Abby receives the Panther Pride award
Proud Miss Abby received a Panther Pride award from her grade school for, among other things, "Tackling every learning experience with enthusiasm. For being dependable, honest, talking, laughing, learning to work out things with words. Lego queen. That's our Abby!"
That about sums up Abigail's approach to everything, from breakfast to bath to baseball. All out, all the time. Big smiles, big tears, very noisy. Lots of moving parts. That is indeed our Abby!
Manisfam Halloween Party 2006
By all verbal and electronic mail accounts, the Manisfam Halloween Party 2006 was a success. If volume-level of delighted squealing and laughter is the measure of a good party, then Abby's classmates and neighborhood friends sent this party straight to the top of list. The costumed boys and ghouls ground their fangs through pounds of red meat, set their claws to spooky Halloween decorations to take home, and boogied their fright wigs off to howling music.
Some highlights include:
Max, Jr. being sent upstairs to his crate where he barked as loud as he has ever barked his girly chirp-bark only to have his irritating cries utterly swallowed up by the din of laughing children.
A terrifying grim reaper racing from room to room screaming "Die! Die!" to the terrified delight of his squealing victims.
A full-on, get-down-on-the-dance-floor-get-back-up-again Halloween dance party in which every costumed guest laid it down so fearlessly and thoroughly that the scene bordered on performance art.
The primal terror of hearing kids crying out to hear "that watching song" one more time. The "watching song" being Rockwell's early 1984 dance masterpiece "Somebody's Watching Me". If that doesn't make you shudder, a guest actually knew the artist, album, year, and some trivia involving the recording of the song! There are some memories that should stay repressed.
Sweet, sweet, pumpkin juice in the kitchen (for parental consumption only).
Michelle channeling the ghost of Amelia Earhart to the slack-jawed amazement of her guests.
Just kidding on that last part, it was actually Doug who contacted the dead. Still kidding!
Photos from the party
Photos are posted online. For the sake of privacy, this photo album is invitation-only. If you were at the party please drop the Manisfam a line with your e-mail address and we'll send you an invitation with dead-easy instructions for logging in.
Manisfam photos now on flickr
We're experimenting with publishing our photos to flickr.com. Check out the first photo set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/manisfam/. You can leave a comment for any of the photos and we're hoping that our friends and family will share their thoughts online. So give it a try and let us know how you like it.
To Wallace and back
Wilson joins Abby and the rest on the annual voyage to Harrison, Missoula, Clarkston, and back. This time we dropped in on historic Wallace as well.
Uncle Greg at the Highland Games
This August Uncle Greg competed in the 2005 Whidbey Island Highland Games. Highland Games are a set of ancient contests testing the competitors' strength and balance. Swiftness afoot is not featured--apparently the ancient Scotts were not impressed with speedy men. If you take the Highland Games as a reflection of the physical traits valued by ancient Scotts, you must conclude that those rugged folk had a soft spot for red, large, hairy men who can throw heavy objects a long way. From what I witnessed, I'm pretty sure grunting was a desired skill as well.
Best of all, competitors must wear a kilt! I pretty sure they would wear one even if it weren't required. If you wear a Utilikilt, or want to wear one, go to a Highland Games. No one will judge you there. I nearly bought one myself.
Contests include the hammer throw, the light stone, the heavy stone, and the mother of all Highland tests, the caber toss, in which contestents grasp a log by its base, hoist it to their chest, and flip it so that the end they were holding lands furthest from them. I'm not kidding when I say "log". The thing is basically a tree with the branches removed. Most contestents can't even flip the darn thing. I respect anyone who can manage to lift it at all.
The gaming community is very close and supportive. Athletes routinely offer tips and encouragement to their opponents during play. The games are competitive, but the gamers seem to be more interested in growing the sport and making friendships than in beating each other. Also, a newbie could seriously injure themselves if they use bad technique, so these events are an opportunity to build up some serious karma.
Uncle Greg did very well, placing first in several events for an overall fourth place finish in a field of a couple of dozen. Greg is neither hairy nor red, but he is taller than most American men, and he plans to train hard for next year's season.
The Manisfam had loads of fun and snapped enough photos to cover a heavy stone.
Backyard camping
One hot day in August the Manisfam decided to go camping. Oh, dear, sweet Manisfam. You actually think you can find a state park campsite for a Northwest summer weekend with two days notice. Romantic fools!
We couldn't find an open campground in the entire state, so we set up camp in the backyard after a meal cooked in our own kitchen and woke with the sun to drive five blocks to a hearty hotcake breakfast from the pancake house. It was Abby and Max's first camping experience, so it was probably for the best that we practiced on our own land first.
Here are a couple of photos of the camping trip. Also a couple of Oompa and Wilson thrown in for good measure.