Owen has been talking about snow for weeks. It's been a bizarrely warm winter so far, but it has been very funny to watch him run around outside in 65 degree sunny weather while yelling about how much it's going to snow later. Well, they were actually calling for snow this past Sunday night. He called it by announcing it was going to snow. I guess if you say it's going to snow everyday, you might actually be right occasionally. We used the potential for snow to get him into bed, sort of like we do with Santa Claus. "Santa Claus/Snow can't come if your not in bed and fast asleep." Like Christmas, it didn't really work.
Technically, we didn't get snow. We got some sleet that accumulated on the shaded areas and froze over night. I would say we got somewhere between 1/32nd of an inch and 1/16th of an inch. As soon as the sun came up, everything in the front yard was gone, but the stuff on our back porch stayed shaded and cold until about 10 AM. When Owen remembered he called for snow, he looked out the back door on to the porch and we got an excited 15 minutes of yelling about "LOTS OF SNOW ON THE BACK PORCH AND WE NEED TO GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY IN THE SNOW AND CHECK THE ROOF AND HAVE FUN!!!!!!" Check the roof?
I tried to let him down gently. I tried to explain that it was only a little bit of snow. I explained that the front of our house was just like normal because the sun came up. He would have none of it. In his mind, I'm sure we had 6 feet on the other side of the house. If he understood basic units of measurement. After we got breakfast cleaned up and Lily in bed for a nap, it was time to go outside. I wish I had a better ending, like there really was a ton of snow out front, or he was excited about one or two small areas of sleet in the shade that were still there, or even a crying fit I could laugh at. Seems like he'd forgotten about the whole thing and didn't care that there wasn't anything out there. Like a true meteorologist, he was announcing that it would be snowing later on that day. Never let facts get in your way.
CK
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Valentines Day
I know, last week. But we've never been real big on celebrating Valentines Day so I have been ignoring this post for busy reasons. Well, I guess we did celebrate the one Valentines in 2008 because Owen was born in November '08, but that was it. My big romantic plan this year was to do nothing except a card and a bag of chocolate like I usually do. Why do I need to spend a ton of $$$ on something when I should really be showing the wife love the other 365 days of the year? Then I saw the flyer for Sweetheart Night at the local Chick-fil-A on the 13th. Yes! Sign us up immediately.
We love Chick-fil-A, probably more so than the average family. Since the wife is allergic to gluten (wheat, malt, barely), she can't eat at very many restaurants. Even if the restaurant understands what gluten is, there's often cross contamination issues like preparing her food on a surface that just had bread crumbs on it or running their french fries through the same fryer they just did the breaded chicken nuggets. Chick-fil-A on the other hand, uses a dedicated fryer for their delicious waffle fries. We've never had a problem there. Throw in the interior playground and it's our favorite place to eat. Because we're classy like that.
I went to the website and made the reservation. Very fancy. There was zero information, so all I really knew is that we were supposed to show up at 6:15 Monday night. At this point, I told the wife that we had reservations the night before Valentines, but I would not be taking her as my date. I took the liberty of lining up a date for her, but I had a cute young lady in mind for myself. Of course we documented the wonderful evening, you can see us with our dates:
The wife is so funny. She had all sorts of questions, and I kept trying to tell her I didn't know anything except show up at 6:15. But she kept asking questions. I'm trying to be less sarcastic, but I had to poke a little fun at her.
Wife: "What should I wear?"
Me: "Well, I'm wearing a tuxedo and tails, so maybe you should go with a Versace gown?"
Wife: "Do you know what kind of food they're going to have?"
Me: "Definitely filet mignon. I heard they're changing their name to Cow-fil-A."
Note to self, don't be sarcastic to the the wife or you definitely won't have the opportunity to have a third kid in November 2012.
When we arrived, they had set a part of the restaurant aside, put up a maitre d stand, tablecloths with flowers and candles, and turned off half the fluorescent bulbs in the section for ambience. The menus were your standard Chick-fil-A fare only written in a fancy font. They took orders at the table and delivered food. I went with the spicy chicken sandwich, while my date opted for a tub of peas she brought from home. Nice, she's didn't go for the most expensive item, but it was a little weird to bring your own food.
The wife had the grilled chicken salad while her date enjoyed chicken nuggets. Literally, he enjoyed them by putting his face down in the plate they brought them on so as to keep his hands clean. They must have been delicious because they disappeared in a hurry and he asked nicely to be excused to play on the playground. By ask nicely, I mean he tried to crawl under the table and shove his lovely date out of the way while complaining loudly.
My date was a little grumpy since we weren't shoveling peas into her face as fast as possible. Once we were able to get some food into her, she did settle down and we had a wonderful conversation while the wife and her date spent some quality time on the playground. When the check arrived, my date offered to pick up the tab, but since I am a fancy gentleman, I refused her generous offer and covered everyone's meal. I figured the wife's date would try to dine and dash since he is usually dashing everywhere and he hasn't bothered to find a job or pay rent yet.
We love Chick-fil-A, probably more so than the average family. Since the wife is allergic to gluten (wheat, malt, barely), she can't eat at very many restaurants. Even if the restaurant understands what gluten is, there's often cross contamination issues like preparing her food on a surface that just had bread crumbs on it or running their french fries through the same fryer they just did the breaded chicken nuggets. Chick-fil-A on the other hand, uses a dedicated fryer for their delicious waffle fries. We've never had a problem there. Throw in the interior playground and it's our favorite place to eat. Because we're classy like that.
I went to the website and made the reservation. Very fancy. There was zero information, so all I really knew is that we were supposed to show up at 6:15 Monday night. At this point, I told the wife that we had reservations the night before Valentines, but I would not be taking her as my date. I took the liberty of lining up a date for her, but I had a cute young lady in mind for myself. Of course we documented the wonderful evening, you can see us with our dates:
The wife is so funny. She had all sorts of questions, and I kept trying to tell her I didn't know anything except show up at 6:15. But she kept asking questions. I'm trying to be less sarcastic, but I had to poke a little fun at her.
Wife: "What should I wear?"
Me: "Well, I'm wearing a tuxedo and tails, so maybe you should go with a Versace gown?"
Wife: "Do you know what kind of food they're going to have?"
Me: "Definitely filet mignon. I heard they're changing their name to Cow-fil-A."
Note to self, don't be sarcastic to the the wife or you definitely won't have the opportunity to have a third kid in November 2012.
When we arrived, they had set a part of the restaurant aside, put up a maitre d stand, tablecloths with flowers and candles, and turned off half the fluorescent bulbs in the section for ambience. The menus were your standard Chick-fil-A fare only written in a fancy font. They took orders at the table and delivered food. I went with the spicy chicken sandwich, while my date opted for a tub of peas she brought from home. Nice, she's didn't go for the most expensive item, but it was a little weird to bring your own food.
The wife had the grilled chicken salad while her date enjoyed chicken nuggets. Literally, he enjoyed them by putting his face down in the plate they brought them on so as to keep his hands clean. They must have been delicious because they disappeared in a hurry and he asked nicely to be excused to play on the playground. By ask nicely, I mean he tried to crawl under the table and shove his lovely date out of the way while complaining loudly.
My date was a little grumpy since we weren't shoveling peas into her face as fast as possible. Once we were able to get some food into her, she did settle down and we had a wonderful conversation while the wife and her date spent some quality time on the playground. When the check arrived, my date offered to pick up the tab, but since I am a fancy gentleman, I refused her generous offer and covered everyone's meal. I figured the wife's date would try to dine and dash since he is usually dashing everywhere and he hasn't bothered to find a job or pay rent yet.
 |
| Can I get that Daddy, I'm not high maintenance. Yet. |
On our way out, we were presented with gifts. The wife got a carnation, Daddy got a free chicken biscuit coupon. Owen and Lily each received gift bags with a cow beanie and a free chicken biscuit coupon. The carnation was instantly stolen by the wife's date and it was brandished throughout the restaurant and parking lot like a weapon. I'm pretty sure he was defending his date against all the other preschoolers that brought their Mommies. Of course, it didn't take long to snap the carnation stem so now it's in a much smaller glass on our table. But Daddy scored the biggest. Three free chicken biscuit coupons? Thank you very much. Not to mention February is buy one get one free chicken biscuits for Dads that bring kids in on Friday mornings. I got a free one last Friday, will get a free one this Friday, and still have 3 free ones over the next few weeks. Best. Valentines. Ever.
CK
Friday, February 10, 2012
Phantom Menace Running Diary
This is my running diary of thoughts when I watched The Phantom Menace the other day. This was before I decided not to take my boy, or even go see it myself in my small act of defiance. I recommend getting a good bottle of hard liquor and watching the movie. Pretend I'm in the room with my witty comments at the appropriate minute marks and do shots every time there is a really bad line of dialogue.
0:31 The trademark Star Wars logo with the opening brass lick and ensuing word crawl setting the movie up might be the best opening in movie history. Glad Lucas stuck with it across the franchise.
2:10 Big planet, lots of ships, great opening shot. Of course, we also have my first annoyance with the accents on the Trade Federation dudes.
3:15 Ewan MacGregor is a good young Obi-Wan.
3:59 The Trade Federation guys should really have been speaking in their “native” language with subtitles as much as possible.
5:45 Light sabers in the mist = awesome.
6:10 The Viceroy panicking because Jedi on the loose and his friend/assistant/whatever being matter of fact about how the Jedi have pretty much already killed them is well-played.
6:45 Light saber = best lock pick ever.
7:05 Shielded battle droids are nice, but I always wondered about the lack of technology decades after this movie in the original Star Wars. Shields on some droids, but the TIE Fighters at the Death Star don’t have shields or pressurized cabins?
10:57 Who has two thumbs and can single-handedly ruin a movie? Jar-Jar Binks. Wait, does he have thumbs?
12:10 It’s not only the way he talks, it’s also the way he moves that irks me.
15:47 There’s the Jedi mind trick.
16:30 No Liam Neeson, don’t take Jar-Jar with you, leave him to the fat Gungan to get rid of.
17:02 NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
18:12 Giant evil fish = taking my kid for his first pee break. I would like to take him back to the ocean eventually and there’s no way he’s getting in the water if he thinks those things exist.
21:00 I love the city they have on Naboo, looks really cool.
24:45 I also love the huge amounts of droids being turned into spare parts. When in doubt, give me more light-sabering of baddies.
26:20 Of course R2-D2 saved everyone. He’s a rockstar. And why doesn’t Obi-Wan recognize him in A New Hope? I’d remember that droid.
29:10 “You’re a Gungan, aren’t you?” Wait, isn’t Natalie Portman’s character the Queen undercover as one of her hand maidens? Maybe know your planet if you’re the Queen. Do a shot if you can still see straight from Jar-Jar's screen time.
32:00 And here’s the second most annoying character in cinema history, young Anakin.
32:30 “Are you an angel?” And that’s why he’s second most annoying. A quick IMDB check and Jake Lloyd pretty much hasn’t worked since Phantom Menace. I hope he’s okay.
38:30 I don’t know how I feel about the 6 year old Darth Vader building C-3PO.
47:20 WOW, I completely forgot about George Lucas going the ‘Immaculate Conception’ route for Anakin Skywalker. W. O. W.
50:05 I demand a two-headed announcer for all sporting events. I’d watch ANYTHING if there was an Al Michaels head and a Cris Collinsworth head doing play by play and color. Maybe even a third Ron Jaworski head?
1:00:30 I think the best part of this movie is the pod-racing with the different engine sounds, the scenery, and Tusken raiders sitting on a hill side taking pot shots at the racers. It’s fantastic, really. Plus young Anakin and Jar-Jar don’t speak.
1:06:34 The extras in the stands and their half-hearted cheering when young Anakin takes the lead made me giggle.
1:06:45 George Lucas, that was a gratuitous Jawa shot with a random “Utinni!” thrown in. I will allow it.
1:09:40 More two-headed announcer creature! The use of Jabba in this movie was good too, napping at the end, being generally Jabba the Hutt-like throughout the pod-race.
1:16:25 Darth Maul is appropriately evil and bad-ass. I must be cautious about exposing my boy to him.
1:19:53 Throughout the second half of this movie, the sexual tension between young Anakin and Portman is awfully creepy. The only thing creepier is the sexual tension between Lightning McQueen and Sally in the Pixar movie Cars. I know Lucas is setting it up for the romance in the next few movies, but wait for Anakin to be older in the next movie.
1:24:33 Samuel L. Jackson as a Jedi.
1:27:10 The Senate Chambers are a nice feature and I’m glad to see bureaucrats bureaucratting it up and recommending a committee to explore a planetary invasion. Ian McDiarmid hits homeruns throughout the Star Wars franchise and I’m glad that Lucas was able to use him in Return of the Jedi and bring him back many years later as a younger Senator Palpatine. When I meet George Lucas in a bar I think I’ll high-five him about McDiarmid and the original 3 movies. It’d be about 3 hours and several shots later that we’d be having fisticuffs about some of his changes to my childhood and the aforementioned Jar-Jar.
1:33:10 Liam Neeson, you best listen to Samuel L. Jackson and Yoda. When I’m President, I’m hiring Frank Oz and somebody who can work a Yoda puppet to advise me on all matters. Samuel L. Jackson will be my Secretary of State. Mother-#$@%ing North Korea and mother-#$@%ing Iran will get in line in a mother-#$@%ing hurry.
1:37:47 I’m also hiring the Queen’s Security guy, Captain Panaka, for something. He’s a poor man’s Samuel L. Jackson.
1:39:50 I don’t mind all Gungans. I actually like them. Some of my best friends are Gungan. It’s just the one…
1:43:00 General Jar-Jar. General Jar-Jar. General Jar-Jar.
1:45:25 Dilemma time. How much of the battle between Gungans and the droid army do I let the kid watch? Can I send him out into the lobby by himself while I watch it in 3D?
1:47:50 Also high on my priority list during the early part of my Presidency, an executive order making George Lucas do nothing but make movies about fighters in space. And Steven Spielberg can only collaborate with Tom Hanks on WWII movies/mini-series.
1:50:24 Doors open and Darth Maul is standing in front of the full group. With the John Williams soundtrack, I got major goosebumps. Liam Neeson says, “We’ll handle this.” Nice.
1:52:15 Light saber fights, blaster fire, space battles. I’m in heaven.
1:53:33 Jar-Jar with a battle droid stuck to his foot. He’s stomping and the droid is firing into other battle droids. Ugh.
1:54:55 All the Naboo people ascending on the outside of the palace to storm the throne room. Great scene.
1:56:20 What’s with the shielding to stop the light saber fights? On the flip-side, Liam Neeson kneeling down and meditating while Darth Maul stalks around like a caged animal is a great way to handle that.
1:58:53 When I originally saw the movie, I hated the Anakin piloting a starfighter plot point. Now, I’m a fan. Okay, maybe not a fan. But it’s not as bad as I remembered.
2:01:55 The Obi-Wan-Darth Maul duel >>>>>>>>>>> Obi-Wan-Darth Vader duel in Episode IV. Getting old sucks.
2:03:34 Mental note: When President, do not invest in massive droid army controlled by one computer.
2:04:16 I’m fairly certain my boy 1. Will not patiently sit through a two hour movie and 2. Will have horrific nightmares about Darth Maul. Starting to think we’ll need to have a sensory depravation chamber I can shove him into for certain scenes.
2:06:26 More Yodaisms = More Gooder.
2:08:40 The Naboo celebration parade < Ewok Celebration.
2:09:39 One last sly wink between Portman and Young Anakin before the credits. *shiver*
The Phantom Menace
I love Star Wars. The original, unedited version of A New Hope from my childhood with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the Death Star almost getting the shot on the moon of Yavin before some farm kid bullseyes a womprat with his T-16. The Empire Strikes Back is also excellent with the battle on Hoth and Yoda with his Yodaisms. Return of the Jedi used to be my favorite of the three, but as I grew up, I put the childish Ewoks in their place in the pantheon of Star Wars. They're just great good vs. evil stories, lots of quotable lines, and good special effects for the time period.
I had the toys and a lot of memories to go with them. My limited edition Emperor Palpatine that Grandma sent off for is currently on the roof of Norcross Elementary school because he was using a handkerchief parachute and 2nd Grade Chris had a cannon for an arm. I remember the day I 'flew' my x-wing fighter down the trench of our sandbox. Sadly, I ended up more like Gold leader in my x-wing than Luke Skywalker because one of the wings snapped off. After watching my boy 'play' with his toys in the same destructive manner, I know now that my parents are highly intelligent people so I think I've finally forgiven them for not getting me the Imperial AT-AT and Millenium Falcon. There Mom and Dad, you made good parenting decisions because the amount of screaming I would have done when a leg fell off the Imperial walker... Wow.
A couple of my earliest memories involve going to the movies with my Dad. Two of the movies that I remember are E.T. and Return of the Jedi. In the late 1990s when George Lucas re-released the original trilogy leading up to the 3 prequels, I saw all of them on the first day they were out and each at least twice so I could see them on the big screen. That's when the wheels started to come off. Lucas changed quite a bit in A New Hope, most notably making Greedo shoot at Han Solo first and adding a scene with Jabba the Hutt where Han and Jabba have pretty much the same conversation Han and Greedo just had. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi also had some stuff changed, but nothing that bothered me as much as the Greedo shoots first and Jabba scenes. There are two quotes, sources unknown, that perfectly sum up my feelings about the Speical Editions that came out in the late '90s. The first is "Show me on the Star Wars Trilogy where George Lucas hurt your childhood." and the second is "A great artist isn't finished when there is nothing left to add. A great artist is finished when there is nothing left to take away."
When the prequels came out, once again I was there on Opening Day for all three. Okay, I was in college, what else was I going to do? Go to class? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Mom and Dad, ignore the beginning of this paragraph. Sure, I'm a nerd, but I didn't dress up in costume, so I can retain a little dignity. Not much, but a little. I came out of The Phantom Menace pretty much weeping. I hated it, and I'm usually the kind of guy who likes a movie the first time and it sours over time if I think about it (Independence Day is one of those movies for me). Not this one. Jar-Jar was horrendous and then here comes Young Anakin, just as bad as Jar-Jar. There were some good parts, but it really bothered me. I did go see the next two movies and thankfully, they were pretty good compared to The Phantom Menace. Even saw them both more than once before they left the theater. But I have definitely not seen any of the prequels since they left theaters 10 years ago.
Well, here we are in 2012. I have a 3 yr old boy who has watched Star Wars several times, fast forwarding through some of the more sensitive parts of course. He likes the robots and spaceships. You've seen the pictures of our Halloween costumes (I'm Luke with Lily Yoda strapped to my back, next to Owen Wan Kenobi). He owns a light saber. And my biggest goal as an adult was to have a son to take to the movie theater to see Star Wars. I want to watch him hit a homerun in t-ball and shout, "Great shot kid, that was one in a million!"
Beginning today, 2-10-12, PM is back in movie theaters as a 3D movie. This is my moment of glory, I can start taking my boy to see Star Wars in the movie theaters. Right? Well, because I am a somewhat competent parent, I needed to screen Phantom Menace to see what's in it. See when I would need to force potty breaks or an M&M run. I borrowed my Dad's copy and took advantage of my sinus infection waking me up at 5 AM to watch it. During the movie, I kept a running diary with my thoughts that I will post separately if you're as big of a nerd as I am and care to go through it. After watching it 13 years later, I still don't like the movie. There are parts of it that I really enjoy, but Jar-Jar and the Young Anakin characters really ruin the thing for me. I identified 3 points that would definitely need to be missed by a 3 yr old.
But then I came to a realization. Why should I expose my kid to a sub par movie? Or why should I pay to see Jar-Jar in 3D? As Jack Paar once said about politicians, "Don't vote, it only encourages them." I feel the same way about Phantom Menace in 3D. I'll wait a few years for the good Star Wars movies and take my boy to those when he's a little older. Until then, I will continue to be a great parent by making sure he doesn't learn about terrorism, 9/11, or Jar-Jar Binks before he is emotionally mature enough to handle the evil that exists in this world.
CK
I had the toys and a lot of memories to go with them. My limited edition Emperor Palpatine that Grandma sent off for is currently on the roof of Norcross Elementary school because he was using a handkerchief parachute and 2nd Grade Chris had a cannon for an arm. I remember the day I 'flew' my x-wing fighter down the trench of our sandbox. Sadly, I ended up more like Gold leader in my x-wing than Luke Skywalker because one of the wings snapped off. After watching my boy 'play' with his toys in the same destructive manner, I know now that my parents are highly intelligent people so I think I've finally forgiven them for not getting me the Imperial AT-AT and Millenium Falcon. There Mom and Dad, you made good parenting decisions because the amount of screaming I would have done when a leg fell off the Imperial walker... Wow.
A couple of my earliest memories involve going to the movies with my Dad. Two of the movies that I remember are E.T. and Return of the Jedi. In the late 1990s when George Lucas re-released the original trilogy leading up to the 3 prequels, I saw all of them on the first day they were out and each at least twice so I could see them on the big screen. That's when the wheels started to come off. Lucas changed quite a bit in A New Hope, most notably making Greedo shoot at Han Solo first and adding a scene with Jabba the Hutt where Han and Jabba have pretty much the same conversation Han and Greedo just had. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi also had some stuff changed, but nothing that bothered me as much as the Greedo shoots first and Jabba scenes. There are two quotes, sources unknown, that perfectly sum up my feelings about the Speical Editions that came out in the late '90s. The first is "Show me on the Star Wars Trilogy where George Lucas hurt your childhood." and the second is "A great artist isn't finished when there is nothing left to add. A great artist is finished when there is nothing left to take away."
When the prequels came out, once again I was there on Opening Day for all three. Okay, I was in college, what else was I going to do? Go to class? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Mom and Dad, ignore the beginning of this paragraph. Sure, I'm a nerd, but I didn't dress up in costume, so I can retain a little dignity. Not much, but a little. I came out of The Phantom Menace pretty much weeping. I hated it, and I'm usually the kind of guy who likes a movie the first time and it sours over time if I think about it (Independence Day is one of those movies for me). Not this one. Jar-Jar was horrendous and then here comes Young Anakin, just as bad as Jar-Jar. There were some good parts, but it really bothered me. I did go see the next two movies and thankfully, they were pretty good compared to The Phantom Menace. Even saw them both more than once before they left the theater. But I have definitely not seen any of the prequels since they left theaters 10 years ago.
Well, here we are in 2012. I have a 3 yr old boy who has watched Star Wars several times, fast forwarding through some of the more sensitive parts of course. He likes the robots and spaceships. You've seen the pictures of our Halloween costumes (I'm Luke with Lily Yoda strapped to my back, next to Owen Wan Kenobi). He owns a light saber. And my biggest goal as an adult was to have a son to take to the movie theater to see Star Wars. I want to watch him hit a homerun in t-ball and shout, "Great shot kid, that was one in a million!"
Beginning today, 2-10-12, PM is back in movie theaters as a 3D movie. This is my moment of glory, I can start taking my boy to see Star Wars in the movie theaters. Right? Well, because I am a somewhat competent parent, I needed to screen Phantom Menace to see what's in it. See when I would need to force potty breaks or an M&M run. I borrowed my Dad's copy and took advantage of my sinus infection waking me up at 5 AM to watch it. During the movie, I kept a running diary with my thoughts that I will post separately if you're as big of a nerd as I am and care to go through it. After watching it 13 years later, I still don't like the movie. There are parts of it that I really enjoy, but Jar-Jar and the Young Anakin characters really ruin the thing for me. I identified 3 points that would definitely need to be missed by a 3 yr old.
But then I came to a realization. Why should I expose my kid to a sub par movie? Or why should I pay to see Jar-Jar in 3D? As Jack Paar once said about politicians, "Don't vote, it only encourages them." I feel the same way about Phantom Menace in 3D. I'll wait a few years for the good Star Wars movies and take my boy to those when he's a little older. Until then, I will continue to be a great parent by making sure he doesn't learn about terrorism, 9/11, or Jar-Jar Binks before he is emotionally mature enough to handle the evil that exists in this world.
CK
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Circus Recap
It's a few days later than I would have liked, but I haven't really felt like writing anything at 4 or 5 in the morning lately. That's the time I've been getting up thanks to a wonderful sinus infection/baby that refuses to sleep through the night.
On Saturday, we dropped our girl off with my parents and headed downtown to catch the light rail train in to the arena. Even though it was a little cold and rainy, Owen was pretty excited about going. Especially about the train ride. He spent the whole time staring out the window and talking about the other trains we passed. Since he rides for free, we only had to pay $7 for the wife and I roundtrip. And that't the end of the reasonable pricing.
We got to the arena right before the doors opened and it didn't take long to shove the other families aside and get in. We grabbed our tickets from will call and started looking for a popcorn vendor, cotton candy vendor, and our section. Thankfully, an usher told us to go down on the floor for the pre-show before going to our seats. Good call. You go down on the floor for about 45 minutes before the start of the circus to get up close and personal with clowns, performers, and animals. That was really cool and I learned something I didn't know about my boy. My son understands slapstick as evidenced by his laughing hysterically when a clown falls on his face. Okay, maybe Owen takes his cue from me laughing at him when he falls on his face, but he's learned an important lesson nonetheless. Laughing at other's misfortune is fun.
We saw the horses up close, but the coolest thing we saw up close was the elephant they brought out. It amazes me how those things can move as big as they are. Owen loved looking at it. It painted a couple of pictures for us with it's trunk. They kind of looked like an abstract watercolor which I felt really expressed the elephant's desire to eat an entire loaf of bread in one bite. Which elephant got to do after painting for us. One recommendation if you ever find yourself at the circus pre-show, don't stand to the side or you risk staring at this for a while:
After the pre-show, we made our way to upper deck and our seats. On the way, we picked up one bag of $4 popcorn, hit the potty, and I started to stand in line for cotton candy. The line was ridiculous as cotton candy was also being sold with glowing necklaces, elephant snow cones, and push a button spinning epilepsy causers. I bailed since the circus was about to start and they had guys working the stands. Long story short, I never did get my hands on cotton candy, so there's no way the circus experience could rate any higher than 5 out of 10 for me. During intermission, Owen and I grabbed another bag of popcorn and one bottle of diet coke for the family. I was going to buy two bottles, but they were $4.50 a piece. I'm also proud of myself for not hitting the extra butter dispenser on either box of popcorn. There's no need to turn a 1,500 calorie popcorn into a 2,500 calorie one. I was also thrilled to see you can get a beer at the circus. The good news is that you can buy a "beer." The bad news? Here are your choices and the price.
It was a big decision where we would buy our tickets and I tried very hard to find a happy medium between cost effective and decent seats. I thought we struck a pretty good balance with front row of the upper deck between the middle and outside ring when I hit the buy button. I was wrong. They had handicap seating in front of us, so anyone under 6' 4" in height is staring at the back of someone's head for anything happening on the floor on your side of the arena. If you're 3 years old, you're staring at the back of someone's head for everything. If there is an act using the far side of the arena, you're looking through the overhead scaffolding/lighting. Specifically, we were amazed by the magical tightrope walking legs because we couldn't see any of their torsos. At least I assume they didn't have torsos, don't ruin it for me.
The best parts were definitely the clowns, trained horses, and the tigers. The butt of his chair that flipped up and down was pretty awesome too. I would assume the elephants and motorcycles in cages were awesome too, but somebody had quite enough of the circus by the halfway point and wanted to go home. We talked him into staying through intermission and watched the tiger trainer standing in front of our seats with him on my shoulders. He was begging to go home, even trying to run out of the section. He almost went to tears when we came back from intermission and I had to lure him back with the popcorn.
We gave up and headed for home, probably 30 minutes before the end. We were not the only ones on the platform to catch the train home and I was happy not to have to fight my way through the crowd. All in all, I think I would give the circus a thumbs up, but took some lessons away for next time. First, we needed to be a lot closer to the floor. I think being able to see more stuff would have helped keep his interest. Second, the pre-show is really cool and well worth getting there an hour early. If they sold a cheap ticket that let you just hang out before the show and then an elephant picks you up and hauls you out of the arena before the real show starts, I'm in. Third, bring your own snacks (flask) and be prepared to tackle a cotton candy vendor.
Since my opinion doesn't matter, I asked Owen what he thought of the circus. According to him, his favorite part of the circus was the popcorn. After watching him double fist shovel it into his mouth, I would say that's accurate. He's also been talking about how much he liked the tigers. Based on the quiet sobbing during the tiger trainer part, I don't think that's as accurate. His least favorite part of the circus was "A cupcake." I asked if his least favorite part was that they didn't have cupcakes and he nodded yes. When asked how much he would pay to go back to the circus I got a few answers before getting an actual number. These were: "It's Thursday," "R" [the letter], and "I would like to watch tv." I finally pinned him down to put a number on a ticket, he said 2. Pay attention Ringling Brothers, don't make a 4 year old cry next year when he sees $19 and a $4.70 Ticketmaster convenience fee. Lastly, I asked him to give the circus a thumbs up or thumbs down. After careful and thoughtful consideration, he went thumbs up. Next year I'm letting his grandparents take him.
CK
On Saturday, we dropped our girl off with my parents and headed downtown to catch the light rail train in to the arena. Even though it was a little cold and rainy, Owen was pretty excited about going. Especially about the train ride. He spent the whole time staring out the window and talking about the other trains we passed. Since he rides for free, we only had to pay $7 for the wife and I roundtrip. And that't the end of the reasonable pricing.
We got to the arena right before the doors opened and it didn't take long to shove the other families aside and get in. We grabbed our tickets from will call and started looking for a popcorn vendor, cotton candy vendor, and our section. Thankfully, an usher told us to go down on the floor for the pre-show before going to our seats. Good call. You go down on the floor for about 45 minutes before the start of the circus to get up close and personal with clowns, performers, and animals. That was really cool and I learned something I didn't know about my boy. My son understands slapstick as evidenced by his laughing hysterically when a clown falls on his face. Okay, maybe Owen takes his cue from me laughing at him when he falls on his face, but he's learned an important lesson nonetheless. Laughing at other's misfortune is fun.
We saw the horses up close, but the coolest thing we saw up close was the elephant they brought out. It amazes me how those things can move as big as they are. Owen loved looking at it. It painted a couple of pictures for us with it's trunk. They kind of looked like an abstract watercolor which I felt really expressed the elephant's desire to eat an entire loaf of bread in one bite. Which elephant got to do after painting for us. One recommendation if you ever find yourself at the circus pre-show, don't stand to the side or you risk staring at this for a while:
 |
| Thankfully, Owen didn't ask if that was the elephant's trunk. |
After the pre-show, we made our way to upper deck and our seats. On the way, we picked up one bag of $4 popcorn, hit the potty, and I started to stand in line for cotton candy. The line was ridiculous as cotton candy was also being sold with glowing necklaces, elephant snow cones, and push a button spinning epilepsy causers. I bailed since the circus was about to start and they had guys working the stands. Long story short, I never did get my hands on cotton candy, so there's no way the circus experience could rate any higher than 5 out of 10 for me. During intermission, Owen and I grabbed another bag of popcorn and one bottle of diet coke for the family. I was going to buy two bottles, but they were $4.50 a piece. I'm also proud of myself for not hitting the extra butter dispenser on either box of popcorn. There's no need to turn a 1,500 calorie popcorn into a 2,500 calorie one. I was also thrilled to see you can get a beer at the circus. The good news is that you can buy a "beer." The bad news? Here are your choices and the price.
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| Only the best. |
It was a big decision where we would buy our tickets and I tried very hard to find a happy medium between cost effective and decent seats. I thought we struck a pretty good balance with front row of the upper deck between the middle and outside ring when I hit the buy button. I was wrong. They had handicap seating in front of us, so anyone under 6' 4" in height is staring at the back of someone's head for anything happening on the floor on your side of the arena. If you're 3 years old, you're staring at the back of someone's head for everything. If there is an act using the far side of the arena, you're looking through the overhead scaffolding/lighting. Specifically, we were amazed by the magical tightrope walking legs because we couldn't see any of their torsos. At least I assume they didn't have torsos, don't ruin it for me.
 |
| It's the greatest show of shadow heads on Earth! |
The best parts were definitely the clowns, trained horses, and the tigers. The butt of his chair that flipped up and down was pretty awesome too. I would assume the elephants and motorcycles in cages were awesome too, but somebody had quite enough of the circus by the halfway point and wanted to go home. We talked him into staying through intermission and watched the tiger trainer standing in front of our seats with him on my shoulders. He was begging to go home, even trying to run out of the section. He almost went to tears when we came back from intermission and I had to lure him back with the popcorn.
We gave up and headed for home, probably 30 minutes before the end. We were not the only ones on the platform to catch the train home and I was happy not to have to fight my way through the crowd. All in all, I think I would give the circus a thumbs up, but took some lessons away for next time. First, we needed to be a lot closer to the floor. I think being able to see more stuff would have helped keep his interest. Second, the pre-show is really cool and well worth getting there an hour early. If they sold a cheap ticket that let you just hang out before the show and then an elephant picks you up and hauls you out of the arena before the real show starts, I'm in. Third, bring your own snacks (flask) and be prepared to tackle a cotton candy vendor.
Since my opinion doesn't matter, I asked Owen what he thought of the circus. According to him, his favorite part of the circus was the popcorn. After watching him double fist shovel it into his mouth, I would say that's accurate. He's also been talking about how much he liked the tigers. Based on the quiet sobbing during the tiger trainer part, I don't think that's as accurate. His least favorite part of the circus was "A cupcake." I asked if his least favorite part was that they didn't have cupcakes and he nodded yes. When asked how much he would pay to go back to the circus I got a few answers before getting an actual number. These were: "It's Thursday," "R" [the letter], and "I would like to watch tv." I finally pinned him down to put a number on a ticket, he said 2. Pay attention Ringling Brothers, don't make a 4 year old cry next year when he sees $19 and a $4.70 Ticketmaster convenience fee. Lastly, I asked him to give the circus a thumbs up or thumbs down. After careful and thoughtful consideration, he went thumbs up. Next year I'm letting his grandparents take him.
CK
Friday, February 3, 2012
CIRCUS!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow we have tickets to the Ringling Brothers Circus. I'm not really sure who's more excited about this, me or the wife. It can't possibly be my son, because he's never been to the circus. Sure, he's seen an elephant at the local Renaissance Festival. But it was only one and just standing there. He's seen a couple of tigers at a local zoological park, but they were in a fence at the time and mostly snoring. Plus the park was running a piece of construction equipment that was WAY cooler. No way he's seen a bear riding a motorcycle before in his short and sheltered life. At least the circus better have a bear riding a motorcycle or I will demand my money back.
To make things even better, we decided the best way to get to the circus is the local light rail transit. That was an unbelievable experience for him when Mom just took him on a ride on the train. We've been building this up all week to the point that he can tell you what we're going to see at the circus.
Me: "Owen, what are we doing on Saturday?"
Owen: "We're going to the CIRCUS!"
Me: "Yeah! And what are we going to see at the circus?"
Owen: "Elephants. And airplanes. And helicopters. And a airport."
Me: " Sure."
I kind of think he's a bit confused about the circus. We've been over to the Charlotte airport's runway overlook where you have a really good view of the planes coming in for landing and taking off, so maybe he thinks it's that only with elephants thrown in? He'll probably just be disappointed that there's only motorcycles in a death defying circular cage.
One thing I know for sure, we're pumping him full of cotton candy, popcorn, full sugar cokes, and anything else we can get him to eat. Because he's spending the night with his grandparents after the circus. It's only fair that Nana and Papa get him in the same condition that we normally get him back after a stay at their place. If I am coherent after my excessive sugar intake tomorrow afternoon, I will definitely post a Circus Recap and Review blog tomorrow night.
CK
To make things even better, we decided the best way to get to the circus is the local light rail transit. That was an unbelievable experience for him when Mom just took him on a ride on the train. We've been building this up all week to the point that he can tell you what we're going to see at the circus.
Me: "Owen, what are we doing on Saturday?"
Owen: "We're going to the CIRCUS!"
Me: "Yeah! And what are we going to see at the circus?"
Owen: "Elephants. And airplanes. And helicopters. And a airport."
Me: " Sure."
I kind of think he's a bit confused about the circus. We've been over to the Charlotte airport's runway overlook where you have a really good view of the planes coming in for landing and taking off, so maybe he thinks it's that only with elephants thrown in? He'll probably just be disappointed that there's only motorcycles in a death defying circular cage.
One thing I know for sure, we're pumping him full of cotton candy, popcorn, full sugar cokes, and anything else we can get him to eat. Because he's spending the night with his grandparents after the circus. It's only fair that Nana and Papa get him in the same condition that we normally get him back after a stay at their place. If I am coherent after my excessive sugar intake tomorrow afternoon, I will definitely post a Circus Recap and Review blog tomorrow night.
CK
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