Hello friends, it's been a while. My updates are going to be rather sporadic over the summer; there's just far too much to do. My kids are up from Florida for the summer, so naturally I'm kept busy with that.

Kids give you a mirror to look at sometimes; the things they say are a reflection of you and your environment. It's surprising sometimes to discover the things that interest them.

We've been camping. We caught some fish, which excited the kids. Later on in the day I asked them if they wanted to fish some more, but they replied they would rather throw rocks into the water. They did this for several hours. For them it was great fun.

We've been to the zoo. Places like that are so much more fun when you can see them through the eyes of a child. My six-year-old son pointed out the butterfly area as we walked toward the large cat exhibit. We had just looked at the elephants and I was intent on getting to the next exhibit. Sometimes I need the young ones to show me how to slow down, and look at life.

We've played baseball and kickball, and I've been shown how pathetically out of shape I am. But it keeps me young, or so I hope. It's a great deal of fun teaching the kids the ins and outs of baseball, although a lot of it goes over their heads. But we have fun, and that's what counts.

We've watched movies. I watch the Disney flicks with my kids; they really love those cartoons. And I've slowly introducing them to other types of movies. My oldest likes the different movies, but the younger ones always want their cartoons. While watching one of the flicks I had a thought that any parent that has young children can appreciate; Disney should put their movies on loop tapes. Save all that rewinding.

We've cruised the net, and played on the computer. Even my youngest, Amanda (15 months) likes to play with the mouse. She knows if she pushes the mouse button that eventually something will happen. And sometimes it can even cause daddy to do silly things. I now have a piece of cardboard taped over my power and reset buttons, because she really liked pushing those.

I love being with kids because they show me how to be young, and how to look at the world through innocent eyes. Where I sometimes see clouds they can see lions and bears; when I see a moon and a planet they see an entire story about faraway stars. Even the most mundane is interesting to them. To them, everything is somehow fun and something to be enjoyed.

Occasionally that's something we all need to be reminded about.

Got a comment? Drop me a line.

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