Beth went to FW with Rachel today to eat sushi and do some shopping, for her birthday present. Meanwhile, I tried to make the kids happy today by taking them to Bremen Bounce. What was I thinking? The kids continually left the play area and came to me to ask for something...candy, drinks, video games, candy, drinks, video games...and for some reason could not play together. Missy kept coming over to me pouting because Alex didn't want to play with her, and Alex did the same because Missy was tattling. Finally the tears came when Alex said he didn't want to play with her and she told him he was the worst brother ever. For the rest of the time (not that long) they just pouted and sat around. I made them go back the the play area and watched as Missy just sat down on the floor, and Alex disappeared (I found him later just standing behind a jumpy thing). At that point since they weren't interested, we were gone.

Beth and I had a date night last night, and for a change our babysitters' parents went out with us. We'd been wanting to go see "The Book of Eli," and so had they, so we went together. We went to the Bones Theater in Columbia City, first time I've ever been there, I think. Anyway, the seats there are better for Dave's back so that's why we went all the way out there. For dinner, since there is no place to eat in Columbia City, we came back and went out to El Arriero. The movie was good, but not as awesome as I'd been hoping. It did kind of make me want to see it again to look for clues. (alex swim & joy jungle - sevyn? sat).

The computer has been unable to connect to the internet for several days now so I am behind and out of touch with everything. Seems we picked up a virus or worm or something else bad, and clearing it from the computer removed or corrupted something else as well. So, even though the laptop upstairs did seem to auto-detect and connect to the wireless router downstairs, it would not display anything. It claimed that it couldn't connect even though it was already. And when I tried to re-install the router software, it claimed to never be able to find the thing. So I was considering emergency brain surgery on the laptop, but someone suggested I try Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. A simple download (to the desktop), file transfer (with a burned CD), and install, and internet works like a charm. So, cancel the brain surgery. And hope that there isn't anything lurking on the laptop.

yep

We got our half a cow Friday. Seems like the cow was bigger this year. So once again, the freezer is crammed full of meat for the next year. Saturday was date night, first of 2010. Beth and I went out to see "Up in the Air" which was good, but not really earning the incredible raves I've been hearing. Today we all went to the mall in Fort Wayne, hit the B&N and the Disney Store, bought some pants, let the kids ride the carousel. Alex also tried out the super jumping thing, where you're strapped onto big rubber bands and bounce on a trampoline kind of thing. He didn't quite get the technique, but he seemed to enjoy it a lot. Bouncing is the thing of the weekend because Saturday morning we took the kids to Toni's daughter's birthday party at a neat place called Bremen Bounce; it's a formerly empty warehouse building where someone has put up a bunch of the inflatable bouncy-jumpy things for kids. It's noisy as heck inside but cool. The kids had a great time, too, except Missy didn't have much of anyone to play with, and the kids begged for candy or pop or video games pretty much from the time we got there. But there was cake and ice cream so it was all good.

Once again, the holidays officially end and I have to go back to work tomorrow. We've had a good vacation though. The past few days has been spent trying to readjust to Indiana time. Its only 2 hours different from Arizona, but I'm not going back to normal quickly this time. Don't know why. Anyway, Beth and the kids and I spent the week between Christmas eve and New Year's eve in the Phoenix area visiting with my parents. Laura, Thomas and Ben were also there. I worked through Wednesday the 23rd, at which time I took off from work at about noon and we took off for Indy, a day before the flight in order to beat the impending ice storm, and got a park-n-fly deal at a brand new hotel near the airport. Staying overnight and leaving the car there was actually cheaper than long term parking at the airport, and it allowed us to let the kids swim in the evening and get a leisurely morning shuttle to the airport rather than dashing if we'd come down on the day of the flight. The 24th was a light travel day and it was a breeze. We had the portable DVD player on the plane that we bought on the drive down when we discovered that the old player battery would not hold a charge anymore. We got the kids to bed and set out the Santa presents ready for Christmas morning (the kids understood that Santa was coming as scheduled, but the rest of the presents would wait for Auntie Laura and Uncle Thomas to get there). Santa brought Missy a Lego zoo and a stuffed pink reindeer, and Alex got a Lego truck and helicopter set and Elf Bowling software. On the 26th, we all went out to a little kiddie amusement park somewhere in town (which was expensive but fun) that had a parachute ride and teacups and red baron planes...basically a bit better rides than a fair. There was a bumper boats ride that Missy could ride but Alex was too big, which crushed him. But he eventually recovered. Joe's for dinner. Laura, Thomas & Ben arrived late in the evening, so the 27th was the rest of Christmas for everyone. Alex got more Legos, clothes, a Trouble board game, a bunch of books, a big remote control monster truck, Uno Attack, and a few other things. Missy got a stuffed Kevin the Snipe from "Up" as well as all the character figurines, a Lego horse ranch, clothes, a couple of Webkinz, and a few other things. I got a little video camera, Beth got a couple of glasses and a gift card for clothes. Later on Dad took Beth and the kids and I on a hike up Pinnacle Peak Park while Thomas and Ben climbed Granite Mountain, and Laura stayed home to watch the Steelers. More on this later. On the 28th, the our kids stayed at home with Gramma and Grampa and the other grownups (& Ben) went to town to visit a couple stores and go see "Avatar" which I've heard described accurately as "Dances with Ewoks." Mom & Dad brought the kids to us to go out to dinner all together after the movie. On the 29th we all went out to visit Southwest Wildlife in the morning, and all except Mom & Dad went out to Zoolights in the evening. The show was cool but not new, although Missy and Alex found the talking giraffe (which Missy has been talking about for two years) and they talked to it for quite a while. We all agreed that we don't need to go see it again next time. On the 30th Dad and I went out geocaching in the morning, to find the puzzle cache in the desert that I could not solve last time (I solved it a month ago or so). The location, at a rock outcropping with a large balanced rock, is one of my favorite caches ever. Later on Beth and I went out to see "Sherlock Holmes" while everyone else went to see "The Princess and the Frog." Each day following the kids going to bed, there was a lot of Apples to Apples and Wizard played. The 31st was a travel day, better than we thought at PHX what with the incident in Detroit this week, but security was no problem. We got back late Thursday and have been taking it easy ever since. I'm still not readjusted to the time. Now, about Laura and the Steelers. Yes, she won the fantasy football super bowl in Thomas' league, in her first year ever, and first year ever to care about football. She has turned into a Steelers homer, even referring to them as "we" when speaking about them. She's never cared for it before, but one season of having a stake in the outcome (via fantasy) and living in proximity to a winning team has turned her over to the good side. I myself failed to make the playoffs in that league, having lost both running backs to injury weeks ago. In my church league, I lost a playoff game after dominating the regular season when my team collectively took the week off.