An Alaskan Dad with kids

My daughter has a strong will. Normally, when I am taking care of the kids by myself, Madison (the oldest) refuses to take a shower and would just love to bypass any nightly cleanings. Today, she decided that while her brother was sleeping, she wanted a mid-day bath. So she got one.

The bath was a ton of fun and after she turned herself into a prune, I got her dressed and went to get things ready to take the kids to the park. Then I hear Madison yelling “HI MAX!” ..and she was trying to climb into his crib. The good thing is that Max was due to wake up and I quickly made him a bottle. I have more to post on this, but my awesome wife is on her way home, so you will have to wait a bit.

Today, I got to take the kids to a BBQ on the Coast Guard Base. Normally, the wife is with me to help with the chaos, but this time I was solo with both kids. I had Max up on a kid-backpack thingy which gives my back just a tad less stress than the front loader. Madison was only interested in chasing the kids outside and if they climbed on dangerous rocks, then she wanted to climb with them. Swinging sticks, finding horse shoes, catching spiders, and leaping after other kids twice her size were just a few things she did to give me heart palpitations.

Max, on the other hand, just smiled and laughed for everyone. Then he wanted to eat and poop at the same time. I finally got Madison to sit and eat her dinner, and the other kids soon joined in. After Max ate, he was ready to go home, so we had to say good bye and head back.

I put the kids to bed, finally… and after I am done posting this, I will have some dinner too. If I can find the strength

I love sleep and sometimes I have to earn it.  Today I walked the kids.  A lot.  We went all over Totem Park, downtown, and on the beach.  My job was to find someone walking a dog that was going in our direction and then point it out to Madison.  It was like a carrot on a stick for that girl.

Me: “Look Madison, a puppy,” as I point to some dog in the distance.
Madison: “PUPPY!!”

And then the toddler marathon began. When we got home, we all took naps.  And life was good.

I didn’t take too many photos today, but here are my favorites.

The kids did awesome today. (Although, at the moment, Madison is refusing to take a nap again… please let her sleep!)  I decided to take the kids to Church by myself since they were up and ready to go.  I got them fed, dressed, and packed for Church and only a few minutes late, too.

Most people at church thought I was very brave, but they both behaved very well.  I was surprised. I told them all how mom was up in Cordova flying around and that she would be back on Friday. The kids miss her very much and mom was the first thing Madison wanted to see when she woke up this morning. (Take lots of pictures, mommy!)