Weekend wrap-up

Hi kids, Daddy here.


It was another exciting weekend for the Mansfields. On Saturday, Alex and I got up at 5 a.m. to get our stuff to the Big Sale at the convention center. I dropped Alex off after the last load and Cagle, Cristy and I stood there from 7 a.m. until 2 in the afternoon trying to sell all of our stuff. We sold all of it except that darn table and chair set. Will we ever get rid of this thing?  Still, we did ok. Made enough to buy and Xbox game or two, lol.

Also this weekend it was first Holy Communion for Claire Watkins and Serena Palmer and some other kids to. After Mass, we went to the Watkins for a great big get together. Alex asked if we'd stay for 5 hours, and we stayed for almost 5 hours exactly, lol. You guys got to ride horses for the first time.



We all had a good time, except when Izzy touched the yellow 'string', which was the electrified fence. Ouch! However, that pain was later dwarfed by when Jake got bit by a dog IN THE FACE! Jake did nothing to warrant this. It was just a mean old dog. I'm so sorry that happened to you buddy. But, in true Jake fashion he took it like a champ. You are an amazing human being son, and I'm proud to call you my son. All in all we had a pretty good weekend, and this coming week we can't wait to watch the play Peter Pan Jr. Alex is Captain Hook, Jake is a brave Indian, and Iz is a fairy, perfect rolls all around. Mom and me are so proud of you guys.I love you guys.

Daddy

Santa Rosa trip

Hi kids, Daddy here.

It's time for the Mansfield's to make another trek to GG and Snook's house. So Friday night we packed up Moya and headed down to Santa Rosa. Stopping on the way to get the bacon insider from Jack in the Box. It was okay.
When we arrive Friday night we checked in at Motel 6. It was far and away the worst motel experience of my entire life. The room REEKED of smoke. There were cigarette burns in the sheets, the bathroom door did not close all the way, the shower knob rattled in its fixture, and again it reeked like cigarette smoke. There were only two beds so all three of you had to get in one queen size bed. After much complaining and fighting, Izzy slept on the floor.
The next day, we begged GG to let us stay somewhere else. We called around to five different hotels but the only one we could find that had a room was the Hilton Garden Inn. For $320 a night! But because GG likes to spoil us, she said okay. So we drive over to check it out and, it was awesome! We loved it right away. All clean, no cigarette smell, heated indoor pool, plenty of room, free WiFi, Keurig coffee maker in the room, the bathroom door closed all the way,there was an ironing board in our room, it was heaven.

 We headed out for our daily fun to Scandia. Mini golf, go kart racing, video games, and a corn dog. We had a blast. Jake got two hole in ones, al got one. Another fun day at Scandia.



 Thanks GG. We went to dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack, which is always awesome. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a late night swim. Mama with an ice cream sandwich and daddy with a tall can. After our swim it was back to our heavenly room and all went to sleep.
The next morning we got up early and went to church at St Eugene's Cathedral.


It was a beautiful Catholic Church and it was Divine Mercy Sunday. The Deacon kind of looked like Stan Lee or so Al and I thought. The church was awesome.  After church, we met up with GG and Snooks and went to breakfast. Then it was time for our Santa Rosa tradition of going to the ice skating rink at the Charles Schulz museum. At first, mama and me were going to watch you guys skate, but GG  and Snooks really wanted to watch Mama and me skate too, so we got skates. And wouldn't you know it Mama and me had a great time ice skating.


We skated for a few hours and then went over to the gift shop and you guys got some souvenirs. Izzy: a cute shirt, Alex: a funny shirt, and Jake: a Charlie Brown figurine.  After a quick lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack again we were on the road. The ride home wasn't too bad and went pretty smooth. Back at home and looking forward to our next adventure. Mom and me love you guys so very much and all of our road trips. I hope one day you'll look back at all the time we got to spend together with fond memories. I know mom and me will. We are so blesses to have such a loving family. I love you guys,

Daddy

New Phones

Hi kids,
Daddy here. Well Mama and me finally decided to upgrade our cell phones. We got the brand new Samsung Galaxy s5. Let me tell you this might be one of the greatest inventions the human race has ever come up with.  This is the first picture I took on my new phone.

 We are eventually going to turn in our old iPhones but you guys have been so busy playing games and texting each other with phones that don't even have service, which I don't even understand, that we haven't got around to it yet. This is the first blog post that I've done simply by talking. Every so often a technology comes around that even blows daddy away. And the ability to blog via talking is pretty sweet . Lord knows what they'll have by the time you guys are my age. I'll post again soon. I love you guys.

Daddy

Easter

Hi Kids,

Daddy here. Well well well, ,we have spent quite a bit of time at St Joe's in the past few days with the boys serving in all the Tridium.

Holy Thursday Mass was Mama and Daddy's 15th wedding anniversary. 15 years, seems like a lifetime ago. I count myself as been very blessed to have her in my life for all this time. She is such a beautiful, wonderful woman, I hope one day you guys will be able to appreciate all she has done for us all, and continues to do every day. She is incredible, and she said yes when I asked her to marry me. How much luckier does a man get? We also thought it was pretty neat that we got communion from Deacon Mangas, as he was the one who married us all those years ago.

On Good Friday, I took a half a day off and after we went to Mass we hit the ol Midway of Fun and got haircuts and stuff.

On Holy Saturday morning the boys and I had Mass practice and then the Reagans came over for a BBQ. We had some awesome brats and some laughs. Then, we headed to the big one, the Holy Saturday Mass. The boys were both alter servers, and they did great. When I heard glass breaking, I looked straight at Jake, but he was not involved! Whew! I was the Exultet and had a very long reading, but I think I did O.K. I also read the second reading with was the one from Exodus with the chariots and charioteers that makes Mama laugh so much. Izzy fell asleep and after the whole big, beautiful production, we headed home. We stopped at Safeway and Alex and I ran in to get some stuff and speculated what it would have sounded like if Bob Moad had read the readings. "A reading from Expedia. Moses put his had out over water, Jews walked in. It was dry. Eg.....the Egyp......the horse guys went in after them.......they died." We were cracking each other up. Then, when we got home, we watched The Ten Commandments on TV. The one from 1956. And Al was offended by the special effects, denouncing them as, "Bush League" and "I've got an app on my tablet that can do better than that."

On Sunday, we had an easy morning and then headed over to Grammie and Papa's house for the Easter celebration. Everyone was there that day: Seth, Jula, Violet, Tia, Uncle PP, Grandma Dorthy, Uncle J & Henry. We had a great day of food, baseball, beers, candy, more food, and family. We are so very blessed to have so many wonderful people in this family. I love it when we all get together. I hope you guys understand the importance of spending time with your family and remember these times when you get as old as I am. I look forward to our next adventure. I love you guys.

Daddy

Midway of Scum

Hi Kids,
Daddy here. Well the time has come for the Mansfield family to hit the Ol Midway of Fun in the Mall parking lot. This year was a kind of passing the torch year, as Al is too big for most of the rides and SteveO is getting there too. Iz, however had a blast!

It begins

All in all, another great year at the Midway. Beautiful day and we even went over to the mall and hadsome pretzels. I just love hanging out wit you guys. I love you,

Daddy

Cap!

Hey Kids,
Daddy here. So, we traveled down to Corning this weekend for Jake's soccer game. The Strikers made a game of it for a while, but ultimately lost. It was easier to take because we softened the blow of the loss with lunch a a Mexican restaurant with Coach Jason and Heather and some of the guys from the team. Then, we came home and Iz and I got a few chores done and we had a nice relaxing Saturday night. Sunday, after church, the boys worked extra hard and cleaned the disaster area known as their room. It looks great, so as a reward, we went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We got there kinda late and had to sit all the way in the back, but we all agreed that the seats were great. The theater was full of dads and their kids which made it extra awesome for us, so we could cheer and yell as everyone else was too. The movie was totally awesome, we loved it!! We got the heads up from Cagle to stay for both of the secret endings, and they showed Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch!!! OMG! Cannot wait for Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers 2! As much as I love seeing these movies, you guys make it so much better. I'm so very glad I can share my love of this stuff with you. Thank you guys for being my movie buddies. I love you.

Daddy

Man Days!

Hey Kids,
Daddy here. Well, I'm back from the Man Days trip and glad to be home. Doc and I did Man days this time up in Bellevue, Wash. as he is doing a contract job up there. We went to eat at this terriyaki place and it was awesome. I had the crispy beef.

It was super good, but we had stuff to do! And by stuff, I mean, nothing! It is Man Days after all. We did however make it out to the Space Needle.

A Beer at the top of the Space Needle, not too bad old man, not too bad.

Doc is as amazed as I am

Just a selfie with my tall tall friend, that's all.

And Pike's Place

But all too soon, it was time to get on the road and head home. As we got on I-5 my phone said "Stay on I-5 southbound for 679 miles", ugh

Good lookin day.

Do people really need these anymore?!

We definitely need these though!

Anyway, it was great, but Daddy is glad to be back. When we got home, you all ran up to me and gave me a big hug and told me how much you missed me, I wish you guys would do that forever. It really makes it all worth it. I love you guys.

Daddy