Game Number One

Trey Davey and Benji’s sports careers began today with their first t-ball game. At this level, participation not competition rules the day. They batted in order by their number, and Trey Davey was number 3. The top photo shows his glee with his first hit. He was so excited at first that he forgot the base order. When the next batter hit the ball up the middle, Davey headed directly for third where he nearly collided with a teammate running from third to first and the infielders chasing the ball. After his first hit, Benji had no problem finding first, second and third base, but as the photo below shows, he drifted a little on his way home.

All Aboard the Wildcat Express

We spotted this playground train in the side yard of a home on Highway 140 in Utica, Kentucky. This grandfather built a train for his first grandchild. Then over time, as he added more grandchildren, he would add more vehicles. He built an antique car and a tractor, and then added a coal car, tanker car and caboose to the train. His last playground addition, and his masterpiece, is the water tower, which doubles as tree house and supports two sets of swings. The grandmother entertains the neighbors by decorating the train for all the major holidays. Now, these are fun grandparents.

Full Stream Ahead

After the fun we had a few days ago at the Yellow Creek Park spray park, the boys lobbied to go again. This time we visited the spray park at Legion Park. This is the one Granny’s Rotary Club raised money to build a decade ago. The spray is on a timer here that cycles about every five minutes. After discovering the on switch located on this pole, Benji was fixated on it. He kept pushing and pushing it even after the water began spraying. During one spray pause, Davey believed Benji wasn’t pushing hard enough and proceeded to help him while two cute young girls looked on.

Covered Bridge

There is public service campaign running now promoting that children play physically for an hour a day. That is a goal that we really embrace. The challenge for us is finding a place for that exercise. The house is not an appropriate place for running. During warm weather months we can go out in the yard, but during the winter we can only go to the gym. Today was such a beautiful day that we took the opportunity to take a hike at Yellow Creek Park where they have this beautiful covered bridge. We are looking forward to a lot of outside exercise this summer.

Rainbow Spray Boys

It was a beautiful Memorial Day weekend and the first opportunity to enjoy the spray park at Yellow Creek Park. When we arrived it looked as though the device was broken because the water pressure was but trickle. Soon however, we found the parks keeper, and he repaired the valves allowing for the full spray. All the children were so energized by the new spray that they began running wildly around the area. This mayhem soon resulted in a head on collision between Benji and an older boy. This momentarily stopped the action and allowed the group to organize traffic patterns. With a plan in place, they were off again merrily running through the multicolored sprayer.

Base Practice

Say it with me: first base, second base, third base, home. It was our mantra: first base, second base, third base, home. Today was the day our boys learned this concept. We didn’t want them to be totally ignorant about the game when we started T-Ball next week. Teaching them the bases was easy compared to finding a diamond for practice. The city parks have a significant number of little league ball fields and all of them are fenced and locked when not in use. We found this to be also true of all the county parks and the fields owned by the public schools. Thank goodness the Catholic schools have the good sense to leave their baseball fields open so the neighborhood kids can play even when the league is out of season.

Neighborhood Party

Our next door neighbors, the Roberts, decided to have an impromptu neighborhood barbeque for those who did not escape town for the Memorial Day holiday. Our boys had no problem fitting in with the girly gang for fun and games. Here they are holding a parachute filled with softball-sized light-weight plastic balls. Together they try to toss the balls into the air and then catch them without spilling any. The tall girl standing beside the balls on the back row is Marris Blunt. Standing left to right across the front row is Annie Rose Helwig, AnaKaye Roberts and Jules Helwig. 

Tall Davey

Trey Davey is really growing, which was illustrated yesterday at Reid’s Orchard. He now stands over 40 inches, which is about 3 foot 4. I would expect him to grow another 3 feet before he’s done.

Reid’s Apple Slide

The Mother’s of Multiples was hosting a play date today which afforded us with a great opportunity to take advantage of this beautiful spring day at Reid’s Orchard. We have visited this fun place on several previous occasions and we are no strangers to the activities there, especially their unique playground. While there are many fun activities there, our clear favorite is the apple slider. First you must climb two flights of stairs to reach a three story wooden deck. Then you will see two large parallel tubes. The insides are smooth and angled at just the right angle to propel you quickly without loosing control.

Mack’s Sandbox

Recently, we visited Mack Burton’s new house and discovered his ultra cool sandbox. It is an old tractor tire filled with sand and toys. Mack lived next door to us until about 6 months ago when his family purchased and moved to a newly constructed home in the Lake Forest subdivision. Once Mack’s little sister was born last year, Mack’s parents began looking for a house with three bedrooms all on the same floor. Mack’s new house is much larger and has a huge backyard. Davey was in sandbox heaven and immediately began lobbying for one of his own, which means we would need two.

Another Tornado Warning

With a set of the city’s air-raid sirens located in the school yard behind our house, we don’t sleep through alerts. Tonight it sounded a little after 10:00 pm. The boys were already asleep, so we scooped them up and hurried to the basement. That task was a lot easier when they were little babies. You would think we lived on the Kansas plains based on the number of tornado warnings we have “enjoyed” this year. Thankfully, we have a comfortable basement stocked for just this type of emergency and plenty of emergency evacuation practice just in case the big one ever comes.  

The Face After the Fall

Poor Davey, he looks even worse. A few days ago, he tripped and fell into the TV stand injuring his face bad enough to require three stitches in his eyebrow. Then, today at the playground he let go of the chains while swinging to wipe his runny nose. This caused him to fall backwards out of the seat as it was swinging forward. Had he been over water, it would have been a beautiful swinging summersault dive. Instead, it was a header into the playground mulch, which scratched the other side of his face. Hopefully, he is healing in his sleep.

Happy Birthday Uncle Stephen

We don’t see Uncle Steve very often, but it is always fun when we do. He lives in Indianapolis with Aunt Erin and Cousin Levi. Steve is a sports guy and always has the scoop on all the major sporting news. His favorite teams are the Indianapolis Colts and the Kentucky Wildcats. He is very tall, and back in the day, he played basketball in high school and college. When we get older, we look forward to receiving sports technique pointers from him. He is also a marketing guy, so we expect him to manage our merchandising when we turn professional.

Happy Birthday Mack

Mack Burton, until recently our next door neighbor, invited us to his third birthday party at a bounce house downtown. There were about 25 parents and children in attendance and all had a wonderful time. The facility, while small, offers a surprising amount of activities for children of all ages. When we visited our first bounce house a couple of years ago the boys were too young to really benefit from the facility, but now they possess the strength and agility to truly enjoy all its benefits. Designed for such activities as birthday parties, this facility offers a party room in the back for cake and ice cream. We had a great time.

Davey’s Stitches

In his padded room, Trey Davey managed to collide with the vertical edge of the TV stand causing a fat lip, check scrape and deep eyebrow cut. We immediately transported him the few blocks over to the convenient care (emergency room). Pa soon came to take Benji home so we could focus on Davey’s treatment. After an extended wait and a small amount of pain medicine, our brave little soldier fell into a peaceful sleep. Some time later he was rudely awakened to find his head covered except for his left eye and a doctor stitching him back together. Her experience, education, and excellent bedside manner were obvious. She asked questions about Thomas and his friends to calm and redirect Davey’s attention. Before he could answer all her Sodor questions correctly, she was finished, and soon we were on our way home.

Strawberry Picking and Grinning

The first time we picked strawberries the boys were very tentative and mystified by what we were doing. They picked everything; ripe strawberries, green strawberries, leaves and stems. This time, they were experienced. The boys understood what strawberries were, where to find the best ones, and how to pick just the best red ones. With this knowledge, we skillfully filled two baskets with beautiful strawberries in only a few minutes, which left more time to devote to the orchard’s playground. They also understood for several weeks that if they cleaned their dinner plates, the reward would be a bowl of the strawberries that they had picked themselves.

Surprise Attack

Sandy does an excellent job rotating the twins’ toys. By doing so, the boys less often become tired of the same old toys and are afforded the excitement of regularly rediscovering old toy friends. One amusement that makes a reoccurring appearance for a day or so every few weeks is the tunnel. Children love crawling into small places, and men gravitate to cave-like spaces to be alone and think, so the portable tunnel provides the perfect place for a little boy’s introspection. I suspect Trey Davey’s desire was to be left alone in this place to play with his train, but solitude is scarce when you have a brother, and surprise attacks are so much fun.

One Heavenly Ride

While trains are the twins’ boyhood obsession, cars were mine. As I grew older my preference ran from contemporary to classic cars. This I shared with my father, although his old ride preference was for highly modified hot rods, where I was drawn to like-new restorations. So it was a bit surprising when the boys first caught sight of this 1936 Ford before I did. I love the design of this era of cars with the running boards and exposed headlights. We followed this car down Parrish Avenue and were surprised to see him pull into the same place we were heading. Apparently, he too attended our church and chose this beautiful Sunday morning to drive his antique car. Maybe one day he’ll offer us a ride.

Squirreling Around

In other news, lunch today was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a squirrel in our dining room window box. Early attempts to ignore the cute rodent’s disturbance were unsuccessful. Diners observed first the sensation of being watched, and then heard the scratches of our pint-sized peeping Tom. Once the dinner crasher was discovered, a great commotion erupted inside the home as preschoolers craned to see the intruder. After numerous futile attempts to redirect the children’s attention back to the meal, their parents finally capitulated and helped their children out of their highchairs so they could observe their new furry friend up close. Apparently, voyeurism was only appealing to Mr. Squirrel from afar because once the twins peeped back from just behind the window, the perpetrator made a hasty escape through the nearby bushes. Afterwards, the lunch returned to normal. 

The New Train

I noticed a nice large train in its original box recently at a garage sale marked just $10. In my head I could hear Sandy saying “We don’t need another train, especially one that big.” I decided to let the seller make my choice for me, so I asked the home owner if she would take $7, and she accepted my offer without hesitation. When we assembled the train at home Sandy observed that it still donned its original packing stickers. After spending another $10 on batteries, the locomotive screamed loudly to life complete with smoke puffing from the stack. The boys were in heaven! After listening to that extremely noisy toy for an hour I hypothesized that after its maiden appearance, the original owner’s mother hid this train in the closet for years and was willing to take any offer to banish it from her life. Toot, Toot!

Sick Benji

It is not unusual for Trey Davey to refuse a meal, even one of his favorite dishes, but when his brother Benji won’t eat, he is sick. Not only did he not eat his delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich on cinnamon raisin bread with apple wedges, but our little one fell asleep during the prayer. We agreed that rest was the best treatment for his condition, so I scooped him up and carried him upstairs to the comfort of his bed. There was no resistance to today’s afternoon nap which again was unusual. Benji typically fights taking a nap and fights getting up afterwards. After his lunch, Davey went directly to his bed to nap too. He likes staying on schedule, and just like clockwork, he awoke at 4:00 pm ready to resume fun and games. Benji slept a little longer and was feeling better the next morning.

Ice Cream Truck

The lyricist wrote, “I’m your ice cream man; stop me when I’m passing by. See now all my flavors are guaranteed to satisfy.” In the center of Town Square Mall is a group of riding toys. Most accommodate only one rider, but this ice cream truck just so happens to have room enough for three. Recently, our enterprising young men were bold enough to make friends with this little boy long enough to take a ride in his ice cream truck on his two quarters. I would have been embarrassed by their brazenness if I hadn’t known his parents and received their invitation. When they discover girls, we’re in trouble deep.

Under Table Reading

“Here we are Daddy”, Benji said, proud of their new place. He and his brother decided to crawl under the dining room table while we prepared lunch recently. He well knows his mother doesn’t approve of hiding under the table, but highly approves of reading, so he and Davey brought books with them to this space in order to seek a loophole to the under table prohibition. It worked for a while, until lunch was ready and she called to them repeatedly to come out. The process of establishing and maintaining boundaries is a constant and ever challenging task especially as the boys become wiser and more clever.

Their Own Drums

There is usually more than one way to accomplish a task. Individuals with different talents will approach jobs from different directions and the results are often quite interesting. If two artists work independently on the same task, say painting the same subject, their painting will appear quite different and yet correctly represent the topic. When two artists work together on a single piece, such as in music, their collaboration will merge their individual talents. Synergy occurs when the blending of the two talents achieves a result greater than what either individual could have achieved alone. We want our boys to shine as individuals, follow the beat of their own drums and make individual achievements, but we also hope they will collaborate together on projects and synergize their talents to create an unbeatable team.  

Katelyn’s Visit

Our friend Al Bell’s daughter Adrian Parks and her husband Stephen recently adopted a little girl from Europe. Her name is Katelyn and she is seven years old. While she may be about four years older than the twins, they have about the same grasp of the English language. Our language is her second, and she is a quick study. Her vocabulary was greatly enhanced by her visit to our house as the boys taught her a number of new words her mother might have missed like; steamer, coal car, gondola car, box car, tanker car, caboose, train station and railroad.

First T-Ball Practice

We signed the twins up to play t-ball in the city park department’s 3-4 year old league. It is an instructional league designed to teach the children the very, very basics of baseball. Only one practice was scheduled before the first game and it was for “organization”. This gathering of strangers found a small number of fathers, including myself, suddenly responsible for teaching the fundamentals of America’s game to short attention-span preschoolers. We quickly learned our children would pay slightly more attention to strangers than they would their parents, so we adopted each other’s kids. This fellow was teaching the boys to lay their glove down for grounders. While baseball was the topic, the diamond was the boy’s fascination. After practice, Pa asked Davey if he had fun playing baseball. He said “they have great dirt!”

Mommy Has Boys

Some ladies get flowers from their children for Mother’s Day. Others receive handmade gifts, inexpensive jewelry or pampering gifts. While those are fine offerings for some mothers, our twin’s mother requires something special. Her gift needs to thoughtfully bond her closer to her sons. At this age, what could do this better than a ball glove and a bag of t-balls? She had been using an old dry-rotted glove that hurt her hand. This new fur-lined model is designed to pamper her and protect her delicate hand from the sting of a well thrown fast-ball. What could be more considerate?

Impromptu Derby Party

We didn’t plan it. Sure, we knew the Bells were going to be in town this weekend visiting their parents, and we knew Dawn planned an Owensboro trip to have dinner with us, and we knew it was Derby Day, but no efforts were made to coordinate these things together. These distant planets just suddenly aligned together all at the right time, and we found a house full of people just before post time. We moved some chairs, poured ice tea, quickly picked a favorite horse and began cheering. Two minutes later, it was all over and we were free to visit.

Backyard Practice

Between storms, we have managed to make it out back to practice our basic baseball skills to prepare for our first t-ball season. Aunt Susan gave us our beginners t-ball set which includes a stand,  a plastic bat and large plastic ball. These plastic toys are very safe and even a direct hit will likely create no injuries. On previous occasions we learned on the plastic equipment, but now was the time to progress to the next step. We purchased a small aluminum t-ball bat and official t-balls, which are like baseballs only softer. Both boys were eager to give it a try butlost interest quickly. I hope baseball fever catches their interest soon as t-ball season is quickly approaching.

Benchmark Birthday Photo – 3 Years 5 Months

The verbal sparing has begun, and they have begun conceiving the cutest little arguments and manipulations. Each night about 30 minutes after lights out Benji will call out to his mother. He’ll explain that he’s awake because he has a huge problem and a little problem. “What’s your huge problem?” Sandy will ask. “Monsters” he’ll reply, and his small problem is “I want you.” When asked to do something he doesn’t want to do, Trey Davey has developed a number of excuses: I’m tired, I don’t feel good, I’m sick, I need my blanket, I have to pee pee (or pooh pooh). Benji’s excuses for not following directions include: I have an ouchy, I have a broken nail, I can’t find Spot (a stuffed animal), my puppy needs a blanket, and I think it’s my birthday. What will they come up with when they’re four?

Bleacher Training

Carol took vacation this week. The boys and I got up early and headed to the Christian Life Center to exercise. We would have preferred to visit the park, but it was another rainy spring day. Once in the gymnasium, the boys weren’t particularly interested in basketball. What fascinated them were the bleachers. As long as they were exercising, it didn’t really matter what game they were playing. At first they climbed on, over and under the aluminum fixtures, and then Benji asked for their steamer trains. Once they had their Geo-Trax in hand, our little engineers go to work. Each train traveled along a long bleacher seat from end to end some 60 feet, and then climbed up a row, reversed course and then traveled the long route again. Back and forth, up and down the bleacher rows they railroaded for almost an hour.

Camping Out close to home

After a long winter, we were ready to go outside and play this spring, but March, April and May showers have kept us inside and looking for new games to play. Mommy showed them how to make their own tent using their large Thomas blankets. Like all children, our boys enjoy their little places and have set up camp in this secure space between their beds. Davey brought his trusty 'circle' blanket and whatever train he had in his hand at that moment. Benji packed for the event, like his Mommy does. He made sure they had his 'square' blanket, a large number of his stuffed animals, several varieties of trains and a flashlight, just in case.

The Ants Go Marching

One of the predictable results of all the spring rains and flooding is the emergence of the ants. We have a lot of tiny ants both inside and outside our house. Ever since we saw the Disney Pixar movie “A Bug’s Life”, the boys have been interested in bugs, especially ants. They call to one another and point them out as if it were an extraordinary discovery. One problem with that movie was the memorable frightening presence of the villain wasps. While real wasps are to be respected and feared, the boys have extended that concern to all things flying including house flies. They haven’t yet learned the cliché “not even a fly can hurt you”.  

Pa’s Belated Birthday

This year, Easter fell on Pa’s birthday. Rather than blending the two events, we postponed his celebration a few days in order to give him his proper due. Because Granny wasn’t feeling well, the party was set for the next Sunday evening. As has become our tradition, we enjoyed his birthday dinner at The Olive Garden restaurant. After the boys led us in a fine version of “Happy Birthday”, Pa opened his cards and gift. He received both a digital camera and Benji’s instructions on how to properly use it. Who says that old dogs can’t learn a trick or two from their puppies?

Read Around The Park

The Junior League of Owensboro offered a “Read Around the Park” event today at Moreland Park. There were games with books given away as prizes. Owensboro High School football players in several locations read stories to the children and dressed as characters from children’s books. Benji and Trey Davey recognized the Cat-in-the-Hat, but the six foot plus tall feline scared them, and they wouldn’t go near him. However, the moment they saw “Clifford the Big Red Dog”, they ran to him with hugs for a long lost friend. We have read a number of Clifford books, and he is among their favorites. While not a reading activity, the boy’s favorite activity was a giant inflatable bounce house with an attached slide. They would slide down, run around and climb up to the top to slide down again and again. The naps came easily this afternoon.

Stow’n Go, Very Cool

Our new(er) van rocks! It has so many new features that our older van didn’t. One of the best new gadgets is the stow’n go seats. Our ‘98 Caravan had easy-out roller seats, which allowed us to unlatch and roll our bench seats out of the van when cargo space was needed. We typically kept our third-row seat in storage and would have to go get it and lift it back in the van when we needed a fifth passenger seat. Our 2005 Town and Country’s stow’n go seats fold completely into under-floor compartments when extra cargo space is desired. When we decided to take all six of us together in the van to Evansville last Friday, I just unfolded the third row seats from the floorboard and locked them in an upright position. It took about 30 seconds. Now how cool is that?

Ice in April

Tonight we were playing in the living room after dinner and watching TV when I heard something rattling the windows. It sounded like someone pouring pennies out a bucket, and the noise intensity kept increasing. The boys and I jumped up and ran to the dining room windows to see pea-sized hail falling on our front lawn. The sharp little falling ice pellets shredded the leaves on the trees and bounced on the ground. Near our window, a column of ice flowed down powerfully from our roof’s valley and crushed the plants where it hit the ground. When it stopped a few minutes later, the ground was cover in white as if it had snowed. The boys had many questions that I couldn’t answer. Soon, the rain and warm evening temperature melted all the ice in April, but not before we snapped a photograph.

Mexican Railroad Dominoes

When Grandma Roe visits, Benji begins looking for her red bag. He knows where she keeps her gifts. This time she brought Mexican Railroad Dominoes with the intention of teaching them the game Mexican Train. Emanating from a central hub, each player creates one or more chains, or “trains”, with the object of playing all the dominoes in his or her hand. Each player is given a special little engine piece, which is part of the game. Unfortunately, our three-year olds’ fascination with the game pieces prevented her success in teaching them the actual game on this visit, but perhaps by her next visit they will be mature enough to ride the Mexican train.

Bunker Training

For the fourth time in eight days, the sound of the sirens sent us to the basement during a tornado warning. This one was a surprise, so we were not as prepared. Before, we had watched the severe thunderstorms approaching on television and packed bags to take downstairs if needed. This one just came out of the blue, and we only had time to grab the boys and head downstairs. Needing to occupy the twins’ attention, Daddy slipped around the corner to a secret place in the basement and emerged with a small bag of new Thomas trains. For the boys, all thoughts of tornados were instantly forgotten, and Great Grandmother Mac’s couch was suddenly transformed into a train station. They were almost sad to leave when the all-clear was given.

Mall Walk

Cabin fever was affecting everyone, especially the boys. Day after day of rain had prohibited their ability to go outside and play. Needing to blow off steam, Daddy and Grandma Roe took the boys to Town Square Mall Saturday to exercise. We started out holding their hands, but it felt like being pulled by a powerful motorboat without the benefit of water skies, so we let them loose. Pushing rope uphill might be easier than directing two loose three-year-olds through a crowded mall. There was too much to see and explore. Thankfully, the twins did yield to our pleas to stick together. The mall was neither crowded nor empty, which was a blessing. We could have easily lost them in a crowd and their excited screams to each new discovery were barely heard above the other shoppers’ noise. It was a fun and productive activity.

Happy Easter

What a blessed Easter this was. It wasn’t perfect. Rain prevented an outside egg hunt and Grandmother Edds wasn’t feeling very well, but we had our precious family around us to worship, visit and share the special season. Grandma and Granddaddy Roe traveled all the way from Florida to spend the holiday with us. We rose early Sunday morning, got everyone dressed and fed, and then the six of us headed to a very full church service. Afterwards we enjoyed a fine brunch at home and, for the boys, a finer afternoon nap. After Pa and Granny arrived later that afternoon, we got the boys up and gathered in the living room where baskets were waiting. Davey and Benji then began collecting the eggs hidden around the downstairs area. Sandy prepared a delicious Easter dinner for us and everyone had a wonderful time.

Bunker Sweet Bunker

It was like the theme of the 1993 movie “Groundhog’s Day”, where the protagonist finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. For us, it was a line of severe thunderstorms moving along a route from Dallas to the Great Lakes with our house right on that path. Every day for over a week, the weatherman would predict the same storm coming at us. Most of these severe thunderstorms included tornado activities. We had already made a midnight run to the basement on Tuesday night and welcomed the Grands to join us on our midnight Friday visit. Jim and Karen had enjoyed the full basement experience on a previous stay, but on this trip they were blessed with two bunker visits as sirens sent us downstairs again on Saturday afternoon. Sandy is seriously considering installing a refreshment station to create a homier little bunker.

A Good Friday in E’ville

Good Friday was a company holiday for Sandy this year. We wanted to do something fun with Grandma and Granddaddy Roe, but it was a rainy day outside so we decided to drive to Evansville and visit their Museum of Transportation. Inside they have a number of fine transportation exhibits, but our favorite is the model trains.  This 1950’s vignette of downtown Evansville features three moving HO gauge trains. The large model is actually constructed inside a real remodeled passenger train car. Outside is a full sized steam locomotive with a club car and a caboose all under roof, which was a blessing on this rainy old day. The boys enjoyed showing the grands all the features of the museum’s exhibits and running merrily around the empty train station.  

Family Prayers

One night several weeks ago, we showed the boys how to pray before bedtime. Kneeling down at the foot of our bed, we began by learning the children’s prayer “now I lay me down to sleep”. Benji quickly memorized it and Davey wasn’t far behind. After each standard prayer, we would remember various people in our lives and ask God to help them with their issues or thank God for our blessings. It has become a nightly family ritual. Grandma and Granddaddy Roe arrived here for a stay this afternoon, and after a nice meal and visit, they joined us for family prayers before bedtime.

Benji’s Bear Care Project

In addition to polar bear articles, Mommy has acquired quite a collection of brown bear items too. When the twins came along, a lot of her ornamental bears went into hyperactive storage. This wooden bear holding his welcome sign has been able to avoid the cave and found a home in our bedroom. Benji is a very perceptive child and is prone to making quite insightful observations about things. He noticed this bear one day on his way to the bathroom and returned to suggest that bear was lonely. He then gathered together some of his bears and some of their friends to visit the lonely bear in our bedroom. Once the grisly was presumably cheered up, he and his friends returned to their own bedroom.