Our Vacation Rental House At The Outer Banks

To get to the house you had to drive eight miles on the beach!  There were no roads to get to the house.  If you ever go to this part of the Outer Banks make sure you do your research and only attempt to drive on the beach at low tide.    We got stuck twice on the way to the house and had to be pulled out both times. 

But, once we made it to the house we were able to relax in the pool and hot tub…

Ace In The Pool In North Carolina

And our house was also in the Wild Horse Reserves, so there were wild horses everywhere!  They came right up to our house and even slept in our back yard…

Outer Banks Wild Horses

Outer Banks Wild Horses Sleeping In The Back Yard

And when we were not playing on the beach…

Jared At The Beach

Ace At The Beach

Ace's Cousin Livi At The Beach

Ace and Livi At The Beach

…we went out to look at the famous light houses…

Currituck Light House

Cape Hatteras Light House

… saw the Inn at Roadanthe (From the movie Nights in Roadanthe)…

Inn At Roadanthe

… saw all kinds of cool critters…

The Lizard

A Dragon Fly

Pink and Yellow Moth

The Cool Bear

Whoever said vacation was relaxing?    At the end of every day we were all pooped…

Ace Worn Out

Ace, Calling It A Day

… and now we are back home…planning next year’s vacation. 

She thinks that we are all dogs and that we enjoy to be chewed on, jumped on, and tackled.  Fifty pound puppies are a handful!

Ace and Ruby get along OK…when they are in separate rooms.  But if Ace is playing by himself…here comes Ruby.  And if Ruby is lying down chewing her bone….here comes Ace.

No one has gotten hurt.  There have been a few yelps, and a few tears, but for the most part they enjoy each other.

However, it is quite scary to see how they play…

But Ruby is a puppy…a big puppy!    And a hyper one at that.  The running and jumping is not Ace’s favorite part for sure…but I’m sure he’ll get used to it. 

Everything was great!  We were both having a good time until…….I came across the first person that I wanted to literally strangle the life out of!

I have seen many people in my life.  Probably in the multiple tens of thousands I would guess.  Most of them are nice people.  Some are jack-asses, but not a single one ever fired me up like this one.

So,  I was helping Ace climb up the ladder to the bridge that leads to the slide when I heard, from around the corner of the school, a lady…sorry, wrong word, she was far from a lady…a bellowing woman yell at the top of her lungs… “SHUT THE F*CK UP!”

It caught me off guard.  I mean after all, we were at a school…ya know…where kids are present?   …and then she yelled it again…and again…and again!

Finally the bellowing woman rounded the corner of the school building with two other adults, three kids (maybe 8, 10, and 12 yrs old), and a dog on a leash.

They finally made it over to the playground…and of course had to play on the same piece of playground equipment that Ace was on.

I could hear one of the boys (the 10yr old) whining to his Mom (biologically..not emotionally) that he wanted to walk the dog.

She yells again, “YOU HAD YOUR F*CKING CHANCE TO WALK HIM AT HOME!  YOUR BROTHER IS WALKING HIM NOW SO SHUT THE F*CK UP AND QUIT YOUR DAMN CRYING!”

The boy cries more and asks again.  “Please Mom…I just want to walk the dog….please please please…”

The woman stands up and starts to unbuckle her belt.  The boy runs and screams…”GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE!  ONE MORE CHANCE MOMMY!  JUST ONE MORE CHANCE!”

At this time Ace has just made his way up onto the bridge and is walking across it.  I’m standing on the ground below him.

The lady whips out her belt and chases her son around the playground.  The other two adults with the group were laughing hysterically.

The boy runs up the ladder onto the same piece of playground equipment that Ace was on…and the Mom follows with belt cocked.

The boy stops about two feet before he gets to where Ace is and…WHACK!  She whipped the boy with her belt diagonally across his upper back.  And if a belt across the upper back wasn’t bad enough…it was a STUDDED BELT.  You know, the ones with the big stainless steel spikey looking things…!

After she cracked the boy…it was silent.  The laughing stopped.  The boys screaming stopped.  The only sound I could hear was the panting of the crazy woman.

I didn’t say a word.  I was speechless.  And then she looked at me and said, “Go ahead and call f*cking Child Services.  They can raise them.  I gave birth to them.  I can do whatever the f*ck I want to them.”

Aaaaand now I am pissed.  If a look could kill I’m pretty sure she would have died ten times over.

If it wasn’t for the whole going to prison thing I could have easily strangled her right there with her belt…

And then to top it off the other adults start laughing and yelling at the boy to stop crying.  His crying was scaring the little boy (Ace).

“No..you bunch of hill jack, loud mouth, studded belt swinging, piece of shit parents who think it’s funny to chase a little 10 year old around the playground putting all of these other younger kids at risk for getting hurt are scaring him!”

Man, that would have felt good coming out of my mouth…but I held it in.  It definitely went through my mind though!

No matter how bad I wanted to, I knew I couldn’t say anything.  These were the kind of people who honestly don’t care.  If they would go through all of that trouble to punish a boy for asking to walk the dog, what do you think they would do if I threatened to call the police?  And I was there by myself with Ace.  Nope.  I was not putting him in any kind of danger.

So I sucked it up…and kept my mouth shut.  I got Ace down from the playground and we walked over to the next playground area.

No stupid hill jack, loud mouth, studded belt swinging POS Mom was going to ruin our day!

Ace woke up about 10 o’clock…straight to the bathroom we went.  Nothing.

No diaper for this little guy today.  The boys were going to air themselves out…plus this way I could make sure he didn’t spoil my plan.

Breakfast was made and devoured.  Off to the bathroom we went.  Nothing.

Ace played…watched cartoons…and every 15-20 minutes…off to the bathroom we went.  And every time….nothing!

About two hours had passed.  I keep thinking to myself that my strategy is working.  His bladder is getting full and his will power weakening.  Yet, still…nothing.

So I bring out the big guns…a big cup of water. Ace downed it like he had been hiking across Death Valley in search for something to quench his thirst.

I chuckled a little bit inside, knowing that he had fallen for it.  My plan was working!

Fifteen minutes roll by.  “The pee potion must be really taking affect now!”, I think to myself.  So we head to the bathroom…nothing!

Man this kid is strong!  I start to second guess my strategy, but soon realize that what goes in must come out.  It is only a matter of time now!

I stand my ground.  Every 15 minutes like clock work we visit the bathroom…only for me to leave a little less confident.

Finally, it is 2 o’clock.  Four hours had passed.  Hell, I have went three times and yet Ace’s bladder of steel still holds strong!  That thing has got to be about ready to burst!

To my dismay, in walks Momma.  “Get your shoes on.  We are going to a birthday party today.”

Can it not wait a bit longer?  He is going to break any minute now!  I just know it!

What?  It can’t be!  I have been defeated!  Ace’s aired out nether regions are being covered up by the dreaded Sesame Street covered diapers of doom!

Four long hours of battle and Ace wins by bringing in reinforcements!

My head hangs low in defeat, but there will be another day.  Ace, you may have won the battle, but you have not won the war!

Knight Image by pasukaru76

At three years old there is the three year check up with the doctor…

Ace has always been small for his age, 4th to 5th percentile for his weight, but it looks like he is making some progress!  He was in the 25th percentile this time!

Ace  has entered the “parrot stage” and that leads to some interesting moments in our household.    Special thanks goes out to his uncle Mike and Jason for teaching him to chant “Whitey Tighteys!  Whitey Tighteys!”…or more recently….”JEEEEESSSSSUUUSSSSSSS!!!!”

Ace is a jibber-jabberrer.  Constantly talking about who knows what.  It is mostly repeating what he hears on his cartoons, or his more recent past time…his Sesame Street game on the “COMPUUUUUTER”.

Ace is smart.  I would have to say quite a bit smarter than the average soon to be 3 year old…but he gets that honest.    Just kidding…

No really… he knows all of his letters, upper and lower case…all of his numbers up to 20…the names of almost any animal that can be found in one of his books…the sounds that all of these animals make…and just about every inanimate object in our house…including the refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer…you name it, he can tell you what it is.  The names of all the characters in the cartoons he watches…hell, he can even sing along with many of the songs on the radio..!

He knows how things work, and if he doesn’t he will play with them until he does. Ever see a kid roll his cars over to check that the wheels spin freely before playing with it?  Well, then you have never seen Ace. 

Ever seen a soon to be three year old hop up to the laptop, close all of the open programs, save your work if you left it open, then open a game for him to play?  Well, then you have never seen Ace. 

But there is one thing that concerns his doctor (and me and Momma too a little bit).  He has never asked for anything.  Ever! If he is thirsty, he might bring you his empty cup, but he has never verbally asked.

If he is tired, he may grab your hand and pull you upstairs to his bedroom.  But not once has he said “Bedtime!”

If I point to a picture of  Momma and I, he will call us Momma and Daddy.  If I say, “Go get your Momma!”, he will run to her.  But, he never says “Mommy come here.” or “Daddy, I’m hungry”

He is very self sufficient.  If he wants something, and can do it himself…he does.  If he can’t do it himself…he finds  some way to communicate to us what he wants.

I guess that asking for things is a very important step in the learning process. And somehow Ace is behind in that aspect according to all of the “experts”.

So, we get to go see a speech therapist for a consult just to make sure that Ace is on track.

Which, I guess is a good thing.  If he does need help learning in some areas, it would definitely be better to know now, rather than when he starts Kindergarten in a few years.

Have you ever had to take your children to a speech therapist?  What do they do there?  What can we expect?  Please share your stories in the comments!

I’ve tried to get him to lay down..roll around…pick up a sow ball…and nothing.  He just points,with a big smile on his face and says, “SNOOOOWWW!”

So the other day (I used a sick day…shhhhh) Ace and I went outside to play.  This time I dug my snow pants out of the closet and suited up with him.  I though that if I rolled around  in the snow that maybe he would soon follow and start to enjoy it.

Nope…instead there is a two year old standing pointing at the snow and a 31 year old rolling around in the drifts, making snow angels, and making snowmen like he was 8 years old again.

I had fun…not so sure about Ace. 

Anyways, the point of this post is that I took my digital camera outside to take pictures if Ace did decide to play in the snow.   Even though he did not roll around in the freshly fallen flakes, he did look pretty cool in his new snow attire.  So, I got out my camera…and nothing.  It would not turn on.

The batteries are probably dead.  Nope!  The camera is dead. D.E.A.D. Dead.

So, Momma, being the quick thinker and most excellent wife that she is went out and bought me a Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

She knew I would not spend that kind of money on a camera even though I have been talking about getting a DSLR for years!

Ace’s birthday is coming up next month and she was afraid that I would go out and buy a $200 point-and-shoot camera that I really did not want. (And you know what…she was right.) 

So, she surprised me with my Valentines Day present a week early.  (I was also informed that I will not be receiving any more gifts until next Christmas.) 

I’ve been practicing every night for a week now and am starting to get the hang of the thing.  Many buttons. Many settings.  Many things I have no idea what they are for. 

So,without further ado…I present my first photos taken with the new camera…

Me...seeing what I look like with my new companion.

Ace being his onry self...

Ace eating pretzels (the only time he holds still long enough to take his picture is when he is eating. )

Ace Eating His Fingers

Ace Divided By Two

So there you have it.  I think I did OK, for being a complete beginner.  I’m planing on taking some workshops here in Columbus so that I can learn to use this camera to it’s fullest potential.

Maybe someday I can be as good as a few of my fellow blogger friends turned photographers…PG and Kim.

]]> http://dadthing.com/2010/02/13/happy-valentines-day-to-me/feed/ 7 http://dadthing.com/2010/02/13/happy-valentines-day-to-me/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dadthingcom/~3/M54AR2hiXiE/ http://dadthing.com/2010/02/03/can-being-in-a-rut-be-fun/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:14:09 +0000 Jared http://dadthing.com/?p=1436 Ever feel like you are in a rut…digging and digging to get out, but getting no where fast?

Ever since Momma started staying at home with Ace instead of going to work, we have really had to watch where our money goes.  And now that we are living in a recession it almost like a noose around our necks!

We pay all of our bills on time, but what’s left over leaves little room for much entertainment or extra curricular activities.

The added stress and lack of doing things hasn’t really helped my blogging much. I mean, do you really want to hear about how we do the same thing every day?  I didn’t think so… 

I know that the recession has hurt many families much more than it has hurt ours and I am very grateful that we have done as well as we have throughout these tough times.

I have friends that have been laid off for over a year, depleted all of their savings, and ran up their credit cards.  Now they are living on a shoestring budget struggling to make ends meet.

So how has the recession put unwanted stress on your family?

What have you done to alleviate this stress?

What are some fun (and inexpensive) things that your family does for entertainment?

I recorded this video at dinner time the other night.  Ace had been saying PIIIZZA  all day, and so I figured he was asking for it…  Momma wasn’t home to cook dinner, and I didn’t feel like cooking again, so we ordered some Donatos!!

Looks like he likes pizza just as much as me!  He ate 6 pieces… 

With all the toys that Ace has, it never seems to amaze me the things that he plays with…

Favorite toy #1 is the toilet plunger!  How much more sanitary of a toy could he find?  If we leave the bathroom door open, it is a given that I will eventually trip over a tool designed to push a chunk of poo the size of a drain pipe!

Favorite toy #2 is the toilet brush…  If you find the poop pusher in the kitchen, you are likely to find the Porcelain God’s  loofah somewhere nearby.  Let’s just see how many places we can spread the fecal matter, shall we?

Favorite Toy #3 is the attachment for the vacuum.  But you know what’s funny..?  If I actually attach it to the vacuum and turn it on so that he will actually be doing some cleaning…he wants nothing to do with it. 

Favorite Toy #4 is the trash can lid.  If you take it off of the trash can, put it in the middle of the tile kitchen floor, stand on it until it is flat, and then jump off… it snaps back into shape with a loud POP.  Damned Rubbermaid…

And finally, Favorite Toys #5, 6, 7, 8, and 9…anything that is stacked in a neat pile, put away in a cabinet, on the counters, hanging from the Christmas tree, or otherwise purposely hidden from a two year olds view and/or reach…

What are your kids’ favorite “toys”?