A Wild Afternoon At Chuckie Cheese's Birthday Emporium

On a Friday afternoon that seems so long ago in a different galaxy, a birthday party was held at Chuckie Cheese. Here are some of the pictures from that gala.

Here we have they world famous Chuckie Cheese in full control of the situation.



You can plainly see who is the star of the show today.



This is a shot of "The Dancing Fools" in motion.



The star of the show does a solo.



The stars sister, who did not wish to be identified; is trying to maintain her image during this wild party.



The youngest cousin present decided not to get excited, which is a good thing. The boy can get excited when he so decides.



And of course there was a Nana present.



One cousin was enamored of the yellow bus. Just about everyone of his tokens went to drive the bus.



Here the star and her mom play a little table hockey. The star has a wicked little arm and had mom hustling to keep up.



Another shot of "The Dancing Fools"

The Incredible Hulk And Indiana Jones

During the last two weeks I saw both of these movies. I went to see Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull first, but the theater was full so SweetHeart Face and I went to see the Incredible Hulk. It was really great! A lot of these movies are really dark, but this one had the right amount of dark and anger. We really enjoyed the movie.

Then about a week later we got into Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This was also a fantastic movie. SweetHeart Face and I both loved this one too. Jones' new sidekick fit right in and did an excellent good job

I see more sequels coming for both of these flicks.

My Father's Day Surprise

On Father's Day, SweetHeart Face took me to the movies and then we met our son, Rye, at Sonny's for barbecue. After eating we sat around for at least an hour catching up on all that had been going on since we went to NC about 3 weeks ago. We arrived home about 7:30 pm. I was in the house and SweetHeart Face was on the back patio checking on her orchids, and other plants when the doorbell rang.

When I opened the door my grandson, Ise, from NC was standing there. He normally doesn't drive since he is only four. Then I noticed his mom, Jac, getting baby Dee out of the car. About then, SweetHeart Face came in the back door and as she noticed the little legs behind me Ise stuck his head around me into her view. When asked what he was doing here, he said "You missed me." His dad had to go out of town for a week so they decided to come visit us on Father's Day (week).

Here is baby Dee laying on a blanket in the back yard. The picture has her almost smiling but at this point she is almost 3 weeks old so this is probably not a conscious smile, but she is soooo darned cute.

Here is a shot of Ise in the backyard. A clue here is that he has just seen Kung Fu Panda for the second time. He loves that movie and is busy collecting as many Kung Fu Panda action figures from McDonalds as he can.

Not bad form for a four year old who has never taken any lessons. Ya gotta love him, he is basing all of this on the Kung Fu Panda movie.

When he gets a little older, I bet he would really enjoy some lessons.

Here is a shot of him at the little park up the road. The town has a really great little park and this is part of the playground. We went over one evening after the temperature cooled down and he had a great time running around there. The sign says the park has been there since the 1920's.

During the week they were here, Jac went to visit some of her old girlfriends and the children's grandparents so everyone could get their first look at baby Dee. This is a picture of Ise in Cocoa that I really liked. I didn't go on the trip but it was reported that all involved had a great time. With the cost of fuel, a small vehicle was used to keep the costs down, but small vehicles carry less people (although still tightly cramped) especially when car seats are involved.

The Old Salt Has A New Old Toy

Here is a photo of my newest C&R addition. A Springfield 1903 Mark I in a very nice condition. So nice, in fact, I really can't think of anything to do with it but clean it again as some of the oil on it is starting to get slightly gummy.

I also want to get a good look at the innards to see how many actual Mark I parts are still left in her. These old rifles are like the rest of us, over time someone starts changing or modifying their original parts.



In the picture above, you can see a slot cut in the left side of the receiver. This was the ejection port for a Pedersen Device. The Pedersen Device was invented in 1917 and converted bolt action Springfield 1903s to semiautomatic versus bolt action. The Pedersen devise used what was basically a .30 caliber pistol round and in 1917 was considered "Top Secret". By the time the rifles and devices were manufactured WWI was over and the military went back to using bolt action rifles. Later the majority of Pedersen Devices were destroyed however it is believed that perhaps 25-50 survived or were rebuilt from destroyed parts. Information is available concerning these devices on the Internet. They are worth a good piece of change should you locate one in a garage sale.



Here we have a view of the right side, starting with the butt.



Moving toward the front sight here is a closer view of the action from the right side. There are surprisingly few dings and dents considering this rifle was built in the early part of the last century.



And here is a view of the muzzle from the right side.



Now we have reversed direction and are moving down the rifle from the muzzle towards the butt.



Again, there are very few dings or dents.




The left side of the receiver with a slightly different view of the Pedersen Device ejection port.



On the left side of the lower part of the stock is one L shaped scratch. It looks like it got caught on a front sight coming out of a tightly packed gun safe.

I certainly have a lot more more scars than this piece has and I am not anywhere near the age of this beauty; nor am I holding up near as well.

Uncle Mikes Sunday C'Mon Over

Uncle Mike threw a C'Mon Over Party last Sunday. If your picture is not posted you probably stayed inside. I shot pictures outside only and not a lot of them since the temperature was over 100. If I missed you this time, I may get you next time.

Uncle Mike wields a mean spatula. Here he is cooking a great selection of Brats, Burgers, and Dogs for the crowd.

Here are his finished Brats and Dogs. Ready for consumption by the masses.

This is also a group of perfectly delicious Burgers ready for the masses.

This a a partial shot of the food in the kitchen before the masses have swarmed. There was Ambrosia, two different types of Macaroni Salad, Baked Beans and much other stuff I can't remember.

A shot of Aunt Pam and Uncle Don enjoying each others company. Their respective mates are also elsewhere at the festivities.

Here is Nana keeping a watchful on on the Slip n Slide. All of the boys there loved the water. By this time the temperature was somewhere around 100 degrees.

This is cousin Drew doing his full power slide down the chute while his younger brother and cousin act like bowling pins awaiting a strike.

here is Ise taking the Slip n Slide at full power. He hits it just like his cousin Jack full power and head first.

Here we have cousins Cole (L) and Pierce (R). They both had a good time on the Slip n Slide. They just took it a might easier than Drew or Ise.

Here we have Mom Shannon with her baby Kinsey. Kinsey threw out a smile as soon as I pointed the camera in her direction.

This is Tom and his baby daughter Katrina. She was the youngest baby at the party.

The Last Soccer Game Of The Season

The last game started at 0900 and the temperature was at 80F. The playing time was reduced and plenty of water breaks were provided.


The other team did not have all of their players so some of Ise's team were red-shirted and played on the other side. And yes, at least one of them scored points for the other team.


It got warmer by the minute. It was even hot sitting in the shade on the bench. But you can see these kids were really trying.


This is a shot of Ise kicking the ball back into play from the end of the field. He gave it a real good kick.


Ise's Dad, Mom and his new baby sister attended the game. They remained in the shade to keep the sun off of the baby.


Here is a picture of Ise having just exited the Victory Tunnel. I didn't try to keep up with the score, but I guess it was a victory for someone. For my money, any kid still playing was a winner regardless of team affiliation.


This a closeup of Ise about a half hour after the game sitting in the shade over at the park waiting for his pizza and trophy. You can tell he was wiped.

A shot of Ise sitting with his Mom and Nana just relaxing.


This another shot of our tired hero with his Mom and Nana.

Here is the big brother checking on his little sister. He likes to give her a smooch at odd times.


This is Ise and one of his teammates eating pizza and relaxing prior to the passing out of the trophies.


This is Coach B handing out the trophies and certificates to the players of Team Panther.



Our proud soccer player shows off his trophy and certificate for all to see.