However, I hope to change that…

Today we broke free from the norm and decided to take a ride in the wagon down to the local school to play on the playground!  Good time had by all.  I took a few pics to share.  For those of you that have not seen Ace and Valerie for a while…they have grown up a bit. 

Ace On The Move! The kid only holds still when he is sleeping...

Valerie having fun!

Ace Scoping Out The Playground!

Valerie scaring me to death on the 10 ft high playground equipment!

Ace still on the move!

Valerie enjoying the green grass in the back yard!

It’s actually pretty simple.  You browse the selection on the screen, pick your movies/games, and proceed to checkout where you swipe your credit card.  Movies are $1 per day and games are $2 per day.  Not a bad deal at all!

We went to a local RedBox to rent a Wii game.  The first RedBox kiosk we stopped at only had three Wii games available…and they were all checked out.  XBox 360 had more of a selection, but we do not have an XBox.

So, we went to a second location.  This RedBox had 5 or 6 Wii games available.  The first one on the list was Wipeout 2.  Ace is addicted to that show.  We DVR it and he will watch it at least 50 times before the new one comes out the next week.

We rented Wipeout 1 a while back and it was too complicated.  Even I had a hard time playing it.  But we took Wipeout 2 over to Grandma’s house where Ace and his cousin Olivia could give it a go.  They both picked up on the controls rather quickly and played it for a few hours before the Wii remote batteries died.    Otherwise I think they would still be playing.

We all played the Wipeout 2 game and everyone got a kick out of it!  It was so much like the TV show with it’s replays of your wipe outs and even has John Anderson, John Henson, and Jill Wagner as hosts with their funny commentary!

We were going to use all five free promo codes, but since it was my first rental I could only rent one game at a time.  Also the selection was limited (I’m hoping because it is such a new thing to rent Wii games).  So I will have to continue to check back and rent the four other games and post reviews here as well.

smiley360.com also sent me a free game called Go Vacation.  This game is amazing!  We have played it for hours and only touched the surface of the things you can do.

The whole point of the game is that you are on vacation and can roam around the resorts on your own and do the different activities that you find.  The box for the game says there are over 100 different mini games you can play.

Ace just liked hopping on the four wheelers and jet skis and cruising around the island.  We left the game at Grandma’s house one night and the next day Olivia played it for like four hours!!  We took it back home and she was quite upset that she could not continue to play…so, I think her Dad will end up buying it for her. 

All in all we had a great time.  We got the family together, made homemade pizzas, and played the Wii into the weeee hours of the night.  Much longer than the kids lasted.  I’m pretty sure the adults enjoyed it as much (if not more) than the kids. 

Note: smiley360.com provided me with a free sample game to play as well as five free promo codes to rent games from any RedBox location.  I was not paid to do this review and the opinions expressed are my own.

Since Valerie has been born her and Ace have always had separate baths.   They like to play in the bath tub, so it takes almost an hour to give them both baths, get on the PJs, and get them to bed.

So, I figured I would try and save some time by letting them bathe together.  Even though they are boy and girl, I figured that they are young enough that it would not matter.  There I go figuring again…

So, I wash Valerie first and then move on to Ace.  I’m washing his hair when he lets out a blood curdling scream… “Oooowwwwww!”

“What the hell did I do?”, I think to myself…  Did I scratch him?  Does he have soap in his eyes?

And then I look at Valerie…  She has a handful of Ace’s junk and I am pretty sure she was trying to rip it off!

Ace’s screaming was justified… 

I would occasionally sit out on the deck of my apartment drinking beer (I had a roommate of age to buy it for me) and smoking cigarettes.  I would notice these two girls, especially the blonde one, who lived across the courtyard. They were the social type bouncing from apartment to apartment with all the neighbors having a good time.

Me, I am socially awkward to put it nice.  For the most part I keep to myself and am fine with that.  I could never go up and introduce myself to these girls, and I knew that.  That would have just been a blubbering mess sure to ruin every chance I might have of becoming friends with them.   So I just sat there on the deck, drinking and smoking, and occasionally glancing their way to check them out while trying to work up the nerve to go over and talk to them.

Then one day while sitting there I happened to be reading a PlayBoy on the deck when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  I thought it must be the neighbor coming up to their apartment, so I rolled the PlayBoy up so that the neighbor wouldn’t see what I was looking at and then label me as some perv or something.  As I look up it was those two girls.  Oh great!!  Now what do I do!

I just sat there and took another puff off my smoke to try and look calm and collected and to draw their attention away from the nudie magazine.  Maybe they are going to visit one of my neighbors and I will not have to embarrass myself trying to have conversation with them.  Oh man, they are headed my way!  Now what!  What do I say?  My gut twisted from the nervousness.

As they walk up I noticed their smiles and their confidence.  They were on a mission…

The conversation (or lack thereof) went something like this…

Them: “Hi, what’s your name?”
Me:  “Jared”
Them: “What are you doing?”
Me: “Nothing”  (One word answers were all I could muster up.)
Them:  “What are you reading?”

And the blonde one came over and grabbed the rolled up magazine out my hand.

The Blonde One: “Wow, you smell good!  What is that smell?”
Me: “Brut”

The Blonde one opens the magazine…

The Blonde One: “A PlayBoy!”

…and she starts flipping through the pages.

I was waiting for her to be disgusted, for her to throw the magazine in my face, and for them to storm away, but they didn’t!  They just giggled…  WTH?  These girls are pretty cool!

They continued asking me questions, and I continued giving one or two word answers. 

Over the next few days we talked and partied a little bit and got to know each other pretty well…me and The Blonde One that is.

Things progressed and eventually I took her out on our first date to somewhere a poor college student could afford…Burger King and the movies. 

Step ahead four years later, September 7th, 2002.  I stood on the alter with The Blonde One in front of all our family and friends.

I never will forget how beautiful Momma looked in that dress walking down the aisle.  How I held back the tears, and how her smile glowed..even through the veil.

I never will forget being nervous saying my vows, but how holding her hands in mine gave me more confidence than I had ever had.

I never will forget how the Priest called us by the wrong names….and how we laughed about it later. 

I never will forget the reception where everyone was sloppy drunk, there was almost a fight, and people were falling down on the dance floor in their dresses….and how we laughed about it later.

And I sure as hell will never forget the wedding night!!! 

Well, it is exactly 10 years later and I am still happily married to my best friend!!!  We have two amazing kids and I would never ask for it to be any different!  If there is one thing that I could always count on over the past 10 years, it is the fact that no matter what random shit life threw at me that day, Momma would ALWAYS be there, waiting for me with her arms wide open.  She’s my rock and I’ll gladly admit that!

Happy 10th Anniversary Momma!

I will forever be grateful that you came over to talk to me that day and saw me for who I am, even through my nervous one word answers. 

How about I start on the morning of Feb 26th. Our family looked something like this…

…and at the end of the day it looked something like this…

Notice a difference?  The addition of a little person, you say?

Her name is Valerie.  Ace’s little sister.  Our new daughter.

I may be partial because 50% of her being came from me, but I think she is the 2nd cutest girl in the world…behind Momma of course.    Take a look!

Then a few weeks after Valerie was born Ace turned 4.  Can you believe it?  4 Years old!!

We did a lot of fun things over the summer, but the biggest thing for Ace was starting school!  To get him ready for Pre-School he started in a pre-pre-school summer program.  He was so excited the first day…

And then in August we took a much needed family vacation to Tennessee where we did all kinds of fun stuff including horse back riding, a helicopter tour, riding go-karts, going to the Dixie Stampede, hiking in the forest, and swimming in the pool…and in the river.

…and that brings us up to date!

Now I can make regular posts on here and bring my little place on the internet back to life. 

So, one night after dinner we decided to drive a few miles away and see the PickTown Lights.

Freaking amazing!  This dude has linked together 23 houses over a wireless link and has created an enormous Christmas light show!!

All 23 houses are synchronized to the same song which is broadcast over the radio waves.  You just dial your car radio in to the specific station and drive through.  Amazing!!!

Ace thoroughly enjoyed himself, but if you can keep it a secret…I think I enjoyed it more. 

I went right home and began planning some kind of Christmas display for our house next year…

I was able to get video of one of the songs in the show.  If you are in central Ohio, I highly recommend going to check this out some night after work with the family…

The reason I am writing about Frosted Flakes is because there is a contest going on.  It is called the  “Share What You Love about Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®” contest…

The Kellog’s Frosted Flakes Facebook page is hosting a contest where they asked moms and dads across the country to submit their story about how they share their love of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes® with their kids.

All of the entries have already been submitted and five finalists have been picked.  Now it is our duty as Frosted Flakes lovers to go and vote for the winner, who will receive a V-I-P breakfast and practice session with major league baseball legend, and New York Yankees legend Tino Martinez, and Tony the Tiger™ in their hometown.

So why should you go vote?  Because you can win two free boxes of Frosted Flakes for your family!

Just go to the Kellog’s Frosted Flakes Facebook page, cast your vote for your favorite story, then come back here and leave a comment stating that you voted.  You can submit up to one vote per day on the Kellog’s Frosted Flakes Facebook page, so I will also allow one comment per day for entry into the Frosted Flakes Give A Way.

Voting ends on 12/6, so go cast your vote and win some free cereal..!

Note: Kellogs Frosted Flakes supplied me with samples of their product for review purposes, and to also give a way on this site.

Ace kept me in the loop though.  He sent me a picture message showing me what he looked like in his costume, and I wanted to post it here for everyone to see…

Happy halloween!

By the way, I hate this f’ing costume and I don’t want to trick or treat either!

Love,
Ace the giraffe

What do you think?  Should I try to recreate these looks for Trick Or Treat?