swing, baby, swing

Park Pals

When I was working at the church, we started a small group for young married couples. One of the best things I have ever done. To this day (over a year later), even though we all go to different churches now, we still get together and keep up. Amazingly enough, we all decided to have babies and start families at the same time.

So far, Caden's face in the bottom picture is one of my favorites caught on film. I can't articulate what it looks like he is thinking about. If you have any ideas, leave a comment with your opinion.

Papa Pate's B-day

Dad's birthday is bitter sweet. Sweet because we are glad to have him around another year. The man lived a hard life, and one time as a joke I took him to deathclock.com. If you haven't been there it is a very unscientific site that calculates when you are going to die based on a few answered questions. When I put dad's info in, it said he should have died in 1992, so everyday is a gift for this guy. Bitter because he is a incredibly hard guy to shop for. As a kid, I remember he has a weak spot for watches, he was always buying cheap watches that he bought spontaniously at a convenient store (who buys watches at convenience stores). So this year, I got him 2. Happy b-day pops.
And by the way, my boy Caden Crusoe is sporting his socks soccer style, you got to train them while they are young.

The Lawn Seats

Janelle and I enjoying a Chicago with Huey Lewis and the News concert. I grew frustrated as Chicago veered away from the classics by opting to play the new crap. All in all, Huey Lewis and his boys brought their A-game. Highly recommend if they come to your area.
Also, enjoy one of Janelle's photo experiments.

The Real Big Screen

Some pics of us catching a movie at a local park. But with all the kids (and mosquitoes) there, Janelle and I decided it was not appropriate to make-out like we normally do.

There he blows!!!

The swimsuit edition for all you ladies. Believe it or not, he actually loved being in the luke warm (instead of hot) tub.

click on pics to enlarge

Baby Soft

After several wet diapers, we decided it was more efficient just to keep him in the dryer. And hey, everything smells like a baby now.

Caden after his first drunken haze

Caden First Photo Shoot for a Romantic Novel

Broketoe Mountain

Let me premise this story by stating that I am practically a lumberjack (or lumberjohn) and am no novice with an ax. But as I was chopping down a tree old school style (chainsaws are for sissies) with my brand new ax, I caught a freakish richete and it landed on my foot. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt and I was going to continue with my laborious task, until I realized that my shoe had a slit in it. Upon looking at it further I realized that I had "grazed" my toe, so I went inside to put a band-aid on my nick. It wasn't until I found my blood soaked sock that I realized I needed stitches so I went to the hospital. Yada, yada, yada.... I cut into the bone. I broke my toe... WITH AN AX!!
At least now, I got a cool boot from the hospital and an excuse not the exercise.

The Big Bang

A new tradition of the Pates (2nd year running) is to beat the crowd by going to a local minor league game on the 4th of July (this year it fell on the 3rd) for the post game fireworks. Caden's first show went well, even though I can't be sure he still has all of his hearing. The lovely girl with us is my cousin Kaitlyn who will be staying with us for a while. As you might have picked up, her name is awfully similar to Caden's, so I am using this opportunity to try to get Janelle to call him by his much cooler name "Crusoe" (2 syllables).

Attack of the Dingi

The Dingus'es (Dingi) stayed with us for the weekend on their way to the beach. Yes, that is 4 kids, and yes I am exhausted. But they are welcome back anytime.