I was being a little harsh with Griffin as I hurried him to bed for the umpteenth time, when he turned to me with his face all scrunched up in mock anger and said, "I'm going, you big, stupid man!"

It was a great weekend in Vail. On Saturday morning, we hooked Griffin up to Pam's bike in the burley trailer, Rowan rode behind me on the trail-a-bike, and Berit rode under her own steam on her one-speed. From East Vail to the way cool playground at Ford Park and then into Vail for lunch, we rode as a family. It's about 7 miles, and we rode there and back, which I thought was INCREDIBLE for Berit. No complaining, either.

Early in the ride, though, she seemed to lose control around a corner for no reason and ditched off the side of the trail. She was luckily not hurt.

If Griffin's not throwing a fit or destroying something just for the sheer fun of it, he's usually merely not paying attention to what I'm telling him to do.

Right now, he's screeching at the top of his lungs.

We all went to Berit's opening night of Seussical the Musical on Thursday. She played a Who. She was very cute singing and dancing up there in her Who outfit with all the other Whos, and she even had a line:

"It came without tags."

We feared she'd get into trouble with the director for all the discreet waving and smiling at us.

Berit turned 7 years old on Saturday, and I'm already getting a glimpse of how I will see less and less of her the older she gets. She had Bridey sleep over on Thursday night and Elena on Friday. On Saturday, she had play practice for Seussical the Musical and had Mason over for pizza and ice cream that night. Even though she spent the nights at our house, I felt like I didn't spend any time with her at all. And last night, she slept over at Kiki's house.

Sigh.

It's funny when your kids start to pick up on your slang (unless your slang is profanity... then it's not funny).

Rowan is showing me how a floor lamp works at Grammy's house:

"See Daddy... you turn it on here (demonstrates)... and you turn it off here... THAT'S CRAZY!"

During the July 4 fireworks, Griffin covered his eyes and never uncovered them. He didn't scream and cry in dismay. He just sat on my lap very very silently with his eyes covered the whole time.

Sedona gave me peace. I am one with my fatherhood.

Tonight, Rowan cried miserably because she wanted a different tape than Berit wanted.

Griffin combined AIM toothpaste and Sunscreen lotion in our bathroom and left it on the carpet.

Berit and her friend Bridey ended up crying and not talking over a disagreement as to which blanket to lay beneath them and which on top.

I am one.

It's Fathers Day, 2004. We're in Sedona, AZ. Berit is practicing her little keyboard piano; Rowan is playing with dolls in her room; and Griffin is running around like a maniac being Super Naked Boy, as usual.

Sedona is excellent! The huge red rock formations are beautiful. We've enjoyed the pool both days that we've been here, and yesterday hiked up the Cathedral Rock Trail - hot, beautiful terrain, all scrub, cactus, and lizards - to the rope swing swim hole. It's been a blast so far.

And Pam's sending me to 2 hour Ashtanga Yoga for fathers day!

We're on our way to a week's vacation in Sedona, AZ, but first we've got to get there. We've been driving all day from Central Colorado down to Central New Mexico. Berit is exhausted and exasperated with all the driving, and it's starting to show on her.

"I think I'm going to explode!!" she bursts.

"Berit..." Rowan innocently retorts,"people don't explode!"