Going off the rails

I got B1 a Skyrail marble run set back in Christmas of 2009, which he enjoyed for awhile, but hasn't played with for a long time. Anyway, he started playing with it again over the weekend, and it's cute, especially since B2 is now old enough to be able to play with it, too. So, they're busy crafting their own marble runs, and I hear B2 saying "Okay, let's test it!" Loving that. They had me make them a loop in the rail, and have crafted a track that lets it work. It's nice to see them working together, instead of the usual brotherly scrapping! And I just enjoy seeing new life for the toy, and how much fun they're having with it, launching marbles and ball bearings down their tracks. B1 also made one into a ring and had marbles going down both sides, said "Look, it's a supercollider!" I loved that!

Lego, man!

What people do with Legos cracks me up...

Leggo, Lego!

Lego's Minifigures are super-cute, but it's such a ripoff. I like this one...

The license plate is a nice touch. And this one is great, too, and comes with two additional mime heads, with different expressions, like a happy mime head, sad mime head, frantic mime head...

They're great, but Lego's got them way, way overpriced, the Danish bastards! So, I won't be getting any anytime soon, but they are cute.

Monkeyboy

Alright, so I'm watching "Monkey Shines" tonight, and I'm reminded of the trailer for it...

Monkey Shines Trailer

Which masterfully chooses that cymbal-banging chimp as an image for it....

Who in their right mind ever thought those were fun? Was it some wicked toymaker who crafted them? Was it simply the novelty of the automaton ape banging the cymbals that sold it? Or were kids so fun-starved back then that they'd take any toy, even one as creepy as this. I remember a cousin having one of those, and he skinned it, which made it look even creepier. But seriously, who would give that to their kid?

"Here ya go, Scout!" (tousles hair) "Have FUN! Daddy's going out drinking tonight!"

Kid sits in room, gazing in terror at the cymbal chimp...

Jolly Chimp

Bubblelicious

This morning had me shooting bubbles out the window with B2, using a couple of trippy bubbleguns the boys had gotten from their relatives. They're awesome -- they have flashing LEDs on them, and shoot a wonderful stream of bubbles. I wanted to unleash them on club kids last night -- it's like an Instant Rave. Good times! But B2 and I managed to nearly fill the cul-de-sac behind our building with a barrage of bubbles. The wind was carrying them everywhere, but we managed good coverage. Fun!

Upchuck Truck

I get parent points for last night, for quick thinking while on Emergency Puke Patrol. B1 was a little pukey last night from what I think is the flu (the real flu, mind you, not "stomach flu"). All the coughing I think makes his tummy sensitive. Anyway, he's on the top bunk, and I'm on the bottom bunk, and I'm hearing him coughing (I'd given him cough medicine earlier, but it hadn't kicked in, yet), and I hear him kind of gag, and I'm like "Are you gonna puke, Buddy?" and he's like "Yeah." But I can tell that he's not gonna make it down the bunk in time to reach the bathroom (and Exene's in there showering, anyway), so I snag a plastic dump truck that's in reach and I hand it up in time for B1 to hurl in it. He fills it up nicely, and I'm like "Whew." (because I know B1 would likely just lean over the side and puke over it in a pinch). So, I tell him "Hold the truck; keep it level and steady." and then I ran and got some paper towels and a mixing bowl and he swabbed his face with the towels and I swapped out the dump truck for a mixing bowl. Then I cleaned out the dump truck in the kitchen sink, grateful that the truck had a solid bed in the back, therefore leakproof. Whew! I cleaned it out and sterilized it and left it on the kitchen floor.

The next morning, B2 came in and said "Heyyy, what's my dump truck doing in here?" and I said "Oh, I think the pixies must've taken it for a spin." and He looked around suspiciously, said "Pixies?"

I do feel like writing the company and thanking them for the quality toy dump truck, which proved very good at handling the pukeload of an 8-year-old.

Unimog

This is a glimpse of my desk. I have this little Matchbox Mercedes-Benz Unimog truck there. I love the Unimog. It's just very cute. I first saw one at a Target, bought it for B2. He played with it awhile, then lost it (I think it was on his stroller, tumbled away at some point). I was saddened by the loss of the Unimog, and bought myself one (pictured, above). I stumbled across two of them at a Target in Northlake last weekend, and bought both, gave them to my boys. There is something very agreeable about the squat shape of the little trucks. And I love the all black tires, instead of the black-and-silver which is a toy car staple. And I love that the little bed in the back can be put to work.

In my case, I put a Flamingo Casino dice in there. Each morning, I roll the dice, and put that number in the bed of the Unimog. No rhyme or reason to it, just chance.

The number today is 2, incidentally. I'll include the number at the bottom of any post henceforth on this blog. It'll be right at the bottom of the post. That's my number of the day. Of course, only 1-6 will be represented, but that's alright, isn't it?

2