My son Dan had to travel for business to southern and middle California at the end of last week, so he tacked on a visit to Frank and me on the weekend. He arrived Friday night, January 31st and left Sunday February 2nd around noon. His younger brother Alex also spent Saturday night with us. We were busy.
Friday night, shortly after his arrival, Dan sheepishly asked if we could play Monopoly, a favorite of his and his dad. Dan located our deluxe version, a gift several Christmases ago from Dan and his sister Robin. After the set up, Dan texted his wife Carrie to let her know what he was up to. He typed in, "We're playing Monopoly!". She answered back quickly and briefly "My worst nightmare!". She is not a strong gamer plus one year, when we played at Dan's house for his birthday, the game went on until 2:00 am since neither Dan nor his Dad were willing to declare bankruptcy and be the loser. This time however, the first game went quickly, unlike those usual marathons. Dan and I made a deal before all the properties were sold, much to Frank's protests. I was able to win ... a very rare feat for me in Monopoly. Frank grumbled that it was because Dan and I traded before Frank had enough properties and therefore had no opportunity to get a full set and build. And what goes with Monopoly? Pizza Rolls of course! Dan had eaten supper on the road on his trip up and so this was his second (and preferred) dinner.
Since the Monopoly game was short enough, it was not too late to watch a movie. Dan suggested a weird movie with Will Ferrell titled
Stranger than Fiction (2006). Will Ferrell stars as Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who suddenly starts hearing a voice. This unseen voice belongs to an author who is writing a book and whatever she writes is what happens to Harold Crick. All her books are tragedies and end in the death of the hero. Harold is trying to change this narrative and its associated ending which could affect his own life.
Stranger than Fiction was curious and interesting. I liked the quirkiness.
Per IMDB it was rated 7.6/10.
During the day on Saturday, we played another round of Monopoly. Dan helped out Frank and me with some tasks. Dan changed out the burnt out flood light illuminating our back yard by climbing out Alex's window onto the walkway above the deck cover. He also ferried eleven boxes of patterns from the attic and one of the bedrooms to downstairs. I am donating these to my quilt guild's fabric sale. Child labor — from a grown child — is great!
Saturday night Frank, Alex, and I had tickets to a 7:00 pm performance of
Fraggle Rock Live at our local Bankhead Theatre. I initially felt bad that while Dan was here we would be out, but the situation worked out well. Dan met up with a classmate from Cal Poly and the two of them went out for a fancy steak dinner while Frank, Alex, and I went to
Fraggle Rock Live. The plot was straightforward. The Fraggles' celebration stone had broken into four pieces and those sections had been scattered. It was up to the Fraggles to gather the pieces and assemble them so that celebrations could once again happen.
The show was fun as I listened to the peppy music, remembering some of the songs I'd heard, many, many, many times a day while Alex was growing up. Alex, too, smiled at those tunes that were familiar to him.
A one minute YouTube video of the Fraggles' opening sequence may jog my readers' memories as well. Frank and I were amazed when earlier that afternoon, before the show, Dan sang the entire opening number for us. He had not forgotten, either.
The staging was amusing, also. Five life size characters for the main Fraggle characters — (left to right) Red, Mokey, Gobo, Boober, and Wembley — were front stage and behind them was a projection screen with images of the Fraggle caves and lots and lots of other Fraggles. In the between stage area, in front of the screen and behind the five main characters, were other three dimensional muppets, so the distinction between 3D and 2D was somewhat blurred. One scene featured a humongous three dimensional Marjory the Trash Heap. Marjory took up almost all of the stage area and required several stage hands to move her into position. Her arms were so widespread there must have been at least two puppeteers inside her, manipulating her arm motions. Another scene featured a projected giant-size image of Junior Gorg. Afterward, a huge three dimensional Gorg hand emerged from behind the curtains at the side of the stage.
Another nice perk of Dan's visit was that his suitcase was not overly full so he could bring back a couple items for his kids. Lillian is horse-crazy, same as Robin was as a child, and so we passed on Robin's horse jacket. Yes, Lillian has a bit of growing to do before it fits her, but she loved it. At least since she lives in Colorado now, rather than southern California, so the weather will be cold enough for her to get good use out of it — once it fits her. I hope she gets larger before her interest in horses gets smaller.
Dan also brought back a 1-2-3 Go! game that is age appropriate for four year old Irene. She liked it. I also sent a book called
The Great Escape by Natalie Hayes. I think the snarkiness of the lead character cat will appeal to the three older kids. Technically it is not a young adult book but I liked it enough per
my 1/17/2019 blog post about it.
This past weekend on the cusp of January and February 2025 was very busy and we greatly enjoyed it. Here are some parting photos of our two sons for posterity. We also captured one picture each for Frank and me with Dan and Alex.
After a last parting hug, I captured a final snapshot of my handsome son before he drove off.
