On the tracks

Greetings friends and family,

Kendra played soccer this evening with her championship co-ed soccer team and that gave me the chance to have some daddy only time with them. After dinner concluded with flinging beans and rice I had a spare hour to burn before the whole bath-books-bed cycle so we went for an adventure. While playing in our front yard I occasionally lift Easton up on my shoulders where he can see over the cinder brick wall across the way where the train sits on the tracks. He is still in awe of train related things so I decided we would go touch it instead of just looking over there. I mean, there are NO other advantages to living next to train tracks other than having the ability to use it as an up-close and personal learning tool.

I had to figure out a way to transport the twins from our house through the neighborhood, along the main street, and down the rocky path along the tracks to where the train sat. The only way I was going to beat the sunset was to hook up my bike to the chariot and hope they forgot about the last time was tried to go over rocky terrain where they cried the whole way. As it turns out, they loved riding behind daddy's bike and the faster I rode, the more they giggled.

There is a common saying from days gone by where elderly people would tell young, energetic kids to "go play on the railroad tracks!" That's exactly what we did.


Easton was enthralled by the enormity of the train. His smile and talkative nature proved he was loving the experience. However, he only felt comfortable with the situation if I was holding him in my arms, so that's why the pictures are mostly of Layla. I even convinced Layla to sit up on the step of the train and smile for a picture.


After seeing sister up there I hoped Easton would go along with duplicating the scenario, but as soon as I moved him towards the step he hung on my neck with a death grip and said, "No, daddy!" so I immediately called off that effort and kept holding him close.

I was able to convince him to stand next to Layla and smile while I took a picture of the two of them with the train in the background.


Sorry the pictures are so dark. It was barely sunset, but my camera is a cursed thing and the thorn in my side. I have my eye on the new Canon S90, but I'm saving up for it so who knows when I'll either get so tired of my current camera that I throw it in the duck pond or when my camera savings funds get large enough to buy it. Which ever one comes first. :)

My friend, Judson, and his family came over on Friday night for dinner and hang out time. The twins played their hearts out with his two kids. Layla was more than happy to show off her new tutu and push Riley around on the bus.


She wears the tutu daily now, but we don't let her take it outside because it would be instantly dirty and shredded on the rocks.

Easton had his second hair cut ever and it went much smoother than the first one. Kendra still had to hold him the entire time as he cried. This time he didn't scream as though he were in pain. Thanks, in part, to the Thomas the Train video they had playing at the kid's hair salon.

I'm working on a few T-shirt ideas and will either search for it on Ebay or create it on my own. One idea is to put: "You have my parents permission to discipline me" or some variation of that. The other idea is to copy the tuner auto industry where they normally have "Powered by Nismo" for example. I was thinking we should get shirts for Easton and Layla that say, "Powered by Apple Juice". It only funny because it is true for our twins. Even though we consistently water down their apple juice at a 1 to 1 ratio, they still ask for it by name all day long.

We received exciting news that my parents, Nana and Papa, are coming to town for a visit during the twins' second birthday! I'm really happy they are choosing to be here now so they can leave the -20 degree wind chill, snow, and ice at their house and bask in the 70 degrees of sunshine we experience here in AZ this time of year. Hooray for upcoming family time! Hearing their plans to be here with us was music to my ears.

Have a great Monday and I'll see you soon!