Day 1,649 - The One with a Ferris Wheel in a Sporting Goods Store

I love creating memories with my kids. It’s honestly something that I’ve tried my best to prioritize. I know that part of being a stay-at-home dad is that neither Ellie or Ethan will necessarily remember everything about their formative years. However, I really hope that they at least remember a few things here and there. For Ethan, I think that we might have made one of those memories on Monday morning.

Last summer, I was subjected to a less-than-enjoyable dental surgery. The reason was that my root canal from two decades ago apparently wasn’t fully completed and what had been left had been rotting in my gums for all that time. Fortunately, a random chipped tooth allowed them to discover what had happened before things could get really bad. Apparently, if it was left unchecked for long enough, I could have eventually gone septic. Crazy, right? Anyway, as part of my surgery, I was told to make a follow-up exam after six months so they could check that everything healed properly. As a result, that’s exactly what I did.

Now, the thing that you need to know about my surgeon is that his office is located in Overland Park which is none too close to home. Therefore, I knew that I needed to make an appointment on a day when Ethan didn’t have school since there was no way I would be able to make it back to the Northland to pick him. Monday just happened to be that day so after we dropped Ellie off at school, we made our way down to Overland Park for my appointment.

Ethan may have gotten a little tired on our trek to Overland Park.

The thing about a six-month follow-up appointment is that it doesn’t take very long to complete. Ethan didn’t even have time to start watching a movie on my phone or anything. A couple of x-rays and a technician drumming on my teeth and we were on our way. Now, I have to be honest. The idea of immediately driving back home did not appeal to me. On past trips, we’ve grabbed lunch at Joe’s KC BBQ. However, I really didn’t feel like eating out on this occasion. As a result, I came up with another fun thing to do: we could head to Scheel’s Sporting Goods and ride the indoor Ferris Wheel!

Now, the prospect of going in a store did not delight Ethan very much. However, his demeanor changed when I wandered up to a register and purchased two tokens to ride the Ferris Wheel. Then, he started getting very excited. By the time we were standing in line for the ride, he was literally jumping up and down in excitement. It probably added to his excitement level that he had never ridden a Ferris Wheel before.

After much anticipation, the time arrived for us to climb aboard. Our ride operator, “Cookie McJingle” strapped us in and pressed the button to start the ride. For the record, I really don’t think our operator was telling me the truth about his name. It seemed inappropriate for me to ask to see a form of identification though. As the Ferris Wheel climbed higher and higher, Ethan’s eyes got bigger and bigger. Before long, we were at the highest point of the store and could see everything in sight. We circled up and down six times before Cookie finally pressed the button and ended our ride.

Once the ride was over, Ethan looked at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes and asked if we could get a treat to share. If you know my kids, then you know that they don’t care about toys at all. The most direct route to their heart is to buy them a treat. Therefore, it was fairly academic that I was going to buy him a treat. So with that, we headed into the café and purchase one of the largest cookies that I had ever seen. After breaking it in half, we sat down and enjoyed our tasty treat together, making conversation all the while. Once our treat was done, Ethan declared that he was ready to go home. Therefore, that’s exactly what we did.

While going to a sporting goods store might now seem like a very exciting thing, the fact is that my kids thrive on one-on-one time. They absolutely love to know that there’s no competition for affection at that point. Honestly, I love those moments too. While I love both of my kids equally, there’s something special about those little moments where it’s just me with one of them. While I know I’ll certainly remember those one-on-one times, I never know whether the kids will or not. That being said, I choose to believe that a first ride on a Ferris Wheel is a big enough moment for Ethan to make a memory.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,640 - Big Feelings and Little People

Do you ever notice your personality or attitude shifting with the changes in seasons? Some folks definitely find themselves suffering from seasonal depressions as the weather turns. Maybe it’s brought on by the holidays or a lack of fresh air and limited physical activity. Regardless of the cause, it’s certainly a real thing.

In House Holt, we’re definitely seeing a shift in attitudes happening right now, especially with Ethan. I’m not so certain that it’s due to any kind of seasonal depression for them though. Instead, I think it’s primarily due to the fact that they are little people who happen to have big emotions. Unfortunately, sometimes when that is the case, those little people have not yet learned how to fully control said emotions.

For Ethan, that really raised itself last week at K-Prep. Between Thanksgiving break and Bethany being off work, things were certainly not the way that they normally are. While we didn’t notice any issues at home, there definitely were issues at school. Each day, Ethan’s teacher sends home a brief note that basically lets the parent know what their child was like on that day. Normally Ethan is “graded” as being happy and having a good attitude. However, during this instance, Ethan’s report said that he was sad and kind of mopey. In addition, it also stated that he cried because he missed his dad. How heartbreaking is that? The little man had become so accustomed to being around when school wasn’t in session that he cried at being separated. Never fear though as it seems like Ethan’s tears didn’t last long once he got properly distracted.

However, that wasn’t the last time Ethan would shed tears over missing someone or something. That very scenario unfolded today at Quiet Time. For most kids, quiet time is just a time to play alone. I’m pretty open with my kids that Quiet Time is as much for me as it is for them. For Ethan though, Quiet Time is generally an excuse for him to snuggle in his bed and take a nap. In fact, today, he was very open that was his plan. Therefore, imagine my surprise when I heard my son sobbing away upstairs. I listened for a few minutes before deciding that I should intervene.

When I opened the door to his room and went in, Ethan was curled up in his bed, sobbing uncontrollably. When I first asked him what was wrong, I guess he was embarrassed because he replied, “Nothing.” When I pressed again, he told the truth; he couldn’t find his stuffed cat, “Cat,” and was totally inconsolable at the loss. When I offered to help him find “Cat,” his feelings changed pretty quickly. While sometimes finding “Cat” is a massive operation, in this instance it was relatively simple. It was still in Ellie’s bed where the two kids had snuggled this morning before getting up. Once he had Cat safe in his arms, Ethan was cool as a cucumber and ready for that nap.

While it can definitely be stressful to help my kids learn how to deal with some of these big emotions, I also acknowledge that it’s a good thing. For one thing, they’re becoming more well-rounded human beings with an understanding of their feeling and how to deal with them. For another, it stretches me as a parent by forcing me to be more empathetic and sympathetic to their plights. Not my strong suit but I’m trying to keep learning! After all, the day I stop learning, that’s the day that I probably don’t have kids in the house anymore. No one wants that!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,634 - Christmas in the (Silver Dollar) City

Thanksgiving is this week…obviously. As a result, I find myself kind of thinking back on the past year about some of the highlights of our year. If you were to ask the kids about their highlight though, I’m fairly confident that both of them would list our three trips to Silver Dollar City high on their list. Yes, I did say three trips. While that probably seems like a lot, the fact that we purchased season passes makes all of those trips make a little more sense.

The last of our Silver Dollar City trips for the year took place two weekends ago on Veteran’s Day weekend. We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, hopped in the car, and set off for Branson with the expectation of being there as soon as the park opened at 11:00. Never fear as we actually made it with time to spare.

As soon as we made it into the park, Ellie and Ethan were pretty adamant that the first thing they wanted to do was ride the iconic “Fire in the Hole” one more time. If you didn’t know, Silver Dollar City is in the process of building a new version of the ride that will open next season. Over the course of our multiple trips this season though, the kids have fallen in love with the ride. I have to say that it’s actually one of my favorite amusement park rides as well and has been for a long time. While it’s relatively simplistic in nature, it’s just a fun little adventure with a good story to go along with it. After a relatively short 15-minute wait, we boarded the ride for the final time and said our goodbyes to one of our favorite rides.

After that, we began winding our way through the park in a quest to take in all of the Christmas sights that lay within. Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to a theme park without riding a few more rides along the way. I have to say that I’m proud of the kids. Over the course of the year, they conquered their fears about “big” roller coasters and were more than ready to ride. Before we knew it, lunch time had arrived and we headed to the park’s pizzeria to enjoy a pie.

After we finished our pizza, one of our next planned stops was to head to the Opera House to watch a production of Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Truth be told, there was plenty of bellyaching and complaining from one of our little friends about taking time away from the park to watch a play. However, those concerns ceased once the play began. Both kids were totally engaged and hanging on every scene of the play. Ellie was especially intrigued by the way the set opened up and spun around to show the interiors of homes.

Once the play was over, we wandered over to the train to take a quick ride through the woods which was highlighted by “Grandpa” sharing the story of the birth of Christ during a brief stop at his cabin in the woods. Once we finished our trip, it was obvious that both kids required a bit of individual attention. Therefore, I took Ethan to go play at the children’s playhouse and explore Grandfather’s Mansion while Bethany took Ellie to one of her favorite areas, the Grand Exposition.

When our family came back together, it was over in the Rivertown area of the park where we met for a live nativity. After that, Bethany and I decided that it was time to start making our way to the parade route for the lighted Christmas parade. We found a spot rather quickly but found ourselves with about 30 minutes before the parade would begin. Ellie, for her part, was still less than agreeable about things so I decided to take her for a brief stroll around the area to enjoy some Christmas lights. Our brief stroll led us right by “Fire in the Hole” where we decided it was time for our last, last ride ever!

Once the ride ended, Ellie’s personality shifted dramatically. She was much happier and excited by the prospect of the lights getting brighter and brighter in the darkness of night. We headed back to where Bethany and Ethan had been holding our spot on the parade route where we watched Rudolph, Santa, and others ride through the park on ornately decorated floats. This was honestly my favorite part of our trip because I was able to see the intense joy on Ellie’s face as she watched the lights parade by.

Once the parade ended, we decided to go and grab a quick dinner at the Rivertown Smokehouse and then spent some time just exploring the park and enjoying the beautiful lights. Before we knew it though, the kids were getting tired and it was time to leave the park and head to our hotel for the evening. However, we did let them talk us into a couple of rides on the lookout balloons at Fireman’s Landing before it really was time to leave the park.

Overall, I’d say that our year of trips to Silver Dollar City was a ton of fun. While we’re not sure that we would want to do something like this every year, Bethany and I were also in agreement that we’ll definitely do this again a few years down the road. After all, there’s an entire world of adventures out there for us to find first.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,627 - Ethan Plays at the Movies?

Aren’t bizarrely warm fall days the greatest? That’s certainly been the case this week and I feel like I’ve made the most of it. Between working on our deck (the project that will never end!), mulching twelve bags worth of leaves, and helping my dad wean calves, I feel like I’ve certainly made the most of my time outside. For most of those activities, Ethan has been right there alongside me, patiently waiting for me to take a break to play football with him. Don’t worry, I take those breaks plenty!

Of course, the thing about fall is that you’re not guaranteed to always have those warm fall days. In fact, there are those times when you instead find yourself subjected to a day with less-than-desirable temperatures and/or precipitation. When those occasions happen, it’s only fitting to start trying to figure out what to do. For Ethan and me, last week provided one of those days which led us to perhaps the most unique movie theater experience of all time.

Like most preschoolers, Ethan is a big fan of Paw Patrol. He can name each pup by name, knows all about their vehicles, and even has a favorite episode (Ready, Race, Rescue). Therefore, when the second movie, “The Mighty Movie”, was released recently, he knew that he wanted to see it. We had been content to wait for it to hit a streaming service so that he could watch it on the projector at home. However, when I saw an offer for $5 tickets at the B&B Theaters in Liberty, I knew we needed to make a trip to the movies.

I realize that a trip to the movies probably isn’t the most unique experience in the world. However, I can basically guarantee that this was pretty unique for us. For one thing, I can’t say that I had ever been to a theater with a playground in the screening room before this trip. Yes, you read that right. B&B Theaters offers a special line of theaters called “Screen Play” that provides a kid-friendly experience across the board. There was the aforementioned playground that opens 30 minutes prior to the movie starting. There also was kid-friendly pre-show programming on the screen and get this, NO TRAILERS!

Ethan, for his part, had been completely in the dark about our plans for the day so he was understandably excited when we arrived at the theater. As you can guess, his excitement level increased once he started winding his way through the maze of a playground built into one side of the auditorium. Over the next 30 minutes or so, Ethan went up and down the slide more times than I can count. Occasionally he would jet out of the playground and come find me just to check in.

Eventually, a large countdown clock appeared on the screen alerting us that it was time for us to take our seats in the large recliners awaiting us. As the lights went down, Ethan’s huge smile plastered across his face told quite the story. While the last time we went to a movie, Ethan had tons of questions about the subject matter (Kung-Fu Panda). However, this time, Ethan was so familiar with the subject material that he was completely engrossed. Outside of brief sips from his water bottle and the occasional bite of Skinny Pop, Ethan’s eyes didn’t deviate from the action on the screen.

After the movie ended and we left the theater, it only made sense that we could head to the car. However, I don’t know that I was ready for the rapid-fire recall of Ethan replaying everything that had happened over the past few hours between the playground and the movie. I also wasn’t prepared for him to immediately ask what we would see at the Screen Play next. LOL.

#DaddyWrite

Also, after everything that happened that day, Ethan still found time to take a short nap in the car!

Day 1,617 - First Field Trip (For Both of Us!)

I don’t know if you’ve looked at the weather but it’s raining today. In fact, it rained basically all of last night. According to the weather forecast, it’s going to rain some every day for the rest of the week. Not cool, right? The one solace that I can find with all of this rain in the forecast is that it hasn’t always been rainy. In fact, around this time last week, the weather was actually fairly decent. I know this because at that time, I was accompanying Ethan on his K-Prep field trip to the Red Barn Farm in Weston.

While I’ve clearly had a lot of different experiences as a stay-at-home parent, chaperoning a field trip was not among them. It’s not that I haven’t had interest in doing so. Quite the contrary. I’ve actually thought it would be fun to have that experience with my kids. Unfortunately, that whole pesky COVID thing in 2020 got in the way of Ellie even having field trips in preschool. As for kindergarten and first grade, the opportunity to chaperone a field trip just hasn’t been there. Therefore, I was more than excited to get to have that opportunity with Ethan.

As you can see, Ethan was unbelievably stoked about the experience.

As part of this field trip experience, Ethan and I were responsible for getting ourselves to Red Barn Farm by 9:00 am. In addition, we were told to pack a sack lunch for the two of us to enjoy in the picnic area. Neither thing was an issue; I’m just setting the stage for everyone. Upon our arrival, we joined a large mass of humanity made up of students from Northland Christian and their parents to wait for the tour to begin. After a few minutes, all of the boys from Ethan’s class were divided up into a group with their parents and we headed off to the barnyard, led by the knowledgeable Farmer Kelsie.

Our first stop was at the horse pen where we saw the horse (who I cannot remember the name of) who was apparently rather grumpy to be in his pen choosing instead to stand at the far edge of his enclosure and ignore the kids who were ready to see him. However, Ethan and his friends didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, they were much more interested in interacting with each other rather than checking out the animals. No big deal though.

After seeing the horse, we made our way through the barnyard, meeting the llamas, pig, piglets, calf, chickens, goats, ducks, and donkeys along the way. After we had finished meeting the animals, it was time to take a hayride to the pumpkin patch where everyone (yes, parents and kids) got the opportunity to pick out a pumpkin to take home with them. The kids also got a short presentation from Farmer Kelsie about how pumpkins and other plants grow, which led us to our final stop, the Red Barn Farm’s beehive. I have to say that it was actually pretty fun to watch the bees wander about their home and learn all about the varying structures of a hive. The kids actually seemed really engaged by it as well; especially when they were given a honey stick to enjoy.

With that, our tour was concluded, and it was time to head to the picnic area for lunch. There was just one quick stop along the way: the bathroom. As there was only one other dad on the trip, the two of us drew the short straw of helping with bathroom duty which was about as chaotic and unenjoyable as one might guess. After that, we found our lunch and sat down with a group of Ethan’s friends and their parents to eat away.

Overall, I’d have to say that my first field trip experience as a chaperone was fairly enjoyable. I always enjoy getting chances to talk with other parents, even if I normally am in the minority. Better though was the opportunity to get to watch Ethan interact with his peers and put faces with the names that he talks about every Tuesday and Thursday after school. Hopefully this is the first of many field trips to come that I get to chaperone. We’ll have to wait and see though.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,614 - The "Get Along" Shirt

**sigh**

Let me go ahead and do that again, only louder for people who may not have heard it the first time.

**SIGH**

That’s better. You know, sometimes a good sigh can help all that is ailing the soul. Many different things can bring about a sigh such as that. In my experience, it’s caused by some kind of frustration or exasperation otherwise known as Ellie and Ethan.

For the most part, I absolutely love my kids and enjoy spending time with them. However, there are definitely those times when I find myself looking for the nearest corner to hide in or door to run straight out of (probably while screaming). Those times generally happen when Bethany is busy or otherwise indisposed, much like this weekend. Don’t get me wrong; I’m actually stoked that she had the opportunity to get away for an awesome weekend in Branson at our church’s annual women’s retreat. It’s just that nearly four solid days as the only adult in the house can definitely lead one to **sigh**.

As far as Thursday and Friday went, those were fairly simple days. For one thing, Bethany didn’t leave until around noon on Thursday and Ellie spent most of both days at school. Couple those with several park visits and our traditional Thursday night LIFE Group and all was well. Saturday, though, is another story all together. For one thing, the lack of traditional structure means that it’s only a matter of time until the fighting begins.

In case you’re wondering just what time this morning my role as referee began, it was at some point between 6:15 and 6:30. I don’t have a firm window on that because my struggles in sleeping last night kind of resulted in me being slightly tired. I can probably thank Ethan for that since he came to visit several times last night.

Once I was finally able to drag my weary self out of bed and make breakfast, I’m happy to announce that the fighting ceased…briefly. Once the kids’ bellies were full, it was only fitting that they found something to start arguing over again. In this instance, it was the blanket fort that Ellie erected in our living room floor. I want it to be known that I have no issue with a well-made blanket fort. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see one in our house. My problem is when it results in fighting between Ellie and Ethan due to concerns of structural integrity. Namely, if Ethan’s unable to climb on top of it without it falling apart, then a fight will break out.

Despite my best efforts to break up said fight, I could not do so. Therefore, the only thing I could do was separate the combatants. Unfortunately, their separation and my peace did not last long and they were back to the battle at hand. In the past, I’ve been willing to issue spankings or time outs in these situations, I felt like the issue had moved past that. Therefore, I decided to take the punishment to another level.

I headed to my room and dug through some old clothes until I found exactly what I was looking for: an old gray tank top. With that, I called both kids to me and first slipped it over Ellie’s head and put her right arm through one of the arm holes. The entire time I was doing this, Ellie was saying over and over, “Dad, what are you doing? Why are you doing this?”. Then, it was Ethan’s turn for his head to go through the head hole and his left arm to go through the arm hole. With that, I stated, “This is the “Get Along” shirt. You are to wear this for the next 15 minutes. If you take it off, we’re going to have problems. Understand?”.

While the initial minutes were met with much screaming (mostly from Ellie), they eventually communicated enough to find an activity to keep them calm until my phone alarm ring. While I’d love to say that the “Get Along” shirt fixed everything, unfortunately, I’d be lying. That being said, it did help reset their little minds enough that they were able to talk through their issues in a calmer manner the rest of the day.

In fact, we even got to have some fun between carving a pumpkin and watching “The Peanuts Movie” on the projector. Oddly enough, the one thing I never expected to be fun for the kids apparently was as this afternoon, both kids asked to wear the “Get Along” shirt again. That time I said “No” though. After all, it’s a punishment, not a reward.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,603 - Breakfasts Out and Baking About

I have mixed feelings about days that Ellie and Ethan are both off school. Yes, it’s really special to get to have fun with them outside of our normal routine. However, if we don’t have anything to do with our day, then it will inevitably turn into crying, yelling, complaining, and bellyaching. Oddly enough, even if I do have something planned, the aforementioned crying, yelling, complaining, and bellyaching will likely occur. In other words, there’s no way to avoid said crying, yelling, complaining, and bellyaching so I might as well just have fun in spite of that.

With Ellie being off school on Friday and next Monday due to parent-teacher conferences being held this week, it was only fitting that we do something fun and out of the ordinary. When I asked her what she would like to do with her days off, her initial request was to go to the zoo and see the new aquarium. While I’m always up for a zoo trip, the chilly temperatures and overcast conditions on Friday made that prospect seem like it wouldn’t be as much fun and that Monday might be a better choice. Therefore, I asked her if she had a backup option. After putting in a little thought, Ellie decided it was the perfect day to go eat breakfast at Kate’s Kitchen.

Once Bethany left for work on Friday, the kids and I waited around home until about 9:00 when we decided it was the perfect time to go eat breakfast. When we arrived at Kate’s, it took a few minutes for us to be ushered to our table which ironically, was the exact same booth we sat in the last time we went to Kate’s. My hope with this visit to Kate’s was that I might be able to order one meal for the kids to share off the adult menu. However, Ellie wasn’t having any part of that as she desperately wanted the Kids Waffle meal mostly due to the presence of the whipped cream and berries that adorns it. Since I’m a pushover, of course I gave in and let both Ellie and Ethan order their beloved waffles off the kids’ menu. No worries since we don’t eat out much anyway.

Once we finished our meal, it was time to head home where we would spend most of the day since we are currently having the exterior of our home painted. Of course, I did have one more activity planned to help the day go by quicker. Ellie and I used to have a weekly tradition in our house of “Baking Friday”. That’s largely gone to the wayside in the last year or so due to busyness and the kids being at school. However, during my last shopping trip, I had picked up the ingredients for one of the kids’ favorite desserts, “Beach Cake”. It’s basically dirt cake only with vanilla pudding and graham crackers but still tasty.

Proof that our house is indeed being painted.

The first step was to let the kids take turns chopping up graham crackers in the food processor. Then, I gave each kid a large mixing bowl, a whisk, a box of pudding, and two cups of milk and stood back and watched as they each mixed up their supply of pudding. Then, with that, we put the pudding in the refrigerator to harden for a few minutes before we could finish our dessert. Once the pudding was hardened, it was time to assemble. We first added a graham cracker base to our dish before dumping the first bowl of pudding over the top of it. Ethan then carefully spread the pudding out over the graham crackers before we added another layer of crackers, complete with stray gummy worms for added delight. Then, Ellie took a turn emptying her bowl of pudding over our dessert before we finally topped with the remainder of the graham cracker crumbs and put it in the refrigerator where it would sit until dinner time.

Even though “Beach Cake” isn’t one of the most difficult recipes to make, it certainly helped fill the day for us. Not only that but it reminded me of how much fun it can be to create things with the kids in the kitchen. Also, it most definitely provided us with a tasty treat for after dinner.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,591 - Ellie's Eyes

You know what’s frustrating sometimes about being a parent? You can think that you know the right answer about a topic and then find out later on that you were mistaken. Often times this can rear its ugly head when one is dealing with the topic of medical care for one’s children.

As I’m sure many people have noticed over the past few years, Ellie wears glasses. Personally, I’ve become so accustomed to seeing my daughter in her glasses that it looks weird at bedtime when she’s not wearing them. Ellie herself is so used to the feel of them on her face that she occasionally tries to go to bed at night while still wearing them. No, it doesn’t hurt anything but it probably isn’t very comfortable!

The reason for Ellie’s glasses has less to do with her slight prescription and more to do with the fact that she has one eye that tends to drift away from the center of her line of sight. The glasses were actually prescribed to help keep that occurring and they’ve been doing a great job. As a parent, the longer I can put off the idea of my daughter having surgery, the better.

Of course, part of Ellie’s condition means that we have to go to the eye doctor for checkups a couple of times a year to confirm that everything is doing well. For the past two years, those checkups have been at Children’s Mercy. While I can’t say enough nice things about the doctors there, I have to say that billing and insurance has been a complete nightmare. Any time she’s had a visit, it’s taken us months to sort out the financials of said visit. Not fun at all!

After our last issue as Children’s Mercy, we decided that maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get a second opinion. Therefore, that’s exactly what we decided to do beginning with Ellie’s next eye exam, which coincidentally, was this morning. The new eye doctor of choice, Vision Source, right on North Oak a scant mile from our house. Ellie had actually been seen by them when she was one for a free infant vision screening. In addition, she’s always had her glasses made there so we were familiar with the establishment.

Upon our arrival today, we headed back to the exam room where Ellie received a glaucoma test (much to her massive chagrin) and had an image of her eye taken. From there, we headed back to the exam room where we would remain for much of the next hour and a half. Why do I know it was an hour and a half? Well, because we were able to watch almost all of Lilo & Stitch in between checks of her eyes. The biggest reason for that delay was that Ellie’s eyes just would not dilate the way they were supposed to. In fact, she eventually had to have additional drops put in (her favorite!) just to get them ready for examination. Finally, it was time to see the doctor!

Once the doctor came in, she checked Ellie over thoroughly and said that her eyes looked very healthy. However, she was able to see the drift that we had been having checked out regularly and essentially told us that we would be better off continuing to take Ellie to Children’s Mercy to keep tabs on it. The biggest reason why was that Children’s Mercy would be the ones to have to do surgery, if necessary, so it was better that they continue playing a role in her care.

I can’t say just how discouraging this was. As parents, we definitely had reached a point of intense frustration with our child’s medical care only to learn that there was really nothing else we could do. I guess the lone saving grace here is that Ellie’s situation is extremely mild and nothing serious. Regardless, it’s not much fun to convince ourselves we were doing the right thing by doing something different only to find out that we were doing the right thing in the first place.

That’s clear as mud, right?

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,586 - A Typical School Week in September 2023

So, it's been a busy few weeks. August 22nd marked the first day of school for both Ellie and Ethan. Yes, you read that correctly; Ethan is a full-fledged pre-school student. Don't make the mistake of calling him a preschooler though. He will pretty much immediately correct you and say "It's not preschool. It's K-Prep!".  Anyway, life has definitely changed somewhat for our family during this season.

Here's where I should say that Ethan actually only attends K-Prep at Northland Christian on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 to 11:30 am. While it's not a huge amount of time, it's definitely changed life somewhat in our household. For one thing, it means Ellie, Ethan, and I all need to make sure we're dressed and ready to head out the door on those days by about 7:40. Then, we make the short drive down to 108th Street and head to Northland Christian's new Early Childhood Campus.

Once we arrive, all three of us hop out of the car and escort Ethan inside the building and up the stairs to his classroom where he inevitably hurries inside with nary a look back. The little man doesn't even say "Goodbye" or anything. Honestly, I'm excited that he's just so happy and enjoying school so much. He's stoked to arrive each Tuesday and Thursday morning and can't wait to tell me all about his day when I arrive at 11:30 and a teacher brings him out to our car.

Now, you may have noticed that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ellie helps me deliver Ethan to K-Prep. Once he's there, that actually leaves us with an hour to kill before Ellie needs to be at Fox Hill for school. On Tuesdays, we normally don't do much of anything exciting. For example, today, we just came home, played a board game, read a book, watched a short video, and made Ellie's lunch.

I know that it probably sounds silly but making Ellie's lunch was actually pretty fun today.  She asked for chicken nuggets in a thermos for her lunch today. No big issue there. However, instead of just making them myself, I asked her if she would like to help which she definitely did. She actually took care of almost the entire lunch making process start-to-finish. In fact, the only thing I did was cut up an apple for her. She did everything else with minor directions on my part. It's actually pretty fun to see her growing and gaining confidence in herself through simple tasks like making a lunch.

So, that was a Tuesday. On Thursdays though, our schedule is a little different. Since Ellie doesn't have P.E. and gymnastics on Thursdays, we go and play tennis for an hour to get her some physical activity. Ellie's actually been really interested in learning to play tennis over the last couple of years. She just needs consistent practice to get better. That's why I love the consistency of this time thus far. It's fun to see her building on her knowledge and carrying skills over from week-to-week. It's also just a really special activity for just the two of us to share once a week without the presence of Ethan.

I know that I really didn't say a ton of value in this blog. However, I just found it important for posterity to be able to look back and see just what an average school week looked like for us in September of 2023. It'll be interesting to me and the kids (and probably Bethany) so that's the most important thing, right?

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,576 - The One About Ellie's Baptism

I've gotten to be a part of many special moments in the lives of Ellie and Ethan. First time rolling over? Check. Crawling? Check. Eating solid food? Check. First steps? Check. Bike riding? Check. First day of school? Check. I think my point is made. Obviously I've been present for most of the big milestone moments in the kids' life. However, this past Sunday may very well have been my favorite moment of Ellie's life thus far as I got the opportunity to help baptize her in front of our entire church!

Ellie being baptized wasn't a last-minute decision or anything like that. It's something that's been talked about for a long time in our home. In fact, Ellie's been discussing this very subject for close to a year and a half!

Throughout our kids' entire lives, we've taken effort to make sure that we were sharing the Gospel with them on a near daily basis through Bible stories, family discussions over what we read, and praying together each night. Therefore, Ellie has always understood that the basis of our faith is that Jesus is the sinless Son of God and that He died on the cross in pretty much the most horrible fashion imaginable, taking the brunt of our sins so that we may one day have eternal life with God. While Ellie knew all the right answers, for the longest time Bethany and I weren't 100% positive if she fully believed or not. Those concerns were definitely put to rest though.

For one thing, sometime after we returned to church post COVID, Ellie began wanting to join us in church each week for service instead of going to Children's church. That was totally fine though as she wasn't a distraction and she even took her own little notes about the sermons each week. Over time, Ellie began asking more frequently when she could get baptized. Since we were still 100% uncertain, we encouraged her to have a chat with Sharon, our church's children's director. Sharon let us know that she believed Ellie was ready. After that, one of our lead pastors, Rustin, sat down with our family and after having a chat with Ellie agreed that Ellie really had put her faith in Christ and that it was time for her to be baptized. So with that, we scheduled the big day for the last Sunday in August, the 28th.

When the big day arrived, we were accompanied to church by both sets of grandparents who had come into town for the occasion. Finally, as the service began to wrap up, it was time for us to head to the stage. Rustin had asked me to share a little bit of Ellie's and our family's story before she took her place in the cattle trough on stage that our church uses for baptisms. A special treat that I did not anticipate at all was that I would actually get to help baptize my daughter. With Rustin kneeling on one side and me on the other, after Ellie made a final proclamation of her faith in Christ, we gently pushed her under the water and brought her back up. With that, Bethany wrapped a warm towel around a dripping wet Ellie and Rustin quickly prayed before she went to the back to get changed.

There's so much I love about this photo. Chief among them though is the massive smile on Ellie's face and the fact that her shoes are just haphazardly strewn about on the floor of the stage.

While it was ongoing, I certainly was just kind of living in the moment. However, the more I've thought about it, the more I realize just how special Sunday was. For one thing, I got the opportunity to help baptize my own daughter. That's an experience that I'm going to hold on to for a  very long time. For another, I'm proud of Ellie standing up in front of our entire church and proclaiming her belief and trust in Christ. That's something that Bethany and I have prayed for both of our children since they were born and to see it happen was totally amazing. God really does answer prayers; you've got to love it!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,571 - The One With the Failed Pool Trip

I strive to be a pretty good dad. In fact, I take great pride in the fact that I'm not downright horrible at my job. Occasionally, I even get a modicum of credit from my children regarding my dad skills. On the flip side though, there are times that I absolutely lay an egg.

With Monday marking the final day of summer vacation, I always find myself dealing with a large array of emotions. For one thing, there's always a slight tinge of relief that I'm done trying to entertain/referee two very enthusiastic and opinionated children. On the flip side though, I'm generally pretty bummed about the summer ending. For one thing, I know that I only have a certain number of summers to enjoy with my kids while I'm young and I want to make them count. Also, I'm aware that I'm reaching the end of my career as a stay-at-home day which means it's only a matter of time before I need to plan out the rest of my life. Slightly scary proposition if I do say so myself.

Regardless of all of that, I always want to do my best to make each day count. As a result, when Ellie let me know that she wanted to go swimming for her final day of summer, I decided to make that a reality. It honestly seemed like an easy enough thing to accomplish on the surface as we have a friend who lives in the apartment complex across the street who was more than happy to give us her pool code. Therefore, as soon it seemed feasible to go swimming (9:15 am), we loaded up in the car and headed across the street.

As we pulled into the complex, I was somewhat surprised to see that the pool was empty on such a hot day. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the pool was locked and I had to break the news to two very sad children that the pool wasn't open yet. After taking a few minutes to navigate the ocean of emotions coming from my back seat, I was able to placate the kids by offering to take them to Kearney to a splash pad. So with that, we headed towards Kearney.

On the way there, I received a text from Bethany, who had checked in with her friend, confirming that the pool opened at 10. I happily relayed that news to the kids and turned the car around to head back to the pool. When we arrived, I made the decision to leave the kids in the car so that I could check the pool myself. Unfortunately, not only was it still locked but there was a worker in the pool treating the water. He informed me that it wouldn't be ready for swimming until after lunch. Fairly arbitrary window but I figured I could work with it. With that, the kids and I headed to Sam's Club to get a few items we needed to pick. And yes, we were still wearing our swimsuits. We're those people now.

Tell me how you really feel about our trip to Sam's Club, Ellie.

Around 1:00, I decided the time had come to check the pool again, so we ventured across the street only to find that it was still locked. At this point, you can pretty much guess that Ellie and Ethan were inconsolable. All I could do was start calling local pools to verify that they were open. The only problem is that every pool I called had just closed for the season over the weekend. Finally, there was no other recourse; it was time to go to Kearney.

Once we arrived at Kearney, it was not farfetched to say that I was feeling stressed. In fact, I was downright done with life. However, as I watched Ellie and Ethan splash in the water and listened to them happily shriek in excitement, I realized that it wasn't all bad. I could sit there and be bummed and frustrated about the course of the day or I could get in the water with them and enjoy my afternoon. For the record, I chose the latter and it turned into a pretty good day. Ellie and Ethan even thanked me profusely for taking them to the splash pad.

Who would have thought that a disappointing trip to the pool could have turned into a great afternoon at the splash pad? Not I but that just goes to show what I know.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,570 - Ethan's "White Whale"

Confession time.

I've never actually read the book, Moby Dick.

Yes, I realize that it's only one of the most famous novels of all time. However, I've never actually taken the time to read it. I did write a seven-page research paper about the book during my senior year of high school though. Between watching the movie and skimming some essays about the deeper meaning of the book, I was able to score a solid A.

Now, despite not reading the book, I can tell you that one of the most important parts of the story is Captain Ahab's obsessive quest for the "White Whale". He would not be denied even to the point of death.

Now, I believe that we are all Ahab at one time or another and find ourselves obsessively desiring a "White Whale" of our very own. For Ethan, his "White Whale" quest finally reached its long-awaited conclusion today courtesy of his favorite big sister.

Ethan's really a fairly content child. It's not common for him to ask for things when we go to the store. Normally, a quick glance at the toy aisle and he's content. However, there is one particular toy that he's been asking to own for well over a year: a deluxe "Paw Patrol: the Movie" Chase police car with an accompanying motorcycle. Almost every time we go to Walmart or Target, Ethan has to longingly lay eyes on that bright blue car, dreaming of the day when he might be able to call it his very own.

Ellie, for her part, has paid attention to her brother's longing eyes and has desired to do something about it. Much like Ethan, Ellie does not wont for anything. Money and things really have no value to her. Instead, she loves personal time and words of affirmation; that's the path to her heart. Oh, and food. She really loves food.

Anyway, a couple of months ago, Ellie came to Bethany and I and asked if she could use her own money to buy Ethan the Chase car. Bethany, to her credit, tried to talk her out of it to no avail. Then, we reached a compromise that Ellie could do so if she really wanted. However, she had to have a good reason to give Ethan a gift. The two of them put their heads together and decided that it would be a perfect gift to bestow upon Ethan when the time came to start school. Therefore, we started watching the price online this summer and helped Ellie pull the trigger when the car finally went on sale for $15. Since then, it's been safely tucked away under our bed waiting for the appropriate time to gift it to Ethan.

Ellie, for her part, can't keep a secret. As such, she told Ethan that he was going to get a present on August 17th. Why the 17th? Well, it's Back to School night and it would give him several days to enjoy playing with it before school officially begins. Since Ellie spilled the beans, Ethan has been checking the calendar regularly, counting down the days until today.

This morning, bright and early, the time had finally come. As soon as breakfast ended, Ethan found himself sitting in the living room floor with a giant bag in front of him, waiting for permission to open it up. Finally, he opened it up to find his "White Whale" that he had literally waiting months for. He was so excited that he jumped up to his feet and began racing laps around the living room. Finally, he was reminded that Ellie had given it to him and he wrapped her in a huge hug before continuing on in his excitement.

While I certainly loved seeing Ethan get his "White Whale", my favorite thing was seeing the pure joy on Ellie's face as she gazed at her brother. She really has the sweetest, most giving soul and was clearly overjoyed to see Ethan so happy. It's times like these that make me believe that maybe we really are doing something right with the way we're raising these two kids.

After all, I can't fake parenting like I could reading Moby Dick. I actually have to put in the work especially if I want to get an A.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,563 - Hanging with Amelia in Atchison

In Casa de Holt, the Summer of Adventures rages on. With two weeks left to go, we're trying our very best to make some fun memories and maximize our summer fun. Some of our adventures are pretty commonplace and have happened before like trips to the Zoo or even today's trip to Chiefs Training Camp. However, there are lots of new adventures to be had like last Friday's trip to the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison, KS.

While taking the kids to an Amelia Earhart Museum may not sound like their cup of tea, it actually is. Both kids are absolutely fascinated by history. In fact, both Ellie and Ethan have every U.S. President memorized. Honestly, that's probably not normal for their ages at all. Ellie initially learned about Amelia Earhart in school last year and she also recently watched an episode of Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum about her. Therefore, Amelia was certainly fresh in her mind when it came time to go to Atchison.

I'm the type of parent that loves to surprise my kids. It's not uncommon for me to not tell them anything about an adventure that we're going on outside of how long the trip to get there will be. While not knowing details doesn't bother Ethan, it absolutely drives Ellie nuts. She will inevitably start yelling at me for not telling her where we're going or what we're doing. Does that make me tell her the answer? Nope, not at all. In my opinion, it's probably good for her to be surprised now and then. Taking that into account, you can imagine that by the time we reached the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, Ellie was excited and very ready to get out of the car.

After a quick bathroom break, we purchased our tickets and headed into the Museum. The first thing to catch our eye was an AI Reproduction of Amelia Earhart welcoming us to the Museum by telling us stories about her life. Ellie actually thought it was so cool that she decided she needed a picture with Amelia when she was done talking. After that, we headed to see some actual Museum exhibits.

Once we were in the main section of the Museum, Ellie and Ethan were fairly excited to see the centerpiece of the Hangar, a reproduction of the plane Amelia Earhart disappeared in. They especially loved how shiny the plane was due to the reflective aluminum plates all over it. From there, we wandered to an interactive computer exhibit that gave the kids the opportunity to create their own backyard roller coaster much as Amelia Earhart did. Ellie initially failed the safety test on her coaster but I'm proud (and somewhat confused) to say that Ethan's was perfectly safe on the first try.

Following that, we proceeded to weave our way through the Museum. One of the next things that the kids absolutely loved was a rivet gun game with the objective being to attach as many rivets to a plane wing as possible in a particular time frame. Despite my best efforts, I don't think either Ellie or Ethan ever completely understood the task at hand. However, they still had fun doing it. After the rivet game, the kids headed inside a kid-sized plane cockpit where they were able to play and learn about the various controls of a plane courtesy of the disembodied voice of Amelia Earhart.

From there, we headed to the top floor of the Museum where the kids learned the finer intricacies of navigation based upon charting stars and via radio waves and sextant. My favorite part of the Museum though had to be the wall of theories regarding Amelia Earhart's disappearance. While most made some modicum of sense, there were definitely some conspiracy theories that were absolutely outlandish. At the end, you could place your vote for what you think happened to Amelia. For the record, crashing in the ocean was leading the way.

While it certainly took us a little while to get to the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, I would definitely do it all over again. I love seeing Ellie and Ethan experience new things and also love making new memories with them. Based upon the last few days, they'll certainly be talking about this one for a while.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,560 - Expecting the Unexpected

One of my favorite moments of each year has to be those occasions when ESPN rebrands one of their networks to ESPN 8: The Ocho. In case you're wondering, this year it's ESPN 2 and it runs through August 5th.

I think my favorite thing about it is how you learn to expect the unexpected. For example, I've already watched the Savannah Bananas play baseball, a Cornhole championship final, and the Table Hockey championships are next. I even got Bethany sucked into the festivities. I'm not going to lie; she's fairly excited about the Wisconsin Auctioneers Championship which will be held tomorrow morning at 5:30 am.

While it's probably fairly random for me to be writing about The Ocho, it makes sense in my head. That's especially true when one considers how my day today revolved around embracing the unexpected moments that occur and making the best of them.

As I mentioned yesterday, my goal right now is to make the best use of Ellie's and Ethan's last two weeks of summer. That essentially means that we're cramming as many fun activities into that time frame as we can. This morning's event found us heading to Zona Rosa for "The Coffee Club". Unbeknownst to me, Zona Rosa has hosted a weekly play session for kids on Thursday mornings to come and play at the playground on site and also splash in the adjoining splash pad. There's also always an additional activity that changes each week. While kids are having fun, parents are encouraged to buy coffee and make a new friend.

Our biggest reason for checking out "The Coffee Club" was so that Ellie and Ethan could enjoy the outdoor story time that would be held. Of course, I knew that they would have a ball playing on the playground as well. As soon as we arrived, we learned there was another activity: Kite decorating! Both kids picked out their free kite to take home and spent a few minutes coloring designs of their choosing before unceremoniously handing them to me and making a beeline for the playground. Soon though, it was time for the kids to take a seat for story time.

Once story time ended, it wasn't a surprise to see Ellie and Ethan make their way back to the playground. What was surprising though was to see the sky open up shortly thereafter and let loose a total downpour of rain. I asked the kids if they wanted to leave but they really wanted to stay. Therefore, the two of them spent the next half hour flying down wet slides at breakneck speeds over and over again. Eventually though, the two of them wore out and decided it was time to head for home.

Our next opportunity to embrace the unexpected revolved around an unexpected trip to the grocery store to get some salsa for tacos. After picking out all of my necessary groceries, I headed up front to pay and soon discovered that my Sun Fresh account had $5 of free money that was begging to be spent so I applied that to my purchase for the day. Taking into account that I had spent $5 less than I planned, rather than heading home, I instead took the kids to our local snow cone stand to share a Cherry Cola snow cone. Needless to say, they were stoked (and a little hyped up on sugar). While we were putting the finishing touches on our snow cone, yet another rainstorm blew up meaning that it was time to head home.

When we arrived home, I immediately shifted my mindset into dinner mode. However, the kids disagreed with that mindset. They instead wanted to spend some time outside playing in the rain. Since I didn't have a good reason to say no, I abandoned my plan for tacos and instead threw a frozen pizza in the oven and joined them outside for some fun in the rain.

Ellie and Ethan initially had a firm hold on their umbrellas as they splashed around in the driveway and on the adjoining sidewalks. However, they eventually abandoned them, choosing instead to get a second set of clothes drenched for the day. It was pretty fun to watch them play though. For the first time, they discovered that a manhole cover on our sidewalk had a grid pattern on top and somehow came up with the idea to fill each square with a rock. Now, I have no clue why they did this but it was awesome to watch them have so much fun. Not to mention, they were working together well and didn't even scream at each other once!

Now, it's true that very few parts of our day went according to plan. Getting soaked in the rain (twice) and eating snow cones were nowhere on my list for the day. However, much like ESPN 8: The Ocho, having fun was definitely on the list and that's exactly what Ellie and Ethan did.

#DaddyWrite