A Proven Theory & The Playland (of Hair)

I've never really considered myself an intellect. I was raised by two parents much smarter than me and have 2 older sisters, one who was on the fast track at a local Michigan bank before starting her family and one who has more schooling in her pinkie than I do in my entire schooling career. However, I did marry Beck, so I have something going for me, right?

I've always had this theory that God made women smarter than men (case in point- the 3 women mentioned above and the one I now call my wife. My dad is an anomaly on the male side). It was proven today. Beck woke up with a bad tummy and a fever, which meant that I got to spend the day being (or more appropriately, trying to be), SuperDad. Now I consider myself a good Daddy, Dad, or Old Man, depending on who's talking to me (and believe me, if ANY of my kids calls me Old Man at this point, there's trouble brewing), but today that was put to the test. I love my kids with all my heart and both of them mean the world to me, but sheesh, how do people take care of children, on a consistent or long-term basis, without wanting to drink terpentine?!? OK, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but there were a few hairy moments when I thought, "women are absolutely, unequivocally, and without a doubt, something special. How do they do what they do?" So for all you stay-at-home moms out there- my sincere, utmost, and genuine respect and thanks. You are amazing people, and my wife is the most amazing person ever put on the face of the earth. You all have a gift, no doubt about it!

After Beck broke the news that I would have to put my pride aside for the day Ally, Will, and I went downstairs for breakfast. Ally and I had the french toast, and Will went for the standard issue: peanut butter on bread and eggs. After that we headed back upstairs and got ready- to hit The Playland. The Playland is certainly not something special, but it is a great way to pass the time. What is it? The same thing that's on every 5th block in America- McDonald's. We have a Mickey D's 3 blocks away from us, and they have the playland which, every time we walked past it, Ally would say, "Ooooh, Daddy, when can we go there??" My response (in my head at least) is, "Never". We're in Colombia, and we can experience McDonald's anytime back home, so let's NOT go there. But today that thinking was put aside in order to keep sanity, and we made our way to The Playland:

We did have a good time, although Beck always says she not a big fan because they're gross, not clean, etc. Usually that sort of thing doesn't bother me, but there is one thing that does: Hair. Especially clumps of hair. Have you ever been in a bathroom or dirty house where there are clumps of hair on the floor that look sort of like tumbleweeds in a Western movie? Well, those make my stomach turn. And let me tell you- it takes a LOT to make my stomach turn. So when Will had his back to me, turned and smiled, with a clump of hair in his MOUTH, you guessed it- I almost gave back the coffee that I bought from the restaurant. It still gives me the heebie-geebies thinking about it- I couldn't believe it. So shortly after that we packed up and took a stroll down the road.

The rest of the day was pretty good- a few rough moments, but many great ones too. Don't get me wrong- I truly appreciate our time here together, and looking back on it now, I'm thankful I had the chance to be with both kids all day today, just the 3 of us. Next time I'll know to pack a vacuum cleaner before we go to Mickey D's.

Tomorrow we're going (if Beck is feeling better) to a big park in Bogota. We have a few things we want to do yet before I leave Sunday, and so we'll do our best to keep everyone updated. One cute video of Will- he likes to crawl in open drawers:

Another cute pic of the kids (watching Baby Einstein on YouTube):

And a video of one of our (almost daily) dance parties. The song is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog Song, and Ally like to create dances for different songs:

We hope all is well back home, and appreciate all of the emails, comments, and (especially) prayers. We're surrounded by an incredible group of people!

Love-

Scott, Beck, Ally, and Will