Water Slide fun at Honua Kai

Ok...so maybe I will post a few times. :-)  Got a fun video last night.  Couldn't resist. 


Honua Kai waterslide from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Selfie Sticks are All The Rage

Microsoft hosted an event this week called Codess.  It's a networking event for women engineers.  As is typical when we host events, we like to give away some kind of swag to the attendees. 

This year, we gave away a Codess branded Selfie Stick.

As is also typical when we host these events, I have snagged one for myself. :-) 

Immediately, Desmond took it away from me and busted out his inner...whoever a famous photographer is. 

Kim charged up her old iPhone and we basically let him have at it. Here are some of the results:

 

This was all in about 10 minutes.  I suspect there will be more where this comes from. 

 

#Fabulous

The Butterfly Project!

So, for Easter, we got Desmond a Butterfly garden from a company called InsectLore.  Basically, you buy a pretty net.  Then, you use a coupon that comes with the net to order a container of live caterpillars! 

The idea is that you get to watch caterpillars grow, cocoon themselves and then hatch as painted lady butterflies before setting them free!  Well, earlier this week, we set our painted ladies free!  So, here are some pictures. :-)

I am a horrible science parent.  I forgot to get pictures right when they arrived.  Here is a picture of them a couple days before they moved into cocoon (or chrysalis) phase. 

 

 

The sign that they are about to huddle in is when they start hanging from the top in a J shape!

 

The Cocoons!

 

I took a quick trip to Chicago and I am glad they waited for me to get back before hatching!  Uh...I mean, I am glad they waited for Des to come back from his mom's house before hatching.  This is his project of course!

 

 

 

 

Kim and I were able to watch the last one emerge as it was happening!  It was pretty rad!  We got it on video to show Desmond later.   He was back at Mom's. 

 

Finally, it was time to release them.

Desmond seemed sad in every single picture I took.  He admitted that he was.  He says he hopes they lay eggs that aren't eaten by any butterfly egg eating birds. 

 

So, there you have it!  Our butterfly project!  I highly recommend it if you have kids.  It's inexpensive and very educational!  We all found it pretty fascinating!  Life is beautiful!!!

 

 

Spider Man and Venom are real!!

Desmond saw them both!!!


I saw it! from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Note how he proves it was real by showing how he can't even reach that far!!!


__________________________________________

Desmond showed me the above video.  As I looked back in my phone, I found that there were a couple of trial runs.  Here is the non-used draft that I enjoyed most:


First draft from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Mission Success - Weekend with the future inlaws/step-grandparents

A couple weeks ago, Kim, Desmond and I spent the weekend in the Tri-Cities.

What are the Tri-Cities you ask?  Well...they are cities...and there are 3 of them.

One of these cities is called Richland!  It gets it's name from the Rich people that settled the land.  Or something.

Anywho...this is where Kim hails from.  It is also where her folks are.  So, we decided to throw some bags in the car and hike on over the mountains for some good ol' Tri-Cities fun!

I love Kim's folks.  I could go on and on about why they're rad, but my hands can only handle so much typing.  You'll get the gist of some of it by the end of this post, I think.

You may (or may not) know that my kid gets super shy.  He's a total introvert.  Until he gets to know you, then you can't shut him up.  He has met Pam and Clark (Kim's parental units) a few times before, but it's only been for an hour here, 2 hours there...not much consecutive time.  So, Kim and I were a tad nervous that he would just sit around and be silent and not do anything the entire trip.

Not so!!!

In fact, the amount of time it took for him to get comfortable enough to ask Pam for something I already said No to must be a world record.  Clearly, he knows a grandma when he sees one.

Ok, so...we arrive and one of the first things we are shown is a place in Clark's garage where there are 3 wooden letters mounted to wooden plaques, carefully decorated by young hands!  The letters are A, M, and N.  Avery, Maeson and Noah are Pam and Clark's grandchildren.  Kim's sister Karen's kids.  Anyway, on the work bench underneath sits the letter D.  All set to be mounted and decorated.  Come on, guys!!!  I just walked in and your pulling at my heart strings!  I already like you!  GEEZ!

Bonus points because of what's spelled when you ad the D.

I'm starting with the D, but sadly, we didn't get to it.  Why?  Because we were having too much fun doing other things!

Like climbing a kick ass tree in the front yard:

(Here's a video. He got pretty high.  He was pretty ticked when I told him to stop because there was a lot of tree left to conquer.  I wasn't positive I could climb up to save him if he got stuck.)

Or...like assembling circuits with Clark: 

Or...like waking up before Dad and Kim and getting Pam to hang out on the couch and watch TV while wearing Clark's sweater: 

Or...probably the highlight of the trip, designing and assembling a new house for Bob, the Pet Rock: 

I think the best way to sum up the trip for all involved:  Nailed it!

Of course, I got to eat a ton because Pam is an amazing cook.  We all got to gibber gabber about the upcoming wedding.  Kim picked up her wedding dress, which I am not allowed to see because of bad luck or something.  Des got to play with old lego sets and run around at the park in very beautiful weather.  And even throw in some fun time with the offspring of one of Kim's BFFs.  Not sure if Desmond remembers their names...but, he definitely remembers the movie trailer they made together. 

Thanks Grandpa Clark and Grandma Pam!  That was a totally rad trip!  

My son stiffles my creativity

Desi has a tremendous imagination.  I love to watch him play with his toys.  Action figures, stuffies, whatever.  He is really great at playing by himself and creating worlds to play in.

However...when I play with him, I get nothing but rejection!!!  Let me give an example.

Last night, Desi asked if I would play with him during bath time (meaning he's in the bath and I am kneeling outside the bath, perverts).  I said sure.

He has a collection of superheroes that he plays with in the bath.  Recently a couple of Transformers were added to this collection.  Apparently, the super heroes (which for this run consisted of Wolverine, the Flash, Batman and Hawkman) were supposed to be trapped on a raft in the middle of a poisonous ocean.  One of the Transformers, either Optimus Prime or Bumblebee, neither of whom transform into boats, for the record, would save them.

Okay...so here's what went down.  I was playing the role of all of the super heroes.  Wolverine was trapped on the raft.  His super-friends (one of whom can fly and another of whom has a both a boat and a helicopter) are standing helplessly on shore hoping someone will save their friend.

Then...Optimus Prime, in transformed position, races, underwater, to the raft and rescues Wolverine!!!  He takes Wolverine back to the shore to be with his friends! 

Here is where I decided to improvise a little, because I am creative like that. 

The friends are so excited that they rush over to Wolverine to make sure he's okay.  In the excited commotion, Batman falls into the poisonous ocean!  "Oh No!" I cry.  "Batman is in the poisonous ocean!  Who will save him?"

Expecting Bumblebee to dive in, I was shocked to hear, "NO DADDY!  That's not what you're supposed to do!  He has to be on the raft!!!"  At which point, Desi goes all diva, breaks character, removes Batman from the bath, puts him back on the ledge and proceeds to instruct me to put Batman on the raft so he can be saved.

I mean, come on!  Clearly we have established that the Transformers can drive underwater.  What gives?  I can't work under these conditions. 

Mom's night out

A great part of PEPS is our monthly Mom's or Dad's night out. One month, Moms stay home with the kids while Dads go out and have fun. The next month, Dads stay home while Moms go out. Well...Dads, being as smart as we are, realized that we can all hang out while the moms are out and watch sports. Babies usually go to bed around 8:00 leaving us to drink beer and watch baseball.

Last month, during mom's night out, at about 9:00, after the babies were in bed, the dads were sitting in front of the TV finishing off a pizza and passing around another round of beers when Tom declares, "We need to have Mom's night out more often."

Last night was Mom's night. Desi and I went over to Kevin and Duncan's house. Here are some pics.

Desi and Duncan chillin':


I tried really hard to get a picture of both of them staring at the TV while the baseball game was on. But, I could never get it just right. So...you get them looking at the camera while there are jackets or something on TV:


Comparing goods:


"Change it to football."
"No...baseball is better."


Desi on the Rocket.

Fun at the Linocln Park Wading pool

If you are on Facebook, you've already seen these. If not...here you go.

This was a regular PEPS night, but it was spent at the wading pool at Lincoln Park. The kids had a blast.



With Mom:


With Duncan:


Duncan:

With Dad:

Throwing the ball

Playing ball with Quincy from Jason Pankow on Vimeo.

Playing with the dog is fun!