No, that is not Troy’s Halloween costume this year. He was just jealous of Jeff’s pretty tiara and earrings, so I picked up this little number for him at the dollar store. It suits him, don’t you think? It brings out the sparkle in his eyes.

Nah, not really. I mean, Troy does wear the tiara well, but it’s not his. It was one of the toys Annalie packed in her bag to play with on the plane trip home from Texas last weekend. She wore it herself for a while. When she got bored with that, she gave it to me to wear. It only lasted about ten seconds on my head before she pulled it asked me to give it back. Then she handed it to Troy.

“Here, Daddy, you put this on. Let me put this blanket around your neck for decoration and…there! Now you can be the princess and I can be the prince!”

“But I’m a boy,” Troy pointed out. “Can’t I be the prince?”

“No, your highness!” Annalie chirped. (For reasons I have not figured out she often employs a sing-songy falsetto when she’s playacting. It gets used most often when she is a baby, dolphin, or cat.) She straightened out Troy’s tiara. “You look so lovely today, your highness! May I have this dance?”

Troy good-naturedly gave in and played along, agreeing he’d love to dance but wondering how they were going to manage that when they had to keep their seat belts on. That was when I got my camera out.

Troy rolled his eyes slightly at me, but he knew there was no way I could be dissuaded. I don’t think he really minded much. After all, he was just being a good dad and making his daughter happy. Nothing to be ashamed of in keeping your kid entertained on a long flight. That’s practically a public service!

Once upon a time Troy and I were at Target doing some household shopping. Troy was almost out of shaving gel, so it was on our list. I was standing in the aisle waiting while Troy opened various cans and sniffed the contents. “I really like the scent of the one I have at home, but I don’t remember what it’s called,” he explained.

“Do you remember what brand it was? The color of the can?” I asked.

“Mmm…not really, they all kinda look alike,” Troy replied. He went on with his task and smelled a couple more shaving gels. Then he hit paydirt.

“This is it! I found it!” He tossed the can into the cart.

“Well, what scent is it? Tell me and I’ll remember,” I said.

Troy grabbed the shaving gel out of the cart and twisted it around so he could read the label. “Let’s see, it’s…unscented?! Oh, man.”

I still tease him about that.

I know I wrote a post, like, five minutes ago about how I never manage to keep up with uploading photos and posting when I’m on vacation, and here I am writing another one. I was downloading yet MORE photos from my cameras—the fancy-schmancy Nikon D40 and a Sony Cybershot that I keep in my purse—and I came across some that made me remember a funny snippet from the day. I wanted to share it before it gets lost in my brain while I’m sleeping tonight.

We went swimming this afternoon and the pool was empty except for us and two ladies water-walking for exercise. When it was nearly time for us to go, I got out of the pool and had a quick rinse in the outdoor shower, dried off, and took some photos. So when Troy and Annalie got out of the pool there was no one else waiting to use the shower.

Troy went first so he could adjust the water to the right temperature. Also, we know from previous experience that Annalie likes to take her time as the outdoor shower is a novelty to her. But the 60 seconds Annalie had to wait for Troy to finish was apparently excruciatingly long. She pleaded for Troy to let her go first, exclaimed that she was freezing, and jerked her thumb behind her as she said, “Look at the long line of people waiting, Daddy! C’mon!”

I laughed at that one. “Annalie, YOU are the line. There’s no one else waiting.”

“Well, all those people,” she waved airily at the two ladies in the pool and a couple lounging in deck chairs, none of whom looked like they planned to shower anytime soon. “They might come over here any second! Hurry up, Dad!”