Friday, June 13, 2008
A Life In The Day
What a time The Squeeze and I had last weekend. Friday night we had the girls stay overnight with us to allow Weezie to go out with the girls. Not THE girls...we had them, but I mean her girlfriends. Hooterville was having its huge annual festival, and there was a big dance at the firehall that she wanted to attend.
We got the girls to bed at a respectable time after their bath, and as usual I was awake in bed most of the night being hypervigilant to every little noise. At around 5:00, Brynn woke up and started crying. Not wanting her to wake Zoe up, I snuck into their room and picked Brynn up and brought her into our room I where reclined on the bed with her and cuddled her until she fell back to sleep. I tell ya, there's just something amazing about having this adorable little part of me asleep next to me. Babies rock. She turns 2 in just three weeks. Can I still call her a baby? Damn right I can!
In the morning, The Squeeze and I got things moving like a well-oiled machine. Breakfast, showers, dress the kids, and on the road to Hooterville. We watched the parade from my father's lawn, and it just amazes me how kids pay attention to the strangest things. This parade had a few bagpipe bands, a couple of marching bands, fire trucks, horses, you name it, they had it. But nothing got the girls as excited as when a dog walked by. "Doggie!!!!" I guess it's like how they play with the box that their amazing gift comes in.
After the parade, we had a quick bite of lunch and headed back to the downtown for some of the festivities. We watched a friend take part in a strongman competition, dragging a transport truck down the street. Brynn had a snooze in her stroller, and Zoe got to have a pony ride before she got her crank on and really needed a nap.
Weezie took the kids back home and The Squeeze and I debated what to do. Driving to Niagara Falls to take in a bit of casino life seemed like the thing to do. OK, in reality, we went there for the buffet that my father raved about the previous week. He went there with my sister and her family for their anniversary, and was quite taken with the buffet. He's not much of a talker, but he sure did go on about the buffet. And since it's right there in the middle of the casino, well, it just made sense to slip a few bills in the slot. The buffet was quite nice. We're definitely going back. All the peel & eat shrimp and desserts are reason enough to go back.
We hit the gaming floor and we each dropped $60 or so into the slot machines. As we pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we'd cut our losses and head home, I passed a bank of machines that called to me. "Hot Shot" it was called, and it was a progressive game. There was a jackpot of about $98,000 to be won. I slid a $20 into the machine and began to press the buttons. I was up, I was down, I was up again. I thought about cashing out when I was at $60. I played a bit more. Up to $80, down a bit, up a bit, down a bit, and then I hit the button again and wound up winning one of the lesser progressive pots. I was at $229 and that was good enough for me. I cashed out, handed half to The Squeeze and we headed home. That game paid for our gas, dinner, gambling, parking, and a few bucks on top of that.
Since the night was still young, we headed back to Hooterville to catch the festival fireworks from my friends' father's fenced-in fortress. Sorry, I was on a roll. Once the fireworks were over, The Squeeze and I headed over to see a few of my nephews in their band that was performing in the back yard of some guy named "Bubba". It was about 10:00 at night, and there was the band, jamming at a volume that was pretty much heard throughout all of Hooterville. In the dim light I recognized a couple of my nieces in the crowd. They greeted me and pointed off to the side of the audience. I looked over and saw my sister and brother-in-law standing there. Their son in the lead singer in the band, so I guess I wasn't too surprised to see them there, even though it was a much younger crowd. I figured The Squeeze and I...OK...I thought The Squeeze would be the oldest one there. As I walked toward my sister, I saw her pointing over beside her. What's with everyone pointing??? Then I realized who she was pointing at. The was my 75-year-old father standing there enjoying the show. Alright, maybe he wasn't enjoying it, but he was there. "It's so loud here, even the mosquitos are staying away," he said.
Two doors down from "Bubba"'s is a seniors' residence.
"Umm...wouldn't the seniors all be in bed at, like...7:00 trying to sleep?" I asked someone.
"Ya, but they've all got their hearing aids out."
"Good point."
However, at the crack of 11:00, in through the back gate and through the crowd marched several O.P.P. officers. One walked up onto the deck and ordered the band to shut down. I couldn't help but laugh when a young man behind me piped up "They wouldn't have to stop playing if they were indians!" A reference to a long-standing native standoff in a nearby town that the police seem to be powerless to do anything about. Sadly, there just may have been a bit of truth to his comment.
The party broke up and The Squeeze and I were on our way home for the night. We were amazed at how much activity we managed to pack into one day. Some days we barely have the energy to shop for groceries. But this was all fun, and it certainly didn't feel like anything we HAD to do.
This weekend we'll be visiting the girls on Father's Day. Still can't believe that day applies to me! We'll see them Sunday morning, and then my family is taking my father out to the race track to bet a couple of bucks on the ponies. Apparently they have slots there. I'll be looking for "Hot Shot"...maybe I can break even again.
We got the girls to bed at a respectable time after their bath, and as usual I was awake in bed most of the night being hypervigilant to every little noise. At around 5:00, Brynn woke up and started crying. Not wanting her to wake Zoe up, I snuck into their room and picked Brynn up and brought her into our room I where reclined on the bed with her and cuddled her until she fell back to sleep. I tell ya, there's just something amazing about having this adorable little part of me asleep next to me. Babies rock. She turns 2 in just three weeks. Can I still call her a baby? Damn right I can!
In the morning, The Squeeze and I got things moving like a well-oiled machine. Breakfast, showers, dress the kids, and on the road to Hooterville. We watched the parade from my father's lawn, and it just amazes me how kids pay attention to the strangest things. This parade had a few bagpipe bands, a couple of marching bands, fire trucks, horses, you name it, they had it. But nothing got the girls as excited as when a dog walked by. "Doggie!!!!" I guess it's like how they play with the box that their amazing gift comes in.
After the parade, we had a quick bite of lunch and headed back to the downtown for some of the festivities. We watched a friend take part in a strongman competition, dragging a transport truck down the street. Brynn had a snooze in her stroller, and Zoe got to have a pony ride before she got her crank on and really needed a nap.
Weezie took the kids back home and The Squeeze and I debated what to do. Driving to Niagara Falls to take in a bit of casino life seemed like the thing to do. OK, in reality, we went there for the buffet that my father raved about the previous week. He went there with my sister and her family for their anniversary, and was quite taken with the buffet. He's not much of a talker, but he sure did go on about the buffet. And since it's right there in the middle of the casino, well, it just made sense to slip a few bills in the slot. The buffet was quite nice. We're definitely going back. All the peel & eat shrimp and desserts are reason enough to go back.
We hit the gaming floor and we each dropped $60 or so into the slot machines. As we pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we'd cut our losses and head home, I passed a bank of machines that called to me. "Hot Shot" it was called, and it was a progressive game. There was a jackpot of about $98,000 to be won. I slid a $20 into the machine and began to press the buttons. I was up, I was down, I was up again. I thought about cashing out when I was at $60. I played a bit more. Up to $80, down a bit, up a bit, down a bit, and then I hit the button again and wound up winning one of the lesser progressive pots. I was at $229 and that was good enough for me. I cashed out, handed half to The Squeeze and we headed home. That game paid for our gas, dinner, gambling, parking, and a few bucks on top of that.
Since the night was still young, we headed back to Hooterville to catch the festival fireworks from my friends' father's fenced-in fortress. Sorry, I was on a roll. Once the fireworks were over, The Squeeze and I headed over to see a few of my nephews in their band that was performing in the back yard of some guy named "Bubba". It was about 10:00 at night, and there was the band, jamming at a volume that was pretty much heard throughout all of Hooterville. In the dim light I recognized a couple of my nieces in the crowd. They greeted me and pointed off to the side of the audience. I looked over and saw my sister and brother-in-law standing there. Their son in the lead singer in the band, so I guess I wasn't too surprised to see them there, even though it was a much younger crowd. I figured The Squeeze and I...OK...I thought The Squeeze would be the oldest one there. As I walked toward my sister, I saw her pointing over beside her. What's with everyone pointing??? Then I realized who she was pointing at. The was my 75-year-old father standing there enjoying the show. Alright, maybe he wasn't enjoying it, but he was there. "It's so loud here, even the mosquitos are staying away," he said.
Two doors down from "Bubba"'s is a seniors' residence.
"Umm...wouldn't the seniors all be in bed at, like...7:00 trying to sleep?" I asked someone.
"Ya, but they've all got their hearing aids out."
"Good point."
However, at the crack of 11:00, in through the back gate and through the crowd marched several O.P.P. officers. One walked up onto the deck and ordered the band to shut down. I couldn't help but laugh when a young man behind me piped up "They wouldn't have to stop playing if they were indians!" A reference to a long-standing native standoff in a nearby town that the police seem to be powerless to do anything about. Sadly, there just may have been a bit of truth to his comment.
The party broke up and The Squeeze and I were on our way home for the night. We were amazed at how much activity we managed to pack into one day. Some days we barely have the energy to shop for groceries. But this was all fun, and it certainly didn't feel like anything we HAD to do.
This weekend we'll be visiting the girls on Father's Day. Still can't believe that day applies to me! We'll see them Sunday morning, and then my family is taking my father out to the race track to bet a couple of bucks on the ponies. Apparently they have slots there. I'll be looking for "Hot Shot"...maybe I can break even again.
# posted by Dave @ 2:46 PM 
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Cute kids, good family, great loves, got Dad, got Squeeze, count your blessings. Happy Papa day.
# posted by 
: 8:43 PM
: 8:43 PM
Hey, I was in Hooterville that day too for the Mudcat. You're right about the fireworks. I wonder if the old people in the apartment building sleep right through it or not. My cousin lives across the river in front of the BBQ. It's a great place to watch! Happy Fathers Day. Your girls are sweet.
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# posted by : 5:14 PM
: 5:14 PM << Home
