happy birthday finn

I was startled awake this morning by the sound of the toilet seat banging against the tank. It was just before 7 and Finn was awake and using the bathroom while we slept. There was a flush followed by the faucet in the bathroom sink and then a shuffle into our room. "I'm awake daddy!" He knew what day it was and Kate was quick with a happy birthday while I tried to clear the sleep from my eyes. He got up onto our bed and said he needed to get under the covers. We snuggled and he told me happy birthday. We told him about when he was born and asked what he wanted for breakfast. Blueberry pancakes and bacon. We got his presents from Grammie, Tom Tom, Heather, and Mandy and gathered Henry up with a cup of Honey nut cherioes and got busy opening presents. He threw away the clothes to find more cars and showed each thing that he got. When we got up to make pancakes Finn started to tell Henry about the day Henry was born. It didn't make any sense but it was damn cute. That is Finn is a nutshell, he often doesn't make any sense but he is damn cute while he's doing. The night before Kate and I looked through 3 years of pictures in random order and marveled at our little man. It seems we have had him for 5 years already and yet he is still growing up too fast. He is three years old today and while I think he is smart, creative, and athletic the thing you notice most about Finn is that he has a good time every day. He has a lot of fun and he is a lot of fun. I hope that will always be true. Happy birthday little man, you have made mommy and daddy's life more fun then we ever though possible.

henry, daddy, and the light

We went on a man walk today. Just the dudes doing manly things like playing in fountains and eating Mexican food. Jesse and I filled our strollers with supplies and strapped in our boys for a little trip downtown. We took the train two stops down and then walked over the Broadway bridge to Jamison Square park where they have a fountain that Finn had played in before. Finn was tentative at first but joined the throng of kids splashing around. Henry had been completely worn out by the arduous trip over the bridge in the stroller and napped for the first part of the water time. After some head on collisions with other kids and a good soak we hopped the street car to 23rd Ave and got some food at Santa Fe. Henry ate his body weight in Carnitas and Finn snapped 30-40 pictures on the camera, mostly of cars. The picture above is one of Finn's creations at a new shop that Jesse wanted stop at. Apparently he didn't get the memo about this being a dude walk. People were already marking out their spots for the Rose Parade tonight as we took the street car back to the train and then headed back home. It was a good walk for us and the boys ended up both sleeping for three and half hours so they got nice and worn out too. Finn went for his first movie in the theatre with mommy and Henry and I watched the Eastern Conference close out game. He wanted Lebron to pull it off but I told him he had to be patient. I was right and Henry cried, he takes these games too personally.

i want finn to go to this school

I am sure most of you have seen this but just in case you haven't please enjoy. And if you have an hour or two click on the other videos by these kids. This is school in New york, about 70 5th Graders singing some fantastic songs.

like a red headed...

Finn is at Grandma and Papa's house this weekend. He got picked up by Papa in the truck and he couldn't get out of the house fast enough. He told me "Have a good night daddy, and don't bring Henry." Finn is older, more mobile, and a lot of fun to be around and so he gets the one on one with people that Henry doesn't get. Henry gets it with us when Finn is gone but when Finn was as young as 9 months he was staying over with Grammie and Tom Tom. He was the only one so by default he was the favorite and now he is older and easier to relate to so he's the favorite. I get it, I really do, but I think people are missing out on a pretty funny and great time with the red head. He's harder to make laugh, and at times your not sure where you stand with him but he snuggles the best and there is nothing funnier then watching him read little red riding hood: " Oh uh nah ab wooof wooof wooof ahg gah un wooof!" So while Finn is off with friends and family Henry is home with us and we can't help but feel like people don't know what they are missing. We aren't complaining though, we know how great the red head is, even if others haven't seen it yet.

daddy I'm tired of mommy

I was watching the Laker game illegally on my computer because we don't have cable, the game is on cable, and it's the Western Conference Finals for crying out loud. Finn was in and out trying to get me to play trucks with him like he didn't know the rules. What are the rules Finn? "No trucks with daddy when the Lakers are on." Good boy, now get out of here before Bynum misses another opportunity and comes soft on the weak side help and daddy has to use some swears to keep from throwing something. For the most part I was left to watch the game on my own, chatting here and there with Mark and Kyle but they were a bit behind and mostly ignoring me. At Halftime Finn came down again unable to find Mommy. I sent him back upstairs to look again but he was soon back again. I asked him if he wanted me to help him look and he did. As we were walking upstairs he told me he was mad at mommy. "I am mad at mommy" Why are you mad at mommy little man? "I am mad at her because I can't find her. I'm tired of mommy daddy" Your tired of her? "Yeah I am tired of mommy, where is she anyway" We went up to the second floor and there she was watching Idol. Finn wasn't mad at her any more but I think he was a little tired of her still.

seriously go look at his pictures

captured

Please go to Mark's Flickr page and see his pictures from his trip here with Kendra. The dude can take a photo.

a henry video

I was messing around with the new computer and I decided to learn how to use iMovie a bit, this is the result or attempt one to figure it out. The song is 1,2,3,4 by the Plain White Tees

he's a swinger

Henry loves to swing much more then Finn does. In fact Finn won't even get on the swing. I think it goes back to getting tagged in the face by a swing and splitting his lip open. There was blood everywhere. Henry has only had good times on the swing set, the drive way is a different story.

cruisin like kerouac

It is quiet around our house now that Mark and Kendra are back home and we don’t have any future visits on tap until the middle of July. Around the middle of July though our summer gets fairly busy. We will have a bunch of guys I grew up with and their families here in the Northwest for some outdoor fun. Then We will head across the country for a road trip to Minnesota and then on to Indiana for Kate and the boys. When they get back the wedding season starts with back to back weddings to attend, fingers crossed for an open bar. I have been judiciously parsing out my vacation days to take part in as much as I can but Kate and the boys will be rocking the mid-west while I work, alone. Our housemates will be busy as well with their own trips to SB and Europe. It is exciting to think about the all the trips coming up and to plan out our road trip with the boys. I’m not sure how wise it is to take a 3 year old and 1 ½ year old on drive across the country but they need to learn what life in the Rohl and McGrail famlies are going to be like. This will not be their first road trip and it will definitely not be their last. Between Tear drop trips with papa and RV trips with Tom Tom those boys need to get acclimated to life on the road. Growing up I loved those trips and I have written about it before but the idea of getting up pre-dawn and heading out of town might be the most excited I ever get. I hope the boys will feel that way, that we will be able to pass on that love of the road that Kate and I have. It will just be easier on all of us.

we are luminous beings

My friend Aaron has a blog with this name and he means something different I'm sure, but this is what I think of when I think of his title.

five for fighting or flagrant two

It is the high pierced scream and cry that brings the whole thing to my attention. Finn has taken something from Henry, or hit him, or did some other thing that has made Henry cry out in mock agony. My immediate reaction is to ask Finn what he did. To tell him to give that car back, apologize, or in some other way make amends. I react to what I see or think I see but that isn't very reliable. I have watched and played enough organized basketball to know that it is often the second foul or action that gets the refs notice. Player one pushes, player two pushes back and the ref gives the foul to player two. Henry is like a young Dennis Rodman getting under Finn's skin and getting him in trouble. For the most part any crying from Henry is because Finn has reacted to something that Henry has done to him. I ask Finn what happened but he only tell me what he did, he'll learn. Really when Henry starts crying I should immediately give him the foul but I have taken to calling the offsetting fouls with no free throws and separating the two. But sometimes that isn't enough. Sometimes Hockey is a better sport to go with. Sometimes one or both needs to hit the penalty box, five for fighting. Like they do in hockey I have taken to letting them fight for a bit before I get in and put them in the penalty box. Once one of them hits the ground the fight is over but before then anything goes. You would think that Finn being bigger would be an advantage and it is, but Henry gets himself an handful of hair and gets his moneys worth. Basketball and Hockey, that is where I get most of my parenting ideas. What's that you say, it's the playoffs for both basketball and hockey, you don't say.

Reason #45213 why he hates me in 13 years

Haircuts

I'm 35 and I'm a Mac

Well happy birthday me! I turned 35 this past Monday and it was a great weekend and a great birthday. Mark and Kendra were here from AZ and my parents stayed with us at Casa De Ritroh for the weekend. We had a birthday party on Sunday that had apple streamers, big green apples in bowls and on ledges. Apples and caramel for snacks with Apple Martinis and Cider for beverages. I sensed a theme but had no idea why. Was the 35th year the year of apples? It wasn't until the cake came with the logo for Mac that I knew what was up. I have wanted a mac for some time and this Christmas we got a good portion of the way there with a thank you gift from Scott and Mandy. There was still a ways to go though and through the extreme generosity of my friends and family we got there. On Monday morning we all got on the train and went to the downtown mac store and waited for it to open. I picked out my new MacBook and nearly started to cry. Kate was teasing me that I wasn't as outwardly excited as she knew I was internally. I told her that I thought I might cry if I emoted at all and I didn't want anyone to know that something as silly as a computer would cause me to cry. It wasn't the computer but the wanting and waiting for 3 years for something. So thank you Mandy and Scott for starting the ball rolling. Thank you AZ folks and Mark and Kendra, thank you Tom and Kris for your continued generosity, thank you Jesse and Carly for helping make a great party, Thank you Mom and Bing for your extreme blessing this weekend and thank you Beautiful. Thank you for pulling string, facilitating, and knowing that something so silly and unjustified would mean so much. I love you beautiful.