Blogging

It becomes very difficult to blog during the summer. When I get home at night, I want to play with the kids, go outside, or watch baseball....or go outside with the kids and play baseball. But I figured I had better post something, since it has been a while. Last weekend, we went to Breckenridge and had an absolute blast. We spent most of Saturday riding the Alpine Slide and riding a ski lift to the top of a mountain to hike around. The kids had so much fun...though Hunter and Ryan were a little nervous about riding the ski lift. We went to our favorite little cookie shop in Breckenridge, as well as our favorite Mexican dive for dinner and Pizza joint for lunch. We stayed in a hotel Friday night and took all the kids swimming. By the time we got home on Saturday night we were completely tired. But one funny little incident happened on Friday night. When we got to the hotel there were a couple of bottles of water sitting on the counter. I told Stacey that the water probably cost $3 a piece, but she thought they were free. She asked me to call the front office to see. Jokingly, I asked Hunter to call the front office to see. He heads over to the phone, picks it up, and calls the front desk. When the front desk answered, Hunter asked if the water was free -- however, he tried his hardest to make his voice sound extremely deep and adult. Stacey and I were laughing so hard, but he actually thought he pulled it off - though in reality his voice was still really high pitched and there was no doubt that he sounded like a kid trying to disguise his voice. Silly kid!

Becoming a Man

In my opinion there are two things in life that lets you know that you are a man. 1) The ability to grow hair where ever you want to (and as you grow older where ever you don't want it), and 2) Owning a chainsaw. About the ripe old age of 14 I began the journey to manhood (and, subsequently, about 6 years later starter losing hair) and finished the journey yesterday after purchasing my first chainsaw. Obviously, as a kid growing up, my parents (and Santa) weren't going to let me get a chainsaw as every Christmas my requests were denied, to a tune similar to that of a Christmas Story - You'll cut something off! Now, that I am grown-up and on my own, I can do just about anything I want - I will typically eat ice cream for breakfast, or run through the house with scissors, or stay up late (okay, maybe later). There is nothing that Mom can do about it now - so HA HA! There is nothing greater than owning a chainsaw (though next best comparison is owning an industrial strength shop vac) and nothing makes a man feel more like a man then holding a chainsaw in his hands and feeling the sure strength and power of what a chainsaw can do. The metal teeth spinning wildly and grinding up 6-inch logs and chopping down trees in a matter of moments. I hope you other 'boys' out there will someday become men and own your own chainsaw. Now, can someone please help me turn this thing on, so I can drown out Stacey's continual "You're gonna cut something off!"