Hold Your Head High

My little big man is getting pretty strong. It takes otherworldly neck muscles to support a Vogelsberg melon even for just a few seconds ...

Do-It-Yourself Pool Time

When life gives you a water table, make a swimming pool ...

Being a Big Sister ...

Lola likes to help with Baby Finn, including showing him the ropes on how to correctly use the playmat that she used to spend hours on ...

Worst. Game. Of. Hide. And. Seek. Ever.

If this closet's a-gruntin', don't come a-huntin'.

Lola has taken a shine to playing hide and seek just before bed. This usually entails her telling me, “Daddy, I’m gonna hide in the closet, try to find me.” So I count to 10, feign searching all over her room and eventually zero in on the incessant giggling coming from the closet in her room.

The other night, this game took a rather disturbing turn.

Immediately upon entering her room, Lola blurts “I’mgonnahideincloset!!!” and races into the closet. Amidst a background of grunting, she peeks out, closes the closet door and in a muffled tone, informs me, “I’m pooping!”

Moments later, Lola emerges, red-faced and sweating, marches over to her bookshelf, wordlessly selects a book, and heads back into the closet, closing the door behind her.

I am left to glean from the need for reading material that Ube is, well, not done. And as if announcing to me where she is hiding, then highlighting that spot with outright laughter doesn't make the task of finding her easy enough, she has now added smells to make my job of tracking her down even easier. To make matters worse, when she finally emerges, she is wearing pink fairy high heels and a tail.

I will never look at her closet the same way again.

Finn's First Trip to the Park

Well, technically he slept through the trip, but someday these pictures will be proof to him that it happened, and we didn't just stand on the back porch for a while and tell him it was the park.

My two beautiful girls.

The park? No, it's awesome, seriously. I loved it.

Notice that Finn has woken up at this point.

Nothing gets Lola fired up like some good ol'-fashioned illegal duck feeding.

Popsicle Time on the Porch

Nothing beats the heat like a popsicle with your cuz.

Unwinding from the Beach ...

There's nothing like a little "Toy Story 2" after a long day of splashing, swimming, digging, falling and eating at the beach. Mazzy and Lola managed to barely keep their eyes open as Buzz and Woody did their thing ...

At the Zoo: Ube as in Underwhelmed

After innumerable readings of “Curious George Visits the Zoo” and copious books of the same genre, we thought it was high time we brought Ube to the Asheboro Zoo. Surely, she would go ape shot over seeing so many of these amazing animals up close and personal.

Surely, we were wrong.

A three-hour round trip and few hours at the zoo lugging her around while dragging her conveyance (a hand-picked wagon) behind me was followed by an indifferent reaction and the following exchange at lunch:

Me: “Lola, what’s been your favorite part of the zoo?”

Lola: “Going home.”

Me: “Um ... OK. Well, what’s been your favorite animal that you saw today?”

Lola: “Chocolate.”

Cool. Well, I guess we’ll just leave and you can watch a movie about going to the zoo in the car on the way home. From the zoo.

It was worth a try. I think.

The infamous wagon, accompanied by the day's most popular gesture.

The first animal we saw was the zebra.

Apparently ostriches and zebras get along pretty well.

Our lion was a bit more subdued than Alex from "Madagascar."

In his defense, it was admittedly a great spot for a nap.

No, I don't know why Alex won't wake up.

The lemurs were also quite chill.

After the monkeys were a flop, the flamingos were an unexpected surprise. But also asleep.

The one on the left didn't love us disturbing his nap.

I take that back; the monkeys weren't a complete loss. The metal ones were cool.

Surprisingly, the giraffes were also met with an "Enh."

They did remind us that it was nearly lunchtime, however.

We tried not to force any smiles at the zoo. It didn't work.

The elephants were the highlight of the day (for me).

On a stiflingly humid day, a quick drink seemed like a great idea.

Whiny, beleaguered distress was also a go-to look on the day.

 All in all, we still managed to have a good time. But I think next time we'll just read "Curious George Visits the Zoo" again.

At the Got To Be NC Fair ...

We had an awesome time with the family at the Got To Be NC fair over the weekend!

Step 1: Prepare to feed goat.

Step 2: Have goat steal entire cup of feed.

Apparently it tickles when you feed the goats.

The carousel was a fan favorite.

Lola named her horse Pete.

Carson was the runaway winner on the slide.

Mazzy and Lola went for a spin.

 The waiting is the hardest part ...

And we're finally off!

Not scared. Not scared at all.

Is this thing over already?

The definition of "uncertain."

To The Beach ...

So much sand to move, so little time.

But Grandpa, I don't understand the engineering intricacies involved in a successful sand dam.

Grapes. Yes. That is happening.

With one small shovel, I shall conquer the ocean ...

Let's go take on the big waves, Daddy.

A much-needed getaway for the Vogies.

Every Day is Mother's Day

Not a bad way to start the day for my two favorite ladies ...

One Small Leap For Mankind

Someday when she's older, I'd like to tell her why on one of her state's darkest days, hope came in the form of a black President pledging his support for a love that doesn't know gender.

And I hope on that day, she looks at me and wonders why any of that was considered groundbreaking.

That Week When Cake Dominated Our Lives

Mommy and Lola worked together to bake a cake for Daddy's birthday recently. Based on the fact that Ube couldn't stop talking about it for roughly a week, we're going to say she was much more excited about this event than nearly-40 Dad was.

We managed to overcome an incident when Lola couldn't wait the extra 30 seconds for us to find a candle and was caught plunging her spoon into the cake while our backs were turned. All in all, it made for a memorable and happy day ... after Lola bounced off the walls in a post-cake frenzy for an hour or so.