HOIST THE BLACK FLAG!

I love Caroline, she is the sweetest girl around.  She showers you with love and kindness because that is her nature.  She is also afraid of a lot of things (except bugs oddly enough).  You mention the word snap and pops and she literally freaks out.  Seriously, it reminds me of something from Exorcist. 

We are working on her firework fear- along with her fears to just about everything- and I have found something that helps.

While at Disney, I tried the Pirates of the Caribbean ride by myself. It turns out to be a ride I thought all the girls would like.  Well I knew that Baylor and Reagan would like it but there were a few parts I knew would scare Caroline.  She has always been interested in Pirates, ever since she got her own eye patch last December. While there were a few scary parts for Caroline, for the most part she really liked the ride and took it all in stride.  As a memento of the ride, while purchasing a water for us to drink, I saw this small Jolly Roger flag and I was hit by some lighting.  See, I sorta know how Caroline thinks because she is very similar to me.  I knew that when she is afraid of something, she needs something other than her thumb to concentrate on to get through the bad parts....why not a Jolly Roger?  The flag was used during the Pirate days to strike fear in others.....so I figured it would be a great symbol for Caroline to use when she needed to be brave.  It gives her something else to concentrate on other than what it is going on around her.

One night she was having bad dreams and was crying for Brooke and I.  When we got to her, she was crying and asking for her flag to keep her brave.  Last night we had a fireworks freek out and she kept saying ...."I need my flag! I need my flag!"  It has become in some ways more than I intended and in others, exactly what I intended. 

She had her birthday yesterday and by all accounts it was a great success.  Most the family was here, the weather was great, and the kids played hard.  Ive learned in 4 years that Caroline is a sweet girl, loving girl, emotional girl, scaredy cat, and a lot like me.  Good and bad.  Its been challenging and rewarding in recent times to see her face her fears, find new ones, overcome some.  But the main thing I learned is that my life, our life, is so much better because of Caroline.

HOIST THE BLACK FLAG Caroline, time to make them walk the plank!

On On UK

This is someones house...on a Wednesday... in June.... here in Lexington.  I was going to blog about this but I feel that a picture really is worth a 1000 words in this case.  I am speechless. 

Then they do.....

Im not talking about anything other than time.  Where does it all go?  The harder we hold on, the faster it seems to evaporate. I have spent the past few days going "this time last week..." referring to some point of time when I was on vacation with my family.  That time just seemingly went by so fast.  Im pretty sure no matter how long you had with your family like that, with your loved one(s) it would never be enough.  But I can't get over how fast it seemed to go.  That got me started thinking about a lot of other things.  I looked at Reagan the other day when she went out to play with her sisters, she looked 12.  So tall, so grown up looking.  Our lives have been so filled with babies and raising kids that the last few years are just a blur.  Someone looked at our wedding photos yesterday and she told Brooke, man- Boomer looked so young (that was 8 years ago for the record).  I don't mind getting old, it happens.  What I hate is losing time.  I miss when Reagan was younger and all she wanted was me and her binky.  Sometimes I miss when Caroline was "Bob" or when Baylor Grace didn't talk.  I blinked and now Reagan is Stretch Armstrong, Caroline is a pretty little girl, Baylor Grace is a bombshell with a singing voice, and now we have Hadley.  Where did it all go?  I think it is worse because they are girls.  From the moment I first held them in my arms and their tiny little hand grabbed my finger, a father knows he is going to lose her.  That's what she is going to do, that's what you want them to do.  You want her to grow up and replace you and yet it is the hardest thing to come to terms with.  With each passing day and each birthday celebration they are closer to letting you go.  Robert E. Lee told James Longstreet "To be a good soldier, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love."  To be a good father I must love my girls and prepare them for the day without me.  I get that...its just so hard to be okay with.  And the further along we get, the faster it all seems to go.  

Different jobs, different cities, different houses.  This morning Baylor Grace woke me up at 6 again (like most mornings) and I was so furious- in her defense she did go back to sleep.  I couldn't wait for her to be a big girl and not do that. Later in the morning after Caroline and Reagan woke up, they barely said a word to me when they did except to ask 1) for breakfast) or 2) what does Captain Jack Sparrow look like?  I will let you guess which girl asked question number one and which girl asked question number two.   So I had the two big girls and were feeding them and I was hit by a sneezing attack.  From seemingly the heavens above I hear "blessh you Daddy."  It was Baylor Grace who had gotten herself out of bed-which  she isn't supposed to do- and was already down the stairs with two different bears in hand.  She is getting to be a big girl too.  Sometimes it seems as though we cant wait for the girls to grow up, to be self sufficient, to be people....then they do.  And we miss when they were babies. 

Dad will be 66 in Dec, Brooke just turned 30, where did all the time go? My Dad and I had a conversation about when the girls are a particular age, what age will I be?  It just all hit me about how fast time really does fly.  And it is sad. Not because you get old but because you miss the great times of the past and you understand that everything around you is changing.  Like it or not.

 We get so busy raising kids and paying bills, we forget to stop and look around. Ferris Beuller was spot on.

More than words....

You are probably wondering why no blogs about vacation or Father's Day?  I have thought long and hard- had a lot of drive time to think- about what I was going to say about our vacation, or how I would best talk about the special meaning of this day.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized there was really no way to put it into words.

Vacation was amazing, the greatest one I have ever had.  While I missed having both sets of parents there, it was nice to have time with my girls (and the extra Brooke, who was a big help too).  I can't begin to tell you about all the fun we had and the memories made.  No words can do it justice.  And let me say this, when you have girls, Magic Kingdom really is a place where dreams come true.  I dread the work that I have waiting for me tomorrow morning, it all starts again.  Since the moment we made the reservations for LBK, when ever rough time came I would remind myself "just make it to June," for vacation.  While I am so sad to see it end, I can remind myself again that- with any luck- next June we will be back there on the beach together.  God I love those girls.

Fathers Day was a day well spent.  I got to see my grandfather, spend time with my brother, and have a good dinner at my folks house.  The girls have been asking to go to MaMaw's and PawPaws house, so it was nice to spend the day there.  For the first 20 some odd years of my life, my father was my best friend.  Not because he let me do whatever I wanted and get away with all the bad things I did.  It was actually the opposite.  I appreciate the standard at which he held me, the love he gave me, the example he showed me.  Brooke and I have formed a relationship that only a man and his wife can but my father always will hold a special place in my life and Im so thankful he is around for me to share these days with. 

But I do want to end this one with a special note to my wife and daughters.  The greatest title I have ever been given is Daddy.  With each passing day I fall deeper and deeper in love with all 5 of you.  So much of what I do and who I am is because of you girls.  I want to give you the world and will work my a*s off in order to do so.  You are very well behaved, beautiful, strong, young women.  I am so blessed you were a gift from God.  Daddy's Day, really is the greatest day of the year.  Thank you so much.

So, to Dad, and Pops- thanks for everything you do and being great men.  To my PawPaw and to Brooke's Grandpa, thanks for blazing the trail.  You are in a better place and will always live on through us.  Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there. I hope you are honored as I am to be called Daddy. 

It was AWESOME BABY!

Yesterday was my 8th Anniversary with Brooke.  We were lucky enough to be able to celebrate that date here in Florida.   We started the day with a trip to Myakka State Park.  With Billy the Exterminator and Swamp People, my girls are into bugs, reptiles of all sorts, and especially alligators.  Yesterday we saw a roach somewhere and Reagan said "those can make you really sick!"  I asked her how she knew that and she said Billy!"  So, we take the giant air boat ride out onto a lake and once we finally got to the other side, there were alligators everywhere.  It was something out of a movie and the girls LOVED it. 

After a late nap and a few hours in the pool, we returned to Columbia for our Anniversary dinner (with everyone).  This would give us a chance to walk around again and say goodbye to St. Armands.  I had joked with Brooke Ward when we were at Columbia's for lunch about the fact that Dick Vitale will probably come by-  it didn't happen at that lunch- but it did last night for dinner.  I was glad Brooke was there because it put someone else at my table that was more excited about Dicky V than myself.  My Brooke, and girls, couldn't have cared less.  Brooke Ward, stared at him through the entire dinner.  She was obsessed with Dicky V.  We didn't want to bother him because their were a few that were and we wanted to just let them enjoy their dinner (he was with his wife).  We were done and waited outside of the restaurant waiting on Brooke Ward.  Everywhere we go, we draw attention- as a unit.  I would like to think because the girls are so cute and there a lot of them.  Who knows?  Well I guess they got Dick Vitale's attention because when we walked buy ( I still didn't want to bother him) he handed us his autographed kids book.  All the girls, especially Caroline, were very appreciative even if they didn't know who he was.  He was then gracious enough to take the above picture with the girls and was so gracious with all them.  Brooke and I wet our pants.  He was totally a great guy. 

When then capped the day off with a late night family swim in the pool and all the girls did such a good job, Reagan is a swimmer now.

Today is a the last day at the beach for us.  We still have Disney tomorrow but it is ALWAYS a bittersweet day when we have to pack up and leave this great place.  There are so many great memories in this place and its been amazing to make new ones with my family.  With three girls sleeping in that room, and talking all night long- I was reminded of all the nights Patrick and I spent in those rooms.  It is strange being here without them, maybe next year we can all be here together, but it has been a great trip.

One more day here, I will soak it all in.

Geronimo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Reagan

This is Reagan jumping off the side of the pool.

A day in pictures

We woke up (earlier than desired thanks to Baylor Grace) in a hotel in Valdosta GA.

Then after a drive in the car we finally made it to the beach.  The excitement was just too much for some of us and after pooping everywhere, we just needed a nap.  And boy did we love the ocean breeze and sounds of the waves crashing.

So we played and played at the beach.  Caroline went from being afraid of the water to wanting bigger waves in the ocean.  But eventually it was time for us to go eat at Moore's, our first night family tradition.  Some of us had been working hard in the sand and were not too pleased about leaving.

But all good things must come to an end.  Our first night on LBK was through.  And after a later than normal dinner, bed time, it was finally time to call it a day.  Some of us were more ready for bed than others.

Ahh the joys of a Griswold family vacation.