August 2 - Great Eastern Tour Day 17

Tokens: 100
Tickets: 305
Money spent: $27.41

10:53 a.m. - Excited for the first of 2 days for girls' day out with the neighbor girls. Opt to call neighbors before heading over - they just returned form vacation and may be catching up on sleep. Turns into a wise decision as all but the mom are still in slumber land. We discuss what the girls want to do with their days, and decide it is best for me to take the youngest out today.

11:36 a.m. - Neighbor mom calls 2 minutes after I hang up the phone with the youngest daughter. Munchkin was not clear in her message. There was misunderstanding. Mom is calling to clarify that Munchkin meant for me to pick her up at 1, not in 1 minute. Hang up, and go back to watching TNT's prime time in the daytime with Mom.

1:00 p.m. - Upon entering neighbor's house, a vast array of children's pink clothing is visible on the couch. Before leaving, all of Munchkin's new clothing must be admired. She has pretty good taste, even if it is all pink.

1:48 p.m. - Munchkin nearly takes my eye out with a football. Didn't realize standing behind someone half my size while she tries to throw a footballl to a height she can't see above would be so dangerous. Direct her towards games that are less likely to cause bodily harm. Amass another long string of tickets at a game whose sole purpose is to acquire large quantities of tickets by making a spinning light stop at a high number. What happened to the games where you actually had to do something to earn tickets? Use up the last third of our hundred tokens on Skee Ball, the greatest arcade game aside from Ms. Pac-Man. With Munchkin at my side there is, however, sill risk of bodily harm.

1:52 p.m. - Ticket counting machines are the best invention ever. We have accumulated 305 tickets that didn't need to be counted by hand. There is now 1 piece of paper in my pocket, instead of 305 tiny ones. Good deal.

2:45 p.m. - The ball factory has gotten tiresome. About 1/3 of the air pressure machines for shooting, floating, or otherwise moving the colored foam balls don't work. Small children are starting to pelt me with balls. As they aren't my students, I feel it is a little inappropriate to retaliate. Not that there is a problem with fighting back, but I'd rather pelt people I know, and Munchkin has already been sufficiently chased and blasted by me. Convince Munchkin we should go eat.

3:03 p.m. - Miniature golf in the blasting heat. The brief downpour earlier did nothing to alleviate the humidity. It did, however, manage to drench the putting greens, so that each ball hit leaves a spray of water behind it. Receive what could be valuable advice from Munchkin: "you just have to hit the ball real hard." Can see that she certainly subscribes to this method as we chase her ball off into the hedges several times.

3:58 p.m. - After careful consideration and numerous mental math attempts, all tickets have been cashed in exchange for a myriad of pink prizes.

4:14 p.m. - Munchkin carries out the stuffed dog she insisted on making for me at the wannabe build-a-bear in the arcade. It looks exactly like their family dog, which is why it was chosen, and bears the same name. He is clad in a soccer uniform as both the girls play soccer. The intent is for me to have him to remember them by, hug him when I miss them, and always bring him with me when travelling.

5:52 p.m. - Splashing around in the pool with the girls. The ratio of pool toys to people is 2:1. Almost none are in use as Munchkin lets me throw her in the air and Moosh attempts walking across the pool in her hands. This is leagues different than hanging in the pool with baby brother.

6:47 p.m. - Dad cleans up from dinner. Different rant, same topic:
"Tupperware without a lid is like a one-legged pair of pants - it doesn't do you much good.....unless of course you only have one leg."

7:17 p.m. - Exhausted from my day with the Munchkin. Not enough energy to start reading Faulkner, and there are no other mindless books in my suitcase. Read through the For Better or Worse book bought for Mom a few weeks ago. The parents stick in season 1 of Lost. Pseudo pay attention - any attempt to understand the show was given up long ago.