Spring

Ah, the dawn of Spring. If you live in Utah you know that Spring seems to finally have arrived. Also, if you live in Utah you know that there will probably be a blizzard next week. That's how we roll here. But at least for one weekend, the sun was shining and the skies were clear and blue (and for the record, can we eliminate the phrase "Spring has sprung" from the lexicon? Is there anything more annoying than that expression? We don't say "Winter has whinnied" or "Summer has summed it all up!" So why does Spring have to spring? Anywho...)

I used to be an autumn guy. Love the sweaters. The Hot Cho. But I think Autumn is a single man's game. When you have small kids, there is nothing greater than being able to send them outside and have them stay out there for a few hours. It's spring all the way for me, baby.

Saturday happened to be my day off and the nicest day of the year so far so we spent the afternoon cleaning the yard and getting the trampoline put back together. Even though the kids on the trampoline together usually ends up with someone crying, it is so blissful for those few minutes where they are playing and laughing and not asking me if they can play the iPad.

Here is Lila with some awesome trampoline hair:

While the kids played, Amy and I sat on lawn chairs, sipped Diet Cokes and read. It was, in a word, heaven. 

What's that, you ask? Did we get new super awesome lawn furniture? Yes. Yes indeed we did. We found them at a vintage store. They were a bit rusty, but nothing that a little paint couldn't take care of. The vinyl cushions are all original with the TAGS STILL ATTACHED. They are comfy and wonderful. Here is a close up (in kinda bad lighting.)

My favorite part about them is that the shapes are just so great that even if the cushions wear out, they will still look awesome. 

On that same shopping trip we also picked up this little treasure:

Its a brass bar cart with Formica shelves. I'm in love. Amy always has 1.5 million books stacked next to her bed that she is waiting to read, so we thought this at least could corral them into one place. And look shiny and retro whilst doing it. 

And because they were there we picked up these gems (Sorry about the blurry shot.)

They are aluminum and bright orange and look great. It is also the first time that we have kept baking ingredients out in the open and it is super convenient. We didn't use to drink coffee or tea, but now that we have bins for them we have taken that up, so that has been pretty fun, too.

Happy Springing to you all!! If you haven't been to my other blog lately, please check us out. There is some pretty funny things over there. Also, we are doing a giveaway this weekend to win an autographed copy of my book!!! You have until Monday night to enter, so click on over and enter!

Disney!!

February brought our annual pilgrimage to Disneyland. As usual, the kids were insane with anticipation leading up to the trip and, as usual, it was delightful. We are so lucky to get to go and we had a ball. If you are bored by a whole bunch of photos of my kids at the Land, you can skip ahead (or go visit my other website and read some fun stuff!)

This year brought the interesting addition of having a child who wants to meet characters. Lila talked for weeks about meeting Mickey and the Gang. Jonah and Noel are still terrified of characters and won't get within 10 feet of them. And guess what, meeting characters is kind of annoying. Don't get me wrong, they are darling

but you kind of have to wait in long lines to see them. Including staying in those lines when Pluto "goes on a break." 

But Lila loved it. In addtion to Pluto, she got to meet Tiger and hugged him for honestly about 4 minutes straight.

It was darling. And I have always had a special place in my heart for Tiger, so I got in on the "meet and greet" action too.

And as long as we were entertaining guests in Pooh Corner, we met Winnie too.

But the real coups de gras was meeting the Princesses. Those ladies have their own special meeting area behind closed doors with an extra long line to get in. But it was worth it. Lila is sort of in love with Snow White (who isn't?) and was dying to meet her.

And as long as you have waited in the line, you might as well meet a million other princess, too.

And when your daughter loves the Princesses that much and then asks you to get these little beauties, how do you say no?

We always have a lot of fun with the cousins, including when everyone, independently, decided to get a Perry/Agent P doll. 

And we, of course, rode many rides. Noel is pretty much game for anything. And he loves them all. He is just as happy to be on The Little Mermaid as he is to be on a thrill ride. Here are he and I on Splash Mountain (Papa in the background.) We got really wet that time...

I even talked my kids into riding the inappropriately named "Fun Wheel." It is that giant Mickey-faced Ferris Wheel in California Adventure. It has normal cars and then other cars on tracks so they slide back and forth as you go about 100 stories into the air. I haven't ridden it since I was a teenager and it is TERRIFYING. I put on a brave face, but there was a lot of screaming from kids. Here we are moments before the tears set in.

You can still sort of sense the tension in their faces.

Small world. Greatest ride ever. 

Flick's Flyers. I always get to ride this one a million times since I don't get too sick. But let's be honest, it makes me kind of sick.

Heading over to Heimlich's Chew-Choo. Second greatest ride ever. Where else on earth do you get to smell Watermelon, Vanilla and talk endlessly about Candy Corn in a funny German accent? It is a classic.

This is when Jonah told the other kids to "act cool" as we waited to ride the Finding Nemo submarines. Nailed it, Noel!!

This years big hit was Big Thunder Mountain. Jonah rode it once when he was about 2 years old and has been too scared to ride it ever since then. This year he felt up for it..and then we rode it about 30 times. They boys loved it. And they are pretty cute when the ride. (Noel's snaggle tooth has since fallen out, thank you.)

We are also big fans of Gadget's Go Coaster (really, Gadget? You were such a part of the Disney Pantheon that you got your own ride?) and Goofy's Fly School. Here is the typical reaction - Noel: joy. Jonah: Having fun, but also a tiny bit terrified. 

Speaking of Candy Corn...I am really at Disneyland for the food. I could (and should) write a whole post about that. But here is my latest discovery. You can buy these little bags of Cinnamon Crisps at the dessert station at Rancho del Zocalo AND you get get DC with lime there (only place in the park.) The Crisps are life changing. It was a pleasure. 

It truly is the Happiest Place on earth and my kids are always so happy and so well behaved and so fun to be around when we are there.

And when they act up we can throw them in this weird-skull-cage-net thing.

Or a giant toy box. (I'd buy those action figures.)

Thanks, Walt!!

Part Time Authors

So, I've started a new blog. It is called Part Time Authors and I am writing it with three of my good friends who are all three funnier and better writers than me so I am pretty psyched that I tricked them into doing this.

The four of us contributed essays to a new book about parenting in the digital age, blogging, family history and story telling that is coming out soon called "Tell Me Who I Am." It will be sold at the Story@Home conference that is taking place in Salt Lake City in March and then available elsewhere after the conference. More details to come.

We thought it would be a good idea to start something to keep us writing, promote the book, etc. So we did.

Please go check it out, tell your friends, link to us on Facebook, buy a billboard on I-15 or whatever you feel is necessary to help spread the word. We officially launch tomorrow so we are giving you, gentle readers, a sneak peek to start getting the buzz going.

(PS. Table and Singlepot is not going anywhere. You can stop panicking.)

I am a bit of a liar

It turns out I am a bit of a liar. Not a big one. I don't cheat on my taxes or tell people that I am 5'3". But there are a few things that I feel like I should come clean about.

It all started when I was at work the other day. I have an enormously powerful sweet tooth, so when I packed my lunch I had filled a little Tupperware with fresh berries and Cool Whip. (I'm all for actual whipped cream, but there is something delightful about that sweet, room-temperature, stable, vegetable-oil foam.) Berries and Cool Whip is not actually all that bad for you (if you are just looking at calories) so some berries mixed with the Whip isn't too unhealthy of a snack. But when one of my other manager walked into the break room and asked what I was eating I instinctively said "Yogurt and raspberries." Because suddenly I felt sheepish about eating a big bowl of cool whip. I don't know why - it just came out without thought. IT made me think about what other little lies I told for the sake of making myself seem more cool or worldly. So in the spirit of disclosure, here they are:

1. When people ask what I studied in college I say "English, with a creative writing emphasis." I guess it sounds more bourgeois and interesting than just English. Well, I had no creative writing emphasis. I just was a straight up English major. I did take some creative writing classes. Most of the time I didn't even do anything creative. I just turned in stuff I had written for other creative writing classes. That was sort of my MO in college. So, no, I didn't sit in hip cafes and write amazing poems and compelling short stories. I just read (or pretended to read) lots of books.

2. I read a lot of Young Adult novels. I do it because I love young adult novels. I think they are clever and well written and have great stories and characters. And if you are an adult male reading Harry Potter you are good. But if you are a 30 year old and you are reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, then it seems a little weird. (Great book, BTW. My review here.) So when people ask what kind of books I like reading and I say Young Adult, I usually follow it up with "I am writing a Young Adult novel, so I like to see what is going on in the genre." That is kind of true. I am "writing" a young adult novel (I have about 4 pages so far.) But that isn't why I read young adult novels. I don't get myself - I am not at all ashamed to admit that I watch America's Next Top Model but I get embarrassed when I tell people I am reading Delirium (also a great read.) So there you have it. I am a YA reader.

3. I didn't like Battlestar Gallactaca. There I said it. Sci-Fi. Critically acclaimed. Cult following. It seems tailor maid for me. But I couldn't get into it. I'm sorry!

4. I really do LOVE dogs.

Just kidding. I really do totally hate them.

5. I'm really 5'3. I wear really tall shoes.

There. I feel better.