What Do I Do?

I'm not normally one to write about things too personal, but I figure I'd try it and see how it goes.

Today I walked into Sarah's backyard and was greeted by Otis when he firmly planted his paw in my groin. As I walked, doubled-over, back inside I realized I was covered in mud. I told Sarah she should tell the boys not to play with the hose. She said the hose is not near the corner.

Turns out one of the boys or their friend dug a hole in the backyard without permission and broke the sprinkler line. It's unclear if this happened before or after they asked Sarah if they could dig a moat, to which she answered no. Either they disobeyed and dug anyway or didn't ask for permission to radically alter her backyard. Either way, I feel that shows a lack of respect for Sarah.

I'm also dumbfounded by the fact neither Robbie or Cameron thought to tell Mom the backyard was slowly flooding. I'm sure they were afraid of getting in trouble. Again this translates to me as a lack of respect for Sarah. They were more concerned about having the Playstation taken away than causing lots of damage to Sarah's yard.

The lack of respect theme isn't just from these incidents. There was the time Cameron knocked my computer on the floor, the way they treat their toys, their inability to clean up after themselves, one saying he doesn't listen when he is told to do something because he doesn't think he'll get in trouble, etc.

I don't buy the "boys will be boys" story. If we lived by that rule, we would never learn that society has some basic expectations from its members. What do you think? Is it a lack of respect thing? Am I expecting to much from a 9 year old? A 6 year old?

Disneyland

Went with Sarah, Robbie, and Cam today. Had a great time. More pictures and stories tomorrow. Here's one pic for now.
Robbie and I saved the world from the evil Zurg!

My Dirty Little Geekret 2

In an effort to get into better shape, Sarah and I have embarked on a new hobby called "Geocaching." It involves using a GPS receiver to find the coordinates for previously hidden containers. Each container contains at least a log book for the finders to sign. The caches are hidden in both urban and rural locations. My favorite hunting place so far has been Sycamore Canyon Park. Sarah and I went searching off Central Ave. last month and found 6 different caches. In the process, we hiked about 2 miles over hilly terrain. On Friday we took the boys to the south end of the park and found 4 caches. That day we hiked 1.5 miles. Here are some pics from our two trips:

Box Spring from Sycamore Canyon


Sarah with Canyon Crest Country Club behind her


One of the gullys we crossed


Crossing the stream

Sycamore Canyon Park is a gorgeous area that I had never explored until Sarah and I discovered geocaching. We are looking to introduce others to it if you are interested.

Photo Bug

I bought a tripod to take pictures of Sarah's Christmas lights and it has increased my interest in photography. I love taking pictures of sunsets with the tripod and a slow shutter speed. Here are a few. Notice the ghost image of Robbie in the first pic.

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New York New Year at 9:00p.m. Martinelli's and Go Fish! That's how to ring in 2008.

Right Here in Riverside

Yesterday Sarah and I took the boys ice skating at the outdoor ice skating rink on the downtown pedestrian mall in Riverside. The ice was rough, there were puddles on the rink... and it was the best time ice skating ever! The boys are hooked. I'm hooked. Sarah's hooked. We are going again very soon.

Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

Actually it's TaeKwonDo and Robbie's kicks are becoming extremely powerful and well-executed. It wasn't long ago that he was losing his balance every time he tried to kick even half this high. Chuck Norris, watch your back!