There is SO MUCH to tell you, so lets talk!!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hop on Pop!

or "Happy Father's Day!"





My kids are awesome! This is what they gave me for for Father's Day and it was the perfect gift because I used to read this story, "Hop on Pop", to them when we all still lived together and they wanted to let me know how much they remembered and missed this. I'll always remember such a thoughtful gift.

Of course, they're still children, and, it matters, they're still MY children, which means that they aren't just going to hand this to me. Oh, no. They thought it would be more meaningful by "hopping on pop" as a means of waking me up on Sunday morning, and that is what they did!

I'm just lucky to be alive to write about it.

See, the Little guy weighs close to 60 pounds, the Girlie girl stands in at 51 pounds (she's the poster child for Ethiopian famine relief) and the Big Guy is up at 80 pounds. Hoping on Pop without giving pop a chance to "get ready for the assault" could be a deadly proposition.

So, they asked what I wanted to do for Dad's day, as if I would actually get to pick the activity for the day. Before we left the house, they "convinced" me I wanted to Dollywood, so that's what we did. "KidsFest" was going on so it was really fun!



Photobucket

I also took this really cool picture of them, hatching; appropriate for the theme for the day!

Photobucket

That "does" explain a lot, come to think of it!

We had a really great time but it was also insanely hot and so the kids found ways to cool off, but the little guy was the most creative about it:

Photobucket

Photobucket
-----------------------------
I've been a dad for a while now, and while I don't pretend to be an expert at anything, much less children, I have figured out a few things as a dad and from what my kids have shown me...

1. Time really flies... Have fun with your kids (and without them) because soon they'll change and things will change and it's just not the same. Enjoy the time with them.

2. Practice saying no. It won't kill them, (although they'll pout.)

3. Don't miss anything your kids will do, not if you can help it. You'll regret like like nothing else later.

4. If you have more than one kid, try to spend quality time, one on one, with each of them every so often. You'll really appreciate it, and so will they.

5. Don't expect a clean car.

(About number five, can anyone out there tell me how old your kids have to be before you "can" expect a clean car? I really want to know...)

17 comments:

Chris H said...

Beautiful photos again mate... as for the car..NEVER AGAIN... cos just when ya think they have grown up and left home therefore getting outta YOUR CAR, they bring back friggin babies to start the whole process up again. Buy a bike.

Beth said...

Glad you had a wonderful "Hop on Pop" Day!
As for # 5? Maybe when they're 30???
My kids are all older than yours - and still messing up cars.

Hilary said...

Great advice and lovely photos of your beautiful kidlets.

Beth is an optimist .. my guess is around 47. ;)

April said...

Oh I could rant for hours about the car. There are enough crumbs in the back seat to feed us for weeks if we ever got stranded, so I guess that's a good thing. Plus it always smells like french fries. So I guess it could be worse. Hope you had a great Father's day. It looked like you guys had a lot of fun.

louann said...

Happy Father's Day Pavel! I think you are a wonderful Dad. Your kids are blessed to have you and you are blessed to have them!!

Can't answer you about the clean car. I have a 6 and 2 year old, so I'm pretty far from having a clean car!

Sweet and Salty said...

chris h: Thanks for the notice on the clean car business. Never again; gotcha...

beth: lol... sheesh!!! Oh, well. There are worse things...

hilary: So you concur? Just give it up, huh?

april: And the things about the McDonalds fries is that they've been sitting in the car forever and still look just as good as they did the day we bought them. Amazing!

louann: lol! At that age, you probably can't keep anything clean, much less a car!

Autumn's Mom said...

Hop on Pop! How thoughtful was that?? I've always wondered what Dollywood looked like. I'm glad you had such a wonderful Father's day.

As for the car, I gave up on that long ago. My daughter is 13 and I think she's the worst offender and she's the oldest! As long as the outside gets clean and I can see through the windshield, I'm great :)

Karen MEG said...

What great photos Pavel, and that gift they got you was so incredibly sweet.
Yup, I'd say you're pretty expert, those 5 tips are bang on. And I also look forward to the day when the car will be clean!

Diane said...

My kids love the Hop on Pop book, and the activity. Fortunately for my husband, they are both under 25 lbs!

Sadly, there is no clean car in your future.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment!

Sweet and Salty said...

Autumn's Mom: So keep my expectations low, huh? lol...

karen meg: (note to self - must resign myself to having month old french fries under car seats...)

diane: Thanks for visiting "me" too! As for the food in the car, oh well... lol!!!

Ann(ie) said...

GOOD Advice. I'm catching on to the whole 'they forgive you when you say no thing rather quickly' thing. It's taken me a while. You have really cute kiddos and I love the gift. My hubby would think that's about the perfect dad's day gift. We read that book to Ben!! ;)

G said...

Pavel, happy belated Dad's Day! What a perfect gift and way to spend your day. When will ANYthing be clean again?!

Ah, lucky they're so cute, huh?

Sweet and Salty said...

annie: Hope you had a fun vacation at that Theme Park. You guys read "Hop on Pop" too? When I read it to them, I usually try to skip the page about Hop on Pop, to no avail. They've got an eye on me...

g: It was fun, yes. I hope Scissor's day was special too.

You're right. It doesn't really stop at the car, huh? lol...

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post Pavel! Really sweet :)

Erm. . . about the cars. My kids are teenagers and I'm still waiting.

Heather said...

Your car will never be clean, I have three boys from 19 to 9 and my car is a rolling trash heap most of the time. The cool thing is, when they get old enough (which yours are) I make them clean it out once a week, for a treat, no money, but maybe a trip to the ice cream store or what have you. ARGH! Happy Fathers Day, you are the best!

Casdok said...

Kids are the best arnt they!

Super photos!
And a belated Hop on Pop day!!

Sweet and Salty said...

trish: I see from the other posts that it's a lost cause, trying to wish the car clean...

hmbt: Even at 19? Sheesh, it's never going to happen!!!

casdok: Hi there! It's so sweet of you to stop by. Thanks so much, and yes: kids are something indeed.