Mama On The Move

Wow, have arcades changed since I was kid.   I can't remember the last time I took the kids to an arcade.  I know they've been to them before, but it has definitely been a looooong time.  Years. We found a deal on Groupon where we got $30 arcade cards for only $16.50 (I love Groupon).  I thought it would be something different to do for family time. When I was a kid, we used quarters in arcade games.  When I got older you had to use tokens.  And the games would spit out paper tickets at you when you finished playing and when you were ready to leave, you could trade in your tickets for a prize.   I think it was 500 tickets = a green Jolly Rancher or something like that. Anyway, arcades have come to the modern age.  Now, you give the cashier the amount of money you want to spend, and she gives you a "credit card" with that amount of money on it.  Instead of putting coins or tokens in a game, you swipe  your card throug...

Katie is currently studying the Revolutionary War at the Mama On The Move Academy For Exceptionally Gifted and Talented Children of Dizzying Intellect.  I was asking her questions about the material she had covered today. "Where did the American army corner the British in 1781?"  (The answer is Yorktown, in case you don't know - although you should.) "Um.....it was that port town.  I can't think of the name." I gave her a big hint, "Well, it sounds like 'port town' but it starts with a 'Y'." "Um......Yortland?"

On our trip to Florida, we pulled in at a service station to gas up and get a snack.  The girls hurried to pick out a drink and a snack while Kerry filled up the car. I was trying to find the snack and drink Kerry had requested as well as find something for myself that wasn't gross when Katie asked if she could get some beef jerky as her snack.  Sure, no problem. It wasn't until I had checked out and my brain registered that the snacks seemed to be awfully expensive that I realized something was amiss.  I looked at my receipt and realized Katie's beef jerky was seven dollars . "Katie!  You picked out a seven dollar package of beef jerky??" She looked horrified, "I didn't know it was that much!" "You should check the price when you choose something.  Don't just take it and assume it's the same price as a Slim Jim!" When we got in the car, I told Kerry about the price of the jerky.  Then Katie asked me to help her open th...

What we did in Florida: And then we went to a surprise party.

We went on a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Florida. Rigger and Ringo knew something was up as soon as they saw the suitcases.  They are so pitiful, standing by the door with their ears and eyebrows raised.  They know suitcases mean we won't be home for a while. After we loaded the suitcases in the car, we decided to walk the dogs.  When I held up the leash, Rigger came running to me high-stepping like a prancing pony.  His excitement was visible in every muscle of his body.  He thought  he was going with us.  Ringo was excited as well, but he contains his enthusiasm better. Usually when we take the dogs out, they head straight for the curb.  That's where all the dogs who are being walked around the neighborhood leave their scent.  Our dogs usually drag us to the curb so they can leave their own scent in response to the other canines.  The edge of our yard is the Facebook of the dog community. This time however, our dogs headed ...

Emily is making a bug collection for Biology.  We have often stopped everything we are doing to capture a bug without squishing it. Last week, we were heading into the Red Cross building to check on a babysitting course.  As we were about to open the door, Emily spotted a wasp flitting around. "I need the keys so I can go get a container out of the car!" she screeched, I handed her the keys and Katie and I waited for her to run back to the van where her tennis ball container was available for bug holding duties.  I was not thrilled about deliberately taking a live wasp in the car but felt like it should be okay as long as no one accidentally knocked the lid off and released an angry wasp in the van. But as it turned out, I had other things to worry about. Emily came slowly trudging back from the parking lot with her head hanging low. "I just locked the keys in the van." Kerry had to come rescue us and the Red Cross had closed early so we had to sit out...

We had to use a port-a-potty while we were at the Wolf Fest.  That's never a positive experience, but at least one of them was a lovely blue color. When I came out of it Kerry quipped, "How did you like your journey in the Port-A-Tardis?  It's cleaner on the outside than on the inside!"