Over the weekend, I traveled to my wife's hometown of Melcher, Iowa (about 50 minutes south of Des Moines) for a family reunion. Even though we've been married more than three years, there are some in her family that have never met me. That's the downside of working weekends. I tend to miss a lot of family gatherings.

The reunion was wonderful. Met a lot of new family members and a had a great time playing games. I also got to play with my little nephew, Aidan. I only get to the see the little fella about five times a year. We've played and played and played before but it's always been inside. Well, the weather was great this past weekend and I don't think I realized what I was about to get myself into.

My in-laws have three acres, and i think I visited every inch of those three acres. Aidan took me everywhere (he knows every nick and cranny of their property). He treated me as a human jungle=gym as he climbed all over me, jumped on me, and just about every other thing a kid does to parents when they are playing and my body is feeling the pain today.

I said to my sister in law, "I don't know how you do this every day!" Clearly, Aidan doesn't climb all over her like he did me, but he is a handful with lots of energy. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast and loved every minute of it. But each night we went to bed, I couldn't have been more excited to see my pillow.

So to all you parents out there, I truly have great respect for you for raising children. They can truly wear you out.