Triplets head to the reunion day 3

As I mentioned yesterday I got to bed around 1am. The CFO and I agreed ahead of time that Saturday morning was mine and she would take Sunday morning. So when Jackson started SCREAMING DADDY!, DADDY!, DADDY! at 5:30 AM EST I was called to duty. I sprung into action.... ran to their bedroom from loft we were sleeping in and grabbed Jackson. By this time Addison and William were standing up in their cribs. I quickly told Addison and William to lay back down, we were going back to sleep. Jackson and I then slept on the bed in their room. I got another two hours of sleep!

Did I mention the hotel we were staying in had 60 rooms out for a soccer tournament. Not just any tournament but a teenage girl soccer tournament. We all headed to breakfast around 8:30am. God was on my side and we found a table. Everyone had a great breakfast and no one got trampled which was no small miracle.

We headed to a family cookout at my High School's gym for lunch. It was neat being back. I had a great time fielding questions from everyone. Here were two of my favorite questions and my answers....

Q: Where are you working?
A: At home.

Q: What is their age difference?
A: About three minutes.

We decided to leave before a melt-down could occur. When we got back to the hotel room I put the "Service Later" sign on the door and we put the kids down for a nap. The CFO and I also went down for a nap. Ten minutes later the maid started knocking. She said we needed to use the "No Service" sign. I wanted to say "If you ignored the service later sign why should I think you would pay attention to the no service sign. Yep, you guessed it... Addison and Jackson woke up. I entertained them around the hotel property while the CFO and William caught some shut eye. Two is VERY manageable, it is the third one that pushes you over the edge:)

Once William and the CFO got up we went over to my best friends house only to have Addison and Jackson fall asleep as we turned onto his road. So we all stood around the van and talked for an hour while they slept. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the main function of the reunion, dinner and dancing.

We met my friends that I was with on Friday night and headed to the dinner. The CFO decided to leave early (I don't blame her) and me and the guys were going to take a cab. A few hours later we decided to walk back to one of their houses. It was not a unanimous decision but we had a great time walking. It only took about 20 - 30 minutes and it was only in the 40s that night:) This is something I did often in High School, College and even after College. As long as you live through it those times become great memories. Heck, in college it was not uncommon for me and some others to walk home even when it was ten miles or more.

I finally got back to the hotel and in bed around 2am. The funniest comment of the night?

You don't dress like a stay at home Dad!

Here is a picture of me and my fellow walkers for the night. Sorry, no pictures of the kids:)

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
George F. Will (1941 - )

Al

The Triplets head to the reunion - days 1 and 2

We have had quite a bit of experience traveling with our Triplets but it keeps changing as they get older. This time we had a total drive time of about nine hours. We decided to break it up and stay with some friends that were only six hours away. We left Thursday after picking up the trio from their day out program. We drove straight through, no stops. They did GREAT!



Of course they were wound up when we got to our friends' house:) The Triplets did a great job going to sleep as usual. The CFO and I got to visit and catch up with our friends until around midnight. Much to my dismay the kids woke up at 5:30 am EST. Since we live in CST this was VERY early. Oh well, hope for the best but plan for the worst they say. Addison had a nice surprise for me around 7am - a blow out. Luckily she had on long pants but unluckily for me I did not notice until it was too late. Nothing new:) She does not like going poopie sitting down so she held it the previous day I guess. It went up and out the back as well as both sides. Anything worth doing is worth doing right I guess:)


We decided to drive around town and see the places we use to live. We then ate pizza at our favorite pizza place before hitting the road to my home town. Of course I promptly put the left-over pizza on the roof and drove off. Consistency is the key to my life:)



Friday night my parents watched the kids while the CFO went over to a friend's house and I met up with some guys from High School. It is amazing all the funny (not always funny at the time mind you, but they are very funny now) stories that I had forgotten about High School. Here is a VERY brief synopsis of some of them:

• On spring break we ran from cops with someone that is now a preacher. He stopped running, the rest of us got caught, at gun point and got frisked. Don't worry, the nice officers actually ended up giving us a ride back to the party.
• New Years Eve party (not at my house) where a dining room table was broken (subsequently put back together by yours truly and another great friend) a piece of silver service was crushed, and red clay was all over the beige carpets.
• One of my nicknames was "Charter." Don't ask, I won't tell:)
• A very good friend jumped out of a 2nd story window while at the beach. He was sleepwalking and thought the house was on fire. No injuries.
• While meeting up for a pick-up tackle football game (we did that in our teens and 20's, it is no bueno in your 30's) one friend decided to park his Cutlass by doing a hockey slide into a parking spot. Too bad there was another friend already standing there. After a short flight and a tough landing he was VERY mad but OK.

After shooting pool for a few hours Friday night two of us then went to a casual reunion get-together for "a little while." We ended up there till after midnight. I finally got to bed around 1am.

I know, I know, you are like "shut it and show pictures of the kids." So here they are and a picture of our first house that was and still is a whopping 850 square feet. Also pictured is the kids' first experience with super bounce balls, Addison and I dancing, then Addison and I giving the boys a talking to:)

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Al

Great reunion but a bad homecoming

All five of us went back to my hometown for my 20th High School reunion this past weekend. We had a great time. I will post more about this later this week. But we came home to find a pink envelope taped (on all four sides) to our front door. I was surprised it did not take the tape off when I removed it. The note below is what was inside.

I have some observations....

1. Sarcasm in a note such as this is not funny. I almost always appreciate sarcasm but this makes me want throw bologna on your car.

2. Do not tape ANYTHING to a painted door. Ever heard of vandalism?

3. Nice job assuming the worst. I guess if one of my children cried you would call Social Services on me as I must be abusing them.

4. Nice passive aggressive behavior.... not even signing the note. I have half the mind, that is all I have, to walk door to door and ask all the neighbors if they wrote it.

5. If you are going to do all the above things please, please, write a note that at least sounds like you were sober when you wrote it. What do foxes have to do with any of this?

By the way, we paid a friend to house sit for the weekend. The dog was out one night as he would not come in for her. But she was up till 1 or 2 and did not hear anything.

Gotta love people:)

Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it.

Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)

Al

Pumpkins!

The Triplets got their first interactions with pumpkin carving this year. Addison would not put her hand in it but Jackson and William LOVED helping the CFO gut them.

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.

Jack Handey (1949 - ), Deep Thoughts

Al

When cows do a drive-by

The Triplets want you to go vote

No, I do not really care who gets elected President. As with most years we are stuck choosing who we dislike less than the other person. But I do believe that we need to vote no matter how much we don't like the choices. And PLEASE don't tell me you dislike one or the other because they lie. They are Politicians - they lie. Heck, we all lie, so shut it:) Oh, then you have the "well they were endorsed by...." or "they have been associated with...." I have my 20th High School Reunion this month. I would hate to be judged today by what I did back then, in college, or heck, maybe even last month:) Both sides have nut-jobs, wackos, and other "true-believers" that are backing them. Plus now you can't even count on Republicans to balance the budget or to have a smaller government so it is a tie there too. As our preacher said "if you put your faith in anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ and the Lord you are bound to be disappointed."

What do I want out of this election? Just tell me what stocks to buy depending on who wins so I can have enough money to pay for the kid's college and be self-sufficient in my later years.

Jackson looking for new ways to get hurt:)

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'
Ronald Reagan
40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

Al

Don't the Triplets know about Day Light Savings?

OK, I have done my best to explain to the kids that they "can" sleep in now that Day Light Savings Time is in effect. But to no avail. They now wake up at 6am instead of 7am. I know they will eventually get back on schedule but right now this is messing up my mojo:)

The kids brought in a good haul on Halloween. If you are not familiar with Birmingham it is VERY hilly. We had some friends come over with their two kids and we all went trick or treating. We were out for two hours and hit about 15 houses. When we lived in Texas we could have hit 15 houses in about 30 minutes. The kids did great and only once did I have a "talking to" with one of the kids, Jackson.

Our neighborhood was packed with kids. I still don't get the whole deal where the parents follow the kids around in their car. OK, I will assume that they want to be part of the event but they are not physically able to do all the walking. So the kids got their first (and last for a while) taste of chocolate. Addison liked it so much she would not swallow it until there was nothing left. Chocolate drool is a thing to behold:)

The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
Hubert H. Humphrey (1911 - 1978)


Al