Epic Saturday
I have something of a reputation, earned or otherwise, has being a fun master for kids. Forget clowns and donkeys, you want a memorable event and you have kids, I am your man. It is probably one of a very few handful of things that I know I do well. Whether it is the still legendary end of summer pie fights with Jacob and Ian or building lightsabers with the neighborhood kids from parts we all bought at Home Depot (my lightsaber is still assembled and resides at my parents house in Ohio), I seem to have a knack for BIG events.
This weekend was one of the biggest ever. For her birthday, Nanni wanted to have all of the her girls out to tea with her--including Bianca and Erica--which meant that there were three boys five or less without parental supervision. Uncle Dom is on a very special mission in Norway, so it was me, Isaac, Colby, and Myles. As I said, three boys under the age of give without parental supervision. Upon learning of the plan, I enlisted Poppa Dom, who took off work for the event. In the weeks leading up to Epic Saturday I was brainstorming all sorts of ideas: a kid Olympics, a massive Nerf Gun fight, and a super fort. In the end I settled on a Super Fort. During the week I looked up ideas on how to build said super fort and I realized I would need some supplies. I stopped off at Harbor Freight for a few large and cheap drop clothes. I walked away with exactly what I needed for SEVEN bucks. Love Harbor Freight.
The night before I gathered my supplies--a dozen or so woodworking clamps, the drop clothes, and a few telescopic poles from our roof rake. That morning we piled all the supplies and Isaac into Subie and headed down to Rhode Island. When we arrived the boys were waiting outside, ready to go, Colby where a pair of sunglasses that looked like blue tinted goggles--you know, because you need goggles outside on December 1.
The lady folk left in short order and Poppa Dom arrived with a few essentials: chicken salad, a bun, a few pizza strips, and gummy bears. Immediately we all set about the task of building the biggest fort ever--Fortus Maximus. Poppa Dom had a great idea of using rope as the support for the entire structure. We tied one end of the rope to one radiator and one end of the rope to another. In between we had a few chairs to act as tensioners on the rope. On one side of the room was the couch. On the other was a row of dinner table chairs. There were two entrances--a main entrance and a secret back door/escape hatch. We even used the coat rack as a pillar for extra tall portion of the fort. In all we had about two dozen clamps (we borrowed some of Dom's), 30 feet of rope, and six to ten different blankets.
Here is an outside look at the fort:
Here is a shot from inside:
We built the fort for about thirty minutes then we played in and around the fort for another hour. We took lunch in the fort, including Isaac who scarfed down his veggie mix on the offer that we do so in the fort and he could keep playing.
After the fort lost its luster we resorted to an old classic: Button Button, except because I didn't have a button we called it Up the Steps. The premise is simple. Each boy started at the bottom of the steps and would advance up the steps when the correctly guessed which hand the tiny rock was in. I hammed it up a bit, throwing in bonus rounds (right guess equals more than one step advancement), risky rounds (wrong guess equals a loss of steps), singing rounds (where a right guess plus a Christmas carol earned bonus steps), a few name bonuses ("People whose name starts with "M" get two steps if they guess right), and finally the favorite "toot bonus" (you got a step each time you farted; Colby capitalized on his flatulence abilities and took three toot bonus steps). I was stunned as we worked into the second hour of Up the Steps and I used my best announcer voice to amp up the tension. Poppa Dom provided color commentary and helped keep the competitors honest, which, with this group was pretty easy and came down to basically fart verification as a few claims of Silent But Deadlies were refuted. I guess burritos and broccoli would be PEDs. In the end Isaac won a close round the first time and Colby crushed it out of the park the second, beating Isaac and Myles by about six steps. He claimed all three toot bonuses in the second round. The prize for all of this patience and gas passing? A single strand of Twizzler's licorice. That is a lot of entertainment for a very low expenditure.
Once the thrill of up the steps wore off we decided to play with the cars and trucks on Myles and Colby's ramp. We quickly learned that Hess trucks rule, both because of superior wheels and because they weigh a ton. After determining that the Hess truck would roll the farthest, we decided to play demolition derby. Isaac and Colby would stack up some the detritus cars in a pattern and Myles would send the Hess truck smashing into the pile up. Poppa Dom then led chants of "Hess Trucks are the Best Trucks!" which all of the boys sung loudly as the array of beep beeps was arranged again.
Finally after four hours of ruination we took a break for snacks. Poppa Dom made some Ants on a Log for Colby and Myles and Isaac had some grapes and Gold Fish. Poppa Dom had to leave to make a quick dash home and as he was going, unnoticed by everyone, Isaac decided to dress himself to go outside. Eventually Myles and Colby finished their snacks and their young cousin persuaded them to go outside. After booting and coating up everyone, we had just made it out the door when the lady folk returned. Moans and shouts echoed through Barrington as Epic Saturday ended. They were quickly replaced by two of three boys running to their respective mommies and another being happy but playing too cool for school with is Nanni.
All in all it was a truly great day. I am so happy that Nanni got her day with her girls and I got to spend a day playing Mayhem from the insurance commercial with my son and his two cousins. It was also nice to entertain Dom's boys and make sure they had a good time while he was away on his very special mission.
Epic Saturday ROCKS!
This weekend was one of the biggest ever. For her birthday, Nanni wanted to have all of the her girls out to tea with her--including Bianca and Erica--which meant that there were three boys five or less without parental supervision. Uncle Dom is on a very special mission in Norway, so it was me, Isaac, Colby, and Myles. As I said, three boys under the age of give without parental supervision. Upon learning of the plan, I enlisted Poppa Dom, who took off work for the event. In the weeks leading up to Epic Saturday I was brainstorming all sorts of ideas: a kid Olympics, a massive Nerf Gun fight, and a super fort. In the end I settled on a Super Fort. During the week I looked up ideas on how to build said super fort and I realized I would need some supplies. I stopped off at Harbor Freight for a few large and cheap drop clothes. I walked away with exactly what I needed for SEVEN bucks. Love Harbor Freight.
The night before I gathered my supplies--a dozen or so woodworking clamps, the drop clothes, and a few telescopic poles from our roof rake. That morning we piled all the supplies and Isaac into Subie and headed down to Rhode Island. When we arrived the boys were waiting outside, ready to go, Colby where a pair of sunglasses that looked like blue tinted goggles--you know, because you need goggles outside on December 1.
The lady folk left in short order and Poppa Dom arrived with a few essentials: chicken salad, a bun, a few pizza strips, and gummy bears. Immediately we all set about the task of building the biggest fort ever--Fortus Maximus. Poppa Dom had a great idea of using rope as the support for the entire structure. We tied one end of the rope to one radiator and one end of the rope to another. In between we had a few chairs to act as tensioners on the rope. On one side of the room was the couch. On the other was a row of dinner table chairs. There were two entrances--a main entrance and a secret back door/escape hatch. We even used the coat rack as a pillar for extra tall portion of the fort. In all we had about two dozen clamps (we borrowed some of Dom's), 30 feet of rope, and six to ten different blankets.
Here is an outside look at the fort:
We built the fort for about thirty minutes then we played in and around the fort for another hour. We took lunch in the fort, including Isaac who scarfed down his veggie mix on the offer that we do so in the fort and he could keep playing.
After the fort lost its luster we resorted to an old classic: Button Button, except because I didn't have a button we called it Up the Steps. The premise is simple. Each boy started at the bottom of the steps and would advance up the steps when the correctly guessed which hand the tiny rock was in. I hammed it up a bit, throwing in bonus rounds (right guess equals more than one step advancement), risky rounds (wrong guess equals a loss of steps), singing rounds (where a right guess plus a Christmas carol earned bonus steps), a few name bonuses ("People whose name starts with "M" get two steps if they guess right), and finally the favorite "toot bonus" (you got a step each time you farted; Colby capitalized on his flatulence abilities and took three toot bonus steps). I was stunned as we worked into the second hour of Up the Steps and I used my best announcer voice to amp up the tension. Poppa Dom provided color commentary and helped keep the competitors honest, which, with this group was pretty easy and came down to basically fart verification as a few claims of Silent But Deadlies were refuted. I guess burritos and broccoli would be PEDs. In the end Isaac won a close round the first time and Colby crushed it out of the park the second, beating Isaac and Myles by about six steps. He claimed all three toot bonuses in the second round. The prize for all of this patience and gas passing? A single strand of Twizzler's licorice. That is a lot of entertainment for a very low expenditure.
Once the thrill of up the steps wore off we decided to play with the cars and trucks on Myles and Colby's ramp. We quickly learned that Hess trucks rule, both because of superior wheels and because they weigh a ton. After determining that the Hess truck would roll the farthest, we decided to play demolition derby. Isaac and Colby would stack up some the detritus cars in a pattern and Myles would send the Hess truck smashing into the pile up. Poppa Dom then led chants of "Hess Trucks are the Best Trucks!" which all of the boys sung loudly as the array of beep beeps was arranged again.
Finally after four hours of ruination we took a break for snacks. Poppa Dom made some Ants on a Log for Colby and Myles and Isaac had some grapes and Gold Fish. Poppa Dom had to leave to make a quick dash home and as he was going, unnoticed by everyone, Isaac decided to dress himself to go outside. Eventually Myles and Colby finished their snacks and their young cousin persuaded them to go outside. After booting and coating up everyone, we had just made it out the door when the lady folk returned. Moans and shouts echoed through Barrington as Epic Saturday ended. They were quickly replaced by two of three boys running to their respective mommies and another being happy but playing too cool for school with is Nanni.
All in all it was a truly great day. I am so happy that Nanni got her day with her girls and I got to spend a day playing Mayhem from the insurance commercial with my son and his two cousins. It was also nice to entertain Dom's boys and make sure they had a good time while he was away on his very special mission.
Epic Saturday ROCKS!