Brain, Brawn & Beach

We spent last weekend on the coast and it was fantastic.  The weather was cool and sunny, and the company was exceptional.  Our friends are nearly as nerdy as we are, adventurous, and full of energy.  Because of this,  it was not alright that there wasn't a dry way across a small river to the big beach.  We used levers, muscles and a civil engineer to turn a fallen tree, into a bridge.

We were quite proud of our work.  We watched visitors come to the beach and casually walk across our bridge.  The kids excitedly told the first few folks of our creation, but I think they felt snubbed when they weren't met with as much as enthusiasm as we had.

The day finished off with a walk, a sea food meal, a game of hearts (which was good for the competitive types, not me, so much, but I'll play) and a lot of laughter.  One of the best days of the year!

simple machines

muscles and a calculator watch

next, a pyramid 

Sibling Rivalry Reprieve

For about five minutes last week my kids forgot they are brother and sister, and were friends.  I had a camera.  It reminds me that they will not be bickering in the back seat of the car forever, just about 5 more years.

Freebie List

Long before Friends, Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe, had a celebrity "freebie list", my grandparents had one.   A freebie list is a set of people who you are allowed to cheat on your spouse with, should they come to the door of your house for you.  The other spouse would have to stay behind, knowing it was a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for the other.  Yes, my Methodist grandparents.  Both have been gone for a long while now, as well as the celebrities.  On the long running sitcom Friends, the list was 5 celebrities, but for my grandparents, they only got one:  Rita Hayworth for my grandpa and Gregory Peck for my grandma.

This is how I imagine the scenario playing out.  My grandparents would be sitting by a fan in the house, on a hot Central Californian day, playing bridge, or rather a 2 person card game, and drinking water, while my dad and uncle were out in the street riding bikes.  A black car would pull into the drive, and either Rita or Greg would ring the bell.  My grandma would make a cute surprise noise, and my grandpa would get the door.  Depending on the whoever it was, the grandparent in question would quietly go to the bedroom and fill a suitcase, and without a word, leave in the black car for Hollywood.  As if a switch had gone off in his or her head, like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (it is the 50's in my imagination, so I'm sticking to the theme).

There are a lot of holes in this plan beyond the morality of it.  I'm positive my grandparents told their children this quirky plan, to reassure them that they never would leave one another (as well as just kidding around, they were funny folks). They said it to confirm their love for one another until death parted them.  What are the chances of the most famous movie actors of the day coming to the front door?  Imagine George Clooney coming to your house, right?  What are the chances?

Inadvertently, the legacy that my grandparents left us was probably different than their intention.  For my father, it left him with worry as a child:  what if those famous people just do happen by our house in Merced California?  It is something a kid could worry about.  For me it left me with a huge crush on Gregory Peck!