Mini-golf - the way it was meant to be played

It seems like great golf tournaments get the best draw when they boast an exotic location with beautiful weather.  Virg's first game of mini-golf was no exception.  You can't get any better than August in Billings, Montana.  Just across the freeway from the Yellowstone River, and down the street from the Sleep Inn.  Who could ask for more?  18 holes with water features, tiny sand traps and a mini-mountain honey-combed with a maze of golf ball tunnels. Virg was the crowd's favorite, poised to win, with his best golfing outfit, and his faithful caddy, Daddy.  If he could have played past the 8th hole, he would have swept the competition.  But as it was, Mommy, graham crackers, and Nature were all calling...and Virg had to answer.

Ok daddy caddy, I think I can see the green from here. 

Let's start with a nine iron for the first swing. 

And where's my golf cart?

It's the second to last hole before Virg needs to call it a day,

and go back to the clubhouse for a snack. 

Daddy and Grandpa debate which putter to use to get the birdie. 

Is that a birdie in the hole?  Ok then, everybody just walk away

and pretend like we didn't see anything.

Little brother's got the will and the driver to make a great golf game.  There's only one thing missing...

By the power of Greyskull!...(and foam-rubber!)

I have to say, this was to be expected.  When you have two boys coming of age, and Daddy's best buddy in the U.S. Army sends them a birthday package in the mail, it's either going to be something to do with bacon grease (which was last Christmas), or a weapon.  However, frankly, I thought we had a few more years before we'd expect to see anything really interesting in the second department.  Clearly, I was wrong.  Major Rob was so prepared, so resourceful, and so creative as to provide each boy with an age-appropriate tool of destruction within their first three years of life.  And on top of it all, these wonderful gifts are made of foam, so they can be safely used inside the house.  The letter arriving with the package listed the many useful ways in which these tools can be used in creative construction, camping, and farming applications.  However, Mommy is not fooled. 

What amazing new feats of bashing await us?

Virg is starting to fit the pieces together...

By the power of Greyskull! 

(Watch out little brother, this hammer's coming down!)

Virg "daredevil on a slide" Hansen

Virg used to be like any mild-mannered 3-year-old when it came to playing on the big toys and playground equipment.  And then he found the slide.  The first couple of times he went down, Daddy held his hand.  By the third time, Virg was ready to take a ride down the slide on his own.  By ride #5, Virg was really getting his groove, and ready to take it to the next level. Backwards, head-first, reverse, running dives, blind-folded, on his motorcycle, with his hair on fire...ok maybe not those last few.  But this guy is seriously fearless on any slide that starts at the top and goes to the bottom. If there was an extreme sport for sliding, Virg would be the extremist. 

Watch out, it's Virg to the Xtreme!

I'm a 'duction worker

Sometimes a guy just needs to pursue his dream job without letting anything stand in the way.  For Virg, this means working in construction.  Our friend in the biz says that jobs are slow in coming these days, but that doesn't phase Virg.  Oh no, he wakes up every morning, ready to drive to the job site and get digging.  In most cases, the job site ends up being the sand-table in the driveway, but that sand-table is the most thoroughly prepped and graded construction site you've ever seen.  On the rare day that Virg get's out to the beach, watch out beach-combers and sun-bathers!  It's a construction site now, and there's no loitering allowed.  Kindly step outside the construction site boundaries please, and watch the magic!

Just let me dig, Mommy!

Foreman Emmett looks concerned...

Climate Change - and it's not Global Warming!

So, it's been a bit chilly lately.  In fact, we're in the middle of July, and can't seem to break 70 degrees more than once a week.  It's been so cold and wet, that the growing season seems to be all but hopelessly stalled.  No tomatoes in our garden this year.  Slugs are at an all-time high, so no running barefoot through the grass without squishing a bunch of them on your feet (Icki-poo!  Can someone say SANI-WIPES?)  You can see it in Virg's wardrobe which is about 4 months behind the normal season.  Just wait for our line of fabulous fur-lined snowsuits we'll be rolling out in August.

April:  here we see Virg sporting his puffy down anorak with hood for Easter.

May: next we have Virg in his flannel-lined wind-breaker with rake. 

June: here Virg layers a jaunty, wool-lined hoody 

with an orange wind-breaker and rain boots for a stroll around the park.

July:  winding it up, here we see Virg in his traffic-orange, 

double-thick hooded sweatshirt ready for a backyard picnic.

 Can someone say brrrrrr?

Help! Cute little zombies in the backyard

You know it's time to pack up and leave town when cute little zombies start popping up in the backyard.  You have simply got no chance against them.  If the zombies were old, wore ratty clothes, made grunting sounds and smelled like rotten eggs, you'd never think twice about blasting them out of existence.  But when they're 2 feet tall, wearing their best Carter's outfits, making little googoo sounds, and only drooling a little bit, it's a tough call.  Their legendary cuteness can be mesmerizing until they are almost on top of you and then they have you right where they want you - and it's too late.  You're pretty much defenseless in these circumstances, except for the one magic card that never fails to turn them right around and get them running the other way in a hurry:  threat of a diaper change.   

We're coming to get you (and drool all over your shirt)!

Birthday Bike 3.0

It's hard to believe Virg is all ready for his first bike.  Virg has officially gone multi-modal.  He's on the fast track now. Just call him Virg-lightnin'.  He's taking life by the handlebars and not letting go.  It's going to be a bumpy ride, so hold on to your hats and bring your knee-pads.  Full steam ahead.  There's no backtracking here, and you better watch out, 'cause pretty soon the gloves (and training wheels) are coming off!

The mechanics at work. 

Daddy appears to be reading the instructions...

something's not right here.

I think I see something, no maybe not.

Daddy is still reading the instructions

(what in the world?!) 

Meanwhile Virg is moving on with the multi-tool.

I'm not sure that Daddy read the instructions entirely correctly.

The man and his machine...