October 13 – “Secret identity revealed”

“Knock, knock”

“Who’s there?”
“Abana”
“Abana, who?”
“Abana Fit”

And so went the entertainment during my trip to take Caleb to the bathroom last night.  We were at a Mexican restaurant somewhere near Josh and Christi’s house here in San Antonio.  The food was pretty good, by the way.  I had beef quesadillas, Chris had tamales, Josh and Christi split some fajitas, and Zak had chicken strips and French fries.  Caleb just munched on some rice and soft tortillas.  Check it out next time you are in northwest San Antonio.  I think the name was whatever the Spanish word for Roadrunner is.  There were images of roadrunners everywhere.  Chiseled in a big rock outside on the patio.  Printed on the menus.  Painted on the floor.  They even had a huge roadrunner carved out of a tree in the lobby.  Big enough for the boys to crawl up on and ride like a horse.  Yee hah, right?  Great playground outside for the kids to play as well.  Apparently because I was holding his hand as we left, I got the honor of escorting Caleb for that final potty break that every self-respecting three year old boy (and 59 year old geezer, for that matter) needs before the long car ride home from … anywhere.  I didn’t realize, though, that he had such an incredible repertoire in his comedy routine.  That wasn’t by any means the only knock, knock joke he told.  They came non-stop from the time we headed away from the family.  It was just the only one I got.  Sometimes it’s just hard for me to keep up when I’m in the presence of such natural brilliance.  I did much better when he switched from his joke inventory to the gibberish language we had begun communicating in through texting back earlier in the morning before we arrived.  Zak was involved in some of that interchange as well.  Here’s a few quotes from that interaction:

“Zak id g’s heh”

“We are almost to Sea World.”

“RFID HFCs the you!”

“Can’t wait to see you too!”

“Get gnu pop”

“How about deer soda instead?”

“Cwe Vicng dad pop Thud hb gvcvbvvggvvg”

“Wait a minute!  Who is this really? How do you know so much about me?”

“Gdfxxccgghhgg f KGB!”

“KGB!  Oh no! You’re a spy! I knew it.”

“B Ccvvvxtfvghgbhhnd”

“Uh … Jgfdvnf vdghf.  Hcfdxvjg.  We are very close”

“KGB dad?”

“Yes, he is a spy, too.  We all are.  Look outside.”

And so was our arrival announced.  And our secret identity revealed.  But it was worth it.  The boys were happy and the whole experience has certainly been Abanafit to Chris and me as well.

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Father, help me to always be a benefit to my family.  Amen.