i think i'm taking a real vacation

Nolan's birthday party was awesome. I was worried about having a house filled with teenagers (and early in the day, they drove me a few inches short of crazy) but they were actually a whole lot of fun to be around. Rather than treat us like we were embarrassing old parents, Nolan asked Anne and me to hang out with him and his friends as they played whiffle ball, swam in the pool across the street, and played on the bounce house-style slip-n-slide (oh my god the most fun, ever.)

I'm still sore from all the running and jumping, but it was a really good time. I see so many of their friends and peers who don't want to have anything to do with their parents, especially when they are around their friends, and I'm very grateful that Nolan and Ryan aren't like that. Oh, they are still occasionally Pod People (we've recently enjoyed a return of "'No' actually means ask me again in three minutes, then ask your mom, then come back and ask me again. Repeat this process until I give in or put a plastic bag over your head" which is about as much fun as you'd think,) but they're really great kids, and I think we've done a very good job raising them, so far. It's really nice to see the result of our parenting, you know?

My sister's engagement party on Sunday was great. Her future in-laws are all just awesome people, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better and bringing them into our family.

The kids are spending a week with their dad, leaving me and Anne here in an empty house and not a whole lot of responsibilities, so after almost six weeks of being little more than a voice on the phone, I'm going to spend this week being a husband instead of a blogger. I owe a story to the PokerStars Blog about an event I played in last week at the Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker, Games of our Lives will be back this week, and I'll still contribute to the Geek Wire at Suicide Girls, but I really don't feel like doing anything else right now.

So . . . I'll be back in a week or so. Until then, do whatever you have to so you can watch When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. I saw Acts I and II last night, and it's incredibly powerful.