{"id":2155,"date":"2013-07-27T18:03:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-27T23:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2155"},"modified":"2013-07-27T18:03:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T23:03:40","slug":"day-2-hostage-negotiations-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2155","title":{"rendered":"Day 2: Hostage Negotiations Continued"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rick has been really wonderful helping out with the kids.\u00a0 I really appreciated that.\u00a0 I had planned to some of the heavy lifting on the trips, but work was going stronger than ever.\u00a0 Rick stepped up and went along to help herd kids. \u00a0Thanks, Rick, for all your hard work.\u00a0 Dad couldn\u2019t have done it without you.<\/p>\n

I had discussed with the kids what they would really like for breakfast.\u00a0 I had mentioned several options.\u00a0 They latched on to doughnuts pretty quickly.\u00a0 So it was settled that we were having mini powdered doughnuts.\u00a0 I figured cereal was an option also.\u00a0 I sent Rick off to the store for the gems and some more orange juice.\u00a0 That golden liquid was flying out of the refrigerator pretty fast.<\/p>\n

After eating and cleaning up the kitchen and kids, it was time to hit the bangs.\u00a0 Rick and Rich gathered the necessary fishing rods, bait, and chairs to head down to the river banks.\u00a0 Bel was anxious to get started.\u00a0 She had dreams of catching the biggest fish and the most number of fish.\u00a0 She is a dedicated fishergirl.\u00a0 That\u2019s her word and not mine.\u00a0 Cute, though.<\/p>\n

Rich set up the rod holders into the sand for Sophia and Cael.\u00a0 They would start fishing, but just ended up collecting rocks, digging in the sand, and hanging out in the grass.\u00a0 Rick was tending the lines, even though he had no license.\u00a0 Once, Cael\u2019s rod bent down and everyone yelled for him to grab the pole.\u00a0 But why?\u00a0 Rick reeled it in and landed the fish.\u00a0 Cael did get credit.\u00a0 There were a total of two for him that day.\u00a0 Sophia caught her two the same way.\u00a0 Thanks, Rick, for being the hand to bring them in.<\/p>\n

Now Bel is a different story.\u00a0 She is dedicated to her craft.\u00a0 She casts her line out and carefully plays the line.\u00a0 She isn\u2019t baiting the hook, but Rich figures she can learn that next year.\u00a0 She will touch the worm, which is more than most girls will do.\u00a0 Bel caught four more fish.\u00a0 One of them turned out to be a good sized catfish.<\/p>\n

Rich was able to do a little fishing for himself since Rick was there to help.\u00a0 He caught a couple of decent sized carp.\u00a0 By decent, I mean they were probably 10 inches or more.\u00a0 He said he lost of a lot of bait as they played with the line.\u00a0 The carp are crafty.\u00a0 They make you work hard to get and then fight you all the way to shore. \u00a0It\u2019s like deep sea fishing, but from the river bank.<\/p>\n

Rick brought Sophia and Cael back early.\u00a0 They had had enough fishing for one day.\u00a0 Once it gets hard to keep track of them and keep them out of the water, it\u2019s usually a good sign to leave.\u00a0 It meant I could take them over and Rick was free to go about his business again.<\/p>\n

We turned on a show and settled into the couch.\u00a0 Pretty soon, Sophia comes in to tell me that Cael isn\u2019t sharing the cough.\u00a0 I have two couches in my living room.\u00a0 There is a full sized couch that makes a queen-sized bed.\u00a0 The other couch is simple loveseat.\u00a0 Cael is stretched out on the full sized couch and is leaving about 2 feet unused at the end.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what the issue really was.\u00a0 Probably just that he told Sophia she couldn\u2019t sit there.\u00a0 I pointed out that the loveseat was all hers.\u00a0 In a few minutes, they were sitting amicably on the big couch again.<\/p>\n

Pretty soon, there are swatting noises.\u00a0 The kids have found the flyswatters and chasing the flies.\u00a0 For the last week or so, we\u2019ve had this fly infestation.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked for all kinds of causes.\u00a0 We might have it narrowed down to new dirt that was put down over the old driveway and the backyard.\u00a0 We are assuming the dirt came from local farm area.\u00a0 This increasing the possibility for eggs and larva.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see if the infestation goes down as the dirt rests and there is no fertilizer on it.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the kids have learned to correctly swat a fly and chase them around the house.\u00a0 They stand on my couch and swat them in the front window.\u00a0 They stand at the doors going to the deck.\u00a0 They have even been down in the basement trying to become giant slayers.\u00a0 I have three normal sized flyswatters.\u00a0 Rick bough an extra large flyswatter at the Dollar Tree the other day.\u00a0 It works, but it sure can take out a lot of stuff on the way down.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost bigger than Cael, but he wields it very well.\u00a0 My giant slayer with a giant swatter.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the kids saw the boxes of Mac n Cheese in the cupboard.\u00a0 Ever since then, they\u2019ve been planning to have that for lunch today.\u00a0 I heard it this morning and they reminded me again when they returned from fishing.\u00a0 I guess I didn\u2019t have think about what to have for lunch.\u00a0 Rich requested spam to go with it.\u00a0 Turns out, the kids liked spam too. \u00a0Is it in the genes somewhere to like certain things? After eating, I had them scrape their plates and get ready to run the dishwasher.\u00a0 It\u2019s always easier to get kids to do work for you when you aren\u2019t their parents.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I still had a lot of work to get done for a delivery.\u00a0 I was staying behind for the next adventure.\u00a0 Rick was enlisted again to help Rich take the kids to the Volo Auto Museum.\u00a0 I made sure the cameras were all empty and they took off.<\/p>\n

Everyone came happily tramping back into the house after their adventure.\u00a0 Bel came to show me the pictures she had taken.\u00a0 Most of them were of Cael.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t smiling in most of the photos.\u00a0 It liked she had caught Cael talking in most of the photos.\u00a0 They were cute.\u00a0 Apparently, Bel was telling him to say things, but then complained because he\u2019s mouth was open.<\/p>\n

The girls liked all of the pinks cars.\u00a0 Sophia liked the pink Mustang and Bel liked the pink and white \u201956 Chevy.\u00a0 Rich says that Cael really liked the hot rods.\u00a0 Another gene slipping in there?<\/p>\n

We had a little bit of time before dinner was scheduled.\u00a0 The kids and I decided to check out the beach.\u00a0 I figured the water would be chilly from the colder evenings, but we could use the buckets, shovels, rake, and forms to play in the sand.\u00a0 The walk down to the beach is a little long.\u00a0 I thought the kids would make knowing what was at the end.\u00a0 They did wonderful.\u00a0 They talked my ear off the whole way.<\/p>\n

Sophia asked when they were going to their Mom and Dad.\u00a0 I explained the plan one more time.\u00a0 She matter of factly stated that she wasn\u2019t ready to go yet.\u00a0 Wow, I did a good job.\u00a0 They like being at my house.\u00a0 At least for now.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure that would wear off given time.<\/p>\n

At the beach, there was a huge mound of sand that had been dumped at the top of the beach.\u00a0 Apparently, they were getting ready to replenish the beach.\u00a0 The girls could start at the top and run down the mound and hit the water.\u00a0 It looked dangerous for a bad fall, but was really fun for them.\u00a0 I let them make a couple of runs before stopping the activity.\u00a0 Cael was too small to enjoy the effect, but he did try once.<\/p>\n

The water turned out to be very, very warm.\u00a0 That meant that the kids just wanted to hang out in the water and not really play on the beach.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t planned to be in the water, so I had no water wings or other flotation devices.\u00a0 They hung out in the shallows and seemed very happy.\u00a0 We were there swimming around for about half an hour.\u00a0 I noticed the Bel\u2019s bottom lip was starting to quiver.\u00a0 It was time to go.\u00a0 We made the long walk back without incident.<\/p>\n

The girls ran most of the way back to the house.\u00a0 Cael and I brought up the rear.\u00a0 As we walked by the neighbor\u2019s house, Brad and his friends waved from the front porch.\u00a0 They were smiling at me for some reason.\u00a0 It might have been the little guy trailing behind me talking about the beach in a very loud voice.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Rich had dinner underway.\u00a0 Bel had requested quesadillas for dinner.\u00a0 We also had the fixings for tacos since Rich and Rick didn\u2019t really want quesadillas.\u00a0 Sophia and Cael decided on the tacos as well.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter since they generally used the same ingredients.<\/p>\n

With dinner cleared away, we settled in for a little bit.\u00a0 But that set of words kept coming up.\u00a0 Ice cream.\u00a0 After half an hour, it was time to pack up the kids and head over to Happy Jack\u2019s for that stuff they kept craving.\u00a0 Believe it or not, all three of the kids fell asleep on the way over.\u00a0 With some difficulty, we got them to wake up and go inside for ice cream.\u00a0 Bel and Cael got Blue Moon.\u00a0 Sophia went for the Chocolate, Chocolate Chunk Yogurt.\u00a0 Rich got a chocolate malt.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I just didn\u2019t feel up to anything.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine though.<\/p>\n

Since the kids had been in the lake, we really had to take baths again.\u00a0 You can\u2019t leave that stuff on you for too long.\u00a0 After we turned from Happy Jack\u2019s, Bel got in the shower.\u00a0 Then I put Cael into the tub.\u00a0 After that, Sophia took a bath.\u00a0 It was a lot less frantic than the previous night and I think my bathroom was drier also.\u00a0 Kids love water.<\/p>\n

Once baths were done and jammies were donned, it was time to find a movie.\u00a0 We began scouring Netflix for something appropriate for little eyes and ears.\u00a0 Bel wanted movies rated for older kids, but we had to keep this innocent.\u00a0 We agreed upon 101 Dalmatian (the live version).\u00a0 Turns out that the kids hadn\u2019t seen this version.\u00a0 I love Jeff Daniels, Glenn Close, and Hugh Laurie in this one.\u00a0 Popcorn was offered and accepted, much to Sascha\u2019s happiness.\u00a0 She loves to hear popcorn in the microwave and waits to catch any that falls or is tossed her way.<\/p>\n

Dad and Mom called halfway into the movie.\u00a0 The kids were filling them in on all the details of the day.\u00a0 Then it was back to the movie.\u00a0 The sugar buzz from the ice cream made sure that everyone stayed awake tonight.\u00a0 Then it finally time to shut out the lights and snuggle down in our beds.\u00a0 That\u2019s all of us and not just the kids.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow would be the final day of hostage negotiations.<\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/a>
Getting the troops ready to leave for fishing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The fisherman and fishergirl are back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dragonfly<\/a>
Dragonfly on the fishing rod.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cael<\/a>
Cael caught a couple of fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sophia<\/a>
Sophia caught another small fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This is what Cael and Sophia did while the others fished.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cael<\/a>
Cael was the star of Bel and Sophia’s pictures at the Auto Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"That's<\/a>
That’s a Teenage Ninja Turtle and future teenagers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nice<\/a>
Nice BelAir.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sophia<\/a>
Sophia and the fire truck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rut<\/a>
Rut roh roh, Scooby Doo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nah<\/a>
Nah nah nah, Batman!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mater<\/a>
Mater is a new exhibit at the museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Now<\/a>
Now that’s a really purple car.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Those<\/a>
Those kids in their Flintstones mobile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hey,<\/a>
Hey, it’s the Grinch and his helper, Cael.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cael<\/a>
Cael really liked the hot rods. This was a really nice example.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rick has been really wonderful helping out with the kids.\u00a0 I really appreciated that.\u00a0 I had planned to some of the heavy lifting on the trips, but work was going stronger than ever.\u00a0 Rick stepped up and went along to help herd kids. \u00a0Thanks, Rick, for all your hard work.\u00a0 Dad couldn\u2019t have done it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2155"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2177,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions\/2177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}