The Swarrell Life

So this is the 500th 501st post for this blog. 500 . 501. Wow. I started this blog around the time we, as in Autumn, got pregnant. I thought this would be a fun little experiment. I blogged a little of everything for a while, tried to act smart and all that business. It turns out that snarky is more my style, not smart. So I quit blogging about anything except family and it's been pretty smooth blogging ever since. Sort of. Let's look at how we might have arrived here:     We might have arrived in style. You know, classic car with the sunglasses, rolling the convertible...uh, right. If you've ever met me, entering the blogging world was not going to happen with style.     OR, we might have arrived in high-flying impact. You know, battle cry and a leaping into the fray. But making a real impact wasn't going to happen either...     We might have came in messy. You know, flinging mud and shaving creme. But even that's not my style. Yeah, I tried to make som...

The bucket list strikes again. A couple of months ago Autumn and I sat down and made a list of the things we wanted to do this summer as a family. There were some pretty pedestrian items like taking a hike, going on a picnic, etc. One of the items stands out as a little less ordinary. That item is "Shaving Cream on the Slide". Who thinks of this stuff? It turns out that my wife does. And she thinks of it often enough to be able to recall this fantastic plan during our brainstorming session. So off to the Dollar Tree for some shaving cream, then off to the slide for some tactile awesomeness. Yeah, I said awesomeness. Yeah, I'll regret that at some point. Recipe: two little kids and a can of shaving cream. Just like any other sport, the warm up is key. This is what happens when you clap your hands together when they have shaving cream on them. Whuh? Then we start to get into the swing of things, we get our feet wet. Er, we get our head wet! ...

Bad daddy, that's what Trinity would call me if she kept track of the blog. It's been three weeks and I am only now blogging about Teagan's birthday. The secret of course is that it was at his request. One look at the picture below and you will know why he would have wanted this post delayed... Thanks mom, thanks a lot! Actually, he didn't mid so much. Mainly because he's two years old. This was the first of many jumps. Now we have a crash pad, you know, for liability. Different technique, same trajectory! Wonderful birthday cake made by Jamma ( Kathi ). Awesome dump truck! Every two year old needs a remote controlled garbage truck, right? Humphrey the hippo, promising years of soft landings! Let's see, how does this work? Whoops! This cake doesn't just look good... It tastes good too! After all the presents, the jumping and the cake, it was time to ride off into the sunse...

An old tradition began this week: the first day of school. But it was Trinity's first day of school, ever. It was new to her. A photo not unlike the one above made its way on to Facebook a couple of days ago. One comment read, "Oh my goodness, when did that happen?!" I could not agree more. When did this happen? More importantly, how did it happen so suddenly when, in fact, I was right here all the time? On one hand it's pretty obvious that I have fallen victim to the classic cliche of not seeing the forest for the trees . I am pretty sure that I am not alone as a parent on this one. The daily routine can blind me to the larger process sometimes. Even though I prefer the larger view, I have weak points, like my daily routine (which include my children). It's moments like this that I realize that everyday adds up and, all of the sudden, time has effectively fast-forwarded. Is that a word? As a parent it is easy to get caught up in all the little thing...

So, the first camping trip so far (maybe the last too, this summer has been super crazy) and we had a great time with the kids. Teagan's first time camping where he can get around on two feet! It was a kick roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire and just generally kicking back with Autumn and the kids. First dogs on a stick! Getting the hang of it! One of the rules of camping is that it is dirty. Really dirty. I always assume that something is wrong if you have clean clothes...ever. I gave up packing extra clothes in the summer because lets face it, after the first day it really doesn't matter. We all smell the same anyway, courtesy of the camp fire! Did I mention that camping is dirty? I happened to have a pair of gloves when we started out on this trip. Now Teagan has a pair of gloves. The joke is really on Kal because they're actually HIS gloves. So it goes. I was using them for the firewood, but Teagan had better uses f...