I have a dozen things I’d like to post today.
I want to post about how sweet Patches was in the car during the 8 hours of driving. Mostly the kids were totally focused on the dvd player, but Patches frequently glanced out the window to comment on the rivers and trains. At one point he declared his intention to watch for a blue truck. He wanted one that had both front and back sections blue. “Watching for a blue truck” has been a past distraction attempt for when Patches was tired and cranky on car trips. I love that he remembered it and decided to apply it to himself when he was bored. I don’t think he ever found a truck that met his specifications. That’s alright we have hours of driving on the return trip to continue looking.
We ate lunch at McDonalds. The current set of happy meal toys is Ninja Turtles. The turtles have totally capture Patches imagination. He’s seen the movie trailers a couple of times and now he’s begun to collect the happy meal toys. He stood in front of the display and made plans to collect the whole army. McDonalds was an ideal stop for all the kids and it hit at the perfect time because the kids were beginning to be cranky.
Dan and Donna’s house is already proving to be a wonderful place to stay. I couldn’t be more grateful that they offered to have us. They have turned over the downstairs for our use. It is a guest suite worthy of a bed and breakfast. I look at all the beautiful decoration and I am now spinning plans to decorate my house. I want my house to be as beautiful as this one is. Kiki, Gleek, and Patches all made themselves comfortable within minutes of walking in the door. Link had something of an anxiety attack when he was face with a large enthusiastic dog and knowlege of several cats. At first he wanted to hide downstairs. Donna kindly removed the dog which allowed Link to aclimate much more easily. Link is a much more conservative person than my other kids. He is uneasy being in this totally new place with totally new people. Most of the travelling we do is to the houses of relatives. It is good for him to have this experience, but it wasn’t easy at first. Thank goodness for legos. They bridged the anxiety gap and when last I checked Link was playing happily with Patches and the little boy of the house.
Tomorrow we have a tour at Wizards of the Coast and then in the evening is Schlockfest. I’m really looking forward to both.
Hmm. This seems to be fewer than a dozen things. That means I’ve probably forgotten some of them. Maybe I’ll remember later. For now I need to give Dan his computer back.
Yay! Having a comfortable place to stay is very important to having a good trip. If you don’t have somewhere to go and relax, it’s hard to have a good time. Say hi to Stacy for me!
Oh…and I had a 30 minute conversation with a boy today. *grins* I’m so pathetic.
Yay! Having a comfortable place to stay is very important to having a good trip. If you don’t have somewhere to go and relax, it’s hard to have a good time. Say hi to Stacy for me!
Oh…and I had a 30 minute conversation with a boy today. *grins* I’m so pathetic.
You get to tour Wizards of the Coast? Oh my god! Best vacation idea ever!
You get to tour Wizards of the Coast? Oh my god! Best vacation idea ever!
A boy, or THE boy? 30 minutes is a big improvement for the boy. I hope the conversation was happy. I may have to call if today offers any empty spaces.
A boy, or THE boy? 30 minutes is a big improvement for the boy. I hope the conversation was happy. I may have to call if today offers any empty spaces.
Right now, there’s only one boy. And there’s some progress, I think.
Right now, there’s only one boy. And there’s some progress, I think.
In the UK there are 2 truck games on long journeys:
1) see how many “Eddie Stobart” trucks you can spot (a major operator – all the trucks have girls’ names written on the front; there’s a spotters club…)
2) moere recent, see how many different nationality vehicles you can spot.
When we were kids, we used to play the “pub legs” game. Each person or team gets one side of the car. You look for pubs on your side, and add up the number of legs implied by the pub names, so for example, the stag and pheasant scores 6. If you got a “fox and hounds” I think you had to note how many hounds were depicted. You keep a running total…
In the UK there are 2 truck games on long journeys:
1) see how many “Eddie Stobart” trucks you can spot (a major operator – all the trucks have girls’ names written on the front; there’s a spotters club…)
2) moere recent, see how many different nationality vehicles you can spot.
When we were kids, we used to play the “pub legs” game. Each person or team gets one side of the car. You look for pubs on your side, and add up the number of legs implied by the pub names, so for example, the stag and pheasant scores 6. If you got a “fox and hounds” I think you had to note how many hounds were depicted. You keep a running total…
That is fascinating. I don’t think we can play any of those games here. Well… we do have a variant of #2, but you spot for states rather than nationalities. Even so 98% of the cars have plates for the state you’re in.
That is fascinating. I don’t think we can play any of those games here. Well… we do have a variant of #2, but you spot for states rather than nationalities. Even so 98% of the cars have plates for the state you’re in.