Yes I am aware that this is overdue and as a result will be really long....

I could sit here and try to think of all of the reasons why I have been neglecting my blogging duties, but that would just delay this even longer, so instead you are going to get the rapid fire picture update! I need to get up to date so that I can devote an entire post to the awesomeness that was our Easter Egg hunt, but before we get there, lets go back to:

Chuck-E-Cheese
     Owen earned all smiley faces at school for two consecutive weeks, and so that seemed like a good reason to expose our entire family to the disease infested confines of our local Chuck-E-Cheese. This may have been the greatest moment of Owen's life to this point.

 We hadn't told him where we were going, but once we were in the parking lot he was very hopeful...

 If he knew how many germs and gross stuff were floating around in here he might not be so excited.

 This was the first "game" that caught his attention, can't say I am surprised.

 Some of the games were challenging, but he got the hang of it.

 What would a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese be without skiball?

 He ended up with a pretty good score, I almost didn't beat him!

 These two player games were fun...

 A chance for me to instruct the boy in Video Game tactics!

 Then there was a break for some climbing...

 After a dinner of discustingly cheap pizza, this little machine drew a picture of Owen and Mommy

 Ta-da!

 Not too bad for only one token.

 This game was tough, you had to try to keep the ball in the green zone...

 But the green zone  kept shrinking and moving!

 Air Hockey was a big hit...

 As was a shooting game with Papa...

 But this side by side racing game was the best thing of the night!

 There was some serious racing going on here...no really, I barely managed to come from behind to win!

 At the end of the night it was time to count the tickets!!!

 Is their a greater machine in the world than the ticket counting machine?

Of course you can't get anything good for 85 tickets, so we are saving them for the next time we go.

A Secret Surprise

My darling wife has gotten sneaky as of late. 2 months before my birthday she saw a deal for a River Cruise along the river in DC, and so she started making plans for a birthday surprise. We went on the Saturday before my birthday, and while I am usually pretty good at figuring out her surprises, I was clueless until I saw the docks. (She picked a great weekend to go because it was the last weekend of the Cherry Blossom festival and the day of the parade, so that is where I thought we were going.) As excited as I was about going out on the river, Owen was beside himself with excitement.

 We got to the docks a little early, so there was some time for exploring

 Owen and Papa were both pretty excited about going out on the river

 While walking along the dock we saw the rescue boat. Owen started waving and got the firefighters on board to wave back!

 Finally our Buoyancy Operated Aquatic Transport, or BO-AT for short pulled in and it was our turn!

(If you don't watch Phineas and Ferb, you don't get that...if you do watch, "Don't open the Metropolitan Oval Aquatic Trench!!!!"

 We have so many pictures that look just like this one - he could not get over the fact that we were on the water.

 This moment caught in time doesn't quite capture the entire essence of the boy jumping up and down squealing with delight about being on a boat.

 Look how pleased she is with herself...and how pleased I am to be on a boat!!

 Serious picture with Papa...

 Serious picture with Mommy...

 And that is enough....

 no more serious!

 This is a picture of us taken by the boy...he is getting pretty good.

 He got this great idea to climb up the incline and then jump off, at first holding on to the railing...

 Then one hand...

 Then no hands!!

 Lucky reflexes...he was about to eat it here...

 Does this make you think,  "I'm King of the World?" Well, this is the Titanic Memorial erected in the 1930's by the citizens of DC, and it was the inspiration for that scene in the movie. 

 

 Owen trying his hand at the "King of the World" bit.

 Owen was very curious about the design of the boat, it was not like any other he had seen before.

 So I got to explain to him the benefits of a Catamaran...which I pretty much made up on the spot, but he'll never know...

 There were so many things to see, and Owen wanted to know what everything was...

 Washington and Jefferson Monument (It was a cold and nasty weekend, so most of the blossoms were gone, oh well...I was on a boat.)

 Super Cute!!

 Family Picture!!

 The Washington Monument is above Owen's head.

 This is a look of what was left of the blossoms along the Tidal Basin

Not as impressive as years past, but it is still nice to be downtown!

My Birthday

This April 12th marked the 150th Anniversary of the Confedracy opening fire on Fort Sumter, starting the Civil War, the 56th Anniversary of FDR's death, the 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space, and my 32nd Birthday. We had done most of our celebrating on the weekend, but you should never have to cook on your birthday, so we went out to eat.

 Here I am checking out the menu...

 While the boy is perusing through the wine list...what good taste!

 I know that it isn't cake, but a giant Oreo ice cream sandwich is just plain good.

 Yup...that's my son

 Owen is very interested in Birthday Cards, he would prefer if they were for him, but this is close enough.

 And you have to read all the words, including the note that is written, and he knows if you try to skip any.

 Squishy Face!!!

 I did get some presents, some t-shirts that the boy picked out for me, an ankle brace and a new popcorn popper.

Oh, and the book that my wife alluded to. If you like fantasy books, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Bryan Sanderson (Jordan died before he finished, so Sanderson is finishing the story for him) is a great series.

T-Ball

Yes I did forget the camera on the first day of T-ball. The boy was excited, and I was trying to be sure that we had everything that he would need. It turns out that my son is "That Kid," you know, the one that every coach rolls their eyes when they see him on their team. (Okay, it really isn't that bad, it is just that Owen is the youngest kid, and has never played, while some of the other kids have.) I did remember the camera for the second practice.

 Doing some stretching...he's got this down, he can practically bend himself in half.

 Jumping Jacks are the funniest thing in the world to watch little kids do...

 So the Boy can make it to first base...

 But only sometimes. They were supposed to run to first, and then second. Owen took about six steps toward first and then turned to second...yup, "That Kid"

 Coach is very patient and ran around with Owen.

 

 While his base running may have issues, he really likes the bat. (Who doesn't?)

 He won't listen to me when I try to help him, but he listens to Coach, isn't that how it always is?

 Good Job Buddy!

 We worked for weeks at home on his throwing and got nowhere, but two practices and he is doing fine.

 He likes to take any moment he can find to be silly!

Randomness

And what would any good post be without some random pictures of the boy being random?