There’s only one thing for sure that will tear these two away from the tv or computer for an extended period of time.

It’s Yu-Gi-Oh.

Well… that and the fact that Netflix has decided to cop an attitude and not play on our Wii.

Stupid Netflix.

But mainly it’s Yu-Gi-Oh. And they can stare at those cards for hours.

Zane and Eliana and I got our nerd on today.

We went to see The Avengers.

You know… that little sleeper of a movie by Joss Whedon?

The one that everybody else in the country went to see LAST weekend?

We figured $200 million wasn’t enough for ol’ Joss so we helped to pad his wallet a bit more.

Us and the other, maybe, 2 dozen people that were in the theater this afternoon.

Oh… and it was awesome, by the way.

I love it when we can catch our kids just hanging out together.

No games.

No computers.

No television.

Only conversation.

Karys is a blue jeans kinda girl. She loves some denim.

But occasionally she strays from the norm. Like this morning. She had on a little outfit with black leggings that she wore in this series of photos.

As Karys stumbled up to the breakfast table, Zane - who was already sitting down - looked at her and asked, “Why are you dressed kinda old-fashioned?”

I defended her quickly in an effort to avoid a scene so early in the day. Because Lord knows… with Karys, it doesn’t take much to be the recipient of her “stink eye”.

“She is not dressed old-fashioned. She’s just wearing something different.”

“Well, it kinda looks like it’s from the 80s or something.”

There was a 30-minute window of time this evening when Zane and Eliana were home alone.

Sandwiched between Carmi leaving with Karys for family reading night at school and my returning home from trio practice at church, the dynamic duo decided to test out Carmi’s recently-purchased Hamilton Beach Personal Blender.

I knew something was up as soon as I walked in from the garage. Eliana greeted me with a “h-i-i-i-i-i d-a-a-a-a-a-d” that reeked of mischief.

“And what are YOU doing?” I asked, half afraid of the answer.

“We made a smoothie,” she beamed.

Zane was quick to add with a smile, “But we didn’t make it e-x-a-c-t-l-y like the recipe.”

The smoothie looked creamy and delicious.

It LOOKED delicious.

It LOOKED much better than it tasted. Bless their hearts.

They mixed together milk, mint chocolate chip ice cream and a whole banana. They were also supposed to add chocolate syrup. But when they couldn’t find any syrup, they must have used half an 8-oz container of Hershey’s special dark cocoa for that one-of-a-kind chalky taste.

My precious daughter was thoughtful enough to save a small glass of the frothy concoction. Just. For. Me.

But you see that tall glass next to the blender? It was full. And Eliana drained it.

It’s no wonder, then, that Eliana came up to me a little later, laid her head on my shoulder and said, “Dad, I don’t feel too good.”

I was impressed with their ambition. I really was. But we’ll hide the blender before leaving them home alone again.

So… what were YOU doing 3 years ago today?

Us? Nothing much. Just flying to China with a (then) 6-year-old and 3-year-old in tow.

There was a young boy, who has since turned into a young man, waiting for us on the other side of the world.

Zane is 16 years old today.

So you know what I’ve been doing at home this morning? Besides laundry?

Checking into drivers ed. Yeeha!

Happy Birthday, buddy. Mom and I love you.

We appreciate the degree of maturity that you show. Most of the time.