Play Time Can be Hazardous to our Health.

My work takes me away from my family a day or so at a time.  So I usually get the 411 from my wife 89,000 words a minute as I come in the door.  I usually managed to retain most of the information imparted to me.  One story that stuck with me was of their trip to a certain play place which has several  riding toys for the kids to play with. 15 or more riding toys would be my rough guess.  Out of all 15+ riding apparatuses there is only one that all the kids must have; The Cozy Coupe.

The coveted Cozy Coupe.

The kid's unwritten rule for all the toys at the play place is that possession is 9/10Th of the law; the other 10% is Mom Law.  Thus the decree is as such: "He who sits inside the car owns the car".  Erika had her chance to play with the vehicle and soon had her fill of sitting inside.  She would hovered close to the Cozy Coupe while playing with other perceived lesser items in the general area.  If she noticed another child approaching the Coupe she would run full boar at the vehicle and literally dive headfirst into one of the windows of the car.  In one instance Erika had had a breach in her tightly woven security and another child had been pushing the Coupe from behind as though it were a shopping cart.  Erika seeing that the inside of the vehicle was not occupied thus leaving the coupe still unclaimed, again ran full boar towards the car and dove straight in the front window staking her claim to the coupe.  In all of these circumstances the Mom Law would kick in and the little acrobat would be extricated from the vehicle proclaiming her innocence the whole way.

Mom Law

Headfirst

My wife had described the events at the play place in eloquent detail but it was still hard for me to picture seeing Erika actually diving headfirst at, towards or into anything.  This story made me chuckle as do most stories about her, and this one was my favorite story of the day.  Still discussing the events of the day with my wife, I was sitting on the floor getting ready to change Erika's diaper.  Erika was on the couch behind me while I was leaning forward to get the box of wipes that were beyond my feet.  I got a hold of the box of wipes and sat back up quickly.  Just as my back came into contact with the couch, I see a silhouette go flying.  Nay!  Diving headfirst over my right shoulder.  I barely had enough time to catch her by the hips, softening the blow of the hardwood on her face.  She was very upset rightfully so.  But she could could not stay upset for very long because the laughter was too infectious.  We spectated such an incredulous event that we could not stop our selves from laughing.   

Super Grover

The only way we could explain what we had witnessed is to surmise that Erika had planned to jump on my back while I was reaching for the box of wipes.  My sudden return to the sitting position caught her off guard mid jump and she decided to just go with it, arms stretched out and all, just like her favorite super hero; Super Grover.

This Year mother nature is a...

It has been a busy year and it is only April.  Work has been non-stop as the economy is picking up and the family is more than keeping me entertained with all their tomfoolery.

Snow mold

Between getting ready for summer with the taking down the outdoor Christmas lights, putting out the water barrels, sweeping the driveway, and of course the glorious destruction of all the snow mold living on my lawn, which involves raking till the blisters come home.  Once all the outdoor chores are done I will then be able to organize the garage and build the playhouse we picked up at Costco.  The instructions for the playhouse make War and Peace seem like a TV Guide. 
I have been looking forward to this time of year and dreading it all in one sigh.  The winter was a long one and I was slowly running out of room to store all the damnable snow.  Cabin fever had definitely taken hold of the whole family.  There was not enough Toopie and Binou to keep everyone sane.

Toopie & Binoo

Oh and it seems that our quiet little town is now facing an eminent flood.  Thus taking the joy out of the long awaited season called spring.  The people in town had to go through these shenanigans last year and now they are predicting it to be even worse this year due to the copious amounts of snow that fell throughout this long 5 month winter.

Last Years Flood damage in Town

 Mother nature was not particularly kind this winter season.  With the local temperature rising and all the snow in the surrounding areas melting faster than the irrigation systems can handle.  Especially with the ground saturation at max capacity due to the constant rain last year, which is definitely not the norm for this typically arid climate. The last remnants of snow that finally melted off my yard had been there since November.  This global warming has been a killer.  With temperatures dropping to -40 degrees and snowfall records being broken all across the country.  I am just glad it is global warming instead of the start of an ice age, which would have been a horrifying experience to say the least.  But my heart does go out to everyone affected by these terrible events that are about to happen here and that has already happened around the world.  It is coming and the sandbags can only do so much to stave off the mounting waters.

Sandbag preparations for this years flood

 We can only hope that everything works out and that the truck loads of sandbags brought in turn out to have been a waste of time.  The amount of snow we have been experiencing in the last couple of years remind me of how it was when I was a kid.  Where snow days were a regular occurrence and the mountains of snow that would pile up in parking lots and in the schoolyard were the main attraction for king of the hill.  I bought a snow blower 3 years ago and people laughed at me.  They would say things such as; “You don't need a snow blower here.  AHAHAHAHAHA!!!” and they would point their fingers and laugh at me when I walked by.  Now same people are asking me to load up the very same snow blower into the back of my truck so that I can bring it over and give them a hand.  My response is always the same: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!