Category: JSL

Zip, Whip and Pee, Broken Mommy, Mini-Golf and Ice Cream

Fun, JSL, NHL, Photos

The day before school started, we decided to do something fun with the boys.  First, we went to CVS and then to Home Depot to look for a new doorbell.  Oh wait, that’s not fun.  That’s ok, though, because the next place was fun: Uno Chicago Grill, or, as the boys call it Pizza Uno’s.  NHL got a pepperoni pizza.  (Ah, my Kosher Boy!)  JSL got Mac and Cheese (his all time favorite food).  B and I both got the Spinoccoli pizza lunch special.  This came with unlimited soup.  We both wound up eating only soup and packing our pizza for another meal.  (Nothing like getting 2 meals for the price of one!)

After our meal, we walked around the mall for a bit and stopped by Border’s.  They’ve been going out of business for the past month or so and the selection really was bare.  We managed to find a few items, but JSL was not having a good time.  He didn’t understand why there weren’t any toys or kids’ books left.  Going Out of Business and Clearing Stock mean nothing to a four year old.

After the mall, we planned to go indoor miniature golfing.  NHL had gone here before with me, but JSL and B had never been.  However, there was something important to take care of first.  We high-tailed it home to put our leftovers in the fridge.  Even more important, though was potty breaks for everyone.  As NHL was going, B & I began doing the “potty dance.”  B lamented her complicated pants.  There was a tie, buttons, and a zipper.  I think a combination lock might have been in there somewhere.  Gloating, I said that I had it easy.  All I had to do was “zip, whip, and pee.”  Unfortunately, laughing hysterically does not go well with swimming back teeth.  There was a real risk of peeing my pants.  It didn’t help that NHL’s response to hearing that B couldn’t “zip, whip, and pee” was “Mommy’s broken!”

Luckily, my bladder held out and we went on to indoor mini-golf.  JSL was instantly entertained by the black light causing everything to glow. His socks, shorts, ball, fingertips and even his teeth were glowing.  The indoor course is divided into four parts.

Underwater.

IMGP2212 IMGP2215

Jungle.

IMGP2224 IMGP2230

Dinosaurs.

IMGP2243 IMGP2251

Outer Space.

IMGP2256 IMGP2257 IMGP2262

After mini-golfing, we decided to get some ice cream.  NHL and JSL got Mint Cookie Crumble (mint ice cream with chocolate cookie crumble and fudge swirls).  B got Crumbs Along the Mohawk (graham cracker ice cream with graham cracker pieces and a caramel swirl).  I got Mud Season (coffee ice cream with brownie dough pieces and a peanut butter fudge swirl).

IMGP2273 IMGP2275 IMGP2276

We all had a blast.  There’s nothing like laughter, mini-golf and ice cream to wind down summer vacation!

How did you celebrate the end of summer vacation?

The Continuing Adventures of My Super-Boys

Computers, Geeky Pursuits, Internet, JSL, NHL, Superheroes

Last year, I sat my boys down on the HeroMachine website to let them make their own superheroes.  Since it’s been so long, I decided to let them back on to see how they would make their heroes this time.  As with the last time, I guided them through the setup.  I might have nudged them here or there but the general look and feel of the superheroes was up to them.  For example, I might push to make tops and bottoms match in color, but if they decided to change the color palette, I wouldn’t refuse their superheroic demands.

I also purposefully didn’t show them their superheroes from the previous year.  I didn’t want them to simply recreate their old heroes.  I wanted to see what more recent influences might being to their heroes.

Let’s start with JSL.  Last year, he made this hero:

  

He named his superhero “FireGuy.”  So what did he make this year?

Agent Super JSL Buzz Lightyear

Meet Super Agent JSL Buzz Lightyear.  Breaking down the name first, the “Super” part comes because, to JSL, a superhero must, obviously, be names super-something.  I’m not sure why he thinks that.  Most of the superheroes he knows don’t have names that begin with “Super.”  “Agent” comes from Agent P, from Phineas and Ferb.  We had recently watched the Phineas and Ferb movie so he wanted to be a secret agent.  Buzz Lightyear comes from his favorite Toy Story character.

The shield is based on the one that his favorite superhero, Captain America, has.  The color scheme incorporates his favorite colors.  I’m not sure if there was a particular rhyme or reason behind the rest of the outfit, though.

Next up, was NHL.  Last year, he made Disco Man, so named because he had “disco eyes.”

 

This year, NHL made Toolguy/Mathman/Cordman.  Yes, you read that right.  This superhero has three names.  I tried to get NHL to shorten it, but he was adamant that it needed to be all three and include the slashes.

Toolguy_Mathman_Cordman

The name is based off his love of building things, his love of math, and the fact that his superhero has a whip.  The head was based loosely on Hulk.  For the body, NHL insisted that his superhero was part-robot and so it needed to be grey.  In retrospect, I wonder if this comes from Perry the Platyborg from the Phineas and Ferb movie.  It was interesting that NHL picked out the same tail that he chose last year.  He also chose the same eyes at first, but then changed his mind.

Have your kids used HeroMachine?  If so, what kinds of superheroes have they made?

Birthday Treats and Green Tongues

Birthday, Cake, Food, JSL, NHL, Photos

Yesterday, as is our birthday tradition, we went out to dinner.  The boys wanted to have dinner with B’s parents, so B and I went to Mr. Fuji.  B has already featured the meal on her blog, but I had to feature some of the items in depth.

First up was vegetable sushi and a cucumber roll.  When I ordered this, I was expecting a few rolls with a mix of chopped veggies inside.  This is what I got instead.

P1040365

You really need to click the photo and look at the large version to truly appreciate this.  It was quite a pleasant surprise over my admittedly bland mental picture.  The colors of all of the vegetables popped nicely.  There were yellow peppers, orange carrots, green asparagus and more.  The textures were nicely varied as well.  From the crunch of the carrots and peppers to the creaminess of the avocado and the chewiness of the mushrooms.  This was an amazing dish all around.

I had a birthday cookie cake awaiting me at home so normally I wouldn’t have ordered dessert.  However, I had a birthday coupon for a free tempura ice cream so I decided to get it.  I’m so glad I did.

P1040368

I wish we got a good photo of the inside of this, but we were too busy eating it.  At its core, this dessert is a large, hard scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Right outside of that was a huge surprise: Cake!  In retrospect, it makes sense.  You need something to protect the ice cream from the hot frying oil.  Of course, outside of the hard, cold ice cream and the soft cake was the warm, crunchy tempura batter.  It was all topped sundae style with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry.  Considering that this all would normally cost $4 (and that they also have a Tempura Cheesecake), I think I’ll be bringing the boys here for dessert one day!

After a brief walk around to digest our food, we went back to B’s parents’ house.  There, we had a cookie cake.

P1040388

I’ve got to admit to a fondness for cookie cakes.  Regular cake is ok and cheesecake is great, but I really love a good chocolate chip cookie.  Make it a giant chocolate chip cookie with frosting and YUM!

The only downside?  Green fingers and tongues.

P1040412 P1040413

Of course, photographer-me had to try a macro shot of my boys’ tongues.

P1040414 P1040416

And, with that, this post has gone from drool-inducing deliciousness to disgusting!

Review: Z-Curve Bow & Zing-Shot Launcher

JSL, NHL, Outside, Play, Review, Toys

IMGP0648The boys love the playground and they love tossing/firing things.  Combine these together and you’ve got a sure hit.  I had the opportunity to try out the Z-Curve Bow and the Zing-Shot Launcher from ZING Toys.  The boys were even more excited because, thanks to watching Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, they saw the bow and arrow set as an opportunity to pretend that they were Hawkeye.  (A superhero archer with perfect aim.)

IMGP0646Since the bow and arrow set says it launches over 100 feet, I thought it wise not to try these out in our front yard.  Even though the darts are made of a soft foam, which probably wouldn’t even hurt if they scored a direct hit on a person, I thought it wise not to take a chance damaging one of our neighbor’s cars.  So off to a local park we went.

Now, my boys are 7 years old ( almost 8 ) and 4.  The package said that these toys were meant for ages 8 and up.  I figured that JSL would have a lot of trouble with them.  Sure enough, he did.  With my guidance, he was able to shoot off a few arrows.  I didn’t measure how far these went, but they were a good distance.  Maybe 20 feet.  Not bad for his first bow shot!

IMGP0654NHL had a bit of trouble at first, but adapted quickly.  Before long, he was shooting arrows quite far away.  I don’t know if they landed 100 feet away, but they were pretty far.

Then it was my turn.  I liked that the arrows fit into a “quiver” that could be attached to a belt loop or other strap.  This helped keep them in place when they weren’t flying through the air.  The arrows have hooks on them that grip the bow’s rubber bands.  Pulling back, I let the arrow fly.  Sure enough, the arrows went extremely far.  I didn’t measure, but it just might have been 100 feet.

Here are two photos showing the distance that the arrows travelled.  The first is of the boys recovering an arrow that I shot.  The second is of me standing approximately where an arrow landed after one of NHL’s shots.  (Click to enlarge.)

IMGP0664IMGP0665

IMGP0659As NHL and JSL took turns running after it, the arrow’s red tip really helped us locate the arrows on the green grass.

Next up was the slingshot.  Unlike the bow and arrow, this had a ball that gets positioned between two stretching prongs.  You pull the ball back and let it fly.  Theoretically, it then shoots over 50 feet.  Practically, the ball kept twisting and getting caught on the prongs.  These misfires only went a few feet.  We did get a few good shots out of it, but it was definitely the harder of the two to properly fire.

Both the Zing-Shot Launcher and the Z-Curve Bow were a lot of fun.  It didn’t take long for our toys to catch the notice of other children on the playground.  They asked to try and before long there was a veritable line of kids waiting to try them out.

Of the two, I would definitely recommend the bow and arrow over the slingshot.  It was easier to work and launched much further.  Plus, the “quiver” helps keep the arrows in place while the slingshot’s balls don’t have any receptacle to keep them in.  Either way, both toys were a lot of fun and both of the boys have begged to use them again.

Disclaimer: I received the Zing-Shot Launcher and the Z-Curve Bow from ZING Toys to review.  However, the opinions expressed above are my own.

1 … 12 13 14 15 16 … 31