100628 - Ramp it up

100628 - Up and to the desk.  After much careful thought and consideration I declined an internal position today.  It was nice to be considered and have help with the decision from some very experienced colleagues.  The day was productive and towards the end L had all she could take so I got the saw out, cut some shapes, gave the boys some nails and hammers and sat down to have a beer.  They got busy and the end product consumed their time the rest of the night.


Later I grabbed Doc and we headed in to meet with the Bible Bangers.  Had some good discussion and then home and got some work done.

100627 - Freezing Hot Baseball

100627 - L&D to church so D could acolyte. I hung out at home with J&G. All back together for lunch. Then LD&J headed back to church for a meeting on the upcoming vacation bible school the church is putting on.

G&I headed out to get some supplies for the the freezer installation. I got Bob and Dennis to come over and help me wrestle the freezer downstairs, get the electric in and get it running.

We all got cleaned up and grabbed Bob & Connor and headed downtown to Huntington park to see a Clippers game. It was about 600 degrees where we sat and the boys had to get soaked in the fountain. Jack got to jump around a bit and we all got to run the bases after the game.

100626 - Wedding Dance

100626 - Up and nice quite morning.  Out in the HEAT for D's baseball game.  They lost and are now out of the tournament.  We all got fancied up and headed to Delaware for a wedding.  Lisa, Lori's cousin married Eric today, best wishes to them!

It was a nice ceremony and on the way to the reception we got nuggets for the boys and refrigerant for the Yukon AC.









At the reception D was bored and kept asking when we could leave.  I said not until after you dance.  Well finally the Chicken Dance and Hoky Poky came on and all the boys got on the dance floor.  It was to get them off after that, they did some line dancing and Jack was park of a dance off.

He claimed 2nd place (I think he probably had it).

That boy has my moves, SWEET!!!

100625 + Made it and WON!!!

100625 + Up super early and jumped on a jet to get home.  I had to run J to his buddy's so he could go camping with him overnight.  Then DG&I went freezer shopping and got a good deal.  I worked a bit and then we headed out to
D tournament game, we WON!!!!  Holy man, didn't see that coming!  Glad i made it home for the game.

100624 - Up and across the street for workshops all day.  News from home =
Grant caught 2 pop flies and got hit in mouth at his ball game tonight.  he called and left me a nice voicemail.  I have dinner with Tom and it was  good mean and great conversation.  Took the highway the wrong direction for 20 miles  :-o  but eventually made it to the hotel by the airport.

100623 - Up and across the street for workshops all day.  We had a put put tournament after work and my team won!!!  Nice dinner with a bunch of folks from work.

100622 - Up and worked first 2/3 of the day.  Jumped a jet for Boston.  Got to the hotel and hit the bed hard.

100621 - Started the day on the phone to the lawyer.  We are having a tenant 'Set Out'.  This means they get no warning... The Sheriff and my guys show up, kick the door in, change the locks and move all of their stuff to the corner, we have 1.5 hours to do this... :-o  I have never had to do this before and it makes me a bit nervous...  Worked all day then to the ball fields where D's team got their first loss in a double elimination tournament.   Out to McD's to meet the Bible bangers.

100620 - Happy FaHOTers Day

100620 - UP and all to Church.  Home to open my awesome fathers day gifts.  Then up to Highbanks park in Delaware to meet Gma&paW for a picnic.  We had lunch and then threw a ball around.  It was plenty hot so we headed for some shade and geocaching in the park and found one!  Then off to Alum Creek beach for swimming, but that is what everyone else thought too...  So we headed home taking a nice back route and seeing the sights.  We got home and got our suits on and headed to the pool.  Jack went off the diving board today for the first time ever!

What a nice day and a nice family I have.

100619 + Awesome day with Jack

100619 + Up in the morning and L and the boys going over to Newcomerstown for the day.  I was going to have the house to myself and get a ton of things done (catch up on sleep ;-) but L and I talked last night and for a while now I have been wanting to do something special with just Jack.  I do all sorts of things with D&G, like help with their baseball games and D has scouts too.  But J only does soccer and I don't really know how to help with that, so I feel he sort of feels like he gets the short end of the deal and gets dragged everywhere.  So we agreed if it was ok with Jack that he does not go with them but stays with me all day and we can do anything he wants...  tough choice...
Jack and I ran 1 errand, got some gas and headed to the Hocking Hills area.  Our first adventure of the day was a two and a half hour canoe ride.  We rode the bus with a bunch of drunks and got dropped off at the 'easy' point and left the drinkers on the bus (amen).  We got out in the water and off we went.  we had snacks and passed them back and forth with our oars, splashed each other, got turned around backwards, ran into trees, saw cool bird, talked and floated down the river.  he is quite a good canoe'r.  We made it back to the livery and set our target on our next destination...

I had some obscure directions and we went on some back-roads and up a hill that i was sure would soon drop off into nothing and that would be the end of us, but there it was high atop a hill a kids pleasure palace.  The first thing we did was get Jack measured and holy cow he is big enough to get his very own gokart!  We rode the go karts and raced and bumped into each other and had a blast!

Then we each got a bucket of balls and headed to the driving range.  I got very serious and showed Jack how to line up, get your stance, hold your club, hold you head down, arms stiff, nice back swing and POW! I hit that ball as hard as I could and it flew straight, all 3 feet of its journey.  Jack collapsed in a heap of laughing mass and we had a great time laughing at how horrible of golfers we were.  There was one more thing to do here so we headed out for 18 holes of mini golf.  It was HOT, I mean peal the paint off the ceiling hot and we were dripping with sweat but had a great game.  Jack even got a hole in one! 

So I Jack if we were ready to go after doing everything they had there once.  NOPE! "I want to do the gokarts again!"  So I dug into my pocket and off we went!  We got another 10 minutes of fast wind in your hair bugs in your teeth fun and he smiled from ear to ear the whole time.  We finished up and headed back into the office and he asked:
   Can we do it one more time?...
   Sure Jacky, lets do it, but this is the last of the cash I have so we can't do it again ok?
   Yeah daddy, LETS GO!!!

We pretty much were family here now and the lady laughed as she gave us the tickets and back to the track we went for 10 more minutes.  Well now that we are next of kin, and the only people there that we we saw for the day, they sort of wandered off and forgot to turn the timer on...  We rode those karts around and around and around and around and the happiness on his face was of that I have can't remember.  Eventually they stopped us or we ran out of gas, not sure which and our riddin was over.  But Jack was not done there...  the package we got had unlimited put-put...  So back out for another 18 holes we went.


We then headed back down the steep slope and to a little diner we had past and had a wonderful dinner and HUGE chocolate milk shakes.  There was a geocache in parking lot and we found it and then decided to find a couple more on the way home.  We found another one in this metal wildlife reserve along the highway. Some nut-job built a bunch of steel animals and put them in a field.  Here is the largest one on top of a perch.  there were deer and turkeys too, all made of timy pieces of metal welded and painted.  pretty cool.  while we were walking through the field I showed jack the kind of sweet clover you can eat and thistles and told him if you blow all the white things off you get a wish.  He tried over and ove,
  I hope I can have a play date tomorrow with my buddy Donovan' BLOW, dang there are some left.
  Try it again...
and he did.  So back in the car for the hour drive homeward.

Jack played his DS on the ride home and we listened to some good music.  He had his head down and when the car stopped I told him we were lost and were going to ask for direction. We got out and walked down the sidewalk a bit and I said I hear some people in this yard lets see if they can help.  He did not recognize the house, but it was his buddy Donovan's house.  When he realized where he was and Donavon saw him they ran to each other and gave each other a big hug.  I sat on the back deck with Donovan's parents and the boys played until dark.

Finally home and telling tales of our day as he got ready for bed.  In bed and a huge hug from him, he said
  Dad, that was the best day ever
and gave me a kiss.

I will say it will be forever imprinted on my brain as one of the best days of my life too...
        I love you Jacky.

100617 - Preparations

100617 - Picked Jeff up early this morning and showed a new realtor one of our house we are trying to get rid of.  Then back to the desk, and worked all day.  L had the boys working on a secret project (that I got for fathers day).  Ate fast then off to D&G's baseball games.  G's team 'won' and D got a triple.  Home and had the laptop in the basement for the NBA finals and some movies.

100616 + Out and about

100616 + Up and worked all day.  J has started going to a counselor and impressed her by making the dolls in her office beat each other :-o  We are horrible parent :-(
L took the boys to the pool and then D had baseball practice.  I dropped off a notice at one of the properties, we are kicking them our FINALLY!!!

In the evening I attempted to take the family to the horse races...  That FAILED, no horses running tonight.... &*$##!! So we drove on to Ashville Ohio where the worlds first stoplight was, but nothing to eat.  So we stopped at a Wendy's for dinner and then found a cemetery and playground that had some goecaches.  Jack found this tiny cache all by himself, how cool is that!

100615 - Slide Berry

100615 - Up an worked all day while the boys played out in the backyard with some friends on a slip and slide. 

We then picked some raspberries from our bushes in the backyard.  I went over to Jeff's late for a meeting on the houses.

100614 - Church of Baseball

100614 - UP and worked all day.  L l took the boys library and out all day.  All back home for D's dbl header and tonight he was nominated to the All Star team!!!! The boys lost their first game but won the 2nd game.  D caught all 5 innings and did very good. We got home @ 10:30pm...

100613 - Up and everyone to church.  Home and D made lunch for everyone.  All outside and the boys played in backyard L trimmed flowers & Garden I read the Bible a bit.  In the afternoon D had baseball game and the field was flooded.  D did good and I dug a ditch to ddrain the standing water away from the boys dugout.  Gma&paW came down for the game and dinner.  D&I then went to Meijer and bought a big cooler, cart & Ice for the upcoming hot game to take water for all the boys on his team.

100612 + Deer Creek

100612 + Up and the boys played nice all morning.  Then everyone to the ball fields for D's baseball game.  He is getting really good at catcher.  D stayed to watch his friends game, JG&I home so G could take a nap, and J&I played the Wii.

When L&D got home we loaded up and headed south to Deer Creek state park.  We found a couple of playgrounds, a dam and some geocaches.  One of the caches was way out at a point in the lake.  It was getting dark and DJG&I headed out, then it started thundering...  G went ballistic and cried until we found the cache.  then we sang songs amongst the thunder all the way back to the car.  Back home, boys in bed and L&I watched a movie.

100611 - Berry Musak

100611 - UP and to the desk for the day for work.  L took the boys to pick strawberries for the morning.

After work J&I went to the gas station and got $20 worth of candy.  We met up with LD&G at Friendship Park and listened to an Elvis impersonator while the kids played and played.  Home and watched a movie with the boys and ate our candy!

100610 - Fam Finders

100610 - Up and a full fast day at the desk. L had a job interview that went well and then took the boys to the pool. We all rushed to G's baseball game for his pictures and Lucia & GmaW joined us.Afterwards we all went to Red Robin for dinner. Then we introduced Lucia to Geocaching! We found 3 of them tonight around Easton. I think she is hooked or soon will be ;-) Home and got the boys baths, played in the playroom a bit and 'all boys to bed'.

100609 - Up and Hectic busy productive day. Gave myself a hair cut. D's baseball game was canceled so after dinner we hung out in the backyard playing catch and G hit some balls. All in and cleaned up. L had the boys make chore sticks... The boys and I watched the Velveteen Rabit and got them to bed. L&i then watched 'This Is It' about Michael Jackson, it was pretty good.

100608 - LAST DAY!

100608 - Up and bfast with the boys as they prepare for their last day of school! Down the road they walked for the last time as a 4th grader & a Kindergatener; so big they are. L&G were at the school most of the day for awards ceremonies and picnics. J home and glad to be done! He got all good marks on his grade card.
I finished my day and D came home with ALL A's!!! a couple of awards and a frisbee we played with in the backyard. We headed out for a pizza celebration dinner.
After dinner we found a new playground to try out between rain drops. We also made a couple stops looking for skateboards on the way home.
Home and ready for bed we read and took noted on a book about knights. I then stayed up late getting educational apps for L's iPad.

100607 - Pride &Pain

100607 - Up and an actually very organized smooth Monday at work. In the late afternoon D rode his bike and I ran to Jeff's to help him take the top off his new car(87 Mercedes). We got home ate quickly and headed to the ball fields.

Tonight was a perfect night for a game, not to hot and loads of people there to watch D: Lucia, Nicole, Rich, Sam, Lena, Gma&paB & LJG&I. D struck out his first at bat and was sort of not playing his position at shortstop very well... Another chance came about and up he went (this is where the Pride part happens). When Dylan took the plate, the other teams coach stepped around the fence and motioned and said to all of his players 'Back Up. BACK UP!'. WOW! What an amazing feeling it gave me to hear an opposing teams coach say that about my son. In all my life all I ever heard was 'easy out' or see the opposing coach pull the players in. Not in my wildest dreams did I expect Dylan to be one of the players that other coaches noticed and had their player back up for. I was floored! Dylan of course deserves it. He has gotten a hit nearly every single at bat this year. He worked his way up to the second position in the line up, not like years past where he was at the bottom of the order... Up he went. And STOOD there.... 1 strike... The coaches urge him to swing... 2nd strike... No swing... Coaches again say 'come on you could have blasted that one!' Here comes the third pitch, Dylan stands there, takes a hand off the bat before the ball even reaches the plate and is struck out! WHAT JUST HAPPENED??? He didn't even try! The next inning in at short stop balls made it past him and he didn't even move to attempt to get them... His coaches even benched him because they told him 'you are not even trying tonight'. Something was wrong... After his team took another miserable beating we ask him what was going on? No response...
We get the boys home, cleaned up and to bed. I go in to Dylan's room and tell him how proud I was when that coach told his team to back up when he got up to bat. How I never experienced that and how amazingily moved I was when that happened and how proud he should be of himself for that! I then told him he could not ever again give up like he did tonight. Not ever again. Not in a baseball game, not on a school assignment, not in any situation: 'Quit' is NOT in our family vocabulary! I told him he was one of the players that his coaches and fellow team mates always counted on. That he is REALLY good at baseball and he must always do his best. He was crying and I felt both proud and pain. I hope he learned something tonight...
Talked to Joe, Mary started chemotherapy today... All ok so far. Got Doc and met the Bible Bangers.

100606 + Antiques & Finds

100606 + Up and all to church. Then over the Cole's for a great turkey feast and playing. Then we met Gma&paW in Delaware to stroll through some antique shops.

We grabbed some dinner and headed to Mingo Park. After dinner we played on the playground and then introduced Gma&paW to geocaching. Grant got to lead the way with the iPhone to the caches and was thrilled.


We found 2 geocaches at the park and then headed to the ice cream stand. Everyone had a yummy treat and we ran into the Wentzle's. Home and got the boys to bed then ran over the Joe's to help him cut down a wind damaged tree.

100605 - Shoe Hunt

100605 - Up and baseball called off because of wet fields, so we cleaned out the garage and found some SHOES!
We then all headed out on some errands and picked up Connor the neighbor boy to go with us. We hit the gas station, bank, donation center and to the main library downtown. We picked up some books on knights for the report D&I are doing. It was a great library, but u know we can't stay in a library long with Grant...
After the library we headed to the World's Largest field of cement corn in Dublin where the boys ran back and forth and touched all 72 giant ears of corn. Back in the car and to a nearby park where we introduced Connor to geocaching. We found the cache only minutes before a horrendous thunderstorm blew in. We took refuge in a DQ and had a treat.
Home for a bit and then to Logan's for dinner. Home and watched 'Mr. Limpet' with the boys. Got them to bed and L&i watched 'Serendipity'.

100604 - POOL!!!

100604 - Up and full stressful day at the desk. Fast dinner and then time to vist the pool on opening day! We all swam and threw a ball and jumped in and splashed and had a great time. Home and cleaned up and watched 'Them!', a show about GIANT ANTS! The boys loved it and G was very nervous. I got the boys to bed after checking under all beds and in closets for giant ants.

100603 - Ubuntu

100603 - Up and a full day of work followed by a fast dinner and off to G's basball game. G did pretty good but a bit distracted tonight. Home got the boys clnd up and off to bed. I stayed up and watched a couple of movies while I installed Ubuntu on L's laptop: not real impressed with it.

100602 + Skating

100602 - Up super early to do testing. D&J had field days at school today and L&G went back for the races. J won a blue ribbon. I stopped over at Jeff's to talk about the properties.

100601 + Up and a not so fun day with the bank. Got focused and knocked work out. D had a baseball game and the boys took another horrible beating. Home and we watched Wipe Out before bed.