This weekend was the first Labor Day in many, many years when I didn't have to work at all. In college I almost always worked on holiday weekends, because I was on commission at Sears or Toyota and it was a big sales weekend. In the software industry there really isn't anything such as a 40 hour work week, so it would be rare that I could take 3 whole days off in a row without at least doing a bunch of email. As a small business owner I was back to working holidays again. Now as an paid by the hour contractor I am actually having weekends off. It's a little unnerving, actually. So much free time all in a row.
On Saturday we went to The Kid Workshop at Home Depot. There are a lot of things that I don't like about mega stores, but the Kid Workshop is a good thing. When Alex was just about a year and half old we went to Home Depot together for the first time. We walked in the door, he looked all around and said "whoa!" in a very good Tim Allen impersonation. Ever since then he has loved hardware stores and tools. We started going to the Kid Workshops quite some time ago. They are the first Saturday of every month at our store. The kids get a little, orange apron, and each time they go they get a little pin to add to it. Yes, I know it's indoctrinating a new generation of shoppers with flair, and yes I know that I purchase things while we are there that I might not otherwise purchase. It's still good fun. They give the kids a little kit with some pre-cut pieces of wood and a few nails and they hammer them together. It is usually something like a tool box, or a bird house, etc. My Cub Scout den needed to "build something useful" as part of the required achievements for their Wolf badge, and the nice guy that runs the workshops happily gave me a few kits to take to the meeting.
After the Kid Workshop we ran a bunch of errands and then went to see Rush Hour 3. We had received a free movie pass because we spent so much on school supplies at Staples. Alex and I enjoyed Rush Hour 1 and 2, so we wanted to see 3. It was just OK. I would wait to rent it. There was some random female villain that kept trying to kill everyone. I could never figure out how she fit into the plot. At then end she magically appeared where they were fighting at the Eiffel tower and asked. "Want to know a secret, cop?" to which Chris Tucker's character replies, "No!" So we were cheated out of the evil doer's dialog. Of course, the real bad guy was the rich, old white guy. We knew that was coming from the very first of the movie. Anyway, I didn't feel like there was much story, and not enough Jackie Chan being Jackie Chan.
On Sunday we ran still more errands and then went bowling. Alex found a certificate for a free game when he was cleaning out his old backpack, but it expired before we could use it. As a consolation we went anyway. The ACME Lanes in Southcenter is very new and state of the art. It is a bit spendy, however they have the nice feature that you can designate which players will play with bumpers and they are controlled by the computer. That way the kids can have bumpers and the adults don't have to have them. Also, the balls don't get stuck, everything works, etc.
Today we were invited out to a car show in Graham. Where you may ask? Exactly. You can't get there from here. Alexander's great-grandpa was working out at the show and also showing one of his cars so we thought that we would drive out there. Unfortunately the mostly retired car collectors started showing up for the show at 6:30 in the morning, and when Alex and I rolled in at 2:30 in the afternoon everyone was leaving. We missed his great-grandparents, but we still got to see quite a few amazing cars. Alex asked if he could use my camera so I let him go for it. He took 82 pictures! Thank goodness for digital cameras.
On Saturday we went to The Kid Workshop at Home Depot. There are a lot of things that I don't like about mega stores, but the Kid Workshop is a good thing. When Alex was just about a year and half old we went to Home Depot together for the first time. We walked in the door, he looked all around and said "whoa!" in a very good Tim Allen impersonation. Ever since then he has loved hardware stores and tools. We started going to the Kid Workshops quite some time ago. They are the first Saturday of every month at our store. The kids get a little, orange apron, and each time they go they get a little pin to add to it. Yes, I know it's indoctrinating a new generation of shoppers with flair, and yes I know that I purchase things while we are there that I might not otherwise purchase. It's still good fun. They give the kids a little kit with some pre-cut pieces of wood and a few nails and they hammer them together. It is usually something like a tool box, or a bird house, etc. My Cub Scout den needed to "build something useful" as part of the required achievements for their Wolf badge, and the nice guy that runs the workshops happily gave me a few kits to take to the meeting.
After the Kid Workshop we ran a bunch of errands and then went to see Rush Hour 3. We had received a free movie pass because we spent so much on school supplies at Staples. Alex and I enjoyed Rush Hour 1 and 2, so we wanted to see 3. It was just OK. I would wait to rent it. There was some random female villain that kept trying to kill everyone. I could never figure out how she fit into the plot. At then end she magically appeared where they were fighting at the Eiffel tower and asked. "Want to know a secret, cop?" to which Chris Tucker's character replies, "No!" So we were cheated out of the evil doer's dialog. Of course, the real bad guy was the rich, old white guy. We knew that was coming from the very first of the movie. Anyway, I didn't feel like there was much story, and not enough Jackie Chan being Jackie Chan.
On Sunday we ran still more errands and then went bowling. Alex found a certificate for a free game when he was cleaning out his old backpack, but it expired before we could use it. As a consolation we went anyway. The ACME Lanes in Southcenter is very new and state of the art. It is a bit spendy, however they have the nice feature that you can designate which players will play with bumpers and they are controlled by the computer. That way the kids can have bumpers and the adults don't have to have them. Also, the balls don't get stuck, everything works, etc.
Today we were invited out to a car show in Graham. Where you may ask? Exactly. You can't get there from here. Alexander's great-grandpa was working out at the show and also showing one of his cars so we thought that we would drive out there. Unfortunately the mostly retired car collectors started showing up for the show at 6:30 in the morning, and when Alex and I rolled in at 2:30 in the afternoon everyone was leaving. We missed his great-grandparents, but we still got to see quite a few amazing cars. Alex asked if he could use my camera so I let him go for it. He took 82 pictures! Thank goodness for digital cameras.
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