How To Spot a Great Dad

Happy Father's Day! I've been really lucky to have a great Dad myself and to watch one be born. 

Daddies need to look cool

They need to be comfy enough for two

They should always leave their shoes out for easy access

They make excellent booster seats

And floatation devices

The Bunny Cometh

Or I guess I should say "the Bunny cameth," since Easter was two days ago. At any rate, it was great and I've got an egg salad sandwich to prove it!

These eggs are done with ziplock bags and a dye added with a dropper, no dipping. They also dry superfast, which is why Mom got this particular kit, thinking it would be perfect for a two year old. But Austin only wanted to watch Daddy and Mommy dye eggs under his direction. And then lick the dye off.

This was our Easter basket this year! We got jelly beans, a chocolate bunny, M&Ms, magnetic letters, a glitter globe with a truck full of carrots, and that tall tube thing is a kaleidoscope. The winner? That smiling carrot that launches a spinning disk in the air, of course. Sophie got a beautiful book, with an illustration of the Easter Bunny's chariot, which is evidently drawn by a team of chickens. I'll try to add the Easter Morning movie later on.

Here we are posing for a picture with our snazzy Easter clothes.

It is very hard to pose Sophie for pictures. She can't quite sit up yet, but she's not as boneless and tractable as a newborn either. So I tried to put her on the couch so I could get a shot of the two of them. Austin briefly looked away from the iPad.

While Sophie slowly wilts.

Fortunately, lots of people like to pose for pictures with Sophie.

And they like to set up Easter egg hunts for the boy too, who just happens to be a master egg finder.

And they're even nice enough to help us take some family photos.

Which came out pretty great, even though I forgot to put Sophie's ears back on. So here they are again...

New Developments

Sorry Austin fans, I know it's been a long time! I can't promise that I'll be posting very often in the next few weeks but I'll try to share as many photos and stories as I can, starting with the biggest piece of news... I'm not naming any names, but someone's a big brother! Little sister Sophie was born on January 14.

She came home with Mom 5 days later.

So far, she seems to be pretty popular. Welcome home, little sister.

Hiking With Dad

The weekend before Dad went back to work, we took a trip out to the woods. This is one of my favorite parks in the area.

Our fearless leader

Make sure you check out this creek, Mom

We've spotted a banana slug

Admiring all our treasures we collected on the trail

Searching for more treasures

(Fear not grandparents, those berries are not dangerous)

Mini Mini-Golfer

I hear this is how Tiger Woods started...

We weren't really so interested in getting the ball in the hole. It was much more exciting to get it back out.

We couldn't leave without hitting the arcade. Austin won over 100 tickets all by himself! And that is how we got our new plane.

This one. Right here.

Austin Meets Thomas and Friend

I don't know if you can really understand Austin's love for a certain train. His favorite toy is a battery powered Thomas, which is an incredibly long-suffering and durable little sucker (at least, so far...). His favorite show is Thomas and Friends. His favorite outfit? This one:

stylin' and profilin'

So as you can imagine, we could not miss an opportunity to see Thomas in person. And ride around in a real train. So Mom and Dad bought some tickets online and were off to Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton, up in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains. It was blissfully cool and everyone had an awesome time.

Our ticket included a free temporary tattoo. That awesome hat was extra.

Hey, is that Thomas?

Wait a minute, I didn't sign off on this...

I didn't know it hurt to get temporary tattoos

Finishing up

Whoa...

Finally, it was time to ride! Thomas pulled a 10 car train and we were in car 10. It was actually pretty swanky, with plush red seats and little chandeliers! Not that the boy noticed...

Prepare to be boarded...

Still admiring our ink

And that was awesome.

But we still hadn't seen Thomas!

THERE HE IS!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

I don't remember how we got him to turn toward the camera. Magic may have been involved...

But wait, there's more! This is actually the train that took people back and forth to the parking lot. It's over a hundred years old and we totally dug it. Every time it pulled into the camp Austin wanted to go see it... this is Sonora.

When the driver pumped the steam, we could actually see rain coming from the cloud!

I'd say we had a pretty great time.