This is What Fun Looks Like (?)

We made our first trip to Adventureland yesterday, and guess who's tall enough to ride her first "grown up roller coaster"?

Her height doesn't surprise me, Char's tall for her age, but Daphne and I were amazed that she actually wanted to ride the Tornado. We took her up the wooden ramp (she ran) so she could check out the ride, and the coaster full of screaming kids that went roaring by wasn't a deterrent. Charlotte still wanted to ride the Tornado. 

It was a bit more than she was ready for. 

That's what g-force and terror looks like when they're combined. But you know what? She went back for a second ride later in the day! (Whew. I'm glad we didn't scar her.)

Other rides had better faces on them.

Getting pretty brave with her hands in the air...

There's nothing like a snack to keep you going.

And sometimes that nap on the way home just makes the day complete.

Pass the Dramamine

We've been to the Adventureland Amusement Park before, but this year Santa gave us season passes. What a great guy!

Normally it would cost $125 for the three of us just to park our car and walk through the gates, and then we would have to spend the entire day there just to feel like we got our money's worth. At $105 per pass (you get a $5 gift certificate to spend and free parking all season), they're a great deal. 

Now we can go whenever we want, and more importantly, we can leave whenever we want. Some days we can go just to swim - they have the largest wave pool in Iowa - or if it's cool, then we can just ride the rides. 

Daphne and I had season passes before we had Charlotte (it's hard to believe those days ever existed), and some days we'd go to Adventureland just to ride the Sky Ride and play some bingo - we're easily amused. This year Daphne's excited to go at night. We'll have dinner in the park and then go ride in the dark. 

I have great memories of going to Adventureland as a kid, and I'm excited for Charlotte to start making memories with her family.

Charlotte's just plain excited.

I'm not cool, and I'm cool with that.

 I've run dry after creating over twenty different "Crazy Theo Fart Stories" (see previous post). To give myself a break, I try to distract Char with music during our car ride to daycare.

When she was an infant we listened to the Doors, Bob Marley, The Stone Roses, the Beatles... I didn't pick anything that was too jarring. Now Charlotte can voice an opinion, and she doesn't want anything to do with "grown up music". Here's a short list of what's in our cars.

If you've listened to 90's alternative music, then you'll recognize Chris Ballew's voice. He's the lead singer for the Presidents of the United States (hits include "Lump, "Peaches", and "Kitty"). His Caspar Babypants songs are about animals and insects, and they're catchy as all get-out. I haven't heard his newest release, Night Night!, but I'd recommend it anyway. Mr. Ballew's songs are great, and I dare you to not sing along with him.

I spotted this release at the library, and although I'd had not heard of 60's folk singer Tom Glazer, I thought his music looked like fun. I got lucky. Tom Glazer Sings Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGGGGG and Other Children's Favorites is a compilation of Mr. Glazer's live performances. Firmly set in the 60's, his songs include standards at the time ("I Know and Old Lady"), original takes on old standards ("On Top of Spaghetti" and "Big Rock Candy Mountain"), Scottish ballads ("Three Crows"), and songs he made up on the spot ("Come Down the Aisle" may be my favorite track). There are a few songs recorded in the studio, but their polish lacks the shine of his interaction with the children in the audience. Char loves to giggle along with the other kids; I think it makes her feel like she part of their group. When she was three years old, Char once commented at the end of a song, "Good job, Tom." High praise indeed.

Another alternative band that was popular in the 80's and 90's is They Might Be Giants. I still have my cassette tape of Lincoln, and I still play it on my home stereo. Their three children's releases (Here Comes the ABCs, Here Comes the 123s, and Here Comes Science) are rarely out of the car. "High Five" is the first song we ever heard Char sing from memory. I suppose she was about two years old at the time. We were pushing her in a swing at the park, and she just started singing, "High Five! Up top! Low five! Don't stop! Slap me five! Whoooo! Keep it cool! Old School!" 

Surprised, I turned to Daphne and said, "I guess she's really listening in the car. " 

Daphne replied, "I guess she really likes it!'  

(If I was a major league baseball player I'd want the park to play a snippet of "High Five" while I was walking to bat.)

Strange connection:  In 1993 They Might Be Giants covered the song "Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" which originally appeared on Tom Glazer's album Space Songs (1959).

Here's our newest selection from the library.

Not much to say about this that hasn't been said already. Like every other kid who has seen the movie, Char really enjoys singing "Let it Go". The rest of the songs are equally good, and they worm their way into your brain like a popcorn kernel between your teeth. This morning the first thought I had while standing by the bed was, "The window is open! So's that door! I didn't know they did that anymore..." Oh man, that's gotta stop.

I can do a pretty good impression of "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People", though.

I used to switch to my CDs when Char got out of the car, but that's too big of a hassle. Now I just keep her music playing. Sometimes students in the parking lot will give me weird looks if they hear me playing "For the First Time in Forever" with the windows down. But I don't care. Being cool is last thing on my "to do" list. 

I'm just trying to survive parenthood in one piece.

link

Story Timing

We had a cat named Theo. Each night he would jump into bed, plop against Daphne, and purr her to sleep. When Charlotte was born, Theo made room for our baby at nap time.

Theo passed away almost exactly two years ago, and you might suspect that Charlotte has forgotten him: she was only two and a half when he died. But that isn't the case. Theo has become one of Char's favorite story characters.

The Theo stories started last fall when his name came up during a car ride. Charlotte wanted to know more about him, and Daphne told a true story about that "crazy cat". Since then, Charlotte constantly asks for a "crazy Theo story" when we are in the car. Although he was a cool pet, there are only so many anecdotes that you recall about a cat, so now we have to make them up. Theo makes dinner, goes to school, and drives a car.

When Daphne makes up a story about Theo it ends with a moral that Charlotte can learn. When I tell a story about it ends with a body function. For instance, Daphne told a story about sharing and making sure everyone takes their turn. When she finished she smiled at me - proud of the lesson she provided. I could tell that Charlotte wasn't quite happy with that conclusion, so I added one more line:
"And then Theo went to his room, closed the door, and ripped a huge fart!"

Charlotte squealed with laughter, and Daphne turned and punched me squarely in the shoulder, "You just hijacked my story!"

"No I didn't!" I laughed, "I just made it a tiny bit better..."

"You did not make it better! I was using this opportunity to make a point about being nice to others, and you ruined it."

"Oh c'mon! Despite my superior ending, I'm sure she learned your lesson."

From the back seat Charlotte chimed in, "And then he ripped a huuuuuge fart!"

Daphne shot me a look, "Oh yeah, she learned something, all right."

The moral of this story for me:
Comedy is all about timing. Save the fart jokes for Daddy-Daughter nights.

Want to Put Your Name in the Pool?

Our backyard slopes down from our house until the ground levels out at our back fence. Rainwater pools in the back right corner of our lot after a heavy storm, and that's probably why the previous owners put in a small pond in that spot. I'm sure the backyard was a muddy mess most of the time. It might sound fancy to say we have a pond, but in reality it's just a permanent puddle with a water pump.

I considered draining the pond when we first moved here, but the April showers proved that wasn't possible, so we kept the pond full. A month later we noticed that the still water was full of mosquito larvae. Since mosquitoes cannot breed successfully in flowing water, and we didn't want a mosquito colony on our property, I had to learn how to get the pump working.

Last June I thought it would be fun to put some goldfish in the pond. We bought six feeder fish from PetSmart (32 cents each), and three died during the first week. The other three survived the summer months and Char's overfeeding - we shouldn't have been surprised with how big they grew. Char gave the fish names when I told her they were her pets:

1. Black Hat had a black spot on his tail.
2. Carrot was the goldest of the three.
3. Frosty had a white spot on his nose.

I did research how goldfish survive the winter, and I thought the pond was deep enough to keep them the fish from freezing, but either it was too cold this past winter or I overestimated the pond's depth. The fish didn't make it. Char was a bit bummed, but she cheered up when I said we'd try again.

Char declared, "This time we'll get seven fish!" And we did.

He they are on the way home from the pet store yesterday. The guy on the bottom doesn't look too happy.

But Char was, and she named them before we got out of the car:

1. Rosie is the name Char currently gives to all new stuffed animals and to the daughter she'll have, "When I grow up!"
2. Flower is the pretty one.
3. Christmas Tree is also the pretty one.
4. Target enjoys archery (?).
5. Flip did summersaults in the plastic bag.
6. Hotel was named after a building we drove past.
7. Restaurant's named was changed to Popcorn this morning.

I don't know many fish will survive, but I'll bet one will be named Rosie. 

Pinball Update: 1B or not 1B? (That is the question.)

Here's another reason the pinball schematic is so confusing to me. Every electrical component in the machine is labeled, but different items share the same name. For example, look how "1B" is used.

1B is a relay:

1B is a "contact":

1B is a location for a pair of switches: 

 And 1B is also a position on the motor:

How can 1B be all those things at one time? The answer is that it isn't. And I know that because I spotted this while skimming repair posts on the Pinside.com forums.

Well that was news to me! The "contacts" tell you how many switches are on a relay, and in what position they should be. I needed to check this out.

One irritating problem I have with my machine is when the two "Jack" drop targets are down, the machine awards me bonus points for also making the "King" targets, even if they aren't down. No one likes a cheater, so I wanted that to stop. Here's the schematic's contacts.

Looks like the 2 Jacks Relay is the same as the 2 Kings Relay. Both should have six switches (6A) that are open and one switch (1B) that is closed.

When I checked the relays under the playfield, I spotted the problem. The Jacks Relay had two switches closed instead of one.

Since the two relays are supposed to be identical, I used the Kings relay to figured out which switch should be open on the Jacks Relay. I opened the switch with a contact adjuster, and now the machine has stopped awarding unearned King points!

I used this same line of logic to solve the mystery of the KX relay and why the machine wouldn't award "Double Bonus" points on balls two and three.

I'm starting to figure this out, but man, they sure don't make it easy on a guy.

Pinball Update: DIY Joker Face Sticker

When I began the Royal Flush pinball project I was pretty intimidated by what was on the inside of the machine, so the first "fix" I did was cosmetic. It's a simple repair, but I think the process is pretty versatile, and I bet I use this trick again.

Many of the light inserts on my Royal Flush's playfield have a joker face on them.

But this one doesn't have one.

I went online to see if someone sells replacement inserts, but I didn't have any luck. I googled "DIY clear stickers", and found instructions for making custom stickers. The best part was I had all the materials at home. The steps are pretty simple, and I'll put the link to them at the bottom of this post.

 I found this picture on the Royal Flush page in the Internet Pinball Machine Database.

I printed it at 30 percent of its original size on a laser printer, and I covered the face with clear packing tape. I then roughly cut out the joker face. Next, I put the face in a dish full of water and let it soak for a few minutes. When the paper is thoroughly wet, you can use your finger to rub the paper off of the tape. The toner will stick to the tape, and when the tape dries the bottom surface will be sticky again.

After the tape dried, I neatly cut out the face and applied it to the insert.

During the past six weeks I've rolled the pinball over this sticker hundreds of times, and it doesn't show any sign of peeling. Until I find a suitable replacement, this will work fine.

I think it will be really fun for Charlotte and I to design some custom stickers for her school supplies!

Thanks to AndelDOA who posted the instructions to this idea here: link.

Easter Egg Hunt #2: Our Basket Runneth Over

We tried another Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, and this one was more Char's speed. This hunt was sponsored by our church and two others. Between the three small parishes there were enough small kids to have a respectable hunt and more than enough eggs for everyone. Charlotte had a blast.

"Look at all my eggs!"

After filling the basket (and our coat pockets), we headed back into the church to empty the eggs and take the candy home.

Char may have missed out on trick or treating last year, but Easter has more than made up for it.

Halloween link

Blink and You'll Miss It - part 4

Easter 2011 (nine months old)

Easter 2012

Easter 2013

Easter 2014 (Just a little grumpy about going to church.)

Easter 2015 (Pretty happy about going to church.)

Insert "time flies" cliché here.

Actually, it isn't a cliché; it's a law.

Pinball Update: This Might Change Things

I was trying to figure out why the green "Joker" lights on my pinball flash when they're not supposed to. I posted my question on the tech forums on Pinside.com, and I was told to look for a normally closed switch on relay 1B. I found relay 1B after some research, but I couldn't see the switch that was "normally closed".

I thought to myself, How can I be so stupid? How come I can't even find a closed switch? 

Then, and I don't know why, I remembered seeing this notation towards the bottom on the schematic:

That's when I slapped my forehead.

I usually wait until a game is over before I work on my pinball machine. Then I shut off the machine and get to it. But that approach is wrong if I want to use the schematic. I should start the game first. Then after the ball has popped out into the shooter lane, I should shut the game off and pull the ball out. That's when the pinball machine matches the schematic.

No wonder I couldn't find the closed switch. The switch wasn't closed when I was looking at it.

It makes sense to have an unplugged machine in the "on" position. That's how you can safely find the electrical connections that aren't working, but I didn't think that deeply.

I don't know if this discovery makes me feel less stupid or more stupid... I suppose it doesn't matter as long as I'm making progress.