The Big Swim

We were busy this weekend. Took the girls and Nicky out to breakfast at The Clock. It was their first real restaurant visit. They'd been out twice before in their carseats as itty-bitties, but now they're ready to really eat and enjoy.



Later, after a nap, we all went to the big pool for the first time as a family. The girls looked so cute!



And they enjoyed splashing at the splash pad too:


It was easier to get photos at the splash pad. In the pool we had to keep our hands on everyone to be safe.



Nicky wore a life-jacket that really helped though. He had a blast.


In fact, Nicky and I made another trip to the pool Sunday. Just the two of us.

Wonder what we'll do next weekend.

We miss you Grandpa Mott

This photo of Grandpa and Grandma with the girls and Aunt Carol was taken on June 25th during a great family get-together.



It's the last photo we have of Grandpa. Tom's dad, Charles, passed away Sunday, July 3rd.

He was a wonderful Grandfather to our three kids, and they miss him, especially Nicky. He was my father-in-law for nearly 17 years, having welcomed me into the family with open arms right away, and I will miss him. And most especially he was Tom's father, having adopted him at the ripe old age of about 2 years old, and Tom misses him so much.

I'd write more, but it's hard and I don't know what to say yet.

First hairs have been cut

The girls hair has gotten positively shaggy!

Gabi:


Lily:


We tried putting it up with barrettes:


We tried pigtails:


Which were undoubtedly cute. Especially Lily's Who imitation.


But finally tonight I'd had enough and gave them both a trim:


And it wasn't till later when Tom asked that I realized it never even occurred to me to save some hair. Aw well. It's tough being the second kids.

Hey, new photos and movies up in photobucket!

Happy Father's Day

Lily can climb onto and off of the sofa now, and both girls are close to walking.

Nicky just spent a week at his Nana's house learning to go underwater with the help of his new swim goggles.

Tom had a promising interview for a weekend position.

I've been trying to take the bus to and from work to save $ on gas. Take THAT oil companies.

The prompt for this post though is that today is Father's Day!

And Nicky has a special song for his dad:



Happy Father's Day to you Tom. I thank you every day for the gift of our 3 beautiful children. I couldn't have picked a better daddy for them. Thank you for taking care of all of us!

As most people reading this probably know, Tom has been a stay at home dad for all three of our kids. He was finishing up his bachelor's degree when Nicky came along, and his graduate degree when the girls came. He already had his LPN from before too. He's extremely overqualified for the crappy wages he gets being the domestic manager for the Mott Corporation, but we couldn't make any of this work without all the love, support and really hard work he does to keep us all going. I know it's a hard, thankless job most of the time, but I want to thank you so much for all you do Tom!

Nearly 18 years of painless punching

Tom and I have been together now for nearly 18 years. And of course we have created a few traditions in our time. One of them that really deserves some recognition is the sacred Punch Buggy Game.

Now I know what you're thinking. You remember playing this with your siblings/cousins/friends as a kid where you'd punch each other every time you saw a Volkswagen beetle. Two punches for a Volkswagen van and the dreaded frog punch (with a protruding knuckle) for a rag-top. (I HATED rag-tops!)

Well, Tom and I weren't about to hit each other, you know with me being such a delicate flower and all. So we came up with our own version using points instead of punches.

Now over time this has matured and been honed into a fine game with lots of important rules to keep things fair. And for posterity's sake I think it's time those rules were enumerated here for all to see.

------------------------

The Punch Buggy Game

Scoring:
Regular beetle= 1 point
Rag-Top beetle= 1 point
Volkswagon Van= 2 points

Rule #1: Everyone is Always Playing. You can't opt out, quit, or otherwise claim you're not playing. Losing? Headache? Sleeping? Too bad. If you're IN the car, you're still playing.

Rule #2: The Punch Buggy Game can only be played while in the car with all doors closed.

Rule #3: The same punch buggy cannot be counted twice in the same "trip". A trip lasts only until everyone gets out of the car (whether or not this is at home doesn't matter). For example, a punch buggy can be called upon entering the parking lot, and if it is still there it CAN be called again once everyone re-enters the car and closes the doors. However, if one of the players never left the car, then it cannot be called as the "trip" did not re-start.

Rule #4: When you call a punch buggy it must be called in the following manner:

Regular beetle= "Punch Buggy COLOR" (where COLOR=color of the vehicle) (You may also differentiate between new and old model beetles. This is optional.)

Rag-Top beetle= "Punch Buggy COLOR Ragtop" or "Punch Buggy Ragtop COLOR" are both acceptable (where COLOR=color of the vehicle)

Volkwagon van= "Double Punch Buggy COLOR" (where COLOR=color of the vehicle)

Note, that the color of the punch buggy is called. This is to differentiated between multiple punch buggies when more than one is in the vicinity. Accidentally calling a punch buggy the wrong color does not necessitate losing the point, especially if you're pretty close or if it's dark outside. BUT should there be multiple ones and you call the wrong color, it could cause your point to be disputed, so be careful.

Rule #5: This is known as the Punch Buggy Heaven rule. If there are more than 3 punch buggy vehicles in one location, that location is deemed to be a "Punch Buggy Heaven" and NO punch buggy points called will count from that area.

Note this means up to and including 3 vehicles would NOT be Punch Buggy Heaven. So if you only see 3 double punch buggies, call them!

Rule #6: The punch buggy game ends at the end of the day. This is when everyone has returned home to go to bed for the night. So if you go out for a late movie, the same game is still on as you're coming home at 2am.

Rule #7: Ties mean that NO ONE gets a point, rather than both people getting the point. A tie happens when both people finish saying the entire required statement at the same time. One might have started talking first, but if they both say the entire statement and end at the same time, it is a tie.

------------------------

I think that about covers the rules of The Punch Buggy Game.

We actually have discussed every one of these rules, AND we have to agree on a proposed rule before it can be made official. (That's how I kept Tom's rule of being allowed to call "PB COLOR" instead of saying the whole required phrase.) I'm sure other rules may come along in the future as we start including the kids.

So far it's usually only Tom and I playing. Nicky is still at the age where every single car is a punch buggy, so he always "wins". At least in his own mind. Our rules are really designed with a duo in mind. I'm sure it would require more complex rules if more than two wanted to play.

At times we have tried having paper and pencil handy for keeping score, but usually we just keep track mentally (or I do on my fingers). I usually also keep Tom appraised by telling him how many points ahead I am. Usually something like "I'm ahead by negative four points!" since I often lose. But I like to be optimistic and it sounds better that way.

So that's our game. We used to play it faithfully every time we were in the car. It's only been the last few years when we had kids in the car with us that we slack off sometimes. BUT remember Rule #1. We're ALWAYS playing, even if we forget.

What kinds of games do you play and do you have such complex rules?