Raising Three Boys and a Russian Princess

When your child exceeds you

2010-10-30T15:14:00.001-07:00

When I was in high school I played football. I would say I was not so good at it. I played the line and my entire technique involved hitting whoever happened to be in front of me. I rarely actually knew the play nor understood what was going on around me.

I went to a small church school that had about 300 students and our football coach was also the priest for the school. He tried his best but there was only minor talent and he really had no idea how to coach. So we regularly lost and when I finished high school I never played again.

Which brings me to my son. He attends a church school also. But his school has 2500 students. And a football team that USA Today has ranked #3 in the nation. Their entire coaching staff is ex-NFL, the Varsity is sponsored by Nike and two of their games this season were televised nationally on ESPN. To them football is deadly serious. Last year the entire starting line had a football scholarship to a major college.

They learn techniques that most players never see until college. Where I used to just hit the guy in front of me, they study footwork and leverage points. They understand deeply the technique behind the game at a level that no one on my team ever approached. They also practice 6 days a week and off season their days start with a 6 AM morning workout.

This year my son played JV. For the 5th year in a row they were undefeated. The offensive line averages around 250 lbs. One team refused to play against them because in the prior game 6 of the opposing players had to be carried off the field. During that game I heard on team mom mention to another that "we are going to need more ambulances". And in this highly competitive mix, my son was selected out of 60 kids to move up to Varsity in his sophomore year.

Which brings me to the title of this post. For the first time, one of my children is clearly better at something that I could ever be. Even if he never plays college level he is still a better football player than I ever was. Which is sort of a funny feeling. It is like the time when they finally beat you in a footrace even though you are trying (instead of letting them win).

I find myself un-bothered though. I am fiercely proud of all my kids and very proud of my oldest son. To know that he is better than me actually makes me happy in a strange way.

What I do worry about is if in my pride I am putting an expectation on him that he cannot live up to. At the skill level he is playing at kids are thinking college ball and beyond. There is always the temptation to use performance enhancing drugs to stay ahead. I worry constantly that he will be pushed into something stupid. Especially since at "only"220 lbs (at 15!) he is considered "small" for the position he is playing.

So I encourage him to play while constantly cautioning him against drugs and reassuring him that even if he does not play college he will still have had the experience of playing with people who he will eventually see on TV in the NFL. And that experience alone is worth something! He will always know that he got selected for Varsity as a sophomore and was a success in a very difficult team. I hope that is enough. For me I could not be more proud of him and I don't care if he plays college or not. I just hope he believes me.

2010-07-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

In South Florida we have Lobster Mini-Season. For 2 days in at the end of July you can go out and catch lobster (up to 6 each person). Regular season starts in August. It is sort of insanity. It has become this huge deal where it seems like half of South Florida (I may be exaggerating there) loads up on boats and hunts lobster. What makes it really funny is that many of them have no idea what they are doing.

This year three of us at work decided to go lobster hunting with our sons. So the six of us loaded up on my buddy's boat and headed out. I was inexperienced but my two friends were veterans.

Each morning we met at my friend's house and loaded into his truck. We then headed to a private dock we have access to (public docs are overcrowded on this day and take forever). We launched out by 6 AM and hit the water.

Day 1: We get out into Miami bay and the boat motor refuses to work. After about 2 hours of back and forth calls with my friend's boat mechanic we finally get it running and head out to the Keys. We hunted lobster until 5 PM that night. I was waxed. C1 was with me and that is as tired as I have ever seen him. We caught only two lobsters we were allowed to keep. No problem catching lobsters, big problem catching big lobster. We did manage to stag one huge 17 incher and one smaller one. It was a cool experience though even without the lobster. We had a barracuda swim right by us (mean looking fish), had a wild dolphin play around us as we swam, and saw a lion fish (highly poisonous fish). We stayed way away from the lion fish. It is supposed to be like being stung by a hundred bees at once. No thanks! C1 got stung by a jelly fish though which he suffered through surprisingly quietly.

Day 2: Better luck with the boat so we got out earlier. We decided to dive some reefs fairly far out. All the dads SCUBA dove and the sons floated on the surface looking for lobster. Again, caught 15-20 but had to throw all of them back. I did see this huge black spotted eel though. It looked and me and I swam backwards fast!

As my buddy and I were complaining about the lack of sizable lobsters I suddenly realized that people pay good money just to come here and dive these reefs. And here I have them in my back yard and I am complaining. So I finished the dive and just enjoyed several beautiful reefs. What was neat was that you just drive around the Keys and look for reefs. Once you fins one you drop anchor and dive in. Most of the reefs had no one else even close to us when we dove.

At the end the dads decided this is a new tradition. We are going to try and go next year also. Maybe we will have better luck. I know we will have just as much fun!

Lazy Summer days in South Florida

2010-07-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well we just got back from our annual trip to Cocoa beach. I really love it there. Every day is so completely lazy. I don't wake up until 9 (which is unheard of, usually I am up before the sun). Then we either spend the day swimming or going to the beach. This year we also spent hours into the playroom where A and the RP lived. We stay at the Ron Jon Cape Caribe (you can look it up on the internet..awesome place).

So now we are back and yes you guessed it, back in the water! It is so hot that usually on the weekend we live in the pool. Then I cook dinner on the grill and we eat outside. The wonderful thing about living in the sub-tropics is that after the sun start setting the world cools down. So you have these wonderful evening breezes. We sit out by the pool and eat our dinner and it is super!

Other than that, not much going on. Still no hurricanes which is great! In other news, C1 is now driving confidently. We invested in a set of driving lessons for him and it has really paid off. He is confidently driving around. We picked up the Matriarch from her hotel recently and he drove her around! That was her first grandchild who could drive. So a great first! She survived the trip with only minor gasps and wimpers!

Oh yeah that is a rare picture of me (I am usually the one taking pictures) with the RP. I was trying to steal a kiss and she was having none of it. I have now officially gone on a diet after that picture. Time to get back to my fighting weight (though the shirt is sort of puffing out).

I have no camera and thus no fun pictures..I blame the dog

2010-07-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

So I have lost my camera. That means no cool pics for the blog this week. Somewhere there is a red camera in my house. I am a bit skeptical about finding it. Last time I lost my Ipod I never found it. I think it is possible that my lab ate it. He eats everything else so it seems possible!

In the winter I always enjoy talking to my friends who do not live in the sub-tropics. As they freeze we still stroll around in short. It is hot now but in a tropical kind of way. So burning hot but a cool breeze. By evening it is still hot but you can sit outside and it is pleasant. These days though we pretty much spend 60% of our time in the pool trying to keep cool.

The family is leaving for Cocoa Beach tomorrow. In 2007 I bought a timeshare and I have never looked back. Each year I take my family for a week there and we love it. Everyone always warned me about timeshares but really this one works fine for me. Since I really don't have a big desire to go anywhere but the property I bought into I have never had a problem reserving the week I want.

During much of my childhood my family spent a week each summer at the beach. Now I have recreated that only in Cocoa! It is funny how you end up picking certain memories from your childhood and relive them with your family.

Anyway I just wanted to document something!

Pirate Party

2010-05-22T13:53:00.001-07:00

Today we went to a pirate party. As I have said before, it always amazes me how a 4-5 year old birthday party has not changed one bit since I started going to them 10 years ago with C1.

The party was actually a lot of fun. It was at a local park. They had a lady come in who was the entertainer. She dressed like a pirate and the party began with face painting. Then we had a series of games. They included a treasure hunt, races, dancing, etc. The kids had a blast! At the end A told the birthday boy "this was the best party ever".

It is sort of funny since we have been to far more expensive birthday parties where A did not enjoy himself half as much. This was sort of a party distilled to what was really important...playing with your friends. I have going to have to think about that when A's birthday comes up this summer. Maybe having fun is more important that some elaborate setup!

Another note is the playground itself. If you look in the background of the first picture you can see the playscape. All the playscapes here in my part of South Florida look like this. We have a merciless searing sun during the summer. But always a cool breeze off the ocean. That means that under shade even in the height of the summer it is at least bearable. So all the playscapes have huge tents over them to provide shade. I have been to a couple of playscapes without a shade and they are essentially unusable after April and before October-November. With the shade you can play all year.

Daddy I need a doctor

2010-05-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

And so begins the dreaded sick time! A started coughing about 4 days ago. We took him to the doctor after it became obvious that he was not kicking it in a day. Now suddenly the RP is coughing and has a 100 degree fever.

I get way more worried about the RP than A. Like all my boys, A is a bruiser. He was born at 10 pounds and now at 4 is weighing in at a petite 45 pounds. So when he gets sick I worry like any parent but in the back of my mind is the fact that, like all the males in this family, he can take a licking and keep on ticking (showing my age there, not sure how many people under 40 would recognize that reference).

The RP ,on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish altogether. She is still only 25 pounds. You don't really notice it when she is healthy because she is always running around with her brother. She eats like a horse but never gains weight. She has one of those Russian model bodies that is thin without being skinny. However, once she is sick is becomes obvious all of a sudden. She is this wet little puppy dog who needs to be carried around all the time. At least she ate something tonight so hopefully that will help.

I think tomorrow we are doctor bound. Unless I see a fever break we are going to have to brave the doctor's office tomorrow for Saturday clinic. Thank God for a solid insurance plan, a calm daughter and a Kindle. I think all that together will let me survive the 2-3 hours that is going t0 consume tomorrow.

No beach for us! I just hope it stays away from C1 and C2.

Lost Focus

2010-05-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well I sort of lost focus on the blog recently. The Wife decided she needed a taste of Texas and took a week trip with the RP to Texas. Which left me as the single father of 3 boys. We survived fine. I will say that the house would be a lot more structured if it was just me. My wife is the creative, spontaneous one. I like structure and order. So while she was gone we hit our routine on Day 2 and there we stayed for the entire week!

This week I am dealing with hurricane planning. In South Florida hurricanes are a big deal. At my company we have an entire week of hurricane planning. Basically for the week we simulate what would happen if a bad hurricane was bearing down on Miami. So you have calls every hour, checklists to be filled out, plans to be reviewed and rewritten. It is incredibly busy. The first year I did it I sort of had a hard time getting into it. I approached it only quasi seriously. But I am surrounded by people who have survived hurricane after hurricane. And they are serious as a heart attack about the drills. This year I am really getting into it. You have to imagine what you would do if the hurricane was really bearing down on the city.

I work for a utility so we are last out and first in. We are the #1 restoration utility in the world. Of course I always have to follow that statement with..because we have a lot of practice! Once the storm is coming our job is to make sure that we weather the storm and then get power back on as quickly as possible. That is a intense job that takes everyone in the company focused. You actually have two jobs, a storm job and a non-storm job.

Here is a sign of what a great company I work for. If you are out of town when a hurricane is coming they send a crew to your house to help your family prepare for the storm. I think that is cool. It would never have occurred to my old employer to do something like that. I was in Ireland on business once and a hurricane was bearing down on our town. Never heard a peep from them.

Anyway, enough gripping. I just wanted to get something out on the blog!

My Church

2010-04-12T18:30:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been feeling like a lot of people have opinions about us as Catholics but they never seem to actually come to Mass. Or at least not my Mass.

This all started when I was at www.califmom.com reading her blog. Her husband is dying of cancer and as she sat in his hospital room she prayed the Rosary. And one of her concerns was that she was Protestant and what would the Catholics think. And I read it and thought...Do people really see us that way? Do they really think we would have any issue at all with a woman whose husband of 20 years is dying taking refuge in the peace of the Rosary? Because I know any of the people in my parish would hand her their Rosary without hesitation. I just felt this deep sadness, first for what the woman was going through and second that she would even be worried about what people would think about her praying the Rosary.

And then on top of that I can't seem to open the paper without people endlessly speculating about what the Pope did and did not know about the sex abuse scandals. And even calling for his resignation! Like he was some errant city commissioner and not the spiritual father of over a billion Catholics. For him to resign means the Cardinals were not guided by the Holy Spirit when he was nominated and basically says that God has completely abandoned us. So I am going to have to go with NO as the answer to if he should resign.

So just to blow off steam I want to say what my Catholic church is like and what it is not like (despite what you may read in the New York Times):

1) We are a place filled with love. We care about the people around us and we support each other as much as we can.

2) We are not judgmental. We understand that sometimes we do judge because we are human and we fail in Grace but we do not see judgement of other people as a virtue. We do not see it as our job to decide if other people are less fit for God than us. We try to accept people as they are and if they sin we try to help them.

3) We love children. Children fill the Church. They are not assigned to classrooms so that the adults can get to the somber business of worship. In my Church they wander the pews and sometimes they are loud. But we understand that children are loud and that is okay. Everyone laughs, the priest speaks louder and we move on. Last Mass a two year old crawled into my lap. I thought it was funny and so did her dad.

4) We protect our children fiercely. We as Catholics have seen vividly that evil can fester in the midst of good. We have rigid programs to protect our children but still let them live a life filled with church activities. We have zero tolerance for the filth that infected the Church in the past. We failed in the past but we will never fail again.

5) We are a place centered on Scripture. Our priests see their job as explaining Scripture to their flock, not using Scripture to prove some kind of point. 90% of our service is based on Scripture.

6) The Pope is our spiritual Father. Anyone who has ever taken the time to read his books will understand he is a man deeply rooted in faith and connected to God. He is the person God chose to guide us through the current trials in the Church.

What is funny is I originally wrote this post right after Easter Vigil. Then I decided it was completely the wrong tone for Easter day! So I stored it away to post sometime later!

Easter Day

2010-04-03T21:08:00.001-07:00

So,having just returned from a 3.5 hour Easter Vigil Mass, I am going to have to reluctantly agree with Over-Caffeinated X 4 who responded to an earlier post saying that maybe that was not a good "starter" service for non-Catholics. We even lost some Catholics and they should have know what they were getting into when they showed up for the Mass!

The service I went to was in both Spanish and English (alternating) and I think that added to the time. Spanish as a language just seems to take longer to say the same thing as in English.

The service started outside with the blessing of the fire and the lighting of the Easter candle. Then it was inside to begin the service. We went through 9 sets of Bible Reading, Psalm, Prayer then over again. Sort of takes a long time. Then a homily, then the baptisms, then confirmations and acceptance into the Church, then a Eucharist mass. Whew! My absolute favorite prayer of the year though is the Litany of the Saints and getting to hear that is worth the entire 3.5 hours.

Great service though. I still feel like if some non-Catholics could come and actually make it through the service they would really understand what the Church is all about. It is an intense service but what a great experience!

Best Friends Today

2010-04-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

So today at the beach my kids both met other kids, bonded in under 10 minutes, became best friends and played together for the remainder of the day. Sort of amazing. I wish I could make friends that fast. My son came to me and said "He is my best friend!". I laughed and said "You don't even know his name!". My son thought about it and then said "Well he is my best friend for today!

P.S. I let RP and A put the suntan lotion on my back and now my back looks like an abstract painting. They thought it was funny to draw big splotches with the lotion and yes I burned everywhere else!

P.P.S. A claims it is my fault since they did "all the parts you told us to" and yes I am arguing with a 4 year old.

El palacio del el jugos

2010-03-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

So this week I became very bold. One of my coworkers and I have gone to a really cool Cuban place on Flagler a couple of times. It is called La palacio del el jugos (The palace of juices). The whole place is set up like a market. There are fruit and vegetable stalls and between them are food stalls. A huge amount of food cheap. And they make this drink out of pure sugar cane that is awesome! You literally watch them grind the sugar cane into juice and then drink it right there. It is a great place to eat but not somewhere you should go more than once a month if you don't want to gain 100 pounds or so.

The only issue? I have always gone there with a Cuban. No one working there speaks English. Or at least they will not admit they speak English. When you really get into Little Havana the people there often mess with you by speaking Spanish even when they know English. They especially like to do it to obvious Anglos like me. So for me to go to La Palacio meant I was going to need to test my Spanish skills. But I really, really wanted some food and juice last week so away I went.

As I walked in people sort of looked at me funny. Then the lady upfront turns around and says

"Aquí viene un tipo blanco" to the folks behind here. "Here comes a white guy". I actually think she was trying to be helpful and see if there was an English speaker in the back of the room. However, I was ready! I boldly strolled up to the counter and declared "Yo necessito cinco tamales por favor y un guarapo tambien".The person then looked at me and said "Quince dolares". I paid my money, got my food and got out of there! A victory for the "blanco"!

Funny thing is that all this occurred in one of the largest cities in the United States. Welcome to Miami!

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

So today I was hanging around with this girl and guy I know and we decided to hit the beach in Ft Lauderdale for some spring break fun. There were tons of cool college kids everywhere and we partied until dark.

Everyone was there, even a blimp!

Well...that is what I would have written about 20 years ago! The real story is that A and the RP and I decided to hit the beach today. When The Matriarch (my mom and yes at 42 I still call her mom) was in town last week we talked a lot about going to the beach but sanity prevailed (it is spring break in South Florida) and we decided to have a nice day at the zoo instead. But I had promised A and RP I would take them this week no matter what.

When I say there were a ton of college kids, I mean a ton of people sitting in their cars making a 20 minute trip to the beach take an hour. What a mess! Traffic was backed up for miles with folks trying to get on the main strip for Ft. Lauderdale. I was trying to get to the local part of the beach but to get there I had to sit in traffic with a bunch of people with license plates from all over the country. Once I got to the beach where we usually hang out there were very few people (it is way away from the action by the hotels) but getting there was a chore.

Anyway, we had a perfect day. Set up the tent and spent three hours on the beach. We built sand castles, picked up shells and swam in the water. Actually we waded in the water, the ocean is still a bit cold. Lots of Notherners splashing around but us Floridians need warm water!

The Day Begins - 75 degrees and perfect weather

The Wife thinks she looks terrified. A was laughing in

this picture, not scared. But I guess I can see

what the Wife is saying....

The game was to run from our beach tent all

the way into the water and back again. They did

it about 10 times which may explain how tired

we all are!

Ahhh...nothing like a cool ocean breeze and

a daddy leg to sleep on at the end of the day.

We did actually stay almost until dark!

Vivere senza rimpianti

2010-03-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Vivere Senza Rimpianti

So I have been thinking about this phrase ever since I saw it on the internets (As the Bloggess calls it). It means "To Live without regrets". I am not sure it is really possible to ever achieve this ideal but lately I have been trying to follow it in regards to my kids.

I am keenly aware of the sands of time slowing slipping away. In 3 years C1 is off to college, C2 is in high school and A hits the 7 year old range. In 4-5 years even RP will no longer want to hang out with me all the time. Right now it is a given that if I am going somewhere on the weekend then at least the two youngest children will be with me. But I know that will end. My time as the number one focus in my children's life is slowly ending. And I live each day trying to capture and enjoy as much of the time I have with them as possible.

I think I drive the Wife crazy because on the weekend I never stop. It is one adventure to another with my kids. She does not understand my need to frantically drink as much of the experience as I can. The need to make memories that I can hold to when the kids are older.

I do have a life outside of my kids. I work, I go to Mass, I spend time with the Wife. But for me right now in life this is the key focus when I am not trying to make money. Today I spent 5 hours at the zoo, next week I will go to the beach or the park or somewhere. Because I refuse to look back at the years I have now and think that I missed something. To regret even a moment of the time I had with my children. I refuse to live with regret.

A Silly Made Up Song

2010-03-12T17:57:00.000-08:00

So when my oldest child was only one, I made up a song to sing him to sleep. I have a horrible voice but none of my children seem to care. The Wife does care but it is not her I am singing to!

I had a starting and ending verse when I started 14 years ago and for each child I have added a new verse over the years. Each verse for each child is tied to a thing that child loved to do with me when they were young. Each verse captures a memory of my children. It goes like this:

Hey little boy

Will you play with me

He said "I'd love to dad

Just you and me"

For C1 I added

Hey little boy

Let's go to the park

We'll run and we'll play

we'll stay out past dark

For C2 I added

Hey little boy

Let's go to the pool

We'll splash and we'll swim

We'll look real cool

For A1 I added

Hey little boy

Let's go to the beach

We'll dig and we'll build

There's a lot I can teach

For RP I added

Hey little girl

Let's go to the zoo

We'll look at the animals

We'll act real cool

Hey Little Boy

Your Daddy loves you

He said "I know Dad

I love you too"

A silly song that I have now sung to four children. When I sing to the RP I have to change all the "little boys" in the song to "little girls" and all the "hes" to "shes". But the song still works and after 14 years it is still putting children to sleep.

(RP told me last night that "this is my favorite song daddy"

In which I try to go to the zoo but fail in a good way

2010-03-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

So today RP, A and I decided to head for the zoo in Miami. For anyone who is visiting Miami the zoo is a good break from the endless beach and water. If you like zoos, and like walking a lot. The zoo is laid out in a 3 mile loop and you walk the whole thing. It has a monorail you can ride but if you do you miss all the animals. It does have Surrey Bikes for rent if you are willing to bike. My family signed up for a membership last year and I would say we have been about 7-8 times. So not every week but still fun enough to go back once a month or so.

Anyway, we were heading to the zoo when we saw the Railroad Museum (hard to miss since you have to drive by it to get into the zoo). And we saw a huge Thomas the Tank engine sign. So we never made it to the zoo.

If you are ever in Miami and your kids love trains, the Railroad Museum is a must. Forget the zoo. At the Railroad Museum there are all these old trains that you get to crawl around in. Based on how dirty you want to get, you can really crawl around some of them. The place is chock full of old, real trains from the last 50 years. It also has the world's largest (INHO) train playroom.

So instead of the zoo we went and saw Thomas. Of course that also involved ice cream (funny how many activities we do seem to involve ice cream at some point :-) ), and a bouncy house and a lot of other fun things to do. It was fun. Then we waited in line and saw Thomas.

We decided not to ride him though. You don't actually get to ride him, you ride in a coach pulled behind him. I can do that any week at the Railroad Museum. I don't need to do it with Thomas. So we passed on that but the rest was fun. I realize the kids will probably not remember Thomas but we will have pictures and I will always be able to show them that we met him in person!

Feast Day

2010-02-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

So today was the Feast day for St.Katherine Drexel, the patron saint of our local church. They really did it up for the event. The Archbishop was there and he gave most of the service. The whole thing was outside in a local park and the entire church showed up.

Then we had free hot dogs, hamburgers and cake! Well sort of free. They asked for donations and you sort of felt like you had to contribute something.

Afterwards there was a big fair that everyone hung out at until 4 PM. Lots of people brought chairs and blankets and there was a DJ. For the kids we had bounce houses, a rock climbing wall and a bunch of games (sack cloth races, soccer shootouts, etc). The kids had a blast. Except A got sunburned so now I feel like a bad parent for not putting sun block on him.The sun kind of snuck up on us. In the morning we were all in coats but by 1 it was sunny and warmer. So I ended up carrying around a whole bag of coats by the afternoon. Some people left and came back in shorts!

Ana had her first cotton candy also! She voted a big yes on the American treat!

One long random ramble of thoughts :-)

2010-02-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

So it has been crazy time in our house lately. Seems like every child in A's school is having a birthday within the same 4 weeks. It must have been a busy month 9 months ago!

I was sitting at a birthday party for A and I realized that I have been going to these birthday parties for the last 10 years. And they are still the same! I am at least starting to get to know the parents that show up there. Mostly moms though. I keep hinting that maybe the Wife should go but so far it has been a no go. So I go and chat with them. You always end up talking to the same couple of people though since you spend most of your time chasing your kids and whoever those kids hang out with decides which parent you hang out with.

In our house we also had the great bed move. 10 years ago I purchase a set of Cargo bunkbeds that has probably been the best investment I have made. They are built like rocks and even three children have been unable to make a dent in them. This weekend was the great passing down of the bunk beds. The beds have gone from C1 to C2 and now to A.

To accomplish the great bed move was a closely orchestrated ordeal. First we had to disassemble RP's toddler day bed. Then the queen in A's room went to her room. Then the bunks went to A's room and finally C2 gets a new bed! All accomplished by your's truly with much groaning.

To celebrate we bought a bed tent for A. Sort of fun. It is basically a tent that sits on tops of the bed and lets the kid sleep inside. I found one with good reviews on Amazon for $70 and away we went!

I also included a couple of fun pictures above. Notice my little Catholic girl with her Aquinas shirt! Apple of her daddy's eye of course.

I have decided to buy a new camera. This whole year I used my camera phone. It is super convenient since I can snap pictures whenever I want. However, the quality is not so good. I bought a picture frame (15" from TigerDirect for only $99!) and it really shows the quality difference between my old 5MP camera and my wimpy 2MP camera phone. So this Saturday during the great Walmart run I will pick something up.

I did warn everyone in the title that this was just one long rambling post. I have been reading Thebloggess.com a lot lately and she really shows me what a real blogger is like. Not sure my scribbles count as blogging but at least if people want an RP update you get one!

Really funny

2010-02-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

I read Thebloggess.com last night for the first time (thanks Expatress) and I think I spent about 2 hours reading all the historical posts I could take. I literally stopped because it hurt to laugh so much. She has exactly the same sense of humor I do (only she is way funnier). What is really funny though is that I think I could read the entire thing to either The Wife or C1 and they would both look at me like I was crazy and NOT laugh once. Then C2 and I could read it all over again and be rolling in the floor.

And here comes Lent

2010-02-14T17:11:00.000-08:00

So I have a bit of a confession to make. I like Lent (gasp) and Easter (gasp again!) and not because of the bunny. I never really spent much time thinking about the season as I was growing up but now as I get older it has become one of my favorite times of year. Done right Lent and Easter are really great times to think about your relationship with God.

It all kicks off with Ash Wednesday and the external debate of too wipe off the ashes or not. I always feel this internal struggle between the desire to wipe them off and not stick out in this increasingly secular world and to wear them all day (not proudly since there is nothing proud about the rite) with courage. I think somehow this is easier for a woman than a man. People seem to expect a woman to be religious but when a man is they seem to look at you suspiciously. Like you are going to drag them to the nearest fountain and try to baptize them or something.

Anyway, you spend 40 days with this low level awareness that you are participating in a really ancient rite surrounding Christ and the Church. Fish on Friday gets a little old but at least you feel like you are participating in your faith outside of the Sunday Mass.

I love the Easter vigil. It is probably my favorite services all year. I am really worried though that it will not be as great down here in South Florida as it was up in Tampa. In Tampa my church did it right. We had this huge bonfire (lit by Boy Scouts of course). We would all gather around the bonfire as it was lit and then process into the church. Then the whole vigil (not for the light hearted, it lasted 3 hours in my old church) would go on with the First Communion (all the little girls in their wedding dresses and the boys in their suits) and the first baptisms of new adult members. Then we would feast outside the church.

There is this great feeling of happiness at the end of the service that you just don't normally feel. It is truly a celebration that somehow even eclipses Christmas as the peak of the year. If you are not Catholic but you wanted to go to one really cool service that is the one I would recommend. Brace yourself though since it is a long one and tends to involve a lot of ups, downs and kneeling!

If there were no women in the world

2010-02-13T17:59:00.001-08:00

Today was my birthday. This year I am telling people I am 38 I think. I usually pick a somewhat random age to tell people I am each year. It has to be believable and of course not be my real age. I was once 41 for two years running!

I grew up in a household with a large number of children. So really birthdays were the one day you got 100% attention. It is funny because to me birthdays are hugely important. On the other hand, the Wife grew up with only one brother. She totally does not see why your birthday is so important. We had a huge argument early in our marriage because one year she tried to completely skip my birthday!

The pictures above were taken during the cake eating event that occurred in my house this evening. The Wife was upstairs at the time and would have been completely mortified to witness what was going on!

As we had fun eating cake I suddenly starting thinking about what the world would be like with only dads and no moms. I think that it would be a different place! There would:

1) Be no forks or spoons. Probably no plates either. Only bowls and a whole lot of slurping as we downed our food.

2) Be only 4 types of stores in the world. Hardware, Food, Clothes and everything else. And the stores would be called "The Hardware Store, The Food Store, The Clothes store and Walmart".

3) Inflatable furniture that you could clean with a hose

4) Be two types of shoes - white and black

5) Be no such things as clothes that matched. it would be perfectly acceptable to wear vibrant orange and red together.

A milestone in the family

2010-02-10T19:30:00.001-08:00

With my sons I was used to them telling me that they loved me from a very young age. I am a pretty tactile person and there is a lot of hugging going on in the family too.

Last night my daughter gave me a huge hug and told me she loved me. As I sat there I realized that in the year and a half she has been with us that is the first time she has said that without any prompting. I think it is a huge milestone in the attachment process!

Winning over the RP was a slow process. She and I have always gotten along really well and I got a kiss from her early. I have always suspected that the ladies in the orphanage knew that the dad was the one they needed to win over. They really want the kids to be adopted and if you can hook the dad the wife is an easy follow. So when I was visiting the RP in the orphanage she suddenly called my Papa the second or third time we met. She also kissed me on the nose. I have always wondered if she was coached. Smart ladies if she was, I was hooked early!

But getting to a spontaneous hug and an "I love you"has taken a long time. When she first got home I got the sort of "stranger hug". After several months I started getting the deep hug and now finally we get "I love you".

So I guess we are making progress!

What a difference a family makes

2010-02-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

When we met

her she was

quiet and scared.

She did not laugh much and she just sadly looked at us. This beautiful, abandoned child.

She had people to watch her but it

was just a job for them.

When we took her home she owned nothing. We

had to bring her clothes to come home in.

Now she laughs all the time.

She dances and hugs. Sings and runs.

When I pick her up

she tells everyone around us

"That's my daddy!"

I saw on the web someone who asked

"How can you love someone else's

child?"

I can't get the answer out of my head. "She is not someone else's

child. She is my child"

Everyone should have room to love just

one more child. A child who needs you.

147millionorphans.com

Things no one told me about raising a daughter

2010-02-04T17:04:00.001-08:00

So I thought I was a pro. Three sons under my belt, how different could a daughter be. Well, over a year into my adoption of a beautiful little girl and I have learned:

Shoes: I really thought the whole women and shoes thing was a learned trait. However, after watching my daughter I am convinced it is gender related. At 3 she not only loves shoes (she has like 8) but 98% of the time she can pick out shoes that match her clothes...my success rate is more like 50%.

Potty: No matter how much a little girl wants to stand up and pee in the toilet like her brothers it is not going to work and it is quite messy.

Private Parts: It is one thing to have a boy proudly display his privates. However, when a little girl does it, daddy has to be peeled off the ceiling by a laughing mommy. If I could afford a therapist I would be there right now.

Fighting: Little girls don't get mad they get even. A was roughhousing with RP. She took it the whole time with a bit of whining. However, I will never forget the smile on her face when she slammed shut the door on A's hand five minutes later. I feel sorry for the man who gets on her bad side when she grows up!

Clothes: In the last 14 years none of my sons has danced around the house telling everyone "My clothes are pretty!". My daughter does it all the time.

Food: My sons eat the entire pizza and then start eying the box. My daughter eats a bit of 5 different foods, grows almost a foot but does not gain any weight.

Bedtime: With my sons, if they woke up they came straight out of their rooms. It never seemed to occur to them that they were going to get put back in there. My daughter will wake up and carefully sneak down to her big brother (C1). Sometimes it is hours before we realize she is in there watching him play Xbox.

Well that is about all I can think of right now. I am sure I will come up with 100 more as soon as I hit post!

Today I will accomplish nothing!

2010-01-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

So today I am proud to say I accomplished very little and in all likelihood I will forget this entire day in a year or two.

I woke up this morning with A and the RP as usual. We actually slept into 7:45! Last night was a night of musical beds though. A and the RP went to bed in their rooms and the Wife and I slept in our room. Somewhere around 3 I woke up with A, RP, the Wife and myself all in one bed. So I grabbed the RP and she and I went to A's room (he has a queen bed) and went back to sleep. Then around 5, A woke up and went looking for me. He then climbed in bed with the RP and I. So I wake up in a queen with two kids and the Wife is sprawled in her own king bed(what is wrong with this picture)!

But I digress. So having woken up successfully, we woke up C2 and went to Starbucks. For some reason C2 has gotten very clingy lately. He wakes up for breakfast with me everyday and now he wants to be woken up on Saturdays for the breakfast trip. Surprisingly enough on Sunday's when we have Mass he seems fine with the the idea of sleeping in and missing church!

After Starbucks it was off to Walmart and then(drum roll please)....nothing. Absolutely nothing.We spent the rest of the day sitting around, reading and watching TV. C2 and I spent a bit trying to clean up the playroom (sort of a never-ending task we tackle every once and a while) but other than that we have been gloriously unproductive. A is actually running around with no cloths on and watching TV (he is only 4 so I guess it is okay).

I think it is great sometimes to just stop and enjoy life. I spend all my time endlessly doing something but every once and while it is great to look at your day and say "Today I will accomplish nothing!"

Fun things about living in South Florida

2010-01-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

I thought I would put together a list of some of the interesting things I have experienced/learned over the last year living in Miami:

1) Every Saturday morning a Spanish language newspaper is delivered to my house. I have no idea why or who is paying for it. I don't know how to speak enough Spanish to figure out how to cancel it. But the paper has not stopped in a year and it just keeps coming.

2) By my office close to the airport in Miami there are people who sell fruit and water bottles beside the road. As you stop they run out to the cars and sell their wares. It is like being in a foreign country! There was even a guy who sold these great churros (a sugary pastry) but he disappeared one day and I have not seen him since.

3) The further south you go, the more optional the stop lights become. I was driving home recently and basically both sides of a stop light were running the lights. So all the people with the red light were driving through it. That meant that the green light side was stopped. So when the green light started to turn red that side started going...and ran their red light. Then the cycle began again!

4) Cuba is not just a concept down here. It is very real. You meet many people who fled the country and they are not amused by Castro at all.

5) It is really that hot. You get about two weeks of cold and then it peaks back up into the 70's and 80's during the day. At night it is in the 60's. Most neighborhood pools are heated so people swim all year here. You can go to the beach in January and it is packed with people sun bathing.

6) People think a lot about hurricanes. They are sort of the elephant in the corner of the room. No one wants to talk about them but you always have to think about them. People sit around talking about the best way to maintain generators and what neighborhoods have the most buried power lines.

7) The Caribbean is literally in your backyard. For 25-$30 you can hop on a boat and go over there anytime.A boat leaves from the port 20 minutes from my house. It goes out every day at 8 and is back by 10PM.

8) It is really one long city. From the tip of Miami to the north of Palm Beach is 100 miles of residential neighborhoods all stretched along the coast.

9) The freeways are huge and rarely full. Most of the major roads here are built to get a lot of people out of town as quickly as possible(hurricanes again). I rarely drop below 80 on my morning commute. I am frequently passed by police doing 85-90!

10) It is actually a great place to live if you do not mind that you have to learn some Spanish and you basically have no seasons.

A typical weekend

2010-01-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

This is not going to be an interesting post. Mostly me just getting background down in the blog for later posts. I really hope through this blog to better remember my two youngest children's early years. Now that C1 and C2 are getting older it seems like I cannot remember much of what it was like when they were really young. I know we had a blast but is all seems a bit vague. So through this blog I am hoping that in ten years I can look back and remember better all the great times I had with the kids.

Now that we are in Miami we have settled into a pretty good weekend routine. The routine starts on Saturday at the bright and early time of 6:30 AM. A and RP are used to waking up then Monday through Friday and they don't really care that it is Saturday and we are supposed to be sleeping.

So up we go at 6:30-7:00 AM. We load up on the bike and ride to our local Starbucks (about 4 miles away). We eat breakfast and sit around there for about an hour. The Starbucks folks are used to me and my kids showing up in various stages of undress every day. I am dressed but sometimes the kids are in PJs!.

After we get back home it is time to clean up the downstairs and figure out our shopping list for the week. Then the RP, A and I head to the Super Walmart. We tried to shop at the local grocery store but when you are feeding 6 people it is just too expensive. The 15-20% I save at Walmart is well worth the 10 miles I have to drive to get there.

So that leads to a nice 1-2 hour adventure in Walmart. We usually end the ride with several opened items in the cart since the kids seem to view our load of groceries as free game if they get hungry.

By the time we are done it is lunch time. So back home we go. Saturday afternoons are sort of free time for us. Usually A, RP and I end up on some type of adventure. The rest of the family sometimes joins, sometimes not. It is really variable. Right now we have built a sort of menu of amusement options. We can go to the zoo, the beach, the playground, the train or some other adventure to be named later. Usually it is just the 3 of us though.

Sunday starts the same way around 7. Except we drive to Starbucks. There are three Starbucks in my area. We call them near, far and downtown (the Starbucks is in the town center). Since we ride our bike to near, usually Sunday is far or downtown. After Starbucks it is time for church.

Church is really an adventure. It is usually A, RP, myself and at least one of the older children. After Church you get to go to brunch which is a big treat. I do not like to eat out (too many kids) so that is the best chance the kids have of going somewhere fun.

Then Sunday afternoon is open time again. Usually on Sunday we combine something local with some work around the house. Then Monday starts the work week again!

How to make Cuban Coffee

2010-01-23T13:17:00.001-08:00

I had a request to explain what the heck Cuban coffee is. Cafe Cubano (as it is called down here) is a very strong mix of sugar and espresso. The Cubans tell me that you should be able to taste a good cup of coffee for a solid 10 minutes after you drank it. As a certified caffeine addict I begged one of the ladies in our office to teach me the secret of making it.

So you start with an espresso machine (like the picture here). This one cost me $35 at Walmart though I saw it on sale during Christmas for $26 or so.

You are also going to need a small pot to mix the sugar in(see above). I use a metal creamer but a coffee cup works also (though it is harder to use).

For every cup of coffee you are going to need 2 TB of ground espresso and 2 TB of plain white sugar. You pack the ground espresso into the machine just like you always do when making espresso. Then you take the 2 TB of white sugar and put them in the mixing container. Then you crank on the espresso machine.

The next piece is critical. You capture the first 6-8 drops of the espresso right as they come out of the machine. This is the hottest and strongest of the espresso.I thought this was sort of silly when I started making the coffee but it does actually make a difference. Then you put the espresso pot onto the machine and let the machine brew the rest of the espresso.

While it is doing that you are going to mix the sugar. Taking the first drops of espresso you carefully pour a little bit onto the sugar and start stirring it hard with a spoon. You have to get a thick light brown colored paste. Too much and it is liquidy, too little and the sugar is still too granular. So you essentially whip the sugar and the drops of espresso together.

Then you pour the espresso over the sugar paste. Stir that mix and then pour it back into your espresso pot. In the end you should have a cup of espresso with a thick, light brown head on (almost like a beer). Then you drink it! Usually at work the Cubans will drink the coffee from a 2 TB little cup. It is definitely a sipping drink.

Thanks Annie

2010-01-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

This is what is left of the buttermilk pie I made based on Annie's recipe on her blog One Mother's Day. This was T + 5 minutes after oven removal. I suspect it will be gone be EOD. And it was easy enough that even a guy could make it! This is about the most complicated cooking I have done in several years since it did not come out of a box (plus water and eggs)!

Ana-Saurus Rex!

2010-01-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

I will be the first person to say that when it comes to raising a daughter I am winging it. I come from a family of 7 boys and 2 girls (both older). C1, C2 and A are all very male and now there is the RP (who is very female). So often I make up stuff as I go.

The RP gets frightened very easily. I am not sure if it is the fact she is adopted or just female. At first I would pick her up whenever she was scared. However, one day we were watching Blues Clues and I saw Steve pretending to be Steve-a-Saurus-Rex and thus was born ANA-SUARAS-REX(see picture above).

So now whenever Ana gets scared we play this game. She will say "I'm scared" and I will say "Ana might be scared but I bet Ana-Saurus-Rex is not!. Then I say "Show me Ana-Suarus-Rex" and she roars and makes a dinosaur face. And she is not scared anymore. So, probably not an Emily Post approved method of handling the situation but it seems to work. I pity the first guy who scares her though. He is in for a big surprise when Ana-Saurus-Rex comes roaring out :-)

Not sure if this is normal or not

2010-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

So every morning I wake up at 5 Am to ride my bike 3-4 miles. It is really the only time I can exercise all day. However, recently I have a helper who is waking up with me. A has become almost scary on how he can sense when I leave the bed (yes he sleeps with me, all my kids have and they seem normal enough though some of C1's teachers might beg to differ). So at 5 AM here he comes down the stairs and then what do you do? No one else in the house is up and I cannot leave a 4 year old by himself. So now at 5 AM here I am biking in the dark with a kiddie carriage pulled behind my bike! I am sure I get strange looks!

Once we get back it is time to wake up C1. That takes 15 minutes. I have mastered the art of waking up a teenager. First there is the open door, some lights on in the hall and I call his name until he acknowledges me. Then I tell him "ten minute warning" and get the heck out of there before he can yell. I then spend the next 5 minutes making Cuban Coffee for him. Then another wakeup and a "five minute warning". Finally, five minutes later there is the final wakeup and I hand him the Cuban Coffee. So far it has worked everytime and I get no yelling or argument. Victory!

Next usually the RP comes sliding down the stairs on her behind. Finally, I go wake C2 and I have all four of my kids to eat breakfast with me every morning. It is a really great way to start the day!

Now that winter is over it is back to the beach!

2010-01-18T17:34:00.000-08:00

Having survived both weeks of the brutal Miami winter, temperatures have now almost returned to normal. The crew is getting some much needed R&R on the beach!

The two youngest kids and I have been spending a lot of time at the beach. When I lived in Tampa we used to go to Disney World all the time. However, it is now sort of too far to Disney to just hop in a car and go. Disney now requires a hotel stay so it is not on the list as much. Sometimes A, the RP and I will go there and stay in some cheap hotel but in general we are trying to find cool things to do down here. The beach is certainly up there for us. We probably go at least once or twice a month.

Actually today it was not that warm. It got up to about 72 today and the crew and I decided to hit the beach to try out my new beach shelter.

If you are ever in the market for a beach shelter I would hands down recommended the ABO Gear Instant Max Pop-Up beach shelter. It is SPF 50 and sets up with only one person in a matter of seconds. It is a bit more expensive than most beach shelters but it is one of those products that is really, really worth the extra money. Take it from a guy who is constantly juggling multiple children and trying to set stuff up by myself.

Anyway. We went down to the Ft. Lauderdale beach and played in the sand for 3 hours! It went by so quick I was amazed. You would really not think that playing on the beach could keep a 3 and a 4 year old occupied but it sure did. After playing there though we got into the car and instant sleep! Both kids were out like a light until I got them home.

I was looking at these pictures and I realized it made it look like it was just us. There were actually a ton of people at the beach. However, the kids and I were at the end where the locals hang out. There were not as many people there since 72 is still a bit chilly for Floridians to hang out at the beach. If you went up the beach a quarter mile or so it was packed (which is why I don't go up the beach a quarter mile or so!).

Glad I have a kid friendly church!

2010-01-17T17:26:00.001-08:00

Today I am very glad I go to a kid friendly church!

A little background is probably in order. In Florida if you are Catholic you bring your kids to Mass. There is no nice day care/Sunday school for them to go to during the service. There is a kid's church for older kids (6-10 or so) but nothing for younger kids. Religious education is on Tuesdays for us and on Sunday the whole family goes to Mass. Kids are expected to either sit through the service (which an amazing number do) or there is a special sound proofed area where you can sit with them and watch the Mass (which is where my clan hangs out).

I am Catholic and so are my four kids, but my wife is not. She refuses to have anything to do with a Catholic church so on Sunday's I show up to church with some number of kids in tow and just me. A and RP are always with me but C1 and C2 are somewhat more spotty. C1 I tend to be easier on since he goes to a Catholic school and has Mass once a week at school. C2 I harass a bit but he can come up with an amazing number of reasons he should not have to go!

So back to my story. This week it was just me and A and RP (ages 3 and 4). I start walking into the church and A and RP start running. Into the church, PAST Father Pedro, the Deacon and three alter boys lined up to start the procession, through the back of the church loudly laughing, and into section where we normally sit. With me frantically running behind them the whole time.

Not really my normal entry into church. Luckily this is Miami. I am surrounded by Hispanic women who consider males somewhat helpless in dealing with children. I think I get points just for being there with the kids. So instead of stern glares I got amused looks. Poor Papacito they are thinking!

In the future I am walking IN FRONT OF the kids as we enter church!

Trains

2010-01-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

Like most kids my children love trains. So I decided we needed to go on a super train adventure one weekend. Armed with a system map for the Miami rail system A, the RP, a double stroller, one dad and a bag of Goldfish launched out one Saturday.

We started on what is known down here in Miami as the Tri-Rail. It is a big train (3 stories!) that runs 100 miles from the West Palm Beach airport to the Miami Airport. We got on in Ft. Lauderdale and rode it 30 minutes down to the connection station with the Miami MetroRail.

The Metrorail is an elevated rail system similar to Chicago's L. Basically a subway only elevated over the streets instead. We rode that all the way down to the central station in Miami (the Government Center).

Then we really got crazy. We got off and rode the PeopleMover (sort of a downtown shuttle on a rail) out to a park called Bayfront park. Then we played in the park for hours! It was a lot of fun. The kids loved the train and dad enjoyed sitting beside the water in Bayfront park and enjoying the view.

We had such a good time that we did not get back until 8 PM. The Wife was as usual wondering where the heck half her family had disappeared to!

It is not every father

2009-10-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

So I am going to brag a bit. Right now I am sitting in a hotel room by Disney with C1 (14), A (4) and RP (3). The Wife is enjoying her peace at home (though C2 is bitterly complaining that he should have gotten to skip school and go with us even though he has already had 3 absences from school this year).

One of my pride points as a father is that I have never been afraid to alone on adventures with my children. I have always been willing to pick up a diaper bag and just go! We are enjoying the heck out of ourselves. C1 is at the World Cup for Paintball (you laugh but ESPN televises it) and A and RP and I have been going to Disney each day. Today we wandered all around the magic Kingdom and tomorrow we are going to Animal Kingdom.

The hotel we are in is sort of interesting. It has huge rooms (my room has two king size beds and room to spare). So the rooms fit about a $75 a night hotel. The lobby is extravagant for a hotel like this and would fit a $100 a night hotel (or more). Then the hallways are nasty and would go will with a $25 a night fleabag! So an interesting place. I got it for $50 a night. It is safe and good enough for the boys. The Wife would not be caught dead here. It is a good thing The Wife does not read this blog either or she might drive up here and rescue RP!

The funny thing is that when I traveled for my company I would never have stayed at even a $100 a night hotel. It was always luxury hotels for me! When I vacationed it was always in the same quality of hotel using points. Now that I am not in consulting my tastes are much cheaper. When The Wife is with me I will stay in a nice place but when it is just me and the kids we downscale substantially. When I am adventuring we don't need much of a hotel anyway since we are never there.

Something to remember

2009-09-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

It has been a slow month or so and I have not have much to post. But today something really cool happened. I came home from work really late (which was not cool) and my 4 year old son was sitting on the porch waiting patiently for me to come home. There is really nothing like driving up and seeing this little body sitting there waiting for you. It makes everything worth it.

I spent the majority of my working life travelling 4-5 days a week. And I got to live in some cool places and see some amazing things. But I cannot tell you how happy I am these days just for the simple joy of coming home and seeing my family every night.

Other than that not much has been happening. C1 has officially been banned from paintball until his grades improve. I am learning to follow a zero tolerance policy with him. I told him paintball would be gone if the grades were not these and gone it is. We will see if that gets the grades up. He is smart enough to be a straight A student but he hates school and cannot seem to get the value of it.

2009-08-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend was V-day at Camp Longhorn in Burnet, Texas. To provide some background. My wife and I both were raised in Texas. We moved to Florida way back (15 or so years) but once we had children we really wanted our children to appreciate our home state. So as my children have reached 9 or 10 they have started spending 3 weeks every summer in a camp in Burnet, Texas.

Camp Longhorn is a very traditional summer camp for Texas. It has been in existance for 70 years and the events are not much different now than they were when it started. I am amazed that in a world of lawsuits and insurance companies that Camp Longhorn seems completely immune. For 3 weeks my sons bounce on trampolines, shoot guns, jump off high dives, swim in lakes, jump off rocks and generally have a great time. They live in unairconditioned cabins with college students as counsellers.

My son C1 chose not to go this year. He has always struggled to make friends at the camp and now that he is 14 I just decided it was time to stop making him go. But C2 loves it there and is showing no signs of slowing down. He has already asked to go back next year.

C2 flew into Austin three weeks ago and his grandparents picked him up and put him on the bus to Camp. I flew in last Friday and then drove out at the crack of dawn to go pick him up. It is always a huge to do. All the parents line up and then drive into the camp at 8:30 in the morning. Then the campers show you their cabins, you meet the counsellers and have a cabin meeting. Finally, you go watch your children perform three of the activities. This year it was swimming, rifle shooting and trampoline. C2 proudly showed off his skills.Then you go to the Camp Store and load up on $100 or so of camp logoed junk to carry you until the next year.

We had a fantastic time. As we were leaving C2 told me he wished he could stay. That he has so much fun. It made spending the money to send him there worth it!

This year C2 finally overcame his fear and jumped off the blob. The camp has aquired these old, portable fuel cells from the Marines. They are basically huge bags (30 feet or so long and 10 feet high) that the Marines use as portable fuel bladders. When you blow them up with air and paint them they become the worlds largest bouncy ball. The camp puts them in the lake and kids jump off this high tower onto them. C2 was finally talked into jumping onto it. He said he turned around and 8 cabins were watching him jump! They announced to the whole camp at dinner that he had jumped and the camp applauded him!

He is geared up for next year and I hope he keeps his excitement until then. I really love the place and I hope he is still there for many years to come.

2009-07-26T18:19:00.001-07:00

So it was A's fourth birthday (hard to believe) and he kept going on and on about a "bounce house" he wanted to go to. He had heard about it from one of C1's friends and that was it. That was his birthday destination.

So we decided to go. The place is called Monkey Joes and is a really, really smart idea. Basically, someone took a big open space (like a big box store kind of space) in a store and created a huge indoor playground. The place had these huge slides and play areas (all inflated) along with an area for the parents to hang out.

Security was fairly tight. When you enter with your child you get an arm band with a code on it and your child gets one with the same code. When you try to leave with said child the codes have to match or they do not let you out the door. So you can feel fairly safe letting your kids out of your sight since there is only one way in and out.

A and RP had a blast. I guilted C1 into coming also for the birthday party. It was A's first party in South Florida so he had no one to invite. He really wanted his big brother there. So I laid the guilt on thick for C1 and he finally agreed to show up. It worked out for him in the end. Turns out the place was staffed heavily by girls in the 14-16 year old range so he ended up staying for almost 2 hours when all we had agreed was 30 minutes!

My kids would scale these huge inflatable play sets and slide down the other side. They did it for 3 hours. I was hurting by the end though. Since RP is only 2 I had to accompany her on all the slides! That was a trial for a heavy old man like me!

No seems like a great time to start one of these things. There are a ton of open box stores now that Circuit City and Linens and Things are gone. I think it is a franchise. If I was not hapilly employeed doing something I love to do I would think about setting one up.

After the slides we went to the fish store. A loves animals (any animals) and he wanted a fish tank. I ended up buying a salt water tank for him (cool thing called a Bio Cube (Google it if you ever want a fish tank) and we needed to start getting the tank ready. In two weeks it will be ready for real fish and he is getting a "Nemo Fish" as promised.

It's fun to have fun

2009-07-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from the Miami Metro Zoo. Today the Wife decided she had to drive 250 miles back to Tampa to get her hair done. Being a wise husband of 17 years I decided to not say a thing! There are some times when I realize that no matter how many years I live with a female I will just never truly understand them.

A, RP and I ended up spending almost 4 hours at the zoo. I took a double stroller this time which really helped. I have a Maclaren double stroller. As an aside I was never willing to buy a Maclaren because I thought they were overpriced. Then I finally broke down and bought a double for A and RP. I have to admit that the Maclaren is one of those rare expensive products that is actually worth what you pay for it. I have owned about 10 strollers over the years and this is by far the best one I have ever owned.

We had a blast at the zoo. We got these cat masks that RP had a blast with. Then we rode a train around the zoo. We stopped first at the kid area since I had promised A that he could ride a camel. We rode it and then rode the train up to the new Amazon exhibit at the Miami Metrozoo. It was really cool. They have done an excellent job on it. We looked at lots of snakes and birds and turtles and stuff!

Finally we walked over to the Australia exhibit and looked at the Kangeroos. They are fun to watch but man is that an ugly animal up close!

I am always struck by how different my children's exposure to animals has been versus what I had growing up. I went to the San Antonio zoo a couple of times and saw a bunch of sad, caged animals. My children have been to Lowrey Park Zoo, Busch Gardens and now the MetroZoo probabably 100 times. They have seen tons of animals living either in large open spaces (Busch gardens) or large enclosures. And they have seen every major animal out there. At least I can say that my chidlren were exposed to lots of animals!

Anyway, a good memory at the zoo. Then we left the zoo and decided to hunt down a Chick-Fil-A. That sounds easy but there is no Chick-Fil-A within 10 miles of my house. I went to two locations using my GPS that turned out to be malls that had a Chick-Fil-A inside before we finally found a free standing store. We went in and the kids played on the playground. RP has really exploded in her growth. She used to be scared of the slide. Now she climbs up the playset like it is no big deal and slides down the slide! I was shocked. She must have gone down the slide 50 times.

A really, really great place to vacation

2009-07-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today my family rolled back into South Florida after that long 35 minute flight from the Bahamas. The picture above was the view from my hotel room in Atlantis.

There are just some places where the human race has managed to create something special. A place you can really get away from reality. Disney World is like that. Atlantis is another. I cannot speak highly enough of it. They spent hundreds of millions building it, but it is truly a special place. It redefines Beach Resort in a way that will ruin all other resorts for you.

Every morning I woke up to the sun at about 7 to 7:30. I would walk down from my room in the Coral Towers and go to Starbucks for a coffee. The Starbucks is in the harbor next to Atlantis. I would then sit and have coffee and watch the crews working on the line of multi-million dollar boats that pull up at Atlantis every day. I will never have enough money to own one but they are sure cool to look at.

Then I would return to the hotel rooms (we had two) to take a shower and start prepping A and RP for the day. C1 and C2 would sleep late but A and RP were ready to go by 8:30. We would head out either to the beach or to the kid's areas of Atlantis. On the beach (really a cove not a true beach) A would chase fish around the rocks by the shore. He never caught one but he sure tried. It was great to watch him endlessly chasing fish but just never quite catching them. Meanwhile RP would endlessly dig in the sand and enjoy herself. She always managed to get a truly impressive amount of sand on her. She has the ability to spend hours just digging in the sand.

By lunch time we would go to the same hamburger stand and have lunch. Food at Atlantis is the real issue. You can get cheap flights and you can get cheap rooms (relatively) but eating is super expensive. A $100 meal there for a family of 6 is a deal. We found a cheap place to eat so we went there every time. a, RP and I would eat our food and then walk over to the shark tank to watch the sharks and sting rays swim around. Sometimes the Wife joined us and sometimes not.

As an aside here. The Wife and I have very different views of vacations. She is happy lounging in her room and going out occasionally. I am an experience addict. I need to gather every experience I can before my vacation ends. So it has always been our routine that she enjoys her break in the hotel room and I drag my kids all around wherever we are. So at Atlantis the Wife rarely left the hotel room before noon. She read a ton of books that week and watched a bunch of movies on her laptop.

In the afternoon it was nap time for A and RP. Sometimes the Wife went with me and sometimes I spent the time with C1 and C2 while the Wife napped. I had to prove my Dad cred by riding all the scary slides with C1 and I even got some alone time with C2 so it was cool. I rode the Abyss and the Leap of Faith there. Truly terrifying rides but fun once you were done!

I took C1 and C2 on the water ferry over to Old Town in Nassau. We rode these rickety boats across the harbor and then walked around in the Straw Market. It was okay but nothing special. A huge number of very expensive designer handbags that they were somehow able to discount to $20 or less. A heaven for a woman who wanted to buy a lot of fake bags but not much else worth buying.

One afternoon we went snorkeling with the Manta Rays. I really recommend this. It is cheap at $79 per person and a great experience. You get to snorkel in the main tank with a bunch of huge Mantas and some sharks. By the end of it C2 was really feeling his oats. He decided that the Mantas were too calm and he wanted to try sharks! So we went to the main shark tank and got to Walk with the Sharks. Personally, I thought the Mantas were better. But I considered it an investment in my son's ego. He has been strutting ever since and talking about how he went diving in a tank full of sharks.

In the evening we would make C1 and C2 babysit (which was an adventure in and of itself) and the Wife and I would go out to a movie. Atlantis has a full size movie theater on site so you can go catch a movie whenever you want. They even have a concession stand where you can get popcorn and drinks.

The final evening was one of my favorite memories. At 5 I took A and RP to the beach. The sun was coming down and the weather was perfect. We sat on the beach until 8 and just had fun. RP finally got the courage up to splash in the ocean and the three of us had a blast making sand castles. Too bad they are too young to remember the day but I will probably never forget it.

C1 and other rampantly social people

2009-06-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

My oldest son C1 is the most social animal I know. When we first moved to South Florida he was the most visibly emotional of all my family. He moaned and groaned about how his social life was over now he had moved from the booming metropolis of Tampa (pop. 500K) to the oh so boring Miami metroplex (pop 2 M).

A funny thing happened though. He started playing paintball at a local field and the next thing I know he now has a new team and a whole new set of friends. He also went to summer school at his new school so he met more people there. Now he is the most adjusted of all of us and seems to have a whole new batch of friends here! I am amazed at his social skills (which he gets from his mother, I am a social hermit).

When I asked C2 how he liked Miami his answer was "I am not sure, I have not left my room yet". C2 is like me, he tends to be fine spending time alone. He says he will meet people once he goes back to school. Until then he is fine with online friends. He recently told me "I am going to spend the day playing with my friend Peanut". Turns out he meant spending the entire day online with Peanut!

The Wife is still hunting for a good way to meet people. She has not found a church she likes (she is not Catholic so she gets to sort of shop for churches). I think once she connects with a couple of people areound here she will find friends. Next to C1 she is the most social person I know.

A and RP could care less really. At 2 and 3 they are already forgetting their old lives and moving on. I am sure they will have lingering memories but I think they are just happy to have more time with me.

As for me I am busy, busy, busy. My new job required me to juggle about 10,000 things at once. I am loving it but it keeps me busy.

Next week we are leaving for Atlantis in the Bahamas. I went there with the Wife and we spent the entire time telling each other "oh C1 would love that" and "I wish A were here to play in that". So we decided to take the whole family on a vacation!

Welcome to Miami

2009-06-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I decided to go have a real taste of Miami. So I went down Calle Ocho (8th Ave) to 36th street in the heart of the Cuban quarter and ate at Versailles. Versailles is the restaurant that is always on TV whenever it looks like Castro may be dying. All the old Cuban activists gather there to watch TV and sip Cuban coffee as they wait for news about Castro.

Today was the first time I had ever gone there without a Cuban to guide me. My issue quickly became that I got too confident up front. I walked in and boldly pronounced "Necessito una mesa for dos por favor(I need a table for two please)". I need to point out that this is Miami and the heart of the Cuban quarter. Since I spoke in Spanish up front they assumed I actually spoke the language. I ended up back in the back with the other Spanish speakers with a waitress who barely spoke English and a menu in Spanish.

Thank God for texting. I sent a call for help to my Cuban friends and I quickly had on my phone "Nessecito Ver un menu in Ingles for my amigo por favor (I need a menu in English for my friend please". I already had written on a Post It note what I normally ate there. Whatever it is it is not actually on the menu. But I read the Post It to the waitress and the next thing I knew there was my meal. We ate some of the best Cuban food in the world and spent an hour there talking about boring work stuff.

On the way out I snapped the picture above. Could not resist being a tourist for just a second!

Swimming

2009-06-22T17:16:00.000-07:00

One of the earliest memories I have as a child is waiting at my house for my father to come home so I could go swimming with him. I think I actually have a memory of looking at a picture of myself waiting to swim versus actually remembering waiting. But it is one of those enduring memories I still hold 30-35 years later.

As we settle into South Florida and I begin to build a routine where I actually come home each night, I am slowly settling into the routine of swiming with A and RP. Every night I come home and every night they are waiting. A has been taking lessons. For a 3 year old he has really exploded. He had two lessons and went from a fearful child sitting on the steps to a crazy swimmer jumping into the deep end. Now he has had 4 lessons and he is actually starting to freestyle swim. I think it is because all the people on my side of the family are part whale!

For someone from a place where most swimming pools are inside the RP is also taking to water like a duck. She has a ring (pink of course) that she swims around in. She is actually very fast for such a little girl. She furiously pumps her legs and paddles across the pool!

A year later for RP

2009-06-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

The Wife was quite frustrated with me today. She said the line that all men dread to hear "do you remember why today is special?". I went through the usual frantic mental check; birthday-no, anniversery - no, special event - hum. Turns out it was the one year anniversary of our meeting my daughter for the first time.

Today one year ago I was sitting in a Russian orphanage trying to coax this scared little girl into my arms to start getting to know me. It was rough going at first. For the first couple of days we were just trying to get to know her. By day three she started to warm up.

I think the ladies in the orphanage can really judge how to "move a child". They know you have to rope in dad and that most men are easy sops for a cute girl. On day three my daughter announced "papa!" when I walked in. I was lost.

Today I came home and my daughter ran up to me screaming "daddy, daddy, daddy". She is a bouncy, happy child who laughs easily and loves to play. She runs, giggles and generally acts like the happy child she is.

We have many more years of fun to look forward together. I am just happy that my life was blessed with the wife and children that I have.

We like fish

2009-06-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

So somehow I was convinced to take C1 all the way up to Lakeland for Paintball. That is a 4 hour drive from where I live in South Florida. He is the original con artist. Somehow he convinced me that his life would essentially be over if he could not go and try out on this South Florida team called the Vipers. Turned out they were not even holding tryouts but I did not learn that until long after I had started the drive.

I took both A and RP with me. We dropped off C1 and headed to Tampa to visit the Florida Aquarium. Both kids loved it there. We had a lot of fun walking around looking at fish. There was this section of the place where you can reach into a fish tank and pet a starfish. I really though RP would not be interested but she grabbed starfish like there was no tomorrow. She loves fish!

This is C2 my 11 year old

2009-06-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if every family is like this but in mine some of my kids are more like my wife and some are more like me (though all of them are mostly like themselves as I always say). C1 is a lot like the Wife which is why they tend to scrap a lot. C2 is my 11 year old and he is my younger double. I watch him growing up and it is startling how close his personality is to mine. I love all my children (I always say that the sun shines just as brightly for having five windows open as it does when there is only one). What is interesting is that I like to hang out with C1 because he reminds me of my wife and with C2 because he reminds me of me.

C2 tends to have a small number of friends but the friends he has are deep friends. He is easy going and can basically get along with anyone. He generally likes it when things are peaceful. He is also really, really smart. He can pull straight A's without even trying. I can spend hours sitting next to him not even talking and we are both happy.

I think in the long run C2 will benefit the most from the recent end to my traveling days. Now that I have a real job he and I can spend more time together.

My favorite picture

2009-06-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

This is my favortie picture of my wife. It was taken while my wife was trying on a traditional Indian dress in a store in Mumbai. Personally I think she looks HOT in it though after 18 years of marriage I am sure she would roll her eyes if I actually told her that.

My wife dated a frat brother of mine when we were in college. She was always just one of the girlfriends that I was somewhat aware of but did not pay a lot of attention to (since they were not my girlfriend). I actually used to have an old, old picture of both of us at a party. We both graduated and went our separate ways.

Two years after I graduated from collage a friend of mine invited me to her child's kindergarten fair. I think I was the token male since she was a single mom and needed someone to bring. I ended up working in a kindergarten booth at the fair with this little blond teacher (she is 5'2" and I am 6'4"). Sure enough we figured out it was the same girl that used to date my frat brother. We ended up out at that night with another male friend of mine. I had not so much luck since she seemed far more interested in my male friend than in me. The night ended and once again we went different ways.

A week later she called me out of the blue. Apparently she was trying to play hard to get before and I was just clueless. We started talking and talking and talking. Then dating and dating and dating. Two months later I asked her to marry me. Ten months later we were married. That was 17 years ago and four children so I guess things worked out! I love her and for some reason she puts up with me!

Who is this Giant in my house?

2009-06-04T18:08:00.001-07:00

My oldest son graduated from middle school last night. As I watched it happen I kept thinking over and over "who is this giant in my house?". I still remember the little boy in his T-ball uniform. Now I have a 190 lb , 5'11" giant tromping though my life. I remember lifting him on my shoulders, now he carries his little brother and sister on his sholders and we walk side by side.

My oldest son and I were always very close. I have never been a father who shied away from alone time with his kids. By the time my son was one we were off on adventures that often lasted entire weekends. He would ride on my shoulders through Disney World with a diaper in one pocket and wipes in another. We spent hours together. Mom often took the opportunity to rest (since I was away all week at work), so it was just me and him.

As he turned 10 or so the adventures began to slow down. Suddenly I could not just pick him up and go, I had to ask if he wanted to go and more and more he did not. We still spent time together but it became less of a constant adventure and more of a treasure I grabbed when I could.

These days I grab what time I can. I am keely aware of the sand moving through the clock. I have 4 more years before he leaves for collage. I intend to grab what time I can from him between now and then.

One thing I have learned is to treasure time with all my kids. One day it will end and I will look back on it with a vague longing. Right now my life is full of the chaos of four children and I am loving every minute of it.

A and RP

2009-06-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

It is very interesting (to say the least) to be raising another set of children. My oldest are 14 and 11 and now my two youngest are 3 and 2. So basically two generations (though same wife just in case you are wondering). I would like to think I have gotten better at the whole dad thing but who knows.

I do like how my 3 and 2 year old play together. The 3 year spread between the first two was just enough so that they were never really the buddies I thought they would be. As you can see from the picture, the two youngest seem to spend all thier time together. That does not mean they are always nice to each other though! On more than one occassion I will see A look around and, convinced that no one can see him, reach out and whack his sister for no reason.

But most of the time they play well together. RP has integrated into the family and now holds her own with the all the boys. C1 is completely smitted with her. He is a bit of a softy though like any teenager he wants you to think he is tough as nails. C2 basically ignores her though he is not above picking her up every once and awhile.

It will be interesting to see how things change now that we are moving. I spent the last 16 years travelling for my company. I was out every Monday and back Thursday or Friday. Now I have switched to a new job where I no longer have to travel at all. So first the first time in their lives they will have dad there everyday. If I had to make a guess things will be a bit more stable for them. My wife is not a habitual person but I am. Her tendency towards chaos was only made worse by having to raise all these kids without me around. I think the kids are going to find that dad is much more predicable. I like to follow patterns and I am going to expect them to follow them with me. So it should be interesting to say the least!

About Me

2009-06-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

I like to remember small things about the places I have been. Somehow it makes it more meaningful if I can remember a small street scene instead of some big tourist moment. When I forget those I think it is time to go back to that place so I can experience it again.

In my life I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel the world and see much of what is worth seeing. I have:

Been to more states in the US than most people visit in a lifetime

Sat with my wife and son in a hookah bar on the rooftop of a building in Mumbai and ate some of the best food in the world

Jogged along a canal in Amsterdam while the girls in their little glass booths tapped the glass at me and yelled encouragement

Stood in June under an incredible Melbourne night sky and watched people ice skate outside

Walked though the city with my wife and watched the Queen of England ride into her palace in London

Skied down a mountain at night and looked out over the Vancouver skyline

Sat in a Starbucks in Paris with my son and watched the struggle as they tried to be nice to the Americans

Stayed up way too late for an old man like me drinking pints of Guinness with a bunch of crazy Irishmen in Dublin

Swam in a blue, blue sea in paradise in the Carribean

Argued in broken Spanish with a taxi driver in the depths of Matamoras, Mexico

Sat by a clock tower in Prague and drank a beer in the same place people have been drinking for the last 1000 years

Walked through the blast doors deep under Moscow and rode the Metro with a bunch of Russian soldiers

But probably the most amazing place I have been in is the desolation of a Russian Orphanage where a hundred children sit silent and were I met my beautiful, beautiful daughter

My Russian Princess

2009-06-01T19:03:00.001-07:00

I went to Moscow twice last year for the adoption of my young daughter. We adopted RP on what is called a blind adoption. We basically said that we would adopt a female child who 12-24 months old and had no permanent medical damage. They then call you up and tell you that you have three weeks to get to Moscow to meet the child! That is all the information you get until you get there.

I started the process with over a million frequent flier miles and half a million hotel points (I was a consulant for 15 years so I banked a lot of points). I ended it with zero, nilch, nada! However, I do have a beautiful daughter so it was a good trade. We stayed in American hotels and flew business class. I was laughing that my daughter is going to have high expectations one day since her first flight ever was in business class!

The first time we went we stayed at a Renaissance over by the old Olympic village.It was a nice hotel but sort of far from everything. We did not really have a lot of time to do stuff though except at night. We did master the Metro so the Wife and I were able to catch the subway into Moscow to meet some friends of ours who live there. It was about a 30 minute train ride to the nearest Starbucks so that was a bit tough on me!

On our first visit we went to the Ministry of Education (who controls the orphans) and were given our packet on RP. We then went out to the orphanage to meet her. What followed was a sort of crazy 5 day rush to decide if we were going to accept the referral. I seriously think it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Each day we would get up in the morning and be driven to the orphanage about 30 km outside of Moscow. We had doctors in the US and Moscow looking at her for days! On the third day she looked right at me and said "Papa!", then she kissed me on the nose. I was sort of lost after that. No way was I going to turn down my child. As soon as she went from being "the child" to "my child" I was lost. She has pretty much had me wrapped around her little finger ever since!

As a funny aside, our driver and our translator were convinced that we would only eat American food. So they kept taking us to McDonalds until my wife and I finally rebelled and made them let us eat at somewhere else! I liked the food there but I have a British stomach. I always tell people that the British conquered half the world just to find a decent place to eat!

Visit two was much more calm. We went to Moscow for a week and really we only had to go to court for one day of it. We stayed at the Hyatt which was right off Red Square and we could walk in the Kremlin gardens each morning. I ended up finding a little French restaurant that served breakfast so each morning I would wake up before the Wife and go have coffee and pastries.

Court was a very formal affair with a lawyer and a judge. Social services came in a presented that we were good parents and that we would take care of little RP. We had to show them pictures of our family and our house and swear up and down that we would be good to our daughter. The Russian government now has a thorough understanding of my finances also.

Finally the judge left to deliberate and when she came back we got custody! I was sort of nervous. At the time the whole Georgia thing was going on and I was worried that she would rule against us for being American. There have also been cases where Americans have not respected the Russian judicial system and managed to get their case denied. So we were on our best behavior.

We spent some of visit two seeing RP in her orphanage each day and the rest touring the city. Very modernized now. All the big American and European chains are there and stores are everywhere. I fell in love with the Metro and ended up riding it just for fun a lot! I have pictures of me wandering all over the city. It was spring though so Moscow was at it finest. I have heard stories about being there in Winter and I think I will pass.

I actually went home at the end of the week and the Wife stayed in Moscow for the next 3 weeks with her mother. In Russia now every court adoption has a two week waiting period where a Russian citizen can protest the adoption. In the past it has actually happened that a relative of the child pops up and contests. After the two weeks the Wife had to go through a bunch of paperwork with RP to get her Russian passport and her American Visa. Then they got on a plane and RP became a US citizen once she landed in Chicago.

I am planning on taking RP back when she is a teenager and old enough to appreciate it. I want to see St. Petersburg then too since I have heard it is beautiful.

That is sort of a Reader's Digest condensed version of a huge event in my life. I wanted to get it out there though.

Most productive Teenager ever

2009-06-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

C1 has a serious paintball obsession. At first I thought it was just sort of a fad and then it kept lasting longer and longer. Finally I had to admit that my oldest son is really hooked on this game. He now plays for a real team and gets better everytime I watch him. It is funny how it sometimes takes time for you to realize your child has developed a skill that you did not teach him. One day I watched him play 5 people (1 on 5) and beat them all. Of course only my teenager would develop a skill set that is only really useful in the military!

This weekend he decided that he wanted to play in a tournement. We were actually supposed to be packing our house for the move to South Florida. So jokingly I told him that if we packed the attic and moved our storage shed then I would take him to the paintball field for the tournement.

I spent the next 8 hours in agony. For the first time in my life my 14 year old pushed me on and on to get the work done. Every break I took was with an impatient teenage hovering over the old man waiting for me to be done! I seriously thought this was the end.

For the first time I begin to have hope that my seriously undermotiviated teenager may actually grow into someone who does productive things like graduate from college and get a job. I saw a glimpse of the man he may become. Now if I can just figure out how to make him do it again!

P.S. In the end he did get to go to his tournement.

Hello World

2009-06-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I am the father of three healthy and mostly happy sons. In 2008 my wife and I went on a Russian Adventure and adopted a beautiful young girl in Russia. So now the six of us are living in South Florida and trying to live our lives to the fullest!

This blog will mostly be about my wife and kids since they provide the entertainment in my life. To introduce them I have C1 (14 years old), C2 (11 years old), A1 (3 years old), RP (Russian Princess) and finally the Wife. However, if I think there is fun stuff to chat about I reserve the right to talk about anything.

I will also try and figure out how to link to blogs I like. I follow a couple of blogs about people raising adoptive children and a three or four blogs about americans living in Moscow.

When I was in Moscow I really fell in love with the city (though it was admitedly spring at the time) and I fully plan to go back there at some point. The Wife laughs at me though since I read the Moscow blogs since I miss the city but every blog is about how tough it is to live in Moscow! So maybe it is better to live the Moscow dream versus the Moscow reality!

I expect to get better at this blogging stuff as I progress so please have some patience.