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Nerf or nothing

Where did the weekend go? I don’t know either. Actually I write a poem about it. Now before you read it remember it’s just a poem, it doesn’t mean anything.

Time marches on.

Darkness follows.

No escape and my thoughts race

Writing poems that actually do mean what you think

Until the end.

 

A busy weekend to be sure. Things I heard myself say: for the third time, the zipper goes in the front! No putting fingers in your barrels! Shoot Aunt Amanda instead!

Ethan: This weekend Matthew and I got nerf guns (lethal weapons). They are so powerful that you say ow when you get hit. Today we went mini golfing. We played best ball. Best ball is where you work together and use the best shot every time. At the last hole we put the golf balls in a machine where if you get it in the middle slot you get a free round. Matthew and I both got free rounds! But Dad didn’t 😦

Matthew: Ethan and I did buy Nerf guns but two of them were actually something called Air Warriors.They are really powerful and Ethan did buy a rapid fire pistol. I on the other hand, bought two mini loadable Nerf pistols that are so powerful that if you hit me in the right spot I might cry. That’s it for me.

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Back to School

Well, summer vacation has ended. That went quick. Too quick. But I don’t care, I’m still wearing shorts for at least 2 more weeks. Try and stop me!

ETHAN: Tomorrow is the first day of school. I am going into grade 5. I’m excited and not excited. I am excited because I get to see my friends again and meet a new teacher. I am not excited because I have to do math and language and study for tests etc. The one teacher I hope I get is Mrs. Florenet.

MATTHEW: I am excited and not excited about school. Mostly not excited though because of the learning. There will be a lot of rushing around going in and out of school. The thing I am not liking the most is that after the first time you line up you need to find a different spot to line up which is the main spot. The things that I like about it is recess, the pizza lunches and that’s it. I am going into grade 3.

DAD: I don’t feel excited, more nervous than anything. Why is that? I think it’s the homework and assignments and interviews and assignment deadlines I’ll soon be responsible for. And here I thought I finished school.

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Creeeeeeeaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmyyyy

I bought some Activa raspberry yogurt (thanks Paula) and it is so smooth and creamy.  It’s so good Matthew (sorry, Mr Chip) likes it. He’s eating it as I write this.Seeds and all. (Which for those of us who know Mr Chips eating routine, seeds, lumps, bumps or discolorations of any kinds are usually a deal-breaker).

Mr Chip: This is the creamiest, dreamiest, yogurt I ever tried. And I’m having a bowl of it. This yogurt is so creamy that if you take some on a spoon and turn it to it’s side it will fall right off

Dad: that’s called gravity 🙂

Mr Chip: Dad, wait until your turn to say that. IF you stir the yogurt it will be like a liquid. I really like the texture of it but there’s one part that I don’t like: the seeds.  I would give it 5 out of 6. I would recommend this as a bed time snack

Dad: …for all those kids trying to stall bedtime…

Ethan: This was the creamiest yogurt I’ve ever had. I’m done.

 

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Always so good for so little or when you happen to be near one.

Tonight I was too tired (read: lazy) to cook so we went to Swiss Chalet. Don’t judge me!

Mr Chip: Swiss Chalet is a really good place to eat. The Swiss Chalet that we went to had Ethan’s friend’s mom Nadine working there. Their food is really really really awesome. I had mini burgers (plain) and fries with plum sauce. For dessert I had chocolate ice cream with whipped cream. Our food was served by Doug. I would give Doug 4010 out 4010. The restaurant 4009 out of 4010. The one point was deducted because the burgers were a little burnt.

Ethan: I used to dislike Swiss Chalet (always so bad for so mu-uch) but on Father’s day we went there and I tried the perogies. It was love at first bite. So now I want to go to Swiss Chalet every night. Tonight my main course was chicken fingers and french fries. For dessert I had delicious sundaes. Doug, our waiter, served us really Swiss-tacular.

Adam: I had the quarter chicken dinner, meaning somewhere out there there’s a chicken with only one leg left. I only managed to wrestle one perogie from Ethan’s death-like food grip.
 It was good. I tried to get a second but got my finger bitten 😉

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We’re still here

It’s been a while, it’s been a busy summer what with camp, visiting abuelas, Toronto Bluejay games etc.

Today I learned something. I learned I am no fan of questions. Want to know why? TOO BAD. Moving on.

Ethan: 5 weeks ago me and my brother went to a sleep-over camp. At the camp we did lots of fun and exciting things including swimming, sports, getting bitten by mosquitoes and horse flies and other games.
 We stayed in a cabin with 3 other kids and 2 counselors: Honey Badger and Lil’ Red. The most fun thing I did was on the last day: we had a triathlon. The worst part of it was having to partners with a girl. I would have preferred to be partners with my best friend cabin mate Kyle. But it was fun anyway. We had to shoot an arrow at a target, run about 250m and then canoe in a circle before heading to the finish line. We came in first!

Mr Chip: I am writing about Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) books but before I get to that: Ethan, at least I came in second! Moving on. They don’t make CYOA books anymore. CYOA books are based on one topic but there are questions in it that ask you what you want to do. These questions affect the story. Here’s an example of a question from Chinese Dragons:

You are being held hostage by an evil gang of people. The question is

If you would like to charge at the bad guy turn to page 102.

If you would like to stay still and figure out his plan, turn to page 7.

I rate the CYOA book “Chinese Dragons” (it has no dragons!) 1000004 out of 2. So that’s good.

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2-0

The man heard a soft crack from his knee as he knelt down on the sun burnt grass.

“Okay, remember to stay with the ball. Call for a pass if you are open. Help your teammates move the ball.”

The boy grasped a water bottle as he tilted his head back and took several long gulps.   The man wondered if he had even heard him. He gave the boy a quick once over.  He was sweating a fair bit. The lower portion of the boy’s blue and white jersey was covered in grass cuttings. Ditto for his shin pads and shoes.

He must have sat down on the field at some point, the man thought.

A whistle blew indicating the water break was over.

“Okay, get back in there buddy. You’re doin’ great”, he said.

The boy handed back the water bottle and ran off towards the pitch. The man settled back into his camping chair, rubbing his knee. The boy’s coach was making a pointing motion in mid air as he mentally counted the blue players on the field. Satisfied, he nodded to the referee. A few seconds later  a second whistle blew and the game resumed.

A swarm of blues surrounded the ball. Where the ball had once been was now obscured by a furious blur of kicking legs and size 2 cleats. It was impossible to see exactly which blue player eventually made contact but the ball popped out towards one of the defending red players.
Almost immediately the blue swarm flocked towards him. Unsettled, the red player tried to pass laterally to his left towards an open teammate. His kick missed the ball completely and he hurriedly attempted another pass. By now it was too late, two blues challenged him. The pass ricocheted off a blue shin towards the red’s goal.
The man searched but could not locate the boy’s #2 jersey – like a herd of zebras it was impossible to distinguish individual members. A missed attempt by a red defender to clear the ball gave blue an open shot at goal. The red net keeper kicked away the first shot (later the man would decide it was by blue #5). It was at this point the man noticed blue #2 in perfect position for the rebound. The boy ran up to ball and buried it in the back of the net.

It was 2-0 for blue.

Matthew had scored a goal.

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Choppin Broc-a-lay!

This evening we had home made chicken burgers and broccoli pan fried with Parmesan cheese.

And by home made I of course mean made at home from a box.

ADAM: An earnest effort on my part, to mediocre results. DQ for dessert saved the day.

ETHAN: Mmm. I love broccoli, especially the way Dad made it with cheese and garlic salt. (ADAM: Oh yeah garlic salt too). Some kids think that broccoli is disgusting but it is actually quite good. The chicken burgers we buy are like McDonalds but healthier? (ADAM: I would hope so – I don’t fry them). To top it off we went to DQ and I had a medium chocolate milkshake!

MATTHEW er Mr Chip: I did not have broccoli. Broccoli sucks. Whoever likes broccoli is crazy. I did eat pomegranate and a chicken burger. For dessert I had an Oreo Brownie Volcano without the brownie (or the volcano) I would give dessert 100 out of 102. The bad thing was the chocolate sauce. I did not like the colour or the taste. The dinner I would give 99trillion out of 99 trillion. Good bye.