Hell on Wheels

Happy Memorial Day, Internet.

That guy in front - armed with a mere handgun and a pair of khaki shorts - is a bonafide badass.

Somewhat relieved this happened 60 years before I was born. . . 

All joking aside (seriously), I'd like to spend a sentence or two commemorating all those who fought and died for our country, whether it be for independence (the Revolution), unity (the Civil War), asserting our sovereignty in our own backyard (1812, Mexican/American and Spanish/American Wars) helping out our buddies (WWI), stopping evil from taking over the world (WWII), or sticking our nose where it doesn't belong for political or financial gain (everything since.)

A couple thugs from my grandmother's side. . .

Fortunately, the Houghs have been lucky enough to have never lost a family member in war (all my grandfathers and their fathers and their fathers before them have a tendency of coming home sans coffin), so really this is for all of those who were less fortunate.

Anyway, we tend to fall in with the majority of Americans who view Memorial Day as a three-day weekend, and little more.  It's not intentional, of course, it's just the end of the school year, and our lives are hectic these days (what with the move to Michigan and all.)  This weekend, as it were, we were up to the hilt in puking children - first Abby, then Alayna - firing projectiles out of both ends.

Not awesome.

While Kris focused on tending to our sickly offspring, Yours Truly spent the majority of my extended weekend attending to various nerdy side projects (finessing iTunes playlists and syncing my iPod, cleaning up my iPhoto library, backing up all media onto DVDs. . . you know, man stuff) and packing, packing, packing.

After a day or two of sitting off to the sidelines, watching her family pack boxes and tend a sickly sibling, Abby developed some serious cabin-fever.  Consequently, Kris and I deemed it an appropriate time to try our hand at that age-old parenting right-of-passage:

The eradication of training wheels.

We didn't expect Abby to learn how to ride a bike in a day, but, honestly, that's exactly what happened.

One down, one to go.

- Brian

Abby Turns Five

Alright, so yesterday was officially Abby's 5th Birthday. . . but we didn't really celebrate it.

Not that we're jerks or crappy parents or anything (though that might be contendable in a few areas) - nay, readers, we didn't celebrate Abby's birthday yesterday because she was firing out of both ends.

Seriously.

Abby caught some kind of uber-flu on Monday - who knows how or from where, but sources indicate she had kissed some boy in her classroom on the mouth, so I'm assuming she contracted a nasty bout of cooties.

Ew,

Anyway, she got sick Monday afternoon, so Kris had to leave work early.  She also had to take off Tuesday and Wednesday (thank God she had a pool of sick days left to burn through.)  Things were looking up on Thursday, so Kris took the girls back to school and the day passed by pretty uneventful - Abby even got to take in some cupcakes Kris made and celebrate her birthday with her class (see pics below.)  In fact, it had passed by so uneventful that we decided to go out to eat for Abby's birthday Thursday evening before doing the whole cake/Skyping/presents thing with grandparents.

Let's see what happens. . .

The Gossip Table

No idea

Snack time (we let Abby take the crown into school, to wear while her class sings her 'Happy Birthday,' but it looks like she just wore the damn thing all day.)

Alayna stopped by after she got out of school to celebrate her sister's birthday (she attends an after-school program in the room through that glass door above.)

I'm so sick of that dog pose. . .

The blonde kid on the end (who's British, believe it or not) was apparently Abby's "boyfriend" for awhile.  That probably means they shared plastic dinosaurs or something. 

Once I got out of work, I met up with Kris and the girls at Applebee's to celebrate Abby's birthday.  Trouble started shortly after ordering the kids' food, though - Kris had to take Abby to the bathroom two or three times (related to both ends, take your pick), and by the time we got around to ordering our food, Abby was complaining of her stomach.

Shortly after getting her order, Abby asked to go home.

The Cannonball and I would stay behind at the restaurant and finish our meals, while Kris took Abby back to the house.

The silver lining to all of this terribleness is the two-for-one drinks.  Restaurant drama be damned - nothing two pints can't handle.

Kris waited until she got her food before boxing it all up and taking it back to the house.

Hanging out, enjoying the elbow room.

Our waitress (can I still call them 'waitress'?) must have felt bad for us, because she gave Alayna a free sundae, which was really cool of her (don't worry - I tipped her extremely well.)

While Alayna and I finished our meals, Kris allowed Abby to open up a couple of her presents (namely, the ones from Dad and Cindy). . .

She'd been asking for this Elsa doll for over a month, after seeing it in a local K-Mart down in Kissimmee, so we suggested Dad and Cindy pick that up for her. . .

Without a doubt, the most popular gift of the day.

(I can see this doll turning into one, giant slimy mess after a few months of use.)

When the Cannonball and I got back to the house, we got Mom on Skype and let Abby open up her present from Mom and John

Couple books. . .

. . . and a bike.  We let Mom and John buy it and store it up in Midland, since we figured it'd be one more thing to pack and move.  Alas, it was kinda hard for Abby to comprehend that she got a bike for her birthday, even with Mom showing it to her via Skype.

This is what the bike really looks like - we found it at a Toys R Us down here a week or two ago, and they happened to carry it up in Mom's neck of the woods as well.  Abby actually picked it out, which we were totally cool with as we didn't want to go overboard with a mere 16" bike (she'll be out-growing it after a year or two anyway,) 

We bought her a helmet to match.  Ridiculously tacky and pink, of course (which always goes over well - when all else fails, smother it in pink and throw on the jewels.)

Another figure for their Disney Infinity system. . .

More playsets of figures (this one featuring the Sleeping Beauty characters - Aurora, Maleficent, Phillip, etc.) 

Showing Papa John some of her plunder

Unfortunately for Abby, she wouldn't be blowing out her candles on her actual birthday, as she was too sick and in no mood to do so.  Instead, we waited until the following day, when she felt a little better (though not until after I had to leave work early in order to come home and take care of her so Kris could go into work.)  Abby wanted a Winter (Dolphin Tale, remember?) cake, and we found a cake pan of Amazon for the shape.  When Kris asked her which frosting pattern she wanted - smooth or textured, like you see here, Abby wanted it textured.  So there you have it - a furry dolphin with a prosthetic tail.

Happy Day-After-Your-Birthday, Abby.

Hope she's not wishing for more Flu. . .

When asked what part of her dolphin cake she wanted, Abby requested Winter's prosthetic tail.  Of course.

. . . and knowing Alayna's crass sense of humor, she quite fittingly requested Winter's head.

SUGAR

Daddy's Coffee.  Makes everything better.

Happy Bizarro Birthday, Abby - hopefully your 6th Birthday goes a little smoother. . .

- Brian