Smart car

After doing some research, I went to a SMART car event, and got to test drive a SMART car. I must say, it was pretty fun to drive, lots of space. I fit comfortably in the car, and it handled very well. The odd thing? No power steering. It's so small and light, it doesn't really need it. I only noticed the lack when making very sharp turns. Other than that, it's a zippy little car that was fun to drive,and handled very well. I'll be putting down a deposit for one once they're released next year. :)

Smart USA for anyone interested in seeing this car.

A beautiful Sunday morning...

So we went fishing! I caught the first fish, which was a ray of some sort (no pictures of that one, as we didn't think to take pictures until after we sent it back). My daughter had the record for the day for the most caught, at 3.

This is the first one she caught (after just, 30 seconds before, claiming she wouldn't catch any fish)
And here's the second fish, which managed to jump off it's hook before I could take a picture of her with it, so I just took a picture of it on the ground.
And, finally, her third fish of the day.
My oldest son caught 1 fish, before the second fish he caught ripped his pole out of the holder in the railing, and took the pole with it to the briny deep.
My youngest had a good time running around the pier, and didn't complain or anything, he was very, very good. Later that afternoon I took the kids to Sport Chalet, and bought each of the boys a new pole. My youngest had a good time practicing his casting in the back yard (no hooks, only weights!)

slow day...sorta

well, I was all set to say "it was a slow evening, I sat around, watched TV, watched MOST of Real Genius (had to go to bed before it was over)", but then I realized what event occured yesterday.

My eldest son declared, in the middle of the playground at school, that my daughter still wets the bed. Which she does, but there's no need for him to be advertising that to the world.

I explained to him the ramifications of what he'd done. How I still remembered a girl who peed while making a speech in front of the class -- in 4TH GRADE! That that was the sort of memory and torture he was bringing to his sister.

I didn't spank him. I barely yelled at him. I didn't ground him, or take away any of his weekend priveleges (TV and computer/Wii playing). What I *did* do (and I like this idea, in an evil sort of way) is tell him that he is now in charge of all the chores, and we'd be adding new ones. Scrubbing the toilets and sinks in the bathroom. Scrubbing all the floors that need to be scrubbed (dining room, kitchen, bathrooms) by hand. And he'd be doing it until we said we he was done, so that he'd live (for a while) with the indefinate horror of having to do these chores, as his sister would have to live with the indefinate fear of someone bringing up her most secret of shames for the rest of her life.

Thinking about it, I'm still angry with him. Still.

mouse?

So, while at a pet store a couple of days ago, my 3 year old son decides he wants a mouse. My wife repeatedly tells him no, but he's got this idea so completely stuck in his head that he was wandering around the house telling anyone and everyone about HIS mouse, and how he was going to name it after his best friend from pre-school, and how he'd pet it, and hold it.

For my older sons 9th birthday he got 2 mice, both of whom died within a few months, I believe from sheer terror. The cats would sit and stare all day long.

I remember one time walking down the hall and both cats (we had 2 at the time) were sitting next to my sons dresser, just staring. Figuring they found a bug or something, I pulled the dresser away from the wall. Our huntress, Cinnamon, dashed in, struggled for half a second, and came out, with a little pink tail dangling from her mouth. I was able to rescue the mouse, and put it back in its cage (my son had decided he didn't like part of the cage, so he threw the part away -- leaving a gaping hole in the cage).

Now, that was a 9 year old. My *3* year old wants one, and to top it all off, we now have 3 cats. The answer was an adamant NO. I sat him down and explained why he couldn't have a mouse, and he seemed okay with it.

We got him sea monkeys instead, and he seems pretty happy with them :)

sprout!

About a week ago I had my kids plant some seeds. My daughter had picked out some California poppies, and my youngest son picked out sunflowers, which he and the oldest son planted. My daughter noticed yesterday that they had sprouted -- the sunflowers much more than her poppies, but her poppies HAD sprouted. They were all very excited, and they all watered their little sprouts.

THIS is what being a parent is about. These moments of learning, of joy, of appreciating the little things. I truly enjoyed those 10 minutes of gardening with my kids.

weekend fun

I helped my brother in law move this weekend. It went rather well (except for some drama from my other brother in law's girlfriend, who was all sorts of bitchy), and except for a couple of clashes (and a few rips in my shirt), was a fun weekend. After moving on Saturday, on Sunday we picked all the dogs (their 2, our 1) from the kennel we had left them at the day before and headed to the dog beach in San Diego (right where the 8 ends at the beach). It was a fun afternoon, and Murphy had a blast. He's still sleeping off all the fun he had :).

We headed home after that (about 1pm), and had a nice afternoon to recover from the weekends activities. I'm sore all over, and although my knee did hurt on Saturday and most of Sunday, once I was able to just sit and not have to go anywhere or do anything, the pain let up.

No gaming this weekend; I'll try to get some in during the week (probably on Thursday when my wife is in class).

Zelda made me do it!

Okay, it's a fun game. Really fun. But frustrating. Frustrating to the point where I was cussing at the TV.

It really wasn't made for someone like me, who only gets an hour or so to game. If you're in a dungeon and save your game, then exit, when you come back to the game you have to start over at the beginning of the dungeon. Sucks ass!!! I don't have time for that, just save where I was, and move on!