Mom’s guide to having fun with a vegetarian daughter, #84
1. Grasp a Lay’s Waffles and Chicken potato chip firmly between the thumb and forefinger
2. Present aforementioned chip to vegetarian daughter without stating what it is. E.g.: “Here! Try this!”
3. Step back. Hilarity ensues. (E.g. gagging, scraping of tongue, gargling vinegar, hunching over sink, repeated cries of “you’re so mean!”)
The signs are all around.
The subtle changing of the leaves.
The sight of enormous V-shaped flocks of Canadian geese high in the sky as they wing their way to warmer climes.
The displays of Halloween and Christmas items in the stores (really guys? already?).
The breezes, the lengthening shadows, the shortened days…
Fall is just around the corner.
Ah, fall. That delightful time of year when a parent’s thoughts turn lightly to these familiar faces:
Everybody back. The count is mine.
Posted in Blog, food, fun, holiday, ponderings
(Michael, playing Super Mario Galaxy, and facing the notorious Bugaboom): “I’m going to crush you and steal your star bits, you ugly bug! Grrrrrr!”
(Michael, getting ready to brush his teeth, noticing a stink bug on the edge of the bathtub): “Daddy! A bug! Get rid of it! But don’t squish it, just take it outside!”
I guess if it isn’t preventing you from rescuing Princess Peach, there’s no point in hurting it.
Posted in fun, inscrutable, michael, moments
How cool could it get?
This cool!
That’s Michael, sitting courtside, with a Globetrotter named “Hi lite”.
A week or so ago, his mom signed Michael up for a contest held by a local news channel. It was in all the papers, on the news, on the web, on Facebook: win a chance to be the official Ball Boy (or girl) for the Harlem Globetrotters when they play at the Portland Rose Garden Arena on February 25th.
Last Wednesday, they called her back – Michael had won!
We were both stunned – and elated. We couldn’t wait to tell Michael about it.
Of course, he took the news in stride. Mostly because he’d never heard of the Globetrotters and had no idea what an incredible honor this would be. But his mom and I knew and were beyond thrilled for him. We knew this was life-changing kind of cool.
So without further ado, I present the highlights from Michael’s experience with the Harlem Globetrotters!
In retrospect, despite the fact that we were given four tickets to the show and had very good seats, I would have liked to have sat just a little bit closer, just for the sake of better video shots.
We hope that Michael never forgets this wonderful time. We also hope we can eventually get “Sweet Georgia Brown” out of our heads.
This Saturday, the Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Portland!
I remember seeing them in 1974 (I think?) in Sacramento. They were amazing to watch – the things they could do with the ball, the moves they had, the way they ran circles around the Washington Generals and made them look like amateurs. It was great fun.
Michael will be seeing them himself, in person on Saturday. Does it get any cooler than that for a little boy?
Yes, yes it does.
Stay tuned.
Michael has made me proud once again.
I’ve mentioned his audio-abilities in times past, and he’s once again proven himself a chip off the old block.
One of the things I like to bore my poor family with is the game “Where Have We Heard That Voice Before?” For example, pointing out the fact that the character “Charles Muntz” in the Pixar movie “Up” is voiced by Christopher Plummer, whom we’ve seen in “The Sound Of Music.” Or that the voice of “SpongeBob Squarepants” is the same guy who narrates “The PowerPuff Girls.”
Okay, so I apparently have a lot of spare time.
But that aside… Michael scooped me tonight on a voice.
While watching one of the typical Disney channel tripe shows “Wizards of Waverly Place,” Michael suddenly blurted out: “It’s him! It’s the voice of the wrench on Handy Manny!”
I listened to the character, a fellow named Dexter. Yes, he does indeed sound like that wrench.
“I think you’re right, Michael! Let me look it up.” I quickly dashed to IMDB to check out the character actor and find out if it’s really him. “What’s the wrench’s name?”
“Uh… Rusty! It’s Rusty!”
“Good job, Michael. It is Rusty.”
A quick look at Handy Manny under the cast list revealed the name of the voice actor responsible for doing Rusty the Wrench. Cross-referencing the actor’s other work revealed that, indeed, he DOES play Dexter on Wizards.
I grabbed Michael and hugged him. “Michael! You have made me so proud! You’ve done it! You picked out a voice!”
He practically beamed with delight.
It could be nothing… and it could be the first steps down a career path. The kid has a great ear, and I’m so proud he’s working on honing it.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, because I can really go to town on creativity, and give the neighbors a good show.
Here’s what we did for Halloween this year. (Ten points to anyone who can figure out why I named the haunt “Knochen Wohnhaus”)
Things to note:
1) Epic Chandelier in the entryway, constructed of spare junk found at Goodwill
2) Auntie Drizelda the ghost in the living room window. This was hard to see; I don’t think anyone actually noticed her unless they knew about it ahead of time.
3) The graveyard containing two ghouls – Sister S and her friend T, who, after trick-or-treating themselves, decided it would be fun to scare people by being weird. It always works for me.
4) Leota the upstairs ghost. Simple, effective, creepy. Highlighted by two black lights.
5) Lack of fog. I had a new fog machine, and it works great – but no timer, so it wouldn’t emit fog unless I actually pressed a button, which I rarely did, because I was out with Michael and his mommy most of the night trick-or-treating.
6) The creepy background sounds, a compilation of scary sounds I’ve picked up over the years, and a few made by Michael and his sister.
Summer.
For children, that delicious stretch of endless sunny days filled with adventure and glee.
Okay, maybe not all the time. Most of the time it seems to be ceaseless ennui smeared with thick clots of slack-jawed television viewing. One of the teenagers has practically worn her favorite spot on the couch clean through to the springs.
It’s rained a lot. While the rest of the country has been sweltering under the “Heat Dome” (something we Oregonians have heard of but haven’t experienced; we view it with a detached fascination, like what most people feel when they see a moon rock behind glass), we here in the great Pacific Northwest have been pelted with rain beyond even what we consider normal for the year.
The good news is that my water bill is way down. I’ve only had to water the lawn once this year. And we only turned the air conditioner on once this year too: yesterday afternoon.
Because yesterday, it got above 80. Heavens!
And yesterday, Michael’s mommy and I decided that it was high time Michael got up on his bicycle and practiced riding. I took off his training wheels last year, and informed him that he’d be riding on two wheels before the summer is up, even if it killed us both. And of course I mean that figuratively.
In order to make things a little easier on him, we decided to haul him up to one of the cul-de-sacs toward the top of the hill in our neighborhood, since our own street is too steep and too busy for a wobbly little boy to get any good practice on.
Lucky us, when we got there, who should drive by but the mother of one of Michael’s kindergarten buddies. With said buddy riding in the back seat. She leaned her head out and shouted a greeting, and after pulling into her driveway hurried her little boy into the garage to fetch his own bike.
So for the next half hour, it was bicycle training day for Michael and his friend.
“The only thing J can’t seem to figure out is how to get back up on his bike after he rides a little. I always have to help him on,” Michael’s friend’s mother said to us, watching the little guy pedal down the street.
“The curb! Have him bring his bike over to the curb and stand on that, then lift his leg over and push off. It always worked for me,” I said.
“That’s a great idea!” She hurried over to J to show him this new technique. Meanwhile, I plopped Michael on his seat for the thousandth time.
“Okay, little man. Let’s try for ten seconds this time.”
“Daddy… I’m too heavy for this. I scraped my leg. I’ll never get this.”
“Don’t say that. Look, J is up and riding just fine! If he can do it, so can you. Just find your balance.”
“I don’t have any balance.”
“Yes you do. I saw you pull yourself back upright before you crashed last time, so I know you can do it.”
I tried to be as encouraging as I could as I ran along side him and got him up to speed.
“Okay, sport. I’m going to let go. It’s all you!” I let him go, and he pedaled briefly, got scared, braked and instantly crashed.
“See? I can’t do it!” he cried.
“Yes, you can. You just have to not be scared of it, and don’t stop pedaling. When you stop, you fall. You can’t stay balanced if you stop. Just don’t be afraid.”
“Okay…”
We tried it once more. I ran along side him and pushed him forward. He pedaled… and stayed up!
Seven, eight, nine, ten… he was doing it! Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen seconds of riding on his own!
Then he rammed the curb at the end of the cul-de-sac.
“You did it! You rode! You can do it!”
“Yeah! I’m going to go by mommy now…” and he turned his bike around, got up and had me roll him past his mother, who was getting the whole thing on video.
He didn’t last but nine seconds this time… but he knows he can do it. He’s past the tipping point; it’ll just be a matter of a few more practices, hopefully with J, to get him really riding strong.
It’ll be then that he’ll discover the joy and freedom of riding his bike, going where the wind takes him (with all safety in mind, of course).
His friend came running over to congratulate him on staying up, then invited him over to play. Michael gave us a look and we said yes, then he and J dashed across the street and into his house. His mom exchanged phone numbers with us, and after a brief discussion about the impromptu playdate, my wife and I bid them goodbye and walked on down the street and around the corner to our own house.
Michael was on his first playdate, after having really ridden his two-wheeler for the first time.
Summer has officially begun for one little boy.
We’re watching the playoff today, Green Bay at Chicago.
We want the Bears to win of course, since the Seahawks couldn’t bring it last week.
And if we’re going to cheer on Da Bears, there’s protocol involved:
Thanks to Melisalw for spurring me on to show the proof!
Way back in ’05, we drove to Disneyland.
If you’re interested, it’s 989 miles from our house to Anaheim. This doesn’t include the side venture to Sacramento to visit Grandma B, though that did help break up the trip nicely.
We had a great time. It was Michael’s first visit to the original Magic Kingdom, and his first major road trip. The girls were excited to ride all of the really fast roller coasters and things, go on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean a few times, and maybe get a few souvenirs.
Michael was just excited to walk around and see, touch, smell and taste everything. I took a few snippets of video while we were there, and sent one in to the Disney web site.
They’ve been doing this promotional thing this year, asking for guests to submit pictures, videos and stories of their memories.
This is our submission, one of our favorite moments from that great week we had so many years ago:
One of the things that makes that place so special is how the characters interact with the guests, and with each other. It turns an ordinary visit into an extraordinary one. I cannot wait until we can go back.
Anyone else have any memories they want to share?
Posted in disneyland, family, fun