Happy National Dog Day!

The picture Charlotte chose for Girl Scouts:

Ellie and Earl:

The girls:

Sounds too familiar:

Might be a good day to give someone an extra treat... Char gave Ellie a "Puppuccino" from Starbucks. It was well received. 

 Don't forget to use your "puppy voice!"

Iowa State Fair: 2021 Edition

Of all the Iowa State Fair commericals on TV, I like this one the best ------> Link

My reason is at the 20 second mark:

There aren't any pictures of the 2020 Iowa State Fair because it was cancelled. The ISF sent out a call for people to submit their favorite fair photos from past fairs as a way to get promotional material. That picture of Char eating a Fair Square is from 2014, and she is almost five years old. We received some free fair tickets because her picture was chosen.

Not going to the fair wasn't an option. We did set some rules for ourselves to be as safe as we could: 

1) We'd only attend one day.

2) We'd wear masks indoors and in long lines.

3) We'd bring water to drink and water to spray. 

4) We'd go on opening day when it was forecasted to incredibly hot and humid in hopes that we'd miss the huge crowds.

Our day started out at the Center Street Park and Ride. The buses started rolling at 8:30, and we were first in line for the first bus. 

The bus filled up pretty quickly, and the fairgrounds were very busy when we arrived at 9:00 am. 

Char couldn't get poffertjes from the Breakfast Delights stand at the Downtown Farmers' Market because they didn't return for the 2021 season. Luckily, the Wooden Shoe at the fair sells poffertjes, and they are made by the same gentleman who makes them at the famers' market. 

They were exactly the way Char remebered, "YES! These are sooo good!" 

Grabbing a free egg-on-a-stick from the Iowa Egg Council is a tradition.

So is cotton candy. The stand that Char really liked in 2019 didn't return, though. This is a bit of a cotton mess made by a first-time employee. It still tasted like melted sugar, though.

The Big Slide moved locations, but it was as fun as always.

We stopped by the Turkey Federation's Grill for a couple of turkey sandwiches. You can see that Char couldn't muster up much of a smile. That's not the turkey's fault. It was noon, and we were baking in the heat. The heat index was nearing 100 degrees. Sitting under a tent with no air flow did not help us any.

The Exhibition Center is air-conditioned, so we watched an indoor horse competition while we tried to cool down. Our masks must have been working well. We had no idea how strong the manure smell was until we lowered the masks to drink our water. We then crossed the street to walk around the newly renovated 4H building which also had AC.  

We were feeling better, so we stopped by Iowa Craft Beer tent. The tent had been relocated it to the west side of the fairgrounds. The space was much more open and comfortable. There were also some really nice breezes blowing through. Daphne and I shared a couple of brews, and Char had milk and cookies. 

I thought the beer tent was going to be our last stop, but I got my appetite back. I asked Daphne if she'd share a Gizmo with me. Her end has the banana peppers.

We sat on a shaded bench near the Bill Riley Stage to eat. It was weird. That area is usually full of people, but it was like a ghost town. Both Daphne and I wondered if there had been some kind of storm warning that we had missed. We checked our phones, but didn't see anything. Maybe 4:00 pm is low tide?

Char was a little disappointed that she didn't get a PB&J-on-a-stick at the fair. So, Mom made her one for dinner.

We didn't go home hungry, but this was the first time we didn't eat anything fried. No corndogs, cheese curds, or Grater Taters were consumed. I also didn't take many pictures. I think it was just to too hot. The heat index had reached 104 degrees when we got back to our car at 4:30 pm. We were all ready to go home.

Our plan to avoid the biggest crowds did work. The Day 2 attendance was 26,477 more people than on Day 1.

This wasn't exactly the Fair 2021 experience that I was hoping for, but it was a whole lot better than no fair at all.

Here Comes Middle School!

I suprised Charlotte with a "The Cheat" t-shirt for a back-to-school gift. She had outgrown her last The Cheat shirt, but wanted another. Hard to believe I had to order this one in a "women's" size. 

Showing off her new middel school backpack.

Daphne now has chauffeur duties. I pulled up behind them on the way to school, but they were too deep into a conversation to notice me. 

I might have been slightly jealous...

Our Dam Vacation: Las Vegas

Daphne and I haven't been to Las Vegas in over a decade, and we both agreed that the city seemed cleaner. I was pleased to see that the guys standing on every corner handing out "adult advertising" were all but gone. They have been replaced with guys in superhero costumes and women dressed up like chorus girls asking for a $20 tip when you take a picture with them. The scantingly-dressed cocktail waitresses handing out free drinks to players were also gone. The casinos we walked through were much quieter, and families walking around with young kids were not out of the ordinary. 

We chose to stay at the MGM hotel because their pool area has a lazy river. We could also get two beds instead of only one. We didn't know it at the time, but the MGM is the largest hotel in Vegas. That might explain why the check-in on Sunday afternoon was such a zoo. The lines were longer than anything we saw at the airports. Daphne skipped the hour wait by using the unweildly MGM app to print room keys at a kiosk... she's my hero. 

We researched family-friendly shows and chose to see the magician Shim Lim on Sunday night. We had watched Shim Lim win America's Got Talent (twice) and fool Penn and Teller (twice) on TV, so we were excited to see him in person. 

You can't take pics during the performance. But here's our view of the stage. 

Then we discovered that we were in the wrong section. I thought the correct ticket holders were more self-righteous than understanding. We apologized and moved to the correct section of the theater and sat in much better seats. Take that, Karen.

There was an audience participation trick that was pretty cool, but I won't spoil it for anyone.

Mind reader Colin Cloud, another AGT act, was also performing in the show, and to be honest, Char enjoyed him as much or more than Mr. Lim. 

We saw the Blue Man Group for our second show on Monday. 

We all had fun, but the painfully bright lights flashing at the end of the show put the BMG slightly below Shim Lim and Colin Cloud on Char's ranking.

We didn't need tickets to see the show that Daphne most wanted to share with Charlotte. Seeing the Fountains of Bellagio for the first time is one of Daphne's favorite memories from our honeymoon. Char was dubious, but when the fountains exploded to life during Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA", Char was very impressed. During our three days in Vegas, we watched the fountains perform five times. If it had been cooler in Nevada, we would have seen more than that.

You can plan out a vacation all you want, but it's usually the fun surprises that make the best memories. I had not heard of Shake Shack, but it looked like a safe bet when were searching for something to eat after getting into our room at the MGM. 

It was a mid-afternoon on Sunday after spending a long morning at the Grand Canyon, and we were all a bit hangry. But, dang did these burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets taste good. I thought that might just have been our hunger, but we went back on Monday afternoon and the meal was just as good. 

The closest Shake Shack to us is in the Mall of America, so if we get there this fall, you know where you will find us. Char will now be comparing every shake she has against the high bar set by the Shack. 

Another surprise drove under us as we crossed a walkway from one side of the strip to the other. We saw a truck sporting the ads for this show:

FYI: "Potted"

Potted Potter was the show Daphne was most excited about when we were brainstorming this trip, but the show was closed at that time. She was really bummed about that. When Daph saw that the show was back in action, so was she. Daphne booked tickets for Tuesday at 8 PM when we got back in our hotel room. We didn't tell Charlotte until the day of the show. 

Our last day in Vegas was literary our busiest. We spent over four hours at the pools and lazy river, and then checked out The Hunger Games: The Exhibition at our hotel. 

Down with President Snow!

You can sit in his chair, though. 

They also have interactive trivia. Just jump on the circle with the right answer.

Char wasn't too impressed with the authentic costumes and props from the movies, but she sure got into the shooting range. After a week at the "Archers and Arrows" Girl Scouts camp, she was ready to hit the stationary, moving, and disappearing targets. We all agreed. This was the best part of the exhibit. 

Then we were off to Bally's to see the Potted Potter show. We were early enough to have dinner at Buca Di Beppo. We had our wedding rehearsal dinner at Buca, but that Des Moines location closed years ago. It was fun to revisit. 

The Potted show is just two actors, a few stage props, and simple costumes changes (think: hats). It took a couple of minutes for the audience to understand what kind of a show we were in for. After that, the Potter show was great! The two actors did a great job on mixing lines of dialog with improv. The theater was tiny for Vegas standards. There wasn't a bad seat to be had. I wondered if this is what off-Broadway would be like, and it turns out this show had played there.

We ended up in the front row, and one of the guys kept telling Charlotte she had to play keeper in the upcoming quidditch match. The 70-minute show flew by, and the jokes came at us so fast and so often we struggled to remember them later. On the way home each of us repeated lines from parts of the show the others had forgotten. I especially enjoyed the self-deprecating humor.

At end, the actors ran back onto the stage for a final round of applause. One had three stuffed animal owls that he threw out into the audience. He tossed the last "Hedwig" to Char. Had he known her love of stuffed animals, he would have understood that he had created her favorite moment of the summer. She just beamed.

Random Vegas pics:

Turns out that the only gamble we took was actually just going to Las Vegas. 

I like to watch local news when we travel. It solidifies the fact we aren't at home. But it was a bit disconcerting to watch the reports about major US cities like Chicago warning citizens to not travel to Las Vegas. We had booked this trip at the end of June when the COVID numbers were really low. Had we planned to take our trip much later, we might have had to cancelled it. 

Daphne and I did our best to keep Charlotte safe. We all masked indoors and did our best to keep Char out of long lines and tight places. Still, we worried if we were doing the right things in the wrong place. 

Man, we can't wait for a vaccine that's approved for children under 12. 

We Took a "Jungle Cruise" at Flix Brewhouse!

Here's our evening in three pictures. 

We played it safe and wore masks when not eating, drinking, or taking a family photo. It's been 17 months since we watched a film at Flix, and I have been waiting that long to finally wear my Flix t-shirt.

We found out that Flix was going to reopen while we were on vacation in Vegas, and we purchased tickets for tonight's movie without caring if Jungle Cruise was a good family film or not: we just wanted to give Flix our support. Luckily, Char gave the movie a ten, and our dinner was great. 

It just felt so nice to watch a movie with others again.

Whew. 

Our Dam Vacation: Grand Canyon

The drive from our Hoover Dam hotel to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon is about 90 minutes. Half of the trip is on the interstate, but the rest of the drive is on beat-up roads with speed limits that vary from 55 to 25 to 45 mph with no discernible reason. The scenic mountain views more than made up for the speed traps, and driving through a forest of Joshua trees was a new experience.

The park opens at 9:00, and we were among the first to arrive. It was a relief to see some cars in the parking lot because I didn't see any other cars going our direction. For awhile I was worried that Covid had closed this part of our vacation, too, and we would arrive at a locked gate.

Here's Char pointing out the unofficial "Dog Rock." (It looks more like a dog in person.)

Eagle Point needs no pointer.

The star of the show is the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Cameras are not allowed on the exhibit, so this isn't my picture.

It is a bit unnerving but also thrilling to walk on the glass floor and see the earth 4,000 feet below your feet. Char was a good sport, but I could tell this was not her favorite thing to do. She was more than ready to get off the Skywalk and browse the gift shop. Items personalized with the name "Charlotte" are getting easier and easier to find.

Char ended up with an oversized hoodie which is exactly what she wanted. What she didn't want was to stay at the Grand Canyon much longer. She was frustrated to discover that the tour bus had another stop to make.

Her attitude changed when we arrived at Guano Point. Climbing rocks is one of Char's favorite things to do. When she saw the mount of rocks that created “Highpoint Hike” she said, "Ohhh. I want to climb that!" 

Daphne replied, "I think we should!" And they were off. 

Here they are at the top. 

I also made the climb. The 360-degree view from up there is quite a sight.

Char would've given the Grand Canyon 4 out of 10 before Guano Point, "It was pretty boring for me." After climbing the rocks, she bumped her score to 11 out of 10. "it was sooo much fun!" Really, that's all a parent can hope for.