J: What did you do on your birthday?

D: I blowed out candles. And I was four. I opened presents. And I eat a cupcake. I got an airplane with a gun, and you shoot it with water.

J: Who gave you that?

D:Uncle Ted. Uncle Grant gave me the thing for the three balls with a gun. Knock down something.

J: Where did you go on your birthday?

D: Go play putt putt. I got a hole in one. And Nicole got a hole in one. (J: She got two.) We got tickets.

J: Who took you to play putt putt?

D: Gramalie and GrandDad. And I got a scooter on my birthday and a lego maniacs. I think that’s it.

N: He got two Marble Works from Gramalie and Patsy.

D: Yeah. Aunt Carol gave me Candy Land and Shoots and Ladders. I don’t know who gave me the paint. Nicole gave me the Ninja Turtle cards. And I got paint on my birthday. I think that’s it.

J: Danny, what do you want to be when you grow up?

D: An Indian.

J: Is that because you were an Indian at kaleidoscope?

D: Yep.

Ted is a puzzling brother.

Solve Me

[We pasted Uncle Ted’s passport photo into the Apple puzzle utility. When you unscrambled the tiles, the sound above would play.]

As Kathy and Chris were driving through middle Georgia, the kids and I went over to Bob and Carol’s for a small birthday get together. Grant bought me a styrofoam cooler and filled it with Killian’s Red. Ted swore he had decided what to get me, and would do so shortly. Carol gave me a great jungle nouveau safari shirt and a straight-as-an-arrow dark red tie. Kathy showed up pretty late, exhausted, but present and accounted for. She gave me a terrific shirt and some excellent shorts. She also brought some toys from Grandpa including a gravity assisted kaleidoscope and this bar that you strike and the sound goes on forever.

The kids both gave me a box of ice cream Snickers. Think I’ll go have one now.

Got two birthday cards in the mail today. One was from Jim & Andrea Colvin who have moved into a new 5 bedroom home. Jim got to go back to Berlin to show off his prosthetic leg for 10 days. He says things have changed a lot since he, Ed, Jim L. and myself were there. The wall is gone, of course. At one point behind the Prague, where a mined, barbed wired fence crossed a canal, there had been guards and dogs. He says all of that is gone. Now there’s a Honda dealership.

The other birthday card wasn’t for me. It announced the birth of Nicholas John Daegle on June 20.

Grant has watched the kids while Kathy has been in Ft. Lauderdale. He took them to McDonald’s today. The kids played on the McPlayground, and Danny wanted to show off. He climbed the 7 foot platform and slid down the slide. “Look at me Uncle Grant!” Then he climbed up and slid down the pole. “Look at me Uncle Grant!” Then he climbed back up and stood next to the pole. “Look at me Uncle Grant!” Grant looked and realized too late what he was going to do. Danny just jumped straight out into the air!

Grant was shocked. So was Danny as he hit with both feet, rolled forward onto his two hands, then over onto his shoulder and head. He was o.k., but surprised. Grant gave him a good talking to. I don’t think he will try that again. It’s a bit different than jumping off the side of the pool.

Mom and Dad gave me a pre-birthday party with the kids since they were to be out all day and night on my birthday at the Smith & Howard Six Flags and Braves game outing. We had left over bridge party desserts. I got some great shorts and a green sports shirt that matches my flip-flops.

Kathy reports that Michelle is doing very well after the operation. She should make it back for the last few hours of my birthday.

I-Love-You-2.mp3

Tomorrow.mp3

Hi Jeb!

By the time you read this, I suppose that Chris and I will just be crossing the Florida line. Only 6 more hours to go. I’ll call you when I get there.

We will be at the Marriott Marina in Fort Lauderdale. Midnight is our expected time of arrival. The hotel’s phone number is (305) 463-4000.

I bought a lot of snacks and drinks for you guys, no beer. That’s your responsibility. Remember that there is pizza and 2 ears of corn in the refrigerator for you to eat tonight. The menu I’ve planned for you is as follows:

Sloppy Joes: A pound of ground beef is in the freezer. All you have to do is brown the meat and then follow the directions on the Sloppy Joe can. Buns are also in the freezer. Canned corn and pears/fruit cocktail can also go with this meal.

Spaghetti: One ziploc bag of frozen spaghetti sauce (found in the freezer) should be plenty for the 3 of you. All you have to do is cook the noodles. Just be sure not to microwave the sauce in the plastic bag. It’s not healthy.

TV Dinners: The kids get the cartoon character meals, yours is the other one.

And of course, there are leftovers of the noodle-vegetable casserole. If you eat over at your mom’s, maybe you can bring some of this with you.

Please have the kids water the flowers in the front on Wednesday and Friday. The Weeping Willow needs to have a good watering on these days too. The house plants need to be watered on Thursday, but you need to do this.

Don’t forget to take the trash out on Thursday, too. Have Nicole empty all the little trash cans into the kitchen can, and have Danny put a new trash bag into the kitchen can.

Make sure Nicole turns the outside lights off every morning and have Danny stomp the cans after dinner.

Should you need to get a baby-sitter, names are posted on the refrigerator. And call in this order: Meryl Reese, Sara Auer, Emily Bereth and then Summer.

Give the kids an extra kiss from me every night. I will call you first thing Friday morning to let you know about what time to expect me home.

I’m sorry that I won’t be the first one to kiss you on your birthday, but I’ll be thinking of you as soon as I wake up.

I love you.

Kathy

Yesterday we went up to Mike and Lois’s lake house, following Grandpa and Jennette in their red convertible Firebird. Nicole and Danny road in the back. The top had to come up just before we got there as the storms began that lasted through the afternoon.

The sun broke out in the late afternoon, and people started skiing. Nicole took a tour around the lake on an aquaboard. I swam out to help her get started. She did a good job of hanging on, and laughed as she passed within inches of hitting her father who was treading water off the dock. Nicole said it was totally cool.

Danny enjoyed riding in the boat while his sister got towed. He can’t wait to be as old as his sister. How do you explain that he never will be?

Kathy and I passed on the skiing, but we both got in a swim.

The fireworks were particularly dangerous this year. There were a lot more than last year and a lot more people lighting them. Jeff Hamilton gave me a haircut with a bottle rocket, whizzing it past my ear.

Grandma made it up and down the steep driveway to the cul-de-sac launch pad with greater ease than she did last year.

Between Grandma, Uncle Jack, and Grandpa– Nicole and Danny collected a sizeable wad of dough. They can’t wait to go to Toys ‘R Us.

We have a scanner at work.

This picture hung on

our desk throughout

Ted’s hitch in Thailand.

He had it taken for

his passport, and sent

us one of the little

extra one. That’s

his writing

from the

back.

He came back

with a beard, no shoes,

and no tie.

Nicole is spending the weekend with Lauren at her grandmother’s. Last night Danny spent the night with Mom and Dad. Mom says he was a model child.

The model child is now taking a nap after having a fit over not making up his bed. Sort of a twist: “You haven’t made your bed, so now you’re going to lie in it.”

Kathy and I went to see Edward Scissorhands. We invited Ted and 20-year-old Grant. We all agreed it was a nice fairy tale. We all shared a Dr. Pepper and a popcorn.

We then drove around Atlanta debating about sneaking Grant into a bar when he has a license that says in big red letters: “UNDER 21.” I didn’t want to go through the hassle of being hassled, so we drove around which drove Grant crazy. We went and saw Ted’s current project, 90 foot columns that will support the 400 extension over some of the nicest real estate in Atlanta. It looked like a bridge going through a valley, only not crossing from side to side, but going between the sides. What a mess.

Kathy and I dropped off Grant and Ted at Ted’s place. Richard, Ted, and Grant all stood at the window watching me go back and forth in his driveway trying to pick up speed to back out on to Shallowford. Kathy laughed harder than I’ve heard her laugh in a long time at this.

We then went to Winn Dixie and bought some eggs.

We got kicked out of the house three times this weekend. Two lookers on Saturday, and an open house held by Sharon Applebaum today. No one came to the open house.

Over at Dad’s, everyone took a turn shooting a BB gun I found in the basement. Kathy joined us after another tiring day (especially with us staying up late on a day-light-savings-time-switch night.) She’s a pretty good shot.

Nicole hit the box three times. Danny was proud to hit it twice. I hit the bull’s eye three times. Dad hit the outer eye twice, which was pretty good because he was doing yard work without his glasses and had to guess where it was.

Dad should wear his glasses when he mows the yard. He misses spots.

Kathy hit the box twice, both times close to the outer eye.

Mom came out and added two good shots and used the last two BB’s. She had her glasses on, and she never leaves spots when she mows the yard.

The pollen count hit 2000+ over the week. It seems to be letting up, and finally, Danny’s terrible cough and Nicole’s not-as-terrible cough are subsiding. Dad and I discussed how a count of 120 is considered high. A count of 200 is extremely high. “So what the heck is 2000 and how much more extremely high can it get?” Dad asked.

I told him that maybe it’s like falling. Falling 500 feet is an extremely long and dangerous way to fall. So is one mile. This is probably not a perfect metaphor.

The kids got plenty of candy from the Easter Bunny. I guess it didn’t hurt that they made pals with him when we ran into the big bunny by surprise at McDonald’s the day before. Danny was delighted to get two frisbies, a cookie, and a helium balloon the day before.

A basket full of candy was just a real plus.

Easter mass was crowded at Holy Cross. In fact, we had to sit in the spill-over mass in the community room, missing Mom sing in the main church. Just as well. Danny was antsy.

We all had honey-baked ham at Gramalie and Grandad’s for lunch. Sue and Grant and Ted were present. Carol, Bob, and Eric went to Cincinnati.

Later we climbed into the cars and went to the new park to throw the frisbee. Mom was very good at catching Grant’s precision throws. Kathy, Grant, and I ran a 50-yard dash. I won, Kathy came in close behind me. Grant quit to prove he wasn’t trying his hardest. I didn’t see him quit because he was behind me all the way.