sit in a firetruck.The ONE thing that she wanted to do in California, was to go to the beach. So since we were already there, we decided to take a little impromptu walk on the boardwalk. She was so excited to see the ocean. I don't know where she learned about it, but wanted a beach party, at the beach, and walk in the ocean. I don't think that is a dream of many 2 1/2 year olds. Somebody must have mentioned it to her.
As we were walking back, the sand was kind of hot, so I carried her back to Arin and Neil, and we headed off for Grandma Julie's and Granddads house. it was a VERY full morning, and this was just the first few hours. (if we don't pace ourselves, we may overload this little girl, and how will Yakima ever be cool again?)

THURSDAY: On our way to California!!

After a night in the hotel in Seattle , we all got up Thursday morning to head to San Diego. We spent the night at the Days in literally at the end of a runway, but Maggie was excited to see the planes take off and land (very up close and personal). We went to pick up Uncle Matt at 6:30 am so he could take us to the airport, after we found out that the shuttle the hotel advertised needed to be booked 24 hours in advance, and would cost as much as a taxi.



Maggie was very excited to ride in an airplane, and we thought it would be best to let her stretch her legs a bit before being stuck in an airplane all morning.
She was very excited to see the Airplane we were going on. she wanted to fly in the BIIIGGG blue 747 that was at the next gate, but we didn't have tickets to Paris, so we took this one instead.
When we got in the plane we were very happy we took this one. Mood lighting, MP3 selection, TV, Music videos, all available on a personal touch screen in front of every seat. Maggie was so excited to be able to listen to the Wiggles on her trip.

Here is a very tired girl at the San Fransisco airport waiting for lunch and to finish our trip. We were delayed a couple of times because of the wildfires and low visibility at the airport.

I was very stressed thinking about how this day could disintegrate and how quickly that may happen, but she was AWESOME. other than the two descents, where her ears started to hurt, and we couldn't really do much to comfort her, but try to make her drink milk to make her swallow. All in all, I was very grateful for the safe trip that God blessed us with, and I know that it could have been much worse emotionally on all of us.

Who IS this?

It's funny, for almost 2 1/2 years, everyone who sees Maggie knows her by her curly hair. I am convinced that every person that comments on her curls, is just one more reason why she will end up HATING her hair growing up.  I think she is adorable, (but I'm her Dad and I MAY be a bit biased.)  But what if this little girl didn't have those curly Cindy Brady ringlets? what if it was straight?  would it change who she is?  Would she still be "Our Same Little  Maggie"?  Well, enter one of the daughters of the lady that watches Maggie.  Unleash her with a flat Iron, and what I am told was a WHOLE LOT OF PRODUCT...  I can't believe that Maggie would sit still for something like that, but she LOVES to be right in the middle of whatever the big kids are doing.  (which I'm sure won't be an issue growing) but when all was said and done, THIS is what I came home from work to find...

That's my little angel...

isn't she adorable?   She looks like such a big kid...  it was really fun to see her totally different, and I told Arin that if her curls didn't come back Jordanna would be in BIG TROUBLE.  But after one bath every curl returned in all of their glory.  I just thought that I would share these.  (even though I showed just about everyone last Sunday at church.)  Now it's the worlds turn...

Fathers Day Weekend Fun!!

This Fathers day was an entire weekend of fun and productivity...  Since I really didn't want to plan on doing anything around the house Sunday, I wanted to get a few projects around the yard done on Saturday I have been wanting to get out of the way.  The three of us went to Home Depot on Saturday morning to pick up a roto-tiller for the flower garden in the front yard.  I got it in the back of the rodeo and headed to the house determined to get it done within the four hours I rented it for.  It isn't a huge amount of area, so I thought I would be in good shape.  Well since I was able to finish and return it within 2 hours, I had enough time to get the REALLY fun toy that we have wanted to rent for a couple of years. 

THE STUMP GRINDER...

We have had a lilac bush stump in our back yard since we have moved in and I have tried to ignore it, but it never seemed to go away.  So I rented the grinder and went to work.  It didn't stop running and grinding for the entire 4 hours it took to get the stump below the ground level.  I knew how much Arin enjoyed heavy machinery, so I let her take a shift or two.  we both had fun running it and now it is GONE!!  Finally, it's level and other than the lack of grass the back yard is looking more and more like a place I would like to spend time outside. 

With that done I felt like I could enjoy Sunday.  We all got up and had a reasonably normal morning and went off to church.  I wanted to try a B-B-Q restaurant here in town, so we decided to invite some friends out to lunch with us. We drove all the way there to find out that they are closed on Sundays, so we went to Wendy's instead.  It's hamburgers, kinda the same isn't it?

After Maggie woke up from her nap, we had the first chance this summer to play in the pool. She really didn't want to wear a swimming suit, but once we showed her that Mommy and Daddy were wearing theirs to go swimming, she thought it might be ok.  The last few days have been so warm, that the pool warmed up considerably, but Maggie needed a bit of encouragement because the bottom was still cold.  Once she realized that she could stand up and splash, she had a great time. Our pool is just a 8 foot bag of water 30 inches deep.  Nothing fancy but a perfect size for her and the rest of the family to enjoy. She was having a great time, and it just made for a really great Fathers Day.  I am so happy that I am blessed with a wonderful wife and an amazing little daughter.  I am so thankful that God has entrusted me with two beautiful parts of his creation, and can't wait for the many Fathers Days yet to come that I can continue to enjoy both of them for the rest of my life. and yes... I DID make it to Dairy Queen for my free Fathers day Blizzard. They should make them free every day.  Just an idea

A Spell Check Nightmare...

I know that many of you have seen this already in an e-mail, (probably in one from me that I didn't run spell check on...), but I received it a while ago, and thought I would share it with the people that haven't seen it.  it is pretty amazing how it works.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Since the complex mind unscrambles letters and makes sense of them subconsciously I don't notice misspellings...  so spell check is not about grammar as much as to just get rd of the annoying squiggly red lined under a "misspelled word".  If you believe that, you probably haven't received an e-mail from me lately

This is Fathers Day weekend, and it is going to be a beautiful weekend.  I think this will be the day that Maggie and her parents get to go and play in her new pool, that may now be a few degrees above freezing after the sunny days of this week.  we got one of the ones with the blow up ring at the top and is basically just a 30 inch tall bag o' water.  I think it will be a good way to go outside and get cooled off this summer.  I am also planning on going to Dairy Queen on 72nd Ave on Sunday to get a free blizzard that they are giving out to Dads all day according to the radio.  I like me my blizzards and free is even better.  I can't miss that one!!

Why you should keep pictures in your wallet

So there I was, trying to keep Maggie entertained while Arin was helping to "stimulate the economy"... in North Bend, when I see a security guard giving me a peculiar look. I tried to blend in and not draw attention to myself, but he kept staring at me.  Now I'm getting nervous, because he obviously is interested in me for some reason. All I can think of is that I have been walking around with a two year old in a stroller who has no idea what 'shoplifting' is.  "What could she have taken that I am now going to be in trouble for?"

The guard walked up to me and showed me a copy of Arin and my engagement picture from 10 years ago. Talk about a total surreal state of mind... 'Hey, I recognize that picture...' 'That's me and Arin...' 'Hey, what is this guy doing with our engagement picture?' (this isn't it, but it is about as old and I forgot about this awesome picture when I was looking for the other one...) oh how long ago this roller coaster ride all started...

The security guard told me that it was left on the counter of one of the stores we were at earlier. he just happened to be riding his bike on patrol, and recognized me from that picture...  it's a good thing that we didn't just go to the one store and take off.  I just happened to be wandering around on the sidewalk with Maggie at the time he showed up...  stalker? you be the judge...  Maybe it was all part of his master plan.

So, the moral of the story is, either keep an updated picture of yourself in your wallet if you plan on leaving it on a counter somewhere that is can be picked up, or don't change the way you look from the most recent picture you have of yourself in your wallet.  Maybe some of you need to either grow hair back, or get the hair crimpers and blue eye shadow out...

posting via e-mail

another test for my blog.  I found out that I can post from an e-mail account, and I just wanted to see how it looks...

 

-thanks for your understanding

Jumping on the blog bandwagon

OK, I guess I am the newest fan of a blog that I just found out about.  It is pretty funny, yet it gives you something to think about.  It's always good for a laugh.  Some of then you read, and wonder... should I be laughing at this?  THAT'S MY KIND OF FUNNY...

stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com

Maybe if I keep blogging about stuff, any stuff,  just keeping it often, I'll get better at writing and release this harnessed, suppressed creative blogging machine festering deep in my soul.

I used to love creative writing, back when I was attending "The College". (AHC... Alan Hancock COMMUNITY college)  I would write stories, and really enjoyed it.  Maybe this blog doesn't always have to be about life.  I mean sometimes it will, because I am dealing with life one way or another every day, so I should write about the highlights of  it whatever they may be.  Alas, now I'm just rambling, and you are still  reading it.  Which aspect of that is more disturbing...  take that how you may.  I am in awe about how a seemingly endless combination of just 26 letters can create something like Shakespeare, bring us Gods Word, teach kids about a hungry Caterpillar,  or just be a gross misguided abuse of those letters like I am doing right now.

With that sad, stay with this blog, and you may enter into the frightening psyche which IS... Dad's Point Of View.  You may learn something, but probably not (always check your facts).  But do read at your own risk, once you enter, you may not be able to claw your way out...   MUUUAAAHHH   HAAAA...HHAAAA..... HHAAAAA...

New Small Group Calendar

For the 5 people in the world who actually look at this blog, and the 2 people who might actually care what's on it, I'll let you know that there is a Google Calendar for our Small Group.  As we get into the summer, we will only meet every coupe of weeks, and maybe this will be a place that I can have an easy link for people to come and view it if they have questions on when we are meeting.  I am trying to get a hold of some of the other groups to do something fun once or twice a month, so I'll let the group know what is in store, and will try to get them on here.  it may work, or it may not.  The Internet and blogging is just two giant experiments anyway.  Who knows if either one of them is going to stick around both are just stupid fads..

What a great weekend!!

Last weekend Arin and I had plans to go to the Mariners game with our church, so my parents offered to watch Maggie  FOR ALMOST THE WHOLE WEEKEND!! I wrote earlier about recording The Blue Tropics "Live at the Harmon Center Old Folks Home" on Friday night.  Then Saturday we went to the Mariners game, and just had a great time relaxing for a day.  It is nice to have a "day off" from being parents.  I know we are very blessed to even have an opportunity like this, so we tried to make the most of it.  I can't tell you how many times I wondered how Maggie was doing, and how much I missed watching her just experience life throughout that day.  But it was great to have time to just be a couple again.  Just Arin an me.  (and 35 of our closest friends in a stadium of about 30,000... you get what I mean.)

It was great to get back to my parents after church on Sunday ad see Maggie and how excited we all were to see each other again.  She will always be my little girl, and I can't imagine life without her in it.  I am so excited to be with her, and for now, I think she is excited to be with me.  (that will probably change in about 8-10 years, but I will keep her close until then.)