A year of firsts

Due to a timekeeping error on my part (17th? 27th? eh its all the same. I am still trying to remember where I put May) We celebrated Beck's first birthday today.



Last night we started off the festivities with a jaunt to "Main Event". Main Event is like a higher-rent version of Chuckie Cheese's. We used to go there for the arcade games, but Ramsey has trained us to go straight to the ticket machines. Leave it to my younger brothers to invent new ways to scam the machines every time.

Just one week before last nights trip, They had found that if they had one foot on and one foot off of the jump rope machine, they could fool it into thinking their full weight was on it. Yesterday they found that sensor bars had been added to the outside of the main pad. So much for that idea. Instead, they invented a new trick. Put 5 dollars worth of coins into the coin drop machine at once. It jams it so that at least a few go into the jackpot hole.
Now, before you start poo-pooing me for cheating, you should know that the trick worked too well. We got three jackpots, and none of them registered on our card. NILL, NADA, ETC. The quantity of coins dropped at once freaked it out, and we didn't get squat.

I guess its back to counting cards for me. Texas hold'em for stuffed animals and kitchen appliances? Maybe. Maybe not. Even at Chuckie freaking Cheeses you don't beat the house. They could have at least comped my room.



Today, the real festivities began. We took Drew and Justin in addition to the three of us to the Houston Zoo. Word to the wise; noon time in June in Houston is pretty warm. Indoor activities may lead to less sweat/hallucinations/trying to drink the water from the seal exhibit in desperation. If you look in the corner of this picture you can see Ramsey trying to fish me out of the pool with a skimmer.



We had fun, and it was interesting to see what registered with Beck. Bright, high contrast scenes captured his attention the most.



Kind of like that awful Baby Einstein mess he watches. (more like baby brain damage if you ask me)


This picture doesn't really have anything to do with the birthday. But it is underwater, and I wanted to put it up.


This is how Ramsey and Beck have been spending their summer with me gone. What a tough tough lot they have drawn. I hear Ramsies is dying to head back to Hobbs. These Houston hardships are killing her.

So back to his party. He is getting spoiled more than any baby I have ever seen. He got fun packages with clothes and books from the Merrill's earlier in the week. He also got a walker thing months ago from his uncle Guido. Yesterday, he got yet another gift from his uncle Guidy-retard: An Ipod shuffle loaded with nighttime baby music.



This will be a tough act to follow. Luckily, he had no idea what was going on. As soon as he does, it's cabbage stew and coal till he is 30!

So for his grand finale, it was cake time. Now, in the interest of good parenting, we gave him his own separate ice cream cake. (Really I just didn't want him to goober one that I had to eat).

For your viewing pleasure, I will narate the events as they unfold:


"Now just hold on a second. This thing doesn't light up, it isn't in a bottle. Are you sure this one is for me?"


"Finger paints?" Ok, maybe I can roll with this"




Wait for it.










Seriously.







You know whats coming next.











don't call cps.






"OHMMMM NOMMMMM NOM NOM NOM"




It took two fire hydrants and three hazmat crews four hours to get him clean.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!