This picture cracks me up. Several years ago, I took William on a Father & Son campout with our church. We all camped in the hay flats around Hope, Alaska. We did some fishing that night for pink salmon or humpies. It is pretty easy to see how they got that name. In most cases they turn ugly as soon as they reach freshwater. We were still in the tidal area of Resurrection Creek when this one was caught. It was William’s first close encounter with a humpy and he was none too interested. The next day we decided to go hiking instead.
Showing posts with label Will. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Will. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A Humpy at Hope
This picture cracks me up. Several years ago, I took William on a Father & Son campout with our church. We all camped in the hay flats around Hope, Alaska. We did some fishing that night for pink salmon or humpies. It is pretty easy to see how they got that name. In most cases they turn ugly as soon as they reach freshwater. We were still in the tidal area of Resurrection Creek when this one was caught. It was William’s first close encounter with a humpy and he was none too interested. The next day we decided to go hiking instead.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Driving Conversations: Knock! Knock!
When I was a Cubmaster I was always collecting cheesy jokes, the kind boys like, such as knock-knock jokes and silly puns. Ever since our kids, especially William, have been making up their own jokes and trying them on us. The jokes are kind of hit or miss. Here are a couple ‘hits’ from a while back when I was driving William to school.
Joke 1
Will: What is a shark’s favorite dessert?
Me: I don’t know. What is a shark’s favorite dessert? By the way that is the only allowable response to any joke question.
Will: Octo-pie!
Joke 2
Will: What is a whale’s favorite lunch?
Me: I don’t know. What is a whale’s favorite lunch?
Will: Krill cheese sandwiches!
He really was in good form that day and had me cracking up. After that most of William’s jokes were sea/food oriented.
William has a really silly and dry sense of humor. He will say really ridiculous things so seriously that you think he is being serious. The twinkle in his eye or that goofy grin of his is what usually gives him away. He did again this morning over breakfast.
Will: I wish we were professional rhyme makers.
Me: What? Does he mean rappers and how would he know what rap is?
Will: I wish were were professional rhyme makers. Then we could go all over the world performing rhymes in circuses. We would be famous and would perform behind a curtain like this . . .
He then launches into a rendition of “rain rain go away” complete with some hand actions. He described how we would make it appear as if rain was falling from finger tips. I just stared at him. Then he gave one of his big smiles and we both started laughing. He is so weird and I love it.
(The picture if from a year ago when Will was in a school play. He was a radish. We call this shot Radish N Da Hood. Maybe this is why he wants to be a professional rhyme maker.)
Joke 1
Will: What is a shark’s favorite dessert?
Me: I don’t know. What is a shark’s favorite dessert? By the way that is the only allowable response to any joke question.
Will: Octo-pie!
Joke 2
Will: What is a whale’s favorite lunch?
Me: I don’t know. What is a whale’s favorite lunch?
Will: Krill cheese sandwiches!
He really was in good form that day and had me cracking up. After that most of William’s jokes were sea/food oriented.
William has a really silly and dry sense of humor. He will say really ridiculous things so seriously that you think he is being serious. The twinkle in his eye or that goofy grin of his is what usually gives him away. He did again this morning over breakfast.
Will: I wish we were professional rhyme makers.
Me: What? Does he mean rappers and how would he know what rap is?
Will: I wish were were professional rhyme makers. Then we could go all over the world performing rhymes in circuses. We would be famous and would perform behind a curtain like this . . .
He then launches into a rendition of “rain rain go away” complete with some hand actions. He described how we would make it appear as if rain was falling from finger tips. I just stared at him. Then he gave one of his big smiles and we both started laughing. He is so weird and I love it.
(The picture if from a year ago when Will was in a school play. He was a radish. We call this shot Radish N Da Hood. Maybe this is why he wants to be a professional rhyme maker.)
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Give the Monkeys a Hammer
About a month ago, we cleaned out the garage and shed. It was the first warm Saturday in a while and we decided to put away the winter gear and get out the summer stuff. The kids were not pleased with having to turn off the Saturday morning cartoons. I can understand that, those TMNT can be pretty addictive. As things were turning into a full scale revolt, I had a stroke of brilliance.
During fall and winter, several items had ended up in our backyard. Since I don’t have a truck to haul them away, they sat there until the snow covered them up. Once hidden from view they were forgotten, until now. That Saturday had been decreed as the day they would be hauled off to the dump in the afternoon when I could borrow a truck. So, I hauled them out to the front yawn. There was a lawn mower, old carpet, and a dishwasher. I then told the kids they could do whatever they wanted to them and handed over my tools. Will was bouncing with excitement. He had been watching PBS’s kid "Junkyard", where teams of kids compete by building cool things out of junk. In no time he had a thousand crazy ideas. I left them to it and went off to do my spring cleaning.
I would check up on them and help out every few minutes. They quickly realized that Bosch dishwashers are pretty tough. So they mainly alternated trying to unscrew the millions of screws and just pounding it with hammers. They later reminded me of the opening scene in 2001 Space Odyssey.
Around lunchtime Rebecca came out and was a little shocked at their progress. Though the garage was looking pretty clean the front yard looked like a junkyard. There were pieces and parts everywhere with tools mixed in for good measure. It looked pretty bad. Rebecca made us promise to pick everything up by the end of the day. So as soon as I got the truck, we backed it up and loaded everything on it. The kids were really good about hunting down all the tools. In the end, the garage and the yard were cleaned up. And the kids had not spent the whole day in front of the TV.
During fall and winter, several items had ended up in our backyard. Since I don’t have a truck to haul them away, they sat there until the snow covered them up. Once hidden from view they were forgotten, until now. That Saturday had been decreed as the day they would be hauled off to the dump in the afternoon when I could borrow a truck. So, I hauled them out to the front yawn. There was a lawn mower, old carpet, and a dishwasher. I then told the kids they could do whatever they wanted to them and handed over my tools. Will was bouncing with excitement. He had been watching PBS’s kid "Junkyard", where teams of kids compete by building cool things out of junk. In no time he had a thousand crazy ideas. I left them to it and went off to do my spring cleaning.
I would check up on them and help out every few minutes. They quickly realized that Bosch dishwashers are pretty tough. So they mainly alternated trying to unscrew the millions of screws and just pounding it with hammers. They later reminded me of the opening scene in 2001 Space Odyssey.Around lunchtime Rebecca came out and was a little shocked at their progress. Though the garage was looking pretty clean the front yard looked like a junkyard. There were pieces and parts everywhere with tools mixed in for good measure. It looked pretty bad. Rebecca made us promise to pick everything up by the end of the day. So as soon as I got the truck, we backed it up and loaded everything on it. The kids were really good about hunting down all the tools. In the end, the garage and the yard were cleaned up. And the kids had not spent the whole day in front of the TV.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Driving Conversations: Living In a Tae Kwon World
This conversation happened on Wednesday while I was dropping Will off at school on the way to work.
Will: That lady behind us in the white car looks like grandma.
Me: Really? I look and it does kind of look like my mom.
Me: Which grandma?
Will: The one that lives in a tae kwon do?
Me: What?
Will: The grandma that lives in a tae kwon do?
At this point my mind is racing around trying to find a connection. Tae kwon do = Rex’s Tae kwon do school = Napoleon Dynamite = Idaho = my grandmother who lives in Downey, Idaho.
Me: Do you mean Great Grandma who lives in Idaho?
Will: No, the one who lives in tae kwon do.
Me: Do you mean my parents who live in Anchorage or mom’s who live in Arizona?
Will: Neither, the ones who live in tae kwon do.
Me: Will, those are your only grandparents.
Will: No Dad, there are the ones that live in tae kwon do.
OK! I realize I am going at this the wrong way. Time to change directions.
Me: Will, I don’t understand tae kwon do. Tae kwon do is a martial art form . . . like
karate. Is that what you mean?
Will: NO! You know tae kwon do is a place that you live where it has a rope to pull if you need help.
What the crap?
Me: What did you say?
Will: The ones that live in a tae kwon do . . . pause . . . a tai con do . . . pause . . . a kwondo.
Me: CONDO! Do you mean a CONDO?
Will: Yes, that’s it a condo!
Me: Aaaah! You mean Great Grandpa and Grandma Ni?
My grandparents just moved out of their house where they have lived for fifty years into a retirement community. I still have not seen their new condo, but Will has.
Will: Yeah.
Me: Oh Yeah, I totally see it. She does look like Great Grandma Ni.
At this point, the lady in the white car passed us as we turned right to Will’s school.
Will: That lady behind us in the white car looks like grandma.
Me: Really? I look and it does kind of look like my mom.
Me: Which grandma?
Will: The one that lives in a tae kwon do?
Me: What?
Will: The grandma that lives in a tae kwon do?
At this point my mind is racing around trying to find a connection. Tae kwon do = Rex’s Tae kwon do school = Napoleon Dynamite = Idaho = my grandmother who lives in Downey, Idaho.
Me: Do you mean Great Grandma who lives in Idaho?
Will: No, the one who lives in tae kwon do.
Me: Do you mean my parents who live in Anchorage or mom’s who live in Arizona?
Will: Neither, the ones who live in tae kwon do.
Me: Will, those are your only grandparents.
Will: No Dad, there are the ones that live in tae kwon do.
OK! I realize I am going at this the wrong way. Time to change directions.
Me: Will, I don’t understand tae kwon do. Tae kwon do is a martial art form . . . like
karate. Is that what you mean?
Will: NO! You know tae kwon do is a place that you live where it has a rope to pull if you need help.
What the crap?
Me: What did you say?
Will: The ones that live in a tae kwon do . . . pause . . . a tai con do . . . pause . . . a kwondo.
Me: CONDO! Do you mean a CONDO?
Will: Yes, that’s it a condo!
Me: Aaaah! You mean Great Grandpa and Grandma Ni?
My grandparents just moved out of their house where they have lived for fifty years into a retirement community. I still have not seen their new condo, but Will has.
Will: Yeah.
Me: Oh Yeah, I totally see it. She does look like Great Grandma Ni.
At this point, the lady in the white car passed us as we turned right to Will’s school.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Wordless Wednesday: Alaskan Jungle Gym
This is a picture of William climbing around a piece of driftwood at Kenai Lake. It was taken on a camping trip in May 2004 and is one of my favorites. We had a blast beach combing and exploring. I don't think we saw another sole the whole time we were there.
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