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is still Tom Sawyer.

So, tonight big brother was timing little brother to see how fast little brother could put away big brother’s dirty clothes and get his pajamas.  He did quite well.

Tomorrow, they’re whitewashing the fence…

J

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all 4 of my readers.  We spent Christmas on the Big Island this year.  It was a nice week away and quite an experience.  Where else but Hawaii can you go from a black sand beach to a volcano to a snow-capped mountain?  Some of the highlights include:

- water slides at the beach resort

- petroglyph fields

- driving the family 2 1/2 hours in a car for the first time in over 3 years

- sea horse farm

- black sand beach

- eating lunch at the “Southern most bakery in the United States”

- caving an old lava tube

- watching the creation of new land, courtesy the Kilauea volcano

- Geocaching at 9500′

- driving 13 miles (each way) up a one-lane, pseudo paved road to 10,500′ to see snow

- 36 hours of torrential rain

By the way, if you take your wife’s new portable GPS on a trip with you, you can save yourself $30 by bringing the power cord. 

Here are a few pics:

J

We are thankful to celebrate another blessed year by having Thanksgiving at the beach once again.  The day started when  Offspring #1 woke me and asked to go watch sunrise.  As the sun was coming up, we sat and read the creation story from Genesis Chapter 1.  Seeing all the things from God’s creation as we read about it was an awesome experience.

The friends, food and football were all added benefits.  Enjoy the Christmas season!

J

I took the boys to “the range” to try out some new sticks today.  I just got offspring #1 a new set of “Loco Kids” clubs.  He outgrew the ones that offspring #2 is using.  I also scored a Big Bertha 460 for only $100 at a killer of a sale.  My old driver is good, but it’s not the “new” titanium style and it’s the size of a normal 3 wood these days.  Anyway, our photographer caught us all in mid swing here.

J

I was reminded a couple of times this week that kids really are listening to what you say (when you least expect it).  Here are some examples:

1)  I was in a golf shop and wanted to hit a golf club that I had seen on TV.  So, I took it up to the guy in the store and asked if I could go hit the club in the “hoo ha” - which is clearly just slang for “the room in which I can hit golf clubs into a net.”  About 30 minutes later, offspring #2 was holding a club and I indicated that we should leave.  He said, “but I wanted to hit it in the ‘hoo ha.’”

2)  We stopped in the store the other night to get a “treat” from the little ice cream freezer.  I saw one of my favorites in there - the Nestle Toll House cookie ice cream sandwich.  I was excited to see it because they often don’t have them.  So, I grabbed it and said excitedly, “I’m getting one of these Bad Boys!”  To which offspring #2 says just as excitedly, “Ooh Dad, I want a Bad Boy!!”

You have to stop and cherish these moments before they get too old and understand what slang is.

J

…somebody else.

Offspring #2 lost his first tooth the other night.  He was very excited to put the tooth under his pillow for a visit from the tooth fairy.  We put it in this little wooden tooth-shaped box.  It’s pretty old…my wife used it for her teeth when she used was a kid.  As such, the lid is a little loose.  To prevent tooth loss (you’ll laugh later), I put a rubber band around it to keep the lid on.

Well, the next morning, offspring #2 comes in to the bedroom to inform us that the tooth fairy didn’t leave any money.  I’m not sure who came up with the theory, but we’re all guessing that the tooth fairy couldn’t get the box open due to the rubber band.

We put it back under the pillow last night.  I sealed it with a rubber band again with much concern from offspring #2.  I assured him that the tooth fairy would be able to figure it out this time; however, when Mom took it out later to “check on it,” the rubber band had been removed.  I guess he didn’t want to take any chances.

I haven’t heard from him yet this morning, but I’m assuming that all went well.  Never mind…I had just hit the button to publish this and he came into the office to inform me that he got a dollar from the tooth fairy…along with a little note saying, “Sorry I didn’t leave your money last night.”

 J

I was reminded of the psychological scarring that can be caused by a motion sensor and a 2000 psi flow of water.  When she was little(r), offspring #3 had a near-death experience on a public toilet…see, she wiggled a little too much on an auto-flushing toilet and the ensuing fear from the jet engine blast underneath her as the toilet flushed just about killed her.

Ever since then, the toilet gets sized up when she walks in to the stall.  If it has the Terminator-style electronic eye (complete w/red flashing pulses of death), she will say “Magic Flusher,” point at it and wait until you cover it w/your hand before she will get on and take care of business.

I thought this was a thing of the past, but the other night, I took her into one of the “Family Restrooms.”  She was preparing for the job and just kind of stopped.  I said, “Come on…” and waved her over, but she just pointed at the wall and said, “Magic Flusher.” 

How long does this last?  Is this why women go to the bathroom in pairs?  So the other one can cover the Magic Flusher sensor?

J

I took the kids to Burger King the other day.  The line was a bit long, so we had to wait a few minutes.  As we were getting close to the front, offspring #1 motions toward the front of the line and says (in an excited whispery voice), “Dad!  It’s Yankee Doodle!!”  Of course, being a man of sound reason, I said, “Uh…what are you talking about?”  He points to an older gentlemen about to order his food.  This guy is wearing a sun hat of sorts and when he turned to order his food, he revealed a decorative feather on the side of this hat.  Offspring #1 says, “See…he has a feather in his hat!  It’s Yankee Doodle!!!!”  The mind of a kid is a funny thing sometimes.

 J

Happy Thanksgiving!  This year, we celebrated our second annual Bash on the Beach.  We rented one of the beach cabins and invited roughly 50 people over for a Thanksgiving feast.  It wasn’t really a potluck…each person had a food assignment, but it had the same effect - tons of food! 

J

Well, I finally broke down and joined the YouTube revolution today.  Hopefully we will be able to share many videos with you in the near future.

 In the meantime, here is a terrific rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, by Offspring #3.

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