Spring Break '14

SPRING BREAK!!!

Not that we'll be taking off our shirts for beads anytime soon (though frankly I wouldn't put it past the kids), but we're still big fans of not going to work.  I can't get enough of that.

So since we're child-laden and lame these days, we're not necessarily having margaritas made in our mouths, doing shots out of one another's belly-buttons, and the like.  Nay, Spring Break to middle-aged parents means wearing one's pajamas well into the afternoon, drinking a pot of coffee unmolested throughout the morning, catching up on TV series and videogames, battling with the yard, and otherwise working on odds and ends around the house.

Jesus, I wish we had more Spring Breaks. . .

Check it out:

Abby dances in the sprinkler in the backyard. . .

For whatever reason, the step in front of the shed is the kids' favorite 'stage.'

Look what was released today?  We'd been waiting for this for quite some time, and Abby and I snatched it up at Target on the way home from picking her up from school.  The poor clerks were handing these out to desperate parents immediately after pulling them out of the cardboard shipping boxes and slapping them into plastic clamshell cases.  Rest assured, I exchanged more than a few understanding nods with other weary dads waiting around for our Blu-Ray handouts. . .

Time for the annual Lily explosion around the house. . .

The Velez's had planted tons of these things around the front and back yards - we're constantly finding new plants as they start blooming out of nowhere. 

The Cannonball's taken a liking to climbing the peach tree in the backyard lately. . .

At Greenberg Dental for the Cannonball's routine cleaning. . .

Walking the dog/kids.

Queens of the Hill.

Pin-up pose on a not-so classic car.

I  love picking up our point-and-shoot camera and finding 48 pictures of this.

Kris accompanied Alayna on a Sunchild field trip to a local skating rink - it was Alayna's first time on skates.

She skates like her old man. . .

I took her a while, but eventually she warmed up to it (I still hate skating with a passion, just in case you were curious.)

Snack break with some of her homegirls. . .

Watson

I took the kids to Walmart in order to pick up a kiddie pool from their Lawn & Garden section (walking through their with two kids in tow was a blast.)

We picked up a $15 pool and a bunch of toys in order to tide the kids over until we set up the big 12 x 36" Intex pool we do every summer.

And yes, there were two pools stuck together.  I'm assuming that's how they were sold, I don't know.  $15 for two pools seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Breaking in the new pool, while Yours Truly takes an obnoxious amount of pictures with his phone. . .

I had to explain to them that Watson, contrary to popular belief, does NOT like to be squirted with water cannons. . .

Healthy lunch, courtesy of Dad.

Watson charges a lizard.

Alayna started Violin Lessons this week.  She's got a violin, the practice book, and has taken to the instrument considerably well.  For her first few practices, she's learning how to hold the instrument correctly, read sheet music and pluck strings.  From there, she'll learn multi-note chords, and then - probably a month from now - will start using the bow (I'm told that as kids learn how to play with the bow, it sounds like a cat dying, so we're not pushing it.)

- Brian

The Brews

What's up readers.

So once in awhile Ol' Ma Hough let's Yours Truly out of the house sans children.  This is obviously 'really cool' in my book, and so it goes without saying that when she gave me her blessing to accompany a couple work buddies out to Tampa in order to do a brewery tour for the day, I pounced on that shit like a lion on a limping gazelle.

Behold:

We kicked off our tour-de-beer with a stop off at America's oldest brewery - Yuengling.  They're based in Pennsylvania, but have a factory down here in Tampa.  Tours (and samples) are free.

Hear hear. 

For when employees have too much to drink and can't drive home.  Or so I assume.

Yuengling is only a 'meh' in my book - they don't carry many different brews (they're somewhat mainstream) - but we wanted to check out the brewery in order to learn more about the process of a somewhat-major distributor.

Some Mexican guy on a bench.

Outside shot of the brewery.  They weren't out to impress anybody with this building.

Vintage beer vats.  Now empty.

Old control panels from fifty/sixty years ago. . .

Old beer vats, no longer in service.

Cans of Yuengling on the assembly line (or whatever it's called in Beer-speak.)

Where beer gets canned/bottled.

In case any of you guys out there ever want to make your own aluminum can.  You're welcome.

I want one of these made of me.  There are so many good uses for something like this.

The whole inside of the Yuengling Brewery looks like a time capsule straight out of the 1950s. . . or the Dharma initiative from Lost.

Entering the Visitor's Center

Outside the visitor's center.

That's a shit-load of beer.

Outside shot of the brewery. . .

Back in the car, en route to our next stop. . .

Ah, the ol' MadDog 20/20.  This was definitely reminiscent of my early, flat-broke college years (and NO, I didn't buy this - that crap looked like cough medicine and cost $3.)

The highlight of our tour was Cigar City Brewing, so named (I assume) because they have a cigar-rolling set-up in the tap room, and there are tons of cigar shops throughout Tampa.

Drinking stouts and killing time before our tour kicks off. . .

Moichendise.

More pre-tour booze-sampling. . .

On the Cigar City Brewing Tour. . . 

Some guy and Batman.

Different hops and barley grains to sample. 

Cigar break at Cigar City.

Casks of beer, some hipster's bike.

Sampling some pre-aged sour ale, right from the tap.

Awesome. 

No idea what any of this shit means.

Barrels of fun.

One of the weirdest men I've ever seen.

Scenic Tampa, FL.

Outside of some fancy-pants Cuban joint we didn't end up eating at (I didn't understand the menu in the slightest.)

Forgot the name of this trendy, hipster-ish area of Tampa, but they had a ton of cool bars and restaurants.

We walked a little down the street and found Gaspar's Grotto, a pirate-themed bar/restaurant that was MUCH more to my liking.

I wish my house looked like this.

Food here was awesome - I had this pulled-pork bacon cheeseburger that was most likely hand-crafted by the gods (and had more calories than I consume in a week, but whatever.)

Some crap I pocketed (on the sly) from the Cigar City brewery tour. Coasters, safety glasses, and a barrel plug.  Because I can.

Among a few pint/stout glasses I brought home from Yuengling and Cigar City, I also brought back a growler of a 11% ABV brew from Cigar City called Florida Man - one of the best beers I've ever had.  32 oz of awesome beer and the growler cost only $17 total - not too shabby at all.  Due to Anheuser-Busch's stranglehold over Florida's legislation in Tallahassee, growlers are usually illegal to sell throughout the state. Certain brewers can get away selling specific sizes - like this one, opposed to the standard 64 - but it's hard to find.  Goddamn you, Anheuser-Busch.  Goddamn you very much.

- Brian