The Great Candyland Comeback!

"Hey Keegan, what do you want to do before naptime?" I asked, knowing full well the answer before it came. With Keegan, his favorite #1 thing to do at anytime (day or night) is...

"I want to play a game," came the enthusiastic response.

Just as expected.

I almost rolled my eyes and even tried to selfishly coax him into watching a cartoon with me before nap time (so I could lay down for few more minutes of shut-eye myself). But no, it had to be a game. There was no changing his mind.

Just then, mommy stepped in. "Okay, okay, we'll all play a game together here on the floor. How about...um...let's see...Candyland!"

"Yes, yes! Hooray," Keegan shouted. We reminded him that we had to be quiet so that the baby wouldn't wake up and a few minutes later the game was setup and ready to go. The race to the Candy Castle was on.

At first, Keegan jumped out to a commanding lead, but Daddy caught up pretty quickly - leaving Mommy trodding along at the back of the pack. As the game progressed, it became obvious that this was a two gingerbread man race to the finish. It was Keegan and Daddy...Daddy and Keegan...we were neck and neck coming into the final turn toward the finish line and the prizes that awaited us there. It was my turn again. Pulling the top card from the pile I found myself sent all the way back to the beginning of the board.

"Oh no!" I moaned, "not the candy cane forest."

Keegan was left alone in the lead to win it all, and he couldn't have been more pleased.

"I think I'm going to win," Keegan nearly burst with excitement. It wasn't the gloating kind that we do as adults - but rather a genuine excitement in seeing the finish line so close and no one left to challenge him. Kids wear their emotions on their sleeves and I couldn't help but get excited in watching him go.

But, mommy had been slowly creeping up on us and the candyland cards had a few tricks up their sleeve yet to play. Another card later, Keegan got bumped back and somehow Angela must have jumped 50 steps closer in the process. Now, it was a two way race with Mommy for the win. It was a masterful move, the girl who once was considered out of the race was now challenging the leader for the win. If there was an ESPN-BoardGame Channel, this would have been on it for sure.

I watched from the rear (drawing lousy card after lousy card) as they made their way around the final turn and Keegan landed only one space from the end. His next turn would be his last - no matter what color card he drew. The pressure was on, Mommy had to act now or it would be over.

Drawing her final card, it was a double purple - the only card that could have done it. Mommy smiled and moved her Gingerbread man to the end. Amazing, astounding, mommy had done it. The crowd went wild, even Keegan who is a very good sport.

"Good job Mommy!" he said in congratulations.

"Okay Keegan, you can still beat Daddy," she encourages. "It's your turn next, let's see if you win!"

Now, keep in mind if he pulls any card that moves him forward he would win the game. He's only one space from the finish and the marvelous Candy Castle that has been beckoning us since the start.

He smiles and pulls his card - eyes wide with exhileration. He picks up the card carefully, savoring every moment of his inevitable victory. Then, turning the card over at last he reveals for all to see.

The crowd gasps. No - it couldn't be...it's...it's...

"Gumdrop Mountains! Oh no," I said. "That's back behind where Daddy is." The worst possible thing that could have happened, just happend. The shoe-in for the win was going to suffer a terrible defeat. We didn't know what to say.

The three-year old champ sat in stunned silence for a moment. The reality of what had just happened began to sink in. Then he furrowed his brow and spoke his mind.

"But, I'm supposed to win," he said at last with a serious look on his face. "I think...um...I think, I don't want to go back there!"

It was one of those priceless moments, you wish you had your camera rolling. Angela and I burst into laughter and Keegan joined in. The three of us laughed together. Keegan didn't care about the game anymore - he had said something funny and he was repeating it over and over to get Mommy and Daddy to laugh with him.

So, I guess he won afterall. We all won - it was a fun game.

Wordless Wednesday!

Watch Star Wars Episode IV on your PC for FREE!?!

Okay - this post is for the Star Wars nerd in all of us. (You are a Star Wars nerd - right?) Good...then read on!

Ever wanted to watch Star Wars in ASCII code?
I know sounds strange huh? But apparently in 1997 a man by the name of Simon Jansen (who aparently has too much time on his hands) set out to recreate the entire movie in code. For those of you asking yourself, "What's ASCII Code?" I'll give you a little preview. It looks something like this...



He recently finished his extraordinary task and I must say it is impressive. Er...as impressive as animated digits can be. That being said, if you want to watch the entire movie yourself (and experience a bit of pop-culture that is sure to make the next edition of Trivial Pursuit) follow these simple instructions.

-----------Instructions---------------

1. Go to Start > Run.
2. In the Run box, type "cmd" ( without the quotes ) and hit OK to open the command prompt windows.
3. Within command prompt, type "telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl" ( without the quotes ) and hit ENTER.
4. Sit back and watch the show. Oh ya, grab some popcorns also.

--------------------------------------

** For MAC users, go to Terminal and type "telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl" (without the quotes).

Enjoy!

DEAL ALERT: Zoo Membership in Toledo?

Every year, as the spring leaves begin to bud, our family gets itchin' to visit the zoo. This year is no exception. With the weather supposedly improving tomorrow we have decided to take off for the day and visit the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma Washington. Which brings us to the same dilemma we face every year.

"Do we buy a membership for $97 this year?"

The conversation is always the same and usually starts with us figuring out how many times in a year we can possibly visit the zoo during decent weather months. Usually we end up calculating that we most likely will visit three or four times and that the cost per visit (for our family of 3 paying individuals) is going to be $27 each time. ($11/adult and $5 for our toddler) Since zoo membership at Point Defiance allows you to take a few friends for FREE too - it sounds like a great deal at first glance. But, as the conversation continues we quickly realize that sometimes we want to take our family to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, or the Oregon Zoo in Portland since the animals there are different. This poses a problem.

You see, Point Defiance and Woodland Park have a non-compete clause. This means your membership at one zoo will not work at the other. So, since our membership would not be transferable and we'd be losing money on the deal if we ever "betrayed" Point Defiance and visited another zoo - we say goodbye to our dreams of zoo membership.

But NOT this year.

This year I decided to do some researching online. I visited several zoo websites trying to find a zoo that offered members reciprocal visits to both Point Defiance and Woodland Park Zoo. I am happy to say that I found it...and what a deal it is.

The Toledo Zoo offers a family membership (2 adults and all of your kids) for $65. But their reciprocal zoo list includes FREE entrance to both the Point Defiance Zoo AND the Woodland Park Zoo. Throw in the Oregon Zoo in Portland as a bonus (along with 122 other zoos across the country) and we have a bargain that I couldn't pass up.

Granted, we will probably never visit the Toledo Zoo this year, but with a membership package that allows me to visit any zoo in my area, as many times as I want for only $65...well...I joined up. And to top it all off - the membership is tax deductible. "Take that Uncle Sam!"

One thing to note is that your membership at the Toledo Zoo does not include any FREE guest passes at reciprocal zoos. But, that being said, we decided the flexibility to visit multiple zoos was a greater reward. Not to mention, the cheaper membership price relects a better bargain in our estimation.

Oh yeah, and even though our membership cards won't be here for a couple of weeks we called the Toledo Zoo and explained that we wanted to go to a reciprocal zoo tomorrow. They offered to call Point Defiance Zoo for us and have guest passes waiting for us tomorrow when we arrive. Now THAT'S great customer service.

So, for all of you Washingtonians who are itchin' to visit more than one zoo in our area. You would be wise to check out the Toledo Zoo.

After all, membership has its advantages.

A Milestone!

To most it may seem like a little thing, but to a mom it is bittersweet. My little boy is growing so fast. I can't believe that Truitt is already 3 months old! Where has the time gone? I decided that today was as good as any to start Truitt napping in his crib. I know, I know...no big deal, but before I know it he will no longer be sleeping in our room, at night, either. I am happy that he is able to sleep on his own (and do it well). Here he is taking his first nap in his crib.

Progress

I am so excited that Keegan is making progress in the potty department. Up to this point he had no interest in potty training. We have tried everything....candy, stickers on a chart, big boy underwear, pull ups. You name it, we have tried it. I figured he will do it when he is ready. Well, I decided to get some new big boy underwear for his Easter basket. After changing his poppy diaper this morning I asked him if he wanted to try his new big boy underwear on. Keegan said sure. I was schocked when he left them on for more than 2 seconds. He wore them all morning without any accidents. He tried to use the potty multiple times, but never went. Right before naptime I told him that he needed to try and use the potty one more time and then we would put a diaper on him. I set him on the potty and went in to use the bathroom myself. I suprised when Keegan came running into the bathroom 3 seconds later saying that he went pee in the potty. I decided to check the little potty and sure enough he did it! There was lots of praising going on at our house at that moment. We ran right out to Daddy's office to tell him the exciting news. We then put a sticker on the potty chart and Keegan called Grandma to tell her the exciting news.

I know some of you are thinking big deal! He wore uderwear for half a day and peed in the potty one time. Well, to us it is a HUGE deal! I am so excited that Keegan is finally willing to at least try using the potty or wear his big boy underwear. I hope this is the start of Keegan becoming potty trained! It will be really nice to only have child in diapers.

List Time

I am a list type of person. I have a hard time remembering things if I don't write them down. I also seem to get a little satisfaction from crossing things off my list after I accomplish them. On the flip side, I always seem to be a little disappointed if I don't accomplish everything, which often happens. Life just seems to happen and it doesn't always match what is on my list.

I was making a list today of all the things I would like to get done this week. Keegan decided he would like to make a list too. So, he started scribbling on a piece of paper. He told me that his list said the following:

"Go to the Pet store.
Get a new fish.
Bring him home.
Put the fish in Orange's bowl."
(Orange is our beta fish that died a couple of weeks ago)