Mario Bros Drumming in the Cemetery

Aaron and Alex debuted this year's Halloween costumes at a cemetery bash set up by my medical assistant, BJ.  She sets up a spooky cemetery in her front yard every year to enhance her neighborhood and this year she had a fun party to kick off the season.  It was a cold night, but the boys were reasonably warm in their chosen costumes.  As you can see, they are still very much into the Super Mario Brothers - Luigi and Mario.  This year Aaron got to be Mario and Alex chose Luigi because he's taller.  They worked out this pose almost organically whenever we asked them to pose for a combo shot.  BJ made the little sign between them that reads "SUPER MARIO BROS IN PERSON".  We also got to enjoy snacks and cider and a small fire inside a cauldron on their driveway, which helped with the cold.

Her daughter came over and played the drums while she sang the witches' song from "Hocus Pocus".  The boys each took a turn at the drums.

To anyone passing by, it had to be a little surreal - The Mario Bros rocking out on drums in a cemetery.

Hovercraft Fun

Chris pulled out a fun device that he built - a hovercraft. Seriously. I can't replicate it, but I think I got the general idea.  It is a piece of plywood that he covered in a blue tarp and used measured cuts and duct tape to shape the lower section into a skirt with an opening smaller than the base.  He cut a hole in the board and stuck the output end of an electric leaf blower into it.



When you turn it on it pushes air under the board and out the hole in the tarp, providing lift.  He push the boys around the driveway for a while.  He assured me that it would hold me and so I took a trip down the driveway as well, when I discover a serious design flaw - no brakes.  Chris chased me down and stopped me with a broomstick, that I realized he has used for this purpose before.  I don't think I'll try this at home, but it was cool to ride.

Cincy Zoo and Slip-n-Slide

Yesterday we drove to Cincinnati to spend the weekend with our friends from medical school - Dawn, Chris, and their kids Rachel and Ben. We got up today and decided to go to the Cincinnati Zoo.  They are revamping some of it, but we got to see most of it including a great exhibit of male white lions.  They were pretty and at one point they roared a roar that would make you evacuate your insides if you were out on the savannah.  Some of our favorite moments of the day didn't involve animals.  We rode on the zoo train which the kids loved.



The kids gravitated toward the playground which included a big spider net jungle gym.  We thought we might catch a live bird show that was on the schedule.  It wasn't until we got to the outdoor ampitheater that we realized that the schedule we were given when we entered was for the next day and there was no bird show.



Instead, we were treated to a free concert by Roger Day.  He's a children's music singer/songwriter and we had a great time for this hour-long concert in the zoo.  He got the kids to help him act out some of his favorites, like "Mosquito Burrito" (those are mosquito finger puppets that Aaron is waggling above), "Dream Big", "It's a No No to Kiss a Rhino", and "Ready to Fly".



We did get the three boys to capture and then pose on a stray crocodile before we left.  He wasn't moving very fast, so it was easier than we thought.



To cool off that afternoon, they set up a slip-n-slide up on a hill in their yard.  It was great because of that hill - gravity pulled you so you didn't have to worry about timing the run with the fall on the face.  You could just start out on your face if you wanted. 



We ate grilled meats, helped Dawn with a puzzle she was working on, had fried ice cream-flavored ice cream for dessert.  After we put the kids down, we played Guitar Hero III on their Wii late into the night.  Dawn schooled us by playing "Slow Ride" by Foghat on Expert.  I guess we'll have to get out own and practice.

BJ's Cemetery

We were minding our own business, when this ghoul wrapped in an old Ace wrap appeared out of nowhere. He made a drooling, hungry noise and scared us out of the house. We drove for miles down to Maumee to seek refuge at my medical assistant's (BJ's) house.
There we found a cemetery full of bones, cobwebs, and creepy sound effects. And a fog machine that Alex quickly took charge of.

She also had a steaming cauldron that was surprisingly cold, probably from the dry ice subliming in the pot. They had a fire pit set up and rubber snakes to scare their mother with. They wrapped the night up with candy that turned our ghouls back into sugar satisfied munchkins and all was right with the world.

Evan's Pirate Party

Alex and Aaron were invited to a pirate themed party this evening for their friend Evan. They had a blast getting dressed up in pirate costumes and getting "tattoos" painted on their arms by Becky. Alex even drew his own treasure map as a prop to go along with the spyglass my nurse gave him.
Evan's parents planned a real treasure hunt and sent two teams of kids all around the house with rhyming clues. Each team had a treasure chest at the end filled with candy and gold coins (and some candy gold coins).
His mom made this beautiful cake. The ship, people, tree, and candle are not edible. The sand and water are.
Evan had a great time, and we had a great time sharing in his pirate adventure.

Book Fair 2006

Today was the Maumee Valley Book Fair sponsored by Scholastic, inc. Becky volunteered by helping kids find books and figure out how much they could buy with their money. She said this was the best book fair in the last 3 years.


Alex really got sucked into James and the Giant Peach. He bought it and started reading it there. He got through chapter 12 tonight at home and I went into his room about 5 minutes after tucking him in and had to confiscate it so he'd go back to bed. :)


He sat with his friend Will and they read the latest Captain Underpants book.

Jazz Heroes

Today we brought the kids to Perrysburg High School because the local Jazz Choir was holding a fundraiser by having the Hero's Toledo group (from this year's Rib-Off) come out and bring their inflatable playground. Some of Alex and Aaron's friends were there as well. They played hard for 2 hours. Aaron would do almost anything there though one of the inflatables was still too big for him. The Jazz Choir even performed a version of "At The Car Wash". We're looking forward to more Party Heroes events.

More Fun in Cincy

Today we spent the morning relaxing and playing in Cincinnati with our friends. Becky practiced her hair-wrapping skills on Rachel before her soccer game. She loved it and hinted that she'd like her entire head covered in wrapped hair. Aaron and Ben had a blast playing with bubbles in the driveway. I taught Ben how to blow big bubbles by blowing slower, and of course Aaron loves the big bubbles. We posed in our Race for the Cure shirts we made since we think it'll be hard to get a group picture next weekend. Our time was too short, so we'll need to try to come back soon.

A Day Out With Thomas

Last night we drove down to Cincinnati to see friends that we've known since medical school. We got all eight of us together to head to nearby Lebanon, OH to a local train station that was hosting "A Day Out With Thomas". Thomas the Train is a TV show featuring Thomas, a "really useful engine" who works on the island of Sodor. The show looks like it is filmed on a model train set. Here however, he was full-sized. After getting balloon trains made (look at the blue ballon in Alex's hand and use your imagination), watching a magician, running through a hay maze, feeding goats in a petting zoo and enjoying a snowcone, we got to ride for 25 minutes on Thomas. The kids really enjoyed the day out.

Back to School Pool Party 2006

Today we went out to the Sylvania Country Club for Alex's Back to School party. One of Alex's classmate's dad is the executive chef there. As you can see it was a pool and ice cream party. Alex is getting to be a better swimmer, though one of his classmates has been taking lessons at our gym and was swimming great today. We may have to sign up. It was fun to see some of his classmates and his teacher even showed up to say "Hi!"

Evan's Hot Wheels Party

Alex's best friend, Evan, had the whole family over with bunches of other kids to his house for a Hot Wheels-themed birthday party. They had hot dogs for the kids and pulled pork for the grown-ups. They got another inflatable "moon bounce" like they did last year and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was a hot day, but buckets of iced drinks kept us cool. It was our pleasure to celebrate the 6th birthday of such a great kid.