Family Fun and the Dynamic Duo

Recently we had a special day that we normally call Wednesday, but because this was a rare day off during the middle of the week we had to call it Super Wednesday!! We started off appeasing our appetites with some delicious PB&J while relaxing in the sand at Folly Beach.
Little Man even decided to show off his beach bod that all those PB&Js are helping to create.

Jax went for a long walk on the beach, cuz she's a girl and they like that sorta thing.

While little Precious stayed back and enjoyed the rays.

Then we happened upon this little piece of history.

Little Man was excited to see his first lighthouse (or Temple as he calls it... only there's no Angel Moroni, they must have forgotten about it in the original plans)

Can you tell that Jax likes lighthouses???

And there was much rejoicing!!

Eventually the sun got tired and had to go nite-nite so we brought the festivities inside. Here the Dynamic Duo are trying to show off their super powers. Connor is flexing every rippled, bulging muscle in his masculine body and Mini Me is showing one of her defense mechanisms (it's like the dinosaur on Jurassic park that spits yucky gooey stuff into people's eyes to blind them before it ate them). Fortunately, Jax is quick enough to avoid the vicious onslaught (why do you think she's wearing glasses?? It's not for her eyesight, that's for sure.)

Then SuperCon showed off his mad matrix skills...

...which he likes to practice in his underwear. It helps him to feel more connected to his surroundings.

And at long last the Dynamic Duo pose for a rare still shot with their matching superhero uniforms.

SuperCon also shows his ability to go SuperCheese. He has a wide variety of talents and interests. Whereas Arianna, she's just happy to be there.

Of course we couldn't finish things off without this pic.

"Here's lookin at you, kid!"

Old Timers Game

My 10 year high school reunion is coming up later this year and we all know what that means... it means I'm getting old. I know, I know... I'm just as shocked as you are. I thought maybe by now they'd have a cure for aging but apparently it's still in the works (and it's not eating Oreos whenever you want because I've tried that already without much success). So, besides talking about the good ol' days there's not much you can do other than pretend to stop the sands of time. And that's exactly what I did today.

You see, my buddy Josh (pictured above) told me about a one time game used to raise money for the local children's hospital. We practiced for 3 weeks and had our first, and only, game today.

And boy was it worth it!! (even though we got creamed 22-0)

The Kiddos

Every so often Jacque gets bit by the home bug and has to travel back to Charlotte to re-connect with her roots (aka- eat nothing but cheesy grits and deep fried cheesy grits for an entire week). Occasionally, on these trips she is able to break away and get a few other items accomplished besides consuming mass quantities of velveeta cheese. This time she took the munchkins to visit her photographer friend Joanne. You can tell that dad was not around for the pictures because there isn't a football, dinosaur, bright colors, pizza, motorcycle or a bright colored dinosaur in a football uniform eating pizza while riding a motorcycle in any of the pictures. But besides all that they lack, I suppose the pictures turned out alright in the end...

Back In Action

At long last, everything in the universe has re-aligned itself... or in other words Jax is feelin good, the sun is shining and we're finally able to fill up the double jogging stroller with two kids and not just one. Ahhh.... it feels good.

As expected, Precious Arianna remained stoic and quiet throughout her inagural ride. But Little Man was more than thrilled to be back on the open road again. with nothin but sunshine in your face, the wind in your hair and the thrill of the ride!

Grad-U-A-Shee-oon!!!

Aphter ovar 7 yeers uv postt hie skool edukashon i fineely maid it. Now i git two put phancee e-nitials afta my naim. Hear i am bee'n al disteengished looken.
We had one last chance to get the gang all together. From a distance we clean up perty good!

But it's a little different story once you get up close! (Does anyone else think I look like a pirate in the picture above???)

"Peeple R gonna call us doktors!!"

" Are you thinkin what I'm thinkin Pinky? Now that I'm a doctor I'm gonna take over the world!"

" I hope they serve those little Beanie-Weenies after the ceremony is over!"

"Wa-Ha-Ha-HAAAAA!!!!! "

Judge Judy & the Loch Ness Monster

They say that little girls are made of sugar 'n' spice and everything nice and we couldn't agree more.Unless of course, Judge Judy is on. You see, while she is still quite little and mostly mild mannered, do not let her size fool you. She knows how to pack a punch and she has already learned to pick her battles. She has learned that family life is all about the give and take to keep everything harmonious in the home. But when Judge Judy is on, there is no give, only take. Look at the fire in her eyes as she guards the remote!!
She's even scoped out her own spot on the couch and has doubled her feeding schedule so she can grow faster and leave very own 'impression' on the couch (she learned that trick from Homer Simpson).
While the girls are focused in on JJ, us boys gotta get outta the house or we risk a pretty severe tongue lashin' from the women folk. Fortunately, the conditions were just right to do a little hunting-- for the Loch Ness monster. Seeing how they've never actually found her across the pond we figure there's a slight chance that she's hangin out here in America tryin to avoid the spotlight, or perhaps taking a vacation (monsters take vacations right?)
First we scouted out just the right spot on our Loch Ness-O-Meter we bought from E-Bay (and people say there's nothing good left on E-Bay anymore).

Once we secured our hunting grounds it was time to come up with a gameplan. Our first option was an 18 Slant PA pass X sprint.

But LittleMan thought it best to go all out with a Double Reverse Flea Flicker Statue of Liberty Fumble-Rooski Hook 'n' Ladder Hail Mary. It was a sure fire plan that just had to work!

It was the aged eyes of Dad that spotted Nessie first.

"You're right Old Man, she is out there. Let's go get her!!"

"Oh no, she got me. Man down... Abort! Abort!!"

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt in our attempt. It was a difficult blow to take, that's for sure. Maybe next time we'll send Judge Judy after Nessie, I bet she could catch her.

The Teaching Moment

Little Arianna, so small and so young, she's hardly even a speck on the canvas of life. She has so much in front of her yet to come, so much life to live and so many choices to make. How will she handle the rigors of a 21st century world in a fast-paced, dog eat dog world where only the strong survive and the weak become mere pawns in corporate America's chess game of more, more, more? Who will show her the way, so she can avoid the painful thorns and weeds that life presents along the way?

Fortunately, this little girl has a big brother. He is the one who will blaze the trail of life leaving a wide path in his wake. He will go where no brother has gone before in his quest to teach and nurture his new companion. It's his role to teach her that dessert tastes best before dinner, that PB&J is far superior to a nasty ol' bologne sandwich, that farting noises are always funny and that silverware is always optional.

In fact, Little Man takes his new role so seriously that he has already had some one-on-one teaching sessions with little Arianna. His first topic of discussion- the proper eating of a birthday cake. Realizing that Arianna is so young and inexperienced he decided it best to actually show her the correct technique and not just tell about it. It's just as they say, "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; but teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime." Little Man couldn't agree more.