Fear the worst

Mom? Can I go outside and play with Allison for five minutes?
OK, but I'm making dinner soon.

OK, I'll come back soon!

Door opens. Pitter patter of feet running on the front walk

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parents fearing the worst scramble for the door.

MOM! Pork Chop peed on our new plants!

Parents retreat inside, shaking their heads.

Big kid

Sometimes I snap a picture and it hits me just how much she's grown. Not just physically, but as an individual.

Fightin' the Irish

Daddy, do you know what tomorrow is?

No. What?

It's St. Patrick's Day! So we have to wear green!

Oh, OK. Remind me in the morning.

Do you know what you do on St. Patrick's Day?

No. Tell me.

You put out gold for the St. Patricks.

You put out gold FOR the St. Patricks?

Yes. And you dig a hole. And you put the gold on top. And you trap them.

Oh really. And what do you do after you trap them?

You smile at them.

So why are we trapping St. Patricks?

St. Patricks come into your house and they play tricks on you.

Tricks? What kind of tricks?

Well, they come in your house and surprise you. And when you go outside, they drew Xs all over your rocks.

Xs?

Yes. So we have to trap them.

Obviously. I don't want any St. Patricks in my house.

No. Me neither.

Daddy?

Yes?

Do we have any gold?

Surrounded by LARPers

Renaissance Festival tickets for the adults. $80

Full tank of gas. Too much to think about

Five bottles of water. $10

Chicken on a stick. $4

Mermaid arm painting. $15

Braided hair. $13

Wooden sword & shield. $22

Frozen ball of orange stuff. $2

Llama ride. $4

Camel ride. $4 (plus $4 for mom)

Elephant ride. $5

Ride in a giant wooden swan. $6

One good photo if two girls at the one moment they weren't fighting over the parasol? Priceless.

U of A. U of A.

I took Kaylee to her first Widcats game today.
She met Wilbur. They won the PAC-10 championship. She got cotton candy. They locked an undefeated season at home.
Not bad for one afternoon.

XXOO

Kaylee gives great hugs. Even if she is a bit camera shy these days.

Penwheel

It's called a penwheel because it has a stick shaped like a pen with a wheel on it.

The send off

Stay safe Uncle Ry.

Stolen moments

Play times have been few and far between this weekend. But the ones we have had have been worth the trip.

Love stinks

Happy trails

Every girl's dream is to ride a horse.

I don't know what it is about the things, but the girls love 'em. Kaylee has been asking about riding a horse for almost as long as she could string together a sentence. Unfortunately, everything we looked into required her to be five years old.

Then our friends introduced us to Chip.

Chip is a tiny little thing – not much taller than Kaylee. He's got a soft, brown coat. He likes to lick the salt off your hands. And best of all – you only have to be four years old to ride him.

Kaylee seemed to get the hang of things quickly. Not that there's a lot to riding a horse this size. Especially when he's actually being led around by a rope. But she sat up straight, worked the reins and loved every minute of it.

I have a feeling Chip and Kaylee are going to be seeing more of each other in the near future.

Breakfast of champions

Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal with Cheez-Its.
For dipping.
Ew.

Dear Kaylee

Dear Kaylee,

You asked me to send you pictures of my trip and of snow. This is both in one shot!

I took this while I was in the airplane this afternoon. That's Chicago! Doesn't it look tiny? (If you look closely at the bottom of the photo, you can see Wrigley Field. That's where the Cubs play baseball!)

I got to see all the snow from the air. It was cool. We even flew over the lake. It was covered in ice!

Be good for Mommy. I miss you and will see you soon.

Love, Daddy

The kid's got taste

New artwork for the bedroom. Kaylee approves.

On the way to school

Daddy, why is it Grandpa Charlie's birthday?

Because this is the day he was born, kid.

He was borned? Then who's his mommy?

GG is his mommy. Everybody has a mommy.

Yeah. I have a mommy and she has a mommy and you have a mommy.

Yup.

I bet Grandma Susie is in your heart even though she died.

Yeah …

Kids. They say the darndest things.

Someone should make a TV show about that.

Snow art

"I'm throwing snowballs at the stop light."

Quote of the night

"My bottom is burning!!"

Running around the McDonald's playplace while singing Mr. Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"

My geek is learning to spell

Momma cow.

Octopus.

Lion.

Ghostbuster.

Wolverine.

Captain America.

Awesome

Cheeeeesssseeeee ...

The latest favorite

Fruit Ninja. Watch out for the bombs.