Trip to the Mall
The other day, I took the kids to the mall so they could play in its play area. They love climbing on the different things there and I enjoy just sitting and watching them play. It is a typical mall play area with a small building with a tiny slide on it and five different shaped fiberglass things the kids climb in, on, and over. It used to have a lot of kids books there and Hope would occasionally bring one over for me to read to her, but they’ve gotten rid of them. I like to think that it is because the books became too damaged, but they were probably removed because few people used them. Read more »
Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Family.
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On the cruise we wondered who the people sitting at our dinner table would be. You are assigned seats by the cruise company but they seem to put similar people together. We arrived at dinner first and soon two other young couples arrived. We introduced ourselves and got to know each other. The other two couples were both newlyweds, which made us the old guard being married for 14 years. One couple jokingly asked us for marriage advice and I quipped to the husbands, “every morning, look at your wife and say ‘I’m sorry.’ Just get it out of the way right at the beginning.” 
20 years ago, I was speeding down the street on the way to a friend’s house, literally speeding mind you. As I popped over the top of a hill a police car came the other way, saw me step on the brakes to slow down and did a 180. A few moments later the flashing lights came on and I got my first speeding ticket. A few weeks later I’m in a packed courtroom to deal with the ticket and across the way I see this beautiful girl I went to school with, but who never gave me the time of day. The judge sentenced all minors who sped to Defensive Driving in lieu of paying the fine and I hoped that the beautiful girl would be in the same class as me so I could ask her out. She was and I did and we went. Six years to the day of our Defensive Driving class, we got married. 
So I have two kids, Hope who is 6 and Piers who is 3. Piers is a Daddy’s boy and just loves being around Daddy. Hope is quite fond of me too, but not to the extent of Piers. Since Piers is 3, he requires quite a bit more attention than Hope does so consequently, I tend to spend time with either just Piers or Piers and Hope. This has been bothering me a bit lately because Hope is just amazing and fun to be with. I want to do things with just her, but Piers would be greatly disappointed to not go with Daddy and Hope. Where can I find the balance? 
My in-laws decided to go camping over Labor Day weekend. Normally I love to go camping, but in Oklahoma, my camping time is limited to a few months at the beginning of the year and a few months at the end. Otherwise it is just too hot or too cold. However, the in-laws do have one thing in their camping favor: a pop-up camper with air conditioning. So we pack up the kids and head out to the campground. Now the kids love to go camping, especially with grandma and grandpa because grandma has no rules! So when we arrive, it is Friday evening and the temperature is pleasant. The kids start to explore the campsite as Amy and I unpack our things. Soon I’m grilling hot dogs for the kids and the camping begins.