Lets hit the water...

For my birthday I had one request, money to be put toward the purchase of a second kayak. I have had the blue kayak for nearly 5 years now. They only draw back has been that I have to use it by myself.  After adding the new kayak to the mix the kiddos and myself were very excited to get it out and into the water. Early on the Monday morning after making the purchase we loaded the boats up and headed out to the river, packed our water, sunscreened up, and we were ready. This was going to be Harper's first solo kayak, which made me slightly nervous, but she assured me she was ready. She climbed in and I launched her from the ramp, she quickly paddled off like she had been doing it for years, which was a promising beginning. 

Then Owen and I climbed into my kayak together, launched and paddled off after her. Then the Oklahoma wind decided to factor in to our adventure. Harper was having a bit of a learning curve, which wasn't helped by the wind gusts.  We paddled around for a little bit and then the struggles began. While we were attempting to paddle back towards the ramp the wind was trying to let us know that wasn't the best idea. Harper got a little frustrated with the wind and Owen was hollering at her to "stop smashing into stuff", as she was trying to avoid the shore and the overhanging trees, thanks wind gusts. We finally made it back to a shore, got everyone ashore and proceeded to drag our boats the 200 yards back to the car. All in all it was a successful trip no one hated it and I was able to get everyone back out this morning for some paddling fun. We were joined by Melissa, which helped the kids enthusiasm. I am very excited for the future river adventures my family and I may be having....

Harvest '13

There is a lot to be said about being in the wide open spaces. Two weeks ago we were knee deep in all of the activities associated with wheat and canola harvest. Both of which by the way Owen loves and Harper just so happens to secretly enjoy being at the farm. Owen spent plenty of time rotating from combine to wheat truck, to hay hauling truck to tuckered out... (Which happens to be the cost of going 100mph, he gets so excited about farming!)

He even made a new friend along the way....

Harper spent much of her time "helping" Grandma Marks, one of their favorite activities is preparing brownies and fixing lunch. It is truly special time they get to spend together that I am sure Grandma loves. Owen became my number-one-hay-fork-operator this year as it was our job to move the 25 hay bails to farm, he rode shotgun in the middle clutching the hydraulic switch the whole time. He took this job very seriously, as is indicated by the picture taken shortly after he told me "I want you to run the hay fork downer", I'm sure he wanted me to gain the valuable experience he was so closely guarding.  I know I've said it before, but I consider myself lucky to be able to give my kids this experience of growing up farming and truly learning the value of hard work, getting dirty, eating sandwiches in the field together and helping other people.  It is an experience I hope will have a lasting effect in shaping their futures. I truly cherish this time spent with my sidekicks! 

The Family that runs together...

Running gives me a great deal of pride, the fact that Melissa and I can share this joy is amazing. But the most awesome part of runnIng to me is that it is an activity that my whole family routinely engages in. On  April 28th Melissa and I ran the Memorial Marathon together, while Harper ran the 5K and Owen busted out the one mile kids marathon. I enjoy the fact that we have developed this passion as a family and look forward to years and miles of better health and more opportunities to run together. 

Bond.... James Bond

I prefer my milkshakes, shaken not stirred!

Wooohooo!

Owen at the Mall of America loving the kiddie coaster. He has been on a kick lately of holding his hands up in the car when we go over big hills to pretend he is on a roller coaster. So he was very excited to get to ride the real thing ! He held his hands up the entire tide yelling, YEAH WOOHOO! And screaming. I'm sure glad I have to adventure loving kiddos.

The activity formerly known as making bread...

Last week I spent many evenings out harvesting the wheat from our family farms. I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to be a part of harvest and enjoy seeing how excited my father-in-law gets when it's time to start cutting. It truly is a fun time to be at the farm, and on Saturday the kids and Melissa got to come out and help out for a few hours. Harper used to call harvest, making bread. Now her brother has taken to calling it mowing the wheat. Both are great descriptions of what takes place, but at different points in the process. Not to mention Owen gets thoroughly excited by combines and our big wheat trucks. I got to load the kiddos up on the combine and go a few rounds cutting in the field, Harper loves to play with wheat on the combine and apparently Owen likes to play with the combine horn. Either way I feel lucky that my kids and I get to partake in and share the harvest experience every year.

Things that make my heart smile...

I don't think the following pictures require much explanation for why they make my heart smile. Just another moment when I realize how blessed I am.

31 years young!

Already got the best birthday card ever from my best buddies! Not to mention got to have breakfast with them all this morning! Lovin it!
Harpers school performance was amazing, always great to have those moments to be a proud parent.
Ended the school day at lunch with my colleagues, almost all of them came to lunch to celebrate my birthday, I really do work with some great people.
We kicked off the evening after we picked Owen up from day care and visited his new 7-11. He has been waiting for months for that thing to get finished. He was so excited that he was shaking a little when I told him we were going there. It is an awesome 7-11 by the way, coming from a connoisseur of convenience stores. We got a round of drinks and snacks, so glad it opened today!
We had a delicious dinner of PB&J and a gift (my sweet new running headphones, no more sweat slippage for my ears!) and booked it out of the house to Harpers softball game. Those games are always enjoyable on so many levels, plus I got to be dugout Dad again.
The evening was capped off with a delicious dessert of peaches, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. What a combination! All in all my 31st birthday was perfect, just the way I like it, low-key and having fun with my family. Many thanks to all for a great day and for the many well wishers I had today (many texts wishing me a happy birthday)! Here's to another great year and many more to come.

All Growed Up!

So Owen says, "I'm gonna sit up here, drink my milk and look at this page"(referring to our local paper). By the age of four, we may have to be fetching his pipe and slippers. Every three year olds dream evening right? What a funny guy.

Perfect Weather

We have definitely been outside this week taking full advantage of this beautiful weather!

Advanced degree....

I can proudly claim that I am now among those highly intelligent (questionable) persons possessing advanced degrees. I have to most importantly thank my family, all of the Wednesday nights over the past two years that Melissa handled everything and everyone else who pitched in over the last two years, couldn't have done it without all of you. Again I want to thank Melissa for the hours of professional conversation we had, I'm sure they gave me a huge advantage. Mostly thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support! I have now joined the elite education ranks with the rest of my family!

Marathon..... Check!

This morning found Melissa, Larry, Loy, Cole, Melanie, and myself heading downtown to the Memorial for our respective races. You may have known that Melissa and I have been training to run the full marathon..... That's right 26.2 freaking miles, crazy or committed? That's debatable. All that to say, Melissa suffered an unfortunate ankle injury and was unable to run the full marathon, instead she threw herself into organizing all of the family marathon viewing spots. This also gave her the opportunity to run the one-mile fun run with Harper, I think they had a blast, I was at like mile 13 when they started, so I don't actually get to see. Melissa organized a flawless viewing route and schedule and they were able to see me and cheer me on at every spot, which was necessary and very appreciated. Each time their cheers gave me the boost I needed to keep going. The most exhilarating part was seeing them at the finish line cheering me on to the end! Well, I finished in jut a shade under four hours and thirty minutes. It hurt, but nothing feels better than knowing I ran each of those 26 miles! Takeaway message? If I can do it anyone can do it! Thanks to everyone for their support, especially Melissa! I'll be there for you next year!

Big Boy's Birthday

Owen is three today..... It seems like just yesterday the doctor was pulling that rollie pollie baby out. He has been a pretty good toddler and is already growing into a smart and mischievous little boy. Very much akin to Dennis the menace. His first three years have been pretty amazing and I can only imagine the adventures in store for the future. I love you little buddy, Happy Birthday!

You know your playing hard when...

Your hair looks like this after a softball game. Last night the Stars played a tough game, Harper and company were smacking the ball all over and she was flying around the bases. It makes me very proud to see how far she has come so far this season. But the best part is she is having a blast and her Mommy is the dugout manager, so she's right there with her every game. Go Stars!

Stomp the Jayhawks

11/3/11 - (this was supposed to post in November) On Saturday We got the opportunity to take the kids to Stillwater and attend the football game. Harper is a veteran of OSU football, but it just so happens that this was Owens very first game. It really came as no surprise that he loved it from the get go. "Oh a football player", was all he could say for like the first ten minutes. It was funny though because before this time his idea of a football player involved his cowboy boots and his cape and they kicked a football. So this was probably eye opening. His next point of fascination came with the Orange Power chant

His new obsession

Recently Owen has become very smitten with his swing. Anytime the weather is remotely pleasant he begins tugging on me, or Melissa, or Harper and asking us to go swing him. So far this spring I think his record is 2.5 hours in the swing. We'll see how Lon it lasts.

Stomp the Jayhawks

On the Saturday of the OSU vs. Kansas football game, we got the opportunity to take the kids to Stillwater and attend the football game. Harper is a veteran of OSU football, but it just so happens that this was Owens very first game. It really came as no surprise that he loved it from the get go. "Oh a football player", was all he could say for like the first ten minutes. It was funny though because before this time his idea of a football player involved his cowboy boots and his cape and they kicked a football. So this was probably eye opening. His next point of fascination came with the Orange Power chant, he quickly figured out how to yell out POWER as the opposite side of the stadium yelled ORANGE. He then went to daycare and taught the chant at the lunch table, having opposite sides yell their parts. Also at the game Larry got him to tell out "stomp the Jayhawks", much to the amusement of the fans around us. He truly loved the experience........until it started raining. Harper enjoyed the game like a true veteran, she got her pre-game face paint,with her cheerleader outfit. She just loves going to Stillwater (thank God). Overall it was a great day and a great game, love those Stillwater days with my family!

Go Fly a Kite

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day, but a little on the windy side. Wasn't gonna slow our family down we decided to use the wind to our advantage. Mel had the great idea of breaking out the kites. That didn't mean the little plastic wing shaped kites with only one cross piece, oh no. In this family we don't do anything small, we have three fairly complex nylon and wooden dowel kites. Two airplanes and one menacing pirate ship. Once all three were mostly assembled, we had left-over pieces, we took to the pasture and had a fun few hours of flying and attempting to fly kites. At one point I made the observation to Melissa that the kids were sitting in the yard with Grandma, and the adults were out flying the kites. Our family also likes to channel their inner-child on occasion. All that to say it was a great Sunday afternoon!

Super Hereo!

Yes you read that correctly, and in case you didn't know that's exactly what Owen fancies himself as these days. He is loving nothing more than donning his cape, his boots ( yeah that's right, what super hero is complete without their cowboy boots) and his new cowboy belt! That outfits strikes fear into the hearts of..... Well at least it looks pretty cute, I mean tough. I really just get a kick out of hearing him yell out "Super Hereo" and then run around making his cape flap and boots clack!

Summer Fun

Better late than never right?

This summer as in years past I have had the immeasurable joy of taking care of my kids while Melissa works. We had many days filled with fun, playing and mostly staying inside. This summer was brutal on the weather front, but we still managed to squeeze in our zoo trips.
I think the best part might have been sleeping until 8:30 with my little guy who managed to sneak into our bed in the middle of the night.
Unfortunately the weather was so uncooperative that about all we could manage was to get outside around 8:30 and play for maybe an hour. By then it would begin to boil outside and we would retreat to the air-conditioning. This was when I became very thankful for Netflix.
There were many times when it was awesome To sit and watch my kiddos playing, but a split second later they were fighting. I was instantly transported back to my own childhood.
We did have one last blast of summer, in a three day stretch we went to the park, the zoo and splash pad, and finally the movies to catch Kung Fu Panda 2! It was yet another great summer as the stay home Dad. I am thankful for the time and opportunity to be with my babies.