Adventures of a Family

On this beautiful first day of Fall, while Jonah and mama went to the alpine slide at Skibowl to celebrate friend Eli's birthday, Mae and Daddy got to spend the day together in Forest Park. How Mae loves her Daddy!

Eli, Max and Kim please come get this kid who's been waiting for 25 minutes with his giant red suitcase containing 4 items. Post script An awesome time was had by all, including the parents who ended up kid free for the night;)

WORD FOR WORD CONVERSATION WITH JONAH JONAH:   Daddy.  You know.  When I grow up I think I want to be a pirate but I don't know... it is hard DADDY:  Well, the best part is you don't have to decide today Jonah. JONAH: after a thoughtful pause   Daddy?  I think I want to be a ghost instead. Either that or a knight in a suit of armor. DADDY:  And what would you do if you were a guy in a suit of armor? JONAH:  uhhmm.  I'd probably fight. That's what those guys do right daddy?  Nevermind.  I want to be a king but I want to fight and stuff like that too.  Daddy, I want Mae to be my princess when she grows up and then I can protect her but I would miss you and I would have a horse and a shield.

A few days ago, Michael decided to do something a little different and shave off his always-present beard and mustache. I am usually convinced that this facial hair is actually something permanent that cannot ever be removed or his entire face will come off, but it's not true! The guy shaved and it was still him underneath. That skin hadn't seen the light of day for years, and of course, little Mae or Jonah for that matter, had never seen him clean-shaven. When Michael first presented himself to Mae, she was pretty upset and we thought she would start loosing it. All she kept repeating was "where are the pokes, bring the pokes back!" I was just about to leave for somewhere on my bicycle, but realized that she probably thought I was about to leave her with a stranger. So I had to snuggle up to the guy and give a few smooches in front of her, before she would accept that this really was her dad. She's still asking for the pokes back a few days later, but happi...

Happy father's day to a wonderful dad and husband.

AHHHHH...such a cutie. And, my, how this year flew by.

Thank GOD for family who live close by. It's a win/win for everyone involved! Although grandma and grandpa Diltz live just 25 minutes down the road, the Clarks are about 3 1/2 hours away. And of course due to the distance they don't see the grandkids as much as they would like. So Michael and I, being the very giving people we are, decided to grant these two grandparents a couple of uninterrupted hours with the kiddos, while we had an outing to Tasty and Sons (YUM!) and then on to a very interesting "museum" called the Peculiarium near NW 23rd, where you can get ice cream sundays with real dried dehydrated worms, and see a display of an alien autopsy. AHHH, how romantic. Anyway, although now the grandparents admit they were a bit worried about my kids being total crazy, hyper devil-children, a good time was had by all. The photo evidence, complete with smiles, is displayed to the left of this post.