Laser tag is a standard in any nerd’s repertoire and, therefore, always a diversion I welcome. That goes double if the celebration of my birthday is in question.
We tagging veterans got to play for an extra half-hour while everyone else received instructions on how not to die.
Jason planned a great geeky gathering for my birthday this year: a 2 hour outdoor game of laser tag featuring a couple dozen of our friends. Awesome! He doesn’t deserve all the credit for this unique and nerdy idea though. A couple months ago one of our friends celebrated his birthday in a similar manner and Jason and I had such a great time crawling through the bushes and firing on our buddies that he thought my birthday would be a great excuse to do it all over again. He was correct.
Wendy, Chuong, and I look like we are either licensed to kill or preparing to make some dork fetish film.Watch out for these hardened predators!
We held the party at Mt. Timpanogos Park with the games starting just as it was getting dark. The park cleared out shortly after night set in and we soon had the entire area to ourselves. I’m certain that that desertion had nothing to do with park goers feeling like they were getting swarmed by an armed nerd herd.
Nothing says geek like a group of adults strapping on headgear and sneaking through the night like the fate of the free world depended on them.
It turned out to be the perfect evening for our tactical operations. A nice breeze, along with the thick layers of sweat covering our poorly conditioned bodies, kept us cool as we attempted to regain some of our youthful magnificence.
Aimee is a seasoned expert. Her laser can do more damage than a shopping trip on Sunday.
I may be growing another year older but hiding behind rocks and sprinting across the grass made me feel a lot like a little kid playing kick the can in the warm summer twilight. There’s nothing like a little nostalgic childhood regression to counteract the effects of time.
Oh yeah! Whoever said strapless was sexier didn't consider that beautifully belted headgear.
Many thanks to all the friends who eagerly let go of any semblance of maturity and embraced the pain of unwanted exercise for the glory of the game. The night just wouldn’t have been the same without you as a target.
A couple months ago I whined about the boarding season ending. It turns out that that bellyaching was a bit premature.
That tiny dot is me. I look like I'm contemplating the majesty of the universe when really I'm just contemplating that slushy black diamond and if I can make it down without toppling. And no, you don't need to adjust your computer screen; the snow really was that dirty.
It’s summertime. The unmistakable smell of grilled meats wafts through the air intermingled with the melodic chirping of birds and yet Jason and I went snowboarding a week ago at Snowbird Resort and the snow was still incredible. It may be hard to believe, while mosquitoes nip at your skin and flowers bloom underfoot, that just 45 minutes away the landscape remains sheathed in white but that is the glorious truth.
Although there is still an enormous amount of snow up at Snowbird, the canyon is definitely melting. Little Cottonwood Creek, a normally docile stream, was a tumbling and churning mass of chaotic whitewater. Nearly at the flooding stage, it ripped by us at 600-800 cubic feet per second. See the comments section below for a link to the You Tube clip we took of this bad boy.
This year Utah’s hefty winter turned into a very rainy and cold spring. The relentless precipitation has resulted in some record-breaking water levels and frequent flood threats. But those bemoaning our flow situation are looking at the glass half empty as far as I’m concerned. We may have some streams running amuck but I got to go boarding in the middle of June on 150 inches of snow. Surely my boarding pleasure is worth a few overflowing riverbanks. 🙂
Since "The Flying Tomato" is already taken perhaps Jason should start calling himself "The Flailing Parsnip."
The day we spent at Snowbird was beautiful. The snow was pretty slushy by the afternoon but it was sublimely warm. I just wore a thin shell jacket with all the zippers undone and my temperature fluctuated between perfect and uncomfortably cozy. Despite the unseasonable powder supply the slopes weren’t crowded at all. Apparently, the fact that it’s officially summer has some people confused about the state of their peaks. All the more snow for me.
After boarding we grabbed some grub at the Birdfeeder and enjoyed our meal in the pleasant sunshine. I decided to get a chilidog-not a common food choice for a Rachel. The chilidog was extremely messy but it tasted pretty fantastic after hours of boarding. It should be noted that my pants are unzipped here because of the heat not because the chili was already causing havoc in my GI tract.
Lots of slush and lots of sun: the best day of spring boarding ever! I am thrilled to report that Snowbird is scheduled to remain open for a few more weeks. Snowboarding in Utah in July! I am salivating at the mere thought.
I was introduced to Harry Potter over a decade ago by a friend (Thanks Jenn.) and immediately fell in love with the fantastical world portrayed in these books. Since Jason is a longtime fan too we decided that before the final half of the last movie comes out we should prepare for its theatrical majesty by holding a Harry Potter party: a celebration involving watching the first half of The Deathly Hollows, eating Hogwarts style cuisine, and testing everyone’s Potter knowledge with a little house vs. house trivia contest.
We had quite the crowd at our party. All of the 20 chairs in our theater room had a butt in them.
As with all Sabin parties, I wasn’t willing to just let this be a mediocre get-together; I wanted it to be a party of Potter proportions! With that goal in mind Jason and I spent a large chunk of time making decorations and preparing food. We made mandrakes out of celery root and extendable ears and Galleons out of Sculpey. We further spruced up the décor with some homemade potions jars and few random items we dug out of our massive Halloween supply. Most impressive where the half dozen wands we designed using wooden dowels, clay, hot glue, and paint; they looked pretty convincing.
Each of the wands we made looked unique. It's amazing what you can do with some Sculpey and imagination. We had a healthy mandrake crop made out of celery roots and silk leaves.
Our handmade sticks may have been perfect for a little flicking and swishing practice but man cannot live on wands alone. Yes, food would be needed to fill our bellies with magical fullness. However, Jason and I had a hard time deciding what victuals would be the most Potterish. Finally, after reviewing the books, we determined that students at Hogwarts eat an incredible amount of sugar in the form of pastries and candy so we agreed to make those the staples of the evening. We made chocolate caramel frogs and white mice candy and bought lemon drops, old-fashioned suckers, every flavor jelly beans, tarts, éclairs, and chocolate mousse cups. And, to keep everyone from going into a diabetic coma, we supplied a large tray of sandwiches. I know sandwiches aren’t exactly prolific at Hogwarts but cold meat pies wouldn’t have been very appetizing.
I made chewy chocolate caramel frogs instead of plain chocolate frogs. I love chocolate but blobs of straight chocolate that huge seemed a bit much.These white mice were made more for looks than taste. They were mostly comprised of sugar and therefore resembled blobs of frosting.
Nothing washes down sugar quite as nicely as more sugar. This is why we provided pumpkin juice, which was really a pumpkin shake, and butterbeer as thirst quenchers. Converting standard soda into butterbeer was tricky. We took root beer and cream soda bottles, removed all their labeling, and replaced it with our own. It took some time but it worked splendidly.
We made three different butterbeer labels for three varieties of soda. You could chose your favorite: The Three Broomsticks, The Hog's Head, or Banshee Blend.
When the scene was set and the gorging underway it was time to focus on the night’s entertainment. We held this party in the theater room at Noah’s so we could comfortably view The Deathly Hollows from plush recliners. Oh yeah! After the show we sorted everyone into houses for a Potter trivia competition. The contest was intense but in the end Slytherin slid their way to victory.
I dressed up as Hermione for the party and Jason went as Sirius. Being Hermione was easy for me. Not only do I have the unruly hair, I've got the know-it-all attitude.Jeremy Brown won the prize for best costume. He deserved it with his creative representation of Sirius in Azkaban. We put a cell phone on speaker inside this hat so it could talk to the wearer. Our sorting ceremony was an amusing way to get attendees divided into teams for the trivia contest.
Creating the magic of Hogwarts was time-consuming and somewhat of an inspirational challenge but it was also fun. We hope the spell we cast adequately paid homage to the books we love.
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