Our Super Kids :) 

...and there he is...SUPERDAD! 

Adding a Comment.

There has been some confusion about how to add a comment to an article or picture so I will review the optioins here. Below you can see a screen shot of the page that you are taken to when you attempt to add a comment. (If you click on this picture it will take you to the actual page, but don't complete this process there or your comment will not end up where you want it.) It asks you for a user name and pass word. At this point you can do one of two things.

1. Directly below the "Sign In" button there is a link to "post anonymously". You may click on that and add your comment. Just be sure to put your name at the bottom so we know who commented.

2. At the bottom of the page it has the option to set up a blogger account. If you go through that process you can then choose a username and password to use each time you wish to add a comment and it will identify that you posted it. This method would also allow you to start your own personal blog!

I hope this helps you!

Comment screen shot.

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s…Super Dad!!!

Sunday was father’s day and in the tradition of all proud fathers who came before me, I wore my gift all day, like a badge of honor. What was it, you ask? A bad tie? Silly socks? No. This was WAY better than that! For I had bestowed upon me the official title of “Super Dad,” knowledge of which shall here-to-for be conveyed to the general (non-superhero) public by the wearing of the official “Super Dad” T-shirt!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. This was just an honorary title, like an honorary doctorate given to some big celebrity. While it may not have included the accompanying tights and cape, I am certain that this is the real deal. After all, I am able to catch falling children in mid-air, change a diaper faster than a toddler can run away…one handed, and interpret words like “na na” (milk) and “la la” (Jesse’s moniker for me, which recently changed to Dada)! I am able to make boo boos disappear with a single kiss and a bandage! And answer questions like, “Why do people have heads?” (So they can talk, eat and see each other).

I got comments and stares of awe and wonder every place that we went. The checkout girl said that she got her father the same shirt (more proud inductees into this elite club). At the playground later that day, while I was leaping to Jesse’s aid, a small boy appeared wearing a blue shirt with a big “S” on the chest. We both paused. He smiled and said “I like your shirt!” I returned the compliment and then we both flew our separate ways. I could see guys giving me knowing nods of approval in my super peripheral vision. Later, with both of my children in tow, a mom pushing a young girl in a stroller on the other side of the road smiled at me and said that she like my shirt, no doubt having dreams of being rescued by a Super Dad of her own!

Sorry lady, but this Super Dad is taken! I’ve got a true superhero wife and two super kids! And we superheroes have a higher moral standard which must be upheld! A code of honor that must not be broken! I have to admit that being a superhero (Dad) is lots of fun and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love spending all day helping, playing, kissing, hugging, teaching and learning. Now if I could only get Missy to wear that Wonder Woman outfit…!

"The Newest Greators!" (named by Eric - don't ask!?!) 

Two baby cheetahs and mommy (one below & one on tail end of her) 

and a new FOAL (born in May)...LOTS of BABIES 

Mommy fussing over baby giraffe 

Baby Leela (I believe) was born in April - HANGING in there as you can see :) 

Mommy & baby (I'm not going to try & spell a-rang-a-tang) 

Up close & personal with the leopard (face to face!) 

Mommy & the boys :) 

That's not a frog on that lily pad....!?!?! 

They couldn't have made Eric feel more at home than here 

We caught him! 

Making Music! Eric had to throw his weight around as Jess didn't have enough (the squares played chimes when stomped on) 

It's AUNT SUE (& Eric)! 

Heading up the trail! 

It's a ZOO LIFE

Well, another visit to another zoo. Eric, Jess and I went up to Erie for a short weekend trip. We ventured to their zoo this a.m. on Member Day (free train ride, carousel ride, hotdog and pop. It was actually COLD and a little wet, but then again, it wasn't crowded. We had fun and saw lots of sights different from our usual zoo and trail of animals. The Erie Zoo had a lot of rennovations and new stuff which was fun to check out. It's VERY DIFFERENT from when I grew up, but then again - we're talking 30 years and I would now expect newer and better stuff.

Our trip included Larry and "Aunt Sue" who Eric was just DYING to see the whole time. He enjoyed his time with her (and the rest of us) and is looking forward to even more quality time again with our trip to FL together in LESS THAN A WEEK -AAGGHHH!!! So little done, so much to do and so little time left!?!?! We'll manage and the point is: we're going!

As for a little background on the rest of this weekend, we saw Uncle Craig and Grammy on Friday night. Grammy had a meeting so was gone all day Saturday and Uncle Craig had to work. The three Crownover fellows were left on their own in Pittsburgh for a couple nights and day of fun in male bonding. Eric was invited but opted to road trip with Mommy (from what I can tell mostly to visit with Aunt Sue from all of his inquisition throughout our journey).

So, I'll include a few pictures from our weekend adventure. Enjoy! This week is looking to be very busy, so you may not hear back again until July with the FL update and Mickey pictures! Can't wait (for it to COME, not be OVER WITH to report on) :)

All tuckered out?

Thank You Mommy!

Eye to eye with an elephant!

Stretch!

That's one big cat!

Queen of the Jungle.

A touching moment!

What's On The Menu?

Today, while we were eating lunch, Eric was demanding to know what we would be having for supper. I told him that I had not decided yet so, he informed me that he was going to decide. Thinking for just a moment he exclaimed, “Pancakes and Grapenuts!”  I inquired as to whether the Grapenuts were to be IN the pancakes or in addition to them and he stated that they were to be IN them. Later he qualified that by saying that when the pancakes were almost cooked we should put “the stuff” in the middle. We had tomato soup and fresh applesauce for lunch, so I reminded him that we should probably have some kind of meat for dinner and began to list what kinds of meat we had. He quickly suggested chicken nuggets (which was not one that I had mentioned). Hmm, sounds like an interesting menu to me!?!

 

Eric is definitely not the star eater in our family, but he does have some favorites. The last time that we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa (on our train trip) Eric even volunteered to help with supper. Grandma had just come home from work and both of the boys (and I) were quite hungry. Mom was going to make chicken and waffles and I had to smell the chicken in the crock pot all day. Jesse was getting fussy and I was eager to eat so I asked Mom if she needed any help with supper. She replied that she did not and Eric quickly chimed in with “I will help with the eating part!”

 

About a month ago we decided to start using the small ice cream freezer that I have had for some time but rarely used (surprising for how much we all love ice cream). I had asked Eric if he wanted to help me make the mix. He said yes and then went into the living room to watch a movie with Mommy and Jesse. After cleaning up the kitchen a bit I got started, deciding that there really wasn’t much for Eric to help with since I needed to cook the mix. I proceeded to make the mix, cool it and then freeze it. Several times during the freezing process I brought Eric a spoonful to sample (the freezer has an opening in the top for adding things to the mix). When the ice cream was finished he realized that he had not helped to make it and expressed his disappointment. I assured him that he indeed was a help as he was my official taster. This seemed to be a good enough explanation for him. After we ate our ice cream he seemed to be in deep thought. All of a sudden, he excitedly proposed “Hey Daddy! We should open an ice cream store and make lots of different kinds of ice cream! I can be the taster and taste all of the kinds!”

 

Such a helpful lad! That’s my boy!

Wet Fun!

Yesterday and today were 90° F days here so we decided to play in the water. The boys absolutely loved this slide and just had a blast! I must say though, that the pictures are a bit deceiving. You are supposed to run and slide head first. Eric would run up to the slide and then stop and flop down, with no momentum to make him slide to the end. So while the first picture was authentic action, the second one was posed.

 

That’s because Mommy was at work and no one else was around to take pictures of what was really going on. Since Eric was afraid to run and slide and Jesse is just too little to figure out what to do, I had to assist. As fast as they could jump up and run back to me, I was picking them up and throwing them down the slide. Each time they laughed, jumped up and ran back to the beginning, pausing only seconds at the towel to dry their faces.  I was having fun too, seeing them enjoy it so much.

 

I not sure how many times we repeated this scenario, but we were out there for about 1 ½ hours and they were going non-stop so I am going to guess at least 30 times (and I think that is a conservative guess)…each! Let’s see, Eric weighs about 42 lbs and Jesse 25 lbs….hmm…18 ft of slide… That adds up to 2010 lbs of cumulative kid tossing and a total distance of 1080 ft.

 

We could use some physics and determine the kinetic friction coefficient for wet plastic, figure the actual amount of force applied and work performed (in Newtons)…Suffice it to say…I’m going to feel that tomorrow!

 

Slide! 

Ready! 

The Day of Nates

We attended two parties today for young men named Nathan. The first one was a family affair with lots of children of all ages. It was fun for all, despite the tempermental wet weather.

No sooner did we arrive home, but then Eric & I headed off to another party for one of his school buddies. This was a good time too with several friends and many family members. Both parties had pinatas so there was lots of swinging of bats, candy and, of course, cake and ice cream.

So far, it's been quite the busy weekend despite the rain which hopefully will be done and over with as of tonight :)

Totally Retro :) 

Our Page

If Missy hasn't already told you of this, she has been updating our family website. She is doing a good job, making it easier to navigate and more logical. The "updates" link will bring you to this blog. The rest is mostly historical pictures and such.

Hope you enjoy!

This one shows just how big Eric is getting, it's just AMAZING! 

YOUR OUT! ... DAD

So, maybe there really IS something to this Oedipus complex. I never really gave it that much credence before. Eric and I left Mommy and Jesse at home for the second half of Memorial Day weekend and went camping.  Sure, it was only in the front yard, but it was still an adventure. Eric was quite excited to gather supplies for us, like books and toys. I set up the tent, some chairs and even a little portable grill that we had a small fire in. Missy seemed nearly overcome with emotion as she watched her little boy acting all grown up and serious about our little trip. Okay, maybe she wasn’t THAT emotional, but she did comment on how cute he was acting. Later she would ask him why he was growing up so fast, explaining that he will eventually grow up and move away from her. Eric was quick to offer a solution that would make her feel better, “Maybe we can just kick Daddy out of the house!” Hmm, this would not be the first time he has expressed this desire. He has previously asked Missy when she would “be done marrying Daddy” so that he could marry her!

 

I had left the rain fly off of the tent so that we could see the stars through the netting in the roof. Wouldn’t you know, around 12:30 AM I woke to the sounds of scattered rain drops? After waiting a few minutes to determine that it was actually rain and that it was not going to stop, I went outside the tent and put the rain fly on. No more than 15 minutes after this it began to rain quite hard and continued to rain for the rest of the morning. The tent held up pretty well. Around 6:00 AM it really started to pour down! This woke Eric up. Surprisingly, just a very small amount of water had leaked in the front seam at the base. We stayed in the tent until about 6:30 or so, hoping that it would slow, but it never did. So we trekked in the front door (a whole 15 feet away) where Missy greeted us with a smile.

 

There seems to be a direct connection between the tent going up and rain coming down. I had set it up in the yard a few weeks ago to inspect it and let it air out after being packed away all winter. It rained pretty hard that night. The last time that it was used for actual camping, the boys, grandpa and I took it to Greenwood State Park for a trip. I can’t recall if it was the first day or the second, but I do remember that it absolutely poured! I’m talking torrential downpour! Water was leaking in everywhere and we abandoned camp, escaping to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Adam and Dad and I later went back to collect and salvage everything.

 

I was thinking that maybe we could start camping in all of the drought stricken parts of the world. Surely the people would be glad when our tent brought them much needed rain! Then again, maybe I should wait a few years and do this alone. After all, it sounds as if I might not have a place to live!