Vacation

As night fell across the Magic Kingdom, I watched my oldest son of 10 run ahead of me adorned with requisite Mickey ears atop his ever-growing head. Time paused for a moment as the universe seemed to tell me that this was a point in time that I'd never have back. It sounds magical, but in truth, my son was running ahead as he was about to shit himself, and I was grumpy that we had to backtrack 5 minutes to find the nearest bathroom. But the image of him in that park with that silly hat made me take pause and remember why we were here. I get precious few moments with my two oldest boys, and this was a beautiful one. I'm thankful that it reset my mood so we could enjoy our last few hours in the park.

Sometime around January of 2015, we announced to the boys that we were going to start saving our money for a trip to Disney World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. For two years, they along with us, scrimped and saved up for the trip. They should be quite proud that they managed to come up with the money for their tickets and some extra for nifty gifties.

Waking everyone up at 3:30a to catch our 6a flight out of Columbus was easier than I thought. I wasn't alone in my excitement, and Grandma Vicki's Honda Element Express arrived promptly at 4a to whisk us away to CMH. As we taxied to the runway, Ray was glued to the window as Sam slowly shrunk into my lap. The take-off really got to him, but once we were airborne he had a lot of fun. Arriving in a warm weather climate after leaving cold weather is so nice. I picked our flights to give us some bonus time on travel days, and we spent the first one getting pizzas from a place called Flippers. Really good stuff, made to order, and I'll never turn down a Peroni in an Italian restaurant. The boys went nuts for a few hours at the resort pool as Eliz and I drank our alcohol from buckets. The Floridays resort had lost a bit of its luster, but that evening was as good as any I've spent relaxing.

Our first day at Island of Adventure was an interesting one. Each mishap seemed to be followed by a high point. We forgot the effing tickets to the park, and Eliz scrambled to get on her phone and they got us in. We rushed back to Hogsmeade and the boys were in awe of the snow-capped rooftops and Hogwarts Castle, that is until we learned that the Castle ride was out of order. So off we went to Ollivander's to save the experience, and the boys were chosen for the wand ceremony! Sam's wand wilted the flowers, and Ray's made the bells go crazy. I fought back the tears and gripped Eliz' shoulder so tight I thought I'd left bruises. And when it came time to make purchase of the wands, Sam for reasons unknown, turned down the offer. You're killing me smalls. Some things I'll never understand about my kids.

I dragged my reluctant children through the line for the Dragons roller coaster because I'm a dad. While Sam seemed sheepish, he quietly boarded the coaster. Meanwhile Ray proceeded to flip out and repeatedly scream from the top of his lungs, "I don't want to die"! Eliz and I were seriously second guessing the whole trip at this point. His screaming turned to laughing during the actual ride, and after we finished he couldn't shut up about how awesome it was. Some things I'll never understand about my kids.

We had a blast over the three days we spent at Universal. Diagon Alley was a wonder. You really get the sense that you're in a hidden section of streets in London. The boys had a blast with all the simulator rides, but Spider-man seemed to be the hit. I may have preferred Gringotts though, I'm a sucker for magic (and that dragon is fantastic). The most memorable moment may have been when Sam cast the Aguamenti charm at an interactive fountain at the park and a sizable shot of water landed square on Eliz' head. It was a bulls-eye for the ages. I bought her firewhiskey as a consolation prize.

We spent 3 of our 4 park days at Universal since the kids were more well versed in Marvel and Harry Potter. But much like our Honeymoon, Disney rose up and simply stole the show. The Magic Kingdom has less thrilling rides, no simulators, and nowhere near the comprehensive plan for immersing visitors into a world. Somehow, by sheer charm and old school marvels, they manage to make you love them more. Eliz and I always felt this way, and much to our surprise, after just a few hours the boys agreed.

We planned to open and close the park, which allotted us 16 human hours in Mickey's playhouse, and we did just that. From ride #1, Peter Pan, the boys were hooked. Yes, they upped the ante with the line going through the house in London, replete with Tink flittering about the children's toys and dressers. But the true magic happens on the god-knows-how-many-decades-old ride when you fly over a model of London, and through haphazardly painted dioramas of the Peter Pan tale. It just grips me. I don't even know if I've seen the movie all the way through, and it's my favorite ride in the park.

In less than 90 minutes, we hit Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Buzz Lightyear. Getting there early pays off. Next time, I'm staying on location to get another early hour. I literally beat Eliz by a factor of 100 on the Buzz Lightyear ride. I giggled for about 10 minutes. The longest wait we had was for Space Mountain. The boys were getting a little nervous before this one as well, but they had a great time. I enjoyed it much more at 10:30a than I did at 8a first thing during our honeymoon.

We had the day mapped out much better this time. Restaurant reservations are a must, and even though the Liberty Tree Tavern was a bust, dinner at Tony's more than made up for it. Don't get me wrong, you spend Cameron Mitchell prices for Applebee's food, but when the alternative is cafeteria hot dogs, sitting down for 30 mins at Tony's is a win. After dinner was our mad dash to the finish. Crowds had died down, and we had until midnight to hit the rest of the rides on our list. Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Seven Dwarfs, Speedway cars under the fireworks, Haunted Mansion again, and closed the day out the way we started: Peter Pan.

The ride had some malfunctions, and we waited in line for a long time. The boys were falling asleep at our feet. Exhausted, we asked the boys if they wanted to leave and the both said they wanted to stay and ride one more time, bless their hearts. We toured London and Neverland in our little ships, and soaked up every last ounce of bad paint and magic. After the ride, we walked back thru Main St. USA and turned around to get a last view of Cinderella's Castle. Damn, that thing is majestic. The silhouettes of the boys' Mickey ears against the backdrop of the lit castle gave me the perfect punctuation to our vacation. It's a moment in time of our boys being boys before they grow into men. We took them at the perfect age, and I'm thankful for the stories that we'll get to wear out on unwilling listeners for decades to come.

Staycation 2016

Well, this was a different sort of stay home break from work.

On a typical year, as I have done for the past few summers, I take a week off to stay home with my boys and make my best attempt at showing them how great a summer in Westerville can be. I did the same this past week, only with two major changes. I now have a third baby boy in tow, and on the first day of this vacation, we moved into our new home. Needless to say, many of our normal traditions were tossed out the window as we scrambled to unpack boxes and set up shop so we could eat and sleep.

Sunday, July 3

After a rush of moving from my parents' basement, getting into the house, having our buyers back out of the condo purchase, then getting back in contract within hours of relisting, enjoying our first housewarming gift with my brother & his wife (Woodford Reserve), wading through boxes, finding parts for beds, priming and painting the boys' room to cover up pink and lime green (!), I took a breath, and headed off for Toledo Ohio to fetch my kin. In typical style, I lied to them all the way home, telling them they'd have to live with pink paint and that I wasn't sure where they'd be sleeping. They were pretty elated when they saw it was all set up. Sam walked all through the house taking a picture of each new room. After all the work, it made me so happy to see that they liked it. Ray went out into the backyard and did a few sprints with plenty of room to spare. A big reason for the move was to get them some more space, and to get into a neighborhood where they could let loose. It filled my heart to see them get to enjoy it all so quickly.

Monday, July 4

This was a pretty big shopping day. After 3 days in the new place, we had determined quite a few items in need of procurement. I went electric on a lawnmower, so far so good. No gas. We dragged the boys to Target. We bought a bunch of boring house items, but the boys were more than thrilled with the folding papasans that helped complete their rec room. Since they still had to share a bedroom, we made it a priority to set up a place where they could spread out and play without being on top of one another. We also picked up a store-bought fireworks set for the evening. Asparagus, strawberries, and brats on the back patio satisfied my need for a break from pizza. We didn't have the Westerville fireworks extravaganza in our front yard any longer, but it was more than adequate to enjoy family, sparklers, smoke bombs, and a few neighborhood patriots who shot off some impressive fireworks of their own. 

Tuesday, July 5

Costco day. It had been over a month that we made a real shopping trip, so I loaded up all three boys and headed out. We were rolling two carts deep: one for the baby/toilet paper, one for the food. The boys were a great help, we finished in an hour and capped the trip with a slice of pizza. Home we went so I could keep unpacking. The boys were becoming increasingly vocal about wanting to finish their rec room (I can't blame them, Disney Infinity awaits). That evening we shuffled some furniture around the house to get them set up, and after they very cutely and efficiently arranged their own toys, they were up and running! Between that, and their new bedroom, they were in hog heaven.

Wednesday, July 6

It was hot and muggy: a wonderful Ohio summer mainstay. I was able to try out the new mower, but was generally irritable as I was working outside. I broke the monotony by telling the boys to go out in the backyard and clean up their mess from earlier. But the mess was actually a bucket of water balloons, and by cleaning, I meant throwing them. I blasted them both at point blank, only to then tell them they'd be dead if they hit me back as I walked away. It was surreal to see them run around in the yard playing the same way I did when I was a kid. Visions such as these make all the work worth it. 

Thursday, July 7

We probably did something this day, but all I remember is cardboard boxes and plastic totes. I did, however, get some good Puffin Rock time in with Jules that afternoon :)

Friday, July 8

After spending most of the week trying to unpack while caring for an 8 month old and keep track of two boys, I decided it was time to get out and do something fun. Jules went to Nana's house for the day, and I took the kiddos out for some minor adventure. I decided to treat myself to a drum-kit makeover and spent an hour or so toying around at the music stores. Afterward, we hit up the Westerville batting cages and knocked some balls around. I am really bad at baseball. Much to my delight, I asked the boys if they like Chipotle, and they said they did! We had a great lunch together, then came back to the house to set up my music room. Having a room for playing has been a dream of mine, and with this new house it is becoming a reality. With my amps set up, and guitars hung, we settled in for some frozen pizzas and watched Ant-man to round out the evening.

Saturday, July 9

Saturday, I took the day to have some "me" time, as my brother and a buddy were coming down to play music. I spent the morning getting the house ready-ish to host, which mainly involved taking boxes out of rooms and putting them into others. By 4p, the first official jam session was happening. I've had all the stuff for years, but couldn't play in a condo with shared walls. We were able to turn up and really have a good time. It's a really nice stress release every now and again to let it rip. When the boys got back from the pool, we had pizza (again) and everyone listened to some records and played frisbee outside. To cap off the night, my brother had a fire on his patio. It was nice to only have to walk 3 doors down to enjoy it, as well as to stumble my way back to go to bed. 

Sunday, July 10

Last day off. I can't believe how fast it went, or that we had lived in the house for over a week. It felt like one endless day of unpacking, and it still wasn't finished. In between getting stuff done, the boys and I went for a wonderful bike ride over to a local park. We connect to a bike path, and it's going to be great having access to so many places with it. The local fire station has a water shack for bikers which is a nice touch. When we came back, it was amazing to see Ray, and then Sam be older brothers to Jules. Ray has a natural way of playing with him, and Sam really stepped up and helped me watch him while I finished clearing out the garage. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and talked about life; Sam has a bright future ahead of him. After dinner, we had a wet and wild backyard bonanza which basically consisted of Jules in a blow-up pool and they boys smashing water balloons. Bunch-o-balloons are an amazing time-saving invention, but I think it robs these kids of the appreciation I had for a water balloon when I was young. They went through about 60 of them in under 10 minutes. 

Monday, July 11

Well, back to work and reality after a week long working honeymoon at the Casa di Mara. My mom treated the boys to a trip to the Lego Store at Easton, as well as the AMC dine-in theatre to see Secret Life of Pets. I was entirely jealous. For the evening, we had a Harry Potter night. The Sorcerer's Stone is far longer than I expected: nearly 3 hours! We snuggled up on the couch and shared a magical viewing session, that is until I fell asleep during the movie.

Tuesday, July 12

My mom took all three kiddos to the Zoo. I imagine they saw many animals or varying shapes and sizes. We received our request-to-remedy for the condo, so I took Sam with me to do some minor work. He read the instructions for Stratego on the way there and back. He's also becoming a pretty adept helper. When we got back, I played my first match of Stratego with Sam. It was a throwback to a time I played my neighbor on his back porch when I was a kid. Ray watched as Dad destroyed his son, and walked away to let the boys duke it out themselves. They played several more times during the week. 

Wednesday, July 13

The boys had a water balloon fight at Grandma Vicki's. At home, Ray wanted to do his geode kit. There wasn't much to it, he put on the glasses and smacked them with a hammer. The results were pretty however. We plan to decorate the headstone at Gigi's grave with them soon. When I was a kid, I found buckets full of flint, and used it to decorate my Grandfathers' stones. The boys know this story well and are eager to continue the tradition to pay their respects.

Thursday, July 14

Paw Paw, Grammy, Danica all arrived in town in the afternoon to spend the weekend with us. It was the boys' last night with me as they would be picked up while I was at work on Friday. I didn't see them much, as having a cousin in the house makes for a good opportunity to play hard. We enjoyed a big family meal (skillet brats, don't count 'em out), and I rounded out the evening by doing "our favorite thing" of the staycation. It was good to reminisce, as I saw that amidst all the unpacking, we did manage to have a good time. 

Saturday, July 16

I skipped a day, but it wasn't until after Eliz' dad left that I felt the void of an empty house. Jules was terribly constipated and having a terrible time, and it hit me that after two weeks the boys weren't with us full time. It was quiet. It felt off, like my soul was hungry. Typical ending I suppose, but I love you boys more than you know. Thank you for breaking-in our new home with so much energy and love.

PS- Jules finally pooped that night. Crapsplosion. After such a terrible 30 hours, it gave me such relief to see him back to his normal self.

Foxx Tone Machine

Playing guitar and buying equipment are two pastimes in my immediate family history. I was in 3rd or 4th grade at our old house, and remember my dad pulling his pre CBS Jazzmaster out of wherever he had it stored to reveal to us that he played guitar when he was younger. To a young boy cutting his teeth on Nevermind, Use Your Illusion, and the Black Album, he might as well have donned a cape and spandex.

As the next few years went on, and my brother and I began to play and acquire gear for ourselves, while exploring Dad's old junk. Or at least we thought it was junk. The aforementioned Jazzmaster, a 60s Blackface Deluxe Reverb, and a Foxx Tone Machine fuzz pedal, total value on today's market pushing $10,000; all of which were sold (pause for tears). The Foxx Tone Machine was a nasty fuzz/octave pedal to begin with, and his was in ill repair which made it even worse. At the time, we all laughed at the outdated technology and sound, as we tossed it aside and moved on to more modern distortions and effects. 

He sold the pedal, and a few decades went by without giving much thought about it. A few years back, it crossed my mind and I began to watch videos to see what was what. My ears and mind were blown away by the "thick ocean" of fuzz, which when agitated by the octive* switch (misspelled on the original release), unleashed a raspy lighting god snarl that would make children cry. I had to have one. A quick eBay search revealed that original Tone Machines went for $400 - $700, and inferior reissues for around $300. A more in depth hunt showed me that the owner of Danelectro was actually the designer of the original Tone Machine, and had released a cheap replica of the circuit, called a French Toast, to the tune of $40. Click. Buy it now. Shipped. Fuzz heaven. 

I played it in spurts, the sound was nearly identical, but the quality of the pedal housing was crap. A month ago I decided to pull the guts from the Dano and research parts/theory to rewire it with good components in a metal housing. When all the parts had made their way to my house, I set up shop at my desk and began the process of desoldering the junk from the effects board and researching how to wire it back up. While much of the theory is still above my pay grade, I got quite the education on electronics during this process. I also grew angry and disappointed often as I encountered speed bumps of all kinds. 

Yes, I know it's ugly...

During the removal of the trim pots and other components, I was also getting initial practice with a soldering iron. Bad time to learn, and I damaged many traces on the board. On day two I wired in a few pots, and by day three I had wired ins/outs, leds, 3pdt switches for both fuzz and octave. Trial run, could it be this easy? Plugged everything in aaaaaaand... nothing. No power, no signal, but my true bypass was wired correctly and I had a clean tone when disengaged :) With no multimeter, I tried to logic my way through the trouble shooting, rewiring to points past traces I had lifted, checking joints, etc. Tried again: nothing. This process continued for a few days until I broke down and purchased a meter. I spent an evening or two poking around checking continuity and voltages. Total $$ invested was well over $150 at this point and it appeared as though I was making no headway. 

Friday evening, after a long drive I escaped to the basement to play with the meter some more, on the verge of throwing the aluminum brick hard into a dumpster. I couldn't figure out why no power was reading through the DC jack. On a whim, I removed the shitty jack from the Danelectro board and wired it to my new build. POWER. Holy cow, the Hallelujah Chorus erupted and I dashed to my amp to test it. It made fuzz sounds. Even better. The switches were not wired properly, but that was a quick fix and I made plans for Saturday to finish the wiring and purchase a new jack. 

Saturday morning I took my eldest to the nearest Radio Shack, purchased a jack, and spent the car ride talking circuits. Got home, wired up the new jack outside the box, POWER. That settled it, with switches wired properly, I mounted the jack to the box and made a final test; it didn't work. Christ. To the internet, and I should have realized, metal jack, metal housing, I was sending all my volts directly to ground. The following day I insulated the jack with some rubber O-rings and electrical tape, spent some time sorting out the wiring of the pots, and at long last, everything functioned without major issue. Phew.

That afternoon I removed the guts, and made a first attempt at flocking the housing with my middle son. It was a messy rush job, I was trying to fit too much into our weekend. Luckily, most folks online suggest a second coat. It didn't end up perfect, but the second coat left it pretty well covered and thick. Most importantly, it was fuzzy.

As the final coat dried, I took to Gimp (freeware photo editor) to rework a Foxx label to match my rearranged pedal. I added an octave switch, and realigned the titles to match my pots/inputs layout. I printed it on an ID card maker, the label is plastic, but gets the idea across. I had to reduce the size significantly to make it fit between my components. That's what I get for not planning ahead, but oh well.

Last but not least, I bolted the guts back into the flocked housing, tested it to be sure it was working, and once I was assured she was sound, hot glued the logo to the pedal. So, many weeks of money, research, work, and headaches later, I had my take on a Foxx Tone Machine. My version has LEDs, true bypass, 100k pots, and a footswitch for the Octive control. Satisfied with my work, I got reacquainted with the pedal in its new skin. It is a rich and thick tone, which gets beautifully nasty with the Octive engaged. It begged for some Hendrix, Nirvana, and a staple in our household, the riff to Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla. Somehow, looking down while playing and seeing a replica Foxx housing made the sonic experience more satisfying.

This effort boils down to a bit of a tribute to my dad. The Tone Machine is piece 1 of 3 to rebuilding the rig that got my brother and I into guitar in the first place. It's certainly not a perfect build, but the imperfections will be part of the story. I love the sound, feel a bit more connected to my history as I play it, and hell, I'm getting a lot out of it just looking at the damn thing.

3/28/16 Edit. While functioning sound wise, I've discovered it has a nasty habit of burning out power supplies. I am getting some advise from the friendly folks at DIYstompboxes.com  Pictures below are for troubleshooting purposes.

Christmas 2015

Wednesday, December 23

Who likes waking up at 3a for a 4a start to a road trip with a two-month-old? This guy. One of the better decisions I made this holiday season (and between you and I, that is saying something.) Hardly any traffic, just beat rush hour in Indy, and we were in Columbia in time for coffee. Jerry snagged Jules as soon as we got there and they proceeded to nap together several times throughout the afternoon. It was a pretty lazy day, and I appreciated that. Arriving at her Dad's house, Renee put together a gift package of baby supplies which came quite in handy, as we had forgotten to pack a great deal of care items. 

Thursday, December 24

Christmas Eve in Waterloo. It was a cozy and relaxing day. Eliz' Dad kept asking if we were bored, but I think we were both quite content to just sit around and enjoy each other's company. Eliz watched It's a Wonderful Life for somehow the first time in her life. Jimmy Stewart screaming "Merry Christmas" sounds much like a Raptor. Eliz' whole family came over to her Dad's to meet the baby. Her Dad smoked a turkey and it was delicious. Jules, on the other hand, decided not to sleep very much, which kept us up most of the night. C'est la vie. 

Friday, December 25

Christmas in Columbia, IL. I'd been around for one of these before, but this was the first time for an actual December 25th to my recollection. We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Well, biscuits, gravy, eggs, OJ, sausage, cookies, the works. It hit the spot. Her family seemed to fly in and fly out, but looking at the clock, 5 hours passed in no time. Seeing Meaghan's backward stocking always gives me a laugh. We flipped it around so it faced the same direction as the rest, but then her name was hidden. It's a win/win situation if you ask me. We made a quick stop at Great Aunt Delores' house before getting back to Chez Dell. An elf fixed the toilet before putting on the family personalized pajamas, and headed to sleep at 6p. Great day, great trip back to Illinois. 

Saturday, December 26

I did a little bit of driving that day. 2a wake up call Central Time to make the trip back to Columbus. Upon arrival I took a nap for an hour or two before loading up some drums and heading north for my now annual Christmas Jam/Sleepover at Ed's house. He had a few friends over and as per usual he got me to drink more than I had planned. We gave Elizabeth a few holiday tunes in the key of Heavy for her Facetime concert. She always gets so excited for those. 

Sunday, December 27

I picked up the boys around 10a, and we swung by Meijer to pick up Christmas breakfast and an angel for Grandma Morrisey. We started off our "Christmas Eve" by visiting the cemetery. I miss my grandma a lot, and not having her around for Christmas still feels wrong. At my mom's house, we ate a lot of italian lunch meats, and I'm pretty sure she had purchased every flavor of Pringles available in the lower 48 states. I tried to prolong the wait as long as I could, but we buckled to the pressure from the boys and opened presents. I feel as though adulthood has sunk in nearly fully, as I let presents stack around me so I could concentrate on the kiddos opening their things. The boys got new Jelly Belly's, of which each olor had a good/bad flavor. My brother and I both grabbed a black one (could have been licorice or skunk spray), we both got skunk spray. I had to spit mine out, it was like a release of toxins into my mouth. We finished off the evening with our annual viewing of A Nightmare Before Christmas. At home, the boys requested that Eliz read Santa is Coming to Ohio, and I gave yet another inspired interpretation of The Night Before Christmas. The boys left a smattering of treats out for Santa and some skim milk with ice in it. I hear he likes that sort of thing. 

Monday, December 28

The boys woke up at a reasonable hour to open stockings. We didn't have to do the usual 5a wake-up necessary for the tour of Christmases we normally do. For the first time that I can remember, I was able to have Christmas morning together with my family without the need to leave the house for other Christmases. It was magic. The hit toy was their emoji splat balls. Basically a squishy ball that splats... They played with them so much that Ray's didn't last the day :) Ray couldn't stand the wait as we made breakfast before we opened presents. He sat and stared in visible anguish at his first gift under the tree. I think everyone liked what they got. Sam was surprised by his robot, and Ray shouted when he opened his Hulk toy, only to ask what it was a few seconds later. I've trained him well. We got to make a mess with all the wrapping paper and didn't have to clean it up at all. It was heavenly. Nana Sherry and Kaitlyn came over later to do their gifts with the boys. My brother, Felicia, and Lexi came over as well. Lex was like a kid again racing slot cars with the boys and getting into a lightsaber duel, or triuel..  A perfect mess of a day. I can't wait till next year. 

Tuesday, December 29

Clean up day. Sam made huge progress on his robot without any help. Given the level of complexity, I imagined us needing to work on it together quite a bit. I'm proud to say that I've only been involved a few brief times and he has done the rest of the work on his own. The boys played Disney Infinity 3.0 as well, it looks like a fun upgrade from the last version (Update: it is.) We watched Inside Out after dinner which was a movie-night gift from Pawpaw Rod and Grammy. 

Wednesday, December 30

Star Wars Battlefront. All I remember is amazing graphics and laser fire. Sam made more progress on his robot, and Ray played with every toy he got for Christmas in rapid-fire succession. Laser fire.

Thursday, December 31

My brother had some extra tickets, so Eliz and the boys went to Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 3D. I'm glad she got to go, and in the meantime I loaded Jules up in the Baby Bjorn and made a large Costco run, which was quite successful I might add. We went to my brother's house that evening for New Year's Eve. The boys stayed up until midnight and Ray was "super dramatic about it". We had a quick jam session on my brother's new drum set. The ladies of the family cracked the Mara argument code, which apparently involves a revolving door of music, sports, and super heroes. I don't have any idea what they're talking about. Closer to midnight, Jules did not appreciate our many attempts to get a picture of us kissing him. He didn't appreciate it at all. Regardless, I got to kiss my lady, and we all got home safely to get a night's rest.

Friday, January 1

With Eliz' family, New Year's Day is a thing, so we went to Nana Sherry's. The boys were excited to play I Found It, a rather complicated I-Spy game designed for 4 year olds, but that required several adults with several college degrees to figure it out. The boys drank hot chocolate from their new lego mugs. Sam made a neat and tidy "S" on his mug, Ray made a rather abstract "trapped gorilla". All things aside, it was some red and blue bricks covered by some white bricks. It was another good time spent with family. 

Saturday, January 2

We went to Grandma Charlotte's for our last Christmas. There are a ton of kids there and it's usually pandemonium with my brother serving as the catalyst. All three boys got some sock monkeys, Ray was unexplainably excited about his. I'm hoping this wasn't related to any penis innuendo, but the more he giggles, the more I think it is. Eliz and my mom tag teamed getting me the apparently discontinued Duncan Heins Fudge Marble Cake, paired with my mom's chocolate butter cream icing. It was fantastic. At home, Eliz got me some awesome gifts, not the least of which was Road House on BluRay. Everyone is entitled to a guilty pleasure. We had some Apple pie and Pumking during the movie, and before I knew it I'm asleep. I'm hoping to squeeze a birthday pizza out of the deal for Sunday (I did.) 

Sunday January 3

Sam and Eliz ran some errands and Sam exchanged a few books at Barnes & Noble, so Ray and I stayed home and played Battlefront. We had our jam session today. Sam wrote a new riff that we worked on, and then the usual tunes; Sam's song, Brain Stew, Smoke on the Water. I always hate the end of a vacation, but I have to say I was quite satisfied with the way this one turned out. So much time with family, and I'm left wanting for nothing. Tomorrow, Eliz and I go back to work; Eliz for the first time since Jules was born. Real life with a baby begins!

Staycation '15

I'm not much one for sassy, social media friendly portmanteaus, but we have adopted the term staycation for our yearly weeklong hangout session. The boys come down for at least a solid week, I actually take some time off work, and Eliz hangs out when she can. I spent some pretty amazing summers in Westerville with my mom, and each year I try to share with my boys a bit of what summers in Westerville are like. The week is usually pretty well pre-programmed with activities that have become tradition. This year rather than tell the stories myself, I will dictate what we did as remembered by the boys.

Friday June 26

We talked about how you guys went to Ritas when you first found out about the baby. You guys got the same flavor and me and Ray got the same flavor. It was pouring rain. I think we mighta watched Parks and Rec. 

Saturday June 27

Um, we bought a bunch of wood to make a shelf. And I got to hold the yellow screws (there was a fight over green and yellow options). We, um, went out to the garden, and like, stone and stuff. Ray found the Rumble Stone edgers, and we bought them to make a sidewalk thing. I remember when we carried down the wood I(Sam) got a splinter. I(Ray) played Legos. Elizabeth did a ducky craft. At Grandma Vicki's we ate hot dogs. She had pretty much all the flavors of chips. That shall be it. 

Sunday June 28

We saw the beavers. We saw the elephants. We might of saw the new elephant. We saw a dog hanging out with the cheetah, and we got to go inside the airplane by the lions. Sam and dad worked on landscaping. I (Sam) remember there was a huge horsefly. Me and Sam played legos. Didn't we play Disney Infinity for 30 minutes or so? Mara pizza and Back to the Future night was awesome. 

Monday June 29

I (Sam) got those super sparklers that seemed to go on forever. I (Ray) got three packs of pop-its. There was a mini flood in the parking lot, it was pouring rain. Wasn't that the day we restarted our Disney Infinity level? We got a new frost giant and Sam built an enemy wave generator. At Putt-Putt, I (Sam) got a hole-in-one. Dad got three holes-in-one. That equals four. (Pretty sure Eliz got one too). Ray knocked his ball off the course. Oh yeah, we got to do the other (south) course. We couldn't do the batting cages because they were too wet. Elizabeth almost got the hole-in-one on the final round. 

Tuesday June 30

Alum Creek park had the crazy hexagon climbing thing. There was the light game. I (Ray) thought I heard a snake, so we talked about snakes for a little bit. Wasn't that the one with the super wobbly bridge? It made me fly up in the air. Jojo was the leader of the park, to build it. Jojo was the king of the park! (The boys made my lunch, it was a nice turn of events. We then held a tribute afternoon to my Grandma Morrisey). Sam was the only one that got a Yahtzee, 'cause last year he was the only one that didn't. The 5th Avenue candy bars were good, awesome, sick, achoo-achoo. 

Wednesday July 1

We walked there (Jaycee Pool) and Grandma Vicki met us there. The pool was cold. I (Sam) went down the slide twice with dad. There was a little boy that kept throwing a Barbie doll into the pool. I (Ray) got soaked. We drove home in Grandma Vicki's car. At Star Lanes, I (Ray) got 75 tickets. Jojo came! We got Lexi a blue snake (she was home sick). Dad got 12 tickets. Pacman was fun, I (Ray) ate the most things in Pacman. Jojo came! You guys ordered the same thing and we ordered the same thing. I (Ray) tried buffalo (sauce). We didn't go bowling that time. I'm (Eliz) amazing at basketball. 

Thursday July 2

Thursday was that day that we started Level 20, and it's gonna be awesome. We went to Grandma Charlottes and had a squirt gun fight, and we played with the doggie, and the doggie made a hole in our ball. Winston knocked over the gate when we had pizza. I had two cupcakes. That night we watched Back to the Future II, and it froze for like 15 minutes. Doc got shocked by lightning, it was awesome. 

Friday July 3

We went to the Newark pool and fireworks. And we went to Felicia's mama and dada's house. I (Sam) went down the one slide, but not the other one that was crazy. I (Ray) went down the kiddy slide. Jojo was tossing Hulk in the water and I was diving for it. I (Ray) made it all the way across the pool. Jojo was making me do flips, I learned how to do a corkscrew. We went to the fireworks, and I (Ray) made a big chain. Before the fireworks I was looking at fireflies. We did races, but we only did two head-to-head because Sam was grumpy. You (Ray) started one of them when he said "set". (That night Ray fell asleep standing up in my parents driveway. He fell into Jojo's car and remained asleep on their driveway for a minute). 

Saturday July 4

We woke up at Grandma Vicki's, we ate cookie pancakes. We went to Maxtown park and Galena park and did sparklers. We had Wendy's for lunch. Then we went to Nana Sherry's and Papa Craig's. We swam and had burgers. Then we swam again. Me and Ray both figured out how to get the diving toys from the deep end of the pool (6 ft). We had a jumping contest to see who could make the biggest splash. We soaked my towel. We did sparklers that evening. Dad said that we could do some snakes when it's sunny out to see if they glow and stuff. We watched fireworks for a half an hour. I (Ray) did all three packets of my pop-its. Those super-sparklers lasted for like, I don't know, 3-4 minutes or so. It was crazy. I (Ray) did two sparklers at once. 

Sunday July 5

Today we talked about memories. We're going to relax and watch Back to the Future III. Ray: Staycation was happy, sick, amazing, cool. My favorite part was when we went to the Zoo-hoo-hoooooooo. And then 4th of July. And that shall be it. Sam: Staycation was thrilling. My favorite part was Putt-Putt because the main reason was we got to do the new court. 

Staycation '14

If you read my blog, you know the drill. It's a vacation diary haha.

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.

 

Christmas staycation 2014

Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I live for the sneakiness, the trickery, the lights, the good food, the family, cheer: It's the total package.

If you've read my blogs lately, you know that this has been a busy December for me. In addition to working from home, and doing a few shifts at the interpreting agency, I got married and went to Disney. The night before the wedding we rushed the boys through a 10 min motion of hanging their ornaments on the tree, that should have been my clue that Christmas was going to be crazy this year. Well, it was.  And I had a wonderful time with both of my families on the 24th and 25th.  But I want to write this blog about the week I had with my boys for Christmas.  It's something I look forward to each year, and for me it's worth writing about.


Friday Dec 27 24th, 2013
I woke up and hit the road by 6:30a. I couldn't wait to have the boys with us for Christmas.  I went through my seasonal playlists of Sufjan's second Christmas release on the way up, saving Vince Guaraldi and The Chipmunks for the ride back.  Upon arrival at their mom's, Ray came bounding to the car adorned in a raccoon hat.  Perfect. The boys climbed in, got big hugs, and we sped off towards Westerville.  We all got pumped up talking about all the Christmas plans.  The moment we got home, unprompted, Ray found Elizabeth and declared "Happy Holidays Step-Mom!"  Melt. Then we made a quick visit to see my Grandma Morrisey at the home.  Nobody loves christmas as much as her.  Nobody.  She was delighted to see the boys. We dropped my car off for an oil change at Roush, and walked across the street to Kroger for cookie supplies for Santa.  We ended up doing a little last minute shopping for Elizabeth: cake batter and iTunes card. Our fake Christmas Eve was the best part of the whole week for me.  Christmas light lit room, cookies, writing a letter to Santa, opening Hulk and Iron Man pajamas, giving Remy his Thor costume, watching Kung Fu Panda Christmas, putting tape across the front door to see if Santa broke it when he came in, eliz read the boys a Santa Comes to Ohio book, and finally we tucked them in and I read The Night Before Christmas.  That magic was enough, but then Eliz and I put our elf hats on and kicked some ass.  We ate Santa's cookies, but left some crumbs.  Set out the gifts, filled the stockings.  Then Eliz used her fancy writing to answer the boys' note as Santa Claus, and I put flour on my boots and walked across the floor to the tree to leave footprints. The good stuff.

Saturday Dec 28 25th, 2013
We woke up at a reasonable hour (7ish) and heard the boys whispering downstairs about the presents and their stockings. One of the better noises to wake up to. We did stockings first.  Quite possibly the most fun of all presents are the dollar bin items that they go nuts over.  Sam got a set of "sticky hands" that he played with more than any other toy the whole vacation. Ray of course did his "animal pills" that grow in water while Elizabeth made us French Toast and Sausage (Vince Guaraldi in the background of course).  We opened our gifts with the boys and it was great.  But I'm starting to think more in line with my dad, Christmas Eve, and the anticipation of, is better than the actual Christmas morning itself.  By Midday, we arrived to my parents' where we did Christmas all over again with the boys.  They tore through gifts in record time and fervor, the way it should be haha.  Afterwards we enjoyed a homemade Mara spaghetti sauce and all stuffed ourselves to the point of explosion.  The afternoon was relaxing.  Ray played Magic Jinn ad-nauseum.  Sam played with his new chess set, and they both eventually finished out the night Legoing. All was calm.

Sunday Dec 29th, 2013
We went through a time warp and arrived at the 29th.  We let the boys play with their new stuff in the morning until it was time to meet Miss Sherry for Christmas lunch at Red Robin.  We had a great time, and a great lunch.  The boys were super excited to get more gifts haha, and they gave Miss Sherry a few of her own. I ate an A1 burger, because I can.

Monday Dec 30th, 2013
I love my boys.  They looked forward to this which they dubbed "Donation Day", where we clean out their room and donate toys they no longer play with to charity.  A few years back this was a tiresome event full of whining and lack of comprehension.  This year, they literally looked forward to it. I don't know if I'm more proud of their societal awareness, or their proclivity to purge waste from a household.  Either way the day was a success.  Room clean. Closet reorganized and with a new shelf. Happy Papi.

Tuesday Dec 31st, 2013
As self proclaimed old folks, Eliz and I like to party with family on New Year's Eve, and my brother's house seems to be the place to do it. Each year there are movies, games, drinks, and other general relaxy party stuff.  This year was no exception, but add yet another round of Christmas gifts from my Grandma Charlotte's Christmas that we couldn't attend this year.  I watched Transformers for the first time, not horrible.  Joe whipped my ass at NCAA Football after I had practiced all week w/ Eliz. We watched Star Trek, counted down the Ball, I kissed the hottest woman in the world, and we ran outside to make noise with the kiddos and caught a family releasing a paper lantern into the sky.  Pretty magical stuff for some folks from da'ville. The boys passed out on my lap around 1a, and we made it home by 2ish.  Awesome memories.

Wednesday Jan 1st, 2014
I warned the boys that due to budgetary constraints, that this staycation would be quite a bit less exciting than the extravaganza that was Summer Staycation 2013. I proved it this day by letting them play with toys while I watched 4 Big Ten Bowl games. Some days, I just have to be a typical guy.

Thursday Jan 2nd, 2014
This is a day that is otherwise known as my birthday. The boys were more excited than me, understandably, and we hung out all morning.  After lunch, I took them swimming at the Community Center.  Sam is an amazing swimmer! Busting out laps in freestyle, back and breast.  Really cool stuff.  Ray is doing well in short stints in deeper water too.  I'm a very proud dad.  After an hour of swimming, I soaked up the 80 degree indoor temp while they played in the pool playground. At home, Eliz organized a little shindig in my honor, and ordered Pasquale's pizza.  My bro, his wife and my mom came over to spend the evening.  Intimate and perfect.  Fudge marble cake improvisation props go to my mom.  Amongst other things, Eliz gave me a pic of an Otter in a military uniform.  I love her so much.

Friday Jan 3rd, 2014
My great friend Mark once began a final day of vacation by stating "It's that crappy time".  Today, and anytime the boys have to go back, is that crappy time.  I won't lie, they drove me insane this vacation.  Baby talk, constant bickering, accidents.  But I wouldn't want my misery any other way. In the moment I can be pretty grouchy, but looking back, it's all hilarious.  Great stories for the future.  Learning moments.  I took that day to have a few "epic battles" with our super hero action figures, play a few rounds of Magic Jinn, and of course, end our time together with our "what was your favorite part" session.  I love my boys, and no matter how crazy they can make me, they're mine and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I hope one day they'll move back into town.  Until then, I'll make every weekend count.


The bottom line is, I have a crazy amount of amazing people and fortune in my life.  So many reasons to be thankful. I just hope when I'm down, I can remember that and get back up again.