Make Some Memories

This morning I woke up quite a bit earlier to get a head start on the morning commute and hopefully an earlier start to a half day of work. It was the normal routine, shower, shave, coffee, etc. But this morning had a different, familiar feel to it. As I backed out of the garage a sense of calmness and deep satisfaction overwhelmed me. It wasn't until I was on the highway that I figured out what kind of memories I had of mornings like this.

Just before the sun was rising I was passed by a car that had a family of four in it. In the back seat were two kids rummaging through a fast food bag probably digging through and handing out the breakfast they got for the ride. This really brought back some great memories of family vacations. Waking before dawn, before the sun even thought about waking up, helping my Dad meticulously pack the car, the birds chirping so loud it was almost piercing at times, the morning dew all over the car and that cool morning air. It was an awkward feeling, a feeling of almost sickness because you were up so early but you were so fired up about the vacation that you couldn't stand it. I remember my parents rounding up us kids and taking one last walk through the house making sure everything was turned off and put away and locked and safeguarded. I remember being old enough to ride co captain on that first leg of the early morning trip pretending to know where we were, probably talking my Dads ear off, wondering why some houses never mowed their yard, and anxiously awaiting that first stop of the morning.....MCDONALDS!!!

We would always stop at a McDonalds about 2 -3 hours into the trip for breakfast. This is were we would get out and stretch and start waking up to take on the day. This is where me and my sisters would get in to our first round of trouble because we would get all giddy and slap happy and annoy Mom and Dad. This is where we would say stupid words that would stick with us for years. This is where memories were made.

As I watched this family pass me this morning I hoped that that little bag of breakfast would bring as much joy and happiness and memories as it brought us.

Happy Easter everybody, make some memories.

Photo by Leo Patrone

Kinfolk Magazine

February Happenings

When I started this whole blogging thing I thought " Man, this will be so fun and easy. Blogging everyday, showing pictures and projects. Blah Blah Blah!" It seems to be a little tougher than what I expected. The winter months are slow for projects, for me at least. I really have no excuse other than it's winter and it really hasn't dropped below 40 degrees and is hasn't snowed and it's been sunny for the most part. So basically I have no excuse except for pure laziness.

Here are a few things that have happened so far in February. Misty and I took a trip to Chicago for her birthday. It was a blast but guess what, the only pics I have are of an old fashioned made with lime, my new Red Wing boots, and the Carhartt store in Wicker Park which was amazing I might add.

Then it was Mistys "real birthday" and we came home to a fully decorated kitchen with streamers, a cake, and a little art from Ki. It was awesome and sweet and he could barely hold in the excitement.

We had parent/teacher conferences that week as well. I took a couple pics of the art that the kids do in class and it blows me away. The way each little brain interprets the way he or she draws or paints or glues or builds, its awesome.

Then it was Valentines day. Ki wanted to build a robot, but as we started I said "This kind of looks like an army tank." That's all it took to change the direction. Misty said the morning that she dropped him off for school he got real shy and worried about what the teacher and principal might say about having a tank at school. She assured him that it would be fine and it turned out to be a big hit. Here's the "Love Tank" and the soldier that was blowing up hearts (cheese) on Valentines day. He was giving me that Dad I'm tired and don't want my picture taken look.

Pre Birthday Bash

Ki loves hotels. He gets so excited when we get to go to a big city or a beach somewhere and stay in a hotel. This past weekend we surprised him with a little "get away" (only about 10 miles away from our house) for his birthday. There is a new aloft hotel in Leawood that is very trendy and really out of the norm for that area, I don't think I saw one Van Dyke Brown wall or Espresso colored matching tables or wrought iron spindles anywhere. Lots of cool decor and best of all....a pool.

We started the day at a holiday kids fest that had blow up jump play things, live kids music, and all the rude stroller pushing militant horribly dressed worn out suburban moms you could ever wish to see. He jumped and played and danced and got free candy and other swag and I kept a lookout for these evil four wheeled carts full of whiny children that kept running into my ankles.

Next stop was the hotel. As we pulled into the parking garage he got sooooo excited and said " YES! We are staying at a hotel!" We checked in, got our room, people watched for a half hour or so, went swimming for a while (really cool raised infinity type edge pool all the way around might I add), then got ready and went to one of his favorite places California Pizza Kitchen. Went back to the hotel and played some pool and then after about an hour or so and a 30 degree drop in the weather we remembered there was a new gellato place that opened up so we got bundled back up and finished the evening with some awesome gellato.

It was a fun day and he really enjoyed every minute of it. Happy Pre Birthday dude.

FALAH-DA

We decided on a whim to take a small trip to Clearwater Beach and use some free airline and hotel points before summer got here and we got to busy to go anywhere or do anything (that was a long sentence). I didn't have any expectations or any ideas of what Florida was like. The only time I've been there is on a layover to another destination. In the back of my mind I thought Florida would be mad at me for using her for convenience rather than pleasure. Mostly running through her airports to catch other flights, not even paying attention to the sun and sand and landscape and climate that she had to offer. Falah-da - I do apologize.

The weather was beautiful, the sand was white and fluffy, the hotel was big pimpin', the ocean breeze was so clean, and the ice cream in a waffle cone was just the thing to completely destroy any chance of trying to eat healthy on any given day.....but so worth it.

I could probably go on and on about how cool and different it was. Watching Ki in the ocean, braving the waves and quickly overcoming the fear of what might be in the water was cool. I asked him if he liked big city vacationing or beach vacationing better and he said that he liked them both the same. Man if he keeps that attitude up our vacations should be pretty easy from here on out.

This is how it started



   


















A lot of this



          


















None of this

And this is how each day ended

Well...That Was Fun

2 1/2 hour drive home.

Those People

Misty bought a groupon last fall for a session with a local photographer. She meet us in the trendy, revamped art district and we just walked around and found cool stuff to get some pics. We got this is as a canvas print for our home and it's one of my fav's. Check her out here http://www.christinalundeen.com/ , she's a great person to work with.

Summer of 2010 we took Ki to Chicago on his first real vacation along with airplanes, taxis, subways, city buses, and pirate boats. He had an absolute blast and still brings it up from time to time. When we got to the hotel we just wanted to take a while and decompress, and this is how my kids kicks it at 21 floors up.



So those two people are mine, if you see them don't touch them because they are mine. The only two things I won't share....well, those two and a funnel cake.....and a spoon, spoons are nasty.

I may have just conquered mobile blogging.

I have been trying to get pics to upload to my blog and with this last test may have stumbled on to something. Here goes nothing.


Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!