Though 49 years apart in time, the War of 1812 and the American Civil War have common links in their Navies; the ships, the men who sailed them and the seas they sailed. This joint US Navy/National Civil War Naval Museum exhibit looks at the naval components of the War of 1812 and illuminates naval connections between that conflict and the Civil War.

Visitors will find information on Civil War ships and men with connections to the War of 1812 — David G. Farragut, Josiah Tattnall, Matthew C. Perry, Captain David Porter, the USS Constitution, USS United States and the USS Saratoga — as well as six free standing interpretive panels detailing specific role and exploits of United States Naval forces in the War of 1812, courtesy of the United States Navy.

In addition to this new exhibit, Museum guests will see the Nation’s largest display of Civil War Naval flags, rare and unique artifacts including an original cutter (ship’s boat) from the famed USS Hartford, recreated ship environments and the remains of two Civil War ships, including the CSS Jackson, a large ironclad gunboat built in Columbus, GA.

Port Columbus is located at 1002 Victory Drive in Columbus, Georgia, and is open seven days a week. For hours and more information, visit www.portcolumbus.org or call 706-327-9798

For immediate release

Contact:    Jon Ezzell

(706) 327-9798 or (800) 742-2811

media@portcolumbus.org

For the past year, Gus and I have had one heck of time exploring a ‘kid-safe’ tablet application called Zoodles. We’ve watched Elmo dance and sing, Jason Mraz on YouTube.com and even interacted with puzzles, games and drawings.

Zoodles is a smart idea.  The builders of Zoodles took on one big task that my other tablet applications seem to suffer from….multi-touch screen mistakes.  The problem stems from apps like NetFlix or YouTube itself.  Everything is fine until you touch it.  One slide of the finger on NetFlix and the movie pauses.  Venture further and it exits. Very frustrating for a toddler and for the parent.

Zoodles utilizes the ‘lock’ feature disabling certain system calls. It’s a brilliant idea and even though they didn’t create it they provided youngster specific information in a non-intrusive manner.

As I will show in a picture below, it can provide many facets of the imagination including video sing-a-longs, counting games and even finger painting.  So, the genius part is that it is all tracked to show progress.

Every week I get an email that gives me clear and precise data on the subject matter of the games and selections made.  Everything from Amount of Time spent on Cognitive Development (see below) to Life Skills.  It will even send you small thumbnails of the drawings that have been made.

To get to the point, Zoodles has been a big part of our life allowing my son to learn, have fun and use the tablet ‘like dada’. It gives him great confidence when he is able to pop the virtual bubbles or catch all the monkeys. I do believe it has been a development tool that has been unparalleled to most other devices.

I highly recommend anyone out there to grab this download and try it yourself. Within a few minutes, you can be enjoying hundreds of thousands pre-screened activities for your child that you can monitor.

We filled Dadurday with challenge, success, excitement, and fun.  We started the day with a challenging run to support the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  My son, Xavier, is a Wish Kid.  If you haven’t read about him yet, he was granted a Wish to travel to Rome and receive a personal blessing from Pope Benedict XVI.  The Run for the Wishes 5K was organized by the Columbus Chapter of Make-A-Wish to raise money for granting Wishes and it was sponsored by Big Dog Running Co.  The whole family participated.  I ran while pushing Xavier in his jogging stroller, Amber (my wife) ran while pushing our 18 month old and 3 year old in the double job stroller, and our 5 year old ran along side of us.  Our 5 year old is quite the runner and this was her 3rd time running a 5K race.  This was a special race for her because she ran fast enough to claim 1st Place in the 14 and Under division.  I was certainly proud of her regardless of winning, but it was extra special to see her face when her name was called to the winner’s table.

After a great morning exercising and supporting a fantastic organization, we came home cleaned up for the next exciting part of the day.  Next on the Dadurday agenda, escape the heat by watching Disney on Ice at the Civic Center.  If any of you other Dads have little girls, then you know how much they love princesses and dancing.  Disney on Ice did not disappoint.  The only negative was that we couldn’t all sit together.  The Civic Center only allows one “normal” person to sit in the wheelchair seating.  Amber sat with Xavier and I sat with the girls.  We were just a few rows apart so it wasn’t too bad.  Xavier has helped us learn the value in adapting to any situation.  Teaching others to see the positive is one of his many gifts.  Check out the short videos below.

Disney on Ice 1 Disney on Ice 2

The day wasn’t done yet…  When we got home from Disney on Ice, the kids had another surprise waiting for them, grandparents.  My parents came down from western North Carolina to spend some time with the grandkids.  We spent some time at home recuperating from the busy day and visiting.  We had to rest a bit too because the Dadurday Fun Train had more stops to make.  A baby sitter was planned for the “twins” (Xavier and Caroline who both go to bed early).  We fed the “twins” some dinner, had bath time, and got the early birds in bed for the sitter.  Then it was time for the “big girls” to dress up for a night on the town with Mom and Dad and the Grandparents.  We loaded up and went to Downstairs at The Loft in hip Uptown Columbus.  Uptown was in full swing with lots of activities on Broadstreet including the local audition for Fox Network’s X-Factor.

This was a Dadurday to remember.  I don’t think I’ve done so much on a “day off” in a long time, but it was worth all the effort.  Today, I was so happy to be a Dad.  I got to support my son and a wonderful philanthropic organization.  I got to watch one of my daughters push herself and win a medal for her effort.  I got to be an example to my other two daughters on living a healthy and active lifestyle.  I got to see the smiling faces of my 4 wonderful children as they experienced the magic of Disney.  Finally, I got to help them appreciate their extended family with a nice and fun dinner.

It was a great day to be a Dad and it was a great Dadurday.  I can’t wait to hear how your special day was…

More info here:  http://columbusbookexchangeandcomics.net/FCBD.html

Saturday May 5th 10 am – 6 pm
Coca Cola Space Science Center

Columbus Book Exchange Annual Sale
All Back Issue Comic Books 35% Off
Graphic Novels 20% Off
99 cent comics discounted to 50 cents

For every $5 spent, you can pick out a
FREE comic book

1st 100 paying customers receive a
special FCBD Avengers hero clix

Jim Lee FCBD T -shirt will be for sale

Visit the Columbus Book Exchange Online here for more information.

Columbus Book Exchange Website

Columbus Book Exchange Facebook

COLUMBUS, GA – Each spring, sailors and marines both Union and Confederate gather at Port Columbus for RiverBlast! This living history weekend is Port Columbus’ largest living history event, and draws reenactors from around the country. This year’s theme is “The Sailor’s Life: From Recruit to Old Salt,” and will take a special look at the recruitment, training and daily life aboard ship of the Civil War sailor.

From combat and weapons training to entertainment, guests will get a glimpse of shipboard life from the perspective of those who lived it.

Both Saturday and Sunday will feature weapons drill and demonstration, cannon firings, naval landing party demonstrations, and much more. In addition, Saturday’s festivities will also include a uniformed presentation on sailor life, performance by the ColumbusBrass, and in conjunction with April being National Poetry Month, we will showcase a collection of period and contemporary civil war poetry.

grumble grumble…says the anxiety in my belly.

Today was the hardest day of being a Father to date. Today, I have become emotionally wounded by the events that occurred below. In no way was the great staff at our daycare responsible, but man, if it was going to go wrong, today was the day for me.

I will say that I was prepared. I was running through my head over and over that I was going to be able to walk away and trust in Gus’s ability to handle interaction outside the family circle. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to be emotional. What I didn’t account for was the ratio of worse case scenarios versus preparation versus coincidence versus me.

Let’s say that 100 kids get dropped off at day care for the first time. 50% of the kids cry, parents cry, everything is fine. 49% of the kids cry, parents cry, everything is ‘OK’. 1% of the kids cry, parents cry and every small thing seems to just make it all worse.

Well, today…I was the 1%. Dropping Gus off a bit early snapped me in the face right off the bat and left me in a state of uncertainty. When we arrived, we entertained him for a bit, gave the wave ‘bye-bye’ and snuck out to the office area to finalize registration. To my demise we were just early enough that we had to wait for the attendant to arrive. It was only 5-10 minutes but after about the first 60 seconds we began to hear what I can only describe as scream crying. ‘I want my dadaaaaa….’ came echoing down the hall. I look at Whitney and we both recognize the cry for help. My heart dropped and all I heard was a low bass in my ears.  Wait.  I wasn’t prepared for this…

After a solid seven minutes of echoing hysteria right outside the door I could no longer take it. I was torn from ‘saving the day’ and rescuing Gus with a shiny, super smile or sit listening to my heart get pounded into a paralyzed mush. I got up…and walked out the front door.

After a minute or two, I saw our admin arrive and came back in to fill out the paperwork. I wasn’t really trying to hide anything but I wasn’t sure what to expect next. My entire day was shot at this point and I really couldn’t find motivation throughout the day. The day was spent with the starch memory of Gus crying out for me. ugh.

Needless to say, I went to pick him up early and he was fine.  A little shook up, a little disheveled…but he was fine.  Dada is happy…  phew….

Tomorrow is another day.

St Peter's Square in the evening.

Look, I’m a Dad. I’m also a US Army Soldier. I have a PhD in Sarcasm and I have the driest sense of humor or so I’ve been told. I’m rarely in situations where I don’t have anything to say and I don’t usually get stage fright.  So today when I could barely mutter my son’s name, I didn’t know what to do. This is the child that I named over 9 years ago. I’ve been saying his name several times a day for those 9 years, but sometimes things happen that bring the entire world around you into one very small minute instance where you get tunnel vision and everything else around blurs. I had one of those moments….today.

My son, who is severely disabled and has had to undergo 3 brain surgeries and nearly 15, week long hospitalizations met, face to face, with Pope Benedict XVI. My son and I, along with my wife, are in Rome, Italy thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We learned he qualified for a wish nearly four years ago and today it came true. Other than my wedding and seeing my children being birthed, I don’t think anything else could compare to how I felt today. Amazing isn’t even close to describing it. Calling this day “amazing” is like saying the sun is as bright as your bedside lamp…it just doesn’t compute.

Being a father isn’t an easy job, but today made all the hard stuff I’ve ever done as a Dad worth it. The Holy Father truly connected with my son. He looked in his eyes..down to his soul and planted a blessing there. It was the kind of blessing that only an ecclesiastical descendent of Jesus and St Peter could give and I pray that it works miracles for my son.

But what I see and what he is thinking are two different things. His mind is reeling as the older kids scatter around him and he tries his best to keep up.  Coupled with the height and weight of a 4 year old, Gus is a modest 2 year old who has yet to find his balance and he does incredibly well on his own. I must admit letting him loose into the bigger areas are frustrating as I can not be there to help all the time.

I guess this is a lot like adulthood.  We go in one side as the entrance and then bounce around, often off of others, to find that the climb to the top is all about the final slide to the bottom.  Then you climb off and circle around to do it again.  Except in life, the ‘rides’ are often over complicated by those who stand around and get in the way of those who are on their way to the top.  Once in a while, as the video will show, people will surprise you and do remarkable things because they see they can help.

Welcome to the jungle, Gus.

Happy New Year everyone!

From our family to yours, we wish you a safe and fun New Year!  Cheers to a 2012 that we spend more time with family and less time with the trivial things.

Sincerely,

Gus, Whitney and Lucas Shaffer

I wonder the ratio of actual purchaser to browsing parent with kid.  It should be very high seeing how in one Saturday morning we ‘crashed’ several legitimate businesses to just hang out and check out the people.  Gus and I are avid people watchers.

The picture on the left is Gus and I in the Laz-E-Boy center just ruff-housing on the furniture.  I had intention to buy until I found out how much they were.  Once I discovered I wasn’t financially ready to by the super-duty recliner we promptly ‘tested’ just about every other chair in the building.

We also went to Petland (see gallery below).  This was Gus’s first time in a pet store where he could actually get his hands on the animals and he was stoked.  He saw bunny rabbits, canaries, ferrets and puppies.  Also, we go to see snakes and many types of fish.

Gus had an amazing time and I can already tell we need to go back…or purchase a pet.  Hmmmmm….

I think a puppy in the near future may be good timing.

It’s amazing where adventure can take you when you have no plans…

Later!