Straight From The Art History Books

Phil took the boys to Ridley Creek State Park on a recent Daddy Day. I'm not sure what they did there, but based on the pictures he downloaded I can assume that it involved a lot standing on picnic tables and screaming.



Apparently riding on this thing-a-ma-jig takes a lot of concentration - the boys had their tongues hanging out as they rode the day away.



Posing as an old retired man in his windbreaker and white sneaks, Dean strolled around the park looking for trouble.



This picture cracked me up. I couldn't put my finger on why I thought it was so funny, then I realized it reminded me of the American Gothic painting.


May they grow old together like these other crazy cats!

The Worst Morning Of His Life

Cole wanted to bring his stuffed dog (Winston) to school for naptime. When we pulled out of the driveway he realized he had forgotten the poor pup, which of course was cause for a major freak out attack.

I’m talking the ENTIRE RIDE TO SCHOOL he screamed about the dang dog. He cried. He foamed at the mouth. He wailed, “This is the worst morning of my life.” He wept.

Then we pulled into the school parking lot and he said, “Oh, there’s Winston. He’s on the chair next to me.”

So the little bugger grabbed the dog, hopped out of the car, and strolled into school. The end.

Sigh.

You'll Probably Only Appreciate This Post If You Know Harry Potter. Sorry.

It was quite an eventful couple of days for us Muggles. Chestnut Hill held their Annual Harry Potter weekend complete with Quidditch Training, Defense Against The Dark Arts classes, and a Wizarding Chess Match.

Of course all our boys wanted to do was eat candy and buy Potter paraphernalia (they were particularly impressed when Daddy ate a barf-flavored Bertie Bott's Bean), but they did get a kick out of the sorting hat.

We were standing in line for a few minutes, and Ry started to get stressed. Really stressed. "I better get picked for Gryffindor" led to "I better not get picked for Hufflepuff" which led to "I don't want to do this."

By the time we got to the front of the line I could actually see the panic on his face. As I hollered, "I'm SURE you'll get into Gryffindor" while staring at Dumbledore with a threatening face, he reluctantly stepped up to the plate. Low and behold, GRRRRRRYFFINDOR!


Cole hopped right up and said to Dumbledore, "I hope I get into Slytherin." The sorting hat agreed, and I have to say that there's something to Cole getting into the house associated with "ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness."


After all of this excitement the boys were begging for Hogwarts robes. And with a flip of our magic wand (i.e. wallet) their wish came true.

Happy early Halloween to all you witches, wizards, and Muggles out there in blogland!

Apple Of My Eye

The boys went to the orchard to pick apples yesterday. A quote from Ry: "When I'm in heaven, I'm going to thank God for planting apple trees - 'cause I really love apples."

Amen my man!

I Wanna Donut

I absolutely love 2 year olds. They're finally out of the baby stage, their personalities really start to come out, they start talking, and you know that you still have a solid year before the terror of the 3's begins.

My favorite part about Charlie's 2 year old transition is how he talks. It sounds like he has a French accent the way he says "Bay-geul" or "Coco Pebbeuls" (that one's the best).

Here he tells Dad that he wants a donut. Yes all of my references have to do with food...those that know Cha are well aware that he's no stranger to eating well and thoroughly speaking his mind (as evidenced below).

Daddy Day Gone Wild

We all have our own approaches to parenting. Some go with the "Let them use their imaginations and explore the world" approach.


Others choose the "Foster their creativity by any means possible" approach.


Then there's those who choose the "Let your 1 year old run around in a room filled with paint, then photograph him lying on the floor wearing 2 different shoes, and finally take off half his clothes in a public museum so he can splash in the water" approach.




Luckily for our boys, Phil chooses all three of the above. I don't think there's any right or wrong way to do this parenting thing - but I do know that some fun along the way should definitely be part of the equation.