A Long Overdue Sister Bag Adventure

Dearest Sister,

My sincerest apologies for having the sister bag for basically a thousand years.  It is a rather tragic event, especially when considering that I’ve done a lot of fun things, I’ve just failed to take the sister bag with me.  Luckily, I remedied this two weekends ago when I took the bag to Cider Days for some quality puppy volunteer time.

Now, as you may or may not know, Cider Days is a Springfield, MO fall festival.  It takes place on “Historic Walnut Street,” and I used to find it quite fancy and adorable.  However, Sparhawk and I have now attended fall festivals all over the Ozark area, and we have found many more impressive events.  Sorry, Cider Days.

Even if it is not nearly as fancy as the other festivals, Cider Days does have one significant benefit.  And that would be the Humane Society tent!  In past years, I have giddily ogled the puppies that come to these events.  This year, I got to hang out with them.

These were three of the puppies that came with us.  The fourth, Stormy, spent most of her time on another volunteer’s lap, so I didn’t spend much time with her.  The first puppy, Bella, is the one that Amanda ended up adopting.  The middle one, Oddie, was my little buddy most of the day.  And the last one posing with her paw on the sister bag, Brittany, is the one that almost came home with us.  No shame.

We had a fun day saying hello to people and going for miniature puppy walks.  After many hours outside, we were all sleepy.  Particularly little Oddie, who was also chilly.  We made them all beds.  It was incredibly precious.  Fortunately I had the bag with me to save my chair and house my snacks.

After we loaded the pups back in the van to go home, Sparhawk and I wandered around the street a little more to look at all the vendors.

I had spent most of my time in the tent with the puppies.  We found a lot of fantastic things, including the customary honey sticks, the most delicious apple cider candle of my life, and your present!  We also found this lady who does absolutely fantastic work.  Some of her paintings featured pets, so of course I asked her about them, and I discovered she does custom pet portraits!  So look out for that in my house soon.

All together, it was a very fun day.  I ran into lots of people I knew on the street, and several friends came by to visit and pet puppies.  As you can imagine, when I returned home, Annabelle and Nyxen were very jealous and had many opinions on how I spent my time.

– Super Koala, Out!

Adventures in the City

Dearest Super Koala,

I realized that I haven’t done my sister bag post even though I completed an adventure a few weeks ago. Mommabird and I took the children to the City Museum.

It was quite the adventure with it being their first time. The very first slide Tanner went down, he wound up landing face first. He hasn’t quite figured out how sliding works. Eventually we got them upstairs to were the toddler friendly things are. I had never been in that room before, and it was actually pretty cute. The first thing they saw was the little train that you can ride. They were so excited that nothing else could be done until that train was conquered, and by the end of our trip it had been conquered thrice.

There was also a play area with cars and trucks, and giant foam building blocks, and legos, and miniature kid friendly climbing obstacles. Tanner really loved the blocks.

After we left the kids room, we went outside to do a little more serious climbing. Tanner really loved the fire truck, and we hung out in there for a long time with him sitting at the steering wheel.

I was able to get Tanner and Ady all the way up to the first airplane, but then I had to take Tanner back down.

Ady and I went higher, but we soon had to go back inside for it was very chilly. Upon returning into the building, we headed to the craft room and made rag dolls and paper snowflakes. Soon afterward, Tanner was beginning to get very sleepy, so we packed up and headed home. It was a pretty great adventure if I do say so myself.

Eventual, Inevitable Wreckage

Dearest Captain Spazzmataz,

It’s slightly silly to be addressing this post to you as you are currently sitting next to me watching The Dark Knight.  However, I am finally, finally completing my post for the week.  For all readers that may not know, we technically took this week off for holiday celebrations.  But I’m not off the hook for my missing post from this past Sunday.  To compensate, this post will be quite large.

Phase One: The Sister Bag

As pointed out in your last post, it’s been quite some time since I did anything with the Sister Bag.  This is all my fault.  I had planned a really excellent adventure with the pups that involved lots of outside time.  But the weather never once cooperated.  Up until Christmas, it had been weeks since I had seen the sun.  And if the puppy girls don’t appreciate one thing, it’s mist.  To prepare for a Sister Bag exchange, I decided to take the bag everywhere I went for two days.  Keeping this in mind, I tried to go places I particularly enjoyed.

On Friday, I only went two places due to not feeling well.  The first place I went was, of course, school, where it was our last day of the semester.  I have this lovely picture taken inside my classroom door.

After school, I swung by GameStop.  I had forgotten there was one so close to my house.  I acquired the missing to piece to my video game collection, the second Kingdom Hearts installment.  Bliss.

On Saturday, I set out determined to do excellent things.  Unfortunately the weather looked like this:

It stayed gray and misty all day.  Not surprising.  I was not deterred.

I think one of my favorite places in all of Springfield has to be the Humane Society.  But we all know it’s not safe for me to go there.  Instead I snapped this quick picture of it.  Pretend like I was there.

I hate taking selfies in public.  Haaaate it.  So I took one in my car before embarkation.  The rest were taken as I walked from the various places.  I made sure to include the bag strap in every picture so you know it was there.

The first place I went was the library.  I felt very proud of my book selection.  I only picked out four books as opposed to my usual, excessive stack, so this feels way more manageable.

Next, Starbucks.  I acquired myself one of their special holiday drinks.  And it was completely free.

Next, I spent some time on Pickwick to go by Elle’s and Imo’s.  I took a picture with what should be your bag of macarons.  So dad.  Also, you can see the ever illusive Sparhawk behind the counter at Imo’s and some delicious garlic cheese bread.

The final stop was Hurts Donuts.  I thought about making other stops, but they all involved food or books, so I figured I’d stop with this one.  Obviously, my rainy and chilly Saturdays have a common theme.

Delicious.  I don’t think I actually ate one on Saturday.  As you can tell, I consumed a lot of food.  But I always love Hurts.

Phase Two: The Wreckage

As you recall, I owe two wreckings and two postcards.  I have finally completed all of these!

My first wreckage was very easy.  I accepted the cardboard challenge.  I figured it would be incredibly easy, and I was right.

I set out into the basement to find any form of cardboard.  I started to grow semi-nervous.  I found so much cardboard, but it was all attached to boxes.  I didn’t want to destroy something that belonged to Mom or Dad.  Then I remembered the recycling bin, and the challenge was completed.  It only took one minute and forty-eight seconds.  Boom.

My second wreckage was also pretty straightforward.  I attempted to map our typical puppy walk route when the girls and I are in town.  I did very poorly.  Apparently, I’m bad at scaling distance.  But, y’know, it’s a general estimate.

Phase Three: The Postcards

For my first card, I played a game with the girls.  No one else was around for me to fortune tell with.  I don’t think we’ve done this one yet, so I provided a visual of what the card looks like.  I had to cut it into pieces, so it obviously won’t be mailed to anyone.

Annabelle was absolutely desperate to play.  So she asked the first question.  “Will I get treats tomorrow?”

Her first card was a simple “maybe,” which made her look terribly depressed.

I cheated and got her a new card to restore happiness.

Nyx asked the obvious question.  The one she contemplates every single day.  The question was, “Will tomorrow be the day I take over the world?”  The cards responded in a way she can live with.

To be fair, I had to ask a question, too.  I asked, “Will I have an absolutely delicious dinner tomorrow night?”  The cards know all.

For my last task, I forgot to take a before picture.  But I completed the idea generator.  For the first box, I kind of forgot that it was supposed to be things in nature, so I got a little off course.  Regardless, I came up with the outstanding “Marvelous Mud Facewash” as my new product.  It’s been a while since I sent off a card, so I think I’m going to mail this one.  I’ll provide product details to the lucky recipient.

Well there it is!  I am done!  Hope you enjoy; I’ll look forward to yours.

– Super Koala

Wrecking Late (with permission)

Dearest Super Koala,

I would gladly help you with your book, but what the heck is NaNoWriMo? I don’t even know how to pronounce it! Anyway, this week has been pretty fun. After coming home on Sunday, Shannalan called me up and asked if I would like to carve pumpkins! Actually, she called and asked if I was home, and when I said yes she demanded that we carve pumpkins, but I didn’t mind. Even though it was the first time I have ever done it, I wanted to make one that was really cool, so I looked on the wonderful world of google and decided to make an owl sitting on a tree branch. I accidentally cut out the wrong part of the pumpkin, but it still looks cool, so I am going with it.

Shannon made a Mike Wazowski inspired one eyed pumpkin, and Travis made a Jack Skellington face.

I think they all turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. Nothing special happened on Monday, just a regular B day. Tuesday I had my guitar lessons and signed up for solo and ensemble. I am going to do a solo and a saxophone quintet. If Wind Symphony gets 100% participation rate at solo and ensemble, then we won’t have any rehearsals during ANP next semester! That would be the best ever. Wednesday was the band banquet. It is really upsetting that I had to sign so many senior books. I am going to have zero friends next year. I took up an entire page in Shannon’s book. Thursday I had saxophone lessons and lots of homework which was another reason why I asked for a Friday date. Friday was fun. I dressed very Halloween themed to school, and then we went out to Aaron’s house for trick-or-treating with the kids. We just went up and down their street, but it was really cute to see Tanner waddle up to the doors. I took the sister bag, the second reason I asked for the Friday date, and I was so glad I had it. Before we got there, Mom insisted that we got something for the kids, so instead of buying them more candy, we stopped an Shnucks and got them cookies. We got the ones from the glass case, and the smallest container they had was a white paper bag. When we got to the checkout I realized that because I had by bag, with markers in it, I could decorate the bags. I wrote Happy Halloween on them and drew a pumpkin. It turned out really cute. Tanner was dressed as a garden gnome and Ady was Super Girl.

(look, you can see the bag in the background!)

After we got inside, Heater showed up with Jaden, Winter, and one of her friends, so then I took them around the neighborhood too. It was so cold, and my face was pretty well frozen by the time we got inside. Winter and her friend were dressed as babies and Jaden was the Scream. I am surprised he dressed as that because he was afraid of some of the decorations. When we turned around to head back Jaden asked if I would carry his bag, but I told him if he couldn’t carry it then he had enough candy. He carried it the rest of the way. That was the extent of my week; now on to the wrecking!

For my wreckage this week I decided to get a little messy.

I bundled up and waltzed right into the backyard to get some dirt. Here is how my master piece turned out.

This next one was pretty fun.

It didn’t get as dirty as I thought it would, but it is all about the journey.

face down on the ground

kicking it in the dirt

kicking it in the grass

finished product

My book doesn’t close anymore.

For my first postcard, the messy theme continues. Mess is even in the title.

It took me a long time to figure out what to do with this page, but I finally figured it out. Tye-dye!

before water

after water

I guess it was a little on the clean side, but based on the wetness of the card, I don’t think I am going to be able to send it.

For my second postcard, I used this one.

I started by scraping into it with a stick, but that didn’t work to well. Then I went inside and got my exacto knife and reenforced the scrapes. I realized that when sending my postcards, your original one fell behind my desk, so I still have it. Whops. I will mail it tomorrow along with my carving to make up for it.

That is all for this week! I can’t wait for your post and your very fastly approaching visit!

– C.S.

Great Waddling Wizards!

 

This weekend was a most excellent occasion.  The Spazz and our intrepid father came down to Springfield for some adventurous bonding.  This initially began without me.  Captain and my father went for a tour at Missouri State University, my alma matter and a school Spazz is considering attending.  Once they explored the campus, we met up for a softball game, some delicious dinner, and the acquisition of our run materials.

The run is called Jack’s Wizard Waddle, and it benefits the local area Make-A-Wish foundation.  Everything was very cute and wizardly, and they gave us probably our most awesome 5k shirt to date.

The run actually went through my old neighborhood, so that was quite fun.  Despite the temptation to take several short cuts, we ran the full course.  While we didn’t run the whole race, it was definitely the most running we’ve done so far.  We’re getting there.

At the end they gave out these excellent finisher medals, which I guess is a plus to running a timed, competitive race.  Further excitement ensued when the Spazz actually won an award for second place finisher in her age bracket, meaning she got an extra special medal.  I came in fourth for mine.

Afterwards we did the number one thing anyone should do when they’re in the Rountree neighborhood.  We went to Elle’s for some much deserved treats and went to Imo’s to give Sparhawk some coffee and get our picture taken.

(Captain Spazzmataz speaking now)

After the run we set forth on the enormous task of bathing the puppies. Because it was warmer this weekend, we were able to do it outside in the kiddie pool. The whole experience is much more pleasant when we do it outside. Then we showered and decided to go to Pleasant Hope’s state softball game. In the first inning, the girls were doing great and scored two runs, but then everything went down hill. The final score wound up being 16-3 with the other team clobbering Pleasant Hope. After the game we went to the movies to see Guardians of the Galaxy. We have waited so long to see it because we wanted to see it together. It was totally worth it. It was a really great movie because it was humorous and it tied together a lot of the after credits scenes. Then we had a lovely treat of a dozen donuts from Hurts, and when we got home, we feasted. It was the perfect ending to a very fun filled day.

 

ALL the Adventures

Dearest Captain Spazzmataz,

This weekend has been quite adventurous, excluding today, which was very lazy.  I’ve been pretty excited to post about all the excitement.

So, this week was parent teacher conferences.  That means I had to stay at school until about 8:30, but it wasn’t so bad.  Afterwards, I went to one of the other teacher’s houses to hang out for a little bit, so that was fun bonding times.  Since we were in school for so long, we had Friday off.  I was absolutely awesome, if I do say so myself, and scoured the house.  It looked pretty beautiful.  Sparhawk’s family was in town, and of course we went to Lambert’s for dinner.

Saturday was my true day of adventures, so I chose to make it my sister backpack adventure.  I began by putting adorable bandanas on the pups, and taking them to the pets and pumpkins parade.

Nyxie looks a little pitiful in her picture, but I swear she didn’t mind.

The event was fun and cute.  We didn’t stay for the actual parade portion.  I thought that’d be a little stressful for the small one.  But we walked around, looked at the booths, got free stuff, and saw a bunch of adorable dogs in costume.  At one point, we saw five corgis dressed at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  So perfect.  The sister bag served an excellent purpose in collecting all our goodies.

Afterwards, I swung by Elle’s for a pumpkin spice macaroon and some other delicious treats.  When we arrived home, the pupups were officially pooped.

However!  The adventures did not stop there.  Later that evening, I went with BBKF to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  The bag, of course, came with.

Seeing the show was lots of fun, but the whole thing was entirely ridiculous.  If you’ve never seen the show in theaters, it involves much yelling at the screen and dancing in the aisles.  It’s a blast, but not for the faint of heart.  Maybe we’ll go together in the event that you move to Springfield.  Though I think you have to be 21 to get into the Gillioz showing.  I feel like this was a really solid sister bag adventure.  Also, we don’t have a sister bag category, so I’m fixing this.  We should make a new rule where we have to include the bag adventure in one of our posts.  The only downside to this outing was that I only came away with a paper noisemaker, which doesn’t make a very good bag gift.  I’ll have to see if I can scrounge up something before your visit this weekend.

On to the wreckage!

It will take a while to complete this weekend’s wrecking, but I initiated the beginning steps of composting.

We actually have a compost pile in the backyard, so I decided to dress up this little wormie for his slow return to the earth.  Composting takes quite some time to happen, or so I’ve learned.  But the stuff at the bottom of our pile has turned, mostly, to a dirt substance.  If I remember, I’ll take a periodic picture of the compost progression.

In case you wanted proof, you can see the little page inside all the muck.  You can also see the Belles, who is always intrigued by the compost pile.

Fate chose my postcard this week.  This page, which I think is the very first one, fell out of the book.  Trying to keep it in there was driving me crazy, so I decided to ship it on off.

I had been putting this one off because the trip to the mailbox doesn’t seem particularly enthralling.  I had considered driving somewhere to mail it in a different box, but that probably wouldn’t happen and seems slightly unsafe.  It might not be my favorite, but I’m fairly happy with it.

Anyhow, I hope your Mizzou competition went well!  Is it weird to be done with marching for the year?  Just think, you only have one year of high school marching left.  I hope you guys were pleased with your final performance.  I really enjoyed your bug page from last week.  I hadn’t even realized that was a task.  It’s inspired me to come up with something for that page as well.  Because you were so right when you said that was never, ever going to happen.

This past week I started on the reboot for my book idea.  If I sent you chunks as I finished them, would you read them and give me comments?  I’m not very far at all, but it is a start.  I want to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but I know I can’t complete 50,000 words in the month of November.  I’m hoping to give myself a preemptive start on the process.  Who knows?  Maybe it will happen.

Annabelle is making her old man noises, so I suppose it is time for bed.  It’s so incredibly precious.  Nyxie and Belles are sitting by me on the couch, and Sparhawk is in the recliner.  Nyx wants very badly to keep an eye on him, but she keeps nodding off in the process.  It’s like a toddler wanting to stay up for their favorite movie, but is just too sleepy.  On that puppy note, I have captured a picture of Nyx and Annabelle splitting one of the beds for you!

They remind me of a little yin-yang.  Cutest yin-yang ever.

That’s all for me.  I look forward to your post on Thursday!  And I’ll see you on Friday!

– Super Koala