Grandpa’s Glory – Part II

June 10th, 2008

Back in October, I wrote a post about Ace’s Grandpa, my Dad. Ace and his Grandpa didn’t get a long too good at first. Grandpa would say “Hi!” and Ace would scream like a banshee!

It was tough on Grandpa, but things have been getting better…

Ace, Momma, and I spent all weekend at Grandpa’s just hanging out and swimming in the pool! We had a blast and got some nice tan lines as a result. 😀

As you probably know, Ace loves to ride on the mower, and when Grandpa started his up Ace wasn’t going to quit until he was taken for a ride. It wasn’t hard for Ace to convince his Grandpa for a quick ride on the mower, but a quick ride turned into 20-30 minutes of lapping the yard. 😀

And after a long day in the sun, nothing is better than a nap in the recliner…

It makes me think back to when my Grandpa took me for rides on his mower. Something I will never forget! I’m going to have to dig up some pictures of me riding on my Grandpa’s mower and napping in his recliner…and post them here of course. 😀

Sometimes it’s scary how much Ace and I are alike… 😀

Tags: being a dad, cute, Entertainment, Family, Fun Activities, grandpa, Growing Up, nap, outside, Pictures, swimming, weekend
Posted in: Family, Fun Activities, Growing Up, Like Father Like Son, Looking Back, Pictures |
Views: 17,484
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White Trash Is Contagious!

June 5th, 2008

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Remember the post I wrote a while back titled, Momma’s Going To Kill Me!?

I confessed to having a small addiction to free things that have wheels and a motor. Momma commented on the post and was joking about how we may need a permit and a taller fence due to all of the junk piling up behind our shed…and she suggested that I may be white trash (As if it isn’t obvious). Remember that?

Well, look what I captured on the digital camera the other day…

Sorry Momma! Looks like I must be rubbing off on ya a little bit. 😀

(I can’t lie…if anyone has rubbed of on anyone, it has been her rubbing off on me. I was full fledged white trash before…now I just have some white trash tendencies.)

Ace loves riding the mower around the yard (almost as much as I do), and I do not blame Momma one bit for temporarily white trashin’ it up and cruising around the yard with her little man! 😀

As you probably remember, I found this mower for free on Craigslist! I knew it didn’t run, but when I went to pick it up I found out it did not have a mowing deck either. So, I planned on it being a “lawn tractor”…not a “lawn mower”. Many of you even suggested turning it into a racing tractor (which I seriously considered) 😆

Well, that has all changed thanks to some awesome folks Momma and I had the pleasure to meet last weekend!

After the first post about the old John Deere 56 tractor I got an email. The email was from a guy named Jerry in the Pittsburgh area who reads DadThing. Jerry said that he had a mower deck for this mower that I could have for free! Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-FREE!

Sweet Jesus! There’s that “F” word again! I just can’t help myself! 😀

Last weekend Momma and I drove to Pittsburgh, PA (we spared Ace the 6 hours of being in the car since he just got done with a 28 hour car ride) and met a really cool family…Jerry, Lynn, and Tyler.

When we arrived Jerry asked, “Where’s Ace?” Which caught me off guard because we have never met before, but then I realized he reads DadThing. He knew all about our trip to COSI and our trip to Iowa. It was kinda cool for me to meet someone that actually reads the stuff I write!

Jerry didn’t know Momma’s name, so he referred to Momma…well, as Momma! I loved it! 😆

Jerry and Lynn have a cute baby boy named Tyler who, at only 7 months old, already has his very own awesome Camaro! Guess what! Dad Jerry (who is a very involved father as well) has a cool Camaro too and plans on drag racing (and beating) his son some day! 😀

Thanks Jerry, Lynn, and Tyler for the mower deck! Hopefully I’ll post some pictures of it chopping up some grass in the near future.

It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you! And Jerry, make sure to send me a video of that drag race one of these days! I got this funny feeling Tyler is going to whoop your butt! 😆

In no way shape or form am I implying that Jerry, Lynn, or Tyler are white trash by mentioning their names in this extremely well titled post! Unless being white trash really is contagious…then they may have caught it from me and will be mutating to white trash in the very near future 😆

Tags: being a dad, free stuff, funny story, Pictures, traveling, weekend
Posted in: Fun Activities, Funny Stuff, Pictures |
Views: 8,052
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COSI – An Electrifying Experience!

May 24th, 2008

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Hello everyone! I’m writing this from the hotel room in Iowa! Why can’t life be one big vacation? 😀

Last weekend Momma and I took Ace to the Center Of Science and Industry, commonly known as COSI.

This place is sweet! (especially for a big dork like me). Ace is kinda little for most of the things there, but he still enjoyed himself. It was a very electrifying experience!

Ace is all about figuring out how things work; from spinning the wheels on his toy trucks to opening and closing the dishwasher door. COSI is full of things that move. His actions create a reaction. All of the exhibits are totally interactive and I’m sure he will enjoy it even more as he gets older.

But for now he enjoys being able to see and touch everything…

The top floor of COSI is specifically for the younger kids. Ace had a blast up there. He was able to drive the ambulance! Pushing buttons by the steering wheel made the lights flash!

We always knew that he liked playing in the water in the bath tub, but never knew how much he really enjoyed water. He probably spent the majority of his time playing in the water with Momma!

COSI was a blast for Ace, Momma, and I. We bought a season pass here as well, so don’t be surprised if you get hear about more fun experiences from COSI!

As I mentioned earlier we are currently in Iowa for vacation. The hotel we are staying at has an indoor and outdoor water park and Ace was able to go swimming for the first time in his life! Stay tuned for more pics and awesome Ace adventures! 😀

Tags: COSI, fun, learning, vacation, water, weekend
Posted in: Entertainment, Family, Fun Activities, Like Father Like Son, Pictures |
Views: 10,374
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Babysitter Phone Tag?

March 31st, 2008

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Not any more! There is a new service on the web called WillUSit that automates this process for you.

willusit

Many parents have a list of babysitters they can trust. When you have plans for Saturday night do you go down this list and call every person on your list to find an available sitter?

WillUSit makes this job less time consuming.

Here’s a quick excerpt from their website:

Calling a long list of sitters and leaving messages, waiting for call backs, finding more sitters to call, etc. For those times when you really need a sitter you can expand your search to include you friends list of sitters. You can search for sitters based on several profile criteria including rate, age, experience, location, etc.

Here’s how it works:

You create an account on WillUSit.com
You add all of your sitters’ names and contact info.
When you need a sitter you do a search and a list of sitters meeting your requirements is shown.
You select which sitters you would like WillUSit to contact and press “GO”
WillUSit will call (or email or text message) every sitter with the time and date they will be needed. WillUSit goes down your list until a sitter is found and then connects the both of you via phone (or email) to make arrangements.

I think this could be a very valuable resource for someone with multiple baby sitters that they trust to watch their children, but not a bunch of spare time to call each and every sitter to be told “No” by the first ten they call.

My description does not do it justice. Please go to http://willusit.com and watch the flash animation on the home page to see exactly how it works.

Tags: babysitter, Daycare, Tips, weekend
Posted in: Daycare, Links, Tips |
Views: 5,506
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George Strait Brings Back Memories

February 18th, 2008

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This weekend was slam packed full of fun. We went down to Charleston, WV to see Sara Johns, Little Big Town, and George Strait in concert!

Not sure how many of you that read this site are country music fans, but have you heard George Strait’s new single? It is called “I Saw God Today”. Have a quick listen to the song…

I remember this feeling like it was yesterday. I remember when Ace was first born I just stood there in total amazement. I didn’t say a word. The nurses had to tell me it was OK to come over and touch Ace, say hi, and take his picture.

After everything settled down and I went outside for a breath of fresh air, I was like WOW!

The world seemed to be a better place…

Tags: fun, Looking Back, music, video, weekend
Posted in: Looking Back, Videos |
Views: 6,791
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