The Knights of Poke'mon in, 'The Thwarted Thumb Operation' (Pt. III)

(contd.)

A solid chunk of the third day of our adventures with the DeBoer family this weekend centered around games with the kids, hanging out in the house and knocking out some of our classic go-to options:  Werewolf, Clue, Five-Minute Dungeon, etc.

After lunch, once everyone had slowly gotten around for the day, Kris was getting antsy and suggested we go for a walk out in Midland City Forest, seeing how the weather was turning out to be pretty awesome. 

We hadn't been up here since probably April or so.  Kinda forget this place exists a lot of the time.

Clearly, Kris is having a better time here than Sam is. . .

We did a five-mile loop through the forest, veering to the North immediately upon entering the trails then looping up and around the marshes and back around to the bridge.

Closing in on the bridge. . .

That water looks disgusting.

After getting more than our fair share of steps in for the day, we headed back into town.  Rain clouds - as you can see here - were starting to form up, so we figured we'd hit up the mall and let the kids shop around (the three of them all expressed interest in hitting up the Barnes & Noble.)

Delia and Abby, screwing around in one of these little kid ride-thingies in the mall.

Back home, we had about an hour to kill before heading into The Commons in downtown Midland for dinner, so we busted out another board game to burn some time.

Delia has a pretty intense gluten allergy, so her dining options downtown were somewhat limited. Pizza Baker offered gluten-free pizza options, so the DeBoers placed a few orders there and Sam hung back with her to wait for the pizza to come up.

While they were waiting for their pizzas, BP and we Houghs walked a block down the road to Brinstar, that new arcade/bar/restaurant that opened up last summer. 

It's for the Children.

Alayna was dying for a cheeseburger from here, so we figured we'd snag a picnic table outside for when Sam and Delia returned so they could eat their pizza without getting yelled at by the servers inside.

Abby requests another .5 wide-angle pic.

The Johnsons met us downtown shortly after we started ordering food at Brinstar. Our server was more than a little rude about ordering beers 'to go' then drinking them inside (the to-go cups used for the outdoor Commons area of downtown apparently can't be consumed inside, even if you order them from that particular establishment. . . which makes zero sense, honestly.)  We had ordered to-go cups because at first we weren't sure if we were drinking outside with the pizza-eaters out at the picnic table, or inside at a table. . . it wasn't like we were sneaking in drinks from another place.

Eventually our server's shift ended and she was replaced with a much nicer server who, after talking to the manager, said it was fine to drink beers in whatever cup we wanted so long as they were purchased at that bar. Still, the customer service was so bad that Erik and I completely soured to the place.

Wrapping up food and drinks at Brinstar.

After leaving Brinstar, we made our way back towards the heart of Main Street.  Had to get a pic of BP double-fisting drinks in front of an old lady store on the main drag.

The girls at one point started digging through books at a portable give-one/take-one library kiosk that sat outside one of the storefronts.

The historic Larkin Building. Our Masonic Lodge meets on the top floor, and has for over one hundred years.

Waiting for the kids to grab some ice cream cones from Pizza Sam's.

Spotted a sticker from an old, old FM radio station still plastered on the bottom of a window among the various storefronts. This is probably forty or so years old, at least - every since I can remember (mid/late-80s-ish) WIOG was 102.5 and a Top 40 pop station.  I have no memory of it ever being a rock station.

Abby and her gigantic ice cream.

After grabbing some ice cream, we meandered over to Whichcraft for another round of drinks.

While BP, Erik and I ordered some more beers, Alayna followed us in and asked if she could get something. I had the bartender whip up one of the tap room's non-alcoholic 'mocktails.' This here's a booze-free version of a mojito.

In six years, this chick's gonna be straight-up trouble. Kris requested I pick her up a fruit punch seltzer from Odd Side ales while I was in there ordering drinks, but all I heard was 'fruit punch. . . vodka.'  I placed the order and the bartender had to get creative with it, seeing how he didn't have fruit punch on hand (you know, because it's a bar for grown ups and not six-year-old kids.)  Eventually he whipped up something with vodka, cranberry juice, orange juice, grenadine, and a splash of lime that did the trick. . . but Kris was super weirded-out when I brought her her drink.  Whoops.

The Midland Commons.

A pretty awesome night for walking around and drinking outdoors.

The Cannonball and her mocktail.  And yes, America, she is wearing shorts, you just can't see 'em: we may be those parents that order our child a cocktail at a bar, but we do insist she wears pants while doing so.

Shitty servers aside, we decided to pass some time back at Brinstar - the kids were really wanting to play some old school arcade games. Erik and I kept our peace and just passed the time drinking beer and not picking fights.

Abby gets ready to f*** shit up. . .

This game is pretty awesome. . .

NBA Jam is one of my all-time favorite sports games, so the fact they have this on hand is pretty bad-ass.

This one was never one of my favorites, but it definitely got some use while we were there.

Courtney and the Cannonball

BP and I spent a solid chunk of time duking it out on NBA Jam. . .

Delia and Abby on the Pac-Man table. . .

This was the pinnacle of sports gaming back in the early '90s, folks.

I went the Pistons. Obviously.

The screen on this game was pretty jacked up.  Noticed a lot of the games in the arcade this evening were out of order or glitchy - they need to get their tech support on that.

Neo-Geo used to have the most graphically-advanced titles out there. Back in, like, 1991, that is.

Thug. Life.

BP tries his hand at wasting some drug lords. . .

I don't get the girls' obsession with this game. Alayna is now requesting we purchase one for our own basement (that's not happening.)

I hate this f***ing game. . .

After an hour or two at Brinstar, we said farewell to the Johnsons and made our way back down to where we had parked Kris' van. On the walk back, we passed by the side entrance to our Lodge (those lights are illuminated when there's a meeting in session.)

Everyone started to crash when we got back to the house, but BP and I decided to stay up, listen to vinyl, and put a serious dent in this superb bourbon BP brought up with him.

Slainte, America. Until next time. . .

- Brian