Post-Thanksgiving High Explosive Fun (or "How my Mind Works")

Related to Tanner's Birthday party.....

Tanner and all the boys at his party were having a difficult time on what to get with their arcade tickets at the "plastic piece of crap trading post" in the arcade at the bowling alley. As the patience required to deal with this process is not my strong suit, I left Marisa to deal with the kids who weren't ours (and who apparently I scare) and tried to help Tanner pick his POC out. He got 200 extra tickets for being the birthday boy, so he could get something a little bigger than his friends. Trying to be helpful and expedite the process, I steered him towards a set of those wind-up, rip-cord plastic helicopter toys, figuring it would make for some fun for that weekend. That was what he ended up choosing (completemented by some fun-dip).

Fast forward to Saturday. The POC in question broke the second it was out of the package. With Marisa gone to the gym, I braced myself for the torrent of tears and crying that I was sure were going to follow, but Tanner held it together. He was sad and dissapointed, but understood that it was a cheap plastic toy and there wasn't much we could do about it. I was so proud of him for not losing it, that I started to try to figure out a replacement activity that would be as fun as wind-up, rip-cord plastic helicopters. My brain (without the benefit of spousal mitigation) immediately went to.....of course, model rockets!

One trip to the specialty hobby store, $100.00, and some stern wifely looks later, our post Thanksgiving Day plans were set!

We shot them off this morning with some friends from the neighborhood and man, it was AWESOME! The rockets got up about 1200 ft. The parachutes deployed and the kids chased them around the field as they came back down.

Marisa had a good time and thought it was great fun also. At least until I explained that I bought the smallest engines possible for our first try and that we wouldn't be using those ones again. I wonder if I can get some of the ones from China that you need a permit for on the internet ......

Tanner Turns 7

Even though I have repeatedly told Tanner he is "not allowed to turn 7" he went ahead and did it anyway. We had his birthday party last Saturday. He invited 4 boys over and we drove two cars across town to the new bowling alley called Pinz.  We were greeted by our party organizer who stayed with us through the two hour event, keeping everyone organized, getting food and drinks, etc... It was great! The kids loved bowling and since the lanes had huge TV screens above them, they were also able to watch the BSU game during the party. After an hour of bowling we headed to the pizza room for dinner, present opening, and make your own sundae bar. Tanner tried a little bit of every topping on his masterpiece.  Each boy was given a bunch of tokens (now on a convenience little credit card thingy) to use in the arcade. After game playing we headed to the dreaded "Store" where we helped each boy use the "tickets" he earned (also now on an electronic card) to buy candy and trinkets. We headed home, dropped each boy off, and finished off the night with a few episodes of Gilligan's Island.

His favorite gift was the game Fibbers, which we played the next day. If you haven't seen this game I highly recommend it for Family Game Night. It's a lot of fun and even younger kids can easily play. You have to wear these silly glasses and each time you are caught lying you add a colored plastic nose to the frames. 

Tanner's real birthday was on Wednesday the 21st. I took the kids to see Wreck it Ralph at the REAL theatre. We usually only go to the dollar theater by our house so a trip to the big Regal Cinema downtown is a treat. Nana gave Tanner money for treats and instructed me to let them buy whatever they wanted so Tanner and Jake shared an industrial size Icee, a box of cookie dough bites, and popcorn. Faith opted for the Dreyers Dibs. And we all shared a vat of Diet Coke. 

That night Brian took Tanner out to his annual birthday dinner. This year he chose Applebees where he had chicken wings, sliders, and two Mountain Dews. They had a great time and headed home to do presents and cake with Nana, Sheila, Wayne, Shelby, and Sam.  He was very excited about the pop up soccer goals and soccer ball. He'll have some shopping to do with his Target gift card from Grandma Mary.  He was dying for a digital watch, but the only one we could find was Batman and he decided he'd rather have a plain one so we'll take him out to exchange it after this Black Friday madness is over.  

Tanner is such a light in our life. He makes us laugh, cuddles with the best of them, is a great reader, is a loving brother to Faith and Jake,  loves all sports, is easy going, and kind hearted.  One of the games we played at the bowling alley was a "Who Knows Tanner the Best?" game and when asked what three things he would take to a desert island he answered, "My family, my dog Jackson, and a tent". LOL. That's my boy. 

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving is more of a weekend than a day when you have little kids. Faith started off with her Thanksgiving Feast in her Kindergarten class. Faith has Mrs. Schubert just like both her brothers did, so this was our third "Mrs. Schuberts Thanksgiving Feast". She has pilgrim collars and bonnets for all of the girls and collars and pilgrim hats for all of the boys. They get dressed up and show off a little for the parents (how the classroom runs, reading, what they do on a day to day basis etc.) and then line up for their "feast". They have turkey, vegetables, pie etc.. Faith had Ritz crackers and cheese (which was totally predictable).  She loved the getting dressed up part, the pomp of the party, the lining up for food, the fact that mom and dad were both in her classroom with her, but not enough to heaven forbid try anything different to eat.

We have developed into a Non-Traditionalist household when it comes to Thanksgiving. We haven't gone so far as to have Chinese Duck or anything, but last year we did just have pie and appetizers for dinner. 

This year, Shelia and Wayne were in town with their kids and Cori was going to be here also, so we knew this year would have to be a little more down the traditional vein for us. There was a full blown Thanksgiving Dinner being prepared for the first time in several years. We got up in the morning and put the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV so the kids could see it. Remember when you watched the parade because it was on ALL the channels and there was nothing else to see (unless God forbid your parents put PBS on)? This year the parade lasted about 10 minutes in our house before the TV was changed over to SpongeBob Squarepants.

Thanksgiving in our house means Football. Both televised and live action. The boys and I watched the first game (THERE ARE THREE GAMES NOW!!!!!!), before getting set up for our 2nd annual neighborhood "Alan Family Thanksgiving Orphans Flag Football Game". We had a good turnout again this year, with a bunch of kids playing. Faith again took up her position of scorekeeping, having no desire right now to do anything remotely athletic. A good part of the efforts on the parents is keeping the littler kids involved while keeping the older kids (and sometimes the grown-ups) for taking it too seriously. Everyone scores a touchdown and we try to keep the injuries to a minimum (I think Marisa got a concussion though) while talking, laughing and just sharing time with friends and family. Wayne and Sam joined in this year, along with some new neighbors and a good time was had by all. 

After the game, we came home and cleaned up and headed down to Sheila and Waynes new house to have Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a GREAT meal. Marisa made a great Sweet Potato gratin. Shelia/Wayne/Sam and Shelby made a TON of food, and Cori made THREE pies! We all ate WAY too much (a Thanksgiving tradition) and have leftovers for a small continent. I had pecan pie for breakfast this morning and am already eyeing my turkey sandwich for lunch. It was great to spend Thanksgiving with all of our friends and family. I realized again, like every year, how thankful I am for the kids, Marisa and the life we have together. I missed the rest of my family, but we were home here in Idaho and it was a great holiday. 

Just Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale...

We had a family trip to the library last night and while the kids were choosing books, Brian and I found some classic TV on DVD to rent. 

Yep... we introudced our kids to the campy fun of Giligan's Island last night. It was, for the most part, against their will. But within 10 seconds of the first episode starting they were all laughing hysterically and repeating silly lines. Now, after watching 2 episodes last night, they are clamoring for more tonight. THEY LOVED IT.  They were all a little perplexed at first that there was no color so I had to explain "the olden days" when TV was all in black and white. 

It was really fun for Brian and I, too, reliving the countless hours we spent as kids watching Gilligan, The Skipper, Professor, The Millionaire and His Wife, and of course "The Movie Star", and Maryanne.  Brian remembers drinking red Kool aid and eating rice crispy treats during the show and I vividly recall coming home after school, making a snack and settling in the Den with Kim to catch some reruns. 

We haven't been introduced to the head hunters on the island yet, and are hoping that aspect of the show won't scare them (cross your fingers...). 

It is so dated, so silly and way more over the top slapstick than I had remembered... but we loved it. I think we may all be singing the theme song for the next few weeks.  

Evidence

Family Vacation

We decided, due to weather concerns,  at the last minute to cancel the RV trip and simply fly to Portland, rent a car, and drive along the Oregon Coast for five days. In the next post you will see Brian's version of what our trip has been like so far (only parts of it are true, by the way, and he is having a great time -for the record). 

We spent the first night at Cannon Beach in a hotel room right on the beach.  We kind of splurged on this one and it was well worth it. The kids received sand buckets and shovels upon check in, along with sunglasses (a little optimistic, perhaps, since it is November). They headed right out to the beach to run in the waves and build sandcastles. The beach, for them, is so novel. For Faith and Tanner this is only the second time they have spent any time at the ocean (Hawaii two years ago being the first). At the risk of giving credence to Brian's assessment of my tendency to romanticize things... it really was kind of magical. We were right in front of Haystack Rock, the fog was rolling in but it was warm, the kids were laughing and playing, we were holding hands and enjoying the view of the ocean and our children. I, of course, had a hot cup of coffee in hand. Yeah... it was pretty cool. 

We had fish and chips for dinner, went to the local candy store- one of what would end up being countless places one could procure salt water taffy for dessert, and headed back to our room to watch The Shaggy Dog on DVD before bed. The next morning we all bundled up and walked down the beach to Cannon Beach downtown where we found (more credence to Brian's post...) a bakery and coffee shop.  After a little more time on the beach we packed up and headed to our next destination, a VRBO rental in Newport- about 3 hours further south. 

The drive was beautiful and enhanced greatly by our GPS app which we purchased to be read in Mr. Burns voice from The Simpsons. Seriously- we laughed so hard as Mr. Burns directed us from Cannon Beach to Newport, calling us "Driving Monkeys" and threatening to "come out of here and give us such a thrashing!" when we made  a wrong turn. Maybe you had to be there, but it is the funniest thing ever. We passed through lots of little towns, each seeming to have it's own candy shop, ice cream shop, and tacky souvenir shop. I didn't make Brian stop at each one, although he did kindly pull off at each view point that I wanted. My favorite was Cape Foulweather. I had to stop at that one due to the name. We listened to great music- Brian was in charge of creating playlists for our trip and he did a great job.  No, it wasn't perfect or idyllic- it was family vacation driving with 3 children with all of its chaos and whining and "Don't touch me! He touched me!" drama but it was a good day. 

We arrived at our house rental and were excited to see that despite the shabby outside the interior was beautiful and had big windows looking right out at the ocean. At 95.00 a night we hadn't expected such a beautiful, right on the beach location. The house is in Nye Beach (a neighborhood in Newport) within easy walking distance to restaurants, shops, and (of course) coffee and bakeries.  We walked the long stretch of beach and the kids played on the rocks and built more sand structures despite the weather which had turned a little foul. It wasn't cold, but it was rainy, drizzly, and very foggy. Faith was a little afraid of the waves and decided  to stay close to the rocks, away from the water while her brothers raced the waves for quite a while enjoying the game. This fear of the water would end up following her throughout the rest of our trip, unfortunately.

We visited the Newport Aquarium on Day 3. It was beautiful and the kids loved seeing the otters being fed. I loved the jellyfish and octopus. It was really cool because Jake is reading The Island of the Blue Dolphins right now and at the aquarium he got to see all of the sealife that is talked about in that book- the cormorants, the otters, the "devil fish" (octopus) that Karana hunts, etc... Being the teacher that I am at heart, I loved relating everything we were seeing to the book he was enjoying. 

Next we visited the historic waterfront district where they do all of the fishing, canning, etc... The boys especially loved watching the fishing boats and the crabbing gear in action. There were barking sea lions on the rocks nearby and we spent quite a bit of time looking at the boats and reading their names, etc... This inspired Brian to download a few episodes of The Deadliest Catch which the kids watched during rest time while I took a nap and read my book. At the risk of sounding like I am, once again, romanticizing the trip, it really was a beautiful day. 

Yesterday we intended to go whale watching but the weather didn't allow it. Turns out that whale watching really heats up mid-December and is kind of dormant at this time of year. Strike 1 for Mom's vacation planning skills... So instead we drove back north and visited Depoe Bay to watch the waves crash on the rocks and feel the salt water spray on our faces (from a safe distance- which Faith was very diligent about). We also stopped at the Whale Watching museum, and then shopped for souvenirs. The kids choice of trinkets was pretty predictable: Faith got an stuffed otter,  Tanner got a penguin, and Jake got a Nike tshirt. The boys really wanted pocket knives but I said no- envisioning the two of them sword fighting and the myriad of injuries sure to follow. They then accused me of being "over protective". Oh, well. 

Today we are headed down the coast further south to explore the sand dunes and maybe go to the sea lion caves. The sun is actually trying to peak out and I see some blue skies so maybe we'll get lucky and be able to do the sand dune buggy tour.

8 HOURS LATER....

OK, so even though the day did not turn out as planned we had a great time. Turns out the sand buggy tour place is closed on Mondays and the Sea Lion Caves had no sea lions currently in residence. For those keeping track those would be strikes 2 and 3 against my vacation planning skills. However,  several things made up for the strikes and we ended our vacation with another fun day. We stopped at Devils Churn (not planned) and the kids got to wander on the tide pools in the sunshine (our first real sun of the trip). Faith, once again, was too afraid to go that close to the actual ocean so she and I stayed up top and enjoyed the view. I fear I am raising an unadventurous soul- is that possible? I have traveled all over the world (before the cell phone, texting, and email was invented) so her lack of spirit for these things is clearly not my doing. I am hoping it is only a phase. In any case, the boys had a great time exploring the tide pools with Brian. We also had a great lunch (we finally got our crab melt sandwiches) at a nice place in Florence. Florence, by the way, also had its share of ice cream stores, coffee shops, bakeries, and tacky souvenirs- I did not go into all of them (as Brian will try to claim) and limited myself to only visiting one coffee place. For the record, the kids got ice cream before being dragged through the cute "old town". 


We head back to Portland tomorrow for an afternoon flight back to Boise and back to our land-locked life. I will miss the sound of the waves and the foggy walks down to my newest favorite cafe a few blocks from our house. I will miss watching the kids playing on the beach. I will miss the sound of Mr. Burns directing us through Oregon...but we are all ready to be home, I think. Back to real life. Back in time for the election. I'll be holding my breath until Wednesday morning. 

Gender Vacations

Family vacations are a very funny experience in our household. Travel is Marisa's thing...always has been. She books all our vacations from beginning to end with no help and very little input from me. Which is perfect. She loves the little details, I can't stand them. She loves searching out the bargains, I would just click on the first available option (I'm very much a "Buy It Now" kind of guy). It works this way for the trips we take together as a family, as well as the trips we take alone without the kids. 

There are some....um, what can we say? Maybe...."pitfalls" to this approach? That's probably accurate. By not getting involved, I'm pretty much guaranteed trips that involve; coffee shops, quaint little "downtowns", walks (which aren't walks as much as shopping), art galleries (which I really don't get. We have no "art"), high end clothing stores, discussions about sweaters and how"cute" they are, scones, pastries, loaves of bread, cheese, produce, arts and crafts etc. No so much a trip as a Meg Ryan movie. 

I accept it, it's the cost I pay for not being involved. To be perfectly honest, it makes me smile to see her just itching to go as soon as we see a row of shops and a sidewalk somewhere. I just love the grand romantic scenes that I imagine are flying thru her head as she is walking with the coffee from the hippy coffee shop and her pastry/crusty bread/fruit/cheese etc. She is just waiting for the birds to start singing to her in English and a big eyed doe to wander out onto the sidewalk and lick her hand, while violin music swells in the background. 

The other issue with vacation planning is that she does it months in advance (for the bargains), so she has months to play the, "you know what we should do when we get to X?" game. She reads books and does tons of internet research for months. This invariably leads to some overblown and thus unattainable expectations being built up. Her romantic notions sometimes can't hold up to the children being along. She has to reconcile her dreams of candlelight dinners at the local sustainable cuisine bistro, with Jake and Tanner wanting Dos Locos Tacos from Taco Bell for dinner. Her dreams of strolling along the cobblestone are often times dashed by Faith's whining that it's "TOO FAR" and "MY LEGS HURT". 

There is really no middle ground between us either. She thinks the kids will enhance and be enriched by her rom-com dream trip, and I know it's going to be crappy food, endless shopping for stuffed animals and a Buddhist monk-level exercise in patience that I can just never manage (no matter how hard I try - and I really do try). The trips (at least with the kids) always end up somewhere in the middle and I end up needing a vacation from our vacation.

This trip has kind of been an evolution of this dichotomy. Jake is old enough that we can leave him in charge of the little kids for short periods so we can go walk (again SHOP) and get some alone time. This trip we also have fed the kids separately (at Taco Bell) and then we went to the downtown fish market/restaurant and had fresh seafood while they sat there and played video games. 

I was joking with her this morning about it, as we walked to the cappuccino/mocha/latte store/bakery. That I always end up following along while she lives out her rom-com fantasy, holding her purse while she shops, and giving my opinions on art that we will never in a million years purchase. I wondered aloud what her response would be if I wanted to go to the "fly fishing/electronics convention" followed by a college football game? Just like the tootsie roll owl discovers; the world may never know.

Halloween 2012

It was our first time trick or treating in our "new" neighborhood and we debated driving over to our old house thinking that there may not be as many kids out in our area. But we ended up staying where we were and it was a lot of fun.

Jake went to a pre-trick or treating pizza party and then got to go out on the town on his own with his buddies. It was hard to let him go alone but it was definitely time. He had a blast as he got to run from house to house without waiting for his little brother and sister.

The rest of us headed out down the block to meet Tanner's best friend and his family. There were a bunch of little "parties" set up along the way with neighbors doing front yard fire pits with hot chocolate for the kids and wine/Bailey's for the adults. One house had chili to share; another had pizza. It definitely takes trick or treating to a new level!

Jake was dressed as a rock star. His hair was hilarious. He had been growing it out for the last few months so that Brian could shave it into a mowhawk for the big night. We shaved it, gelled it, hairsprayed it, then sprayed it purple. He wore a fake earring, I put eyeliner on him, and he had great rockstar clothes that I had found in a thrift store. It was a little frightening how old the get up made him look.

Tanner had wanted to be a glow in the dark skeleton, and he had the costume, but on Halloween morning he all of a sudden started crying and saying his costume was too uncomfortable to wear and he was absolutely devastated. So, he dug through our old costume box and picked out the costume he wore two years ago, The Thing. He was very happy to wear this instead. He, too, ran from house to house and we had to reign him in a bit to keep him with the friends we were with!

Faith was a unicorn. She tired of trick or treating after about half an hour and decided that half a pumpkin full of candy was just fine, so while Tanner went up to each house to trick or treat she stood on the sidewalk with me. Strange girl! I kept telling her she'd better go ask for candy because she knows her mama's penchant for chocolate and her daddy's addiction to Skittles. But she was done.

If we look at fourth grade being the probable cut off point for trick or treating with mom and dad, that leaves the sad fact that we may only have 3 of these family Halloween's left. Really, really weird how fast time flies.