Men at "work"

Weekend adventure

Oh, man. I'm about 6 beers in, with 4 of those being 90 Shillings. Jayhawks just took a brutal L. And there's bad guys pinned down in Paris. Add on top of that, they just showed the video of the dad talking to his little 5-year-old about flowers vs. guns. GULP.

***

Took the kids on another adventure this weekend, this time it was just me and them and YES, we brought fishing poles. In fact, Boyd got out money from his piggy bank to buy his own pole.

That, to me, was a sign that we definitely needed to go fishing, even though I didn't think Boyd was mature enough for it yet. There's hooks involved in fishing, and I didn't want anyone taking one in the hand or worse because Boyd was too young to handle the responsibility of a fishing pole...

Well, we went to Walmart and found Boyd a fishing pole. It was $10. I told him to keep his money, that his Papa, my dad, his namesake, would want to buy his pole for him... because fishing was one of my dad's passions.

Boyd was pumped. For our adventure, we went back to Baldwin City, and started off at the lake.

The weather was a little worse, as the wind was consistently pounding us. In fact, it blew my makeshift tackle box -- a cardboard box filled with a mini-tackle box and some other tools -- into the lake. Frustrating.

I showed Boyd how to cast, not expecting much. And guess what? Little guy caught on right away! He loved casting and reeling in. He didn't want to leave the lake when it was time to go!

We came back to the lake and fished the opposite side, hopeful for a wind break. It was worse. We didn't catch a goddamn thing, but at least on the other side we had a few nibbles from some keder. At least some of the worms were consumed, partially.

Just imagine how much fun Boyd will have when an actual fish is on the other end of the pole???

***

The sweetest moment of the weekend was on Sunday when I walked by BJ's room. Again, the piggy bank was out.

"Son, what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm getting money out so I can buy Mom and Grandma fishing poles," he said.

***

Adrianne has completed the backyard project, and it looks awesome. She will be joining us for this weekend adventure.

Hope she's used to not catching fish!

 

Gone fishin'

With my best friend.

An adventure to remember

The kids throw rocks at Douglas State Lake in Baldwin on 1... 2... 3!

My mom came over to visit for a few days recently. Her visit coincided with our "new town adventure."

Me and the kids have been hanging out on Saturdays while Adrianne works on her backyard project (the backyard project needs a code name. Will discuss with Adro.) We've been mostly playing golf and then getting lunch. Two Saturdays ago I told Evey we'd take golf off for a week, and instead "go on an adventure to a new town." I told her we could find the local playground, see if they had any cool shops downtown, and then cap the visit off with a lunch at the local Mexican restaurant.

In my mind we'd be visiting Baldwin City, and indeed that's what we did.

But the cutest thing was when I saw Evey's wall calendar recently. On every Monday is written "WATCH SUPERGIRL." And in the notes section on the bottom of the month, it reads "On Saturday Dad is taking us on an adventure to a new town."

Clearly Evey was excited. So I was hopeful our trip wouldn't dissapoint.

And it did not. The agenda follows:

• Me and Boyd get haircuts in downtown Lawrence
• Library stop, me and kids get books
• Drive to Baldwin City, both kids fall asleep en route
• Go to Douglas State Lake and explore, skip rocks in water
• Get shot down on comic book store that was there a year ago (the kids have a comic book they're looking for); comic book store went out of business, apparently
• Find amazing playground equipment, play
• Lunch at El Patron, which the kids loved, especially Evey
• Venture back to a different part of the lake for a little more rock skipping
• Short drive home

The kids want to do the same adventure this weekend and I think, weather permitting, we will... except this time I'll bring our fishing poles.

It was a great adventure, and I'm glad my mom was able to join us, it was fun having her there with us!

Welcome to the family Baby Vale!

The Jones Family is very excited to welcome a new cousin to the extended family! Vale Romero was born in the early morning hours of Sunday, to a lovely couple, Jason and Jackie Romero.

Evey went with her Grandma Judy and Grandma Virginia to Kansas City today to represent for the Jones Fam and say hello to this new bundle of joy.

We all look forward to meeting Vale in the near future. The Romero Thanksgiving is going to be a fun one this year, everyone is excited to see this little baby girl!

Happy Halloween 2015

Thanks to Judy for sending this photo to me. Love Boydee going with the Peter Parker/Spidey look for the Halloween parade at Montessori School. He looks so good, people need to see his face!

Great weather for Halloween last night, a cool, crisp night, perfect for walking up and down Eudora's streets.

I had Adrianne take photos of all of us in front of the house (me, the kids, plus Evey's friend Abby.) Evey and I were pirates, Boydee threw me under the bus and refused to don his pirate costume... stuck with Spidey for the trick or treating.

***

By the way, it was 70 degrees today, Nov. 1st. The kids and I went and played golf... I was in a T-shirt and shorts! Evey's swing looks great, plus she dropped a 30-foot putt today and was like, "Oh." I was like, "EVEY, BOOM!!!"

After the round Jeff asked Evey what her shot of the day was, and she could barely recall the putt. But we all had fun, and that's what matters most!

***

I'm sitting here nervously waiting for game 5 to start... could the Royals win the WORLD SERIES tonight? I'm nervous/excited. I don't claim to be a loyal Royals fan from back in the day, but they sure have been fun to watch, a likable, exciting group.

***

Adrianne has been working like crazy on the back yard. It's looking good! My contribution? I take the kids and play golf, or to lunch, so she can have quiet time, uninterrupted!

Pretty good deal, huh?

I may have just committed to some labor of my own, though... if we have a sitter one of these weekends. Yikes!