My girls

Bedtime never goes exactly as planned.

The next Baba Wawa

Despite her protests

I bought a new car.

It was becoming too much of a pain in the butt to get Kaylee in and out of the Mustang. So this week we set out to find its four-doored replacement. After much hesitation on all of our parts, Rae and I (well, mostly me) pulled the trigger on a VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI. Yes, a diesel engine.

Kaylee wasn't so sure about the purchase. In fact, she was down right against it.

But I don't want you to sell your green car.

But I like your convertible car better.

What can I say? My girl's got taste.

Things I never thought I'd have to say as a parent

Hey! Get Cinderella out of your butt.

Car shopping with the kid

Kaylee and I have been driving all over town looking for a replacement for my car. I love my car, but I think I've finally reached the point when I need four doors and some hauling capacity.

I can always replace MY Mustang with this one. She'll let me drive.

Right?

Bye, Uncle Ry

We're seeing a lot of Ryan this summer. Proximity and a cute 3-y-o probably have a lot to do with that.

Not that any of us are complaining.

Especially Kaylee

She digs the swings. The shoes, not as much.

Check out those size 10s.

Kaylee drew a cat

And since I can't frame the driveway ...
I share it here.

Girl's gots skills.

Room cleaning

Rae has been talking about thinning the herd when it comes to Kaylee's toys. So it was no surprise when I came home to the two of them organizing toys into "keep" and "donate" piles.

The pinecones on the right are in the "donate" pile.

The "keep" pile on the left extends for at least another foot ...

Also, no surprise.

She loves books

She is reading the phone book.

The phone book.

Seriously.

Last night as a single dad

Rae returns from Vegas tonight. And while we've had a blast, it will be great to have my wingman back.

Kaylee and I celebrated the night with Pei Wei. (I had Shrimp Pad Thai and she had Yucky Chicken.)

If you believe in fortune cookies, the two of us have something to look forward to.

A day in the park

It was only 101º today — so we decided it was a perfect time to visit the park.

And while we were there I decided to play around with my new toy. The embedded HD video is shot and edited entirely on the new iPhone.

Not too shabby.

I'm not sleepy ...

I need a shotgun

SCENE: A Tucson rooftop. Fireworks burst in the distance over a small mountain. A crowd of friends and friends of friends have gathered to overeat, drink beer and watch stuff explode.

KAYLEE: Daddy, I want to go sit next to that boy.

DAD: Oh, Christ.

She runs over to ETHAN and sits down next to him. She begins to talk to him only to see him run away and seek shelter next to his PARENTS. Undeterred, KAYLEE pursues him.

ETHAN: Mommy, I don't want to sit next to that girl!

KAYLEE: But Ethan! Look at me. I have brown hair just like you!

ETHAN does his best to ignore the girl. Kaylee begins flipping her hair and shaking her head.

KAYLEE: And look what I can do. I do this with my hair sometimes.

DAD: Kaylee, we don't flip our hair at boys.

PARENTS: Oh yes she does!

DAD begins to sob quietly as the mountain begins to burn in the distance.

Let them eat cake

After a morning of cursing, I have finally beaten iMovie into submission. All so I could share 220+ photos of Kaylee eating birthday cake.

You'd better love me.

What's for snack?

CRACK CHERRIES.

Princess Kaylee

All royalty needs a throne.
And shoes that look like alligators.

Uncle Visit 2010

Uncle James @Windy Point

Two uncles. One weekend. One spoiled little girl.

The beginning of the bear hunt.

You can find many, many more photos from the day here.

How she sees her Daddy

This year, my Fathers Day gift included  a portrait of dear old dad as seen by my little girl. It is the best kind of portrait. It is a cookie portrait. (I also got bacon. Really. Bacon.)

It makes me look a bit like a mutant Mr Potatohead, but it tastes better. (Or at least I assume it tastes better. It smelled good and I imagine plastic doesn't taste very good.)

Features of note include:

• Seperate legs, knees and feet
  
• Seperate arms, shoulders, elbows and hands
  
• My goatee
  
• And that big blue thing on top is my brain.
  

I'm very happy that my daughter thinks enough of my brain to include it.

History lesson

Daddy, the dinosaurs all died because the King of the Dinosaurs killed them.

They did?

Yes.

The King of the Dinosaurs?

Yes.

Who's that?

The King of the Dinosaurs is the T-Rex.

And he killed all the dinosaurs?

Yes.

Where did you learn that?

At my school.

Honey, I'm pretty sure the dinosaurs were killed by a drastic climate shift caused by a meteor crashing into the earth.

That's right. The meat-eater is a carnivore. And that means sharp tooth, like T-Rex. And he's the King of the Dinosaurs. And he killed them.

Oh. OK.