It's What You Don't See That Matters

Today I took down the baby gate. I kept the connecting hardware in place in case we need to install the gate again, but I don't think that will be necessary.

I also don't know if I should be happy or sad.

What's the Word of the Day?

(True, "pedal boat" is actually two words, but "What are the words of the day?" doesn't flow as well.)

After days of hiding inside the air conditioned house, we were anxious get into the great outdoors on this fine 75 degree morning. Gray's Lake offers pedal boat rentals for $5 for thirty minutes, so we thought we'd take one for a spin.

Of course we had to take along a boating buddy.

Side note: Daphne discovered her old box of Beanie Babies in our storage, and every once in awhile we break it out and let Char pick out a new buddy. Years ago my mother was really into collecting Beanie Babies, and she was willing to pay some pretty high prices for some of them. http://www.tycollector.com/values.htm

Although you can buy Beanies by the pound now, I'd been trained to never, ever remove the ear tag from one. I still can't bring myself to do it now.

Here's a view of Principal Building from the middle of the lake. It's a pretty boring picture, but you can see what a pretty morning it was.

30 minutes was just the right amount of time for us. Pedaling the boat is not the same as pedaling a bike - you don't get to extend your legs as far, and so you work different muscles. By the end of our trip my butt was getting sore, and Char kept fighting to stand up in the boat.

Although we were all happy to reach the dock, we'd be happy to try the boats again.

Thrilling action shot:

C'mon, what did you expect? There's not a lot of action on a pedal boat.

The Artistic Process

(What do you do in the morning when it's too hot to go to the park, and the pool isn't open yet? Break out the finger paint!)

1. Start with a blank canvas.

2. Don't be afraid to mix things up a little.

3. Choose your subject matter (Mom asks the artist a valid question).

4. Know when to stop.

5. Hang your new masterpiece, "A Red Dog on a Hot Summer Morning".

PS. Don't forget to clean your brushes.

'Tis the Season...

...for county fairs!

I can't help myself. Going to the fair, any fair, is fun for me, and the girls share my enthusiasm. So far we have taken Charlotte to the Iowa State Fair once, and to get her ready for her second trip we have been hitting the county fair circuit.

Comparing the Iowa State Fair to a county fair is hard. Let's just say that the ISF is a spectacle, while county fairs are like back yard barbecues. And there's nothing wrong with either.

So far we have visited the county fairs for Boone, Dallas, and Madison.  Charlotte really likes walking through the cattle, sheep, horse, and goat barns. It's like a petting zoo, except the animals are cleaner, better groomed, and not grossly bloated from an endless supply of food sold from candy machines.

In Adel Char got to pet some sheep.

While were admiring the horses, a very nice gentleman pulled up in his pickup and asked if we wanted him to get one of the horses out for our daughter to see up close. We told him he didn't have to do that, and he almost looked disappointed, "It's no problem. Won't take but a second."

Two minutes later Char got to sit on her first horse, Andy. When Daphne placed Char on Andy's back she exclaimed, "Whoa! That's too big!"

I didn't catch the owner's name, but he was a heck of a nice guy. Actually, most of the people at these fairs are really nice. So many people were happy to bring their animals over to Char so she could met them.

Here we are meeting Miracle the alpaca:

Dad got to pose for a picture in front of the "Really big tractors!"

Note to self: it is almost impossible to hold your child and suck in your gut at the same time.

This morning we went to Winterset and met some goats.

Char is most comfortable around the goats. She introduces herself, "Hi! My name is Charlotte!" and then tells them stories. Here she's recounting what she did at Adventureland:

If you need an interpreter, she's telling him about her cruise on the motorcycle ride.

Fairs + Monsons = Good Times.

Adventureland! '12: Land of the "Grimace" Smile Edition

(Please note that Charlotte understands what the camera is, and she knows she is supposed to smile when I ask her to, but she doesn't know how to make that smile.)

We were on the fence about taking Charlotte to Adventureland today; the heat index was supposed to be so high, but knowing we'd spend most of our time in the water park tipped the scales.

We started the day with some amusement park rides. She first took a purple motorcycle for a spin over at the Hampton Cars, but was quite unsure about the bike and her neighbor:

By the end she had warmed up to the ride, and she took the orange motorcycle for a cruise (notice grimace-smile #1):

Then we took the A.T.V. for a cruise (G.S. #2):

After that we headed over to the "Infant Ocean" for some boating action (G.S. #3):

Finally it was time to put on a "swimmy suit", and we hit the splash pad at the "Heron Harbor" (G.S. #4):

Charlotte made a five-second-friend:

Pro Tip: The surface that surrounds some of the water attractions around Kokomo Kove is really slippery. I'd recommend wearing sandals or some type of Aqua Socks. Char fell at least four times until we put on her "pool shoes".

We also hit the wave pool, slid down the green slide, and even sat on the stools in front of the swim-
up bar. As Char placed both of her hands on the bar I jokingly muttered, "Two please, and make mine a double." Char overheard me and looked right at the bartender and repeated, "Two please, and make mine bubble."

Around 2:00 pm, after sharing one hot dog, two applications of sun screen, and three chicken strips we decided to call it a day. On the way back to the car we stopped into the "Air Conditioned!" bingo parlor to cool off. We'd only been in the stroller for 15 minutes, but it was that hot.

Mom and Char played one game of bingo to kill some time, and they had some beginner's luck:

So, what does a single bingo win net you at Adventureland? 600 points. That doesn't get you much in the bingo parlor, but in the arcade (where points are also redeemable) it amounts to some serious schwag:

The regulation-sized Spongebob Squarepants basketball was 400 pts, the purple penguin was 125 pts, and the rest was odd change. Not bad for a dollar!

Char fell asleep with both bracelets on and Purple Penguin between her legs before we made it out of the parking lot. Daph and I gave each other a silent high-five, and we drove home as slowly and quietly as we could. Char missed her nap time, and we needed every second we could get.

I loved Adventureland as a kid, and getting to share the place with my daughter is even better.

I Have that Same Dream!

I'm in the club! The "Jerky of the Month Club", that is.

I was granted membership on Father's Day 2012, and what a glorious day that was...

(Charlotte has an awesome mom.)

Hey Buddy (part 2)

Charlotte's too young to have any real friends, but she sure has a lot of "buddies". They all have names of some sort, and they ALL sleep with her every night. Char will notice if even one has tried to sneak out, and amazingly she'll make the discovery just as we say "Goodnight," and close her door.

She likes to say,"Thaaaat's a lot of Scoobies!" when Char sees the trio lined up in the crib. The Scooby on the right looks different from the other two because I've had him since 1976 (it says so on the tag). Char calls him the "Scooby that can't talk". On the far right Quilty has Sophie Cat in his lap:

On the other end of the crib you can see Fish, Big Biwd, G-aff, Big Bear, Lamby, and others. The dog in the middle is a puppet named Dog. Currently he reads stories to Charlotte before naps and bed time. His voice also sounds suspiciously like Mom's:

The stars of our show, without a doubt, are Hop Hop and Pinky:

Hop Hop was her first crush, and he's still the alpha bud. Falling asleep would be all but impossible without him, but Pinky is a very close second. The evening we discovered, too late, that Pinky had been accidentally left behind at day care resulted in a late night trip to Target. Now Pinky magically appears at day care even when we leave him at home in the morning.

It may look excessive, but you can't have too many buds.

Hey Buddy

For the last umteenth 4th of Julys Robert Moeller and I have stood next to each other, arm in arm, holding sparklers. Only illness and deployment have stopped these pictures from happening.

I'm 43, and I have known Rob for 36 years. In weddings we have been each other's best man. We have the type of friendship that doesn't require constant communication; after all that time there isn't that much new to say.

If I was to drive to Sioux Falls today, let myself into Rob's house with my key, and plop myself onto his couch before he got home from work; I'd know there would be no problem. He'd come home, see me lying there, and without batting an eye ask, "How long you staying?"

"Just tonight," I'd reply.

"Sweet. We should grill."

And that would be that. We'd grill.

Here's  my BFF:

 

Is that Han Solo About to be Frozen in Carbonite?

Nah. It's just my Evel Knievel doll action figure taking an OxiClean Mason Jar bath. I recently discovered Mr. Knievel lying forgotten on the floor of my mom's storage unit, and rather than risking a tear to his cool jumpsuit, I thought a soak in Billy Mays's magic formula might do the trick.

Hopefully a brighter and whiter Evel will be hanging out with me in the garage soon.

I Think It's Time to Hide Those, Mom

When the heat index is well over 105 degrees, and it's just too warm for an oven hot car ride to the pool, then all you can do is hit the backyard sprinkler in your swim diaper.

Just don't forget to wear your mittens.

Charlotte hasn't even mentioned these mittens since early June, but here they are making another backyard appearance:

Think the mittens are weird? You should have been there the morning when Char made us all wear our bicycle helmets at the breakfast table.

I'm so glad the doorbell didn't ring.

I Had a Birthday

Getting a birthday card from your Church may seem cute:

But it can be a lot like a back-handed compliment:

Oh well, it made me laugh.

Growing up in a small, Iowan town meant no easy access to fast food. Just getting to go to a McDonald's was always a treat for me, and I always treat myself to a Mickey D's breakfast on my birthday. I didn't find out that the drive-thru had given the wrong breakfast until I got home and opened my bag at our dining room table.

Oh well, Charlotte loved eating some of the "reaaally biiig frenchfry" (i.e. breakfast hash brown).

Later that morning I received some really cool gifts (more on this later), and I was even serenaded:

(Side note: I think the "Thanks, babe. I love you." line sounds weak, but not as weak as my voice. It's funny how my voice sounds much beefier inside my head than it does in the real world.)

Then I got to pick where we would go for lunch. This was not an easy decision for me at all, but in the end I went for pizza. I love most pizzas, but a pizza that can accurately mimic one of my other favorite foods is a win-win.

I asked for Mullet's Chili Dog Pizza, and I got just what I wanted:

It's comprised of chili con carne for the sauce, and it's topped with small cuts of beef hot dogs, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, diced onions and pickles.

I'm a simple man, but I'm a happy man.