A cheap date...

A few months ago when the kids were on track break I tried to find fun yet cheap things to do. So what do you do for cheap? Ride the city bus! We have double decker bus' and we had been wanting to ride on the top for several years. Jay drove us to the bus stop and we waited for a double decker. Jay followed the bus and picked us up about 8 miles down the road. #2 and #3 loved being on top and in the front. #4 thought it was fun for the first two stops but soon wished he had brought his DS. #1 enjoyed it but enjoyed walking across the hwy in the cross walk more. Go figure...

Dirt Bikes and Stunt Kites

This past weekend brought some relief from the already too high summer temperatures, so we headed down to the dry lake bed. The M's, the Brother L's three with D and RS came down with us. Both W's were newbies to the lake bed and had a great time. W Jr. got his feel of the dirt and wind but W 3rd is ready to arm wrestle me for the 250. AM brings his stunt kite and everyone enjoys a turn "trying" to fly it. This time around, #3 was able to fly it but #4 took the kite by the strings and was a pro. It was hilarious to watch #4 following AM's directions as AM would yell "blue, red, blue, red" so #4 would know which string to pull. Plus #4 was so small and at many times the wind was so strong, the kite would drag him.

Friends, dirtbikes, dirt, kites, mild temps and grilled hamburgers provide an absolutely wonderful day.

The Angry Family

No we are not "The Angry Family" from Everybody Loves Raymond but I now have sympathy for the fictional family with what happened in this particular episode.

The synopsis is as follows (courtesy of locatetv.com): All the family members attend an open day at the twins' school, during which first-grader Michael shocks and embarrasses them by reading out a story obviously based on their constant bickering.

Now, think of "Everybody Loves the Harpoles" where the family is seen as a sweet as pie suburban family totally centered around the children and all things are gumdrops and lollipops. (Surely this is the thought that comes to mind, right? HA! In TV land maybe.)

The first scene opens at home after school with the mom looking through her first grader's backpack for anything that needs to be signed (usually this happens frantically 5 minutes before he is supposed to leave the next morning. shhh..don't tell Mrs. H.) The mom sees a very pretty family picture obviously drawn by her first grader along with a description of his family. The mom, with much pride, decides the picture is going to be framed. Then she turns to the "story" entitled "This is my family" and this is what she reads:

This is my family. Every Friday is when my family has movie night, but my mom and dad don't watch TV with us. They watch movies in their room. My brother always has to tell them it is movie night. My brother always fights for the remote. My sisters always tattle to mom and dad. Then my brother has to give it to my sister. They make up and they give back the remote. My family likes to dance when the music is on. I love my family.

The scene ends with a tear in the mom's eye and her emailing Mrs. H for a conference just to make sure Mrs. H knows our family is not as bad as this description makes it sound.

The next scene is the mom giving her speech to Mrs. H (as Debra did on the show). The mom tells Mrs. H that "family movie night" might not be on a
Friday because most of the time there is not a good movie on for all of us. The kids will spread out to different TV's watching their respected favorite shows/movies on Disney or Nick while we are in our room watching the Discovery or History channel. Sometimes the "family movie" is Saturday afternoon or night and sometimes its the whole family on our bed watching it. Sometimes it might be Wednesday night eating dinner late and in the living room while we all watch, scream, laugh and cheer on the players on Wipeout. So until you have lived in the circus I live in with little to no family friendly movies/shows to watch in a world of smut, don't judge me.

LOL Poor Mrs. H. What is it like with a bunch of little first graders? I am sure it is never boring and I am sure she is one person who has the scoop on what American families are really like.

So now our golden image as the poster family for the "Family Night" campaign has been tarnished. Oh well. We are a family who is at home together on a Friday night. We might not be in the same room every second of the evening but I can almost guarantee that at every commercial break someone is tickling, wrestling, hiding from, trying to scare or laughing with someone, parents included.

In case you want to watch the episode I am referring to, check out the box below.