Having Fun

Maddy liked the House of Bounce, but only for a little while...

This is Daddy explaining that he's way too heavy to go with him on the slide...

Our fearless climber on his 23rd go around on the inflatable playground

Who's The Boss?

Sometimes I wonder who the head of this family really is. Madison thinks it's him, Rachel thinks it's her and I (foolishly perhaps) think it's me. As you probably guessed, Maddy wins out most of the time.

Yesterday he suprised us both by saying he wanted to go back to school, so we took him to school. The teachers looked pleasantly suprised to see him and we were both happy that Maddy wanted to go to school as well. He didn't even want his mommy to walk him to the door.

So today, he tells us he doesn't want to go to school because it's "uma". No matter how much we tried to convince him that school would be fun, he refused to get ready and instead declared that he wanted to go to work with me instead. He wasn't too happy when he didn't get his way!

Daddy One More?

We took Maddy to an inflatable playground yesterday that they had running at the Eleele Fou. It had a giant rock face for climbers, a rugby challenge complete with slides and obstacles as well as an enclosed trampoline-like tent. Maddy loved it!

After playing there for about an hour, I decided it was time to go home but Maddy kept saying, "Daddy, one more?" with this cute little smug grin on his face. How could I resist? After about 4 or 5 "one mores" we finally managed to drag him off the slides and into the car.

Clever Quotes

I tend to laugh at quotes I find on the Net that are true in one way or another. Here are a few that I came across today that ring true to me:

Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home. - Phyllis Diller

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time. - Rabbinical Saying

The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy. - Sam Levenson

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. - Leo J. Burke

Level with your child by being honest. Nobody spots a phony quicker than a child. - Mary MacCracken

Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of. - Peter Ustinov

If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things. - Norman Douglas

Happy Birthday Aunty Sachi!

Maddy has asked me to pass on our best happy birthday wishes to his Aunty Sachi. We hope you have a great day and got lots and lots of birthday pressies! Love from Maddy and his 2 slaves.

Our Fearless Little Climber

Maddy is a fearless climber. He loves climbing up just about anything. If he's outside playing, you can pretty much guarantee he's off the ground somewhere.

Maddy likes to scare his parents to death with his daredevil-like antics on the playground

This the look we get when we have to go home

Mommy, vaai lea!

Weekend at the Golf Course

Yep, if Maddy sees a rock, he HAS to climb it

The Pisikoa Golf team in their flash new uniforms, don't we look like pros?

Maddy is the official Pisikoa golf mascot

Difficult Decisions

Rachel and I decided to let our housegirl go yesterday. Without going into too much detail, we decided that it would be better for all concerned, especially Madison, that we went our separate ways after a rollercoaster 6 months together.

There are times when I wonder why people take advantage of other people's generosity. You give them things they never had, freedom to do whatever they want, reward them for good work and still, they find a way to make you regret being so nice to them.

Maybe the majority of Samoans aren't used to this concept and are more familiar with the "tough love" approach of strict supervision and well defined boundaries. I know that's a gross generalization but in my experience with people I've worked with and people who have worked for me, I find this to be true.

It's in my nature to give people the benefit of the doubt, to believe that people are intrinsically good, so I guess this makes me gullible in a way. Maybe I should be more cynical or skeptical in my future dealings with people.

Afternoon in the Sun

We took Maddy and his posse of friends from next door to the playground yesterday afternoon. I can't describe how pumped they all were to be going to the playground, it was a nice feeling doing something for the kids that they really enjoyed.

The kids were running all over the place, laughing and screaming for joy, seemingly in a rush to play with every single thing. Maddy wanted to be the centerpiece of every game they played and was often frustrated when the other kids ran away because they didn't like the way he tried to dominate everything.

It was funny watching this because by the end of the day he figured out for himself that playing nice was more fun because the kids stuck around a lot longer than when he was screaming his lungs out trying to direct traffic.

Happy Birthday Aunty Lagi

Rachel, Maddy and I would like to wish aunty Lagi in New Zealand a big happy birthday! We hope you have a wonderful day and got lots and lots of prezzies. Maddy says that since it's your birthday, he's expecting a pressie from you in the mail!

Oi Sole

Madison is speaking Samoan so well now that he speaks in slang too. A good example of this is how he adds the word "sole" to almost everything he says. Just the other night he asked mommy for some bubblegum and when mommy said no, he replied, "Leaga ia o mommy sole".

He's also developing a very strong independent personality, he must be the leader in everything he does. If the other kids don't want to go along with what he wants, he'd rather play by himself then go along with the crowd.

Home With Maddy

After spending the better part of yesterday on the golf course, I'm feeling a little worse for wear and have decided to take sick leave today. I must be getting older because it takes a lot longer for the aches and pains to go away after some exercise. It's either that or I'm really unfit! haha

It's going to be nice to spend some more time with my son today, he's growing up so fast.

Baby Nua - Madison's 2nd Cousin

Isn't she beautiful

Pool Day aka Father's Day

It was a scorcher today so I brought the pool out of storage and let the kids from the neighbourhood go crazy. It was big hit as you can see from the photos. Happy Father's Day to all the lucky fathers out there!

After 2 hours in the pool I sent the kids back home and now there is peace and quiet in the land, now that all the kids are all tuckered out.

Changing Things Up

I have decided to cancel Madison's geocities website and move it here. Updating two webpages has become a hassle and since I no longer have the software program that made updating the other webpage easier, this seems the logical thing to do.

Don't worry though, I'll post links to all of his photos and guestbook here and in the future I'll post all of his photos in his blog right here, and they'll be archived monthly with the rest of his stuff.

If you had his other page bookmarked, you might want to bookmark this page instead as this will become his new main page. Thanks!

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Happy Birthday BatGran!

I know today is the 8th but today is BatGran's birthday in New Zealand, so Happy Birthday BatGran! Rach, Maddy and I hope you have a wonderful day and save all the major major celebrations until we get there early next year! Love you!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today is Papa's 62nd birthday, malo lava Dad! Maddy and I just called Papa up on the phone but our reluctant hero got bashful all of a sudden and wouldn't utter a single word. We'll try calling again tonight, hopefully by then he'll have rediscovered his voice!

Face Painted

Maddy wanted to paint his own face but after a bit of persuasion he finally relented and let me do it for him.

He wanted a superman logo, a spiderman logo and a harry potter one.

I've yet to meet a kid that asked for a Jesus sign or a bible to be painted on his or her face.

I guess that's a sign of the times.

One Happy Kid

Maddy enjoyed his birthday party at McDonalds last night. It didn't take him long to get to sleep afterwards.

Click on any of the photos to see or download the original.