‘Of course, sir. But it is available on a first come, first serve basis, and sometimes we do run out…’

Oh my God, there had been a run on Australian currency! Poor Kat will be wandering around The Land Down Under without legal tender paying exorbitant ATM fees!!! The horror! The unadulterated horror!!!!

I gave myself a few quick slaps to sober up, but she spoke first: ‘Depending on when you’re coming in, I could hold the money for you.’

The rain that has been crashing down on Avon, CO suddenly eased, the clouds parted, and, I swear on a stack of books that aren’t the Bible, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ was sung by strong, disembodied voices in the fresh new light.

The wonderful, dear, sweet, lovely young woman on the other end of the line promised, swore, crossed her heart even, that fresh, clean, unmarked Australian currency would be waiting with our name on it, and they accept cash, credit/debit cards, and checks.

What service! What hospitality! What the heck was I thinking?!

Now to start packing…

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I remember my first backpacking trip in the Rocky Mountains. I can’t tell you exactly how old I was, but I was a young teen. What I do remember is that it was a new moon when we set up camp near the summit. I had never seen so many stars! I remember looking up and feeling like the Universe was at my fingertips. It also made me feel so very tiny. Who was I compared to THIS? What difference could I possibly make? I quickly realized that yes, the Universe is very large. But so was this mountain, and I had just conquered it, right? I was a part of this wondrous creation, and whatever The Plan was for my being here, I had faith that I would fulfill that destiny.

That experience changed me forever. It not only imbued me with an undying devotion to the mountains. (A decade later I would pack up my family and move them there.) But also a renewed enthusiasm for the world and my place in it.

It wasn’t just the stars. I had taken that trip with a church group. It was the varied mix of people, the support that we gave one another, emotionally and physically, that would make me realize the difference that I could make in life.

I shared that story because I am excited and thrilled to announce that Kat, the Teenager, will be embarking on an adventure that will surely dwarf the one I had as a teen. She has been accepted in to People to People, and will be going to Australia in June!!!

We’re straining our brains to come up with ideas for fundraising, but my first step is to turn over my PayPal account to her. I’ve had a donation badge on the side of this blog for a while now, but any donations I get from now until June will go to her life-changing experience. She and I were brain-storming last night about what to send as a ‘thank-you’. We haven’t made any final decisions, but she mentioned something about making artwork or baking cookies…

I hope you’ll consider donating to this tremendous opportunity for her. If not, we’ll still be friends. I know how it is out there these days…

This post brought to you by Dad-Blogs' FatherHood Friday. Be sure to swing by for all the other great Dads and Moms who love to share their lives online!

Calli and Daddy crack each other up! Ok, Calli cracks Daddy up...

It has been said that laughter is the best medicine. I am a huge advocate of this. I laugh all the time.

I laugh when I’m happy.

I laugh when I’m nervous.

I laugh when something’s funny.

Most of all? I laugh at my kids.

It’s funny how kids know exactly what to do. They are probably more in tune with your likes and needs than any of your adult friends.

Just a few examples:

The other day, Calli, the two year old, tried to sing along to the CD I had just bought for Kat, the fifteen year old. We had just scooped up The Ting Tings, were listening to it in the car, and I hear Calli behind me singing “Name, name, name! Name name name!” (‘That’s Not My Name!’)

The wife and I were discussing some kind of adult drudgery (bills, etc.) one morning when from the bedroom we hear “SCHWOOOOO!” and out runs a fully awake Calli, arms outstretched Superman-style. (She woke up flying!)

When Kat was four or five, we were watching ‘The Batman Superman Movie’ and I said something about the Joker being a clown. Brow furrowed, she slowly turned and said deliberately, “Joker is NOT a clown!”

Calli had a case of the gimmes the other night. Our conversation went like this:

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“Daddy! Gimme popcorn!”

“Calli, what do we say?”

“Want it! Gimme popcorn!”

“Calli, do we say please?”

*Pause*

“Ooohh, yeah. ‘Please’ is ‘gimme’, nice.”

A child’s laughter is genuine. A child doesn’t know what a courtesy laugh is. They laugh when you’re really being funny, or you just hurt yourself. Either way, having a child in the home is definitely THE BEST way to brighten up the room.

Bottom line: have more kids! You couldn’t pay a comedian or watch enough farting pandas on YouTube for this much entertainment!

Last night I tried something I’ve alway been too chicken to do: climb a rock wall! Calli, on the other hand? Leapt at the chance and handled it like a pro! The fifteen year old didn’t want to wear the harness. But the two year old that’s still in diapers, adding an extra level of discomfort? I’ve got a little Spider-Girl on my hands!

Insert my daughter here...

Unfortunately, the rec center doesn’t allow camera use, or this blog would be plastered with pictures!

My adventures in rock-climbing? Hoo-boy. My first attempt, I asked where was a good place to start for beginners. The instructor asked, “Sooooo, do you want, like, easy easy?”

Now I’m not an athletic guy, but not wanting to display my weakness, I said, “Wellll, maybe not eeeasy easy…”

With a fairly dubious look the instructor said, “So, like, medium easy?”

Not wanting to overstep my abilities, I said, “Yeah, medium easy sounds good!”

So I stepped up, called out the few commands as I’d been instructed. (“Belay on? Ready to climb!”) And I was climbing.

I got about half way up the wall and couldn’t find my next footing. The instructor pointed one out that seemed too high. I made it, though. And then slipped. I found myself swinging to the next side of the wall. I guess instincts kicked in, because my left hand had a Vulcan death grip on it’s hold. I probably could have just let go and let the rope do the work, but, nope. I had to wrench my arm and shoulder instead. (It wasn’t that bad, no trip to the hospital necessary! )

I swung back to where I had been, and clinched. I am not all that comfortable with heights. Not deathly afraid, just … uncomfortable. I tend to clinch every muscle in my body when on a ladder or scissor lift for work, I just power through. So I think that’s what happened. I just couldn’t find the next step.

I called out that I was coming down and clumsily repeled down, my legs giving way when I got to the ground, placing me gently on my ass.

“What did you think?” the instructor asked.

“It was fun.” I panted. “A little harder than it looks, maybe…” There ya go, tough guy!

“Want to try somewhere else?”

Sure, why not. “Sure. Why not!”

He put me on the wall my daughter had just climbed…

After the wall, we went swimming. My arms felt like lead weights and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to swim! I stayed in the kiddie pool with Calli while my wife went around the ‘lazy river’. The lazy river is an area that winds around the main pool and has jets that simulate a current. My pregnant wife loves it because walking around that is the only exercise she’s found that doesn’t make her back hurt in her current condition.

We basically had the pool to ourselves, so I was throwing around some of Calli’s toys with her. We splashed and played, and I came to realize that for a moment, I had forgotten what I like to call, ‘my adult edit button’. You know, that thing we get as we grow older that tells us what not to say, how not to act… Of course, I’ve had many moments like that since Kat and Calli came in to my life, but very rarely in public.

Maybe it was the bolstered confidence from climbing the wall and at least making that attempt. Maybe it was left over adrenaline. Quite possibly, it was thanks to my amazing daughter. But after I discovered that my adult editing equipment was missing? I didn’t look too hard to find it.

These are the experiences that make fatherhood sooooo worth it!

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OK, now I’d like to ask for a little help. My wife and I feel like we’ve exhausted every baby name book on the planet and scoured every site I can google ‘baby names’ for. We need a really cool boy name! My running gag is that, we already have a Katrina and Calliope, we can’t name our boy Jeff or Jon!

Anybody have any really cool boy names out there? I’ll keep posting this each Friday and I want to come up with a cool giveaway, but I wanted to go ahead and fire this out now so that you can start thinking!

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