Nana and Papa come to town

We had some great family time the last few days as my parents came to SD for a few days. As usual, the kids were on their best and worst behaviour. Were we ever that bad when we were young? Highlights were some time at the beach "throwing rocks", Potato Shack for lunch, Ferry ride across the bay, air and space museum and an amazing flight simulator ride with dad. Papa told Owen a bedtime story "resembling" Jack and the Magic beanstalk, which also included old mother hubbard, the three little pigs, Pinnochio, Perry Como, and lots of Fe Fi Fo Fum. Owen was hooked.

Disaster

So on Saturday, I was playing referee for Owen and Ian. They could NOT play together. There was a revolving door in and out of "time out". I was about ready to put Ian down 2 hours early for his nap when they finally started to play together. They were in the study laughing and giggling. I was about 20 feet away on the couch enjoying a chance to veg out in front of the TV for a few minutes knowing that I would soon have to put my black and white striped ref suit back on. After 20 minutes I decided I should go see what was going on. For one brief moment I experienced the pit of frustration, but then I just started laughing. I took some pictures. I then politely declined Owen's offer of "assistance".

Are you Serious?

A few nights ago Owen and I went to see Monster Trucks at Qualcomm stadium. We went last year with our friend Doug Small and his son Jon. It is quite an experience. That stadium is completely packed, it is incredibly loud, and the demolition derby is hilarious! My favorite experience of the night was having Owen look up at me anytime anything exciting happened and say "ARE YOU SERIOUS?".

Force Field

There have been a lot of challenges in raising a 3 and a half year old boy. One thing that has made it a lot easier is the force field that surrounds Owen's bed. When it is bedtime and we put him in - he never ever gets out. The only time that this force field "backfires" is when something falls out of bed. Say, for instance, a book that he was reading falls out of bed onto the floor. Owen's bed is on a box spring on the floor, so he is only about 18 inches above the floor. Despite this, he will not reach down to grab the book. It might as well be floating in a pool of lava. He will scream out for us to come get it for him. But I would rather have it this way....

It kind of reminds me of the stories I have heard about hypnotizing a chicken by drawing a line with a piece of chalk from their beak outward. They won't move....