Thanks Annie

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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

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.