Television and Me

Tonight was a viewing night. We finished watching some cool Olympic events, Sasha went to bed and I launched Netflix. Three hours later, I'm posting a blog about it. Kind of odd to be making that kind of transition, when I should be sleeping, but I'll get there shortly. It's important to start with the last show I watched, an older anime called Fruits Basket. An imaginative show that in 20 minutes introduces the main character (a high school girl) and all the hardships she had endured to this point and how she meets a family that turns into zodiac animals when hugged. Yeah, it's strange, but I had read the manga and wanted to see how it was animated. And Fruits Basket is like nothing ever seen on American television. And I thought, "These are stories told in an awesome fashion that cannot be matched by what we produce here!" Especially since, prior to Fruits Basket, I watched the intro to an episode of Last Exile, another anime series that is a little older. But instead of high school girls, it's huge flying ships that battle and the couriers that fly messages and all sorts of crazy things. Amazing story that I had seen before, but I enjoyed the intro enough to watch it and get the taste. Again, nothing to match it in our part of the world. "If only we had stories like that!" I thought. Then I remembered what I had watched right after turning on Netflix. Not an animated show. Nothing that wasn't filmed here in the good 'ol North American continent. (I think they flim in Canada.) The SyFy show Warehouse 13. Season three just became available on Netflix, so I finally could view it. And it took a supreme act of willpower to have only watched two episodes. Warehouse 13 is a light modern science fiction show about items that gained supernatural powers due to the cultural significance of their owners. The first episode I watched started with Jimi Hendrix's guitar shooting out lightning and it went from there. I could have watched until the sun rose. This is not a kind of story I have seen in Japanese anime or manga. Very American and very cool. So as my mind went over this, the next question was how can I share this love of stories with the kids? I want them to get that same kind of thrill from a new story concept. To be able to appreciate all stories and enjoy telling them as well some day. Everything I watched tonight was too old for the kids. But all of those stories I saw and appreciated required knowledge of previous stories to make sense. And thus my plan is to keep going forward with what I do now. Read to them a lot. Bedtime involves books and that is something that Sasha and I will never change. Once those stories take root, be it the basic fairy tales, or the creatively silly Olivia books, Alya and Marcus will have the foundation to build an appreciation of latter books/shows/manga/graphic novels. And that will be cool to share with them. Be seeing you.

Living the Classic Life

Today, I took Alya and Marcus to the Midwest Gaming Classic over in Brookfield. First time for them, but my third visit. It's a fun show with lots of great classic video gaming.

This is a place for the oldest of the old school - with a few modern splashes - and is a veritable museum for those who started young.

Now the kids have been playing the original Super Mario Bros on the Wii, they have not seen the rest of the old stuff I've got sitting around. However, this was the best place to show my roots without digging through a pile to stuff.

First priority was pinball, as that is something they cannot experience at home, nor most places we go to play games. While both of them got a thrill out of playing pinball - and we tried at least six tables, if not more - Alya summed it up with "I liked the video one best." The video one was a screen built into a pinball cabinet. Obviously, the physical game did not appeal to them.

On the flip side, Pong went over well. They quickly adapted to the paddle controller and proceeded to play two games against each other. But they both like air hockey, so it wasn't too far of a stretch for them to get into it.

Beyond that, there was lots of bouncing around from console to machine to old school controllers. Alya spent a lot of time with the Atari Jaguar playing first Rayman (which was still gorgeous to look at) then a little Tempest 2000. Marcus was playing a Super Nintendo game called Megaracer, which was much more basic, but Alya eventually joined in to play.

Super Smash Bros (Wii) was another Marcus favorite - but anytime you have characters fighting, he digs right in. Meanwhile, Alya watched a guy playing Mario Sunshine (Game Cube) and she really wanted to take it for a spin.

The cool thing was watching what games captured the kids attention. If there was fighting or shooting, Marcus was interested. Platforming and adventure, Alya. Which leads to their picks of the show.

Marcus was extremely excited playing the classic shooter by the Japanese studio Treasure, called Gunstar Heroes (Sega Genesis). The boy was bouncing up and down blowing robots up left and right and caught up in a gleeful rapture. Alya played for a bit, but then the siren call of Sonic CD (Sega Genesis CD) right next to it and soon she was sending that blue hedgehog around at warp speed, clearing levels like nobody's business.

So instead of buying anything at the convention, we came away with two games to get downloading this week. Games they selected and fell in love with - something I can relate to very well myself. Yeah, I'm a video game dad and I'm happy to share it with the kids.

So if you're in the Milwaukee area in March and want to take a stroll down memory lane, I would suggest going over to the Midwest Gaming Classic. It's a fun time, the games are free, and sharing those memories with others can rekindle a joy.

Be seeing you.

The Plague's got me!

Ugh, I hate being sick.

Aside from a few hypochondriacs, most people don't like being sick. You're tired, weak, nose running, coughing all over the place. And gods help you if the digestive system gets hit. Eww.

Often I'm a little under the weather. Surely some of it has to do with carrying a little more than my fair share of weight around, in addition to the lack of exercise and sedentary job. But through out the sniffles and coughs I usually am missing one thing. The fever.

I don't know how many times I've asked Sasha to feel my head and she says all good. Then I grab the thermometer and it agrees with her assessment. Until this past Thursday.

99.7

Friday morning

101.3

Saturday morning

100.2

How annoying! I feel like utter crap, just want to sleep all day long and don't even have the desire to play games. [gasp!]

However, I have discovered several good ploys to be "active" with the kids, without having to spend much energy. But still, this sucks.

It makes me extra grateful for Sasha (who's currently spending a little, much deserved, time out of the house with out the kids) for taking care of them and me as well.

No, I am not getting pampered. But she has cleaned up my dishes and is primary on the kids these past couple of days. And that is the miracle of family.

We all need a support system, and a family does all of that. Sometimes I feel that we Americans push kids out of the house too quickly. Or worst yet, absolve them of responsibilities that we might have had ourselves.

In the past days of snow, Marcus has often come out to help me shovel. He grabs his kids size, long-handled spade and goes to town. I leave him a patch to work on while I clear the rest of the driveway. It's fun and something to do with his dad and I really enjoy it, too.

And then later I went over to my mom's place to uncover her car, which was rather buried on the east side of Milwaukee. Something I haven't done nearly enough, but it was very satisfying to help her out.

It's the family support system, and sometime it really works well.

Now I'm going to go off and fight sleep a little longer.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Life - Oh precious life

A friend recently posted on Facebook the question, "If you could go back and do it all over, what would you change? And you can't say you'd change nothing!" That friend does not have children, and children make a hard stop in one's timeline. I would never, ever want to go back to a time before Marcus was born.

Because I do not want to even conceive of him never being a part of my life. And three years is not much time to find an item to change. And whenever you think something is a good idea to make different, the movies always tell you there are consequences.

The 1998 movie, Sliding Doors, stars Gwyneth Paltrow and shows how whether she catches a train or not lead her life in two entirely different directions. Who knows how often that happens in the real world, but we've all stood on the cusp of those decisions.

- My father could have died in a studio fire where he lived, if he had been there the night it burned to the ground. I would completely lost contact with that side of the family if he hadn't dodged that one.

- I could have stayed in Minneapolis, after a impulse to leave Milwaukee struck me. Nearly happened, but fate and my complete lack of planning brought me back. (Special thanks to C.R. for telling me to buy a round trip bus ticket.)

And the big winner is:
When I graduated college, I took the lazy route. After seeing my good friend sending out hundreds of resumes trying to find the right job, I decided to take a week off, then go to Manpower and get working right away while I tried to find a "good" job.

They hired me on the spot to work for them, and that's the week I started working with Sasha.

If I had decided to pursue a radio/TV job, or traveled to Japan to teach English, I would have lost so much. I cannot begin to consider any past choices beyond something like, "I should never have bought that Balterspace CD."

And while I don't think it would have had an impact on the rest of my life, fixing the mistake of my 2nd worst impulse buy ever, would have robbed me of a kind of fun story.

In my life I've made a lot of choices, 40 years of existence will do that to most everyone. And I would never change a single thing before the birth of Marcus. Things are too fragile to mess with that at all.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Force of Will

One of the things that really strikes me as a parent is how precious "alone time" is. I love my video games, my scifi/geek movies, my gaming stuff, but I love my family more - so they take priority and that is right.

But when I get those couple of hours, man do I want to sink my teeth into some PS3 game that's been sitting around for a while and lose hours to it. If there's an active book, it gets devoured in the wee-hours in the space of a week, two if it's really big.

But then there are moments when the two come together. And those are great.

Marcus loves swordfighting. So getting that 20 minutes of running around the house with Nerf swords is a proud papa-geek moment. Especially watching him learn/imitate "moves" like spinning around for no good reason and grabbing my blade so he can swing away freely. Pure awesome.

Alya may not like the fighting, but she loves the story. Tonight the three of us watched Star Wars Episode One - The Phantom Menance. (Sasha was off at the annual xmas cookie exchange.) Marcus was not interested for most of the middle of the movie. But he got a kick out of the good action sequences. Alya paid attention throughout most of the movie. She wanted to know who Anakin was (they've both watched a lot of Clone Wars) and thought that Obi Wan looked funny. And Queen Amidala confused her so much, that I paused the movie to try and explain what was going on. She really wanted to know what was going on.

My squirrel is also the one who like to play Peggle on the computer - but wants someone in the room with her. Alya really "gets" computers and can use a mouse and a touch pad with great ease. Marcus, well he was kind of hitting the keys a lot today, just to try and get something to happen. The two of them may play like a couple of peas in a pod, but they are quite different.

And each day they impress me more.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Late Night Ramblin'

I'm going to open with what should be the closing. Because it's the most important thing about this post.

Typical BSer house evening ends with me moving Alya out of our bed and into hers. Tonight, when that happened, she woke up a bit to check she had the correct woobie in the bed (bear, not pink) and I confirmed that it was indeed the correct one. Satisfied, she curled up and went back to sleep as I placed the important stuffed animals next to her. As I walked out I said, "Good night, Squirrel." and closed the door.

Often I don't speak when putting either kid in bed, but Alya had already pulled a response on woobie, so I knew it wouldn't hurt the sleep process.

That little verbalization choked me up a bit because I'm thinking that to them both every night, and eventually I won't be tucking these small ones into bed. And they mean the world to me. Everything else I've done, does not come to this level.

Which leaves the question, "What next?"

---

I started reading The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks a day ago. The main character is a game player. Like someone who is a professional chess player, only with as many games as he likes and that's all he does. Only he's at a crisis point because he's bored. What's next in his path because he has played and beaten just about everything.

Meanwhile, my world of games has been odd. My board games are getting dustier. Magic cards are floating around all over the place, but a change would be needed to really hone my skills on that one. I have many miniature games in foam trays, needing assembly, paint and a chance to fight on the battlefield. But there's no gaming passion. Nothing that pulls my attention constantly like a mongrel on a bone.

While sitting on the basement step, I couldn't help but see my stack of Japanese language instruction loaded on a shelf. It defines me, but the motivation is no longer present. Perhaps I should be clearing that all off and resign that goal for now. Like the guitar in the close, learning either would be a major growth undertaking, but both are also previous paths that were never finished.

---

The final item of the evening - a year book from Pius XI High School. 1988 to be precise.

At Manpower I walk through the building and know about 1/4 to 1/3 of the people. Not personally, but recognize them either through my own times there or through Sasha's work.

That ratio is much lower in my yearbook. Then again my class had well over 400 students in it and I was never a true social butterfly.

Things that kept cropping up in the words written by others, "I didn't really know you until this year." "You're funny and strange." "Sorry I hit you in the head with a pen." Okay, that last one not so much. Some of the words written triggered a small bit of sadness. Relationships unexplored. Relationships explored and ruined at a latter time. Friendships that were acquired a little too late in the game to be able to maintain. Or distances, written by one as "We are going our separate ways in search of... A PARTY", creating that gulf making the connect difficult to maintain.

But no regret.

High school (and soon college) is half a life away for me now. While knowing where people are today (thank Facebook) is neat, that's over 20 years ago. I've got too much future going on to keep living in the past. (Although a few ghosts do loom from time to time.)

---

There's a song out now called, "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros that has really grabbed my ears. I was playing it for the kids on the drive to their daycare, and during the speaking portion (listen to the song, it's that good) I talked to Alya and Marcus about what was happening that day and night and how I love them both so very much.

The line from the song that sticks is, "Home is where ever I'm with you." So when I went to Manpower Saturday where Sasha was putting in extra hours, Alya told her, "I'm happy to be home." Sasha was a little puzzled and asked if home was Manpower. "No, home is when we're all together."

That's my squirrel.

And that's my "What's next?" for the next 20 years of my life.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Biting the Bullet

So much has been happening that there has hardly been time to write a blog post about it. So, here's there elevator pitch of the past couple of weeks:

- Managed to finally see Avatar. Visually mind-blowing, but it was hard to keep from laughing at the story.

- Took Alya and Marcus to Great America for the first time. Alya and Marcus rode the Whizzer. Alya loved it and rode another kid-sized coaster seven times.

- Loaded the kids up in a bike trailer and went for a ride. They like the little journeys even if Daddy maintains the bad habit of pushing himself too hard initially.

- Determined that an appetizer is mandatory with Calderone Club pizza, and french fried eggplant fits the bill very well. Marcus likes the pizza crust more than anything else.

- Video gaming has been falling off, until Super Street Fighter IV arrived. Sounds dorky, but is great fun.

- Still haven't hooked up that old Atari 2600.

- Took the kids to Six Flags Great America again. Alya and Marcus rode the Whizzer again. Marcus loved the Scrambler/Hometown Fun Machine. Alya rode the Whizzer three more times. Then Alya rode the Demon four times. She is a coaster fiend.

- My little sister and her husband had their baby boy, Asher Cohen, and we're so happy for them. Congrats to them and to my Mom for her third grandchild.

- The Roos family had their baby boy and we're so happy for them. Congrats guys! The adventure begins again.

- Sasha's been on a working spree that has led to a lot of late nights and a little bit of travel. Single parents, you are so strong.

- Tried to get the kids to relax with Star Wars. Marcus fell asleep, Alya fought to stay awake. They later watched most of the first Clone Wars cartoon. They will like Star Wars, this I give them.

- Replaced our digital camera that died with a new Panasonic camera. It's not bad, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Sorely disappointed with a new Sony model and had to return it.

- Went to a cook out with my work team and had a great time. The kids got to play with other little ones around the same age and really loved it. Thanks Patrick.

- I really need to get into the shower. Not because I'm smelly, but because I need to get ready for work and get the kids out the door and pack a lunch and... and... and...

Yeah. Time to stop blogging.

Jon

PS - Was singing "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros to the kids in the car yesterday on the way to school. (great song if you haven't heard it yet) And while singing, I made up my own words for the speaking segment of the song about the kids and what we were going to be doing that day. It was very emotional for me, but the kids are a big part of my "home".

Just Past Midnight

That's it. All done. My 40th birthday proper has ended.

I am now 40.003 years old.

And I'm good with that.

Today was more marvelous than I could ever ask for. And nearly all of it is due to the hard work of my wife of nearly 10 years, Sasha.

She and the kids made me breakfast, cut flowers for the party, made a birthday cake from scratch (lemon bundt), cooked up 25 lbs of barbecue ribs. Plus a salad, potatoes, chips and guacamole, shrimp cocktail. Just crazy stuff, that was delicious and a delight.

Then family and a couple of friends who are family came over to deal with the food. It was on both sides and that meant a lot to me. We sat outside (fantastic weather) and talked and laughed and ate. One cannot ask for more, but I got it.

Alya squeezing a glass of fresh orange juice just for me. Marcus playing "Happy birthday" on the kazoo. Being able to play the role of guest of honor instead of host. Pure fantastic.

And on Facebook, I had tons of people wishing me a happy birthday. Friends from long ago, family that live outside of Milwaukee, co-workers, and friends that I see on a frequent basis. This is the kind of thing that makes Facebook great. (Although I hear "Farmville" is pretty cool.)

Alas, 40 also wears on the bones and the brain. Sleep calls and while I don't want to pick up the phone, I really don't have much choice in the matter.

Good night folks!

Jon

Easter!

 

Yes, it's that time of year, and I thought I'd share a few highlights from the BSer hosted Easter this year.

The picture above is the bunny cake that Sasha and Alya made for everyone. No cake molds were involved. No pre-layout forms. Just Sasha's technique with a little inspiration from Alya. And the cake not only looked great, but tasted fantastic.

However, it was up against a raspberry trifle and chocolate dipped apricots, orange peels and strawberries. So the only winner was the folk who make stretch pants. Quite the yummy desserts.

 

While Marcus slept through the Easter Egg Hunt, the girls (L to R: Bella, Alya and Raven) had a field day gathering eggs. With such brilliantly warm weather, it made the kite flying and all the other outdoor stuff all the better. If only all Easters could be this nice.

 

In then end, everyone left having a good time - some better than others - and there was enough happenings to make a Ron Howard television series on BSer holidays alone. Including the fact that both of our kids ended up with buckets on their head. Such weirdoes.

Must be from Sasha's side, because I'm never weird*.

Happy Easter!

Jon

* Who am I trying to kid? It's all me!

Fun Fair and Parents and Memory

Today's big adventure was the Brown Deer Grade School Fun Fair. It was held in the middle school which is only three minutes away, so Sasha thought it would be great to take the kids - and I agreed.

The only Fun Fair I remember is one that was held at St. Robert's over in Shorewood. And I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever. It was like State Fair, but without all the creepy guys! Well even my 30+ year old memory couldn't stack up to what they did at the Brown Deer event.

They had three different rooms of games, each aimed at a slightly different age range. It helped the little ones keep from getting trampled by the big kids, which was very wise. Alya really enjoyed the Duck Pond game, while Marcus got a kick out of the fishing game in the smallest kids room. While the library had bowling setup in the shelves and a football toss as well. And the gym had a bounce castle, bake sale, and quarter-a-ticket raffle.

In fact, the quarter was the over arching theme. Twenty-five cents got a play at any of the games, a ticket for the raffle, and two snagged a bag of popcorn. Cheap fun that all went toward helping the school raise money for lots of extra activities.

In addition, Alya completely chomped down on cotton candy - we'll have to watch out for that in the future. Alya's exact words after Sasha took a small piece were, "Actually, I'm going to eat the rest of this." Lots of sugar lead to a big nap for the squirrel when the crash came, which would have been better if Marcus napped as well. But our little man just couldn't settle down. I suspect the cat nap he took on my shoulder at the Fun Fair was just enough to keep him from completely going down.

Looking forward to next year, as this was a way cool event!

***

One thing that came to mind tonight while doing dishes (and which also led to this posting) was my relationship with my friend's parents.

It's odd because as a kid you think it's nice and easy to call your friend's parents "Mom" and "Dad". Although, I will admit that I preferred not to use any name at all, because I didn't get that comfortable with most parent. But then there the exceptions.

An early memory is sitting at the kitchen table at Eric Lenz's house on Newhall eating pizza. Eric's Mom had set us up for lunch and it was a simple meal, but it was so cool. This was an event that happened frequently, but that house was in some ways a larger constant than my own. Oh, did I mention that I was either six or seven at the time?

But at any rate, Eric's Mom, Barbara, took me in probably more often than I can remember, but that is probably part of the reason why I could call her Mom, although I probably didn't do it very often.

Heh. I still remember the Ziggy cartoon that was taped up in the kitchen. Ziggy was walking his pet duck and a construction worker was yelling, "Duck!" to which Ziggy replied, "Don't worry, he's friendly." Naturally, he didn't see the wrecking ball headed straight toward him.

***

The other friend's mom that was on that same level was David C's Mom. Now this jumps from First Grade to Junior Year of high school, but she was a parent that was not only there for all of David's friends, but just was the awesome of mom-hood.

While sleepovers were a thing of the past by the time I met Beverly C, she was "Mom" pretty much out the gate. Admittedly, part of this came from the fact that in high school we travelled in packs and I was late to joining this group, but while I wasn't spending the night, there were several dinners at David's house and it often was the meeting point where activites would begin.

Meals were a little more formal in high school, but that kitchen will always be remembered as a place where I was welcome as more than just one of Dack's friends. And Beverly really made it another home for me.

***

"But, Jon," you might ask, "Were there any extra Dad's in your childhood?"

The closest would be Peter Santi's father, Joseph. I really didn't spend a lot of time with him, but the one trip I took to EAA fly-in in Oshkosh just sticks in my head. I just felt a part of this family trip - although it was very much like a fishing trip with the guys, but without the beer - and the invite was very welcome.

And it kind of helps that the only other time I had been to the EAA fly-in was with my own father.

***

Alya and Marcus already have had sleepovers at several family member's houses without us, but family parents are not the same as friend's parents. I don't know if I would ever be referred to as "Dad", although I'm sure Sasha will be called "Mom" by some of the kids' friends. Whether it happens or not, I'll be fine with it.

But I had best figure out something, becuase "Mr. BSer" doesn't quite have the ring I'm looking for.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Kicking the Diaper Habit

It's really funny, we've got Marcus on the potty training route, but both he and Alya still use sippy cups. It's like we're scared of letting them put milk or juice on the carpet, but pee and poo? No problem!

For those of you who do not see the kids, they have moved from cute little ones, to cute, active, often defiant, not-quite-so-little ones. Alya is nearly at the height where she is not supposed to play at the Bayshore kids area anymore. Mind, we were there tonight and saw an 8 year old (at least) hanging out with his little brother on the equipment. Such is life in America.

Anyway, the two of them are getting really good at not listening/following directions these days. Marcus prefers straight up defiance, "I don't like that!" while Alya attempts to make a deal or deflect what you asked her to do.

"Alya, go potty before bed."

"But you told me to pick out pj's."

"And you did that, now go potty before putting them on."

"But you told me to pick out pj's." [different, slightly whiny-er inflection]

[sigh]

But it's amazing how funny they can be as well.

Tonight we ate at Potbelly, and neither of them liked their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - because they were too messy. As soon as I wrapped them up in a napkin for holding purposes, they were okay. But we were going through napkins like crazy. So when I handed one to Alya for her messy hands, she took it and draped it over her head! No good reason, just left it there as we all laughed. She is a goof.

Meanwhile, I had the "crazed parent" moment of the night. Marcus ate a quarter of his half a sandwich before a lump of peanut butter derailed his interest. Since Potbelly does sundaes, they have bananas right there in the store. So I took them both up to the counter to get one for them. Well, it was just one guy back there - manager or shift lead - and the other two where outta sight, so we were waiting. And waiting. And the kids were getting antsy. So when I could grab his attention, I just said, "I need a banana for the kids." and held out my card. (Yeah, I'm one of those no-cash-having kind of guys.) He said it was 53 cents and minimum was a dollar. So I stated I had no cash (like a North Shore jerk) and started walking away. He called out, just take one on me. So I did.

Three minutes later, once Marcus was eating said banana.
([crack! Peel-peel-peel. pass to Marcus] "I want to peel it!" [mentally curse for forgetting he peels his own and attempt to fool him that I resealed it] [succeed in fooling 2-year-old son])
I realized we had been carrying Marcus's Spider-man lunch box with us. The one that was filled will all the coins from a mini-change jar. Probably only three or four bucks in there, but that's plenty for a 53 cent banana.

So we went back to the guy, thanked him for the free banana, and then had Marcus pay for it since his lunchbox held the cash after all.

Anyway, I'm off to play a little video games before bed.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Run, Runner!!!!

"Run, Daddy! Run!"
"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"
"Rawr!!!!"
"Ieeeeee!!!"

Just another evening at the Casa de BSer.

It is kind of strange to have your kids telling you to run. But when your a geek like me and had previously told your kids how to quote the 70s science fiction movie Logan's Run (see the title of this blog post) then it's bound to come back at you.

In the basement, Alya and Marcus were both chasing me with their little foam guns that shot Nerf-like arrows and telling me to run while chanting "Shoot!" Funny, but a little disturbing.

So the best thing to do was to quickly duck behind the couch and roar right back as soon as they rounded the corner. Seems fair to me. The squeals and laughter was worth it.

And the reward? Two very tired and relaxed children, ready for bed after a dose of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - currently in progress.

---

However, as geeky as I am, I did not dress the kids up as anything bizarre. Instead, we went a very basic route - Zebra and Turtle.



They had a fantastic Halloween. As you might be able to tell in the picture, it was really cold here during the day. Heavy coats and bundling up in the wagon was mandatory.

We took a first trip around a neighborhood here in Brown Deer with the Roos family. Their daughter, Kaede, was dressed up as a witch and got to join in on the wagon fun as well.



Lots of giggles to be had there.

Then we had a second round that evening, with a Halloween party in Germantown, where the people really go all out. Lots of decorations, including a house that was actually a little scary for adults as well as a mini-bar with jello shots. Good times for all.

Anyway, a quick update before bedtime for the little ones.

Pumpkin time!

Last week, I took the day off to take help Alya's class out with a pumpkin farm field trip. Lots of fun as I minded Alya and her friend Sydney, who was also at the birthday party.

They had a great time, and special thanks to the hat that Grandma Nida got Alya for her birthday - it was toasty goodness for the little squirrel.

Riding the wagon having a good time, that's what the pumpkin farm is all about.

Alya and Sydney are... the Children of the Corn!

Marcus might not be a climbing boy, but Alya makes up for it in spades. She must have went up and down this wall five times - at a minimum!

The group photo!

***

Well I hope you enjoyed this week of pictures. I'm sure I won't post again until after Thanksgiving, but I'm glad to get this batch out at the least.

Thanks much!

Jon

On Sasha's birthday we went to Elegant Farmer with her Mom and Fran. Good time for all, with lots of yummy snacks.

Sorry there aren't any pictures from Victor's the night before. That was a hoot, in that Victor's sort of way.

On the tractor ride. We take it around the fields every year, but we never actually get off to get apples or pumpkins. Weird.

Marcus and the apple cider donut. Yummers!

Alya on the rocking horse getting assistance from Franpa.

And here we have Marcus being.... Well we can just call him being Marcus.

Monkey Business as usual

Just a few odd shots from around the end of September to the beginning of October.

 

Alya doing her best Monty Python impression.

 

And now Alya is the diva being driven around town.

 

Marcus takes top goofball on the cat post.

 

Football, how it's meant to be played.

Alya's Birthday Extravaganza!

Here's a whole stack of pictures from Alya's birthday weekend. Two parties, multiple cakes and a bunch of Disney Princess dresses.

Enjoy!

Flipping for Ribs

 

Marcus is known for being a picky eater. Sometimes he'll eat nothing but bananas and waffles for the entire day. However, this day in September was one in which he not only ate the rice and gandules I had made, but gnawed on the bones of the ribs Sasha had made for her first time. I don't blame him either, as those ribs were really good.

 

Meanwhile, Alya decided that doing flips off the bed was a good thing. Head down on the foot and kick the feet over - Boom! I brought more pillows down as she was just landing on her butt at first. Crazy girl.

Adventure Awaits!

In the old arcade game, Dragon's Lair, the attract mode would describe how fantastic of a game it was and wrap up with, "Play Dragon's Lair - Your adventure awaits!" Naturally, this phrase stuck with me.

But who'd of thought that a nature walk would turn into a genuine adventure?

Sasha had taken the kids into Brown Deer Park for a walk through the woods before, and this time we all went for the hike. We walked on logs, picked up sticks, climbed hills, interfered with disc golf games, and Alya had her first outdoor bathroom experience. Standard stuff for a walk in the woods.

Then our trail met this bridge:

True adventure!

And that kind of changed things. Alya was a little scared to cross it. I was nervous that some of the boards were weak. And the gaps were large enough that either of the kids could have fit through and there was some water under that bridge. A thrilling crossing, indeed.

Yes, we made it without incident. Yeah, it probably wasn't a big deal. But we still didn't take that route back.

Instead, we follow a trail that would "complete" the circuit and bring us out on the other side. Except that pesky stream the bridge had crossed was still around and still containing water. So this trail sort of gave up the ghost at a bend in the stream. No bridge in sight, nor stones to make an attempt at keeping dry.

It all kind of reminded me of Blair Witch Project. But neither Sasha, nor I are that stupid.

So she slowly herded the kids in the direction there "should" be a bridge, while I scouted ahead to make sure it was there.

I scampered along the stream bed, trying to spot our way out when I think I see salvation - a golf cart bridge that was perhaps 30 yards away. And then I saw what lay between us and the way out. The stream had forked, and this fork was cutting off the way out.

As I got closer, I could see the bed of the fork did not have any obvious water, but the question of mud remained. So I grabbed a nearby stick and started prodding the leaf covered bed. It was soft in spots, but otherwise dry enough.

However, when we had regrouped to cross it together, Alya balked and didn't want to walk along it. Maybe my speech about how to cross these things made it a little scary, but it was another experience that she didn't want to do along. So she was held and Marcus carried, and we made it across the bridge, out of the woods, and into the clear blue sky.

With two tired little children who couldn't bear to walk anymore.



We found adventure and triumphed. And it was good.

***

So, I've been really bad about blogging lately, and a lot has been going on with the family.

Alya had her 3rd birthday party, which was a three day celebration filled with cakes, princess outfits, and a few presents too. Good times for the little squirrel.

Sasha also had her birthday, which was a celebration that started after her brother's birthday party the day previous and ran off to a round of golf and a trip to Elegant Farmer for fall goodies.

And I went with Alya on a Pumpkin Farm trip with her school. Lots of fun for her and I, even if I forgot the rule of "Don't let the kids pick a pumpkin they can't carry."

Since all of this was neglected, I'm going to cheat for the following week.

Starting after this post on Sunday, there will be a picture (or two) and a short blog entry every day this week. Really. I mean it. I'm doing it right after I publish this one.

So come back and see the BSer thought of the day. I will not promise a big week wrap-up at the end, but the thought is nice.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Take a good hard look, 'cause we're sailin' on a boat!

Ah, Labor Day.

Since we do not have kids in school proper yet, it is merely the end of a season and an extended weekend. But we made the most of it, that's for certain.

The picture above, was taken Sunday morning on a lake near East Troy, WI. Sasha's Aunt Debi and Uncle Neal have a house there that they opened up to the entire Fuller family for Labor Day weekend. So we scheduled a time (the Fuller family is that big) and got ready to go.

But that's not the beginning of the story.

---

Sometimes life gets a little funny. Not funny "ha-ha", but funny "strange". I saw some new friends leave the immediate part of my life, and saw a bunch of old friends that I haven't seen in quite a while. This wasn't an "Out with the new, in with the old" plan - I didn't have much say beyond attending events, but it was weird.

The Battiste's (Ben and Jen) left Milwaukee this past Tuesday for Germany, as Ben was just posted there by the US Army. They've been a part of my gaming life for the past year, and have come over for get togethers as well. They had an hasta la vista (my term, not theirs) dinner on Thursday, but with Alya still under the weather, BSer representation was limited to me and Marcus walking into California Pizza Kitchen to say "Farewell" and wave a bag of burgers from Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Very brief, which is a bummer but thanks to the internet, contact need not be lost.

But in with the old! In this case, it was a Friday wedding for a co-worker friend of Sasha and I. It was a nifty ceremony, and a nice dinner, but the highlights for us were.... Conversations with Peter and Ann Marie, a couple that we used to get together with during my previous stint at Manpower. They had since moved out to Colorado and we had not really kept in touch beyond Facebook.

Then throw in a bunch of dancing (the wedding trifecta - Electric Slide, Cha-Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle - back to back to back) and it being a date night as my Mom watched the kids all added up to a fantastic evening.

And that lead to the next day and a lake house party!

---



This is what vacation living is all about.

Now I know I kind of lead up to this being the meat of the post. A Saturday through Sunday stay at one of the nicest homes I've ever stayed in, but the events were so laid back that in some ways there's not much to tell.

We all were able to chill out and enjoy the day. Alya and Marcus loved running around on the grass and hanging out on the pier watching the lake. We've been told our children are very mellow, and they certainly know how to take it easy.

Saturday's antics included, a big group bath for all the little (read under 5 years old) cousins in a large, whirlpool tub. Highlights include little cousin Devon (18 mo.) standing up to show how he can pee in the water. -Bath reset!- And the "swim off" between Alya and cousin Jack (4). Each of them were trying to out do the other. Very fun for all that were involved.

This bath time was followed up with a nice outside fire with around ten family that had lots of sparks and some roasting of marshmallows, which then became smores. Alya and Marcus shared a rocking bench for a brief stint until it was impossible to ignore bedtime any longer.

And both of them slept solidly through the night. Which was good because Alya took the top bunk in a room with two of her second cousins who were probably worried they would have middle of the night wakes ups. Instead, they were serenaded by Alya's morning song, which is a quite gentle way to be woken up.

Once we were all moving (and none too hurriedly, mind) the BSers and the Ratajczyks (Jenni and her two sons Jack and Devon) went out on the pontoon boat for a slow ride around the lake. A somewhat calm cruise - kids fine, water skiers a little less calm - that let us see the sailboats get out for the weekly race - probably the last of the season. We even tried to feed the fish, but they weren't that interested in tortilla chips.

Then we came back to shore - had a little lunch - and then the kids ended up taking a 3 hour nap! That's the kind of chillin' I'm talkin' about. Heck, I even grabbed 20 minutes for myself.

By the time we got home, the sun had set, our bodies were tired, and our day wasn't over.

Yep, Holly came by to watch the kids while Sasha and I went out for a second wedding of the weekend.

---

Wai-ken married Maggie this past weekend in a small ceremony at the Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee. Sasha and I managed to show up late to the reception thanks to a bonus trip up and down in the hotel elevators.

Anyway, I've know Wai since the fifth grade and we've been trying to get together a few times a year at minimum - plus lunches at El Farol. But also at the reception was two friends from high school (Chris and Mike) and one from the first grade! (Hey Eric!)

Since we were coming in at the tail end of a long day for everyone, we only got to chat a little bit, but it was good to actually talk with these guys that I hadn't seen in several years.

But one of the odd things that I came away with was that we all have changed. But sometimes it's hard to shake the memory of how things were, compared to where we're at now. I am fairly certain that I'm a different person now, and so are they. It's both interesting and a little sad that we don't know the changes we've all gone through.

But that is the nature of life, unless you keep your friends to a minimum, it is impossible to keep up with everyone. Lives change, we cross paths or journey together only to part at some point. And one can hope to meet up again and have things return to that level of comfort you once had.

A funny thing about meeting these friends again, I could find a parallel for each one in my current batch of "newer" friends. Maybe it's a gamer thing (and all of them were/are gamers) but it's like a group cannot abide with two people of the same personality type - but we're drawn to people who share a type of personality we've known in the past. Very strange.

---


Morning... BSer style

After all the crazy events, Monday was the calm we all needed.

Sasha, which help from the kids, put together a really nice breakfast. Then she mowed the lawn while I did house clean up and kid watching.

This was followed by another long nap by the kids and Sasha, which I did not partake in.

Then the evening was a gathering with Peter and Ann Marie (remember them?) and some of their friends, including my old boss from Manpower. It was a great, relaxing evening. Peter took the role of Grill Master to heart and whipped up some good sources of protein. Ann Marie took care of the logistics behind the scenes and we and another couple with their nearly-two-year-old waxed and relaxed.

It was a fine way to wrap up the weekend and a time of nostalgia, remembering days when we were in the same city and could visit more often. I guess we have a very good reason to see Colorado now.

---

Now if I was better at this kind of stuff, I'd re-read the post tomorrow before putting it up, but I'm not that kind of guy. It's late, I'm rambling, and I'm missing some of my friends.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Sitting on the steps - a Vacation done

 

Well we spent the weekend in the Dells and here's a group shot to prove it.

Okay, it's really the steps to the condo we stayed at, but it was a fun time.