Thought these were great:

Part 01

The whoopee cushion officially died yesterday.   And that was after another repair job with duct tape.  This time it was a huge hole in one end.   So long toots....

Last night Camden and I went out for a date and he wanted to go to Ben & Ari's to play some mini-golf and arcade games.  I'm trying to do some kind of outing with him at least once a week.   We always have lots of fun.

Last night was no exception.  The mini-golf was hilarious because Camden kept trying to hit his ball into the water hazards they have setup.   Definitely not your serious mini-golf player!   They have lots of nets around to fish your ball out of the water and he was running around like a mad-man trying to get his ball.   I was cracking up.

 

 

 

We ventured back inside and he wanted to play a game of mini-bowling and some arcade games.  Camden ended up winning about 125 tickets, which is the highlight of the night.

The big prize:

A whoopee cushion.

Now, mind you, Camden didn't know what a whoopee cushion was before our date started.    He was browsing through all of the little trinkets in the display case and pointed to the pinkish balloon looking thing and asked what's that?     Well...uhh...well....oh, that's a balloon, I said.     "I want that balloon", he quickly says.    The worker girl was right there and said "You want that whoopee cushion?".    Camden sort of looks at her and says "yeah, I want that balloon please".     I'm cracking up at this point.  It was time for us to leave, so I told Camden, let's head to the car and I'll show you how your "balloon" works.

Well, to a 5 year old boy, the whoopee cushion is about as cool as anything.  He had a blast playing with that thing.   When we got home he wanted to trick Holli, so we blew it up and asked her to join us at the kitchen table.   Holli played along great and Camden had a good laugh.   

You may be wondering where the duct tape comes in?   Well, during our play, the whoopee cushion popped!  Loud boom, big hole, little pieces of rubber on the floor, one kid crying his eyes out.    You would have thought his world just exploded.    I told him not to fear and we grabbed the duct tape, patched the hole and we're in business again.

When I left for work this morning, Caleb and Camden were playing with the whoopee cushion, all the while trying to keep Fergus from grabbing it and destroying it.    Caleb kept running around yelling and laughing "Toots, Toots, Toots!"   They're all boy.  Love it.

 

 

Last night was date night.   Holli and I try to get out once a week for a date and have been pretty good at sticking to that for a while now.   We're blessed to have an awesome baby sitter.

We haven't been to a movie in a while so we decided to go see Hancock, the new Will Smith movie.    We both love Will Smith, so we figured it would be good.

I have to say I loved this movie.  Holli really liked it too.  There's something about being in a big theater with popcorn that just sucks you in to the experience.  

There were times that I was just cracking up during this movie.  If you've seen it, think about Hancock's first day in jail.

If you're looking for a fun date night activity definitely check out Hancock.

 

This past weekend we took a road trip up to Milwaukee to visit my brother Tom, his wife Jess and their daughter Sidney.  Sidney just turned two, so they were having a birthday party. 

We had an awesome time.  It's always so nice to get out of town and spend some good quality family time together.   Although, there were times in the car that I was questioning the "quality" time.  

Do I wish we had a minivan for the trip?  Heck no.  Holli and I decided that instead of our Pacifica we needed to procure a limo.   Not because we want someone to drive us around.  I actually enjoy driving long distances.   There's something about being on the road that relaxes me and it gives me good time to think.   The reason we think we need a limo is purely for the privacy window.  You know that window that separates the driver from the back of the limo?   I think it's sound proof and there's even a part that will block all visibility.

Think about that parents.  It's a perfect solution for car trips.  Stick the kids in the back, put the privacy window up, and you're golden.   Listen to music, chat, or just day dream.    But what about the kids you ask?   Hey, we're not cruel -- Most limos have a TV in the back and mini-fridge, or at least a cooler.    Camden is old enough now to unbuckle himself, get a drink and then buckle back up.  That's safe isn't it?  He could get Caleb a drink if he needed one too.

I think I'm going to go check eBay and find a nice used limo for the new family mobile.  Uh oh, one thought, it won't fit in the garage....It's still worth it for the peace and quiet.

Can you relate?

Camden definitely has a love for music.   He especially likes the drums.   The other day he said he wanted to make his hair blue because he wanted to have "drummer hair".   Holli and I didn't miss a beat (no pun intended) and thought "why not?"

So Holli went out and got some blue hair stuff and made Cam's hair blue.

Notice the tee shirt which says "Rock".  He's definitely our rocker!

I'll have to post some video sometime of him rocking out on his drums. 

I heard something pretty funny over this past father’s day weekend.   If you look in the dictionary the word father is surrounded by the word fathead at the front and fatigue at the end.   

I wanted to confirm this for myself, but I found it difficult to find a dictionary.   Nowadays, I think everyone uses an online dictionary and you can only search for individual words on those.   I eventually found one at my parents and looked it up.   I think there were a few words after father and before fatigued, but the main jist of the point was there.

Pretty funny.  I don’t know about you other dads, but fathead and fatigued pretty much sums me up.   With a busy life and two boys (5 and 2), I get pretty fatigued!   And the fathead part…Just ask Holli.   There are plenty of times I live up to that label!

Cheers Fathers.  Let’s try not to be a fathead today.  Also, share this with your wife, maybe she’ll let you sleep in to help with the fatigue…maybe not.

What do you think of our cartoon Jesus? Love It?  Hate It?  Think we're insane?

When we had the idea to launch this site, I was doing some praying and got the idea to create a mascot for the site.    Instead of creating a mascot, I decided why not create a cartoon Jesus to help represent Vortex?   Afterall, He's always with us anyways.    I ran with the idea, found an illustrator, gave him some rough ideas via email and now you see the final version.

Check out the evolution of our cartoon Jesus:

 

Version 1:


Version 2:


Version 3:


Version 4:


Version 5:


Version 6:


Version 7:


Version 8:


Version 9:


Version 10:


Version 11:


Version 12:
 

Final Version: 

 

You'll see lots of little subtle differences as you look down at the various versions.   

 So, what do you think?

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/service-lets-yo.html



I came across this article and found it hilarious. I just wonder if it's real or a hoax?

You've got to hand it to them, at $40/year they could make some cash with enough subscribers. Even if just 1000 people did this, they're making $40K/year.

Hmm, wish I would have thought of this. On second hand, would Jesus want me to be profiting off of the Rapture??? :)

Darn that Matt Bays. I was just reading his blog and somehow it's affected my subconscious. More on this in a minute.

You see, this morning I had a bit of an escape. I took my car to the dealer to get an oil change. "You took your car where???" I can hear it now... Yes, I choose to go to the dealer for an oil change. It costs more and it takes a heck of a lot longer too. But...I get to sit in their comfy waiting room and just chill. And they have these good apple pastry things and pretty tasty coffee. So I just power on my laptop and chill out and catch up on blog reading, etc. It's quite a nice escape from the busy life.

OK, back to the story, so I was reading Matt's latest post and cracking up (and thinking how could he not be throwing up) when this Chili's commercial came on the TV. They were promoting their new "Big Mouth Bites". I thought they looked nasty, but then I started watching more and I thought "hmmm, I'd like to eat one of those.". What is wrong with me? They have grilled onions on them. I hate onions!




Thanks Matt, now I might have to go to Chili's. Well, I might not take it that far.