Life With the Georges: October 2012

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Halloween!!

Will, the Fireman
(or..."I'm going to use my fire extinguisher to squirt the fire out.
So you can call me Squirty the Fireman!")

Mia, the Vampire
(sans teeth because, left in for more than a minute, she gags)

All smiles

Not so long ago (last month?), Grandma Mary asked what the kids want for Christmas.

Me: Mia, what do you want for Christmas?
Mia: Boots.

Not remotely what I was expecting.

Me: Boots? Really?
Mia: Yeah...pink boots.

Me: Pink boots. Ok.
Mia: Yeah...pink boots with rockets on the bottom that shoot out fire so I can fly around like Astro Boy!

Well, that explains the boots. Now...how do I prepare her for the disappointment?

Me: Well...is there something else you might like instead? Because I haven't ever seen any in the stores, so I probably wouldn't be able to find any for Christmas.
Mia: Oh, that's ok. I'll ask Santa for some!

Me: Yeah, but I've never actually seen any pink rocket boots anywhere. That's just something you've thought up.
Mia: I know. But Santa's elves can make anything in his workshop!

I'm feeling slightly cornered.

Me: Well, yeah, that's true. But what you probably didn't know is that parents can tell Santa not to bring their kids something even if Santa's elves can make it. It's called veto power. So even though they could whip up some pink rocket boots for you, I'm going to have to tell Santa I don't want you to have them because I think they'd be awfully dangerous. What if you burned something or a person with the fire from the rockets? Or what if you crashed into something? Or what if you ran out of rocket fuel? I'm not trying to be mean and I think pink rocket boots would be super cool, but they're just too dangerous.

And so that's where we left it. Disappointed but accepting. Pink rocket boots would be cool, I admit.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Grandma Loves Racing

Derek is a big fan of Formula 1 racing. Today, we were all in the family room while he was watching the Indian F1 race.

Mia: Grandma loves watching racing too.
Me: Which grandma?

Mia: Grandma Mary.
Me: Really? Are you sure about that?

I find this very hard to believe. I'm positive my mom doesn't watch racing.

Mia: Yeah.
Me: Grandma Mary loves watching racing? How do you know? Did she tell you?

Mia: Yeah. She said she really likes it and then she was watching it while she was here.

This really does not sound anything like my mother.

Me: You saw Grandma Mary watching racing on tv this past week?
Mia: Just the beginning because then we had to go to bed. But there was a Ryan and an Abbie racing - just like Uncle Ryan and Auntie Abbey.

Things are finally clear to me.

New Names

Mia: Mom, could you please start calling me Princess of Unicorn Pegasus? That's what I want my new name to be.
Me: Princess of Unicorn Pegasus? Uh...ok.

Mia: Yeah. And Will is changing his name too. So can you please start calling him Spud the Skeleton?
Me: Sure thing.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

40th Birthday Las Vegas Trip

Who is luckier than me to have a wife like I do? With my 40th Birthday looming large I received an email from our travel points company thanking me for my interest in flights to Vegas. Scratching my head I wondered what was going on. Well as it would turn out the secret surprise that Erin was so close to pulling off was undone with a single email errantly sent by the travel company. However I was not going to complain :-)

We set about booking and planning all the fun things we would see and do when we arrived. We would leave on Oct 20th and return on in the wee small hours of the 27th. Our itinerary looked like this

Saturday Oct 20th - Depart Calgary at 300P on US Airways. (Side note do not take a picture of the cockpit even though they leave the door open on boarding. That is a sure way to get threatened to be kicked off the plane)

Sunday Oct 21st - Valley of Fire road trip.

Monday Oct 22nd - Shopping day at the outlet mall, and visit Pawn Stars Pawn Shop

Tuesday Oct 23rd - 40th B-day. Pick up Corvette for the day and do Red Rock Canyon run, visit Parhrump Winery and go to Death Valley.

Wednesday Oct 24th - Walk the Strip and check out as many hotels as was possible.

Thursday Oct 25th - Take road trip to Mount Charleston

Friday Oct 26th - Do Red Rock Canyon run one more time (Get stuck behind too many slow cars), and visit more sights on the strip. Depart Vegas at 900P, fly home on Westjet and marvel at how much friendlier Canadian airlines are.

We took many many pictures of our adventures, I have grouped them by major event/common description. Please enjoy, hopefully just a bit as much as we did.

Anxiously awaiting our plane.

The weather we would be leaving behind. Forecast in Vegas for the week was sunny and highs in the 70s and 80s.
I can live with that.

Our plane arriving to pick us up.

View of the Grand Canyon shortly before touch down in Phoenix and our connecting flight to Vegas.

Valley of Fire

Had to take the Mustang out to see what it was like on some twisty roads and no better way to do so than to take a trip out to the Valley of Fire. It is a spectacular drive with beautiful scenery. Even though the Mustang is a little mushy, it was a fun drive and we did a couple of little hikes.

The road out to the Valley of Fire is a wonder to behold.

Death Valley

Another day trip on our itinerary was to venture out to Death Valley. And since we picked up the corvette that morning it seemed like the ideal day to do so. First we drove the loop at Red Rock Canyon to see what the Corvette could do, then it was lunch at Pahrump Winery, then Death Valley. It was a long day, and even though Erin was fighting car sickness for most of it, it was a good day. A great way to spend one's 40th.

Starting the day by picking up my Birthday Present. Oh yes it's going to be a good day indeed.

Our rental cars side by side. The Mustang will get the day off today.

The car was suprisingly good on gas, but better safe than sorry.

After lunch in Pahrump. Now we are good to go to Death Valley.

Erin celebrating because we have stopped for a break. :-)

I was happy because I got to drive a Corvette, Erin was happy cause she got to see where 20 Mule Team Borax comes from.
Each to ones own I guess.

Love the scenery.

This guy just woudn't get off the road.

Look up, way up... That's sea level.

Looking out over the lowest point in the USA.

Even though it's not sand, Erin couldn't resist taking home a souvenir.

Looking back at how far we had gone out into the Salt Flat.

Death Valley at 100mph.

Funky camper from Holland. They were a long way from home.

Even Erin couldn't help smile when behind the wheel of the mighty Vette.

Looking out over Death Valley from Dante's Point. 5500ft above Badwater Basin.

Looking North

Looking South

The Vegas Strip

Ask anyone that has been to Vegas, there is no shortage of things to do on the strip. Even if you are not a big gambler. Erin and I clocked many miles checking things out.

LAS VEGAS - DAY