The weekend

[yendi]

So, Friday consisted of attempting to take Elayna to Karate, only to find that they cancelled the Friday classes. I love the dojo, but they don't exactly run it like a business.

Friday night consisted of Firefly, which was much fun. The show's not at the Buffy level, but I have to keep reminding myself that neither was Buffy, a few episodes in. I also finished The Amber Spyglass that night. What a fucking amazing series. I want to rave about the ending, and the messages of the book, for hours. But others have already done so. If you don't have the series, buy it.

I started Dave Barry's Tricky Business as my next book. I needed something a bit less deep. And Barry's talents have come a long way since Big Trouble -- all that time hanging with Hiassen is clearly paying off. I hope, for his sake, that they get someone other than Tim Allen to star in the movie adaptation of this one.

Saturday consisted of a more successful trip to Karate, followed by Elayna attempting to clean her room. With much cajoling, threats, bribery attempts. and whatever else it took. Eventually , she managed to get it respectable. Just in time for the sleepover at her Dojo. We walked her over there, and there were three bouncehouses set up (including a maze), so she was instantly happy and forgot all about us.

We decided not to see the Spooky Puppet Show that night, as it was more expensive than expected, and we're near-broke. So we hit a movie instead, and caught Knockaround Guys. Which was stunningly okay. It really should have been a good movie. I would not be surprised if the original script called for a good movie. But the movie that was released spent the first half trying to be Made, and the second trying to be Goodfellas, and it just didn't mesh well. A waste of some good performances, alas.

We then headed to Javamonkey, where much chai and caffeine was imbibed. Followed by home, and bed. Thanks to Ben Franklin's innovation, we caught the extra hour of sleep we lost last April.

Sunday, we picked up Miss Kid from the sleepover. Turns out there were nearly thirty kids this time -- the previous ones had ranged from four to fifteen. So this was a success. Elayna was a judge in the costume contest, and was given a ghoulish fake makeup kit as her prize. She had a blast. She also had the biggest breakfast I'd ever heard of her eating -- cereal (Booberry!), a banana, blueberry mini-muffins, a doughnut, and grapes. And good news! She likes green grapes again! Our shopping options have expanded!

We spent the next few hours getting Elayna to do her Mopey Fashion Show. Basically, we have to get her to try on Winter clothes every fall to see what'll fit (and summer ones every Spring), and she hates doing it. A lot. So she pouts the entire time, which is adorable, but the pout doesn't exactly go with the clothes. :-) Anyway, most stuff fit, and we now have her closet stuffed with winter clothes instead of summer ones.

We then went to Maddie's birthday party, at rloveking and voltbang's, and it was a blast. We met a bunch of LJers whose names I don't remember, but who were all nice. There were a few Mundanes there as well. Maddie was adorable, as always, and handled the crowds with as much grace as any one-year-old could. We watched Tarzan, had lots of fun, and, before things were over, elorie showed up, complete with Raven, which just made Elayna's day. They always have a blast together, and spent much time playing Tony Hawk. There was much non-diet food, which I pigged out on (pizza, cake, etc). Overall, a great first birthday.

And that was pretty much it. Came home, Elayna watched The Emperor's New Groove and had dinner, and then (after she was in bed) we watched last Sunday's Gilmore Girls rerun and this week's Scrubs. shadesong then went to bed, and I hit Diablo 2:LOD for a bit, having my Barbarian finish off the next-to-last quest of Act IV tonight. I decided I didn't have the patience to deal with Diablo himself tonight, so that was it.

I was checking email, and realized I was starving, as I hadn't eaten anything since the party. Since I'd way pigged out, I didn't want to overdo it. But I needed something in my stomach before bed so I made some fat-free banana pudding, inspired by the Gilmore Girls rerun. :-)

And now it's bedtime, because I'm already assured of less than six hours of sleep tonight.

Comments

[rollick.livejournal.com]

Bouncehouses?

[yendi]

Giant inflatable play areas that kids love. See http://kidsliketoparty.com/BounceHouses.html and http://www.bouncearound.com/newsite/rentals/gallery.shtml for some examples.

[rollick.livejournal.com]

Oh, those things! Back in my day, sonny, we didn't have no fancy-schmancy bouncehouses that looked like cars and castles and dragons. We had one kind, and it was made of industrial rubber, and smelled like it, and we liked it! And there was no air inside, and you had more fun because you were hallucinating after 30 seconds, and we liked it!

I'd just never heard that term for them before.

[yendi]

To be honest, I never knew what they were called, but the prevailing sentiment around here is that they are bouncehouses or moonwalks.

Come to think of it, I can't recall ever going on one as a kid. Maybe the rubber fumes burnt out my memory.

[rollick.livejournal.com]

Now that I think about it, there was one at our elementary school's fund-raising fair every year, and there was always a sign in front of it that said "Moon Walk," but I always thought of that as the experience, not the big blow-up thing itself.

It WAS kind of like moon walking. You bounced with every step, and you felt like your weight was unpredictable. You could jump really high, and it was impossible to hurt yourself falling down unless you bumped into someone else. But it was always suffocating in those things, and it smelled like stale rubber.

I think "bouncehouses" is as good a name as any. I bet they have better air circulation now.