Geek Alert

So who knew we were a family of sci-fi convention going nerds? If you were about to answer, "I did!" well, you can kindly shut it. But the fact remains, we are. We packed up last week and headed to the big city to attend Star Wars Fan Days III. Yee haw! What an experience....I really wish we could've taken video of the entire con because there really are no words to explain it. Firstly, we were greeted at the door by what appeared to be a die hard Trekkie, complete with her Star Fleet uniform and plastic Vulcan ears. Now, for those of you that don't know your Star Wars, let me clue you in. It's not the same as Star Trek and the two generally don't mix. I kept waiting for someone to shank her.

So when we finally get through the registration line and into the place, we find that we really are in a galaxy far far away. Everyone in sight is either wearing a Star Wars t-shirt, carrying a play light saber or blaster, or dressed in full costume. I may have even heard two guys having a conversation in Shyriiwook (the language of the Wookies), but as I'm not personally fluent, I can't be sure.

Speaking of costumed convention goers, here's a pic of me in my Slave Leia costume.

Just kidding. Not that I needed to tell you that. And just for the record, Matt was the one who saw it necessary to snap this pic whilst I was desperately trying to divert the younglings' attention to a more appropriately dressed Storm Trooper. I'm not sure if cute little Leia was wearing anything under the skirt-like thingamabob but most of her posterior was visible every time she took a step. Yeesh.

Now we really did find a Storm Trooper. LOTS of troopers actually.

AND a real live R2D2...This little fella was not a prop. He really moved, spun, and talked.

Here's a random shot of the big kid exhibiting his fascination with the dark side (he requested we take this pic).

Don't ask me why there was a Freddy Kruger mannequin at the Star Wars con. He must've snuck in with the Trekkie.

Here he's posing with another strange character. We're not sure who this guy was supposed to be. Mandalorian Jedi? It's a mystery. He let J hold his uber-cool light saber though so he couldn't be all bad.

One of the activities available was a costume contest.

I don't know who this little guy was but isn't that an amazing costume?!! The homemade ones are by far the best in my opinion. I talked with this droid's parents and they told me he didn't win. Seriously? He was clearly 1st prize material. The parents told me, however, that the winner of the adult contest gave his prize (a several hundred dollar SW toy) to the boy because he also thought the kid was robbed.

Whew! This is getting long. Cut to the short story (too late). This next pic is for my mom because describing an Elvis Storm Trooper is just darn near impossible.

Here's a random pic of me because I deserve to show up in pics too darnit.

Here's a shot of some geeks, er, fans, getting a light saber lesson.

Future geeks honing their battle skills...

Matt taking in a live Podcast and talking with one of the ForceCast guys, respectively.

And finally, the cast (voice talent) of the animated series The Clone Wars was there! This was a big deal. The Clone Wars is the most current Star Wars production and the boys are ALL about watching the new episodes every Friday night. We got to meet them all and get their autographs and even snap pics with a few.

Here's Matt with the girl that voices Asajj Ventress...

Matt and the boys with Tom Kane who voices the narration beginning each episode, Yoda, and Admiral Yularen.

This is the guy who voices Anakin Skywalker....cute yes?

At the end of the second day the cast did a reading of an impromptu script. SO cool. This was easily my most favorite part of the con.

Not a great pic, but you get the idea.

After the reading we were getting ready to head out when Matt spotted the Clone Wars director Dave Filoni who was kind enough to let me snap a quick pic.

Matt was so excited I though he was going to try and kiss the guy. I think the matching beards and lanyards are cute. I'm gonna get Matt a hat like Dave's for Christmas. That way his costume for next year will be complete.

Now to outfit the rest of us...

Gourd Day To You

Okay. So is it really a pumpkin patch when it's just a truckload of pumpkins offloaded into the Presbyterian church yard? I suppose not. But the boys didn't seem to notice the lack of authenticity. They were thrilled to get to pull the wagon through the yard and hunt down every species of gourd available. They were especially enthralled with the pumpkins that had bumpy growths. Boys.

They also spent almost as much time begging to use the camera as they did hunting pumpkins. Grant took this one...

Not bad for a 4 year old! And no, Jaden is NOT throwing some evil Hook 'em Horns hand signs. He's the Aggie child, remember? See the post below this one if you have no idea what I'm talking about. This is what he calls his 'rock on' hand sign.

I LOVE the itty bitty pumpkins. They are just so darn cute!

So, have you noticed anything about J in these pics so far? He's not only sitting still for pics, looking at the camera, and being generally cooperative, he's actually SMILING in most! This is a BIG deal!! For the last 3 years this child has spent an inordinate amount of time running from the camera and perfecting his blank expression that covers the pages in my most recent scrapbooks.

And now, I'll leave you with a giggle...

Happy Fall!

Divorce

So, for Halloween this year my children have decided to dress up as traitors.



Matt's probably drawing up the divorce papers as I type after what he deems my "grievous lapse in judgement" in purchasing such offending costumes.



But aren't they just adorable?!

Fairaphobia

Once upon a time, the fair was a magical place....a wonderland of riotous color and light, scented with the pinks of cotton candy and the browns of all things fried. The rides were flashy, filthy, and terrifying. Even my mom and dad would occasionally get sucked in and climb into some ridiculous ride with me. My mom once rode the Super Loop with me...remember that one? Around and around and around. Then backwards. Then they'd stop you at the top so you dangled upside-down for a while. To this day she swears the carnie let the ride go an extra 5 minutes because he thought it was funny that a 'mom' was brave enough to ride! We did get a curiously long turn... My dad once got on a roller-coaster with me in California...but that's a story best left for another time.

Anyway, my point is that the fair was once a fun and much anticipated event. WAS, that is, up until the Great Puking Incident of 1988 anyway. And no, it wasn't ME who puked. Remember the Zipper? At least that was what it was called in the '80s...the ride that works on the same orbital principle as your mix-master where it revolves (vertically) like a ferris-wheel but your individual cage spins also. So, imagine you're a young teenager, your parents have trusted you to go to the fair without them, you're feeling giddy and free and you've just hopped onto the first ride of the night. The Zipper. They load and off-load much like the ferris-wheel, one car at a time, so all the people above you may or may not have just spent the last 3 minutes spinning madly about and churning up all the fantastic fair food so recently consumed. You get the idea, right? BLAT! It splattered all down my left side, in my hair, the works.

Magical fair mystique...GONE. Kaputz. Finito.

So thank goodness for offspring...those enchanting little creatures that force us to see the world anew, through unbiased eyes, free from the knowledge that those rides get torn down and reassembled approximately every 10 days. The boys were so ridiculously ecstatic about going to the fair this year that I couldn't help but catch a little of their mania. We were very nearly thwarted by the dreaded H1N1 but managed to get there on Friday before they packed up and set off for another eager town.

We started our evening viewing the natural world. Grant loved holding the baby ducks and chicks. He didn't want to leave to do anything else.

Um, pardon the tacky bra strap. I could Photoshop that out but frankly, I'm tired and I don't think I care that much.

The rides were next on the agenda. Only 3 rides for each boy, however, because it is STUPID expensive! $3 per ride is worth it though when it gets a smile out of your big kid (especially when the big kid has a no-smiling policy).

The boys LOVED the Super Slide. I still can't believe they both agreed to do it. Grant's so small that he went a little airborne coming over that second hump!

We didn't actually ride the ferris-wheel. That would've cost our little family another $16. Extortion. Yeesh.

Next the boys wanted to play all the games and win all the fabulous prizes.

The 4-year old throwing darts...watch out!

And this year we got so much more than just 3 darts for $5. Yes! Our children were blessed to be schooled in the ways of the mannerly by the toothless and tattooed carnies of the midway. After the boys would play, they would be asked, "What do you say to your parents for buying you that game?" One carnie lady even made sure to check that it was okay that she give Jaden the toy gun prize he chose because, "Some parents are uncomfortable with guns you know." Well, who knew the fair was so dog-gone classy?!

On the way out, we stopped to make one final purchase of cotton candy, churros, and light sabers (because the 27 sabers we already have at home are just plain insufficient).

So maybe I'm a fan of the fair once again. Everybody walked on their own, nobody whined, there were no meltdowns when it was time to leave, and best of all, I didn't get puked on.

Life is Good

I don't care who you are...that's just cute.