Zachary is nine!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  One advantage of having four kids... more opportunities to eat birthday cake!  And, I got another such opportunity this evening.  It doesn't seem possible, but my Zachary is nine years old. 

the boy likes chocolate!

Grandma and Grandpa came over for some burgers and cake.

A couple of Dylan and Zachary's good buddies (twin brothers) live a few blocks around the corner, and they came over for some cake and ice cream.

I usually try to spend some time alone with my kids on or around their birthdays.  I worked a half day today, but I am supposed to be off Wednesday, so I think Zachary and I are going to plan an outing for part of the day.  Not sure, but it usually involves hiking or biking.

Nine? 

Boy, time sure flies when your kids are growing up!

Happy Birthday, Zachary!  You're my favorite Zachary in the whole world!

another year

Today was my birthday, and I took it as this week's day off.  It was a really great day for a birthday.  I slept a little later than usual, and had a leisurely morning.  After lunch, we went to the Akron Zoo for the afternoon... to get one last use out of our zoo pass before it expires.  Benny really enjoyed the afternoon... especially the "quack quack", the "gobble gobble", and feeding/petting the goats.  We left there, and found a few geocaches in Akron's historic Glendale Cemetery.  Then, dinner out and a little shopping, followed by a stop at a park on the way home to play and grab one last geocache find number... 43. 

Me and my Benny Jay

Checking out the penguins

Hanging out with my favorite people

In the eagle's nest

Benny feeding the goats... or cows... or dogs... he gets those confused sometimes

Lily feeding the goats

Birthday kiss?

Geocache find #43... on my 43rd birthday

bad boys, bad boys...

whatcha gonna do... whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

And, last night... they did.

Although I have some tendency toward defiance, I am generally a very law-abiding citizen, quite unacquainted with local law enforcement.  Apparently, however, searching for a geocache (my new-found hobby), in a historic cemetery, in khakis and a dress shirt, on your way home from work, at 6:30 PM, on an overcast day... will get the cops called on you for "suspicious activity"! 

The geocaching community, as a whole, encourages responsibility, in an effort to maintain a good reputation for the hobby.  Geocaching requires the permission of the land owner/manager before a cache hide will be approved and published, encourages environmental responsibility, and advocates leaving cache areas better than you found them, through CITO (Cache In Trash Out).  Cachers are generally out to have a good time venturing (legally) to places they may not normally go, and are typically cooperative with authority figures.

This cache was hidden in a very old cemetery plot on my way home from work.  It is in a fairly remote wooded location (I had no idea it was even there), about 50 yards back a gas well lane, with only a few houses nearby, and it is the kind of place you don't expect to arouse much suspicion from non-geocachers.  I made a visit there a few weeks before, logging the cache as a DNF (did not find).  A DNF is very frustrating to a geocacher, and this was one of four DNF's currently on my list.  I had pondered this one over the past few weeks, and was pretty sure I knew how I had missed it on the first visit. 

I returned last evening, parked the car at the end of the lane, and walked back to the cemetery.  I found the cache fairly quickly, signed the log book, and replaced the cache just as I found it, thinking I was completely undetected in the remote cemetery.  I walked back to my car and checked the GPS for the distance to the next nearest cache.  Putting the GPS away, I decided to just head home. 

Just then, I noticed, in my rear-view mirror, two police cars pull up and block my car from exiting the gas well lane.  Two officers approached my car to question my "suspicious activity". 

I explained that I was a geocacher... blank stare. 

I then defined geocaching, and one of the two officers had heard of it (good for me). 

They called in my license plates and driver's license, and asked me a few more questions about geocaching:

Officer:  So, what kind of stuff do you find?
Me:  Mostly camouflaged containers with a log book to sign for proof that you found it.
Officer:  And what's the prize?
Me:  There isn't really a prize... the fun is in finding them and keeping score of your finds.
Officer:  Who hides them for you to find?
Me:  Other geocachers.
Officer:  But there's a grand prize, or something, when the game's over? 
Me:  No, not really.  It's an ongoing hobby/game... there are over a million caches currently hidden worldwide.
Officer:  So, it's just like a big club that hides and finds things for fun?
Me:  Pretty much.
Officer:  Hmmm... I'll have to read more about this.
Me:  http://www.geocaching.com/.

With that, they wished me a good evening, and sent me on my way.

I'll chalk it up to a geocaching milestone:  1st time to answer to the cops for "suspicious activity"... find #39.  Based on stories from other geocachers, it'll probably not be the last occurrence!

symphony?

Last evening, I took my family to the symphony to hear the debut of a world-famous percussionist.  Well... actually, we went to the middle school band concert to hear the debut of our first-year band student... but to a proud parent, it may as well have been Carnegie Hall.

If you recall from an earlier post, Dylan wanted join the middle school band this year, but almost passed, due to nervousness.  Jen and I made the decision for him, that he had to try it for at least a year.  That decision resulted in a great year, and his looking forward to the next year.

As the school year nears the end, last night was the annual middle school band concert... a time for the students to highlight their year's hard work and accomplishments.  Since Monday and Thursday are long days in the car business (9AM-9PM), I was fortunate to get permission to leave early to attend.  Although a little nervous, Dylan was proud to have a row of his family come to watch his performance, and he did a great job.

After the concert, I got to meet one of his best friends, "Sherm", who is also in the band (Jen had already met him at previous events).  I told Sherm, "It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you."  To which he responded, "I've heard a lot about you, too.  You sound like a very nice man."  How diplomatic, Sherm!  It's good to meet your kid's friends and have a positive first impression of them (not just because he said something nice about me... you can just tell he seems like a good kid).

the fan club

5th grade (first-year) Tiger Band.  Dylan is in the back row, far left, standing.

"Old McDonald had a Band" with bell group solo

needed. heeded?

I suppose the early forties are considered the prime of one's life.  For me, though, they have been less than prime, and fraught with difficulties... both those of my own making and those completely out of my control.  Difficulties (which are not the focus of this post) have a way of becoming consuming, distracting, and priority-wrecking.  Quite honestly, I feel as though this period of life resembles the plate-twirling circus act.  There are many days when I feel that I can't deliver all that is demanded of me, and I am struggling to stretch myself thin enough to keep all my plates turning.

But, the US Government, of all people, sent me a larger-than-life priority reminder.  I see it every time I approach my workplace.  I notice it most often when I take a lunchtime walk, because I have more time to focus on it.  In fact, it was on one such walk (while mulling over everything facing me in the coming week) that I first noticed it... I looked up and it was like someone smacked me with it.  The reminder is in the form of the following message, plastered on a huge roadside billboard, right next to my place of employment:

I often feel that I don't have the energy to be a Dad to four kids.  Dad, can you fix this?  Dad, can we do something?  Dad, can you help me with this?  Dad... Dad... Dad... and all too soon they will grow up.  I already look at my ten year-old and wonder where ten years went.  Just yesterday, it seems, he was the size of my two year-old, and now I am buying him deodorant and he's asking me to check out his fuzzy start of a pre-pubescent moustache.

The provider in me knows that there are many priority "fixes" that I am struggling to handle... and they are legitimately very high priorities, and cannot be ignored.  But, the father in me knows that to "take time to be a dad today" also needs to be of utmost priority.  Unfortunately, the dad role is sometimes the easiest to brush aside.  I hope and pray that something "gives" soon, and I can have a little more room to breathe and focus on the dad role, but the current challenge is to give my best balance to all my priorities in the midst of an imperfect situation.

The reminder is definitely needed.  The question to myself (and rhetorically to you, if it applies)... will it be heeded?

did I miss spring?

Not sure about where you live, but in my area of Ohio, yesterday's weather went from weeks of chilly rain straight to summer.  Temps were near 80, with wall-to-wall sunshine.  It was the kind of evening that we just had to do something.

We live within a couple miles of a few different state parks.  We favor one, because of the selection of hiking trails.  The other, though, has some nice paved walking trails, and that is the mood we were in last evening.  After dinner and homework, we drove out to the park, which had something for everyone... a stroll and a bench along the lake, geocaching, and (for Dylan and Zachary's benefit) "recycling" cast-off and tangled fishing tackle.

nice evening for a bench by the lake

"treasure" seekers in action

Dad made this discovery (#29)

ain't he charming?

Lily, sporting her fresh spring haircut

Junior Olympics 2011

This past Saturday was our school district's Junior Olympics, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, and facilitated by the high school track team.  Unfortunately, I had to work, so I couldn't be there to cheer them on.  Dylan is interested in Track and Field when he is old enough (and that is one sport in which I would encourage participation), so this event is great to expose younger kids to track and encourage interest.  We found out too late that Lily could have participated, but she did not bring home her registration form... maybe next year.  Both boys pushed hard, and brought home some medals... way to go, guys!

Zachary - long jump

Dylan - long jump

Zachary - 50M

Dylan - 50M

the proud medalists

Dylan was awarded the silver medal in the the 50M and 100M, and the bronze medal in the long jump (10-12 year-olds).

Zachary was awarded the gold medal in the long jump and obstacle course, and a 4th place ribbon in the 50M (8-9 year-olds).