Summertime and the Livin' is Easy

On Wednesday evening our home group met at the beach for a potluck and bonfire. It was a beautiful evening with many new friends, the air was crisp, the sky beautiful and the music mixed with the glow of the dancing flames just cemented a perfect first bonfire experience for Harrison. It had been a long-time for me, too; it was truly a peaceful evening.

This is my Best Shot Monday.

For a moment it took me back in time to when I was small when my parents took me on picnics with our extended family to a rocky, green creek in the hills of South Dakota; or (at Harrison's age) spending the afternoons on the clear, blue waters and white sand of Florida's golf coast. I only hope that we will have many more evenings like this and that they will be sweet memories woven into Harrison's mind and heart forever.


We've spent plenty of days on the beach, but this was the first time we watched the sun go down and stayed on the cool sand until long after bedtime dark.


At the end of the evening tired kids sat in the sand gazing out into the darkness broken only by glowing dots of bonfires spotting the beach and listening to calming rhythms of ocean waves invisibly crashing against the shoreline.

We go home - with sand in our hair, the smell of a campfire in our nostrils and drop peacefully into our beds hoping that "tomorrow" will greet us with as much goodness as this day did.

Head over to Mother May I for more of the Best this weekend.

Happy Father's Day to the Guy I Dig - a.k.a. Daddy!

The G.I.D. has been a father for almost 18 years now. He has gleaned a lot of experience through those years. Being a father can be so incredibly rewarding and yet very humbling, as always everything is mirrored back to you. I know he wouldn't trade his experiences for the world. And I wouldn't want anyone else to raise these two boys. God had His perfect plan for this family.

For a while there were only the two of them.

Then I came along...

And the two became three again.
And then, by the grace of God, we became four...

Harrison is as different from Big Brother as night and day! Although Harrison's energy could power a city block for a week, he has reminded the G.I.D. of the Pure Joy of childhood wonder - yet again. Yes it's true, the G.I.D. is older, wiser, more tired and Blessed.

He is a father.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.

Psalm 127:3-5

Happy Father's Day to all you dads!

Wordless Wednesday - Come in Obi-Wan, Can You Hear Me?

Not the best pictures but the expressions on his face are classic! I wonder what he was thinking he heard?

He couldn't get enough of that police radio, he had a second go-round.
He did break into some Star Wars dialog. Are you surprised?

click in the picture larger view.

Check out more Wordless Wednesday pictures here and here.

Knobs, Buttons, Pedals and Radios - A Boy's Dream

We went to the City Yard Open House on Saturday, it is a boy's dream.

It's a mom's nightmare.

Why?

Because the boy wants to get in and hang out on any given machine or truck for as long as he possibly can.

he needs to step in the pedals...

Push the buttons and pull the levers...

Pretend to drive. Even talk on the radio to an imaginary friend...

The problem?


Every other boy has the same dream and they wait in line for their chance to sit on the same vehicle, pull the same lever, step on the same pedal.

But alas, there is time, we're in no rush to be anywhere, we take our time to see it all and revisit the favorite places...

Like the police motorcycles...

And the trash trucks with no lines of kids waiting at the end of the day.

Stick around long enough and the city yard vehicles are yours for the taking!

We finally leave 3 hours later content with kettle corn in hand.

A good day for a boy.

He's Back!...

Harrison received some Star Wars action figures for his birthday, the most important being - Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker and the Storm Troopers.
He took a storm trooper and Anakin with him to our Easter visit at his God Parent's house. When we got home Anakin was missing. I knew that he had left him in the car, but still - he vanished.

Being given over to the dark side for so long , I am not surprised that Anakin made a break for it when he saw his chance, he was left alone in the car, out of the sight of one newly turned 3-year-old. After all, his character, toy or not, is not one to embrace the rough, sticky hands of a toddler...
We called Harrison's God parents, we searched the car, we checked and double-checked; just last week I searched the car again to no avail. Over the last couple months, he slowly stopped asking about Anakin and focused on other things (like Speed Racer cars from Mcdonald's)

Then that Guy I Dig came home from work yesterday and said, "Harrison, I have a surprise for you!" He opened his hand to reveal Anakin, who's try for a permanent escape from Mighty Toddlers Hands had been thwarted. His hiding place DEEP in the depths of the back seat cushions was revealed when the GID pulled the seats flat to put equipment in the back.

Anakin is with his fellow action figures where he belongs and once again there is peace in this toddler's universe.

Harrison is a Big Brother!

No, we didn't have a baby.

But we got home from our Thomas Train event on Thursday to find that 3 of our butterflies have emerged! We fed them and Harrison gently welcomed them to the world.

While I was looking around for our instructions on how to feed them, Harrison was gently talking to them,

"Hi little butterfies, my name is Harrison."

We gave them some cut up oranges to start feeding on.

"Ticka, ticka, ticka ticka..."

He pretended to tickle as he wiggled his fingers in front of the butterfly house.

"Ohhh, you're cute!"

Be very careful, mommy don't disurb them.

I told him to be very careful and not bump the butterfly house so that we don't disturb them. Then, as only I can do, I bumped into the buffet and the butterflies fluttered about. Shortly after I was reprimanded by the newly self-proclaimed big brother to 3 little butterflies.

We have two more to go, then we'll set them free outside.

Peep Peep! There's a New Train in Town!,

In lieu of Favorite Phrase Friday I'm bring highlights from our big day yesterday! For all those with Thomas the Tank Engine loving toddlers, Thomas Town opened up at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. California yesterday and we were there!

We got an invitation for a VERY special event...
On our way!

We received a gift bag with a cool shirt, hat, whistle and red 'kerchief. [Harrison wanted nothing to to with the handkerchief...but he couldn't get the shirt on fast enough!]

After an opening ceremony and ribbon cutting, invited guests rushed in to ride Thomas the train ride or Percy the roller coaster...

Harrison opted for the gift shop first.

But soon he was in line for Thomas! Peep Peep!

A catered lunch was waiting for us after our adventure; and well-needed water (it hit 90 degrees!)
A couple highlights from Thomas. For more Thomas Town pictures click here.


Taking a moment with a buddy to soak it all in.

A happy day indeed!!

After riding Thomas and Percy, we headed over the Bugs Bunny World for more theme park fun and a frosted lemonade. What does Harrison think - he gave it a BIG thumbs up.

So take the family and head to Magic Mountain, Thomas is in town to stay and he wants you to come visit him and all his engine friends. If you're hot, visit Cranky's water play area; just what your child needs on a hot summer day!

And you just may run into us up there!

Have a great weekend!