Funnel Cakes - and not at the State Fair

The Good Wife is so nice.  The boys had some friends sleep over a little while back, and she asked the boys what they wanted for breakfast.  One mentioned funnel cakes.  Laughing to myself about the ever so low probability of that happening, I was set back when the Good Wife said, "OK."  What?  Funnel cakes?  We won't eat until this afternoon.  They can't be easy.  Or can they?

A quick search online for a recipe and the Good Wife was off, making batter in our Vita-Mix blender.  Oil into a frying pan to get heated up to temperature, and she was on her way to funnel cakes.

Using a liquid measuring cup to pour the dough into the oil to give it the familiar tangled web look of the familiar funnel cakes at the state fair, the Good Wife was in business.  Soon the kids were going to eat a Saturday morning breakfast like nothing they had eaten before.  At least not for breakfast!

In no time she had funnel cakes for all, with the familiar powdered sugar on top.  What kid, or husband,  wouldn't think that she is the BEST MOM/WIFE EVER!?!

Meat Chicken Update

It has been a long time since my last post, but it hasn't been because of a lack of things happening around here. On the contrary, so much has been happening, that by the time the boys are in bed and I have some it to write, I am usually ready for bed myself.

As soon as the meat chicken tractor was complete, I took off to China for a couple weeks for work, right when the Red Rangers were supposed to arrive. This left my partner in poultry, Scott, responsible for the initial stages of the chickens, which didn't start out as anticipated.

Scott made sure he talked to the post office and let them know that the chicks were coming. Although when Saturday arrived, he didn't receive a call. Hmmm. A call to the hatchery, and we found out that the chicks had been shipped to the wrong zip code. Oops. Since they couldn't be shipped again, the hatchery told the post office to give them to someone, anyone, and he would ship ours again the following week.

The morning came, and soon after the phone call, Scott went and picked up the package. What was originally agreed upon of 50 chicks, turned into 76 to get the price break discount, and due to the mix-up with the address, the hatchery sent us 102 chicks to make up for it! Little bundles of fluff!

Scott made a nice brooder in his shed to house the little Red Rangers until they got older and the weather got warmer. It didn't take long for them to get feathers and get into that awkward teen-age phase.

After almost four weeks, it was time for them to move to the chicken tractor in the pasture at my house. A quick ride in a dog crate in the back of a pickup, and they were in their new home. Although first we had to get the chicken tractor into the pasture. We didn't think that far into the future. Four men and a quick lift and shuffle and the chicken tractor was in the pasture.

It didn't take long for the chickens to get used to their new home and think they were in the circus on the high wire.

Several weeks more and we are now at today. Feeding and watering the chickens every morning and evening, moving the tractor every evening, and letting them free-range in the pasture when we are around to keep an eye on them.

 

They are growing and enjoying the clover in the pasture. Running through the flowers.

Look at the meat in these birds!

 

Two more weeks and it will be butcher day. My BIL from Knoxville will be visiting, along with another BIL from the DC area, Scott, myself and the Oldest Son.


Stay tuned to learn how our first meat chicken experience will end. What a way to spend Memorial Day weekend with the family!

Small Town Christmas

There are some things that just make you warm and fuzzy during the Christmas season, especially in a small town.  Goochland county was having its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the local YMCA, so the Good Wife, the three boys and myself headed down to participate.

We got there a few minutes later than the official starting time so the tree was already lit and there were carolers signing around the tree.  Before heading over to the tree, we had to check out the activities around the parking lot.

First there were a few fire pits for making s'mores.  Next to the fire pits was a table with zip-lock bags filled with individual s'more making ingredients, including two graham crackers, a piece of Hershey's chocolate and one jumbo marshmallow.  After making our s'mores, we headed over to the hot chocolate line, which was also the cookie line.  (If some sugar is good for the kids, then more sugar must be better!)

Then in the distance we could hear the sirens of a fire truck.  It wasn't just blowing the siren now and then, it was running them full blast, and they were getting closer!  And then they pulled into the parking lot.

Nobody was burned from the fire pits or falling into a coma from sugar overdose.  This is how Santa arrives in Goochland!  He then went over to the Christmas tree and allowed all the little boys and girls to sit on his lap and let him know what they wanted for Christmas.

My kids let me know they are all "too old" to sit on Santa's lap.  They have never been too enamored of Santa, the Easter Bunny or any of those other fantasy characters.  Although we do have the "Tooth Angel" in our house.  I don't think they really believe it, but they play along with us because they end up with cash as long as the game keeps going.

Then we headed over to the craft table and the Middle Son and Youngest Son made a mitten craft relating to the book "The Mitten" by Jan Brett.  One more pass by the s'mores table to realize they were all gone before heading home.  Everyone had a good time and enjoyed our small town Christmas celebration.

So close, but no deer yet...

Oldest son and I set up a tree stand in the woods behind our house, hoping to take advantage of all the deer we see in our back yard on the edge of the woods.  We know they come out quite a bit because the apple trees we planted last fall have felt the wrath of hungry deer.  Another reason to turn the tables and put the deer ON the table. I wonder if the meat will have a hit of apple flavor?

The Oldest Son and I have taken turns in the tree stand.  He has taken some of the week day evenings since he gets home from school in time to get up in the stand and the hunting time is over by the time I get home from work.  I get the Saturdays and an occasional weekday morning.

Oldest Son in the tree stand with the muzzle loader.

Last Saturday was the first day of shotgun/rifle season in Goochland.  But we are still using the muzzle loader since I feel that we need to get at least one deer with the new gun to make it worth while.

There were quite a few hunters out and about in the woods behind our house so I figured they may push some of the deer towards our house.  Positioned in the tree stand a few hours before closing time for the day, I sat quietly, anxiously awaiting a deer to pass by the tree stand.  Sitting, waiting, sitting quietly, waiting patiently.  Nothing.  Then at about 5pm footsteps could be heard behind me.  I was upwind from the deer and it was to my back, so I could only sit and wait for it to pass by and then try to take a shot.  Unfortunately, what sounded like about 15 feet behind me, the deer spooked, probably smelling me and ran off to my right where I couldn't get turned for a shot.

And that was the end of the day.  I've lost track of how many times Oldest Son has gone out, but I am now 0-4 on my hunting attempts.  No trophy buck is necessary, any deer will do.  A young doe will have better tasting meat anyways.  I have all the training, now I just need an unaware deer.  Do you think there are any of those deer out there?  Time will tell, the season ends January 7th.

Happy Thanksgiving

This post is being written Tuesday morning during the 13-1/2 hour of a 14 hour road trip from Virginia to Wisconsin.  We are heading up to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family where I grew up in SE Wisconsin.  The kids have done great and the Good Wife is currently in command of the ship allowing me time to write.

I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.  We all have so much to be thankful for, particularly if you live in the USA.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in everything that is going wrong, that we forget about everything that is right.  Take a few minutes and think of everything you are thankful for.  It is a great way to start of this national day of Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Time

October is pumpkin time.  So off we went and headed up to Carter Mountain Orchard.  Not only do they have great apples, they also pumpkins this time of year and a whole lot of festival every weekend.  It took us about 45 minutes to get up the road to the orchard, but parking was quick and they really know how to process a lot of people.  

After the three sons each picked a pumpkin, we picked a few apples, bought an apple cider slushy for each of us, and a dozen apple sauce doughnuts.  Being gastronomically satisfied, we headed home.  

First step is to cut open the top and get the guts out.  We weren't prepared to roast the seeds like we have in the past, so the Good Wife figured the chickens and guinea would enjoy the spoils of their work.

The initial processing took place down by the Chicken Condo and Guinea Ghetto so the ladies wouldn't have to go far from home to get the goods.  It took a couple days to finish it all, but they seemed to really enjoy the pumpkin inners.

Once the inside was cleaned out, each of the boys sat down to work their artistic magic on their pumpkins.

Oldest son went for a traditional face.  The triangle eyes and the fanged smile looking back at him as he worked his magic.

Middle Son used sticks on the sides to add arms to his pumpkin.  He made a traditional face on one side and a more modern robot face on the other side.

Youngest son went to work and cut multiple face on the his pumpkin, if you can call them faces.  There were eyes, a mouth and what appeared to be a lot of extra wounds on the pumpkin face.  I guess he was going for the scary look with his pumpkin.

For some reason a final photo was never taken of the pumpkins.  They are still on the patio to enhance our fall atmosphere, but they are slightly wrinkled and somewhat compressed as they have not handled the heat of the midday sun very well.  Carving pumpkins is a fond memory of mine growing up, and I hope it passes down to my boys.

Virginia State Fair

Originally being from Wisconsin, the state fair is a huge spectacle with all sorts of food being the focus of the event.  Some of these foods are corn on the cob, grilled in the husk, then peeled back and dipped in an old coffee can full of melted butter, ten sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Another is the hand made cream puffs that are made inside a refrigerated building you walk through to get your creamy delight, enjoying not only the sweets, but also the cool temperatures.  And of course, there is the brat.  If you say it while you are pinching your nose closed, you will get the nasally accent that a true Cheesehead will have as they order up their brat, with or without kraut.

So the Virginia state fair rolled into town and we got a great deal on season passes through Groupon.  Have I mentioned how addictive Groupon is?  Car detailing, restaurant deals, and now the state fair!  Some friends of our grabbed the deal on Groupon along with us, so it was off we go!

This year we made it to the fair for two days.  We had the season passes, so we had to use them more than once.  The first trip I convinced all the people involved, five kids and three other adults, including The Good Wife, to check out the animal pavilions before going on the rides.  Partly because I don't like the rides, and partly because I wanted everyone to get a real feed of what a fair is all about.  Although I did take a photo of the kids on the display board simulating a roller coaster!

We checked out the chickens, the ducks, got a bucket of mini donuts, looked at all the displays of vegetables that were entered into the competitions, watched a cow judging, which I have no idea what the judge is looking for.  Of course some time was spent with the kids climbing all over the farm tractors on display.  We also checked out the calving barn, and there was a newborn calf less than 24 hours old laying there next to its mama.

There was the arts and crafts pavilion, which wasn't appreciated by the kids, but the photos entered into the competitions were fun to look at.  By the time we looked at everything that wasn't a ride, it was time to go!  The only thing that kept the kids at bay, was a promise that we would come another day.  And so we did.

The next trip to the fair was all about the rides.  When I commented that we needed to check out the animal pavilions before going on the rides, I thought we were going to have a mutiny.  Off to the rides we went.

Each child got a wristband for unlimited rides.  From one ride to the next, watching them toss and turn, flip and fly and spin and roll.  My stomach was loosening up just watching them, and both of my feet were firmly planted on the ground.  After a little bit, they were hungry again, even though we had eaten at home before going to the fair.  So some french fries were bought and shared with the group.  Then more rides.  And more rides.  And...

Apparently french fries from a state fair and rides at a state fair don't mix.  At least not inside the stomach!  But after about a half hour, he was back at it and in the rides with the rest of the kids, and nothing left in his stomach.

Overall, we all had a great time at the VA state fair.  It isn't the size or food spectacular of the WI state fair, but it is still a lot of fun.  Of course, my favorite part is the animals, but I know the kids loved the rides!

20th Wedding Anniversary

August was a busy month.  Other than the Good Wife's family reunion, there was also the earthquake and the start of school.  But the big event was the Good Wife and my 20th wedding anniversary.  20 years!  That seems like such a long time ago.  It was three kids ago, two dogs ago, three houses ago, two states ago and about seven cars ago.

A little while before our anniversary, the Good Wife got one of those timeshare calls asking us to come and visit a resort in Williamsburg.  For our time, we would get two nights and three days in Williamsburg.  Why not?  It would only take 90 minutes of our time.

The weekend came and off we went, along with the three boys.  They joined us for the first night there since it was a Thursday night.  Friday morning, some friends met us part way and took them until Saturday evening.  The Good Wife and I were celebrating.  Now what?

You never know what you will see in when you get into a tourist infested area.

On the recommendation of a co-worker, we went to find Edward's Virginia Ham Shoppe.  We happened to come across one in Williamsburg and got a sandwich from their deli.  It was excellent.  They were friendly and kept offering us samples.  We could have stayed there and had a full meal.

But apparently that wasn't the original store.  We were on a quest.  The original Virginia Ham Shoppe was across the James River.  And the best way to get across the river is by the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry.

Although it looks foggy, it was smoke from the Great Dismal Swamp fire.  It was a nice ride across the river.  Something different.  Once on the other side, it was a few miles down the road and there was the original Ham Shoppe.

Surprisingly it was smaller than the other shop in Williamsburg.  We had such a good sandwich the day before, we decided to get another one for later.  We asked for the same sandwich we had at the first shop, and they wouldn't give it to us!  We wanted the pretzel bread but didn't want a hot sandwich.  They refused to make it for us.  They said they only make the pretzel bread in a hot sandwich.  We told them we had just had a cold sandwich with the pretzel bread the day before at the shop in Williamsburg, but they still refused.  I don't understand how stores can stay in business being that rude.  We selected a different bread, got our sandwich and headed back to the ferry.

Before getting back on the ferry, we stopped at a dollar store for some oyster crackers.  We wanted to feed the seagulls that followed the ferry.

They were everywhere.  And most of them were very talented and would catch them up in the air.  Several families came back to watch and we shared our crackers with the kids.  Everyone had fun.

Then it was time to go to our timeshare meeting.  We had no interest at any point, and were only fulfilling our obligation.  Three hours later, it was finally over.  Yes you read that right, three hours!  The only good thing was that our salesman took us on a drive through Williamsburg to show us the sights and told us a lot of the history of the area.  That was worth it, but that is about it.

We drove the entire Colonial National Historic Parkway.  It is a nice road through the woods between Jamestown, through Williamsburg and on to Yorktown.

We got to see the Yorktown Victory Monument and walk along the beach and have some ice cream.

Too soon it was time to head home.  We had fun, even though our "free" hotel was horrible  I don't even want to mention the name.  We had originally planned to go to Las Vegas and get our wedding vows renewed by Elvis.  We did that for our 10th anniversary and wanted to do it again, but that was when we were still living in Phoenix and much closer to Las Vegas.

I rented a tux, the Good Wife slipped back into her original wedding dress, and Elvis presided.  It was just the two of us and Elvis.  We had a lot of fun.  Who knows, maybe for our 30th!  I'm sure Elvis will still be alive and kicking in Las Vegas.

Family Reunion in West Virginia

None of the Good Wife's family is from West Virginia, not that there is anything wrong with being from West Virginia, I think, but it was a nice central location for everyone.  It was decided that Stonewall Resort was the place to go.  There were tent camping sites right on the water, RV sites with full hook-ups, multi-bedroom cabins and a full feature lodge and conference center.  It would work for everyone no matter what type of accommodations they wanted.

The day before heading out, I made the decision to take our ski boat with us.  We haven't used it in a few years, but I had just run it dry the week before checking to see how it ran, and everything seemed good.  It would be about five hours of towing a boat through the mountains of West Virginia.  Do I really want to do that?  After a little second guessing while getting ready, off we went.

We had a treat along the way.  We decided to stop at a small town along the way and have lunch.  We just happened to pick Durbin, WV.  Besides it being a really quaint town nestled in the mountains of West Virginia, they have an active railroad with a steam engine.  While we were having lunch, it just happened to come into the station across the street.  We might have to make a return visit during the fall colors to enjoy the train ride.

After finally getting to the resort, we got our campsite setup.  We had chosen to camp in a tent.  What I didn't mention, was that it was the beginning of August and it was still hot and humid.  The boys had fun, but we only lasted one night in the tent.  The Good Wife's parents were in one of the two bedroom cabins and her sister and family from Knoxville, including the Good BIL (Brother-In-Law) couldn't make it, so we gladly took their place in the cabin.

I can't say enough about the resort.  Included with the cabins and for only $14/day for each campsite, all the amenities were included.  That consisted of the pools, kayaks, canoes, activity center, fishing equipment, paddle boats.  You name it, they had it.  Not only that, a couple nights some storms rolled in, so we went to the lodge and asked if there was a room our family could use to play some games.  Several times they gave us a conference room at no cost!  They were very helpful and friendly.

Taking the boat turned out to be a good decision.  All the kids enjoyed it, and the lake the resort was located on, was narrow and winding with few boats, which meant lots of glass.  That's smooth water for you non-skiing people out there.

It didn't matter that it rained on us several times while out on the lake.  Glass is glass.  Get it while you can.  A few of the adults went out with us, but for the most part, I was the driver for the weekend and all the kids got an opportunity to go out behind the boat.

Oldest son got to kneeboard...

and wakeboard.

Youngest Son even got some time on the kneeboard and was able to get up on his knees and have some fun.

Even I got a little time behind the boat on the wakeboard when I could pull the Good Wife away from her family for a few moments.  I took the first run of the day and it was still a little foggy out, but the water was smooth!

This was the first day, so we still weren't exactly sure where the lake went, so it was a little nerve wracking trying to see the shore through the fog.

It was so calm that I even got a few runs barefooting.  Since it had been a few years since this body has been barefooting, I decided to stay on the boom and not go from the rope.

The Oldest Son had the most fun doing double kneeboards with one of his cousins.  Two boys, two kneeboards with two lines.  Good fun spraying each other and trying to push each other off.

Of course, when in West Virginia, a possum must be involved somehow.  One night while coming out of the lodge after playing some games, the kids saw a possum and chased it into the parking lot.  The possum was trying to get to the woods and the kids were trying to corner the possum.  From one car to another the possum ran with the kids chasing around yelling to each other whenever they saw it.  I'm sure this is something they won't forget soon.

The only disappointing part of this trip was that we only went for a long weekend.  This resort is definitely a spot where we could easily spent a full week, with lots of time behind the boat.  We haven't used the boat in a couple years, so it was great to get it out.  Boating is a great family activity.  Everyone is captive to a small area and we get to watch each other and talk and have fun together.  And you get some exercise at the same time.  There aren't many activities that allow families to do all that.  If you know of any, let me know.

EARTHQUAKE!!

By now I'm sure you have heard the news that Virginia had a 5.8 earthquake that equalled the strongest quake in their history. The crazy part is that the epicenter was only about 6 miles NW of our house. You can see the location of the epicenter on this Google Map.

With all the years of travel to Taiwan and China, I have never felt an actual, full scale earthquake. There was a small 2.something this past February that woke me up at 2am, but no one else felt it.  I had to Google it to make sure that I wasn't going crazy.

We didn't have any damage at our house other than some picture frames falling and breaking. The house is still in good shape, other than the wear and tear of three boys living here.

As I was going down to close up the chicken coop for the night I heard a rumbling noise but didn't think about it.  The Good Wife was then calling me from the driveway with the boys saying there was another aftershock.  We found out later it was a 4.2 aftershock.  We were finally able to get the boys to sleep on our bed, but they are ready to move back to Phoenix.

First a tornado, now an earthquake. And this weekend, possibly a hurricane! At least there aren't any active volcanoes near by!

Crossroads Coffee and Ice Cream and a Stride Through Time

A few weeks back the Good Wife signed our family up for the Richmond Stride Through Time event.  The purpose of the event was to get some good exercise as a family and to see some of the historic sights in the historic Fan district in Richmond.  The best part is you get to go through a lot of the historical sites during the race, as the course goes through most of them.  An added bonus was the Good Wife's sister was visiting us that weekend and we had another boy with us we were watching that day.

So off we went that Saturday morning.  It was a warm morning, but not too bad.  We were all walking along and having a good time seeing a lot of the buildings and historic sites.  One impressive site was the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.  The most impressive part was the pipe organ in the back of the church.  They had an organist playing the entire time so you could hear how great it sounded.

We also got to see some historic figures along the way, or at least people that were playing the part.  They told us about the historical significance of certain areas, such as Scuffle Town...

...and Stonewall Jackson School.

As the "race" wore on, everyone was getting hot and tired.  We even made a short cut and eliminated part of the course.  Walking along, feeling hot and tired, I glanced over to my right, and there it was, written in a puffy font, like balls of ice cream atop cones...Crossroads Coffe and Ice Cream.

Both of those items sounded good, but the ice cream really sounded good.  So we veered off the race course and went into Crossroads, ordering up milkshakes for everyone.  The usual Saturday morning crowd was in the shop, looking at us in a quizzical manner, wondering why we all had race numbers pinned on our shirts, but were standing in a coffee shop getting ice cream.  We tried to explain that we were in a "race" but not really.

They had a great selection of homemade ice creams, and their coffee menu looked really good too.  It had two separate seating areas inside, along with a nice patio area outside that was dog friendly.  The front of the counter had a large cork board that seemed to serve as the community center of the area, listing events and activities happening in the area.

We walked out and continued on our "race", each with a milkshake in hand.  Oh it tasted good.  And not just because it was sunny and hot outside, although that helped.

Looking on their website, there are two locations in Richmond.  Although I haven't been back yet and haven't visited the other location, both of these locations are on my list of things to do, and not too far in the distant future.

The race continued on and everyone got tired, especially the youngest two.  The Good Wife is amazing, and for a little while decided to punish herself by carrying not one of them, but both at the same time.

She went a lot further than I ever thought she would.  Never say she can't do something, or the next thing you know, she will be doing it.

Approximately 7K later, we finished the 10K event.  With all the kids in tow, we felt that it was a nice accomplishment.  No one really complained and everyone had fun.  We got to learn about some of the historic sights in the Fan district of Richmond, and we found a great coffee and ice cream shop in Richmond!

Punishment Gone Wrong

Last week Middle Son had misbehaved and needed a punishment.  The Good Wife felt that having him go out to the garden and pull some of the grass that has been growing up amongst all our veggies would be a good time consuming punishment, giving Middle Son some time to think about what he had done wrong.

I'm not sure of the exact details of the punishment instructions, but I am guessing it was something to the effect of, "Go out to the garden and pull the weeds and grass out of one section of the garden."  It may not have been that specific, which is where the problem may have started.  Again, I wasn't home at the time, and am not privy to the exact details.

However, as the Good Wife says, the Middle Son is very much like me, the Haphazard Countryman.  Being an engineer by education, I am always looking for more efficient ways to get the job done.  Some call it lazy, but I call it being efficient.  That's what happens when you are trained in "Lean Manufacturing".  Trying to eliminate waste from the production cycle.  Trying to get to the desired end result in as little time and effort as possible.  And tying the relationship of Middle Son to me, helps to explain the outcome.

Middle Son proceeded to grab the weed killer and spray more than one section of the garden.  That caused the entire section of the garden to die a brown and tangled death.  Some may look at this as the Middle Son being derelict in his punishment.  Others may look at him trying to be efficient, and possibly generous, as he proceeded to "take care" of more than just one section of the garden.

I'm not sure if he decided he had done enough and stopped, or the Good Wife saw what he was doing and came running out, instructing him in the errors of his ways.  Either way, a good section of the garden, along with everything growing in it is dead.  The only question now, is can we even use that portion of the garden next year?  Only time will tell.

Crabtree Falls Hike

Over the July 4th weekend we took a few day trips around our area and got to see a lot of different things, including the Jamestown settlement and Yorktown battlefield.  We also went towards the mountains and took a hike up Crabtree Falls.

It was easy to get to and easy to find along the road.  They have the usual National Park Service bathrooms that are basically a concrete hole with a sheet metal toilet seat sitting on top.  The nasal aroma is intense, but it gets the job done when you are no where near a bathroom and in need.

Reading online, we read that it was 1.1 miles to the top.  However, upon arrival at the falls, the trail started with a distance marker proclaiming 0.0 of 1.7.  Hmmm.  It was hot that day, and no wind in the trees as we started our hike.  It didn't take long to get to the first scenic views of the waterfall.

The hike was an easy trek, with a lot of work done on the trail to make it accommodating to all people, including log steps and the rocks cut into steps at places.

Although the claim to fame is that these falls are "...the highest vertical-drop cascading waterfalls east of the Mississippi River..." there isn't a single vertical drop that is in and of itself overly impressive.  It is more the combination of all the falls in this line, along with the pools full of cold mountain water that make this a beautiful hike.

Oldest and Youngest sons decided that they didn't want to go much past the 1.1 mile mark.  So we continued on and left them there to soak their feet in a cool pool.  After spending a short time at the top and starting to head down, Oldest and Youngest sons were heading up the train to the top, so we turned around and went back up to enjoy the views with them.

Asked why they decided to keep going and come all the way to the top, Oldest Son said that he was tired of people looking at them sitting there as they walked by heading up to the top!  Stranger peer pressure.  Amazing.

The hike down was easier, and the views were just as spectacular of the water falls on the way up.

I highly recommend this hike if you are in the area as the drive to the parking lot to start the hike is just as rewarding as the hike itself.  My only comment would be to take enough water for the hike up and down, or take a small water filter as one guy at the top had, especially if it is in the heat of summer.  You won't be disappointed.

A Father’s Pride

I have three sons, referred to as oldest son, middle son and youngest son.  They are 11, 8 and 6, although by the end of May they will be 12, 9 and 6.  Not only that, by the end of the month I’ll be another year into “middle age”. 

As I write this, I am sitting at a local baseball game watching oldest son and his team play.  He is playing 3^rd base, which he doesn’t get to do too often.  His coach usually puts him into center field since he has a really good arm and accuracy to get the ball back into the infield in one toss.  However, as most boys his age, he would rather play in the infield where all the action is.  

First inning, oldest son is covering 3^rd base.  No outs and runner on first and second.  Fast ground ball to third.  He scoops it up, touches 3^rd base then throw a line drive to first for a double play.  I beam with pride.  Next batter hits a pop foul over to the third base side.  Oldest son runs over and makes the catch, almost.  It went into his mitt but he over ran the ball and he fell down and the ball fell out of his mitt.  It didn’t matter.  I got on the phone and called the good wife who is working tonight and explain the play.

The game is at the bottom of the third inning and tied at 1-1.  This moment made me reflect on the pride of a father.  There are a lot of things that make a father proud of his sons, from something as simple as showing respect to others to doing their best in whatever endeavor they take on.  

I’ll admit that I’m not a “baby” father.  I don’t get into babies that lay there and don’t interact with you. I also am not particularly fond of the stink and mess that babies tend to create, most of the time at the most inopportune moment.  I am much more enjoying my boys as they are now older and we can do boy activities, from exploring the woods behind our house to swimming down at the river.  No matter what, I will always love my boys, like only a father can.