What you think does matter

I have my own reasons for upgrading my Ticket to an "end of year" pass. But if my family wants to believe that I did it becuase I love them, and I plan to return to all the special events they have here at Cypress garden - they are right. But the real reason why I paid to upgrade my "Cypress Garden" admission tickets to the Cypress Garden end of year pass [ where you pay an extra $10 for each ticket today and you can enter Cypress Garden free for the rest of the year until the end of the year ]. My personal reason - well you might think I'm cheap - but consider this. We've been to cypress garden twice already this year and if you calculate the cost - that adds up to $320 dollars [ just in tickets ] and we will probably go again [ after all it's close and cheaper than Walt-disney world ]. So I figure I might look good with the family and save myself a couple hundred bucks..... And look at the events comming up at Cypress Gardens: August 16th, 2008 Florid...

I have to say, I was amazed with the electronic Lockers But my kids being animal lovers - they had a hoot in the animal display section. They especially went bonkers over the talking Parrot. see video below They also enjoyed the alligator - who was to close for comfort for me and Isaac gave us a scare when he tried to go in the Puma cage. Where does this kid get his ideas ??? see some of the other photos below.. I think Cypress Garden is a Great local "Water Park" !

Exciting or Not - what you say? Apparently it doesn’t take much now a days to excite me. We went to Cypress garden [ Florida oldest Theme park attraction ] . It’s a changed place - Cypress Garden - if you haven’t heard - now has a large water section [ water park ] with a lazy river, a large water park section with slides for kids and a wave pool. I think it’s great. Not to mention it has a bit for everyone - rides [ roller coasters I will never get on - no fool here - yes I’m scared ] and a Botanical garden - Cypress garden in my opinion - is the bomb! But you will never guess what was the most exciting part of the trip - the new improved electronic lockers. Yep, they have these cool electronic lockers there - no more key , they place this wristband on your arm and you go to the color section that matches your band and scan the band - and poof! A locker is automatically picked for you and opens all on it’s own. Can you believe it - no really, can you believe I was so impressed by a l...

One slip and I could Drown... I was watching the news and paying close attention to the weather guy. I wanted to know what were the chances of rain tomorrow. Don't get me wrong I know we need it - our main large lake in town needs at least 28 inches of rain to make it back to normal levels. Right now, it looks like at some spots of the lake you could walk across to the other side of the 3,000 acre lake. So again - I want it to rain, but there is a limit .... let me see, It may be too much rain if I need to build a bridge to check the mail box.

Swimming Pool - My private curse My kids love animals or should i say - learning about animals. they both like to read books and watch programs about animals. There was a time there for a while that all we ever saw on TV was the show "Animal Kingdom" and the show with Steve Erwin - "the crocodile hunter" - crikie..... The problem is, for as much as they love learning about animals - they are not fond of swimming with animals. You see with all the rain we've been having lately, the swimming pool has become a haven for frogs looking to reproduce. So even though the swimming pool is fun for the kids - it has become a living hell for me... If it rains too much the frogs try to take over the pool with their offspring [ tadpoles ] and if it doesn't - the bugs [ like mosquitoes ] try to use it as a breeding ground. So if I don't want my kids to get sick - I have to follow a ritual: 1- check the pool in the morning to see if clean, pumps working and enough chlor...

Why Does America have to Lead - why not other countries...? I heard a friend of mine make what I believe was a foolish statement - it went like this " Why Does America has to lead the world - why not let the other countries do it ?" What he was referring in a later comment was - that America acts like it's the only one that knows right from wrong and that people hate us because "we act like the world boss". He may have a point - but my question would be - who then, if not America? Really think about it - we suffered a terrorist attack and we struck back. How many other European countries have suffered terrorist attacks and have taken a massive undertaking to retaliate? Here is another point - no matter if we were right or wrong - we started the war in Iraq and we had the resolve to continue - while other countries started to wane and run in fear. Fear of political unrest, fear of terrorist, fear of criticism.... Spain was attacked by terrorist and 191 people die...

Your foot hurt - do what Doctor tell’s ya ? The things we have to do to get healthier. Apparently the pain of her foot was greater than the heart ache or embarrassment of trying to follow doctors orders. My spouse - who will not be named [ to protect me from getting hurt ] has suffered some foot pain and while I don’t know the proper name or even how to spell what the doctor diagnosed her with - I do know it has to do with the muscle at the arch of her foot [ it goes flat and causes pain and when she relaxes her foot it goes back to it’s correct curve only to be stretched flat once she starts walking…] So what is so funny? oh I don’t know - the doctor wrapped her foot up and she can’t wet the wrap - so this is what she does to avoid getting her foot wet.....

Kids Allowance and Mom-Bucks As parents we don’t give our children Allowances. We may give them money, we buy them stuff they want but allowance - no. Especially for doing things they are suppose to do. Don’t get me wrong - if you give your children an allowance, there is nothing wrong with it. It’s just a choice we have made. But even though we don’t give an allowance - it doesn’t stop my child from coming up with intriguing new ways to get more money. Or getting more money from dear old mom and dad. Yesterday my little girl spent two hours quietly hiding in her club house [ under my pool table - What are kids doing ]. She didn’t want to be interrupted or seen - which made us even more curious. After the long wait - she came out with her master plan [ see copy below ] - I admit, it is an interesting idea - but I don’t think it will work - she over shot her expectations - according to her she wants to use monopoly money [ those bills are large denominations ]... we’ll have to negotiat...

I ran across an old photo - and thought, this would be fun to share. Going to church and learning about God can be a life changing experience - but this, a photo of kiki’s first time ever in a church when she was only a baby - is hilarious. Oh look at that Face !

Help, summer too long - kids are running out of things to do. dad needs help - call "rescue parents" quickly. He might not survive... It's amazing isn't - just because your their parent they expect you to keep them occupied and happy. What, when I was growing up all I had was the television set [ only 12 channels provided not the 150 channels kids get today ] and my brothers and sisters - which meant a lot of fighting... But my kids, no they want me to be active, play with them, keep them entertained - Somebody save me....

It's amazing what children will do when your not watching them..... Here I am doing some work on the computer and taking phone calls - and I notice that my kids are quite - way to quite. so like any good parent i raise my antenna and I hear them whispering and getting things from their rooms. So being the nosey parent that I am - I went to check on them. I don't know about your kids, but it's amazing what crazy ideas pop into my kids head..........

If you stay still - I can still see you That's not a manly hat - it's not even a mans hat..... Are you looking at me?

I was playing with the family in the pool this Sunday afternoon - thank God for day light saving time. But while we were having fun playing and laughing, screaming and basically making a fool of myself - there came a moment when I was tired and just wanted to take a breath. Ofcourse kids being kids - they wouldn’t stop. It got to the point where I almost lost my head and just thought of blurting out a yell - “Stop, leave me alone!”.... But it hit me. With no real effort my Dad crossed my mind. My Dad left when I was five and like in true form He started another family some where else. While I never “Hated” my father - I just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t with us - most of my young life I asked one question - why don’t I have a Dad? I wish I had a Dad - I need my Dad! When the news about my father’s death arrived - my Mother asked me “Are you Sad?” I replied with - I feel nothing. I didn’t hate him but I didn’t love him either - I had no feelings. A void, an emptiness… Then I though...

High Cholesterol - 290 level..... when Diagnosed! As a parent I want to live long enough to see my children marry, have grandchildren and have them take care of me for a change. But when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol life pretty much changed for me. Ofcourse by my own choice. I gave up the French fries I love so much at Mcdonalds and cut much of the junk food I ate out. Started having more salads and healthy food - you know the kind that has no taste...... But with gas prices so high and that driving up prices on everything - it’s a bit hard to eat right. Going shopping can cost more than $130 dollars and that’s with out all the extra stuff I normally buy [ treats, candy, chips, food that taste good , etc. ] But I learned that I atleast don’t have to give up going to Mcdonalds. Yep - I may not have the number 1 meal [ Big Mac meal ] but I can have a healthy and tasty alternative - the Snack wrap [ I prefer the chelope BBQ grilled or crispy ] . Believe it or not it’s low on chol...

Ok, I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid - I was afraid to go to the bathroom. Or should I say of using it - Why? Well, because when I was a kid my older sister decided that it would be funny for her and her friends to barge in while I was using it. Oh the scars...... So I grew up being very wary of being watched when I was - lets say busy doing my thing..... I still find it awkward to this day using public rest rooms. You know, it’s a private thing and having someone in the next stall - takes all the “personal private “ feeling away. But if your not shy and have no problem using the bathroom in public - maybe you’d be interested in using one of these “lavatories”.

My boy likes to fix his hair. In fact he likes a lot of wierd hair styles. He loves it when his big sister does his hair - she does the spiky thing and he goes wild. but he doesn't like it when you mess up his hair. And he especially hates it when he has a hard time getting it to look right. Considering he doesn't know how to comb his hair correctly.......

Some one get me a Map!

I can’t believe what I just said - I think I had a brain fart. “Go watch TV or I’m going to hit you!” Did I just say that? I can’t believe this. I know I said this because I wanted my son to watch some educational television and yes I was in the middle of something and found it easy to just send him to watch TV. But it hit me after I said it - I was going to hit him if he “didn’t watch TV“ ??? Boy does that sound wrong in so many levels. I hear people talk like if the television is a baby sitter and how others believe TV is bad for kids [ too much tv that is ]. But in this case - I just wanted him to take time to learn. I have always made it a habit to have him watch educational television in the morning because #1 - I want him to learn and #2 - after a certain time there is nothing very educational after 12 noon. So I got a bit frustrated because he’s been watching “junk” tv with his sister and I wanted to make sure he got in the educational stuff like sesame street, Dora, Diego, Arth...

My Plans Fall APART..... You, you try to do your best. Make sure you give your family some “Good Quality Time”. You know, as a parent you plan a trip, an outing, a special Barbeque… that’s right, I barbeque… But this weekend, no amount of planning was going to work out as planned. The Canopy was up, the grill was out, the lawn mowed, the pool cleaned and the kids…. Well sleepy and tired. But my plans would go on. I prepared the meat, seasoned it, got the rice - “ FIRST TIME I COOKED RICE ”…. the corn, the green beans, lettuce you name it I had it. I had four cups of coffee before 10 am and still had to keep going to make my plans a success...... That’s when it fell apart: The kids woke up late, the wife didn’t want to get in the pool, and clouds rolled over head. Great - the rain was coming. To make it worst, Flor, Magda’s baby cousin had to go home by two - no one told me…. So I had to put the grill away cause it might rain, while I took the drive into town to take her home by 2 pm. ....

You know as a parent, you concern yourself with a lot of things. You think - money may be tight but I want my kids to have fun. I can do without - but my kids shouldn't have too. So with this in mind, I tried to create a fun week end for the kids. I invited my wife's 15 year old cousin [ you know so it's not just the kids playing ]. I rented a movie, planned a barbeque for Saturday. I planned on waking up very early on Saturday to mow the lawn, clean up and get the pool cleaned - and ofcourse prepare the grill. i wanted to do it all - so my wife could also just enjoy the day. So What happened... Well, after my wife picked up her cousin - everything did not go as planned. No one watched the movie - to busy ... ended up watching my regular Friday night shows that I was willing to give up on [ lucky me ]. Then we went to bed - or so i thought... Apparently my daughter and my wife’s cousin decided to stay up till two in the morning watching TV - and they also decided to sleep ...

My little guy loves everything Army. He wants to be a soldier when he grows up. I just don't think they'll like his impersonation of General Patton. . .

Look Dad I can Swim..... Ok, he can swim, of course he has a life vest and goggles on - but he has the right idea. It’s more like - hay Dad, I learned to hold my breath under water. But when your having fun… who cares, let him swim.

Enjoy today, remember it - don’t take it for granted A while back I wrote a post on how " I hate the Hypocrisy of fathers day " - because of all the hypocrisy there is involved in these special days. So I thought I would expand on that thought today. You know, sometime we go thru a lot to make someone happy, feel special or just make their day comfortable. But what often happens is expectations are too high and most people either ignore, overlook or simply take for granted what they have and are given. Take for instance yesterday. I’m no big cook, but I decided I was going to make the best dinner I could [ ofcourse I was making ribs my favorite so I wanted the best... mmmmm ]. I went all out - I cooked, I cleaned, I did laundry... why laundry? I did everything I could to make sure my babe came home and had nothing to worry about [ no complaints ] ..... The kids bathed, the cloth washed, the beds made, the food ready and dishes cleaned. So what happened.... Well, first she ca...

Reminiscing about the good times Do you ever get bored? Try to find something to do and you end up doing something funny, stupid or silly? Well I was looking over some photos today with Kiki and Isaac and I ran across an interesting photo of my son when he was just a wee baby boy. You see kiki was in school, the significant other working and my son was taking a nap. And like any proud dad I was watching my son sleep. Then it hit me, a funny but brilliant idea. You know, the kind the you get only once in a life time…… I decided to take a photo of him while he slept - but just a regular picture was not going to do. Take a look and tell me what you think ? ............ I wonder if I can make a new one now????

This summer we've had a lot of rain, so when the sun comes out - it doesn't matter whats happening - it's a good time to go swimming. I personally don't like spending to much time in the sun, but you just can't help taking a nice cool dip. Hey, did I just see a mermaid?

Tip - how to keep home quiet As a Parent - a quiet home is a luxury - one that doesn’t come along very often. So I would like to take a second and offer up a small but effective way to do this. No medication, no games or distractions….. Just make sure they don't wake up ! Take a look at photo …..

My Son Drinking Coffee? It’s way to early in the morning. Here I am dealing with a clogged drain while everyone else is sleeping. Yes, I can’t seem to let things go. It happened late last night and I was told by my spouse to leave it for tomorrow. I guess you can call 6 am in the morning tomorrow. A long story short I left around 7:30 am in search of driano. When I cam e back I found my spouse and my little boy of only four years old - Drinking coffee. The both of them....... Can you imagine, this little ball of electric energy needs coffee to brighten up his day today. I guess yesterdays fourth of July festivities took a lot out of him… What am I saying - he’s four years old… Well I guess I can’t complain, I’ve been trying to cut down on my coffee consumption - But today, I am already on my fifth cup and it’s only 8:30 am in the morning......

Hide and seek - mishap ? Forth of July - happy Birthday America. A wonderful day for a Barbeque, jump in the pool with the kids and then play a little bit of “Hide and Go Seek”. You would think that it would be an easy thing to do - you know, you go and hide and a four year old has to try to find you. Well, it all started fine but it some how got all confusing. I decided to play a little bit of hide and seek with my son - I already had cleaned the pool, mowed the lawn - it was time to have some fun before the barbequing. It started fine, I used the kitchen pantry closet to hide in and after waiting a few minutes I jumped out and scared him [ he was never going to find me - he’s four….. Well it was his turn and he decided to count [ while I went to hide ] in the same pantry closet. He counted up to fourteen before he started guessing at numbers and then it happened. I waited, waited some more and waited even more. I was starting to wonder if he forgot all about findin...

As usual this summer, my kids woke up and started arguing about something or other. Sometimes I have to ignore them or I really think they will drive me mad. But today is a special day ... Why? Because my little girl wants to make breakfast ! Yea.. I think.... She gets upset with me because I tell her she has to make breakfast for Isaac too. Oh boy, this should be interesting. Well at least their working together, even if Isaac is getting in the way. It's cute to watch them make breakfast. The only sad thing is, yea I like the fact that she is learning how to take care of herself - but that also means my little girl is growing up...... I wonder if she knows how to cook beacon ? ? ? ? ?

My children love each other - they also love to BUG each other. It’s no lie - they wake up - and ten seconds later, their arguing about something or other. The funny thing is that they can't live without each other. Today, they hijacked my bed and kicked me out. So hear I am awake way to early in the morning and they decide their going to fight about little Isaac breathing to hard. it was bothering her, she [ kiki ] couldn't sleep because her little brother was breathing too hard. hey, what about me.... it's my bed you two guys kicked me out of and I can't sleep because your in MY BED... So I did the next best thing.... I found a couple of videos to distract them while I ran away to find some peace and quite.

Exploiting my Children online ? ? ? ? Interesting, I was asked if I felt ok with Exploiting my children.. When I asked, what they meant by “exploiting my children” - they said : “You know, putting them out there on the internet for all the world to see. Don’t you think your exploiting them - by putting their life on display for people to see?” It was an interesting thought. And I could see why people would think that - they think it because they’ve seen what happens to child TV stars and lets not forget all the wacko’s out there. But let me explain a few things - at least from my personal life. My children are the world to me. They are the joy of my life and the air I breath. When my little girl was born I promised to be there for her, unlike my father who left when I was five. As she grew up I realized two things - one, time and age will erode my memory of all the good things I have done and do for my children. So I started keeping a journal and a large book of photos, mementos and co...

Indiana Jones and the temple of Quietness I said it before I’ll say it again - I love video games. Especially if they give a bit of “Peace and Quiet” in the home. Oh, there is nothing more exciting than watching my kids play - that is, play quietly. Ofcourse since I’m a big fan of games myself - I play a little myself. And I have to say, if you want a nice clean game that will help your kids use those brain cells and enjoy themselves [ plus keep them quiet ] I suggest you get “ Lego Indiana Jones “ tribute game. This game is cool, especially if you’re a movie buff and an Indiana Jones fan. It pretty much takes you thru all three Indiana Jones movies - [ not last 4th installment ]. It’s great, you get the whip, you fight, jump, solve puzzles and ofcourse it has movie clips in Lego format. So cute. The only bad thing is, if you’re an avid player - or a junkie like me - you could easily go thru the entire game in about three days [ give or take a day - depends how good you are and ...