We decided to take a quick holiday out-of-town this week during the kid’s spring break.
Here are a few pics that captured our adventures.
We stopped in Orlando, not for Disney World this time, but Sea World.
I found a hotel close to the fun..
The hotel offered some fun too.
But not like Sea World….
Funny thing happened on the blog today.
If you are like me, you check your stats regularly.
If you have two kids in your blog and are like me, you check to see what the ‘Clicks‘ are that get clicked on each day.
Today I had a bit of a surprise.
The first Click was on the poem Hug O’ War, from Shel Silverstein’s book ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’. That poem, along with Snowball, from our past Bedtime Stories, are popular or common searches that lead people to my blog in 3D.
(take a look to the right and see)
Now, want to see a coincidence?
I clicked on the other ‘Click‘ to see what else someone clicked at….
See the resemblance?
Moral of the story….
Come to 3D and get you some Hugs!
Ourlifein3D is filled with Hugs.
And so why don’t you give someone you care about a big fat Hug today?
I know there are some people in Virgina tonight that could use some hugs.
Think about VA
‘Hug it’ Forward.
Surprise someone you love.
Its a lot better world when it is filled with Hugs than Tugs
Cause I would rather play at Hug O’ War…
… where everyone cuddles
and everyone wins.
Hi Gang!
Happy Weekend everyone!
Can you believe it? The summer is dwindling down and slipping away..
We were tying up some last family type things before the first week of school.
Last week Mom’s work had another great Family / Employee appreciation day. Her company always does a great job in making a nice outing on a Saturday. So we got all dressed up for the event.
The day was filled with fun; fun video games, fun with waterslides…
Even fun with a Talent Competition….
We had to cool down with a great Sno Ball, ahh, Sno Cone
Now when I was a kid peddling sno balls with my friend in our wagon we never gave out straws with the sno balls. Here, Skye just heads right for the syrup with her straw. If we would have handed out straws when I was a kid we could have charged for refills or had a lot more business!
The following Sunday we decided to cool off in the pool with one of our ‘soon to be famous’ Cannonball Competitions!
We had a lot of fun splashing the water out of the pool.
Yes, the pool. It’s been a long hard fight (working with contractors is a nightmare!) to get this pool up and running this summer. But it’s finally ready to use and enjoy.
She’s waited a long time for her pool…and her magic carpet ride
It looks like the pool is finally coming alive. And this is one of my favorite retreats now at night…
Hiding beneath the water, watching the cascading lights on both the floor of the pool and the ceiling of the water. Swimming peacefully alone at night has been such an escape; refreshing, relaxing and rewarding. If you are looking for me after dark (and the kids go are in bed) you might find me here.
Monday then was the first day of school! Yayyyy!
Dylan was ready……
Her ‘Bunny’ travels everywhere with her evidently..
Poor Skylar had a fever of 104 though and sat out her two first days. But after several trips to the doctors we got her feeling better and with that fun smile on her face.
Happy first day of Kindergarten Skylar!
And YOUR beginning of a great scholastic career too!
Only 16 more years till I can retire…..
Happy Weekend everyone!
Don’t forget to dance and have fun like no one is watching!
A four letter word for Family
There was a time, not to very long ago, that Valentine’s Day meant vacation. We didn’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day too much at our house. No, no Valentine’s Day here!
You see she’s allergic to flowers. We still have tons of chocolate leftover from Christmas. And what better gift of love could there be where you can celebrate it close to the equator wearing as little as possible in the dead cold of winter?
But now we have two adorable little girls and we hafta gladly exchanged a trip to the tropics for smiles on our cherubs faces.
No contest!
Vacation? Not so much now. This morning, after I handed out all the Valentine’s cards to the ladies in my family, I was unexpectedly ambushed on my bed with two wide-eyed girls. They jumped and body slammed their dear ol’ Dad until I was forced to defend myself. I subsequently wrestled them into submission and then tickled them until they begged for mercy.
And then we did it all over again!
But all these Valentine’s Day shenanigans did not suddenly Sprout up Valentine’s Day. Saturday was just the culmination of a week-long Valentine’s Day of love shared in our family. My girls probably had a pent-up need to release and share their kind of Valentine’s spirit by jumping on dear ol’ Dad….
Monday:
Valentine’s Week began with CHOCOLATE! Mommy made a chocolate fondue for our girls, a Christmas present from this past Christmas.
Happy Valentine’s Day Week girls!
The truth is Mommy had to go out-of-town for a few days on business and this was her way of bonding with the kids before she snuck out in the wee hours of the morning the next day.
Don’t worry girls, you are stuck with left in Dad’s capable hands. Try not to get him in trouble!
Tuesday:
With Mom out-of-town I needed to come up with some kind of dinner for the girls we decided to have OUR Valentine’s Day Dinner Date at our favorite restaurant, Carrabba’s. I told the girls if they behaved themselves in Mommy’s absence they could have dessert.
Angels now
The idea had a coupla merits, besides getting Daddy out of the kitchen after a long day at work. 1) YOU do NOT want to go out for a Valentine’s dinner on Valentine’s Day or weekend. Speaking as an ex-restaurant manager it is very hard to create a memorable dining experience with chaos going on in the busiest day all year in a restaurant. 2) Bribing my kids for good behavior usually seems to work. Hurray for Dad’s parenting skills!
Daddy is such a push over…
Wednesday:
Wednesday night turned into Movie Date Night for my two precious Valentines. I took them to the movies (in our home cinema) to see their most recent favorite movie, Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Why is this their favorite movie now you ask?
It’s because they know all the words to the songs by now and get to sing out LOUD to the songs like Pina Colada, and they get to dance their crazy dances with Dad at the beginning and the end of the movie:
Lots of fun!
Thursday:
Thursday saw the return of Mom from out-of-town but also Valentine’s Gifts appear in the mail. Mom took a back seat to the girls opening their gifts and reading their Valentine’s Cards. They were so enthralled evidently that they didn’t take time to read the instructions…
No, the other way…
They absolutely loved their gifts in the mail (some Valentine’s jewelry) and the sentiments behind the cards from their grandparents admirers.
What does yours say? Did you get any money?
Friday:
Valentine’s Day Eve our nanny called off I decided to take a very special day off from work to spend with my two lovely Valentines. I took them to a Valentine’s Brunch at Chic-fil-a (oh how they hate that place!). Dylan, my ultra perceptive oldest child and well on to my parenting skills asks, “If we are good can we get dessert?”
Me: (sigh)
yea, Dad likes dessert too. I have trained them well!
Pause:
Did you ever notice these at Chic-fil-a? They recycle their Styrofoam cups? I really have mixed feelings about this attempt at Reuse…
I wonder who else has used my cup?
Later that day, during nap time, I had a very important doctor’s appointment. We ALL ended up celebrating with dinner that night!
We went to our favorite pizza joint followed by their favorite ice cream parlor.
OK, it was a celebration, maybe not THEIR celebration, but one just the same.
We invited a neighbor who has selfishly help me wash my car the last two or three weekends. Funny thing, we found out he is grounded, he said, due his grades (sounds really familiar) so his parents won’t let him go out with his friends….. but they did with me and my family…. 🙂 . But he is a great young man and this old man welcomes his help anytime!
We all had a great time, at now the end of a special week, so this Valentine’s party really started to build and the craziness took off…
Gosh, I really look young there, don’t I?
…all ending up with my getting walloped in bed this morning as my two Valentines clobbered me as I ‘peacefully’ rested in bed.
So Valentine’s Day recap for my sweethearts:
Chocolate
Dinner Date
Movie Night Date
Valentine’s cards and gifts (jewelry)
Valentine’s Brunch
Wrestle with your Valentine(s) Valentine’s Day
Check, check, check, check, check!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!
Oh, my doctor’s visit?
It was with my Urologist. It was my quarterly check-up to test the PSA’s in my blood, the detection for cancer used. For the record my PSA’s have now gone down from a 7.5 pre-cancer operation to .03 as of yesterday. While I was thinking this may be my last appointment, the my Urologist wants to milk my insurance company see me one more time to see if my PSA can get to a .02, which was his goal.
But!
My PSA continued to lower hence my post last night and the reward this morning:
To those one of you who guessed the donut reward for a positive doctor’s visit, Congratulations! And Thanks for following so closely to 3D.
I have a FREE one year subscription to my blog for your grand prize!
Now here is a question for you, for all of you out there that ask the question, “What can I get my loved one for Valentine’s Day that is something different but still something they will like very much?”
Well my Doctor U. had the answer to that!
While I was waiting to be seen at the end of the day I could vaguely hear my doctor in the room beside mine go over his patient’s options enough to hear the words Viagra and Sample and Valentine’s Day all in the same sentence. Hmmmm…
What a thoughtful Valentine’s gift, or gesture I thought to myself
….not that I need any for Valentine’s Day! Having the time to spend with the ones I love after my cancer scare is living enough for me! But I did like this doctor’s beside manner…
Yes, Valentine’s Day, my lovely girls in my life, and Dunkin Donuts keep me running!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!
I hope it is a great, big and long-lasting one with lots of memories for each one of you!
(Do Not Disturb)
I just finished breaking an entire package of Christmas Oreos into teeny-tiny pieces……I say with a sneer. I’ll keep Christmas from coming this year!
Its true, I just wasted an entire package of Oreos. Well, not really ‘wasted’. We’ll get back to them. But it is one of my Holiday Traditions.
We are nearing that time of year when we prepare our holiday Christmas traditions; traditions we all cherish over the years. I know every one has their own traditions. I wanted to share some of our favorites.
First is our holiday Warm Spiced Wine. Hot spiced wine is an easy and festive way to celebrate the season. It can be made ahead of time and served by the glass to visiting family and friends. I actually got this recipe from the Flemming’s Steakhouse a few years back. The wine is great if it is cold outside. Plus, it fills your rooms with a very aromatic holiday scent for the evening. This recipe is Flemming’s Vin Brule.
You will need: 1 orange, sliced and seeded
½ cup of sugar
1 cup of tea or water
3-4 cloves
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 bottle of red wine – they recommend a light fruity wine like a Pinot Noir
Simply combine the orange, sugar, water or tea, and spices in a stainless steel pot. Slowly bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the wine and slowly reheat but do NOT boil. Strain and serve. 
In Italy they say wine enhances any meal or mood. Our tradition is to enjoy the spiced wine Christmas eve; after church, after the kids go to bed. Plus the warm cinnamon fills the house with a traditional smell. I pour a coupla glasses, make a fire, and watch “A Christmas Story”.
That’s one of ours traditions, whether for the two of us or a festive gathering with friends or family.
Another tradition we have enjoyed is a train under the tree. We still get a real tree. I love the smell of one! The train we use has been passed down from my father, a 1963 Lionel. It is one of the fond memories from my childhood, hoping to pass it on to our kids.
Although Dylan asks me tonight, “Why do you get the train out Daddy if you never run it”. OK, so I try to protect the train. It may run a total of 10 minutes the whole month of December. I told her “Well I got the other pieces out (Dickens village) and how many got broke this year? (we always have some casualties with the youngungs roaming around) She thought that did make sense.
It has evolved into a nice Dept. 56 Dickens Village beneath the tree. We picked up a piece or two each year when we were first married, including the 12 Days Of Christmas pieces. My hope is the girls cherish this as much, when they get older, as I did when I was a kid. Take a look at our living room: transformation
After opening the gifts Christmas morning I always make a French Toast brunch. The thing that makes this breakfast special is the batter we use is actually egg nog (think about it). The egg nog makes a great, thick coating and we can drink the balance with our meal. Mmmmmm! Add in some bacon and some warm buttery blueberry syrup and you might just skip the opening of presents and head right to Brunch.
Christmas dinner has usually consisted of the baked ham. My family travels a great distance for the dessert though for my homemade Oreo Mint ice 
cream. I make it from a Ben & Jerry’s recipe. The broken up Oreos and mint ice cream could be the most perfect after dinner dessert! This is the best stuff!
The mint has a soothing feeling after a big dinner. Plus the decadence of homemade ice cream satisfies any gluttonous urges. 
An alternate dessert, if you are simply too full after Christmas dinner, is my Raspberry Alexander. I actually made this favorite way back when I was a bartender in my 20’s. It’s a shot of Chambord, plus a shot of milk and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream swirled together in a blender. Pour in an up glass and top with a sprinkle of nutmeg. If you don’t want to wait that long, simply pour some Chambord over a heap of vanilla ice cream in a bowl. 
I grew up with leaving our opened Christmas gifts beneath the tree for a few days. It still seems festive that way to me. My wife likes to put the gifts away right away, clearing the mess and making some room. We dispute who is correct each year.
So, I want to ask you,
which do you do on Christmas?
Do you put your gifts away that day or leave them out a few days longer?
Please settle this for us.
And I invite you to share some of your treasured Christmas traditions in the comments! Especially if they are vastly different from ours. No one’s is right or wrong.
Because Christmas, perhaps, doesn’t come from a store. Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
OUR LIFE IN 3D 