3 Things I Want You To Know

#1 - Addendum to Father's Day 2008 Addendum: See how I wrote in the first addendum how I forgot some fun things from my Father's Day Friday? And then I wrote them down to share with you? And then realized when I was talking to Marv last week on the phone I forgot the best part? Well, as I had said, I arrived to Loch's daycare tribute to me (yes, yes - I know: it was ALL fathers but I singled myself out) late, so I decided to stay a little longer once most of the other dads/grandpas left (plus he had that bad day the day before). As I was playing with Loch, a couple of kids came over to play with us. One little girl told me that it was time for the dads to go and that I should go to work. I responded as follows: "No - why don't you go to work!" To which she of course said: "No, you go to work!" And I blithely retorted: "NO - you!" At this point, some of the other kids chimed in telling me to go to work. Once the crowd started getting vocal with cries for me to leave; Lochlain stood up in front me and basically told everyone to stop telling me to leave and was about to kick some butt when I intervened and let him in on the fact that we were all only playing around. Lochlain responded to my explanation quickly and calmed down rather quickly, but stated quite adamantly that he did not want me to go and that I must stay and play with him. Then it was time to sit criss-cross applesauce on the mats and do their Welcoming Song. Of course, I had to remind Lochlain to sit properly, to stay still, to listen, to keep his fingers out of his apertures, to sing along, to wait his turn, and to pay attention. After this last admonishment, Loch turned to me and said: "You can go now, Daddy." So much for wanting me to stay..............

#2 - Lochlain Started Swimming Lessons: Well, that is pretty much it. Mommy takes him on Tuesday and Daddy takes him on Thursday across the street to the pool. He has progressed far in his first two lessons - he started "diving" underwater by his second lesson! Loch's best skill and his favorite activity appear to be the same - jumping into the pool. I had to take this picture from our driveway across the street:

Mommy helping Lochlain to kick, kick, kick!

#3 - I Think I Became A Little More Like My Dad This Past Weekend: Bean planned and then we both executed a trip to Tweetsie Railroad in the North Carolina mountains this past weekend. For all Meagher and Meagher-related Meagherheads, it's kind of like Story Land in New Hampshire, but with a western feel. So I guess that actually makes it like Six Gun City - which I always had wanted to go to as a kid, but we never did. We made it to Santa's Village, but not Six Gun City. IT WAS RIGHT NEXT DOOR, DAD! WOULD IT HAVE KILLED US TO GO THERE JUST ONCE?!? *ahem* Anyway, we went and had a great time! Well, most of us. Well, really all of us - just probably not always together at the same time. The first thing we did was ride the Tweetsie Railroad train - Seanie was scared almost the whole ride (he does this new thing when he is scared - he puts his hands over his mouth). Loch loved it - especially the two "skits" which involved a train robbery and then an Indian attack at the local fort:

The Tweetsie Train


Scared Seanie


Enthralled Lochlain


I am not stifling a yawn

The main reason we were there was to meet Diego (of Go, Diego Go! fame) and Dora (of Dora the Explorer fame). It reminded me of the time Richie and I met Casper and Richie Rich at Bloomingdale's in Garden City. We waited on line for 90 minutes to get our 30 seconds with them - still, both the boys got Diego tattoos - Loch couldn't wait to show Diego:

Diego + baseball + tattoo = 1 tough hombre

Of course, after that - we rode rides, posed for pictures, walked a lot, ate horribly, and danced between the raindrops - we never did get caught in the rain (at least not badly):

Giddyap! - a direct quote

Yeeha! - also a direct quote

Our Ferris Wheel shots


Seanie drives a car (with some help from Mommy)

Then we did some realllll kiddy-type rides: they reminded me of Nunley's - and Lochlain & Seanie almost got kicked off just like Daddy and Uncle Richie......

Happy Boat Ride


Serious Loch and Fun-lovin' Seanie

We stayed over at a Holiday Inn Express as we were exhausted - here we are having a picnic dinner on the floor of our hotel room: