Wednesday's Window... Europe

So we were the idiots that decided we wouldn't go to Europe until AFTER we had kids. Why we didn't go before we had them, I have no idea.  I will tell you as difficult as it sounds to travel abroad with two kids, it was well worth it.  People tell us all the time that we were crazy to bring them, that they wouldn't remember any of it.  We, we remember it, and we remember it with them.  We had trips to Germany and Belgium, Italy, and France.  Each was more beautiful than the other.  We haven't gone back in two years due to some health issues we had last time but I think we are heading back next year. Here is a glimpse of Europe in this weeks Wednesday's Window.

Dark Knight Tyler ready to storm the castle

Burg Eltz in Germany still standing for over 1100 years

The banks of the Mosel in Germany

The fountains of Rome Italy

My favorite picture EVER of Tyler outside the Colosseum 

The boys together in Tuscany

Riomaggiore Italy

Lake Como

The amazing views of Lake Como

Tyler outside Chenenceau

The boys ready to attack Chambord

This is a hotel in Normandy

Tyler placing flower at grave in American Cemetery in Normandy

Honfleur, Normandy

Eiffel Tower

Where should we go next year?  We are thinking Spain.  What do you think?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Bon Voyage!

I hope everyone has a great week, and I hope that my house is still standing when I get home. Irene please take it easy on New Jersey. Oh and that pile of wood that I left in the backyard, if any of it flies around and hurts someone I apologize in advance. I wish everyone on the east coast well. Batten down the hatches, I know it's going to be a rough one.

I hope the seas aren't too rough for us, I am not looking for a repeat performance of The Perfect Storm. I am pretty sure that George Clooney is not driving our boat so at least we have that going for us. Take care all! BE SAFE!!!


Cheers!

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Packing for Vacation... Starring Legos

So we are headed on vacation this weekend for an entire week, actually it's more like 10 days when you add in the Labor Day Holiday.  That means we have a lot of clothes to pack for the four of us in our little suitcases.  We are going on a cruise so it's important to not overpack but you want to make sure that you have everything that you need, because where are you going to get what you need out in the Atlantic Ocean.  Packing for vacation can be hard for everyone.

The Movie

I hope you enjoyed it.  Please tell me what you think

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Wednesday's Window

We take you back to the beach this week.  We didn't get to the beach as much as we would have liked this summer, it just seems like every weekend was packed with something.  We are not complaining about at all about our fun summer, it just seems like the summers get shorter and shorter leaving less time to do all that we wanted to do.  Maybe the fall will be unusually warm and we can get to some of the stuff we wanted to, like camping.  Anyway this was most likely our last visit to the beach for the summer.  I hope you enjoy this weeks Wednesday's Window.

The skies looked ominous at the beginning

My boys love digging

Long Branch, New Jersey

Tyler

Carter

The weather held out long enough

We LOVE the beach

I have my favorite picture.  What's yours?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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I Need Your Opinion

The summer is finally drawing to a close and we are squeezing one last family vacation in before the boys start school after labor day.  We have decided to head on a cruise to Bermuda, I know, how fancy of us.  Anyway, packing for these types of trips can be difficult, as there are formal nights, semi-formal nights, and then just casual nights at dinner.  Since I don't want to overpack, I can only bring one suit and I need your opinion as to which one I should bring.  Both are pretty spiffy, but I don't know if one is too snobby.

Formal Tuxedo

Stylish Suit

I'm thinking that the tuxedo might be a little too formal.  What do you think?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Why Ask Me?

I get asked a lot of questions.  

"Can my parents (in-laws)* join us for dinner?"

"Can I eat this entire box of candy?"

"Can I jump off the roof of the house?"

Chances are I am going to answer all these questions with a "NO!"  Although I will seriously consider the last one, what harm could come about in jumping off the roof of the house.  Even though I say no, I don't think that my response EVER registers with my family. When was the last time that my wife's parents* weren't allowed to come to dinner because I said no? I would have to say never.  Does my son ever NOT eat the entire box of candy?  Uh uh.  If my other son wanted to jump off the house do you think that me saying no is really going to stop him?  HELL NO.

Why do I even get asked these questions?

It seems they are more of warning shots than questions.  It's as if my wife knows full well my in-laws* are coming to dinner but instead of just saying that they are coming, she throws it out there as a question.  My kids do the same thing all the time.

"Can we play the Wii?" NO.   Where do you think they end up?

It leaves me wondering if I ever mean what I say.  Am I such a pushover that nobody thinks I am serious when I say no?  Or do I just say no way too much?  If you have kids it's easily in the top five of words and phrases used:

• No
• Eat your food
• No
• Lift the toilet seat when you pee
• No

Ok, so I do use it a lot.  But sometimes I mean it.  I only say it because I don't want anyone to get a belly ache, I don't want anyone to get hurt, and I don't want to eat with my in-laws* again.

I guess what it boils down to is this, I get asked a lot of different questions, I just don't have a lot of different answers.

*My in-laws are GREAT people.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Last Beach Day?

Today could be our last beach day in New Jersey. We are headed on vacation next weekend and what we have learned in the past is the weather changes pretty quickly after Labor Day. Beach days in September can be hard to come by, so we need to enjoy the few remaining opportunities that we can get.


Beach days may be over for the summer, but we have the images and memories to last a lifetime.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Camp is out for Fall

So today is the last day of camp for the boys.  It's hard to believe that an entire summer has come and gone.  We do still have two weeks left until the boys go back to school but man where the heck did the summer go?  I thought that I would give you an update on my younger son Carter.  If you are an avid reader of this blog, you might recall a story I wrote about him not wanting to go to camp early in the summer.  Well it turns out that the only day that he didn't say he didn't wanted to go to camp was THE FIRST DAY.  He has proceeded to mention camp everyday for the past 54 days, this includes weekends and vacations.

Maybe I'll just bury him in the sand next summer

You are probably asking why I would subject him to such torture if he hated camp so much.  Well, he doesn't hate camp, he just doesn't want to go.  There seems to be a difference between the two which I am still trying to comprehend.  Everyday I would drop him off with tears in his eyes and pick him up with a big smile on his face.  Everyday I drop him off with a big "Have a great day!"  Everyday I pick him and he tells me camp was great.  What gives?

I am sure that I am such a peach to be around that he would rather hang out with me doing the dishes, the laundry, and mowing the lawn.  He even insisted to me one day that he wanted to clean the house instead of going to camp.  I am pretty sure he was just trying to trick me as the next time he picks up one of his toys will be the first time.

Everyday he would tell me that mommies and daddies don't need to go to camp, and I had to assure him that if there were such things for us, we would be there in a heartbeat.  Who's with me on that?  Well I don't have to worry about this for another 300 days.  What I have to start hearing soon is the dreaded "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL!"

300 days of that?  Ugh!

When does college start?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Midlife Crisis... Starring Legos

We men get to a certain point in our lives where we start to wonder if that's it.  We have everything that we could ever want in life yet we feel a little unsatisfied.  You've made the decision that you have the number of kids that you want, you have the nice house, and your car does what it needs to do.  You get the feeling of contentment.  But you are also bored, so you start spending your money on ridiculous things like acid washed jeans and botox, just to make you feel a little but younger.  If we can slow time we would.  No one wants to get old.  Especially a lego.

The Movie

Thanks for watching!  Please let me know what you think.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Wednesday's Window

This week we are taking you to the ice cream shop.  Now we probably go get ice cream way more than we should, but it's summer right?  I have no idea why but this seems to be the only place that I can get my boys to eat anything, amazing how that works. There is always room in your belly for an extra scoop of ice cream I guess.  I hope you enjoy this weeks Wednesday's Window.

What flavor does everyone want?

Of course I add these on my Sinless Cake Batter ice cream

Carter gets Cotton Candy with a side of white chocolate

My totally Fat Free ice cream... yeah right

Tyler enjoys his Oreo Creme Filling

Carter has a big mouth

My boys are happy which means I am happy

 Everyone has their favorite.  Usually I get either vanilla or coffee.  What's yours?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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The Dad Suit

I am probably the least fashionable person that I know.  My wife will totally attest to this as she has bought me clothes over the years that I just can't get into, I have put on a few pounds over the years but that's not what I am talking about.  Like a lot of men, I just don't have an eye for fashion.  My idea of an outfit always consists of cargo shorts, to hold all the garbage I collect throughout the day, and a T-shirt.  Usually my shirts have a superhero logo on them, not so much for me, but my kids think I look cool with them on. Who am I to argue with them.

Hey, look at that dad

The problem that I have is with the dad bathing suit. We have all seen them in various forms, but they have one thing in common.  There is a white stripe running down the side of the suit with white piping near the knees.  Nothing screams "I AM A DAD" more than these trunks.  I do believe that with each child that you have you are supposed to add a stripe to your suit.  No kids, no stripe, you get the COOL suits. One kid, one stripe and so on.  Jim Bob Duggar must just wear a completely pinstriped bathing suit at this point.  Now I am not immune to this fashion trend as I myself have one of these suits, and between you and me, I HATE IT.  This is coming from a guy who would wear Chuck Taylors until they literally fell off my feet and who thinks leg warmers rule.  

Can't be a dad, I hope

Now I would not go as far as saying we should all go out and dress like Borat, but there has to be something that designers can come up with.  Did they all just sit in a room in Paris somewhere and laugh at us dads and come up with the dumbest ideas for swimsuits.  Ha, we'll show them stupid dads, we will put a stripe right down your suit, oh and we will add a pocket for you to keep seashells in.  How novel, a pocket with velcro that doesn't last more than a few days.  Just a tip, keep nothing in that pocket.  It serves as much purpose as a woman's lipgloss tote.

Take a look at some of these "designs".  See if you notice a pattern.

Ooh a red stripe

Black

Brown

Orange

Yikes

Yeah, all these suits are exactly the same.  Different colors but the same stupid striping.  I don't think that there is a dad in the world that doesn't own some variation of this suit. Sure in Europe they probably have a little speedo, but its got to have a little stripe in there somewhere.  I have been in numerous stores and they are everywhere.  Macy's, JC Penney, Sears, and even Wal-mart all have the same suit.  WHERE IS THE CREATIVITY?  I am not saying that we should go out and make swimsuits like my mom used to make Jams 25 years ago, but the least they could do is give us some sort of variety, and not just a change in color.  I swear it looks like some sort of dad uniform.  Aliens would probably beam down to a beach and laugh at all the silly dads dressed the same.  It's embarrassing.

I am tired of my stupid swimsuit. 

Of course that's mine, I'm a dad.

Which one do you wear?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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