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Your ninth birthday was a two week festival
of presents and parties! You had a bounce house party for all your classmates
and two private parties with your family. You love birthdays in so many
ways. The only thing you do not like about it is we use your birthday
as a great excuse to not buy you anything else for 60 days before and
after the birthday. This drives you crazy, because you know there will
be a treasure chest of toys to come, not buying at times is not in your
reality. You are a live in the now kind of boy. Not a bad way to live
though. Enjoy it while you can. (Entry of May 25, 2011)
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| Dadfest 2011 was a good time for
both of us. I have been on the Dadfest stage with you every year since you
were born. In past years you have just tagged along with me and then played
in all the event activities. You still played but this year, you ask for
some resonsibility, so you started all the 50 yard dash kids. You you very
good and really enjoyed it. You alos love to work with the Diaper Dash and
make sure all of the babies get their t-shirts. Happy Father's Day to me.
I love you. (Entry of June 20, 2011) |
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We are taking our first long car trip as
a family. When Daddy was your age every summer we would make a long car
trip, sometimes as long as two weeks. Families hardly ever get to do that
now and it is something I want you to experience. Most of all it forces
your mom, you and I to shut out all the distractions of lives and spend
concentrated time with one another. So we are off on a car trip to Colorado.
So here is that story with pictures.
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Day One: The
first day is part business as Daddy wants to scout out a location for
a new marathon and it is on the way to Colorado. Since we got up early,
the first thing you did was go to sleep for two hours. Your first pronouncement
upon waking up? The age old long car trip question, "Are we there
yet?" This was followed by how much longer until we get to the hotel.
Our first day was a 10 hour trip so we heard that question dozens of times,
but overall you were really good and it seems like we are going to have
a good time. A couple of times we stopped just to break up the car trip
and each time you would not say anything about going to the bathroom and
you did not go. That was saved for ten minutes after we go back on the
highway and of course you had to go bad! We will not allow this process
to continue on. When we made it to the hotel in Amarillo, it took you
thirty seconds to get in your swim suit and be ready to go to the hotel
swimming pool. You like hotel life as there is always new places to swim
and you get to sleep in the same room with Mom and Dad. (Entry on June
23, 2011)
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Day Two: We spend
day two driving about 6 hours to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The worst
part of the drive is over and the real vacation begins. Mom and Dad are
so tired from the drive that we spend the afternoon napping and resting
up. The fun stuff begins tomorrow. (Entry on June 24, 2011)
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| Day Three: After a hearty
breakfast we are off to do tourist things. Our first visit is to the Garden
of the Gods. You like to sound of this name and say it over and over. When
we get to the visitor center you head straight not to the many educational
things there, but straight to the gift shop, where you discover a wooden
musket play pistol, and of course you must have it. Since you have an allowance
and you brought your money, we felt that since this something you had to
have, you would use your money and so you did. We went for a drive in the
majestic red rock cliffs of the garden, took a few pictures and hiked a
bit and got back in the car. Mom started a a series of videos of you that
she called updates and you described what we were doing at the time. We
then made the trip to Pikes Peak as we had reserved a train ride straight
up the peak. Of course waiting for the train to leave seemed to take forever
and we were a bit impatient. But we finally got on the train and off we
went. This was one and one half ride that went straight up the gorge leading
to pikes peak, so it mostly listening to a guy talk about the history of
the train and Pikes Peak. We mostly looked a lot of trees and a lot of Boulders.
The higher we got the colder it got. It was good we brought our jackets.
We got to the summit and had our picture taken in front of a summit sign.
You then rushed off to the edge of the mountain top to look over, freaking
me out. WE are at 14,000 feet, so I decide to go into the tourist shop at
the summit so I am not dominated by my fear of heights. Next thing I know
I start to get light headed and very sick. This is what is known as altitude
sickness. Mom was affected a bit less than me and all you got was a headache.
But going up 8000 feet is probably not something I would want to do again,
but the views were beautiful and it was a clear day and we could see up
to 145 miles away and could see four different states from there. When we
got back down to the bottom, your parents went shoppping in Manitou Springs,
Colorado. Dad got some Pike's Peak t-shirts and Mommy bought a musical clock
to hang in our living room that will help us always rememeber our Colorado
car trip. After we got back it was back to the hotel and more swimming and
good night of sleep. (Entry on June 25, 2011) |
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The Garden of the Gods
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The George family riding the railway up to Pike's Peak.
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At the top
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| Day Four: We had planned
to go to the cave of the winds, but as we got up Saturday mroning, your
Dad did not feel very good and my right eye seemed swollen, and by chance
at breakfast, I covered my left eye and I had lost most of my eyesight in
my right eye. Needless to say I freaked out, as I have had nearly perfect
vision my entrie life. So I went to a pharmacy to check my blood pressure
and it was sky high so we found the emergency room in Colorado Springs and
I checked in thinking perhaps I had a stroke. Guess what I went all the
way to Colorado to find out your Dad had cataracts! You were very nervous
sitting with me in the emeregency room. You brought a blue toy car that
you and I share and play together with and you made sure I held it all times
to keep me safe. You took a picture of me with your ipad. (shown below)
One starnge day on our trip. Adterw3ards we drove to Denver and our next
hotel for the next phase of our Colorado vacation. You are the best son
in the world. (Entry of June 26, 2011) |
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| Day Five: Today we went to
Vail and Brekenridge, Colorado. We stopped a lot because the mountains were
so beautiful and it was a beautiful day. On one pit stop a full grown deer
came out of the mountain side and ambled with in 100 feet of our car. We
spent most of the day in Vail, because they were having a Jazz and art festival
and it was such a great day. It was a winderful day in the mountains and
we had a good time before getting back to our hotel back in Denver. Pictures
below. I love you. (Entry of June 27, 2011) |
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Ro in the mountains
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Outdoor Cafe in Vail
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The closest you got to wildlife in Vail
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Beautiful flowers in Vail
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| Day Six: This
was our most adventerous day of our trip. W got up and in the morning we
went horseback riding in the mountains. Your horse was named Raven. Dad
got Cheyenee and Mom got Dakota. I teased you all day by calling your horse
Blackie. You were really comfortable on the horse and had no trouble controlling
him. You were a natural. Everyone on the trip commentd about what a great
job you did with your horse. It was great fun to ride up into the foothills
of the mountains where you would never visit other wise. |
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| After a 1 1/2 horse ride, we went
white water rafting on the Arkansas River. What a glorious experience. I
don't have to describe it. I will let the pictures do the talkimg. What
a great exciting day! (Entry of June 28, 2011) |
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A day we will never forget! These
are the real things that make life wonderful!
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| Day seven: The
long drive back to Dallas. The price you pay for taking a car trip! But
we played and laughed on the way back and the 13 hours sped by. Nothing
like spending sven days in close contact with the two people I love the
most. In a month we take another trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for
a week long vacation with your cousins, Isabella and Briana. More fun to
come! I love you! (Entry of June 29, 2011) |
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| The week in Myrtle Beach was a
great one. You had a cousin to play with. We hardly drove anywhere and did
just a little bit of nothing for the week. And I slept a lot. We got our
summer beach trip in and it was a great one. Love you. (Entry of August
1, 2011) |
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| Well summer vacation is over and it sped by way too fast. It was a hazy lazy hot 9-year old summer. We had over 60 days of 100 degree weather so we were inside a lot. You have started the fourth grade and wonderfully you are now fully engaged in school and really like it. You look forward to school and you are having a great time. So far no homework, but that may not last long. I have started writing down the great things you say to me when you say them so I won't forget. This weekend you traded in old Xbox games for a new Spiderman game. You have really been into it. You came into my office during one session and excitedly told me, "Dad, I'm fight a lot of bad guys." Good training for when you grow up! Most of the time when you, your mom and I go out in the car we go in my new car as Mom's 10 year old car is just to get her to work and back. We were using it this week and as we were sitting in the back, we realized how accustomed to luxury you had become. You said, "Mom you need a new car." " Why ro?", said Mom. " you don't have an air conditioning vent in the back seat." Oh my! We are failing in preparing you for the real world. Our favorite game in the car is now Slug Bug. The first person that sees a Volkswagon beetle, yells out Slug Bug and gets to slug someone else. Many good times with this game. I love you my special boy. (Entry of August 30, 2011) |
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| Well, school has started and you seem to really like the fourth grade. You have gotten your first locker and you have two different teachers so you are feeling very grownup. School has never come easy for you but you have tried twice as hard this year and we are very proud of you. You will never at the top of your class academically, but it is my belief that if you have the basics it is your ability to blend in and get along with others that will take you far in this world. You are losing interest in your dad more each day and I know it is the process of life and I celebrate your growing beyond me. We went to a Texas Ranger game this past week. You have very little interest in baseball, but your now mature enough to realize it is very important to your Dad and I hope our trips to the ballpark will be memories of things you did with your Dad. It meant a lot to me. You are my life's treasure! (Entry of September 14,2011) |
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| I never meant this journal to be an everyday acoount of your life, but rather just a thumbnail of our relationship and our journey together. However, I do feel a bit of guilt when I go months without an entry. I feel this may be the only real gift I leave to you outside of the core love and support I am instilling in you. Much of what I have written so far (By the way. to this point I have never gone back and re-read any of this journal) will hopefully give you memories that you otherwise would never have. And at no time in your life can you ever think that you were loved and adored. I am a list maker. In order to do what I do, I must make list after list. So on my list this week was a to do item that pops up frequently. All it says is Ro's Book. This time it has been on my list for over a week. So since there is nothing else on my list this morning that I have any desire to do, here I am writing another entry into your journal. 2011 has sped by and I am on my winter break. Thoughts of Christmas now fill my mind. Christmas for me has never been about gifts. For me Christmas is when the world is at its darkest. Days are short and nights are long. And often it is cold to boot. Your Dad hates cold. So to drive away all this I work on covering our house inside and out with tons of lights, angels, Santa Clause and many colors. It takes me aboiut 4 days to get everything up and two to take down. I have always thought maybe I should pay someone else to do this, but at the end of the day, the preparation and designing is part of the joy. So on a day when I did not want to do anything else, Merry Christmas and I love you! (Entry of November 14, 2011) |
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| Mom went out of town this weekend so it gave us a chance to be boys together. Mostly we took the time to shop for mom's Christmas present. I am trying to teach you to have no fears when it comes to buying gifts for others. Although you asked mom what she wanted, I encouraged you to pick out gifts that you want to give her and you thought she might like. The good deal about that is your mom will always display proudly anything you get her, because she is just a bit attached to you. The first 2 hours were spent going to many stores and no luck. Shortly afterwards your mom called and I could hear you telling her that we were having a tough time. After a brief conversation with mom you hung up. So as we continued on several times you mentioned we should get mom a diamond necklace. I told you that was too much money and we needed to be more reasonable. It turns out your mom jokingly had told you on the phone to get her the necklace not realizing since you have a zero concept of money that you would push for its purchase. We finally found a couple of gifts you wanted to give to mom. Fortunately they did not include a diamond necklace. The joy of the day was how excited you are to perform in this weeks school Christmas program as you sang your song, Five Little Pengiuns, several times in the car. You were so cute! I love you (Entry of December 12, 2011) |
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| Christmas was great. It was wonderful to see you still excited with all things Christmas and the beauty of innocence and youth. We always string color lights above your bed for Christmas and add all musical and motion Christmas stuff to your room, because you like that the most. You have almost everything a child could ever want so there was little to buy for you this year and you were happy that you got your first Iphone and a skylanders game to go with your XBOX. Mostly it was one long playdate after another as you now prefer people your age over people my age. You remind me when I complain about this that you love me more than I will ever know and I just have to deal with it. My fake crying and boohooing gets a response but you know that mostly you have a Dad that loves you so much that he wants to spend time with you. A child needs to be told daily they are loved and that their presence is preferred. It is my belief that this is what most human beings want and need. Your cousin Brianna came the week after Christmas to stay so we went to lots of movies (You made me watch the Alvin and Chipmunks movie!) and played lots of games. It is great to see to starting to develop where you can play card games with us. It is 2012 and it is the year you turn 10. This is the year Dad and Mom try to lose weight. Should be a fun year! I love you. Your Dad. (Entry of January 5, 2012) |
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| Sitting in my office and in the living room you are watching TV. You are do some serious laughing. Of all things the old time violence of Tom and Jerry make you fall over with laughter. The true classics are funny decades later. I have never heard you laugh so hard and so long. Music to my ears. Love you (Entry of January 10, 2012) |
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| It has been a crazy month as Daddy is trying to lose weight. All the things that are a regular part of your diet are now off limits to me. I stare at your food items a lot, but I must lose 25-30 pounds this year. You are doing better in school mand seem to be having a good time in the fourth grade although school in general is a struggle for you. You will never be in the top half of your class. That is not being negative just a fact. I often am frustated at public schools as everyone is being graded on the standard of going to college. And everything depends on a test and they keep changing their minds all the time. We try to keep all this from you and just insist you do your best and whatever happens, happens. I am hoping we can keep you in public school through High school, but not certain that will happen. I am deteremined that you will not held back a grade at any time. When that point comes, private school or even home schooling will be the option. Either way my wish for you is to be a happy contented person who is a people gatherer and what you do to make money will not matter. I love you! (Entry of February 9, 2012) |
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| We took the greatest spring break trip ever! We went with your cousin Molly to the Grand Canyon for 4 days. Molly was our photographer and she got some great photos. Below you can see my favorite pictures. We plan many other great familyb trips as we make memories for your adult life. I love you! (Entry of April 1, 2012) |
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| Have to include Smokey - Dad looks like he feels older than Smokey |
How can you not love this face! |
Great Picture! - Ro jumping across the Garnd Canyon |
The edge scared me but not you. You see I am holding you back. |
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| Which is grander? The canyon or you! |
Mixing with the local animal population |
Good sense of humor! Rabbit ears behind Dad is a good one! |
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| We traveled down into the canyon. You next to the Colorado River |
Co pilot of the helicoptetr we took over the canyon |
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Just love this picture! |
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| You are about to turn 10. We are calling you a tween now to make you feel more grown up. 10 years. It was just yesterday I was holding you in my arms right after your delivery. All I can say is in my 65 years, these have easily been the best 10 years of my life. The usual ups and downs of life just don't seem to matter, because it is pure joy to be with and live with you. Here is to a long, happy and prosperous life. May everyone you meet love you as much as I do. (Entry of May 10, 2012 |
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