A Super Saturday

FYI: I have been posting on this blog for almost six years, and this is blog post number 800. 

Daphne was busy at school with her band students for most of Saturday. Char was sad that Mom was missing all the fun, and she asked me to update Daph with texts and pictures throughout the day. I'd thought I'd share them here, too.

Char's having a blast taking a drama class at the Des Moines Community Playhouse. I suspect that athletics will not be her forte. Here's our poser posing on the Playhouse's stairs.

One of Char's favorite places to eat is at the buffet at Prairie Meadows Casino. It's been a few months since we have been there, and Char was disappointed that all of the autographed rock posters and signed guitars had been removed from the hallway. She did like the new photos hung by the buffet's entrance. Char wanted me to take a picture of her pointing out the cardinal for Daphne. Cardinals are special because they symbolize the memory of Grandma Deb.

Some people place slices of cucumbers on their eyes to reduce swelling and puffiness. Char prefers the potato round treatment.

I needed to stay on the east side of town because I was going to surprise Charlotte by taking her to the Shriner Circus at the fairgrounds. Bass Pro Shops is close to both Prairie Meadows and the fairgrounds, and there quite a few things to do and see there. 

When we pulled into the parking lot, Char read the building and asked, "Who would go inside to see Outdoor World?"

That was a good question, and all I could say was, "Well, we're going to."

The space inside is decorated with all kinds of taxidermy.

Char thought the displays were neat after I lied explained that all the animals had died a natural death. When I was a kid in the 70's my parents would take me to the West Sioux hardware store in Sioux Falls, SD. The store had several mounted animals on display behind glass. I always thought that store was cool and weird at the same time. Bass Pro gave me that same feeling. West Sioux closed its doors in 1981, and you can now see the stuffed animals at the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls.

I couldn't get Charlotte to pose by the grizzly bear standing on his hind legs. Even in death he was too scary. She would pose by the huge fish tank, though.

She liked the statue that greets customers near the Fish Bowl bowling alley.

She's trying to look tough while test driving sunglasses. 

We pretended to fish off the back of one the display boats.



Here's what Char caught and released.

Then it was time for my big surprise. I wouldn't tell Char where we were going at first. I wanted her to guess.

"A movie?"

"Nope," I replied.

"A show?"

"No," I countered,  "but it is like a show."

"The circus!" 

"Yes! But how did you guess?"

"You said it was like a show, and the circus is like a show."

"A lot of things are like a show."

Char turned her head to look out the window, "Not the way a circus is."

We made agreement. I would buy her anything she wanted to eat, but I wasn't going to buy a plastic sword, a blow-up animal, or a huge balloon. During the intermission I bought her a (What! Are-you-kidding-me! Ten dollars for a cup of melted sugar?!) large bag of cotton candy.

There is no way to eat cotton candy without making a mess. By the time the bag was empty, she had grown a cotton candy beard and was wearing cotton candy gloves. I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy trying to clean her up with napkins I had soaked in the drinking fountain. Circus-made wet wipes really don't work very well, by the way.

We attended this circus 2014, but I forgot how loooong it is. We arrived a little after 2:00, the show started at 2:30, and we left at 5:35. Three and a half hours is a lot circus for your money, but there's quite a bit of downtime.

The Shriner clowns throw free t-shirts in the crowd after the intermission, and Charlotte was given a shirt four years ago.

She got lucky again this year. The circus was packed when it began, but by the time intermission was over about half of the crowd had packed it in. We had just moved to an empty row when a shirt landed a few seats from us. No one else was there to snag it.

I tried to buy a McDonald's Happy Meal on the way home, but the Johnston McDonald's was out of Chicken McNuggets. How does that happen? Someone really dropped the ball. Luckily, Char was happy to go to Burger King where they have their head in the game. Take that, Ronald.

Charlotte finally got some screen time when we got home.

Daphne opened the door at 7:00, and Charlotte excitedly told her all about the "best daddy-daughter-day ever!" As the two talked, I walked downstairs in triumph.

And there you have it. That's little story #800.

Faces From the Weekend

Daphne and I had our first date night since last October. Instead of going out for an "adult" dinner, we  drove five miles to Grimes to check out the Old School Pinball and Arcade. It just opened.

(picture taken from arcadeheros.com)

I counted almost 30 classic video games, but apparently they have about 20 more games they can rotate into the room. I was in junior high during the height of the arcade's popularity (1980-81), so I revisited a few old friends like Galaga, Millipede, and Turbo. But really we were there to play pinball.

Luckily, we didn't have to bring a bag of quarters. All the machines are set for free play. You just pay a flat fee for a wristband, and you can come and go as you please all day long and play whatever you want. The only exception is a few premium pinball machines in a back room require money - their earnings go towards buying more premium machines. The Wizard of Oz premium game was quite the stunner to see and play.

Since it was the weekend, the cost of a wristband was $13.50 per adult. When you consider the average cost of playing a modern pinball machine is 50 or 75 cents per play, the cost is quite reasonable. Daphne estimated she played about 60 games of pinball.

We ate dinner in the neighboring Mustang Grill. I ordered a Mustang Burger that was topped with bacon, a fried egg, and peanut butter. I was about to take a picture of my meal when I checked my "new" Casio watch, and my heart sank.

It was broken!

The top part of it's frame had broken off. Dang it! I looked around the floor of the restaurant, but I knew it was no use. I wouldn't know where to begin to look, and I'd never find it now. My watch was ruined, and I was crushed.

And I was right; I never did find the piece that had broken off.

Instead, Daphne found it for me. It was on the bedspread back home. Yea! Thanks, Daph!

I tried using the super glue that we had in our kitchen's junk drawer, but after curing overnight, the piece popped right off again. I wasn't sure how to securely attach it, but then I remembered Tim Arnold's list of things not to do to a pinball machine. 

Here's tip #15: Cheap Super Glue is no bargain!

I use Super Glue a lot! The only one worth anything is Borden's Krazy Glue in the tube! The pen is worthless! Cyanide glue will hurt your eyes... Same goes for tape! Scotch # 33 or 35 is the only kind to use! 

I bought Krazy Glue at Office Depot, and it seems to be doing a much better job. When you research a new hobby, you just never know what you'll learn or where it will come in handy

On Sunday we headed down to the Wells Fargo Arena for Disney Jr. Live on Tour! The Pirate and Princess Adventure. A good friend of the family gave us tickets. 

Char was really excited to see Sophia the First, but I believe she secretly enjoyed the pirate adventure more. But above all, what she talked about most was wanting to buy cotton candy.

If you invented wet wipes, I'd like to offer you my thanks.

If you invented the 25 minute intermission, I'd like to offer you something else.