Living with Dudes

Dash & I thought we were being pretty heeee-larious when we bought these crispy worm snacks from the Kidspace gift shop for Josh. 

And then he started eating them. With his mouth. That I kiss.

Aaaand, then Dash started eating them. That'll teach me to try and be funny.

Spring

First water balloon fight of 2013:

Angels in the Outfield

It's baseball season once again in the Engel household. I have proof:

A boy & his coach

Open House

We visited Dash's classroom for Open House last week and saw this posted on the wall:





I just can't even.

Let's Ride

This weekend, the three of us participated in our first ever organized bike event--the Santa Clarita Century Family Ride (6 miles). I think Dash has a new jam.

Before the race started, Dash was pretty worked up. I think he was nervous that we'd be separated or that we'd get lost. Josh assured him that it would all be ok.

I think I've mentioned that I'm a fairly new bike rider (I didn't really learn to ride until three years ago.) So I'm a bit unsteady and can't let go of either handlebar to even scratch my nose without falling over--I learned this the hard way. Josh, however, can take backwards family portraits on his phone.

Despite the fact that he was riding a BMX bike, this was his first race, and he'd only ever ridden this distance a couple of times in his life, Dash finished second! He was pretty pissed he didn't get first, but it'll give him something to aspire to.

Hijinx

Sometimes I wonder if Josh & I delight a little too much in fucking with Dash. And then I think, "nah."

I had all sorts of stuff planned for April Fool's Day this year, but between Easter being the day before and the fact that he's on Spring break all week, we ended up having to edit a couple of things out. Next year, though, Dash. Next year you'd better watch your ass.

My first step was to buy a can of these oranges at Trader Joe's. I actually wanted fruit cocktail, but I needed a small can with a pull top and this is all I could find.

Once I got them home, I opened the bottom of the can with one of those safety can openers that actually remove the entire lip of the can, leaving no sharp edges. Then I emptied, cleaned and dried the can and the bottom that I had removed.

Then I placed a scrap of paper reading "April Fool's!" face down in the can (so once it's opened correctly, it'll be face up), and filled the can about half way with chocolate covered peanut butter preztels. Then, to keep the new contents of the can from rattling while he opened it, I stuffed a couple of paper towels into the bottom.

All that was left was a little hot glue action around the bottom lid...

and a few taps with a plastic mallet to get it all back into place good and tight. 

Since I think we can all agree that finding chocolate in a can of oranges isn't the worst thing that can happen to a body, I decided to go in a little more disgusting direction for the second prank. As he was getting the can open, I was getting his breakfast toast ready.

And by "toast" I mean roach-infested filth-bread. (Actually, I just printed a roach image onto clear label paper, cut it out & stuck it onto the plate.) It's kinda easy to tell that it's just a sticker in this picture, but it was pretty convincing in real life.

And, for our grand finale, purple food coloring on his toothbrush. I can't tell if he's more angry about the food coloring or that Josh was photographing him while he was brushing his teeth, but either way, I'm calling this April Fool's a success.

The Bunny

The Bunny didn't hide eggs at our house for Dash this year, because he knew we'd be spending the morning hunting eggs at Dash's cousins' house. So instead, he came up with a different kind of hunt.

The Bunny came up with a series of clues--hidden in plastic eggs--for Dash to follow, that would eventually lead him to his Easter basket. The first clue (look inside where your Mommy cooks dinner) led him to another egg inside the oven. That egg's clue (look under your favorite place to sit) led him to look under his favorite armchair. And so on. (I was pretty sure that "look where you get clean" would stump him, since he goes so long between showers he forgets what they're for, but he eventually figured it out).

Eight clues later, he finally found his basket inside the clothes dryer.

After digging through his basket at home and getting good and sugared up, we headed over to our cousins' house in the pursuit of more chocolate. That's Autumn & her bunny, Spots. Because BUNNY!

Here's Josh's bunny impression. Good luck going to sleep tonight. (If you think I'm not framing this picture for my nightstand then you just don't know me at all).

Eventually the children were loosed upon a backyard filled with about 200 eggs. Because I'm not the only insane person in our family. Aunt Rain also has a touch of the "if some is good then more is better" affliction.

Here they are with their hauls.

Spots & Fang the Ferocious both hope you had a wonderful Easter, too.