More East Cost Vacation...

2009-06-15 Tuesday


We (M, M, J and A) piled into a car and drove up to visit M, M, M & M at their new house at New Paltz. Last time we visited the house, it was mostly a shell around their old cabin. Now, it's mostly house around a Very Large Living Space. A loved the two trap doors in the floor and all of M and M's pirate toys.

The drive home featured 100,000 fireflies.



2009-06-16 Wednesday

We rented a car for a Big Road Trip to Virginia. We saw lots of toll booths. M had detailed instructions to his Brother, M's house. This was a good thing -- because who would have believed that M & J (and S & J) live just a couple of miles from the Walton's Museum (yes, as in "John-Boy").

As we drove in, the World's Biggest Thunderstorm blew in. M kept reminding me of the possibility that the river might flow over the final stretches of road. We pointed out the spooky haunted Southern mansions to A (for Sale!).

That night, as we were eating dinner, the electricity went out and we went to sleep to the quiet and the moonlight.


2010-06-17 Thursday.

The Virginia Relatives hosted us at their country house. We reacquainted ourselves with Mow the Chow (ancient) and a less older Shamus.




M set up the Monopoly board on the grass. And we had a few rounds. Uncle M dressed as Marvin (the) Garden(er). Aunt J wore beach wear as Mediterranean Avenue. Cousin J wore over-alls with a pillow tucked in and a long stem o grass in her mouth -- there was debate whether she was Virginia, Tennessee or North Carolina Ave. Boyfriend H dressed as Oriental Avenue, with a really cool Dragon Sword.

A wore his Mr Moneybags outfit, and promptly discovered that he was too warm. So I held an umbrella over his head to keep him from overheating.

We also had only one die, which added an extra dimension to getting doubles.






2010-06-18 Friday

J decided that it was too hot sleeping in the second story room, so at midnight he wandered downstairs to look at the stars (and pee). The screened in gazebo was available, and after re-arranging some futons, he fell asleep listening to the rushing water from Uncle M's fountain. And the night-sounds of distant dogs killing something.

A, M, and Uncle M went on an archeological dig, and J stayed inside, out of the bugs and sun, to write.

A, M and Uncle M returned about an hour later with a trophy from their dig -- an old cow skull. A thought it might be a triceratops skull. A showed me the teeth, which were a plant eater's teeth, and the place he thought the horns aught to go. M says that he was just playing along and that he knew it was a cow skull the entire time.

Probably somewhere around here is where A thought that "Camp M" was the greatest and that Uncle M was the coolest (East Coast) relative.

The Big Monopoly Birthday Party

2009-06-12 Saturday

The Big Monopoly Party

I don't quite remember when A said that he wanted a Monopoly Party. It must have been sometime shortly after we read Mark Teague's "Pigsty," the book that started A's fascination with the Parker Brothers' classic game of capitalism.

The big question of the day was would it rain or not. So, early-ish in the humid morning, Cousin K helped with the tents and tarps, directed by Aunt M (formerly with Treasure Island).

The second question was, would I (J) have my costume ready in time. Luckily, I was; my role was "Chance, the ABBA interpretation." I taped a photo of ABBA onto my breast and had a "chance orange" caption which read, "Take a chance on me." I also had orange "Take a chance on me" cards with my phone number written on at the bottom.

A dressed up as Mr. Moneybags, with white shirt, black shoes, pants, and shoes, and tailcoat. We forgot about his cane (which was a good thing, as he very likely would have whacked someone with it).

M, with his usual flair for preparedness, strapped on his duct tape Scottie dog token, conceived, designed, created and modeled in time for it to be mailed to Grandma M's.

Grandma M wore glamorous sequins and a sash as Boardwalk (the most expensive property on the board).

LGL came in a fancy tuxedo as The Banker, which was mandatory, as he is in real life an honest-to-goodness New York City Wall Street Banker. He and A sat in the middle of the board handing out money and deeds. They had a great time, as LGL informed A that "the banker always wins."

Uncle M (Buffalo) came as a News Paper Boy and shouted out how there was a new chairman of the board (he came equipped with $50 bills, which he used as counterfeit cash curing the game). Aunt K (Buffalo) came bedecked as Marvin Gardens. Cousin M (Cursed with House Snakes) dressed in a furry hat as Vermont Avenue. His brother, Cousin P and his (P's) boyfriend, M, came as "The Dice Boys," and threw the red inflatable dice.


Cousin M (of New Paltz) dressed as a $500 bill, and Cousin M (of New Paltz) dressed as a House.

Cousin C dressed as a Hobo, and his brother B dressed in a ski outfit as Vermont Ave. Sister, Cousin D came as the person from the card who "Won Second Place in a Beauty Contest."

Aunt M (formerly with Treasure Island) and Aunt M (B, C & D's mother) dressed as Waterworks and the Electric Company, respectively. Cousin M (cursed with house snakes) did an impromptu wire-job so that Aunt M's faucet had twirly paper-streamer water and Aunt M's light bulb hat really lit.

Great Uncle M came as a railroad conductor, and Great Aunt J put on her jewels as Luxury Tax.

Cousin V wore a black slinky dress and a hula-hoop with a tin-foil diamond on it, also as Luxury Tax. Her husband, J, came in his real-live honest-to-goodness Police Uniform (he left his gun and handcuffs at home, but brought a water squirter).


Cousin K (Works Hard) dressed up as Oriental Avenue. Cousin K (from Russia with Love) dressed up as the Statue of Liberty so she could be New York Avenue.


There were other games... and a Monopoly Board Ice Cream cake with six candles (the extra candle was for good luck). Everyone had a fun time and the party lasted until late into the night.

Birthday Workshop

After many nights' toil, filled with stenciling, cutting, painting, magic-markering, and coloring, we finally managed to finish off one aspect of the upcoming Monopoly Birthday Extravaganza.

















There's still the table and tarp, rulers and T-squares to be put away.







M gave all the properties a final spray of fixative. J wants everyone to know that he was having some interesting dreams and would wake up to the scent of magic marker while M, who had arisen Very Early, was putting finishing touches on things.







M laid out the finished squares and A dressed up (again!) as Mr. Moneybags so we could get an idea about how large this whole thing would be. Then we sent it off via the Postal Service to Grandma M's for birthday fun later.






A helped out.

















So far I haven't seen anyone's costume suggestions, but there's some rumors going around about "Community Chest."

April / May Photos

Show and tell at school. A was very excited.



















I believe the quote was, "You'd better work!"


















One of many Mr. Moneybags poses.



















Although all of the Calvin and Hobbes books have been locked in a vault, A seems to have taken a page from the Calvin school of photography.

Quck Update

The Pirate Ban is over. One of the clerks at the local supermarket helped us celebrate with Piratical Music.

A still enjoys playing Monopoly (tournament rules), but likes his new game, "Loot," which is sort of like "bridge meets The Golden Age of Piracy." A's strategy is to save all his cards (I think so he can see the trumping "captain pirate cards").

It's spring break, and M decided that we'd be better served if A stopped napping. So this has been an interesting week.

We went hiking at the local arboretum. A recent big-cat scare insured that all four boys on the hike grabbed sticks for a re-enactment of "Peter and the Cougar." Or was that the chapter from A.A. Milne, "In Which Tigger is Unbounced" ? I'm pretty sure all the wildlife in a three mile radius fled.

We saw "Dora the Explorer" for the first time the other night. A wants to be... (wait for it)... Swiper, the tricky fox who steals everything. Thanks, Dora.


Oh. Right. The Dinosaur Phase has officially started (since sometime last week). There would have been a blog posting about it, but we're too busy learning the difference between the Cretaceous, Mesozoic, Triassic, and Jurassic. A wants to be... (wait for it)... Tyrannosaurus Rex, and routinely walks around with his hands held as claws next to his chest while asking, "You want to see my scary teeth?" Already he's cornered face painters at two separate events and demanded they paint most of his face as huge dino-teeth and then holds up his hands to get a claw treatment. I can't decide if they're happy to not be painting Yet Another Rainbow Butterfly on some kid's face, or if A's Secret I-Am-A-Blond-Blue-Eyed-Four-Year-Old-You-Are-Getting-Sleepy Powers are still working.