Friday June 27
I usually work a half day on days when I go to pick up my boys. This morning, I barely lasted til 10a before I sped off to pick up the kiddos. I met them out in Perrysburg as they insisted on getting some BonkaZonks. They were stoked. I kept shouting 'staycation' in the car as we headed back to Columbus. First thing when we got back, we stopped by the BMX track that Jojo had spent all day conditioning. When we got home we had a quick dinner, went over the rules for the house, and walked to Rita's for some Italian Ice. This was the first of many traditions that we began to uphold for our staycation. I think the boys played some Beatles rock band when we got home. I can't remember, it was a long and adventure packed week.Saturday June 28
Early wake-up, pads on, and headed straight for the BMX track. Ray finally started feeling more comfortable on his bike, still on training wheels, but less deathly afraid. Sam and I did several passes on the track. It was nice having dirt on the berms, but it still managed to wear my ass out. We came back for some popsicles and quick showers. The boys watched the first few minutes of the Chile v Brasil World Cup match before getting bored. Sam came back after awhile and watched most of the match. It came down to the last penalty kick, but Chile lost. I'm proud of the way they played.We then headed to Grandma Vicki's for a Slip, Slide, and Sleepover party. T'was an amazing success. 40s music abounded as the boys and a few friends threw themselves down the giant slide for the better part of 5 hours, pausing only to eat or to fire water balloons with their new launcher. Jojo and I went down with them, but could not keep up the pace running back up the hill. At 9 we sent the boys up to get cuddly in some PJs and watch frozen with Grandma, as Eliz and I attended to some much anticipated debauchery. We both played Beer-pong for the first time in our lives, I drank the giantest whiskey drink there ever was, and we enjoyed the hell out of the lightning bugs from my parent's porch swing. Anything else I type is going to sound like innuendo. One of the best date-nights we've ever had.
Sunday June 29
A little groggy, Eliz and I uncharacteristically sprung out of bed as we simultaneously smelled my mom making pancakes. They were Mickey Mouse style w/ turkey bacon. I inhaled them with a gallon of water to ward away the spirits of yestereve. In no hurry to leave, we slowly got around to cleaning up, and I put the boys to work as we washed my car and played in the water some more. We left around midday and headed down to ComFest. Protip; kids at ComFest are fine if you plan ahead. It was hot, we were there on a budget, and the boys were quickly bored and overheated. We found a "Black light" painting station that the boys were excited to do, as I had just shown them Eliz' old black light a few nights before. It wasn't that big a deal that ComFest was a bit of a bust, for when we returned home, everything was awesome with our Lego Movie movie/pizza night.Monday June 30
Day 1 of staycation sans Eliz. I tried to make our activities during her work-days to be things she wouldn't miss as much. We had some errands to run, and spent the better part of the morning running around. We started at the bank to get the budget for the week. I allowed the boys $10 each to get their own fireworks from Kroger. They thought that was a lot of money, but quickly realized how little it was. They worked together and split a value pack, and were pissed when they saw they had to pay tax haha. From there we went to Five Below for a new soccer ball, and then headed to Toys R Us where Ray found more BonkaZonks on super sale, escaping with his entire gift card :) We got a few project materials from Lowes and headed home.I thought Sam was going to die because Ray got a Hulkbuster Bonka Zonk.. I distracted him by letting him help me paint the new Attic Ladder trim pieces. He's getting to be a pretty good helper. Both boys also did an hour's worth of chores for their allowance. Ray did a great job w/ TP, wiping down tables and chairs, and retrieving dishes all over the house. Sam did his usual bathroom clean up and Trash can emptying. That night the whole family gathered at Giammarco's for a surprise Retirement dinner for my mom. She's making time to enjoy her life a little more and hopefully babysit some future grandkids :) The dinner was fantastic, the boys spent some time with Lexi and Emily, and we crashed at home to prepare for the next day.
Tuesday July 1
We hit up a 10a showing of X Men Days of Future Past. Ray actually stayed awake for a whole movie, they loved it.Just two weeks prior, my Grandma Morrisey passed away somewhat unexpectedly. We had blocked off this afternoon to visit her and play Yahtzee for old times' sake, so the boys elected to visit her grave. We found some old flint stones I had placed around my Grandpas' graves 20 years ago and decided we should do it again sometime. They were used to visiting GG and swinging while she watched, so we went to a park to swing, and then came home to play some Yahtzee. I think Grandma had her hand on the dice, as I rolled a Yahtzee on my first try ;) Love you Grandma.
Before we did the swings, I drove the boys through my old neighborhood on Vancouver. I showed them my house, where I learned to ride my bike, the court where I flew over my handlebars and landed on my butt, and were Jojo crashed his head through a garage window during a bike race. They loved it all. Later, the boys helped me install a new pull up bar which I let Sam test out.
That night, we took advantage of Eliz' Groupon skills and hit up the Westerville Putt-putt. We did the same holes as last year, but the weather was cool and overcast which made all the difference. The boys enjoyed it despite some minor rushing due to other golfers. The Groupon comes with batting tokens, and this year Ray decided to join. He made contact on his first two tries! Both boys did well, Daddy and Eliz got in on the action too. Good times, I love that place.
Wednesday July 2
Deciding to take advantage of Jojo's hard work, we headed back to the BMX track. Ray opted to bring some super hero toys and play with them on the ropes instead. Sam and I's ride was short, as the track was too damn muddy to ride :/ We all played on the ropes for a bit, then headed back home to spend a free hour w/ Eliz between her cases. After that we packed up the car and headed to my Grandma Charlotte's to hang out w/ her, Aunt Lu, and Harley for the afternoon. The kids ran around her GIGANTIC basement ad-nauseum. (Why is that underlined as misspelled? Is this my version of fustrated?). We all piled in Lu's SUV and went to lunch at Bob Evans, grandma's treat. I think it made her day to sit across from Ray and have all sorts of wild conversation. After Bob's, we all participated in a group soccer passing circle, even Grandma! It was epic, she kicks harder than the boys... no really ;) From there we all went to Lu's to swim in her complex pool. The boys had a blast, I loved getting to visit w/ Lu and Grandma, overall it was a great way to spend the afternoon.That evening we did a Groupon round 2 at Star Lanes w/ Elizabeth. By this time, I was getting pretty exhausted. Morning, day, and night we were doing activities w/ the boys. I told Eliz that this was much crazier than "normal" parenting, as in a full time situation, they would be doing a lot more on their own. They were testing my patience. We sat down for dinner, Sam sat on Eliz' lap to warm up, and farted. Serious chat ensued. Ray proceeded to spill his entire drink on the table. Our fabulous waiter was nowhere to be found, but an ultra industrious bus lady cleaned our table twice! (I tipped her directly, and shafted the waiter, who sucked, and was a dick). After a beer, I settled down and we bowled a round. The boys did great and we all had a good time. We finished off the evening with the Groupon game room cards. The boys were ticket hungry and avoided most of the fun games in favor of ticket winners. They bought plastic shit that will sit in a bag. Oh well.
Thursday July 3
Heath Pool day! My brother's wife is from Newark, not far from Heath, which has an amazing pool facility. The pools are too big. The slides are too fast. The lazy river is too long. The grass areas are too, well, you get the picture. It's old school simplicity meets modern baddass. It's country, it's American, and I love it. Grandma Vicki came along, and we simply played our butts off. 4 hours of slides, dunks, tubes, spray playgrounds, and giggles. The boys went home with my mom for a parents' night off. I'm told they went to Millstone park, got ice cream, and watched an animated children's film.Friday July 4
The next morning we all met bright and early to help Jojo move into his new house. The boys hung around while we moved everything. Ray drew a picture of a raccoon that was really really good. I was blown away, so he turned it into a 4th of July card for Eliz and I. Really good stuff.After helping them move into their wonderful new home, we headed over to Eliz' parents' place for a cookout/pool party for the 4th and Craig's birthday. I'll be honest, I was exhausted at the end of this week and moving, so I promptly parked myself on a lounger and fell asleep by the pool. It sounded like the boys had a blast splashing about on this 3rd pool day in a row. Miss Sherry got them some kinetic sand, which if you don't know what that is, get hip. It's fun for all ages. They played for over an hour. We ate cake. Funs were had.
That evening we went home for the Westerville fireworks. We have the pleasure of living close to the launch site, and we watch them from the convenience of our front yard. There is a bothersome street light right in the viewing path that I unsuccessfully tried to cover up with a jacket. I'm plotting for next year. This year was pretty good, but Ray got cuddly and literally fell asleep during the grand finale :( Sam watched with eyes aglow. After the display, the boys got comfortable with the fireworks they bought from Kroger. I'm happy to say they candle lit their own sparklers and didn't use cups for protection. Once they felt ok, they burned through their smoke bombs, drop snaps and sparklers in no time.
Saturday July 5
On this next-to-last day, I declared "No more activities"! I was exhausted. We woke up slowly, ate some breakfast, and did nothing all morning. We made a quick visit to Jojo's house, went to the store for dinner supplies, and came home for some "split time". My boys are carazy when together, so we try to split them up for one-on-one time each weekend. For my time w/ Ray we built a hilarious Tin Can Robot that Miss Sherry gave him. He was a good apprentice. Eliz and Sam played their Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. Sam and I then had a guitar jam/lesson session while Eliz and Ray made Spiderman webs and watched some Spiderman on Netflix. After that, I made fajitas with my onion goggles and we introduced the boys to the legend that is Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I forgot how much creepy was in that movie, meh, they'll live.Sunday July 6
Last day of staycation 2014. Time flies and I know not where it goes. Our last activity was to take the boys to the Columbus Zoo to see the new Africa exhibit. Simply amazing. As far as Zoos go from a spectator perspective, this is the best exhibit/habitat I've seen.You get to see most all the animals up close and personal. The Lions were napping right next to the glass on the wing of an old airplane. The Cheetahs were wandering about in plain sight. I loved it. We attended a running of the Cheetahs at 10:30a, the Cheetah's chased a big ball on a string. I'd never seen one run in real life. Eliz and I separately teared up after the run, it was spectacular. They were my favorite animal all through elementary school. We made quite the visit through a number of animals until I wimped out and said I was tired.We headed home, only to clean up, and revisit all of what we had done this week. Everyone had plenty of favorites. When the boys had to leave, I failed to hold back the tears, and waved them off until next time. My extremely compassionate wife kept me sane, fed me whiskey and pizza, and helped me pound the shit out of Nebraska in our B1G championship game on NCAA football 14.
Monday July 7
I awoke in a slight panic at 3a this morning. My boys were gone yet again. My vacation was over. I had to face the real world. I felt like I had spent the whole damn week disciplining them rather than enjoying them. Upon reflection, I think that was the night talking. Yes, we had our fair share of correction. They were wild at times. But we did a mountain of amazing things, and as best we could, we enjoyed each moment. They smiled a lot this week. And I think that's being a family. We can drive each other nuts, but at the end of the day, we had a good time. And when they had to leave, we were all sad. My thought process behind these staycations are to give the boys a glimpse of the awesome I experienced as a young boy in Westerville during the summer. I only hope that they enjoyed it half as much as I did.I love you boys so much.
