Day 11.049: European con?

There has been a resurgence in Rock Band activity thanks to E5N1's rediscovery of it. He was the one who pointed out that Rock Band 3's European map seems to have developed a closer relationship between Britain and mainland Europe:

Somewhat ironic really.

Day 11.048: Cone of Shame!

We've been enjoying the Exploding Kittens game since Christmas. So much so, that Exile #4 barely missed a beat when she saw the "first expansion" Imploding Kittens in the store recently. It adds a nice level of extra game play - and also comes with this Cone of Shame - for when someone forgets which direction play is going:

We all agree that Exile #4 wears in particularly well and she does often - even when not required by any ruling against her.

Day 11.047: Did someone say T-Rex?

Yes they did!

Strange things occur with startling regularity around here.

Day 11.046: Exile #2's Sunday Column #193

Exile #2 writes...

Exile #1 and I escaped this afternoon, to be part of a surprise birthday party for a talented jazz musician friend of ours. One advantage of going to a musician’s birthday party is that it might just turn into an impromptu performance, which is briefly what happened. Three of our friend’s band members were there and they treated us to a couple of songs, including a really quite lovely version of The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows. Our hosts had drumsticks but no drum, so the band’s drummer improvised using a step stool.

As a result of the sticks coming out, Exile #1 learned his fact of the day, which is that sixty percent of the world’s drumsticks are made in Maine. I guess, living in a state made mostly of trees, this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but it’s still good to know that Maine is making such an important contribution to keeping things rocking!

Day 11.045: Saco Heath

E5N1 had a busy day - playing outside with the neighbors, playing some Rock Band and going to a birthday party. The rest of us played some games, got some work done etc. (and a couple of us joined in with the rocking). While he was at his party, Exile #2 and I went for a walk at Saco Heath which included some muddy parking lot, some icy and snowy trails and some snowy, icy and clear boardwalk. We had a nice walk and saw several other people out enjoying some spring-like weather ahead of another (mid-sized) winter storm tomorrow.

Day 11.044: Icebergs!

As seen at Scarborough Marsh on Monday:

Day 11.043: Black Panther

It was a late night, but we really enjoyed Black Panther.

It's beautiful and fierce with a magnificent cast and for once, no British baddies!

Day 11.042: Warm, warmer, warmest

We've had quite a few mild days recently - in between the medium-sized snow storms that have kept the ground mostly snow-covered - but today was in another league. I grabbed this screenshot, but it was almost certainly past the warmest part of the day by the time I did so:

I have a feeling that we will be reminded that it is still February and not yet spring before too long!

We celebrated the warm day by going to the Social Security office to apply for numbers for the girls. We understand that they've been eligible since we became Green Card holders, but now that they have reached an age where they might want to get a job, we finally got around to it.

Day 11.041: Scarborough Marsh

Twice in one (long) weekend!

Yes, we all made it out of the house together again yesterday - this time to have a short walk on the Eastern Trail at Scarborough Marsh.

Exile #4 had boot issues but apart from that it looks like we had fun:

We even saw some wildlife - a gull and a mallard or two and this loon and these goldeneyes:

Day 11.040: Ferry Beach State Park (winter edition)

In the summer, a visit to Ferry Beach State Park starts with a drive down the lane through the trees to the parking lot near the beach. From there, there are options for walking in the woods or under the road to the beach. We have visited in winter before - snow shoeing in the woods, but on Saturday we took a different approach.

As ever, out of season, the gates are closed and we joined a few other locals in parking in the entrance area. From there we walked down the road - rather icy where many feet had passed, but easy enough where there was still uncompacted snow:

Eventually, we reached the booth at the parking entrance where we usually flash our park pass:

and walked past the sign that we don't generally take too much time to examine (checkout the font choices!):

and then onto the beach:

Where walked along the mid-tide sands to our planned turn at Bayview beach.

This was possibly the only wildlife we saw:

The girls were a long way ahead but knew the plan. However, they missed the turn and I had to actually call them on one of their phones to get their attention to come back!

Day 11.039: Exile #2's Sunday Column #192

Exile #2 writes...

It was a busy day of this and that. Exile #1 began the morning shoveling the few inches of snow that had fallen overnight.

We made it to church, then enjoyed an afternoon of taxi driving. Exile #4 had a youth group meeting. Exile #3 was invited to a birthday party, where she found herself ice skating for the first time in many years. It sounds like she hadn’t completely forgotten how to stay upright, although she may not be up to a triple lutz quite yet. Mind you she did get an unexpected opportunity to practice yesterday, as parts of our hike were surprisingly treacherous. E5N1 certainly ended up on the ground at some point, but knowing his love of slapstick, it may not have been entirely accidental. The slippery parts may be gone by next weekend, however, as this coming week looks like it will be fairly sunny and dare I say it, warm.

Day 11.038: Ferry Beach

We made it out for a walk on the beach today. It looked like this:

and this...

We got there by a different route than normal, but I'll tell you about that another day.

Day 11.037: Luke at that!

I took this for friends who collect Star Wars related license plate photos, but who am I to deny myself?

Day 11.036: "I am an apple!"

Day 11.035: Curiouser and curiouser

Remember the weird holes where the snow fell through the gaps in the deck boards? Well, things have got stranger since then!

Day 11.034: I know what he means...

...but only because he explained himself!

Let me translate for you:

Mozzarella cheese sandwich (you know what I mean)

or, perhaps:

Mom, please would you make me a (goat) mozzarella cheese sandwich for my lunch tomorrow? Thanks! E5N1 xxx

Day 11.033: Tamed games

I don't have a very good "before" picture, but the corner of our dining room has been a board game storage pile for quite a while.

Now, thanks to Exile #2's hard work (and a little construction help from me) we have this:

I'm tempted to say that it looks like there's room for some more, but we do have "a few" more in overflow storage in the basement!

Day 11.032: Exile #2's Sunday Column #191

Exile #2 writes...

Olympic fever has struck in the Exile household. Maybe it’s something to do with being in Maine which is, not surprisingly, quite enthusiastic about all sports involving sliding in the cold, particularly those involving sliding AND shooting - is it just me or does that combination sound a little alarming?

The opening ceremony was enjoyable but I did feel for the woman who had the job of singing the surprisingly long Olympic anthem. I do hope she’d managed to fit some thermal layers under her Hanbok. I also had some sympathy for the torch bearers from North and South Korea who looked genuinely exhausted on reaching the top of the staircase, carrying, as they were, the weight of the world’s expectations, as well as the torch.

One of my favorite things so far, however, is the US figure skating commentary team, who seem to have made it a personal mission to be wearing more sequins than any of the competitors.

They have quite a flamboyant turn of phrase too, last night calling one of the more experienced competitors “an artistic unicorn among these spry young colts.” Quite ridiculous, of course, but entertaining too.

Day 11.031: Sunset and World Flag

Exile #3 was out at a dance event for a large part of the day, but the rest of us had a fairly lazy time. We played some Rock Band (having a resurgence thanks to E5N1) and some Exploding Kittens, watched some Olympics and Exile #2 collaborated with E5N1 on this creation of his - including a "World Flag" of his own invention:

Day 11.030: Please keep this door closed

While we were in the emergency room a couple of weeks ago, I spotted this:

Dirty Pumps - Please leave plugged in. Please keep this door closed.

I have no idea, but I left the door alone.