Daddy Daughter Buddy Date

So I know that many of you have been clamouring for a new post from Jodee. And I am with you; for obvious reasons, I am one of this blog's more avid followers. But then it dawned on me the other day. Why can't I help out the cause more? I have something to say don't I? So I've decided to chronical the events of last weekend when Jodee was out of town and I was home with the kids. My friend is always saying that he wishes more of his guy friends would blog so he wouldn't feel so alone, so Carson this one's for you! I must confess up front that this post won't have any pictures as Jodee had the camera this weekend.

Madison loves Daddy Daughter dates more than anything. I must admit, I enjoy them quite a bit myself. Our last one was two weekends ago when we went to see a local high school (Skyline) football game. Skyline has a junior quarterback who is the number one ranked high school player for the class of 2010. He already has 15 scholarship offers to play in college and being that his first scholarship offer was from BYU, Madison wanted to go to the game so she could check out his arm. We had a lot of fun cuddling in our blanket and eating granola mixed with marshmallows and chocolate chips while watching the game. Maddie even came up with her own cheer, which she made me scream out repeatedly. It went like this: "Who do we deserve?...SKYLINE!!!" Don't ask me what it means, but I like it. Funny thing is, she now wants to go to their games every Friday night. I have raised her well.

Jodee was gone last weekend from Friday night to Sunday night as she went to the Oregon Coast to celebrate her grandma's 85th birthday with her grandma, mom and aunt. Friday we stayed up late watching Maddie's favorite show (Deal or No Deal) and then I let Maddie sleep in bed with me, which she thought was way cool, especially since I let her bring in three stuffed animals. She kept asking me if we could have a Daddy Daughter date the next day and I had to explain to her that Mommy wouldn't be very happy if I took her out and didn't leave anyone to watch Beckham, so we decided to make it a Daddy Daughter Buddy date.

When Beckham woke up Saturday morning, we pulled him out of his crib and put him in bed with us and watched a little TV. We stumbled upon the movie Ratatouille as it was just starting, so we decided to check it out since none of us had seen it. I thought it was a fun movie (Disney animated story about a rat in Paris that has a knack for fine cooking) and it even motivated me to get up and make us all omelets for breakfast.

Saturday was a sunny and comfortable day to be outside, so we set out for the zoo. We saw all the animals and especially liked the otters, giraffes, elephants, hippos, bears, orangutans, falcon flying demonstrations, reptiles, bats, and flamingos. Growing up the reptile area was always my favorite. I had this love/hate relationship with snakes. I am fascinated by them, but deathly afraid of them at the same time. Even today if I'm flipping channels and come across one of the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet shows where they are catching an anaconda or cobra, I'll tune in for a few minutes. But if I saw one of those things in real life outside of a cage, I'm definitely running the other way. Maddie seems to share my fascination and loved checking out the turtles, lizards, crocodiles and frogs in addition to the snakes. Another area we thought was neat and was something I had never experienced before at a zoo was a nocturnal area where it was very dimly lit and you had to rely on night vision to see bats, sloths, armadillo and other creatures that only come out at night.

After the zoo we went over to Golden Gardens Park, which is a state park on the north side of Seattle that has a nice beach on the Puget Sound. For fans of the show "Deadliest Catch" the park is right by Ballard, where the ship Northwestern is harbored. The kids played on the playground, then we beach combed and played in the sand and watched a lone kite boarder do his thing. On the drive home I had one of those personal experiences that you know you'll always remember. Watching the setting sun with Mt. Rainier bathed in its last few rays and both kids sound asleep in the backseat tuckered out after a day of fun, I enjoyed an overwhelming feeling of contentment. I was thankful for the weekend to bond with Maddie and Bex and even more happy when Mommy made it back the next evening safe and sound.