2010 Vacation – Outer Banks, NC

Again this year we went to the Outer Banks for vacation.  We had a great time!  There were eight adults that went so we were able to split the cost and rent a really nice beach house!

Our Vacation Rental House At The Outer Banks

To get to the house you had to drive eight miles on the beach!  There were no roads to get to the house.  If you ever go to this part of the Outer Banks make sure you do your research and only attempt to drive on the beach at low tide.  :D   We got stuck twice on the way to the house and had to be pulled out both times.  :D

But, once we made it to the house we were able to relax in the pool and hot tub…

Ace In The Pool In North Carolina

Ace In The Pool In North Carolina

And our house was also in the Wild Horse Reserves, so there were wild horses everywhere!  They came right up to our house and even slept in our back yard…

Outer Banks Wild Horses

Outer Banks Wild Horses

Outer Banks Wild Horses Sleeping

Outer Banks Wild Horses Sleeping In The Back Yard

And when we were not playing on the beach…

Jared At The Beach

Jared At The Beach

Ace At The Beach

Ace At The Beach

Ace's Cousin Livi At The Beach

Ace's Cousin Livi At The Beach

Ace and Livi At The Beach

Ace and Livi At The Beach

…we went out to look at the famous light houses…

Currituck Light House

Currituck Light House

Cape Hatteras Light House

Cape Hatteras Light House

… saw the Inn at Roadanthe (From the movie Nights in Roadanthe)…

Inn At Roadanthe

Inn At Roadanthe

… saw all kinds of cool critters…

The Lizard

The Lizard

A Dragon Fly

A Dragon Fly

Pink and Yellow Moth

Pink and Yellow Moth

The Cool Bear

The Cool Bear

Whoever said vacation was relaxing?  :D   At the end of every day we were all pooped…

Ace Worn Out

Ace Worn Out

Ace, Calling It A Day

Ace, Calling It A Day

… and now we are back home…planning next year’s vacation.  :D

Ruby

Ace loves dogs!  He always gets so excited when he sees a dog.  So, after quite a bit of convincing from Momma, I finally gave in…

But Ruby is a puppy…a big puppy!  :D   And a hyper one at that.  The running and jumping is not Ace’s favorite part for sure…but I’m sure he’ll get used to it.  :D

If Prison Wasn’t Such A Bad Place…

Ace and I were at the playground behind the neighborhood school the other morning.  The sun was shining (for once), and I was bound determined to soak up every ounce I could get.  It was going to be a good day!  I was taking loads pictures with the new camera and Ace was enjoying the curvy slide, the swing, and the bouncy bridge at the playground!

Everything was great!  We were both having a good time until…….I came across the first person that I wanted to literally strangle the life out of!

I have seen many people in my life.  Probably in the multiple tens of thousands I would guess.  Most of them are nice people.  Some are jack-asses, but not a single one ever fired me up like this one.

So,  I was helping Ace climb up the ladder to the bridge that leads to the slide when I heard, from around the corner of the school, a lady…sorry, wrong word, she was far from a lady…a bellowing woman yell at the top of her lungs… “SHUT THE F*CK UP!”

It caught me off guard.  I mean after all, we were at a school…ya know…where kids are present?   …and then she yelled it again…and again…and again!

Finally the bellowing woman rounded the corner of the school building with two other adults, three kids (maybe 8, 10, and 12 yrs old), and a dog on a leash.

They finally made it over to the playground…and of course had to play on the same piece of playground equipment that Ace was on.

I could hear one of the boys (the 10yr old) whining to his Mom (biologically..not emotionally) that he wanted to walk the dog.

She yells again, “YOU HAD YOUR F*CKING CHANCE TO WALK HIM AT HOME!  YOUR BROTHER IS WALKING HIM NOW SO SHUT THE F*CK UP AND QUIT YOUR DAMN CRYING!”

The boy cries more and asks again.  “Please Mom…I just want to walk the dog….please please please…”

The woman stands up and starts to unbuckle her belt.  The boy runs and screams…”GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE!  ONE MORE CHANCE MOMMY!  JUST ONE MORE CHANCE!”

At this time Ace has just made his way up onto the bridge and is walking across it.  I’m standing on the ground below him.

The lady whips out her belt and chases her son around the playground.  The other two adults with the group were laughing hysterically.

The boy runs up the ladder onto the same piece of playground equipment that Ace was on…and the Mom follows with belt cocked.

The boy stops about two feet before he gets to where Ace is and…WHACK!  She whipped the boy with her belt diagonally across his upper back.  And if a belt across the upper back wasn’t bad enough…it was a STUDDED BELT.  You know, the ones with the big stainless steel spikey looking things…!

After she cracked the boy…it was silent.  The laughing stopped.  The boys screaming stopped.  The only sound I could hear was the panting of the crazy woman.

I didn’t say a word.  I was speechless.  And then she looked at me and said, “Go ahead and call f*cking Child Services.  They can raise them.  I gave birth to them.  I can do whatever the f*ck I want to them.”

Aaaaand now I am pissed.  If a look could kill I’m pretty sure she would have died ten times over.

If it wasn’t for the whole going to prison thing I could have easily strangled her right there with her belt…

And then to top it off the other adults start laughing and yelling at the boy to stop crying.  His crying was scaring the little boy (Ace).

“No..you bunch of hill jack, loud mouth, studded belt swinging, piece of shit parents who think it’s funny to chase a little 10 year old around the playground putting all of these other younger kids at risk for getting hurt are scaring him!”

Man, that would have felt good coming out of my mouth…but I held it in.  It definitely went through my mind though!

No matter how bad I wanted to, I knew I couldn’t say anything.  These were the kind of people who honestly don’t care.  If they would go through all of that trouble to punish a boy for asking to walk the dog, what do you think they would do if I threatened to call the police?  And I was there by myself with Ace.  Nope.  I was not putting him in any kind of danger.

So I sucked it up…and kept my mouth shut.  I got Ace down from the playground and we walked over to the next playground area.

No stupid hill jack, loud mouth, studded belt swinging POS Mom was going to ruin our day!

Can Being In A Rut Be Fun?

Ever feel like you are in a rut…digging and digging to get out, but getting no where fast?

Ever since Momma started staying at home with Ace instead of going to work, we have really had to watch where our money goes.  And now that we are living in a recession it almost like a noose around our necks!

We pay all of our bills on time, but what’s left over leaves little room for much entertainment or extra curricular activities.

The added stress and lack of doing things hasn’t really helped my blogging much. I mean, do you really want to hear about how we do the same thing every day?  I didn’t think so…  :D

I know that the recession has hurt many families much more than it has hurt ours and I am very grateful that we have done as well as we have throughout these tough times.

I have friends that have been laid off for over a year, depleted all of their savings, and ran up their credit cards.  Now they are living on a shoestring budget struggling to make ends meet.

So how has the recession put unwanted stress on your family?

What have you done to alleviate this stress?

What are some fun (and inexpensive) things that your family does for entertainment?

Using His Words…

Forever, I thought that ace was never going to talk.  But here lately he has really been jibber-jabbing about everything under the sun.

I recorded this video at dinner time the other night.  Ace had been saying PIIIZZA  all day, and so I figured he was asking for it…  Momma wasn’t home to cook dinner, and I didn’t feel like cooking again, so we ordered some Donatos!!

Looks like he likes pizza just as much as me!  He ate 6 pieces…  :D

Why Buy Toys?

I mean seriously.  Ace has a whole room full of toys.  Hell, you risk life and limb just to venture into the booby trapped maze of Fisher Price land mines!

With all the toys that Ace has, it never seems to amaze me the things that he plays with…

Favorite toy #1 is the toilet plunger!  How much more sanitary of a toy could he find?  If we leave the bathroom door open, it is a given that I will eventually trip over a tool designed to push a chunk of poo the size of a drain pipe!

Favorite toy #2 is the toilet brush…  If you find the poop pusher in the kitchen, you are likely to find the Porcelain God’s  loofah somewhere nearby.  Let’s just see how many places we can spread the fecal matter, shall we?

Favorite Toy #3 is the attachment for the vacuum.  But you know what’s funny..?  If I actually attach it to the vacuum and turn it on so that he will actually be doing some cleaning…he wants nothing to do with it.  :D

Favorite Toy #4 is the trash can lid.  If you take it off of the trash can, put it in the middle of the tile kitchen floor, stand on it until it is flat, and then jump off… it snaps back into shape with a loud POP.  Damned Rubbermaid…

And finally, Favorite Toys #5, 6, 7, 8, and 9…anything that is stacked in a neat pile, put away in a cabinet, on the counters, hanging from the Christmas tree, or otherwise purposely hidden from a two year olds view and/or reach…

What are your kids’ favorite “toys”?

How Do You Know You Spend Too Much Time Playing Bejeweled Blitz On Facebook?

Bejweled Blitz

Bejweled Blitz

So how do you know when you spend too much time playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook?

Maybe you check the leader board while on break at work to make sure that no one has beaten your score!

Could it be that you find yourself organizing the cans in your cabinets into groups of three?

Do you dream up ways to sabotage that person’s computer who will always get 200,000 points every single week and you’re lucky to get 100, 000?!

Or maybe…just maybe…a good sign would be your two year old, who only speaks the language of Nick Jr, running around the house saying, “One Minute…Go!”…”Bang Bang Crash”…”A New High Score!”

Maybe…just maybe…that would mean that you play just a little too much.  :D

More Of A Treat Than A Trick

Ace Trick Or Treat 2009So this year was a pretty fun one for Trick-Or-Treat!

The past few years Ace could really give a crap.  I think it was more of an inconvenience for him actually.  He probably saw Trick-Or-Treat as just wearing some uncomfortable clothes…being made to walk (ride in the stroller or Dad’s arms) an insanely long distance…being surrounded by people with bad customes…and it was all for nothing!  He didn’t even like candy!

But, this year was a different story.  I was so proud of him.  We took off from Grandma’s house walking…yes actually walking this year.  He was carrying his candy bucket, kept his hat on, and only tried ripping his costume off a few times.  :D

Ace walked house to house, up and down stairs, for six whole blocks without even being asked to be carried.  (My arms thanked him)  :D

There was some people trying to be scary to the little kids by wearing scary masks while passing out the candy.  We walked up to one house and here comes a girl about Ace’s age with tears flying.  I thought about walking past this house to keep Ace from getting scared, but then I changed my mind.  After all, Halloween is all about being a little scared, right?

Ace walked up to the scary guy with some weird mask on and just stared at him like he was thinking, “What the hell is wrong with your face?”  Ace took his candy and calmly walked to the next house.  I was rolling… :D

After about 6 blocks Ace has had enough and his candy bucket probably weighed about as much as he did.  We called it a night and went inside to check the candy for tampering.  There were a few pieces where I deemed that a taste test was necessary…  :D

Next year’s post will probably be about how out of breath I will be after chasing him from house-to-house, keeping him out of the street, and my sugar deprevation.  :D

OBX – The Outer Banks

We spent the last week of our vacation in Duck, NC.  We (PaPa, Grandma, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Mike, Livi Shea, Ace, Momma, and I) rented a beach house about 500 ft from the beach…our little home away from home…

Ace and Livi

We were greeted in NC by Hurricane Bill with large bone crushing waves and high winds, but everything calmed down by the third day.

We did not do a whole lot there (isn’t that the point of going to the beach?). 

Ace, A.K.A. FishBoy, and Olivia had never seen the ocean before so they were in complete amazement when the waves would crash down and roll over their feet…

Ace and Livy Playing In The Ocean

We went on a Dolphin Cruise where we took a relaxing boat ride out into the sound and saw live dolphins in the wild… Did you know that wild dolphins have pink bellies?  Me neither…

Dolphins In The Wild

The Dolphin Cruise was a sunset cruise, so we got to see the sunset…it was breath taking to see the sun set over the water…

The Sunset Over The Water

And the skies after the sun set were equally as eye cathcing…notice the moon peeking it’s head out into the daylight…

Beautiful Skies

As fun as the dolphin cruise was, nothing beats playing on the beach.  Of course someone has to be buried…

Buried Alive

…and sand castles have to be constructed with precsion…

Sand Castle

We even got to experience the beach at early morning and at night.  At night the crabs run wild.  We went down with our flashlights and chased the crabs across the sand back into the water.  Those little buggers can scoot!

We got up early one morning to watch the sunrise.  I have never in my life took time to sit down and watch the sunrise.  I mean, I’ve seen it rise while driving to work, and I’ve been outside when it has risen, but to sit and watch it’s every move is something that I will have to try and do more often.  The view was overwhelming…

Sunrise On The Beach

All in all we had a fantasic time!  It had to be one of the most fun two weeks that we have ever had.  Momma is already busy planning next years vacation…

Jared and Momma On The Dolphin Cruise

On A Whim…

Ever just do something on a whim?  Ever just get in the car and drive not knowing exactly where you will end up.  Momma and I used to do that a lot.  Just drive, grab a hotel for the night, maybe see some local attraction, and then drive home the next day.   Kind of nice to get away from the normal grind ever now and then…

We haven’t done that since Ace was born though.  It’s kinda hard to just hop in the car and go.  You gotta have a diaper bag, diapers, sippy cups, car seats, teddy bears, blankets, toys, extra clothes, and I’m probably forgetting something…I usually do.  :D

So, we kinda improvised…we decided at the last minute that we were going somewhere, but we had to know where we were going.  We can’t risk not being able to find a room, so we had to make a reservation.  We packed all of the stuff that Ace needs…see paragraph #2 (and by the way the thing that I forgot in the list was baby wipes…luckily we did remember them in real life though :) )

So we started planning about 8PM, left at 10PM, and got to the hotel at around Midnight.  We got up in the morning, enjoyed the continental breakfast (Holiday Inn Express has the best breakfast…gotta get the cinnamon rolls), and then we headed to Indian Lake.

We made it to the beach, but it was a bit too cold to go swimming, so we just let Ace play in the shallow waves.

It felt good to step outside the lines of normal daily life again.  It felt good to just go somewhere without thinking too much about how we were going to get there, what we were going to do, when we were going to leave, and how much it was going to cost.

No worries…  Kinda like being two years old again.  No wonder he is always in a good mood.  :D

Beach Bum

Giant Boy

Playing In The Sand

The Karate Kid Pose

The Big Birthday Party!

Last year Ace had a big birthday party because it was, well,  his 1st birthday. :D

This year was not an exception.  His party had quite a good turn out!

Last year there wasn’t really a theme, other then “Blue for Boy”.  This year the theme was “Fire Trucks“! 

Even though the themes of the two parties were not the same there seemed to be some similarities…

Cool Birtday Cakes:

awesome-birthday-cake
Last Years Cake

Firetruck Birthday Cake
This Years Fire Truck Birtday Cake

Messy Cake Eating:

the-crusher
Last Years Messy Cake Eating

Messy Cake Eating - 2nd Birthday
This Years…Less Messy Cake Eating.  Notice he is actually using the correct end of the silware this year.  :D

Funny Hats:

Grandpa's Funny Hat
Last Year: Grandpa S’s Funny Hat

Momma's Fireman Hat
This Year: Momma’s Funny Fireman Hat

Uncle Charlie's FIreman Hat
This Year: Uncle Charlie’s Funny Fireman Hat

Overall the party was a success.  Thank you Momma for throwing such a good party!

What will next years birthday party bring?  :D

It’s that time of year again….March for Babies!

Hello everyone…it’s been quite a while since my last post…although I have been following several secretly, so I thought I would mention it’s that time of year again!

March of Dimes is having their annual March for Babies (formerly WalkAmerica) and I have decided to participate again this year! Last year several readers/stalkers were responsible for helping me reach my goal so this year I have doubled what I did last year! My hope is this year to earn $250 for March of Dimes and to pray that one day all babies will be born healthy!

If you are able and willing to help please donate via the following link, and if you can’t due to your personal economic crisis I understand just pray for nice weather that day! You never know about an April in Ohio!!!

Battery Overload

BatteriesIf we put all the batteries, in all of Ace’s toys together we could probably power a small town for a short period of time! :D

Do they even make toys any more that do not make noise, flash lights, or dance?  What happened to playing with blocks?  How about Lincoln Logs?

Can a stuffed animal be just a stuffed animal?  Does it have to have a mouth that moves?  Does it have to do back flips or cartwheels?

Remember Tonka trucks?  I had a bunch or trucks and tractors when I was little.   Remember making the engine sounds with your mouth?  That is a skill that I feel will be lost in time.  Most toy trucks make their own noise…hell they even move on their own.

One good thing about having such realistic toys…if your kid has his own fire station like Ace does…

Ace's Firestation...and Ming Ming

Ace's Fire Station...and Ming Ming

…if our house ever catches on fire these 21st century toy fire trucks will probably turn themselves on, drive to the source of the flames, and extinguish the fire.  With Ming Ming’s help, “This is sewious!”, they will use team work.  And why is that a good thing?  Because “What’s going to work?  Team work!”  They will surround the fire, talk to each other over their mini CBs, and save the day!

That is if the batteries do not die…

The Ball Pit Experiment

Chuck E Cheese’s was one of my favorite places to go when I was a kid.  I spent the majority of my time jumping in the ball pit.

Most of you are probably cringing right now.  Your probably thinking about the time when a hypodermic needle was found in the ball pit and the plethera of germs that are probably growing in there.

What do you think you could find in the ball pit if you really looked.  Probably a lot of tokens, socks, and pizza.  :D

Uncle Brandon and his girlfriend Nikki got Ace his very own ball pit for Xmas…

Ace In The Ball Pit

Ace In The Ball Pit

I’m going to do a little experiment.  I’m not going to clean out the ball pit for a few months.  After a few months have passed I am going to remove all the balls and see just what is in there.  I’m betting that I will not find any hypodermic needles, but I just might find some dried up grapes, crunched up crackers, and a moldy sippy cup.  Who knows…

I’ll keep you posted on my ball pit experiment.

So do you have any Chuck E Cheese horror stories?  Tell us about them in the comments.  :D

And If You Haven’t Noticed…

I have finally updated the Ace’s Pictures page.  The most recent pictures were from about a year ago…..but not any more.   It’s a chronological timeline of Ace in action from before birth, until now.  :D

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

Every time I go fishing, while sitting there waiting for a fish to bite, I always think about the Bert and Ernie episode on Sesame Street from when I was a kid.  I sooo just want to try the infamous fish call.  :D

One thing I have been patiently waiting for is the day that Ace gets old enough to go fishing.  I’m sure he would go now, but I would spend more time keeping him from jumping in the water than actually fishing.  :D

We were walking though the store on day and happened to stroll by the aquariums.  Ace was immediately amazed by the colorful fish he kept pointing and saying “FIIIISSSSHHHH”.  Then he had to grab my finger and pull my over to show me.  From that day forward Ace is hypnotized by fish in an aquarium.

So, when Christmas came, Momma and I just knew what Santa was going to bring Ace.  And Jolly ole’ Saint Nick pulled through for the little guy…

Ace Watching The Fish

Ace Watching The Fish

So, while we can not yet go fishing and try the Bert and Ernie fish call…we have been practicing on the fishies at home.  By the time Ace is old enough to go fishing with me we should have the fish call down pat.  :D

Around The Web:

I’m going to try and link out more often to other interesting things I find on the web including new sites I find, funny posts, or anything I find interesting and think you may enjoy or find useful.  So, here goes my first attempt at “Around The Web” …

Dad-Blogs.com – Remember Joeprah?  He’s been AWOL for the past few months, but I have recently found out there was a good reason.  He was hard at work making his new site…Dad-Blogs.com.   Go check it out.  It looks very promising with the ability to create your own profiles, upload images, share videos, create groups, and comment on everything!  Come on over and join the community.  :D

Dude To Dad – Dude To Dad is another group for Dads that I found recently.  You have to check out this site as well.  The reason behind this group site for Dads is to help explain the transition between being just a Dude and growing into a Dad.   My favorite part of the site was the video…Boobs Or Bottles:D

WildLights at the Zoo

Did every one have a Happy Thanksgiving?  I sure hope so.  We sure did.  :D

Just like any other holiday, things get crazy at our house.  We go here, go there, see this part of the family, and then that part of the family.  This year Momma and Ace’s Grandma S planned and served Thanksgiving dinner, which was delicious!

After all of the planning, running, and eating we decided to have some fun!  The local zoo has an awesome display of Christmas lights called WildLights, so we packed up Ace and his cousin Olivia to go see what all of the fuss is about.  And it was COLD!!!

We dressed the kids in double layers, snapped them into their wagon, covered them up with blankets, and started pulling.

The lights were amazing!  I believe they had put up over 2 million lights!!! The following pictures do not do the light display justice…

After walking what seemed to be 10 miles through a crowd of 50 million parents (who apparently have never been in public before based upon their rudeness and lack of consideration for others) we arrived at the building where Santa was hiding.  Ace and Olivia both got their pictures taken with Santa.  I’ll leave that story for a future post.  :D

While Grandma was waiting for the pictures from the Santa experience to be printed and purchased, Momma and I took Ace and Olivia outside to burn off some steam and get warmed back up for the long walk back towards the car.

The area was wide open with no one else around.  Ace and Olivia (and Dad) ran around laughing and chasing each other.  People probably thought there was something wrong with us…  :D

On the way back to the car we had to stop at the carousel and take a quick ride on a ceramic horse.  For the record…ceramic horses are kinda cold when it is 20 degrees outside.  :D   I’m not so sure what exactly is so entertaining about riding in circles on a fake horse that goes up and down, but once I got past the dizziness I enjoyed it.  :D

Notice the blanky.  It goes EVERYWHERE!  This night it was a blessing in disguise though.

Ace has never tolerated the idea of a hat, hood, or gloves.  We managed to keep his hood on by snapping it in place and then rolling the edge so that it is so tight that he can not pull it off.   Gloves?  We haven’t figured that one out yet.  So, while the blanky kept Ace happy, it also kept his little fingers from freezing off.  :D

When we were done with the carousel ride it was late.  Kids were cranky, tired, and cold and we bee-lined it to the car.  Snapped everyone into their car seats and zoomed home.  The kids were zonked out not too long after leaving the parking lot.

The whole experience was incredible.  So incredible that we are going back in a few weeks, when hopefully it is a bit warmer, so we can see the rest of the attractions.  :D

Maybe by then we’ll figure out a trick to keep some gloves on Ace’s hands.  Any tips or pointers from you veteran parents out there?

Don’t Panic!

Guess which button is Ace’s favorite?

Panic Button

 

You guessed it…the BIG RED one.  Our neighbors love us.  They really do!  I’m surprised they haven’t came over to tell us just how much they enjoy us living next door.  :D

Welcome To The Club, Beoch!

So….I am officially no longer a twenty something.  While I am sad about some aspects (young and dumb is no longer an excuse), I am happy about others (older is wiser).

I’ve heard people say that 30 was the hardest birthday for them, but it really did not affect me that much.  Yeah, I thought about it for a bit.  And then I remember thinking that 30 was O-L-D.  Man was I wrong…. :D

I still feel pretty young, and I guess that is what is important.  Someone once said, “You are only as old as you feel.”  In that case…I’m 25.  Not 21, because I can’t handle the all nighters and the day after the party, but 25 because…I don’t feel 30.  :D   (That made absolutely no sense whatsoever, did it?)

So because Momma is the coolest wife and Mom in the world, she threw her brother and I a Halloween/Birthday party.  Three birds with one stone…

Her brother’s birthday was on the 25th, mine on the 26th, and then of course Halloween.  So we had a costume party with beer, birthday cakes, and ah-hem….adult entertainment.

So what better way to leave your twenties than with a party.  Food, friends, drinks, and nakie dancers.  :D   Kind of a kiss goodbye to the past decade that has hopefully treated you well.  We partied it up last Saturday night.  After the party we went to the club and danced and drank until the lights came on.  We had a blast!

Sunday morning was far from a party.  I spent most of the day in bed recovering with a hang-over from hell.  It was like a slap in the face from my newly discovered thirties…  “Welcome to the club, beoch! (SLAP!!)”

Just thought I would leave you witha  quick pic of me and Momma in our costumes…Dog The Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth.  :D

(Special thanks goes out to Momma for planning such a wonderful party, Grandma S for helping Momma get everything together, Grandpa H and Grandma O for supplying the food, our neighbor Billie for watching Ace, Ace’s uncles Brandon, Mike, and Charlie for providing drinking and dancer money, all of our friends that drove from afar (especially Angie who came all the way from SC), and our friends Amber and Amy for taking so many good pictures!  God knows I was too intoxicated to operate a camera… :D   )

Dog The Bounty Hunter and Beth

Dog The Bounty Hunter and Beth

How Kids Change Your Life…10 Things No One Tells You About

I remember back when we were expecting Ace.  Everyone kept telling us how much it would change our life, but all they told us was, “Diapers and formula are expensive!”…or, “You’ll be getting up every couple of hours every night to a crying kid!”.

So I’m going to let out the secrets…what are some of the things that change…that no one tells you about. :D

1. You venture into areas of your TV volume meter that have never been explored…(No I do not watch the fashion show shown on the TV…that was all Momma’s doing.)  :D

TV Volume Before Kids
TV Volume Before Kids

TV Volume After Kids
TV Volume After Kids

2.  You must now share cabinet space with brightly colored sippy cups.  Be glad you did not install those fancy clear cabinet doors…because I guarantee the neon rainbow does not go with most kitchen decors.  :D

Sippy Cups Share A Cabinet
Sippy Cups Share A Cabinet

3.  Other cabinets are completely taken over…  What used to be there?  Hell, I forget (loss of memory is another thing they don’t tell you about) :D

Hikacked Cabinet - Baby Stuff
Hijacked Cabinet – Baby Stuff

Hikacked Cabinet - Baby Food
Hijacked Cabinet – Baby Food

4.  You find it financially necessary to buy a digital camera.  I have taken over 2000 pictures in the past 19 months.  You know how much it would have cost to develop 2000 pictures? Most of them blurry, off center, or otherwise not visually pleasing…

Digital Camera Needed
Digital Camera Needed

5.  Your computer wallpaper can no longer be some cool scenery or your favorite sports team.  It is, of course, a picture (or even slide show) of your kid…

Ace Wallpaper
Ace Wallpaper

6.  Hearing a kid crying is no longer like nails on a chalkboard.  It still bothers you, but you are extremely desensitized compared to it’s pre-kid effects…

Ace Crying
Ace Crying

7.  Other people’s kids crying doesn’t bother you like it did before you had kids either.  It has other effects on you, like…chuckling quietly because you know exactly what the crying kid’s parent is going through and you are just glad it is not you this time…but you know your turn is coming. :D

8.  No longer does your back yard look like a golf course green.  Now it looks like the playground at the park…

Golf Course Green Backyard
Golf Course Green Backyard

9.  Your refrigerator will now be a major source of entertainment for your little one.  A little side effect? Coming down in the middle of the night to get a drink and busting your ass on refrigerator magnets that have been left lying on the floor. ;D

Refrigerator Magnets
Refrigerator Magnets

10.  It is not only recommended, but often necessary to change your disgusting habits.  Those little people are like copy-catting sponges… :D

Kids Picking Their Noses
Kids Picking Their Noses

But even though you have to deal with the noise, the cabinet rearrangements, the wallpaper hijacking, the buying of a digital camera, the crying, the loss of your beautiful backyard, the refrigerator decorations, and the nose picking…it is all worth it…because of moments like this…

Why It Is All Worth It
Why It Is All Worth It

Crack Is Whack!

This weekend we took Ace and his cousin Olivia to Circle S Farms. You enter through a pathway with corn stalk walls and are greeted by a couple teen age girls who collect your money, and then you proceed to some cool farm-like activities for kids to do.

Circle S Farms - Sign

Circle S Farms - Sign

They had live animals, goats and chickens, for the kids to look at.  They had a playground made of straw bails where kids could climb and slide down.  They had tractors and bug pumpkins to look at and sit on, and also a hay ride that took you out to pick your very own pumpkin!!

Circle S Farms - Goats

Circle S Farms - Goats

Circle S Farms - Chickens

Circle S Farms - Chickens

And then they had the scare crow maze.  It was a maze made from straw bails that was designed, I’m pretty sure, for torturing parents.  The maze was about 3 ft tall and it had a wood slat fence on the top.  So, it was tall enough where kids could run wild inside there, but parents were stuck crawling, duck walking, waddling, or whatever form of propulsion they could come up with while hunched over…

Ace wouldn’t go in the maze, so I took his cousin Olivia inside.  There she goes at a full sprint around the first corner.  I had lost her in the first 20 seconds.

So I keep wallering through this parent torture device.  I was moving as fast as I could trying to find Olivia because I just knew at some point she would get scared and want out, but wouldn’t be able to find her way.  I speedily rounded one corner and was greeted by something that I had least expected to find…

CRACK!  and lots of it!

There was a Mom crawling in front of me wearing low rise jeans…that were riding, well, WAY TOO LOW!  I swore I stopped fast enough for my hands and knees to make a screeching sound in the loose straw!

I stopped inches away from taking a face plant into the recently discovered revene…but far enough away to not smell the flowers. :D

I was startled, to say the least, and couldn’t help but watch as the landscape I had almost became intimately familiar with bounced it’s way around the next corner.

I put myself back together, gathered my senses, and continued my way through the parent trap to eventually find Olivia waiting for me outside…ready to move on to the next “attraction”.

And now I know why the say, “Crack Is Whack!”

And to help you remove the image of my face inches away from a three quarter exposed bum…I’ll leave you with a few pics from the crack free portion of our day at Circle S Farms

Circle S Farms - Us

Circle S Farms - On The Hay Ride Blinded By The Sun (Ace was the only smart one who wouldn't look directly into the sun to get his picture taken.) :D

Circle S Farms - Pumpkin

Circle S Farms - Pumpkin

Circle S Farms - Ace

Circle S Farms - Ace

Circle S Farms - Dad & Ace

Circle S Farms - Dad & Ace