Thanks to the hundreds of Christmas movies/cartoons that Cutler watched over the past month or so he was convinced that it would snow on Christmas. No matter how many times we told him that it most likely wouldn’t snow, he held strong with a reply that “it always snows on Christmas”. Apparently if he believes enough in something, it will happen. The morning started off as a wet Christmas, but after a couple of hours I looked our the window and there was the snow and it fell and fell and fell. I would guess we got around 3 inches plus. The boys were ecstatic and quickly headed outside to put their new vehicles to the test and as is usual, they quickly abandoned the vehicles and each made a snow angel followed by a quick snowball fight before realizing how cold it was and how much colder you are when you are wet from the snow and they quickly retreated back inside to play with their plethora of other toys.
Author Archives: teamfricke
They Grow So Fast
This past weekend my dad and I were having one of those conversations I thought I was too young to have when we were discussing how advanced Mason and Cutler’s generation is given technology compared to when I was growing up and then to when my dad was growing up. It is amazing watching the boys, especially Cutler, at the age of 3 and his ability to grab the iPad and navigate through the games he wants to play.
Apparently the speed of growth is impacting their hormones as well, given that they are now shaving. Grandma got them their own shaving kits and they couldn’t wait to get in the bath/shower to put them to use as their five o’clock shadow was getting way too thick.
Mason appears to have watched me too much and has it down, meanwhile Cutler gets distracted easily and only decides he needs to finish half of his face. Apparently that’s the new fad. 🙂
*This post was written error free…according to the spell/grammar check provided by wordpress. I’m always shocked when that happens.
Best Round Of Golf…EVER
First of all, let me get the obvious out of the way first…yes I have not been very active this month on getting posts out the door. I have no excuses, I just simply haven’t been able to force myself to sit down and get anything going. I plan on fixing this issue over the next couple of days, so as a warning I may have several flowing soon. On to the post…
Yesterday, despite the chilly weather in Dallas, I was able to get a quick last minute round of 9 holes of golf played with my new set of irons and it was by far the best round I have ever played. When I say best round I am referring to the company that played along with me and the fun that we had.
You see, it was Mason’s first round of golf and grandpa was along to play with us so we had three generations of Fricke “men” playing together. It started as a trip to Top Golf to just hit some balls and hang out, but after seeing there was a two hour wait for a bay we decided to just hit the driving range at the course by our house. On the way there I thought we may as well just try and play a few holes before it got too dark and/or we got the call from grandma and Melanie to bring us home. Fortunately I have an amazing wife that was very supportive and just said to have fun and grandma was too sick and married too long to my dad to worry about where we were or when we were coming home. 🙂
The excitement and joy on Mason’s face was a sight I will never forget and the energy that he showed as he ran from shot to shot just biting at the bit to hit another. Fortunately for him he doesn’t hit it very far so there were plenty of opportunities to hit away. Although, I am proud to say that he did outdrive grandpa on the seventh hole. We won’t mention that it was due to a long run down the cart path as it all looks the same on the score card. Right before Mason’s drive a hot air balloon came over the horizon only to lost altitude quickly and set down in the middle of the course. I sure hope Mason doesn’t expect this type of excitement on every round.
Needless to say, I was very excited to have my dad along for Mason’s first round and I am hoping he will be there for Cutler’s as well. I’m sure it will be just as much fun.
For The Love Of The Game
I was just looking through some old videos as I was cleaning up digitally and came across this gem of Mason and Grandpa playing some form of baseball that I am quite sure was concocted by Mason from this past summer. It really made me realize how much I miss baseball and can’t wait until pitchers and catchers report in less than two months. It also made me realize how fortunate I am to have a son that loves the game as much as I do to help me live vicariously through him over the next several years and fully expect Cutler to carry on just the same.
1096 Days Ago
To the day, it’s been approximately 1096 days or the equivalent (not counting leap year) of three years and a day that Cutler had his bone marrow transplant. Last night we celebrated by braving an outing to Chuck E Cheese and today we celebrated with a succesful trip to the oncologist for his quarterly appointment. In true Cutler fashion he fussed for a nanosecond when the needle went into his arm to draw the blood and then he just watched as the blood was drawn. Cutler is still all clean and we have now shifted to semi-annual visits. While it is exciting to spread them out, I do miss seeing everyone that we have come to know so well over the years. For instance today we were visited by Debbie, one of the main nurse administrators at the hospital. It was so good to see her and you could tell how much she loves Cutler when he gave her a hug it made her, and us, a bit misty eyed.
Naturally any successful visit to an oncologist is brought down a bit when you see those starting their fights. When we first got there, a little girl named Lucy, was playing in the waiting area with a mask on. On the way down on the elevator her mom rode with us and I asked her about Lucy. This poor girl was originally diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which then kicked off an extremely rare auto immune disorder called Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome. It is one thing to battle neuroblastoma, but then to add OMS on top of it is a whole other ball game. It makes us realize that much more how blessed we are that Cutler has come through as well as he has and with as little complications. Lucy is a sweet and cute little girl. Please pray for her to one day celebrate a 1096 day celebration such as ours.
Below are a couple of pictures from our visit. One of Cutler with his favorite teddy bear and a couple of him working away at a tootsie pop and getting as close as he could to the camera to make my effort difficult.
New Children’s Museum
Our final day of “planned” activities was Friday and after an exhausting three days of parks it was nice to settle into the New Children’s Museum and be greeted by such a wonderful group of people. I will lead everything off by saying that this was by far the best experience of all of the wonderful things we did while on our trip and that isn’t just the parent’s opinion. Both of the boys ranked this as the top activity, but only slightly above Legoland. We have been to several Children’s Museums, but this was our first New Children’s Museum. I’m not exactly sure what makes it New, but I really liked all of the activities and exhibitions that centered around trash. They presented a great message to the visitors without beating you over the head as they presented it with incredible subtlety.
We were greeted by Nina and Kaitlyn, the boys dressed in smocks, and quickly whisked away into a flurry of fun activities starting with painting a car. They have an old Datsun that has been in place for over a year and every day it is coated with a new color of paint. Nothing like starting off the tour with a bang as this was perhaps the boys’ favorite activity, but definitely not the messiest. This was followed with a trip to the dumpster turned into a play area where the boys were garbage zombies and thoroughly enjoyed the slide after climbing up the used tire wall.
By now Nina had left us for her real job, but Kaitlyn was with us every step of the way and not shy to join in the garbage zombie fun. She was an awesome guide/playmate for the boys the entire time we were there. We then moved on to several displays using magnets and old tube televisions, magnets and rusty particles, a rain house, a climbing wall made from recycled garbage, a wall of funky mirrors, and finger painting. This was easily the messiest activity and Cutler slapped the paint on so thick the painting is still drying in Aunt Emily’s house as it was too wet to ship home.
After a couple more coats were applied to the car we started in on a scavenger hunt where we had to find “alien” heads throughout the museum and draw the symbol on each one of them. Mason would take his time and try to draw it exactly and was actually fairly artistic at it while Cutler would scribble and look at us for acceptance and then move on. The difference in these boys is amazing. Once done there, the museum has an awesome set of tubes that sucks ping pong balls from your hands through an intricate set of tubes where bells are set up to be rung as the ball passes throughout. This may have been up there with the car painting as the boys couldn’t run the balls up enough. The “usual” visitors pay for the balls in an effort to raise money for art, but as Cutler is Cutler he was given what seemed to be an endless supply.
If you are ever in San Diego, I can’t recommend this as an activity enough. Their website is http://www.thinkplaycreate.org/. I know that if we get back to San Diego it will be on our list of things to do. In fact, after we ate lunch, the boys wanted to go back but we distracted them with Petco Park and heading to the shore to see just how cold the water is and why it probably wasn’t in their best interest to swim in the ocean instead of the pool. Or perhaps that is not in dad’s best interest. 🙂
A Zoo With Escalators
For Thanksgiving we headed to the San Diego Zoo where we managed to cover just about every inch without seeing a turkey. This is the first time that I can recall not seeing/eating a turkey on Thanksgiving, including the time I spent living in South Africa and I think the only thing I missed about it was the fun of having a few beers while frying it in the driveway with the family and neighbors. Instead we had some great family fun going up and down the hills (felt like a mountainside) seeing all of the wonderful animals. Perhaps it was indeed a mountain as there were escalators in a few areas of the zoo that we were more than happy to take at the end of the day in order to take one more ride on the skyfari.
While the trip to the zoo was fun, I think at times I was the only one caught watching the many different animals. The boys would fade in and out of interest with the smaller animals, but they definitely were into the larger animals. A couple favorites for Cutler were the giraffe, monkeys, and the panda. However leading the way for him was the miniature train ride located just outside of the zoo.
After the zoo closed we discovered that the sidewalks are indeed rolled up throughout the city on the night of Thanksgiving as we drove all around looking for somewhere to eat to finally settle on room service where Cutler was fast asleep before it arrived. He even managed to sleep through the loud and excited room service delivery who didn’t seem to get the point when I pointed to Cutler sleeping and said he is zapped from a long day. The delivery woman just kept at the same volume, but at least she was friendly. Fortunately Mason continues to eat like his Grandpa and was more than happy to eat Cutler’s meal, his meal, and some of mine and Melanie’s. By the way, Cutler has become a pro at sleeping while standing up and peeing. A trick I think I have only accomplished while being overserved in my younger days.
Happy Thanksgiving 2012
Just a quick note to wish everyone a late Happy Thanksgiving. On this day of giving thanks I am extremely thankful for these two knuckle heads being brought into my life to give me some close friends to entertain me.
And for this beautiful woman that is incredibly patient and good at keeping the family on target and in line. I am clearly playing well out of my league when it comes to her.
Naturally we, as a family, are thankful and fortunate for what the both of us has brought to the table in the form of in laws, extended family, and friends.
Most importantly we give thanks to God for granting us such a blessed life.
Seaworld Number 3
Yesterday we completed our tour of the third of three seaworlds and apparently we saved the best for last. It could be due to the beautiful weather or the fact that the boys are older, but this visit was our best when comparing our trip to the one in Orlando and the one in San Antonio. A perfect day in the mid 60’s and minimal crowds definitely helped. The day included visits with dolphins, feeding seals and bat rays, sledding in the snow (yes, you read that correct), several shows, and Mason’s first adventure on a “big boy” roller coaster. Mason was about 1/4″ below the minimum height requirement, but fortunately he put on an extra charming smile and the nice lady checking the height pushed us through. He laughed the entire ride on the Manta Ray and when we were done he told me he was “scared and attracted to it all at the same time”. I can’t wait until Cutler is tall enough so that Melanie and I can both enjoy the roller coasters at the same time.
While waiting for Melanie and Mason to finish one of the dizzy rides, Melanie’s specialty, we did meet another family that was there courtesy of Make-A-Wish. It’s hard not to miss each other with the blue shirts, so it’s easy to start up a conversation with them. However I am not sure how to go about asking what ailment they may have fought or are currently fighting through. Do you ask what they are in for? Regardless, we started talking and it turns out they had flown out from Chicago a couple days before us and apparently their son had chosen Legoland as his wish as well. Oddly enough, the dad grew up in Chicago as a Cardinals fan compared to me who grew up in St. Louis as a Cubs fan. Sadly he did bring up game 6 from last year so now my wish, if one is ever granted, is to get game 6 over and have a defensive replacement in right field. Yes, that is probably lost on everyone but the true baseball fans, but there it is.
Cutler is apparently working on a tradition of his own where he refuses to look at the camera when I am trying to take a picture unless he can do the goofy look. So now a fun game is to get him to smile and to look at the camera at the same time, otherwise I just have to take the photos when he thinks I am not looking. Perhaps it is payback for the ridiculous amount of clicking I do on each outing, but I assure you it will not slow me down.
After another long day, Cutler did manage to make it home without falling asleep, but was quickly asleep very shortly after dinner. He was so tired he didn’t even care to join Mason and I at the pool, which was also short lived as it is just too dang cold. Naturally he was up bright and early making those of us that don’t go to bed before 8 pm pay for not sticking with his schedule.
We spent today at the zoo and I have plenty of photos to share from that in another post…even photos of Cutler smiling.
Legoland
Yesterday we started out early with a breakfast at the beach while we watched the surfers and people watched the vast slew of personalities that happen along the beach in the morning. I wonder if having a breakfast like that gets old after awhile? I doubt it, but for now to make myself feel better I will believe that it gets tiresome for those that do live along the shores.
We then headed to Legoland for a long and adventurous day of rides and lego displays. As a big fan of legos, I will say that all three boys had a blast. It is pretty amazing what you are able to create with legos including battle scenes from each star wars movie and a life size chewbacca and r2d2. The look on Mason’s face when he saw the battle scenes was priceless as we listened to Cutler continue to ask to find another train. Apparently he isn’t quite into Star Wars as much as he lets on. 🙂
Perhaps one of the favorite rides for both boys was the driving school. It is actually sponsored, but I refuse to insert corporate greed into this blog…without getting paid for it. Fortunately there was a separate school for the different ages and both boys excelled as they avoided any accidents despite a bunch of crazy drivers out there. Despite previous videos of Cutler’s driving, https://teamfricke.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/drive-it-like-you-rent-it-2/, he was by far the best one on the track. He was able to swerve and avoid all of the other insane drivers that were wrecking all around him. All of that time in the driveway is paying off.
One thing we did learn from this trip was that while holding a souvenir over the boys heads as a reward for good behavior is a good thing, it’s not a good thing to wait until the place is close to purchase the reward. We went into the big shop 10 minutes before the gates close and 40 minutes later we were barely able to escape with our lives. I was never happier to get a breath of cool fresh air as I was when we escaped the throngs of families trying to pick out their bounty.
It was then on to dinner at a local sea food joint close by to help avoid rush hour where Mason and Cutler continued to show that they are polar opposites when it comes to eating. Mason boldly chose the grilled fish and Cutler not so boldly went with the chicken nuggets from Jack-In-The-Box across the way. On the way home Cutler quickly fell asleep and didn’t wake until just an hour ago, including when I had him stand up and go to the bathroom. He literally was asleep on his feet. The little fighter was all out of fight and got some much needed rest.
Today we are off to the pool for an early morning and awakening swim in the “heated” pool and then off for another exhausting day at Sea World. Here’s to hoping the pool is indeed heated. Hypothermia is a rough way to start the day.
Team Fricke 