Crumpled Home » horses

Transmogrification (without the tiger)

Luke — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:07:27 +0000

RJ: Dad, if LR comes back from camp with four legs, big marshmallow lips and a mane and a tale and hooves, do we have to keep her?

Dad: I’m not sure RJ. If she can talk, I think we have to.

RJ: She wont be able to talk, Dad. She’s a horse.

Dad: A horse could be kind of useful. Do you think she could make it up the stairs to her room?

RJ: No way!

Dad: I guess she could stay in the backyard. Mom would be pretty upset if we got rid of her.

RJ: It just wouldn’t work. She would eat all the plants and wouldn’t be able to do her jobs around the house. She’d have to go.

Dad: I guess you’re right. Oh well, I’ll miss her.

Traditional logic

Luke — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:07:46 +0000

(while jumping on the trampoline)

RJ: (bounce, bounce) I don’t believe in Santa, you know.

Dad: Really? Why is that?

RJ: (bounce) Well, there are too many problems with his story.

Dad: Such as?

RJ: (bounce) Well… We don’t even have a chimney in our house. How could he get anything inside?

Dad: Couldn’t he sneak in a window or something?

RJ: (bounce) That’s the other problem! He’s way too fat! He wouldn’t fit and his hat would fall off!

Dad: Fair enough. Then what –

RJ: (bounce) BUT! I do believe in Sinterklaas. He’s the Dutch Santa.

Dad: Really? Why do you believe in him?

RJ: (bounce) Because he has Black Petes to help him out. He is way smaller, and fast. They can sneak in anywhere with the presents. Also, his hat is smaller and round, so it wont fall off so easily.

RJ: (suddenly the bouncing stops) … AND Sinterklaas rides a horse. Who ever heard of a such a thing as a flying reindeer? It’s just so ridiculous!

Art time!

Luke — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:07:18 +0000

Here are some random drawings and pictures that have shown up lately.

Mouse Avenger #12, by RJ

Mouse Avenger is an original series that RJ has been creating. Each has a detailed, full-colour front cover with a series of black and white drawings inside. Most episodes involve battling some kind of dragons and/or scorpions. Mouse Avenger is pretty ruthless with his sword and shield.

The inside of Dad’s birthday card, from LR:

Why yes... Yes it does...

Dad and the kids were doing some drawings on the weekend and they were particularly proud of what they came up with…

Horse and Tree, by LR

Haunted Mansion, by RJ

Haunted Mansion (colour), by RJ and Daddy

Haunted Mansion is a book in the school library that RJ hasn’t read, but seems to know an awful lot about. Those are ghosts chasing the people and I do believe those are severed heads hanging off the legs of the evil crab monster.

Insert lame joke here

Luke — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:07:11 +0000

(while eating breakfast)

LR: Dad, now my other foot is hurting.

Dad: From yesterday, on the trampoline? Not a good sign. You know what they do with horses when they break a leg or seriously hurt themselves?

LR: No?

Dad: They shoot them.

LR: You can’t shoot me!

Dad: I know. We’ll come up with another plan instead.

RJ: How about we just build a pyramid and bury her inside with some slaves and some of those beetles?

Dad: Nice idea. We can leave the cat in there too!

LR: Noooooo!

Dad: How about we find her a job where she doesn’t have to walk around much?

RJ: Why don’t we cover her in honey, and stand her in the corner so that all the flies and mosquitoes stick to her.

Dad: Great idea!

LR: Nooooo!

RJ: Okay then. We don’t have a choice. We’ll have to put her on a boat with all her weapons and set her on fire.

Dad: I’ve always loved a good Viking burial!

LR: But… But… But, I don’t have a wife to burn with me, so you’d have to throw my best friend on there, and L.’s parents would be REALLY MAD if you did that!

A horse is a horse, of course, of course. Unless….

Luke — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:07:46 +0000

(while eating breakfast)

RJ: Dad, do you know what a horsebird is?

Dad: I’ve never heard of a horsebird. I don’t think they’re real.

RJ: They are real!

Dad: Maybe it’s another name for a pegasus? That was a horse with big wings — from greek legends.

RJ: No. I think it is little… There must be a horsebird…

Dad: Why?

RJ: Why else would they make horsebird food?

She gets it… maybe a bit too well

Luke — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:07:13 +0000

(in the car)

LR: I think maybe someday I would like to run a shop.

Dad: What kind of shop?

LR: I’m not sure.

Dad: Selling things that you like and know a lot about is a good idea.

LR: So maybe… horse things?

Dad: Sure. That could be a really useful place.

LR: But how does it work? Where do shops get the things to sell?

Dad: As a shop owner, you call up the people who make the stuff and you buy it from them. After you’ve got it in your shop, you put it on the shelves and sell it.

LR: But there’s a problem… How do you get money? If you sell something and get some money, then you have to buy something else to sell… You don’t have any money left over!

Dad: Good point, but there’s a trick to it. If you bought some riding boots for $10, you could sell them in your shop for more than that… for $20. You get to keep the extra.

LR: There’s another problem right there.

Dad: What do you mean?

LR: No one is going to buy boots for $20!

Dad: You might have to sell them for less than that, then.

LR: No. We have to sell them for more… We just need to have some ads to make them want to buy them.

Our USA Adventure 2010, Part 5: Hot Springs and Rodeo

Luke — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:07:53 +0000

The hot springs, geysers and other exciting geological activity isn’t confined to Yellowstone. Thermopolis, a small town not far from Cody, WY is home to numerous hot springs (it’s actually located in the creatively named “Hot Springs County”). The locals were quick to take advantage of a few of the springs by directing their output into swimming pools and water slides. We enjoyed a relaxing morning there, splashing around and having a great time.

The streets of Cody are filled with real cowboys (fully decked out with real cowboy boots, real cowboy hats and really large belt buckles), so no trip to Wyoming would be complete without going to see cowboys in their natural habitat — a rodeo. The events were pretty exciting and did a good job of convicing us that the competitors were all quite insane. An Australian was competing in the bronco riding and we think he won… We yelled out a hearty, “Ozzie ozzie ozzie! Oy! Oy! Oy!” for good measure.

We had such a great time in Wyoming — it was pretty much non-stop activities and entertainment — most of which wouldn’t have been possible without the hospitality of our friends DD. and C. Thank you so much guys. It’s just amazing how much we got done; it really was terrific.

RJ takes to the warm, hot-springs fed pools at Thermopolis!

RJ and Mum watch from the warm pool as LR and C. head down the waterslide.

Go LR, go!

C. and LR chilling with the noodles. The hot springs feed the pool with fresh hot water, while the minerals in the water keep bacteria and algae from growing. It smells a little strange, but the kids can swim for hours without turning blue!

Dad and RJ practiced diving under the water.

C and DD enjoy some lunch at a nearby park. After swimming all morning, we were absolutely starved! There were hot springs bubbling up here too.

RJ gives Flappy, his pet pterodactyl, a stern talking to after he refuses to behave during lunch.

Time to go explore the area! The boardwalk is there so that we don't inadventently walk somewhere unsafe and break through the surface into a boiling hot spring.

We stopped by a friend's place to visit their trout pond. He even let dad have a go of his off-road Segway. It was a lot of fun, even if you do look quite ridiculous while doing it.

LR tried hard to catch a trout, but it's very difficult to get them interested when your brother is standing beside you shoveling scoops of fish food into the water.

LR and C. are all dressed up and ready to go to the rodeo!

Insert theme song to "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" here.

The rodeo was full of exciting events. The bronco and bull riding looked extremely painful. The "Heading and Heeling" team roping looked a lot safer... for the riders.

One of the bulls throw his rider and charged across the ring to where one of the rodeo clowns was sitting. The clown ducked into the barrel just moments before the bull powered into it and knocked it flying.

The rodeo clown emerges unscathed from the barrel! His hat was a little worse for wear.

This clown wasn't so lucky. Both he and the bull rider limped away from this encounter.

C. and RJ climb one of the fences to the holding pens and check out the horses and cattle after the events. The animals seemed quite calm and happy and not upset after their ordeal.

A shop in Meeteetsee, Wyoming... across the road from the Cowboy Chocolatier where we stopped for a treat.

We had such a great time in Wyoming, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and hospitality of our great friends, DD and C. Here’s a final picture of LR on the fossil hunting plains (click for big version).

Goodbye Wyoming! We had a great time!

Our USA Adventure 2010, Part 4: Buffalo Bill vs. the Fourth of July

Luke — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:07:13 +0000

Cody, Wyoming is home to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a marvelous set of museums which we spent a while exploring. Out front, a blacksmith worked a historically accurate forge and anvil making nails by hand (a job that I do not envy), while someone cooked up some buffalo stew over a campfire. The smells were delicious!

We also had a great time watching the Fourth of July Parade, complete with cowboys, horses, skiiers, cowboys, hamburgers, horses, cowgirls, poodles, horses, Shriners in little zoomy cars, cowboys, marching bands and horses!

We visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It houses several museums in the same building.

Dad and RJ finally figured out the difference between a Bison and a Buffalo!

RJ, C., LR and Mum check out some footprints.

LR compares the skulls of a brown bear and a grizzly bear. They have HUGE nasal cavities.

LR takes a closer look at some of the local wildlife in one of the excellent microscopes.

RJ and Mum step in for a closer look.

LR and Mum try on some buffalo horns. RJ doesn't need them.

The museum had a huge mosaic map across the floor. We had fun calling out places and having the kids rush around the floor trying to find them.

C. and RJ compare the different Indian headdresses and decide which ones would be for them. Warrior chiefs seem to be popular this year.

RJ checks out the face in the rock as the old Indian chief looks on.

LR and C. go for a spin on the swings. Is that wise after eating so much icecream just moments before?

RJ runs to catch up at the local library. The Cody, Wy library is fully equipped with a cafe and indoor and outdoor seating and most-importantly.... Free WIFI!

The kids make their way down the Cody, WY streets.

On the Fouth of July, we went into town and watched the parade. With over 150 different entries in the parade it took a couple of hours to get throught them all!

Of course, no parade is complete without marching bands, and there were plenty of those.

Mum proudly remembers the countless hours stomping around on hot summer days while wearing a woolen coat. She's happy that they're over.

LR found one caramel with the outline of Australia in it! -- A continual stream of people wandered past handing out candy and lollies to the crowd. It wasn't long before the kids had enough lollies and began handing them around themselves.

The rodeo clowns made a showing, driving madly in and out around the other paraders.

Most of the cultural references were totally missed on the kids from Down Under... but the pink lady with a pink poodle was a big hit.

There was no shortage of cowboys and horses in this parade.

The hamburger was not impressed by the amount of horse manure left around.

There was both a mule train AND a llama train. They were equivalently loaded, but the llamas seemed considerably more laid back.

They even had a skiing entry in the parade... with a small crane suspending the skiers up on the chairlift.

A real cowboy... We didn't mess with him.

Yay! Flags!

A great source for all your almond goodness

Luke — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:07:36 +0000

(over breakfast)

Mom: (to LR) RJ and I need to go buy a birthday present for your friend.

LR: How about something from the horse shop?

Mom: Good idea!

RJ: How about something from the Indonesian Shop? They have lots of things and even horse stuff. It is expensive.

Mom: What do they have there?

RJ: Toy horses… and ones you can paint… You can even get food there! Like bagels, giant pretzels, juice… and almond dessert!

(For the record, we have never been to or even heard of an Indonesian shop, but it does sound pretty cool!)

Get well soon!

Luke — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:07:48 +0000

Great grandpa Maury went in for surgery on Tuesday. He’s had a second angioplasty and a surprising number of stents put in. Not bad for his first heart related problems (at 97!)

Grandpa Maury is still looking great! Grandpa Maury tells us about his surgeon during lunch, on his 97th birthday.

Everything went fine, but they are keeping him under observation to make sure there are no complications. Mum had the kids draw pictures and went to visit him yesterday. He loved them!

And of course, the pictures that they drew:

LR's drawing depicts a scene of devastation around an erupting volcano, complete with ash clouds masking the sun, portending environmental disaster... and a kraken attacked a ship.

RJ tackles a classic theme... A kraken brutally attacks a pirate ship; its quivering maw and writhing mass of tentacles preparing to unleash a storm of destruction..