Papa's Day

Cari is a huge Little House on the Prarie fan thus out of love and adoration for her, I've been trying for years to get our kids to call me "Pa" -- pronounced "paw" in Prarie-eese.

Being the understanding father that I am, however, I'm satisfied with the alternative "Papa" from time to time.

Of course, like so much else in our household, nobody listens to me. And thus this morning began with each of our kids streaming into our room to wish me a "Happy Father's Day."

Except, however, our little baby Malia.

She walked in and said, "Happy Papa's Day!"

Finally, someone in our house listens to me!

Cari and the kids surprised me with the once-a-year breakfast of the food that I love but she will not normally let me eat. Basically, a heaping pile of near-burnt (that's the way I like it) corned beef hash and onions, served on really good toast, smothered in over-easy eggs, with a nice glass of pineapple juice...



Ah, the Hawaiian breakfast of champions.

I can feel my arteries hardening even as I write about it.

My gifts this year consisted of the 5th Season of "Scrubs" (which I find to be the funniest tv show ever) and Mario Party 8 for the Wii game system...



Of course, if the Wii game was really meant to be a gift for me, I figured I should play it first -- which meant that nobody got to play it until just before bedtime!

Hey, it's the kids who are supposed to be nice to dads on Father's Day -- not the other way around.

I also got a spiffy new apron, except the kids got finger prints all over it...



Cari also had each of the kids make a card for me. They ranged from pictures from Malia to a very touching letter from Alyssa. Kekoa, however, made his card in school which listed the top 10 things he loves about his dad...



It's hard to see the print above, but the number 6 reason Kekoa loves me is because I sing him "Feliz Navidad."

Now in my entire life, I don't think I've ever sung Feliz Navidad, much less to Kekoa.

But this is Papa's Day, so there I stood, at our breakfast table, singing Feliz Navidad to Kekoa.

Ah the things we do for our children.

Then again, after a busy day of playing and swimming, they look so darn cute at the end of the day...



Happy Papa's Day.

A Free Circus Inside a Hotel...

One of the great things about living in Las Vegas is that there is always something to do if you're willing to pick your rear end off the couch. Consider something as simple as dropping our eldest child off at a birthday party.


Alyssa was going to birthday party for her friend at the Adventuredome -- the world's largest indoor amusement park. We dropped her off, but then decided to walk into Circus Circus, the giant hotel casino with a big top theme.

What's great about Circus Circus in that they offer circus acts throughout the day right there in the middle of the hotel. And since it's a constant thing, the crowds aren't overwhelming and you can get right next to the action.

Here are David and Nalani not more than forty feet from the trapeze safety net...



We were treated to a mini trapeze act right above our eyes...



Of course, this being Las Vegas, the trapeze artists costumes look a lot like thongs to me. But you can see here how the netting is right in the center of the circus "midway" whose lights you can see at the bottom of the picture below...



We were so close that I think everyone went home with a sore neck from staring at the performers above...



Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Ya gotta love it.

Our Hearts All a'Twitter

Today we discovered the most unusual of websites...



It's sort of like a blog, but on a much more limited basis. Posts can be sent by text message, and are limited to 140 characters per post.

What that means is that most people use Twitter as an instant communication between friends.

How will we use it? Mostly as a way for my wife to keep tabs on me throughout the day!

If you're bored and dying for a look, click on the Twitter logo above.

An Exhausting Weekend, and it's Only Saturday!

One of the great challenges of having six children is the riduculous number of activities which fill up your weekend. For instance, consider just the last two days.

It began with a graduation ceremony. For some reason, nobody is satisfied with just graduating from high school or college anymore. We must have graduation ceremonies every time we finish pretty much anything, including preschool...



Of course, when it's our little Nalani, then it's okay to have a graduation ceremony because she's do darn cute...



Of course, that was just the beginning.

The Lied Discovery Children's Museum was holding a donor's event, which meant that it was closed to the general public - so guess who's kids acted like they owned the place.

Naturally, David found an exhibit in which he could make something and he brought along a couple of his siblings...



Then Bretty, Kekoa and Nalani wanted to go into this big telephone booth like thing. By the way, with all the mobile phones in the world, are there even telephone booths anymore? Where would Clark Kent change his clothes. Gotham is doomed. Oh wait, that's Batman's city, anyway...



That big telephone booth thingy above is a wind tunnel. You climb in and there is a wind gauge so you can measure just how fast the air is swirling around you. During our few minutes inside, we experience hurricane force winds of more than 100 mph.

As you can tell from the picture above, Bretty and Kekoa loved it. I held Nalani in my arms and we both closed our eyes to ride out the storm!

Among the many things to do, perhaps our kids most enjoyed putting on a puppet show for us...



Of course, with our kids, the puppet shows get a bit strange...



In case you can't tell, Nalani is controlling the white lamb in the picture above. Bretty and David and are the wolves.

And yes, the wolves are eating the innocent little lamb.

Ya gotta love our boys.

Then there was a little birthday party we had for Kekoa and some of his friends...



'cause a birthday party last weekend with just the family wasn't enough for Kekoa!

Party games have taken on a whole new dimension in this age of technology. Playing tennis on the Wii...



It's a heck of a long way from pinning the tail on the donkey.

Then, just 'cause it would be wrong for the day to be over, Nalani and Malia packed up with their mommy and headed off to a birthday party of their own...



Of course, this meant that our little girls had to get ready for the party. However, they continually insist on using my brush. My hair is very, very thick, so it is extremely difficult to find a brush with hard enough bristles. I finally found a new one at a beauty supply shop which thankfully comes with its own message to my kids...



Ah, the end of a very busy Friday and Saturday...



And we still have Sunday to go!