Catching Up

I was on a short hiatus because work was/is so crazy. But, I managed to carve a few minutes out today to catch up a little bit. We had a visit from my Mom this past weekend. It was nice to see her and show her around our new home town of metro-Denver. I won't steal my wife's thunder by re-listing the details of the trip (see her blog for more details). One of the highlights for me, is that she bought me a ukulele. I've wanted one of these for a long time. It's a nice uke but it tends to lose it's tuning pretty fast. I guess this is common for Ukulele's. Also, unfortunately, it got a small stress fracture while being mistreated by the bag handlers of the airport. Oh well, it doesn't seem to effect the tone and it's been fun learning Ukulele chords. When I get good enough, I'd like to learn "You Belong to Me" from The Jerk (with Steve Martin). It's a long story. Anyway...also some other highlights are that we finally went to the White Fence Farm. We've been wanting to check that out for quite some time. It's pretty darn cool. It reminds me of Knott's Berry Farm back when it was owned by the Knott family and had some character. It's free to enter and has a petting zoo, lots of various country and nick-nacky stores, live country/bluegrass music, and a chicken dinner restaurant. Also, it had lots of fun things for the kids to do and climb on. I liked it and want to go back someday soon. It was a quick trip, but we packed a lot into her stay.

In other news, Joi is teaching Gavin to ride his bike. She taught Garrison and Gage and they are both experts now. While patience is my strong suit, she always seemed to have more patience when it came to teaching our kids to ride their bikes. So, I am glad that she is going to complete the tradition and teach them all. Gavin might be our hardest student. While he is very sporty, a great athlete, and pretty brave when it comes to doing new things...he has had trouble balancing and getting freaked out about falling. He's a difficult one to peg. So, Joi has her hands full with Gavin. But, I'm confident that he'll get it before long. Our goal is to have him riding his bike by the time Joi's family reunion comes in June.

Lastly, I've been noticing and appreciating the differences between my sons lately. Garrison is analytical. He's a thinker. He's a brilliant reader. He loves to take things apart to see how they work. Also, he loves to build things. I often come home from work and find boats and houses made out of Popsicle sticks and duct tape. I see a future scientist/engineer in Garrison. Gage, on the other hand, is my feeler. He is compassionate, loving, and has a high emotional intelligence. He's an open book and always willing to befriend the friendless. He loves to talk and spend quality time with people. He loves art and music. I see a future pastor or counselor in Gage (or an artist). Gavin is my sporty kid but he is also really smart. He is reading at a level way beyond his age. He loves to move and has lots of energy. He loves video games and has amazing hand-eye coordination. He is also a clown. He loves to be funny and make people laugh. He brings lots of laughter to our family. Also, he is very articulate for a 5 year old. I see Gavin as the next Jim Carrey. Or as the next multi-million dollar athlete. All of my boys are so different and I love that. We encourage them to branch out and try things that they are interested in. They are each unique and that makes our family very well rounded. I love my boys!