So tonight I have had a few drinks after movie night and I let the kids stay up watching safe Dad movies or video games. Â At a certain point the PS3 acts up so I point the remote at the PS3 and push buttons. Â Kolyn goes….”DAD….you don’t have to point the remote at the PS3…It can read the buttons anywhere!” Â *grin* Â Thank you Kolyn. Â I love you.
The last three weekends have fun Halloween fun!  A couple of weeks back we got the costumes for the kids.  Rowen wanted to be Rapunzel from tangled and a faerie so I combined it.  Kolyn originally wanted to be an “Angry Bird” but in the end he just wanted a gun so he is now a StarWars trooper with lazer gun.
The following weekend after costumes I took them to the pumpkin patch to get their pumpkins.  We meet Grammy and Grandpa there and it was good times.  After getting pumpkings I rode the tractor hay-bale ride with the kids.  As always Kolyn just stairs at the muddy tires and Rowen enjoys it and grips her hay for dear life.  
And this weekend I took the kids to the Boo at Burien  and the kids got to dress up in their costumes and we went trick or treating in downtown Burien with a few hundred other kids.  It was VERY fun and we found a few new shops I would like to visit in my free time.  We did stop by the Dancing Shoe and made me reaffirm that when I move into an apartment and if the budget allows to sign Rowen into dancing/Ballet.
Weee and Boo!
Ohh..and here is a link to the October pics.
Today was very difficult.  I took the kids to the grocery store today for an epic stock up event since we have not been in a couple of weeks and was not able to do it the previous weekend for a couple of reasons.  Anyways the trip was BAD….I mean I can deal with a fair amount of stress but this was making me twitch a bit.  Small trips we can do…but the big trips I usually do on my own before they come over.  But with myself them all the time due to “recent” events it was not possible this time.  I love my kids with all my heart but at times they can be very trying….I feel like I need to act like the bus driver on SouthPark at times….”Sit down and shutup!”  Lets just say by the end of the trip towards the check out lane Rowen was crying since she wanted a XYZ shampoo and Kolyn had to hold my hand the last three aisles since he could not stop touching/picking things up.  If I had to stand behind anyone that could not speak English with WIC coupons I may have killed them with tic tac’s or a candy bar….(They are reachable at that point…and another rant at another time.)
Anyways the kids are FINALLY asleep and I am sitting here enjoying the peace and quite with my own thoughts and my laptop screensaver kicks on….It has every single thousand picture I have taken of them queued up and random. Â I find myself staring at this thing for a good 15 minutes smiling and have to pry myself away from it.
All I wanted to say is that my kids my drive me CRAZY at the rare time but at the end of the day I love them/you guys so much it drives me to try and be a better father and daddy everyday. Â I may not excel or exceed but I will always try for you guys.
I guess this post is more for me so I can at times step back..take a breath and see that my two little loves/minions are sweet and awesome kids that I will always to evolve for.
This post took way to long….such a bad writer…what? Â It is a 11:11?
So the kids have been saying some pretty funny stuff lately.  Rowen lately has been not wanting to take baths and wash her hair so I explained to her that if she did not take baths she would get very dirty, smelly, and little bugs would grow in her hair…… Unfortunately now every time I comb her hair she asks me if little “buggies” are in her hair…With all the seriousness a 3 year old can muster.  Very cute and makes me laugh as I explain too her that the bath made her hair very soft and clean with no “buggies”.  And with this whole divorce thing she has been saying “I miss you” to both Mandi and I but I don’t think she fully grasps the meaning.  I think she means it as I love you.  But this night (I let them stay up since it is a weekend and it is now 10:30 ) it was great.  She told me she misses (loves me since I have been with them for a long bit) me and right after told me in the most sad little high girl voice…”daddy…I miss you!…I’m hungry..my tummy hurts.”  For those who do not know this is Rowen code for Hey dad….I love you and all but I am turning on the cute for some chips or something else nummy since I once again refused dinner that was not covered in cheese or ranch!  heh
Kolyn on the other hand is a character as always.  My sweet and rapidly growing up (mentally, physically and attitude) is turning into a big boy.  He can grasp so many things now and explain to me the way things work with a general knowledge that blows me away.  Lately he told me how he things a toaster, dryer and washing machine works and really he is spot freaking on.  And his word of late is “busted”.  “Mommy did you bust out of the “hospital”"  (Kid’s don’t know what a rehab or recovery center is so it is explained as hospital…and really they don’t need to know the negative effect aspects only the positives)  “Hey dad..did you bust down 405 to pick us up at daycare?”  “Lets go bust to the store.”  Unfortunately with Kolyn’s growing up he has lately become a very good lier in regards to hitting or shoving his sister.  Usually it is Rowen who starts it..but I am trying to make him learn that he needs to come to me than resort to physical or anger in this regard.
Anyways those two sayings have been very cute in my mind.  Buggies and Busted.  Have not been posting much of the numerous things we have done lately such as SeaFair, Bumbershoot or the Fair but will try to be a better blogger than this once a quarter posting junk.
I have uploaded four months of pictures as well as fixed some issues with the site. Â Maybe now I will be motivated to post blogs on the outings with the kids. Â
OMFG. Â I go to check on Kolyn this evening and he is fast asleep with a fan on high 4 inches away from his head. Â He is SO my son. Â I love you so much Kolyn.
Rowen. For the record.  Tonight is the first night Esper has decided to sleep with you. You have always loved him and wanted him to be your friend. But you are sleep and It should be known he is curled up in a little ball by your legs tonight. Sleep tight my little princess.
I have added 60 new pictures to the April 2011 album and can be seen on the photos page. Unfortunately I did not do a blog post about her birthday but it was a very good time. It has been some time put I will post what I do remember.
The kids and I got there a little early and had to wait while they got the party tables ready. Almost everyone showed up and it was very nice seeing everyone. Rowen was getting over an illness so was not herself. She was a little moody and had some down time but I do not blame the little princess. The cake was made by a friend of Mandi’s and the kids seemed to enjoy it. There was also pizza involved but Rowen does not like pizza. Kolyn sure does though! He is my little carnivore! The more meat on the pizza the better for him.
We did not open the presents at the party since time was limited to one hour and I don’t think we could have gotten Rowen to do it. Shortly after the party though Grammy, Grandpa Dave, Mandi’s friend and Mandi left leaving myself with the kids, Brian, Aiden and Natalie.
I believe the first activity the kids did was go play some miniature golf since Kolyn has been wanting to do that for AGES. In truth we all didn’t actually play due to the attention span of Rowen and Aiden but it was still fun. Kolyn actually got several holes in one! He doesn’t quite hold the golf club correctly but hey he got it to work for him! After golf it was on to the Kidopolis center and play in the huge structure. They actually played in it for quite some time. After that we played some games and got some tickets and candy. And finally at the end we Kolyn rode a few of the rides outside. We tried to get Rowen to ride a few of them but she was too scared and was starting to wear out. After a small battle she finally rode the carousel.
All in all it was a fun party and a lot of good memories.
You can see all of the pictures for April at the following link.
This weekend was fun! On Saturday I took the kids to Acme bowl followed up by the park. Kolyn has gone bowling a long time ago with his preschool but I don’t believe he has gone since. Rowen has never been bowling.
Acme bowl is a really nice place, but unfortunately a bit expensive and LOUD. Rowen at first did not want to give up her pretty sparkly shoes for the ugly bowling shoes, but after she saw the pretty sparkly bowling balls her sparkly shoes went flying off. Literally. It was a a pain/challenge keeping track both of the kids since they kept wanting to wonder in other people lanes but towards the end they finally started to get it. At first there where no ball ramps for the kids to use so I would lay Rowen’s ball down and she would push it. 90 seconds later the ball would hit the pins! After a couple of those rolls we figured out that Rowen would push the ball and I would push it a little harder so it would not take FOREVER. Kolyn’s first turn he tried to shoot the 8 pound ball like a basketball. I showed him how to granny roll the thing but in the end he found some odd way to bowl the ball down the lane. We finally got a ramp and it helped the kids immensely. At a certain point the machine ate our balls and it took a good 15 minutes for the staff to get them to return. Even though the kids had lunch prior to us leaving the house they where “hungry” again so Rowen got Chicken Nuggets and Kolyn a mini cheese pizza. All in all it was a very good time although stressful. 
As for the Spring Fair it was nice! I actually have been counting down the weekends until this spring fair. The last two times we have gone it was not that great for various reasons. This trip had its challenges but it was still very fun. Mandi arranged it so that Brian, Aiden, Natalie, and Donna would meet us there. It was nice seeing everyone and the kids where very happy to see everyone. Nothing too eventful happened. The kids road on a few rides and got to go into the animal petting zoo. Every year that we go I tell myself to take a day off and go during a weekday early in the morning and get one of those Dizzy Pass bracelet things. It is all about avoiding the crowds. It seems like they consolidated the kid zone this year or maybe I am confusing it with the fall fair but it was way packed. One thing I learned though is that I am totally taking Kolyn to a monster truck show or a demolition derby. He was in tears since he could not go to the one they had. Rowen was tired and cranky and the tickets where quite pricey and we where worried that since it started an hour earlier it would be over by the time we got in. Mark my blog words I am taking him to the next monster truck show. I still remember the one my parents took me too as a kid in KS. All in all it was a good weekend!
Rowen’s 3rd Birthday Party will be on at the Family Fun Center in Tukwila on April 23rd at 12:30 PM. If you would like to come please give me a heads up so I can verify that we have enough seats. (Currently 20). There will be free Pizza/Soda and cake. As always no gift is required as it is just nice to get together and see everyone. Here is hoping that it will be sunny that day so the kids can play miniature golf or go kart.
Below is the Family Fun Center website as well as a link with directions.
http://www.fun-center.com/public/tukwila/
http://www.fun-center.com/public/tukwila/map_directions/index.cfm
