Grandpa is 60, so we sort of surprised him

Feeding the fish in Grandpa's pond.

It's funny that as I look through the few pictures I took this weekend, I don't actually have any of my dad. (I don't have many pictures because I forgot my camera, even though I had it placed strategically to not forget it) If you're reading this and have any pictures from the party, or of my dad, please send them over.

So many toys on wheels.

My mom planned a big surprise party for my dad's 60th birthday. I don't know how much of it was actually a surprise. But I think my dad was shocked at how many of his siblings and their kids and grandkids made the trek to good old McPherson.

Almost all of my cousins and all of their kids.

It was awesome to see so much family at once. It usually only happens every three years at the Schmidt family reunion. Anyway here are some pictures, again, if you have any more send them my way. (Erica- I'm looking at you, I took a whole bunch with your camera, upload them at some point before dad turns 61)

Mason and Olivia waiting patiently for picture time.

Owen and Mickey eating ice cream- because they ate french fries for lunch- like big boys.

More scooters.

A slide and science project on static electricity. 

Everyone loves a parade

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm not Irish. My kids, also not Irish. But we went to the parade anyway. 

Olivia was being pouty and wouldn't look at the camera. She was upset because I didn't bring her big ear protection headphones. You can see I improvised with her music headphones instead. That sort of worked. 

O&O lasted for about an hour. They were pretty bored with only one fire truck and one band. 

After the parade we went to the Roasterie for a "snack" at noon. 

Then we talked about lunch. They wanted to eat in the tent again. I didn't understand. They said we ate in the blue tent. I explained we don't have a blue tent, so we couldn't have eaten in a blue tent. They said it was a tent restaurant. It took a while before I realized that they were talking about Taco Republic- which does have a tent, and we had eaten in it. So that was our next stop. 

By the time we got there it was pushing 1:15, and their attitudes reflected the fact they hadn't napped. I fought them through lunch and i left quickly with two children mid-fit. They fell asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot. 

All in all, I consider the day a success. We all even managed to wear green. (So no one will get punched- according to Olivia)



Here's some video we shot of the parade. The kid's commentary is hilarious.

Over the river and all that crap

On a whim I decided to  take the kids to grandma's house. My grandma's house that is. And really to both of my grandmother's houses. They live about 4 blocks apart in Deshler, Nebraska.

Owen and Olivia reluctantly pose for a picture

Deshler is a very small little small town. Did I mention it's small? Owen and Olivia were very perplexed when we'd load up in a car, drive 4 blocks and be where we needed to go.

My mom was up helping my grandpa load up all of his old woodworking equipment to sell. We didn't really have anything better to do, so we drove 4 hours to Nebraska.

The trailer that Owen claims only belongs at a construction site

At the fairgrounds, which is where you have sales, we got to see an old firetruck, which I think was for sale. A gas truck, which I think was also for sale. And a tractor, not for sale.

Inside the old fire truck

A gas truck? Or water truck for the fire?

The fire truck

The tractor

Of course we had a great time, even though they both got away with murder all day for 3 straight days. It's not like grandma, or great grandma or great grandpa were going to bring down the hammer of discipline.




We made it home successfully this morning. Owen and Olivia still need to have home field advantage to pee. On both legs of the 4 hour trip, they told me they'd wait to use the potty until we got home. Pretty impressive to hold it for 4 hours.

Eating at the train restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt. (not pictured: the train that runs while you eat) 

My new job

I think most of you know by now that I've quit my day job. I knew that TV news wasn't doing our family any favors, and I just wasn't happy anymore.

While I figure out what to do next, I'm a stay at home dad. So far it's been great. I figure it will only get better as the weather improves. So far we've been on adventures every day. The kids seem to be enjoying having me around, we'll see how long that lasts though.

While the weather sucks, we'll be exploring the various indoor activities around JoCo.  Today we hit up Bass Pro Shop. I'm sure they love it when parents bring in kids to jump around and steer every boat in the building. If you do wander into a Bass Pro at 10am on a Wednesday, literally the only people in there are parents trying to entertain children. We did buy some bbq supplies though.

I'm also planning to start shooting some freelance video and photos. Pretty much anything but a wedding. As long as my children don't kill me first....


Justin