Slow Motion Cannon Ball
He prefaced this by telling everyone he had an important announcement. He had just been given horrific news and then he screamed "cannon ball". Not sure where he gets it from. from Vimeo http://ift.tt/1JVru34 via IFTTT
Compound Camping
I'm sure that Compound Camping has an official start date, perhaps August of 2005 at Interlochen (not that I'm keeping track) but for me I'd have to say that Compound Camping probably started in the summers of '99, '00, '01 and maybe even '02. By '03 friends started getting married and things started to fall apart. I mean get better. For four summers in the late 90's and early 00's I remember hanging out with friends at the lake, getting eaten alive by mosquitos by the fire and then watching the NBA finals or playing Mario 3 until we almost beat it.
In 2005 we started camping as couples or at least as the men and the ladies. I remember trips tenting with the boys, tenting with the wife, back with the boys, up to the camper with the wife and daughter, and then that blasted stork kept knocking on our collective doos with more bundles of joy until finally, in 2015 we managed to get together for another round of Compound Camping.
If I were worth half my weight as a writer I probably would have told you what Compound Camping is. I have three good friends from high school... I'll call them Ryan, Scott, and Kevin. Somehow we all managed to find ladies worthy of much better to marry us and we joke about buying land and creating a "compound" made of our four families. Since none of us have managed to strike it super rich we settle for camping and parties at each other's homes. Tonight we are gathered around the fire at Triponds for night one of threatening our children with pain and suffering if they don't go to sleep... I mean fun family camping :).
That's about all I have tonight. Here are two additional pictures of the night. Tomorrow I might actally get pictures of the people who are in the compound group. For now I need my sleeping pills. Buenos noches, nachos, and hasta la vida loca.
If nothing else, I've managed to teach her how to use monkey bars appropriately.
Born in 1989 this camper has probably done and seen more in 25 years than you. You could change that you know, give yourself the gift that keeps giving and put this camper behind your vehicle. Seriously it is for sale and the price goes up as more memories are made.
Things Guys Do
I've been to the ballet enough times that I might need two hands to count, although if I just used one hand and counted the hand as one and the fingers as five additional I think I might be covered. That's a long winded way to say I don't get to the ballet that often. Yet, last night that is exactly what I did and I was good at it too see.
As I sat there feeding my daughter one piece of pre-packed candy (saves $, thanks Kristi) per dance I realized that (sadly?) the only reason I was there was to impress a girl. My daughter... and maybe my wife. I can also say with quite certainty that the last time I went to a ballet was also to impress a girl, as was the time before that. The other times I'm sure I was simply too young to have a choice and was forced to go under the authoritarian guise of "culture".
So let us compare two ballets. One attended by 18 year old Steve and his date, and one by older Steve and his date.
- Did both dress to impress? Yes. (sorry no photo of 18 year old Steve)
- Did both open doors and car doors through the duration of the evening? Yes.
- Did both do a good job of pretending to like the ballet to impress his date? Yes.
If I can be so bold, I'd like to say I was probably an excellent dates on both occasions. I had to chuckle at my realization that I was really only there because I thought it would impress my date... but then I saw the look on my 2nd date's face, my daughter. She was thrilled to see dancers on stage, listening to the music while watching the movements, dancing and singing on her own in her chair. She was thrilled. I was thrilled to see her enjoying it so much. After the ballet, as a good date would, I took my princess out for hot cocoa. Then it was back to the house for bed. Hopefully older Steve showed his little girl what a loving father should, and I hope when some daring young man comes to my front porch he treats her the same way. Unless he shows up in a red sports car with a soft top, pierced ears, tattoos, a hair cut worthy of Edward Scissor hands and jeans with holes in them (ESPECIALLY if he bought them that way). Then he'll just have to speak with my friend Easton and try again when he cleans up.