Day 341: Fort Ross

Well, we've had enough of being boring around here. So, after sleeping in to a completely irresponsible time of morning, I decided that we needed to go on some sort of adventure. So, I pulled out my phone (still in bed) and hopped on Pinterest (searching: "Things To Do In Sonoma County, NOT Wineries). 5 minutes in I found this place about an hour north of our house on the Sonoma Coast. It featured an old wooden fortress, some cannons, and a beach head. 

Done done and done. 

So, we drove up Highway 1 to Fort Ross, an old fortress founded in the early 1800s build around an early settlement of Russians and Alaskans that came to the area. The fortress is fully accessible, and all but one building was open to walk through, showing how the fort operated and featuring lots of little signs with information on them. The kids of course oogled over the armory (full of untouchable weapons and ammo, of course) and the cannons poking out of portholes in the high "block houses" aimed at the ocean for potential Spanish pirates. The boys spent most of the time pretending to shoot pirates and marauders invading the fortress. So obviously this place was a monumental hit to them. We walked a few trails to neighboring parts of the fort, including an old Russian cemetery that overlooked the fortress, and a long trail down to the beach at the cove sitting in front of the fort. We played on the beach for a bit before walking back up to the fortress and having one more go at defending the fort from imaginary invaders before heading home. 

Awesome family day. Learned a little something too. 

Firing cannons

Boys up in the fortress block house

Walking from the fortress to the ocean

Northwest Cove below the fortress

Russian Cemetery

These humongous shells called abalone

Day 340: Pirasaurs

Children's books these days never cease to amuse me. Authors have really gotten creative on how to grab a kid's attention by spearing them right in the heart of their acute interests. And since I have boys, I especially notice the books targeted at boys. We have books about The Three Ninja Pigs and about aliens that steal underpants and a kid that made a pet robot. 

Today's story time book? Putting the two biggest boy interests together. It's pirates! It dinosaurs! It's Pirasaurs!

I mean really. Being a kid rocks these days. 

Day 338: The Eagle Has Landed

We really haven't been that exciting lately. I started a new job (for the first time in 8 years) as a cashier at the little Coast Guard Exchange here on base. So the house has gone to shit, I'm not home as much and we haven't had time for anything interesting. 

But Calen did build a pet eagle out of Legos today, complete with wings, a beak, and moveable talons. 

Day 337: Don't Let Me Get In Your Way

I came down the stairs with a humongous pile of clothes to do 753 loads of laundry, to find Calen perched in what he thought was the perfect place to read Calvin and Hobbes. 

Well, don't let me get in your way. 

Day 336: Inventory

Calen was was heading to the park to meet some other friends. But he had to get "his inventory in check" first. 

1. Bow and arrow

2. Crossbow

3. Pistol with attached scope and chain saw, because obviously. 

4. Hat, "because I'm the zombie master and he wears a hat". 

Silly me for asking.

Day 335: Leaving Me In The Dust

The kids on this base are so lucky. How many kids these day can actually say that they can ride their bikes unsupervised to and from school? Especially when school is a mile away?

My kids can. It's all within the fenced base until they reach school grounds, and are buzzed into campus. 

Actually, Calen can say that. Camden still has to be supervised when riding to school. Because if unsupervised, he'd probably decide that it was much more interesting to ride his bike to the playground on the far side of the lake than do something as dull as go to school. 

So I ride my bike behind them (with Sonic in tow) and watch them ride together. 

Day 334: Stop Judging Me

I'm eating leftover pizza for breakfast today. 

I should be working out at the gym, and drinking a protein shake or something. But I'm not, I'm on the sofa, in my sweats, eating pizza. 

Juno is judging me eating pizza. 

Stop judging me Juno. 

Day 333: Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

Somehow, this summer, I entered in some kind of sweepstakes, and we won the runner up grand prize of ten free ice skating passes to our local Snoopy's ice skating rink and four passes to the Charles M Schulz museum next door. 

Note: I do NOT remember entering in this sweepstakes. At all. The ice skating rink called my cell phone and said I won and asked if I remembered entering...."of course I do!". I don't. But they knew my name and my phone number so I MUST have done it when I was half paying attention and yelling at the kids to stop eating popcorn off the floor while doing it or something. 

Anyways. 

It was raining for the 7 billionth day in a row today, and we've had enough of sitting around doing nothing. So we decided to cash in and go to the Charles Schulz museum this morning as a family. 

Curse you, Red Baron!!

The "Peanuts Museum", as the kids call it, is a really neat little place. Charles Schulz grew up in Minnesota but lived right here in Sonoma County for the majority of his comic strip career. The museum talked a lot about the content that Schulz used and why he chose such content, his interest in politics and his time in WWII. And of course it showcased the Peanuts characters and tons of tons of his comic strips. 

In fact, this wall here contained ten THOUSAND comic strips to create this mural of Charlie Brown and Lucy. Ten thousand.  

Ten THOUSAND comic strips

So we walked around and read comic strips and even learned how to draw some of the Peanuts characters. It was a really nicely maintained little museum that definitely honored Charles Schulz appropriately and made for a great family outing, especially since we got in for free!

Some sound advice from baby brother. 

Calen's freehand Snoopy

My rendition of Woodstock and Charlie Brown using the how to draw book

But once we finished off the museum, we weren't done yet! Just next door was Snoopy's Home Ice, the ice skating rink. So we used those free passes and went ice skating for three hours until it closed. 

And, sticking with the theme, we went home and watched the new Peanuts Movie, a personal family favorite. 

Good grief, Charlie Brown, I'm tired!

Ice skating time!

Day 332: The Legend of Pluto and the Underpants

This actually happened early last week. But we were really boring today and I forgot to post about it when it happened. 

It was that magical time between Kindergarten release and older grade release, when the Kindergartners (and little siblings) get free reign of the playground. For us, that almost always means Camden gets an hour to play with his neighbor and Kinder buddy Kael and his little brother Kollin, while his mom and I chat in the garage. 

This day, Kollin had brought with him a tiny little plastic Disney Tsum Tsum Pluto. 

Don't know what a Tsum Tsum is? They are these tiny little collectible plastic log looking things that resemble Disney characters and they're so small my dogs would basically accept them as a snack. 

So anyways, Kollin took this little Pluto guy with him. Later, Kael came back to the garage saying that they had lost Pluto. Which of course, Pluto is the size of a cat turd, so we're never going to find it at the playground. But we send him back to the playground to try and find it anyways, because you never know. 

Two minutes later, Kael come back announcing that they had found Pluto, he was in Camden's underpants. 

..What?? How??.....Nevermind. Great, glad you found it. 

And THEN, Camden comes back to the garage with his pants down around his knees, which means he walked all the way from the playground to the garage (maybe 200 feet past 16 combined households), announcing that he had pooped. 

"Like, you pooped at the playground?!"
"NO!!! I tooted."
"OH. Okay. PULL YOUR PANTS UP!"
"But there's poop!! I tooted and there's poop!!"

Please realize, his pants are still down. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT. 

"So, go change your underwear!!"

And as he's walking away I come to a realization. 

"Ummm....WHERE'S PLUTO?!"

"Kollin has it."
"Was Pluto in your underwear?!"
"Yeah." he says as nonchalantly as if I had asked him if he finished all his applesauce at lunch.
"Was that before or after you tooted with poop?!" Things you never think you'd ask.
"Uh, before." Relief. "I think." That moment you close your eyes and throw your head back in vain. 

So Camden goes inside to change his underwear and we manage to tell Kollin to take an infected Pluto into his house. Then, Cam comes back in the garage, with no pants or underwear on at all. 

Me: "WHY?!" Because sometimes the only thing you can think of is "why"
Camden: "Well, I couldn't get my underwear out of my pants."
Me: "Then CHANGE your freaking pants!!!"

And so he goes back inside, changes his pants and underwear, and continues on to play outside. 

I swear, the lines between real and far fetched seem to blur in this household. Like, I can't make this shit up kind of ridiculous. 

In the end, Pluto got disinfected and Camden learned to not put random stuff in his pants. He also learned what "sharting" is without actually learning the word. All in the same day. 

Day 331: Kings of the Castle

Kindergarten at the boys' school get out an hour before the rest of the grades do. Why, I'm not sure. Maybe the Kindergarten teacher is at her absolute wits end by 2 o'clock and will implode if she has to deal with one more 5 year old for another second. I know I would. 

But either way, Camden gets out of school before his brother and most kids on his block, which gives him and his Kindergarten and younger neighbor friends full reign of the parking lot, the playground, and the garage for a full hour before the rest of the kids get home. 

The littles love this. They are the kings of their kingdom for this brief time and they take it and run with it. 

Or drive with it, as it were in this case. 

In matching mohawk helmets. 

And a gun. 

Don't ask questions. 

They see me rollin, they hatin'

Day 330: It's An Epidemic

Minecraft has been around for a while now, and Calen has been deeply interested in it for a solid year. 

Now, Camden is obsessed with it, it seems. 

And so is Brad. 

It's an epidemic, you guys. An epidemic of little pixely square men and pixely swords and pixely square zombie things and this place called the Ender Portal or something that no one has actually seen but is always talking about how cool it is. Or must be. Because they HAVEN'T SEEN IT. 

So they play together, on Calen's tiny TV in his room. There's enough for 4 players, but for once, the kids know how to play something and I'm at a complete loss. 

Whatever, at least we can kind of sort of call this quality family time?

Day 329: Minions. I Mean Servants. I Mean Kids.

Today at Target, Calen asked if he could push the cart. 

Why yes, please, push the cart so I can roam around pretending you're my little servant. 

Then he asked if he could put everything in the cart. 

Please do, tiny minion. 

I like that he thinks this is "fun". I wonder if he thinks doing dishes is "fun", or if I shouldn't push my luck. 

I'll just hang back here and drink my coffee while you boys shop.

Day 328: Sonic Versus The Wind

Sonic is not fond of rain storms. Or wind storms. Or wind blowing rain storms. 

Poor scaredy cat puppy. 

Little big baby. 

Day 327: Game Night, Kids Edition

Brad had an appointment this evening, so the kids and I declared it "most of the family" game night after dinner. For Christmas, they received Monopoly Junior, which is basically Monopoly without all the obnoxious game-never-ends attributes to it. There are only 1 dollar bills, and each player starts with $18. If you land on something (like a skate park, or a pizza place, or a pool - you know, something actually desirable, not something obscure like "Baltic Ave", you can buy it, for $1 or $2 or $4 or $5. If you land on someone else's, pay rent. No houses, no hotels. No mortgages or any other complicated stupid rules. Jail and Go still apply. The first person to run out of money loses, the other players count their money and highest wins. The game for us lasted maybe 30 minutes, not 7 hours like most versions of Monopoly. 

I like this version. 

Camden somehow destroyed us all and created his own victory dance. I offered to the boys to play a second round, but Calen was a grumpy loser and Camden said he wanted to "end the day winning". I like it. 

Day 326: You Have Died Of Dysentary

We kicked back and relaxed most of today, except for a little family movie at the base theater to see Disney's new awesome:

This movie is fantastic, with the exception of a really strange out-of-place scene involving a giant crab. The music is outstanding and HeiHei the chicken is the best Disney Princess sidekick ever. 

This evening we had friends over for dinner and cracked open a new game, which actually is a very OLD game:

Yes, this is a thing

The game is strangely complicated. Everyone has a hand of "trail" cards, and a hand of "supply" cards. Each turn, you lay down a trail piece, which may include fording a river (roll a dice) or drawing a calamity card (you have DIED of DYSENTERY). The game tries to kill you at literally ever turn. If you survive 100 trail cards (or 50, in our house rule), you make it to Oregon. 

The finish line is always just out of reach.

It's a strangely entertaining but slightly annoying little card game, definitely better with the more players you have and with some tweaks and "house rules". I gloriously drowned in a failed river-fording attempt and survived the other two expeditions. Our friend died of dysentery the first turn. We are working on creating a "calamity ghost player" house rule for those that die the first turn out of 100. 

Day 325: I'll Never Let My Child Do That, And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves

Back when I was a perfect parent (which means, "before I had kids"), I silently (or not) judged parents on a lot of things. One thing I would judge is kids at a restaurant with their family, on their tablets/phones/handheld game systems/etc. Why are you allowing your kid to do this? What's wrong with you? Tear that shit out of their hands and make them spend some quality family time!

Mostly, I still silently judge others stick to this as a family rule. If we are at the table together, home or restaurant, devices are not with us. Especially at a restaurant. I especially judged a family at a Character Meal at Disney World for letting their kids play their Nintendo 3Ds' at the table while Goofy and Mickey were walking around and thus being ignored by said distracted kids. 

Okay, that one was totally justified to be judged for. 

As I've gotten more experienced though, I understand people have their reasons. TODDLERS, for instance. Also, kids that are overwhelmed with loud and busy surroundings, or other challenges. But for the average family with average kids like us, this is a no brainer. Put it away. 

Unless, of course, you decide to cancel DirecTV during Seahawks playoff season, like the idiots we are. And then need to trek into Buffalo Wild Wings to watch said playoff game. 

And since we grownups are watching TV, why shouldn't there be devices allowed at the table??

Rules are meant for breaking. 

Day 324: The Battle Zone

The boys had the closest they've ever come to a sleepover tonight, and if you ask them it was "one of the greatest nights ever". Which they will also say if you give them a happy meal, but you know. At least they're not telling me they hate me. Yet. 

Calen has a classmate buddy (Nick) and Cam has a classmate buddy (Connor) that are brothers. Their dad is deployed and mom had duty so she asked if I could watch her boys until she got off duty tonight, all the way until 11pm. 

Which to my kids mean "sleepover", because 11 is basically the middle of the night to them. 

Now, if you throw four boys in a house ranging from ages 5 to 8, the house is no longer a house. It's a battle zone. The once dining room chairs have blankets over them and are transformed into forts and "echo bases". The sofa is the sandbag barrier. The carpet is the battleground. No one is safe. Not even me trying to hide in the corner of the couch with my iPad. 

There was a basically non-stop 5 hour long laser tag battle and "grenade" fight. And by "grenades" I actually mean "snowballs", which aren't real snowballs but those cotton bean bag type ones I found at Target during Christmas time and bought two dozen of. Even Brad and I got involved, annihilating kids at laser tag and beaning foreheads with cotton snowballs. It was loud, it was bedlam, it was probably the most fun my kids have had in ages. 

Their fortresses....

Epic battle of awesome.

Intermission to run to the garage so all the kids can see the mouse we caught squeaking in the glue trap. 

Then back to shooting. 

Once it got late, I threw a movie on, anticipating little bodies that aren't used to being up past 9pm ever to crash and burn. And they'd get quiet, and they'd sit still, and they'd relax....

And then it seems they'd all realize at once that they were calming down, and all four of them would simultaneously launch themselves into the air, grasping for laser guns or snowballs or whatever and throw themselves back into battle.

They won't let sleep creep on them, the sneaky bugger that it is.  

At pickup at 11, only one of them was down for the count (Cam's little 5 year old buddy), and the rest were basically holding their eyelids open to refuse surrender to sleep. 

But I tell you bedtime was never so easy. 

Sidenote: This was an especially great day for Calen. Ever since his three best buddies (Cash, Julian, Mario) all moved away last summer, he's been aching to have friends his age come over and play (most of the neighborhood boys are Camden's age). With his buddy Nick over tonight, playing in his room, I can honestly say it's the happiest I've seen Calen in a long time. I mean, this kid is always happy, but he was really, REALLY happy.