While looking out the window at the fog and drizzle pooling on last week’s snow, Griffin confided:
Rainy days don’t make me feel gloomy;
they make me feel snug.
Category Archives: Andrew
Vortex Walk
I braved the vortex this morning to walk to a local supermarket (less than two miles round trip). In the end, to my surprise, I overdid the layers. I was hot and sweaty when I got home. The only real challenge was my face. I brought goggles, but the wind wasn’t blowing hard enough to justify them. In the end, I just pulled up my neck warmers and that was fine. Moisture control is a pain, though, with every breath creating crackling ice.
Negative 30!
Definitely the coldest I’ve ever seen in the Twin Cities. Raw temp is -30°F; wind chill is -52.
I saw this explanation of the “Polar Vortex” on the MPR News Updraft blog yesterday:
Winter With a Vengeance
Apparently our winter has tired of my mockery. Thus far it has been a toothless sham — moderate temperatures with little snow. As often as not, I’ve walked to work in my summer shoes.
All of that is changing this week. The kids’ school (along with all nearby public school districts) closed yesterday due to snow and will remain closed through Wednesday. My school, generally loathe to close, is closed today and tomorrow. Thursday is unknown at this point.
This is all due to the latest polar vortex that’s bringing a mass of arctic air down from Canada. Raw air temps aren’t all that crazy (we see a few days pushing -20 most years), but the winds will be increasing dramatically, creating some insane wind chill values. As someone who walks to work, I can attest to the fact that the wind is the most important factor that I consider when planning my layers. When temps are below zero, even a moderate wind in your face is basically a show-stopper without face and eye protection.
When we got up this morning, it wasn’t so bad. Cold, but safe enough if you’re properly dressed.
I’ll post updates later to see what actually happens out there.
Roy Boys
Halloween 2018
Sarah was inspired this year. A green dragon, a red, dragon, a mermaid, Prince Ronald, and the Paper Bag Princess!
Dungeon Fantasy in the Classroom, Take 2
After the success of our venture with the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game last spring, my colleague and I decided to offer the activity again this fall. We had enough student interest to justify buying two more boxed sets. The photo below shows all the material organized and laid out before students arrived.
Maggie’s First “Yes Day”
I can’t remember if we’ve ever posted about this idea before, but “Yes Day” is a special day where we let one of the children come up with the agenda. Our response to any proposal, within reasonable logistical and budgetary parameters, will be an enthusiastic “Yes!” It’s one way that we try to mix things up a bit, give the kids more agency, and avoid surrounding a fun event with adult-oriented errands (“Yes! Like I said, we’re going to the zoo after we get the groceries, mail grandpa’s package, and water Penelope’s plants!”). Griffin has enjoyed a couple of these over the past few years. Now that Maggie is a big six, she is entitled to her first one. She’s been looking forward to for months (since her birthday… or maybe since her prior birthday).
This summer, it was my turn with Maggie while Sarah will be taking Griffin on his special day next week. Maggie considered many possibilities over the past weeks: going to the pool, going out to eat, seeing a movie, playing games, etc. She finally settled on two activities: shopping and a water park.
The shopping trip was all about finding an emoji pillow that she worships. Not just any emoji: a poop emoji.
Why is this Maggie’s top desire in the world? Who can say?
In preparation for our quest, I did some research. It looked like Walmart was going to be our best bet. I have never actually shopped at a Walmart in the Twin Cities before, so we located one near our next destination and headed out after a delicious waffle breakfast.
Alas, Walmart failed us! There were no poop emoji pillows. Indeed, they didn’t have any emoji pillows at all. A sales rep said that they used to have them, but plush disney pillows have replaced them. Our inquiry, however, produced my favorite response from a retailer in a long time. After I indicated that we were specifically searching for a poop emoji, the young rep turned to Maggie and said, deadpan, “What d’ya want a crappy pillow for?”
Maggie and I consulted. We could either scour the Twin Cities for the pillow, possibly missing out on the water park, or we could try to order it online later. Maggie decided that the water park was the top priority. Phew!
Not far from the Walmart in Eagan is Cascade Bay, a modest sized waterpark with a large shallow pool, a smaller deep pool, a bunch of slides, a lazy river, and a miniature golf course. One advantage: Maggie was over the height limit so she could try any of the slides. The last time we came, in 2014, Maggie was only allowed on the mini-slide in the zero entry pool (see our post from that visit).
We were there pretty much from when it opened until dinnertime. I was exhausted by the end of it, but glad to have had so much focused fun with Maggie. As for Maggie, she didn’t seem tired at all, but once we got in the car, she fell promptly to sleep.
After returning home, Sarah helped Maggie order her pillow. It has gotten much love, already.
Dungeon of Doom
Earlier this week, Griffin and Maggie created a four-level dungeon on my dry erase hex tiles. They were so excited about it that they wanted me to play in it, so Griffin volunteered to be the game master. It was his first time running a game and his first original adventure. When I asked what it was called, he replied, “The Dungeon of Doom.”
It was remarkably fun playing this game with the kids. Griffin was creative and clever, and I found myself not just playing with my children, but getting into the game. See below for a few pictures of the wild map. Beneath the pictures are some highlights from the session, written mostly for other tabletop gamers.
Gaming Highlights
- In one of our first encounters, we needed to use serious tactics just to survive. Ten enemy soldiers nearly surrounded us, but we were able to retreat into a narrow passageway where we could defend ourselves more easily. The passage was filled with water, though, which slowed everybody down and made for treacherous footing. As we continued retreating, we eventually discovered a trap behind us (some sort of “laser-like” forcefield) which made us hold our ground, duking it out in the muck.
- There were numerous traps, illusions, and original magic items. A favorite item of mine was the “rock of heating” that becomes hot enough to start fires if it is in contact with organic matter. If it touches metal, however, it instantly cools into an inert, black rock. We’re currently using a helmet from one of our foes to keep it safely cool.
- The dungeon included some “realistic” touches, like beds for the soldiers and barrels of preserved food (the soldiers lived on a balanced diet of “grain, meat, and vegetables.”
- Griffin responded creatively to our ideas and questions. For example, we used the barrel of meat to lure a flesh-dissolving-slime monster closer to the lava pit for immolation.
- Griffin was on top of the logistics, too, making sure that Maggie (playing an archer/scout named “Moon”) marked off her arrows every time she fired one.
- We were playing the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (powered by GURPS) which is more mathematically complex than straight Dungeons and Dragons. Griffin is completely on top of the math, easily managing damage resistance, injury types, armor divisors on bodkin point arrows, damage thresholds, negative hit points, and other fiddly bits. He also has a good grasp of the odds on a 3d6 bell curve.
Summer Smiles
