To the Bridge

I don't really follow my kids' progress in the Girl Scouts.  Not that I don't like my kids or anything, but I just can't bring myself to being super-excited about every, last thing they do in life.  I'm involved in a lot, but if occasionally I'm out of the loop with regards to something they're doing. . . I'm okay with that.

Girl Scouts, case in point.

I don't mind my kids going to weekly meetings.  Whatever, I get it.  Anything beyond that, though, starts to become an annoyance.  My life does not revolve around you, Girl Scouts - chill out already.  The cookies, the outings, the field trips, the ceremonies. . . it's taking up more and more of our kids' time as we get further into the summer.

And now there's this thing called a 'bridging ceremony' and 'day camp' that the kids had to go to today.  Two big events in one day.  On a frickin' Saturday, no less.

Thanks a lot, Girl Scouts. .

The night before the "bridging ceremony," Alayna's troop was all going to stay the night at some church on the other side of town.  This would end up being Alayna's very first sleepover, so she was pretty pumped up about it.

The girls start staking out their positions for the slumber party. . .

Kris and I would end up giving Alayna her own sleeping bag later on in the weekend, as one of the girls' combo birthday presents (more to come on that later), so in the meantime she used one my mom let us borrow. . .

I don't know what's happening here.

The next morning, we returned to the church, where the bridging ceremony was to take place in the courtyard.

Is this a stork?  I'm not a birdologist.

The troop lines up for the ceremony (Alayna's troop is a combination of Brownies and Daisies, but next year she's enrolling in a different troop with some of her better friends from school, and it'll be all Brownies.)

(You see a lot of this whenever there's large numbers of children about.) 

Hitler Youth-ish pledges of fealty.

Not sure what's up with Alayna's samurai hairdo this morning. . .

Alayna's turn to cross the Bridge.

Excepting some kind of award. . . or something.  Every scout got one so it can't be all that impressive.

Yes, Alayna's crossing her eyes in this nice, group picture.

Hitting up the refreshment table. . .

Later that day, Yours Truly returned home to start prepping presents, decor, cameras, etc. for tomorrow's big combo party (more to come on that later), while Kris took the girls up to Harrison for some big Girl Scout Day Camp. . .

Alayna feels the effects of last night's sleepover. . .

Kris couldn't find the rest of the girls' troops up there (I guess it's a pretty big camp facility, and kids were spread out all over the place), so she took the girls around and tried out a few different activities with them.  Not surprisingly, the archery range was a big hit with the girls.

(FYI, if I was really into archery, I'd construct targets that looked like Orcs from The Lord of the Rings movies.  Just sayin'.)

- Brian

Pipes, Cookies, and Firedudes

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Christmas '13

Christmas Morning

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Holy H. Christ.  A lot of build-up sure goes into a few hours of frantic gift-opening, but this year we managed to pull the whole fiasco off without a hitch.

I'm too exhausted to write a ton, so here's a ridiculous amount of pictures to skim over instead.

Enjoy. . .

The holly, jolly Skype command center (we always plug it into the TV for the Christmases with grandparents)

We were both too full to eat cookies at midnight, so we just crumpled the shit to pieces and threw most of it in the garbage. . . er, I mean - SANTA ate it.

After stockings, the kids start tearing into presents. . .

This year we gave the girls $5 each to spend on the other parent, so this is what the two of them picked out for me.  It was so awesome it required two bows on the outside in order to contain its badass-ishness.

Abby got Kris a bucket.  She then proceeded to tell Kris she had gotten her a bucket for Christmas for the next couple of weeks, thereby destroying all hope of a 'surprise.'  We have to work on Abby's understanding of the word 'secret.'

I don't think fireplaces exist in Florida, so we make due with a fancy-pants DVD instead. 

What Alayna wanted most this year, and what she kept telling the various Santas she'd come into contact with throughout the season, was a Bow and Arrow.  We priced several, and read a lot of reviews onilne, and ultimately went with this one - the Nerf Rebelle Bow (which Mom and John ended up picking up for her.)  Definitely a big hit.

Trying it out in the patio sun room (they got Abby one too, as, you know, they're at that age where if one kid gets something the other doesn't, all-out Hell breaks loose. . .)

I spent the majority of the day trying to figure out and personalize my Christmas present from Kris - a Samsung Galaxy S3.  I'm arguably too retarded to operate one of these things.

Kickin' ass down the hallway. . .

I bought the girls a few Wii games this year as stocking stuffers in an attempt to get them into videogames. . . 'cause if I have to continue playing Candyland a dozen times a day I'm going to eventually snap and kill someone.

More stocking stuffers.  This will last Kris into 2028, knowing how she drinks. . .

Watson attempts to seize his usual morning nap.  Nice try, chump.

Chowing down on Santa's leftovers.  Screw it, it's Christmas.

Pure bliss as the Cannonball receives an Elsa doll (again, from Frozen).  Note Yours Truly still trying to figure out his phone in the background.  I'd be in this pose for the next 72 hours.

Abby's pretty content with Elsa's little sister, Anna.  Thank God. . .

Skyping with Papa and Nana, later on in the day.  We decided to space out extended family Christmases this year, after last year's forced marathon of present-opening, which ultimately proved too much for the kids to absorb (and appreciate.)

Christmas morning mamosas.  A Hough family staple.

Some Razor scooters from Papa and Nana (pink and girly, of course) that they can terrorize the subdivision with. . .

That crazy belt/pouch/caribiner combination Alayna's wearing is a dart/accessory get-up that goes along with her Rebelle Bow.  We're suckers for accessories around here.

Taking a break from Christmas gift-opening to do some reading flash cards.  'Cause that's how teachers roll, folks.

A beautician/hairdresser/stylist (whatever the hell they're called) outfit.

Mommy, gettin' her hair did.

Animal hospital time. . .

I picked up a few sets of finger lights to add to the kids' stockings this year, if only to play around with my camera's low-lighting settings.  Check it out. . .

We had to do this in the girls' bathroom, the darkest room in the house.

I'm tired.  I'm going to bed.

- Brian