Horseshoes and hand grenades

Gratuitous shot of Sawyer, thank you very much...

Hey kids,

Sick pow day today! Not really. I don't even know what that means. I imagine it's what the kids are saying about the snow and ski conditions in Tahoe today. But meanwhile, down here in the valley, we were wearing short sleeves and Crocs.

Woke up this morning to a severe milk-egg-butter-bread deficit, so wound up going out for breakfast. Afterwards, went to the park and, surprisingly, whiled away about three hours, soaking up the Vitamin D and pinking up your pasty-white winter complexions. We did a long, slow, lazy walk of the entire perimeter of the park, throwing rocks in the creek, chasing geese, half-heartedly doing the exercise circuit thingamabobs (we all can collectively do approx ZERO pull-ups). We watched a highly organized game of flag football (they had uniforms, refs and everything), swung on the swings, picked some litter up out of the creek. In general, just did a whole lot of nothing.

Jakob picked up a big feather and asked me why it wasn't on the bird anymore. Because it fell off. Why? I dunno. Well, how do feathers stick to birds? I dunno. What kind of leaf is this? A brown one. Why isn't it on the tree anymore? It fell off. How do leaves stick to trees? I dunno. Etc. Etc. You are going to grow up thinking that your mother is an idiot.

We spent a good deal of time hanging out in the horseshoe pits, throwing sticks and pretending they were horseshoes. You both seemed to enjoy our improvised game so much, that I resolved to go to Big 5 Sports that very day to price horseshoe sets. I mean, horseshoes are something that everyone needs, right? All the grandmas and grandpas would enjoy it when they visit over the summer. It's a great camping and backyard BBQ activity. Yes, yes, whatever. I talked myself into it.



So after a stop at Payless Shoes for school shoes ("Wizards of Waverly Place" shoes for Waverly. Never seen the show, but the shoes are super-cute, with a big "W" emblazoned on them. And Wavy, your feet are now officially one half size bigger than your brother's. Just sayin'...) it was off to Big 5. As luck would have it, the prohibitively priced $49.99 horseshoe set was on sale this week for half off, so I snagged it. We raced home to have lunch, check our email, and it was back to the park for an afternoon of honest-to-gawd horseshoes. With real horseshoes. Jakob was wicked stoked, and would've played all night if I had let him. Wavy, not so much. She chucked a couple of those heavy-ass shoes a foot or two down the lane (Do I sound like I know 'shoe jargon? Like I know what the hell I'm talking about? This is the first time I've ever played horseshoes in my life...), decided it wasn't for her, and went on to collect pine cones instead. Hopefully, though, this is one of those outrageous impulse buys that will pay off in spades as the weather continues to warm up. Or -- one of us will wind up with a concussion.

The mountains that ring our sunny little Carson Valley were topped with increasingly stormy looking clouds throughout the day, and sure enough, checking the weather forecast this evening, looks like rain and snow are predicted for the rest of the week. FEH!!!

Daddy gave me an early birthday present: a Wii game called "Endless Ocean: Blue World" which I had been crowing about ever since I read about its late Feb release date. I don't have the heart to tell him that after about ten minutes of game play, my carpal tunnel had gone completely aggro, and my entire arm from my thumb to my shoulder was burning. Damn.

And Oscars! Whoot! Everything went exactly the way I wanted it to. Haha, Avatar got almost nothin'. I liked and appreciated the movie, but it was like a piece of chocolate lava cake, compared to Hurt Locker's hearty prime rib. In my next life, I want to frickin' BE Kathryn Bigelow. She's in her late 50s but looks like she's in her 30s, is beautiful and talented and ... and... sigh... I heart Kath. Call me, sweetie! We'll do Thai!

Short work week this week. Friday is the first day of Birthday Bash 2010: The Fort Bragg Adventure!™ Can't wait. This week will be torture. Love you both. Sleep tight.