Beat to a pulp

We started the day with haircuts for the boys and myself and the a quick run to the store for my nieces birthday present. Man that was a tough trip! What do you buy for a 3 year old girl who is spoiled rotten (not in a bad way) and has a ton of toys? I figured you can never go wrong with Barbie Dolls so I bought her 2 of them and then bought the bags and wrap for it to match. Do you want to guess what EVERYONE bought as gifts? That's right, Barbie. At least I was on the right track.

We spent the day at my brothers house for my her birthday and boy she is growing up fast. The next thing you know we will be chasing off boyfriends and sending them off to college. She is going to be a pretty girl as she gets older, you can just see it in her face. However well she will be pretty and she plays with dolls she is daddy's girl and daddy is a motor head and competitive body builder. She is going to be the prettiest tomboy in the area IMHO.

It was a nice day out, low 90's and a slight breeze as well my brother set the BBQ up in front of the house where it was nice and shady so there was no direct sun on us which really made it nice. He had a few wading pools for the kids set up as well as some slides in the pools, toy fish and nets for them, balls and sprinklers. I had no idea that on his little Cul de Sac of maybe 11 houses they have 22 children under 10 years old and of course they were all at the party. Add to that all the cousins from out of town and it was like wandering into a day care center that was out of control.

My youngest had a blast in the water and the second he saw two pools he wanted to jump in and swim, I swear the boy is a fish. In fact he was one of the first in and last out spending the better part of an hour if not a bit more in the water. By the time I made him get out, which he was NOT happy about, he was shivering and pruned all over. Of course for the rest of the afternoon I had to keep an eye on him as he would wait until he thought he was clear and then mosey towards the water.

They (My brother and sister in law) did a very nice job of tying it all together and having the party first and once the kids and neighbors left it was just family, about 12 of us, for the bbq and some private time. It was also the first time that all my parents grandkids have been together as my newest nephew is just a few months old. We made sure to get a lot of video and pictures of the kids as well my oldest did a wonderful job of watching his brother and cousins as needed.

Since they live quite a drive from my house I drove myself and the boys to my folks house and then they drove to and from my brothers. This meant I needed to adjust my meds so I could drive which I do not have a problem doing but combined with the excess standing and then the almost 2 hours to get home and I was ready for my meds when we walked through the door. I also took a nice whack to the back from my sister in laws brother. We do not get to see them but a few times a year and as he was leaving I was facing away from him so he slapped me on the back to get my attention. It felt like someone ran 50,000 volts through me (yes, I have been hit by a taser for training so I know what it feels like). Poor guy forgot all about my back. I hope he does not feel to bad as he did not do it on purpose or with malice.

Some time ago my brother had purchased one of those mini-Jeeps for my niece but being the gear head that he is he went and supped it up by pulling out the standard motors and gears and replacing them with some high torque motors and larger gears so it will go faster. Now when they told me it would go fast I figured "a bit" faster then most but she had this thing in the street doing donuts and spin outs. We of course were all laughing our butts off while she was whipping up and down the street in this thing as well all the neighbor kids with those mini-cars all want my brother to fix theirs for them. I got some video of her driving it all over the place and as soon as I can capture it to disk I will try to post it.

I know I did not want to go the other day but I am glad that I did. My wife had to work, so it was just myself and the boys and I was concerned that if we went my whole day would be having to chase one or the other around. My mom was a huge help with that and let me sit and talk to an old friend while she kept an eye on the youngest and my oldest was tasked by my brother to run the video camera. It was good to see my buddy even though he had decided to be a hippy and grow his hair out...He is a pharmaceutical rep (LOL!) and was dared by one of the oncology nurses to grow his hair long enough for Locks Of Love, which is a great organization.

Well I am beat and my meds are not even close to cutting through this pain right now so I am going to curl up in bed and watch a movie. I can already feel those cool sheets just thinking about them.