Are There Crocodiles In Heaven?

Just a little update to celebrate a great adventurer and educator. Crikey, we'll miss Steve Irwin!

Dave and Busters Makes It Better

The most colossal disaster in the history of waiting tables occurred yesterday. But first things first. Jack and Jen decided to drive down to Georgia on Saturday morning, so we were so excited to see them. But then, Laura surprised P by flying down here for a super awesome surprise of the year. Woohoo!

Anyway, we all went to Dave and Buster's for some good food and fun games. Well, the games were fun, but here are just some of the things that went wrong at the dinner table:

• We waited about an hour and a half for a table and eventually had to settle for two tables next to each other (which was great - sarcasm there - considering we were gathering from all over the country to see each other)
• There was another long wait before we got our drinks and could finally order
• Our appetizer of chips and dip didn't have enough chips, and we had to ask several times and wait long after the dip was cold to get more
• P was never offered a water refill, and the ice eventually melted and refilled the cup
• Dad didn't have a soup spoon until after his soup was cold
• We didn't have silverware or napkins until after our main course arrived
• P ordered a side salad but got fries
• M ordered a plain burger but got a cheese burger with a toothpick that had been dropped into the cheese and solidified there
• P asked repeatedly for malt vinegar, and even though one of the waiters accidentally said "malt liquor," he brought the right thing
• Almost four hours after putting our name in for a table, during which G's bedtime had come and gone, by the way, Laura still didn't have her dinner! We asked three different waiters and two managers before they finally brought it out, but it still wasn't to-go like we'd asked, so they had to take it back and box it up for us
• P lost the appetite for her dinner (it wasn't very warm when it came out), and the boxes they brought out for it were too small - we ended up with three boxes for one small meal.
• ...and we're not sure what else was wrong at the other table!

When the manager asked the magic question, "What can I do to make this better?" P didn't miss a beat: "Everything free and cocktails would be a good start." They ended up comping two appetizers, two dinners, assorted beverages, two of their most top-shelf drink (the Million Dollar Margarita), a couple gin and tonics, a house specialty T&T with a souvenir glass, a strawberry margarita, and at least one other cocktail. Yep, we were okay with that. Here are a couple of photos commemorating the occasion:

Tumble, Jump, and Go Blue!

We got to go to a place called Tumblebus last week, and G had a great time, although he prefers doing his own thing to organized classes. We think that's great, because we already know he's an independent thinker, so we never try to make him do what everyone else is doing. He's the one in the orange "Ukrainian Power" shirt going for the rings:

Later last week, we all went to The Jump Off:

Chip doesn't like to run in a straight line, as you can see in the following video. Little did we know that they were closing, until the inflatable on my right collapsed.

Today marks the beginning of the second season of the year (in case you don't know, the other two are "baseball" and "everything else"), and a yearly holiday in our household. It's the start of Michigan Football!!! Here's looking forward to an undefeated year:

Happy Birthday, Mattycakes!!!

This date in 1973 was a big day for the world. A baby boy was born who has made everything around him better everywhere he's gone. Today we celebrated Matty's birthday low-key and low-stress.

It started out late, because M got to sleep in as long as he wanted, and even G stayed out of the bedroom so he could rest. When he got up, he had a Birthday panCake(tm), which was a stack of pancakes with some of that Kranz frosting in between and on top, cut into the shape of a heart, with a candle in the top. Chip helped blow out the candle.

When we got moving, we went to the Cobb County Radio Control Modeler's Club, which is like an airport for RC planes. M was very surprised at our destination, and we had a great time. We watched airplanes the whole time we were there, but as we were leaving, a helicopter started flying. The guy flying it was fantastic! He had that thing flying upside down, doing rolls, and going so fast that it was almost a blur. We pulled over to watch for a few minutes before we went off to explore the big-house neighborhoods nearby.

For dinner, we went to Johnny's New York Style Pizza. We'd never been there before, but there are a lot of them around, so we decided to give it a try. Not only was the food really, really good, but Chip sat in his seat the entire time!!! Now that was a birthday present!

We came home for cake and presents, and when Dad went home and G went to bed, we watched a little Sopranos to wind down. It was a very relaxed, very fun day.

Happy Birthday, my Matty!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Wo-Wo!

Happy Birthday to the girl with the best abs in the world!!!