Just Because Someone Asks You a Question...

We went to a birthday party today that had a clown there to perform.

Clown: Hello little girl, would you like a balloon animal?
Lucy, leans over to Chris and whispers: I don't want anything from a guy in a clown suit!

Sunday afternoon nap

I think Levi won some points with our guest by willingly participating in one of her favorite activities.

let's see if i get this straight..

so. lets see-

mom went and stayed with rachel.

chris is going to china, so mom is ALSO going to carrie's.

vivian has a cute baby, so carrie went to vivian's.

carrie is coming to california for thanksgiving,

so vivian is coming too.

rach AND sarah are going to canada AND vivian's, so sarah is going to claire's, who is ALSO going to vivian's.

sigh.

"There is never jealousy where there is not strong regard"

-washington irving

Absolutely

Today I was wearing this fantastic shirt that Chris and Lucy were kind enough to get me for Christmas one year. Theo studied it intently for a few minutes and then asked, "Is that Rachel?"

Live Free or Eat Apples

Top moments from my visit to New Hampshire this last weekend:

- Levi reciting for me how to train a horse: ("One- a soft hand. Two- a firm voice. Three- a sunny attitude...")
- Levi instructing the fireman at the fire safety day about the parts of the fire truck: "These, these are called stabilizers. They can also frequently be found on a front-end loader."
- Levi in general.
- Taking a Sunday nap in the same bed with Viv and Levi. So cozy.
- Meeting sweet little Gwen. Getting to spend some one on one time with her during church. Smoothing down her soft soft hair and having it bounce right back up again.
- Apples, apples, apples.
- Watching Jerry try to dissect out the octopus that had attached itself to his ravioli.
- Getting busted by Viv when she found one of her shirts packed up in my suitcase. Completely an accident, I swear!
- Crisp, clean NH air on a Sunday afternoon hike.

The Haunted Mansion

Living the Dream

It's always a trick finding new friends when you move somewhere new. Sometimes it can take years. So when the Croxalls invited us over for dinner awhile ago I was happy, but trying not to be too excited. That is, until Brian leaned across the table and asked, point-blank, "Do you want to go to DragonCon with us this year?" Then I was very excited. I didn't even know what DragonCon was, but I knew that the answer was yes.

I know what you guys are thinking, because Chris was voicing it out loud..why would you want to go watch a bunch of overweight tech nerds in ill fitting costumes walk down the street? And yes, there was a little of that:

slutty elf- check
overweight women in fishnet stockings- check
unidentifiable superhero- check
guy shirtless for no reason- check
guy in doctor costume with clown makeup- check

But there was also this guy:

And I know YOUR Saturday did not include a giant red breakdancing stormtrooper.

There were melees in the streets


and orcs:


even Death stopped by:


I remember when Claire and Gordon went to the Maker Fair, and Gordon said "I hope there will be steampunk." I thought that sounded like the coolest thing to say, very hip, so I said it a lot this morning. And baby let me tell you, the punk was steaming:


Some other favorite moments include:
- before the parade even started, a guy wearing only a green CGI body suit rode by on a bicycle
- on command, our entire side of the block held up our hands in the Vulcan salute and shouted 'Live long and prosper!'
- the guy in the crowd with an "I heart Saruman" t-shirt
-the float of "Dork Hunters" that seemed to be having pretty easy pickings
- having a flashback to one time when Gordon's brother said "just because you're plump doesn't automatically mean you're in Hufflepuff." I don't know why I thought of that.
- being able to correct Brian...everyone knows Han Solo was frozen in carbonite, not kryptonite. Actually, Brian knows this too, but that didn't stop me from correcting him.
- the Stormtroopers in kilts playing bagpipes
- when my friend Amber said "that's what my breasts would look like if they were cardboard"
- The Role-Players Club of Atlanta carried a banner that read "Living the Dream for 20 years"...and they looked it.

DragonCon was awesome. And the Croxalls are keepers.