Funny Stories

Growing up my sister and I ran a lot of errands with Dad after school.  So, we spent a lot of time in the car bopping around Bloomington (what my Dad would have given for Amazon Prime!).  Anyway, we also didn't have DVD players, or ipads, etc.  Again - what my Dad would have given!  The lack of gadgets lead to my father spending a lot of time entertaining us (Dad - have I ever told you how impressed I am with your energy level!).  One of our favorite games was "Captain and Crew in a Plane".  Back then, I would sit in the front and Tracy would sit behind the driver's side in her car seat.  Dad would pretend we were flying around and "communicate" with the crew via a crackly PA system (aka his hand and a grumbley voice).  He was obviously the captain.  He would yell at Tracy, "Captain to gunner - bogies at 9 o'clock."  Never mind that the three and eight year olds in the car had absolutely no idea what that meant!  And, since I sat in the front seat I was supposed to be the navigator.  Only, Tracy couldn't pronounce navigator, and my role morphed into "The Alligator."  To this day we still play the game and I am still the Alligator.  

Given my fond memories of this game, Jesse and I have retooled it for our family.  The driver remains the captain,  the passenger is the co-pilot, and the kids take turns being the alligator and the gunner.  Only, as with every generation, they must make what is handed down to them their own.  The other day we were playing this game and Gryffin was supposed to be the "Alligator."  He says with absolute certainty, "No mommy.  It's Avigator."  (That's not a typo - he said AAAAVVVVigator).  Too Funny - Gryffin can say navigator just fine, but he morphed alligator and navigator into his own word.  I love it!

From November 2012

This past weekend Jesse had a talk at a conference in Vegas.   So, we piled the whole family on a "Gamma Plane" and met the D'Arews in Vegas for the weekend (more on that in the next post).  Just to clarify, a "Gamma Plane" is a Southwest plane, because whenever she comes to visit the kids ask her to tell them about her plane.  Well, she flies Southwest, which has very distinctive colors.  So, if you ask them what a Gamma Plane looks like they will tell you that it is blue, red and orange.  Anyway, we had been prepping them for the trip all week, talking about going to Vegas, and spending time with Andrew, D'Arcy and Riley.  By the time we got on the plane and we asked them if they were excited about flying to Las Veags, Zailey says to me "Nooooo, mommy.  We're not going to Las Vegas, we're going to VEEEGASSS."  If you have never heard a 3-year old talk about "VEGAS" you're missing something.  The lady in the seat in front of us could not help but laugh out loud.  Zailey sounded like she was going to P-A-R-T-Y!   Our next plan is to teach them the phrase "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."  My Dad always told me the best part about having kids was warping their minds, and you can never start too early.

From October 2012

From October 2012