Back to the routine...

Went swimming with the kiddos yesterday. We had not been in in a while because they had Vacation Bible School all of last week. Or as I like to call it heaven. Just kidding. Truth be told after the first night I was very bored and missed everybody. I would get home from work and about 10 minutes later they would be off to church for about 3 hours. When they got home it was time for bed. I didn't see much of them or Kelly all week. I missed them so it was nice to get back to our ritual of swimming after work.

Ian wears his floaties and likes to jump in the water. I have to catch him and hold him otherwise he cries. I have let him go before and he is able to float by himself. Did so for about 20 seconds until he realized I wasn't holding him anymore; then judging by the decibel level of the scream, I'm sure the neighbors thought I had run over his toe with the car. My ears are still ringing.

Madison is a mermaid. She loves the water. And she is a good swimmer. She doesn't have all the mechanics down yet but we're working on it. I don't worry about her at all.

So we're sitting in the pool after Ian has gone in, I guess he doesn't have the affinity for the water that Madison and I do, and she says:

"Daddy, tell me a joke."

"OK"

...

"Daddy!?!?"

"I'm thinking."

...

"Do you know a joke?"

"I know lots of jokes."

"Then tell me one"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"They're not kid jokes. They're adult jokes."

"What's an adult joke?"

This was going very badly. So I started in on a joke about two guys at a bar, although I placed them in the park on a bench, when a big huge guy came up and asked one of the guys what time it was. The big guy had a high pitch squeaky voice. Very funny. The guy did not reply. The big guy asked again always with the squeaky voice this time visibly disturbed he wasn't being answered. No response. The third time the big guys asks he is rolling up his sleeves. The second guy on the bench tells him it's 10:15. The big guy leaves. The second guy asks the first guy why he didn't tell the big guy what time it was. Couldn't he tell he was about to get pummeled? The first guy turns to the second guy and says in the exact same high pitch squeaky voice, "I didn't want him to think I was making fun of him."

That was pretty much Madison's reaction too. Crickets. She laughed to be nice but it certainly was a pity laugh.

She asked for another so I said:

"How do you know there has been an elephant in the refrigerator? There are elephant prints in the butter."

At that moment I felt like Bill Cosby. She laughed and laughed. I was the funniest daddy on the planet.

Whew!

It's these times I remember most. I love her dance recitals and watching her sing at church but the one on ones, watching her face as she describes her wedding to Luke, her prince boyfriend, noticing her expressions and her mannerisms.

She emotes when she talks. It is very endearing.