Steadfast Soldiers

My dad has always been interested in history. He still says that he wants to be an archeologist when he grows up. He loves museums and historical sites and books about history, both fictional and not. He knows a good deal about a good deal of historical locations and figures and battles and what not.

Several years ago he decided to start a company selling Historical Miniatures (Little Tin Soldiers). At the time I really didn't quite understand it. Was there really a huge market for small collectible metal figures representing historical scenes? Well, apparently there is, and for years now he has been selling these figures as a side job, out of his house. 

Birthday Bash

Today is my son's birthday, and, as per usual, we have tried to jam pack it with fun celebratory things. The day started with blueberry pancakes (with candles) and opening of presents. This was followed by a trip to the zoo to see the Polar Bears, Elephants, Giraffes and other animals. We had lunch, chicken tenders and fries, at the second restaurant we went to because the first was closed. After lunch we attempted to go to a trampoline park, but it wasn't yet open, so we had to postpone because we needed to get home and meet family who were bringing some more presents and happy birthday wishes. Later tonight we're going to have hotdogs (one of his favorite foods), cupcakes and ice cream, and probably watch an episode of The Mandalorian (his favorite show).

Looking for Signs

How often in life do you miss the path you intended to follow because you were looking/waiting for a sign that wasn't there?

As a last hoorah of the summer, my family took a little day trip to a hiking trail nearby that leads to a Hot Springs at the top of a mountain. It's a beautiful, peaceful place where you can wade in the clear warm water and let little fish eat all of the grime and dead skin off your feet, which is a strange, but amazing sensation.

Three Wishes

The other night, while sitting at the dinner table, my daughter asked the question, after having watched Aladdin for the first time just a few days earlier, if you had a magic lamp and genie, what would your three wishes be? Now this is a very common question that people ask, sorry if like "What would you do if you won the lottery" but it's still a fun one to explore.

My response was that my first wish would be for $2,000,000,000, to which my wife responded "Why not just wish for a bottomless bank account that refills every time you use it?" She's smarter than me. So I modified my first wish to that. My second wish was to have every superpower possessed by any and every comic book superhero. My third wish was ...

May The Fourth Be With You

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! I hope you are celebrating by wearing Star Wars clothes/eating Star Wars food/watching Star Wars movies, etc... I am planning on doing all of the above.

I have loved Star Wars for as long as I can remember. I was a 9 year old boy totally freaked out by the torched bodies of Uncle Ben and Aunt Beru in A New Hope. I would play Star Wars trivial pursuit with my friends, and we all knew so much about Star Wars that we required word perfect answers to the questions (I remember getting a question wrong because I answered "a asteroid" instead of "an asteroid"). I collected all form of Star Wars paraphernalia and remember saving Taco Bell cups because they had Star Wars characters on them (yes, I was a bit odd). As a teenager I dressed up as a Jedi with my friends and attended midnight openings of Episodes I-III. I attended midnight openings of Episode VII and Rogue One (though sadly not Episode VIII, it was sold out, and I had to wait a bit to see it). I own all of the movies except for Episode VIII, which I believe is in the mail for me. Star Wars was important to me growing up. I loved it. I still do.