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The Team

Several years ago, My ex-wife Alissa and I were discussing how fast the kids were growing up. Alissa referenced a story from not-so-long ago that I couldn’t recall. This somewhat struck me as sad for two reasons:

(1) I forgot that specific memory (no shocker with my memory)

(2) I thought of all the day-to-day funny things that we do that I will eventually forget

Together we discussed this and I decided to create this blog for us. I imagine this blog to be the memories of daily stories, milestones, and a record of goofy stuff that happens. Someday I imagine this as a gift for our kids to track their youth and document what wonderful parents we are…

Enjoy!

Fun Facts

6/25/2017

Well, I think it is a time for some updates to this blog, eh?

Alec’s official  ‘I care what I look like’ occurred in the last year. He started using gel in his hair which is clearly the final transition from kid to young man. He pulls his socks up to his knees because that’s the look? and he is always showered and presentable. Alec is not a picky eater, at all. He seems to love most everything but especially hard granola bars, pretzel bites and popsicles.   Alec doesn’t sleep in much and is usually the first one up. He loves any movie with some form of shooting that is rated more mature than his current pay grade. He loves playing games on his phone and still likes to talk and ask questions about life. Side note, his phone has been broken for over a year and he never got it fixed. I’m not sure if he is too lazy, cheap or doesn’t like change. I think it is a combo of all of these. He has grown about 4 inches in the last year and is now significantly taller than his mother. Alec is an antagonist quite a bit and still rile his brother and sister up until they ultimately get into a fight or someone gets hurt. Alec always orders more food than he can eat. He has an optimistic stomach. Alec can be extremely shy and almost died when he found out the cross-country team runs without their shirts. #antangonismclubpresident #wonderfulkid

Owen has also grown up physically. Not as much as Alec but he pulled vertically this year and he is still one big muscle. His favorite pastimes include hounding everyone on a topic (I want a dog!), eating and drinking strange concoctions on dares for money, and playing video games. Owen is always currently picky about one food or another. The current hated it at some point and then lost his hate for it list includes: hamburgers, rice, salad dressing and yogurt. Owen exaggerates points a lot fueling my fear that he may blur the line so much that he believes them as true. He processes a lot in that mind of his and he is very quick-witted and humorous. Owen still refuses help often preferring to figure things out on his own which usually leads to a good better-than-you’d-expect-but-still-not-as-good-as-if-he-asked solution. Owen still tries to order wings everywhere we go. I don’t quite understand this as the wings he gets at non-wing establishments are almost ALWAYS gross and he doesn’t like them. Owen loves the chase of money but doesn’t love the hard work associated with making it. Ideas that got as far as definition but then stalled due to the need to actually do something include: start a lawn cutting business, get signatures on a baseball  and sell them, make Buckeye Christmas ornaments, have a garage sale, and many others. Owen has an active imagination that will no doubt lead him to something phenomenal.  #stubbornandindependant #hugeheart

Zoe still loves to sing. She is cute in how she is trying very hard to learn lyrics to songs. She often coordinates with her friends to make up dances, handshakes, fist bumps, and sayings. She does not like when I add my Dad-libs to songs, purposely adding my own lyrics or trying to guess lyrics I don’t know while singing with her. Zoe has her Dad’s taste buds. She loves everything sausage, cheese and meat.  Actually, she likes just about everything except  oatmeal. She has a relatively sensitive stomach which sometimes flares up. She loves the Slurpees at the local gas station and always uses my .. slam the cup down to level the top… trick. She is transitioning to young lady but she is still 92% kid, 8% almost teen. She loves hanging with her friends and having fun. She has a very fun spirit to her that is part sarcasm, part jokester and part goof ball. Mix it up and we always have a fun time when we are together. She still loves being mauled and crushed – literally – by her brothers. It’s common  for her to say something to me or her brothers like, “sit on my back”, “try to crush me”, “squeeze as hard as you can.” Zoe also has kinda big feelings right now. Drives her mother crazy but she seems to personalize a lot that really isn’t as targeted as she makes it. Her brothers push this button a lot and wont let go. Zoe can be tough as nails and doesn’t seem to like or make much drama. #girlpower #funlovingspirit

Below this line is Pre-2015:

Every night, Mom and I still go around and tuck you in, kiss you if we can and/or just say goodnight. You are always still asleep. Zoe will wake up but the boys sleep through.

Each of you has a night light and a secondary night light. The secondary lights are Owen’s fish tank, Zoe’s fiber optic colorful light and Alec’s spider man mask and lizard cage. Alec will also periodically leave his closet light on, too.

Each of you comes down the stairs differently. We can 100% tell who it is. A quick pace is Alec. A slower but consistent pace is Zoe. And an alternating Thump-Thump, Thump-Thump is DEFINITELY Owen.

Zoe loves her hair after she has slept with a french braid. It is curly and she likes that. She refuses to wear the french braid to school even though Mom and I say it is cute.

Alec has started to alert us that fashion matters. He wants certain shoes or “Under Armour.” When he does get it, he feels very good about himself.

Owen wears clothes that never fit. He could care less, but he wears old clothes that are inches too short or pajamas that are way too tight. Generally, for school, he looks good but when that’s not clean he could care less wearing something that doesn’t fit. Very different from his brother and sister.

Alec has to change the cat litter and recently realized he could engage us in negotiations. He was right so we ended up at 25 cents per emptying if he tracked them. ( HE WONT) His original offer was 2$ per empty to which I said… “If that is your rate, I will get rid of the cat!”

The Wing Challenge

Sunday, July 23. Owen and I set out on an adventure to try and rate 3 of Buffalo’s highest rated chicken wing restaurants. Why Buffalo? Because that is where it all started at the Anchor Bar and still gets extremely high ratings in national contests. Oh, yeah… it was also on our way to our vacation in Niagara Falls, ON.

Our 3 prestigious sites will be

• Anchor Bar – The place it all started. Starting as a late night snack from Teressa Bellissimo for her son and his friends, the chicken wing leaped from soup stock base to main dish.
• Gabriel’s Gate – Rated as a top 10 in the country by an online survey and described as an old 1864 row-house that just does “em better – not only better than the original, but better than almost anyone in the country.”
• Duff’s Famous Wings – Rated high in many surveys and as the best in the country, this place has such a following that President Obama himself paid a visit. One article said that “there’s some sort of magic in their sauce, which is unbelievably flavorful, and even after a dousing the wings stay crispier than you’ll find just about anywhere else…

Our complicated rating system was derived on the 4 hour ride to Buffalo. It would be:

• Flavor – Good flavor and some heat. Bottom line, how tasty are these tiny wonders?
• The Crunch – Do they offer crunch like a good wing?
• Napkin Factor – Literally, how many napkins do we use as we eat the wings? Was originally wet factor but that sounded gross.
• Service – How well are we treated during our stay? We are celebrities, after all.
• Restaurant Ambiance – Would we want to come back here or is this place a dump?
• Comfort – Hard to enjoy a good wing when you are on a stool. Can we chillax as we eat our wings?
• Cost – They are chicken wings after all, not steak!

The Results:

Anchor Bar – The place screams historic. Quite literally as there is a huge sign out front that says it’s historic! The ambiance is hard to avoid. License plates from all over, hanging motor cycles, statue of liberty holding wings… there are decorations and photos on every inch of the place. But it was clear from the first step that this is not a chain restaurant. The photo’s on the wall are personal and signed. The tables and chairs have been there a very long time. The building doesn’t feel like it was built from a blue print but grew and expanded over time. This is no Applebee’s. Our ratings were:

• Flavor –
  • Medium hot – 8 – Light heat and almost a tabasco like flavor.
  • Hot BBQ – Owen gave it a 7, I gave it a 9
• The Crunch – 10 – The bones were edible this thing was so crunchy.
• Napkin Factor – Medium – 5 napkins for 10 wings or a 2-to-1 ratio of wings to required napkins.
• Service – 9. Smiling and fast fast fast. Almost too fast.
• Restaurant Ambiance – 10 – This place felt like it should. The pictures, notes and letters were very cool!
• Comfort – 6.5 – I guess those old school seats and tables come with a cost. They were not super comfortable.
• Cost – Medium-high. almost $1.30 per wing seems high.

Gabriel’s Gate – Tucked away in a unique corner of Buffalo, this restaurant was in an old house. When you walk in, you can tell something is unique. The decor is awesome carved wood, animal heads adorn the bar and old paintings, mirrors and decorations give the place an appropriate antique feeling. To quote Owen, “This place is cool!” Ratings, please!!

• Flavor – Medium hot – 7.5
• The Crunch – 8 – Not super crunchy, but still a crunch you noticed. Very nicely done.
• Napkin Factor – Light – 4 napkins for a light 3-1 ratio of wing to napkin. The sauce covered the wings but there wasn’t much left on the plate for us to soak up with our fries.
• Service – 8 – Extremely nice waitress and food came up timely.
• Restaurant Ambiance – 10 – The house, decorations and carved features were really interesting and added to our conversation.
• Comfort – 7.5 – Our booth was ornate carved wood but it was ornate carved wood and the table felt tight. A touch too small for my liking.
• Cost – Medium – At slightly more than a $1 a wing, this seemed like a normal price.

Duff’s Famous Wings – High expectations for this location as we ended up our day here. Owen almost gave up his dream of Duff’s but fought through the pain. We arrived at 9 PM to the Niagara Falls, NY location. The place had a sports bar feel to it and I wasn’t surprised this was one of several locations. It felt a bit like a repeatable format and didn’t have a ton of personality. Quickly seated, we got right to the task at hand. Ratings:

• Flavor – Medium hot – 9 – A strong sauce taste and heat that smacked you in the face. You could smell the flavor when the wings hit the table!
• The Crunch – 7 – Not bad not great.
• Napkin Factor – Heavy – 8 napkins for by far the best napkin to wing ratio a 3-2 ratio of wing to napkin. The sauce looked like they poured a cup of it on the wings. Owen got sauce from ear to ear BARELY covering his smile.
• Service – 6 – They were very busy and the food came up slow. No big deal, but noticeable.
• Restaurant Ambiance – 6 – Not much personality.
• Comfort – 7.5 – Think normal booth.
• Cost – Medium – At slightly more than a $1 a wing, this seemed like a normal price.

And the winner is:

Dad – The wings at Gabriel’s were the best actual wing. Just the right size and meatiness. But the well prepared wings just had too subtle of a flavor/sauce factor for me. Duff’s had excellent sauce flavor but they were so wet – dare I say too wet – for me. Almost sloppy and the order was more about the sauce than the wing. The winner for me was the original – Anchor Bar! The wings were cooked to crunchy perfection and the sauce was good enough to gain my vote. The BBQ wings were so flavorful with heat and I think molasses. Delicious. The original could of used more sauce but the sauce itself was delicious. I’m also a sucker for real nostalgia. I loved the place and given the 3, I’d go back here every time!

Owen – No WAY! He would move into Duff’s if he could. The sauce flying, napkins crushed everywhere scene was all Owen. He loved the heat and the experience of these meaty nuggets of goodness. He got greedy and even ate more than his share. If he wasn’t already sick from all the wings he would of ordered more. He loved the sauce and used every piece of celery and carrots to get as much as he could in him. He was in high hog heaven.

Everything considered, none of these were overrated in our books. They were all delicious and well worth the accolades they received!

Washington DC !!!!

This summer, I decided to take each kid on their own mini-vacation. Alec and I headed to Washington DC for our trip to take in America’s birthday at the capital. I really enjoyed this trip in so many ways. We really had a great time talking and hanging out in a very interesting location.

We left at 5 AM on July 3rd. Needless to say, Alec was very tired and he fell asleep for an hour. The trip was 6 hours long but didn’t seem that long.  I had printed off a bunch of information on the monuments and museums and Alec read those facts for the last leg of the trip. We parked the car outside of DC at the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station on the red line and hopped on the train. Down about 7 stops we got off at our hotel on Dupont Circle.

Our hotel, the Fairfax on Embassy Row, was clean, quaint and slightly upscale. Alec hadn’t stayed in many hotels so he loved it. He seemed very impressed with the bed, the slippers and the robe – not to mention the awesome refrigerator.

Washington was just a blast. Friday we started at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. We saw an IMAX movie and then we quickly went to a play, One Destiny. This was in the Ford Theater where Lincoln’s assassination occured. Very cool! The theater was small and intimate and it was fascinating to sit where the president had been assassinated. We also went on a night tour that we both agreed was our favorite activity for the entire trip. The monuments were very powerful at night. We made stops at the Korean War, Iwo Jima, Lincoln, FDR and MLK monuments.  We also saw Washington, Jefferson, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Arlington. We collapsed into bed at midnight.

Side note, Alec fell asleep for a few minutes and missed the only view of the White House we had the whole trip. In essence, he missed it. Poor guy!

Saturday we went to the parade. It was a fun parade (no candy) and had a lot of bands and unique marchers. Alec’s favorite part was the drunk guy who joined the parade with his shirt off tied to a stick like a flag. We then went to the Tidal Basin where the Jefferson, FDR and MLK Memorial’s were. The whole city was really on high alert and there were fences that made getting around tough. But we enjoyed walking around. We sat on the Capital lawn for fireworks which were awesome going off behind the Washington Memorial.

Sunday was museums and sight seeing before we headed out around 4 PM.

Favorite moments:

• Night tour – It was a beautiful night and the open top bus gave us great views.
• Rain Storm – We got stuck at the Korean War Memorial for 45 minutes in an absolute downpour. We played the card game War and tried to stay dry under a 40 inch umbrella. That didn’t work and we were completely drenched.
• The Parade – It was just cool to be at the capital for the 4th.
• Chilling Out – We got pizza, played cards for an hour in some nook during a rainstorm and took silly pictures with the Washington Memorial coming out of Alec’s head. Just a blast catching up!
• Museums – The wide array of options and the fact they were free made the museums cool. I liked the Natural History Museum the most. Alec also loved the Air and Space Museum.

Yellowstone Funny Memories

Walking into the “Corn Palace” which is a gymnasium setup with corn art up to 50 feet tall all over the walls and a large gift shop on the court. The corn art is of hunters shooting at overhead geese, a replica of mount Rushmore and an Indian village. Different corn is used to create these amazing mosaics. Alec walks in and in awe says… “Look at that gift shop!”

On the way to Alissa’s birthday dinner, we talked about staying the extra day on our vacation or heading home early. We stopped at the “Mud Pots” on the way to the restaurant. The kids complained of the walk and were generally cranky. When we got there, the lack of rain over the last few weeks made the mud pots less than amazing. Their colors were still amazing. Bright reds, striking browns and milky whites. Owen summed it up for the kids when he said “This is soooo last week.” We left to go home early the next day.

On our first family hike, we had to walk quite a ways to get to Cascade Lake. We saw buffalos, wild flowers, bones and signs for bears. Getting there was a tad more than we thought though so we passed time with a game. 3 clues were given towards an object or person. They kids had to guess the object. “Red, Siren, Axes” was a fire truck. “400 pounds, big poop, growl” was a bear. On the trip home, Zoe was quite unhappy with the effort verse reward. She wasn’t loving the wildflowers. She came up with her own version of our game with “Can you guess this one? I hates this walk, my feet hurt and name ends in OE? Can you guess who this is?”  We limited our hikes after this one.

2013 Family Trip In Photos

Sandbox Camelot

Who new it, but the sandbox is a fun and interesting little perspective into our emerging little leaders growing dynamics. Allow me to explain:

Yesterday was a beautiful Sunday. Sunny and 80 degrees and the first full day of sun to get stuff done around the yard. Mom and I work diligently from 9:00 AM until 5:30 PM. I bet you kids might even remember the day. It’s the day I put in the stone walkway, tore off the sides of the deck and moved the huge bush in the front of the house. You might remember because you helped out a ton doing the work and even hauling the bush. I also taught the boys how to put a stone path in ( you were very unimpressed and uninterested) and everyone how to find something lost in mulch ( don’t shift all the stuff up and instead just look with your eyes taking different angles).  I sincerely doubt you will remember the lessons but will remember the tasks and your work.

Well, intertwined in this highly productive day was hours of play time for you and insight for Mom and I.

The Good: You three played all day in the sand. Quite literally for 3 or more hours you made use of the infamous “Pirates Cove.” You made competing fortress’ and forts. Complete with two types of buildings, moats, and wall. Alec made a towering wall of branches while Owen and Zoe formed a partnership to build their moats with lava stones. Owen proposed ideas for a battle with rules, points, money and lava fields. There were powers to be won and battles to be won. I was able to come over and teach everyone the finer skills of making buildings by compacting the sand and using a small bat ( NO idea where that came from) to tap the sides to loosen the sand toward  perfect building. Owen and Zoe eventually split off to form their own lands. It was a wonderful time in the Kingdom of Sand.

All the while, Mom and I periodically tuned i. During one break, we got a water and in the distance  we just glowed over you. You  were kind, supporting, laughing… all together. It was an image we can take to the grave with us.

The Bad: Slowly in the Kingdom of Sand communications started to break down. At first it was a rules discussion and debate. Someone had either violated a sacred rule or the rule was not clear. This led to anger and fear that the alliances were dissolving. Owen destroyed his own forts in anger of this and tempers flared. Eventually, after lunch, the differences were resolved – for the moment. Zoe eventually claimed more land than everyone was comfortable with. Alec became frustrated by Owen’s rules. Owen was growing angry over an inequality of time with the building materials. Slowly, surely and more and more aggressively the alliances broke down. Zoe told on her brothers twice and the evening culminated with Alec throwing sand in Owen’s face because he had warned him “twice” to stop something.

Joy, harmony and a slice of heaven had dissolved to anger, fighting and time-outs. Our bright sunny day had turned dark and stormy.

Lesson from this… Someday, when you read this, realize that spending too much time together can eventually represent itself in anger and emotion. This happens frequently, so I think this is a new law. It will happen, but when it does, let everything cool down and don’t overreact. Eventually, tempers will calm down and you will probably  the night snuggling and watching Sponge Bob on TV.

Life of Owen

In an update dedicated to my Owen, here are some fun things going on in his life.

Owen recently lost a tooth. In traditional Owen fashion, he wrote a note to go with his tooth asking the tooth fairy for more than the traditional amount. I believe he was going to aim for $20 until I talked to him about being greedy and that he might get nothing if he did that. He cleaned up the wording and added an I love you at the end and asked for $9 or $4. He was rewarded with $3, which is $1 more than the usual $2.

Owen also lost another tooth. Story time. Mom was working, so I took the kids to Uncle Scott and Aunt Chris’ and the kids were playing outside. Owen rushed in. “Dad, Dad” he said bleeding from his mouth but with a huge smile “Alec just knocked out my tooth with his BUTT!”  Running off to the bathroom, I went to ask Alec how that could happen, to which Alec replied “Did he tell you he was trying to bite it!” No.. he did not.

Owen is doing well at school. He has really grown in second grade. He has topics / subjects where he is very smart and others where he struggles. Mom and I have uncovered this has a direct relationship to how much he likes a topic. He tries so hard sometimes and we love his effort.

Going to bed the other night, I was reminded what a kind a creative heart Owen has. Mom and I keep finding little notes in our bed that say I Love You.. or Thank you for spending time with us. These are accompanied by some drawings and in true Owen surprise fashion, signed… GUESS WHO? We love it.

I am coaching Owen’s soccer team. We are struggling a bit to agree on appropriate effort in practice. Owen wants to quit when not interested (see school comments above) so we have had to have several extra “sessions” when I feel his motivation isn’t where it needs to be. These have included 7:00 AM Saturday workouts and extra running time after practice. All said, I love coaching Owen when he is trying. It is fun and he could be very good.

We are planning our Yellowstone trip and we put out a jar to save money. Owen decided to put his own money in this jar. While we appreciated this incredibly kind gesture, we just setup his own piggy bank. He is quite excited and is very interested in the trip.

Love you buddy!

2012 Martell Christmas Notes

In what was a fun Christmas, the kids really had some fun moments for me to witness.

First off, Owen got nice things but was slightly disappointed. As an example, Aunt Megan made Owen amazing boxes for Owen to store his collections in. Unaware of this, Owen kept opening the boxes thinking it was a joke. It wasn’t. That was the gift. We all had a good laugh, but for the moment Owen was disappointed. He will learn to love those boxes but in the moment, he was amazing. He was appreciative for gifts in general and he said all the right things. He did not even let on to Grandma when she gave him something he already has. He just said thanks. I was extremely proud of him.

Alec got amazing gifts. A bow, a lava lamp and others. He was also his usual appreciative but he also played a ton with Taylor. He said to me later that night “Dad, I really think I bonded with Taylor! We really connected.” Which was very heart warming and also insight into how much a kid can open up his heart to someone. Taylor was great with Alec and he will really be looking forward to his next visit with his much older cousin. Alec also played a ton with his 2nd cousin, baby Charlie. Alec and Libby seem to be growing apart a little bit so he ends up finding fun all over the place. Alec will always be able to create joy for himself no matter where he is. 

Zoe was just good all around today. No real story. She got some very nice doll accessories. She doesn’t realize it now, but she is getting an American Girl doll tomorrow. So these were advance views of that, but she just thought they were for her current dolls. She was very well behaved and played a ton with her nieces.

Side note.. I thought this was cute. Alec sometimes reminds me of a 65 year old man. Loves his pajamas, very responsible… but today I almost laughed when my 10 year old son moaned when I turned the station from the news to a college basketball game. “Dad, I love to watch the news!”… So cute.

Merry Christmas kids…

Decorating the Tree

It is always a fun night when we decorate the tree. You guys love to hear about how this ornament was before any of you were born.. or that this one has only one baby on it because we only had Alec.. or that Dad made this one when he was your age…

Funny moment was that we have an ornament for each of you that says.. as an example.. Oldest Child and Mom’s Favorite. Zoe only saw this one and almost cried. We let her pout for a second before we revealed that each kid had the same ornament saying Mom’s Favorite. She was so happy that Alec wasn’t Mom’s only favorite.

Zoe’s Letter to Santa

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