wall*e & the fourth

We get to go to a movie tomorrow! It's supposed to get to be near a hundred degrees, so I've preemptively bought tickets to the earliest matinee (reminding me why I do not go to the movies often - it's almost as expensive as just buying the movie when it comes out on video!). We'll lunch on popcorn and soda, and I'll sneak in some raisins or something. Blake's loved WALL*E since the first commercial/preview caught his view, and we've spent a good deal of time online, hunting for previews, trailers, clips, whatever. He even figured out how to move the mouse to click on the next thumbnail for a video. Freaky.

Anyway, I'm excited and a little nervous. The only other time I have taken him to a theater was when he was a few weeks old (maybe months - I'm not sure). Aunt Gail took us to see Monster-in-Law, wisely knowing I'd need a break, and wisely planning to use the fussy time for uninterrupted loving on a wee man. Thanks Gail!

I haven't tried since, though my mom may have attempted a cartoon last summer. Given my son's love of the one-eyed babysitter, I think it will be an easy hour and a half. Plus, I love Pixar movies.

Last night, I took my friends' son, Chase, and Blake out to a fireworks stand. We did the Fourth with the Jordan family last year (it was great fun), and they invited me over again this year. Last year, Chase and Blake lit up at the first cracker or sparkler, and the rest of the evening, late into the night, Blake would breathlessly say "I get some more," after each shower of sparks was over. I have to admit, it was great fun to watch his esteem for me grow visibly. Well, this year should be no different. I'm thinking of picking up a butane torch so that I don't have to fiddle with a punk, matches, or a lighter.

I'm a pyro. I get it from my dad. My son looks to be on the right track to be one as well.

We got a little bucket assortment, sparklers, black cats, smoke bombs, rockets, fountains, and artillery shells (my personal favorite). I might go back tomorrow for more sparklers - can you EVER have enough? - to keep throughout the year and pull out for a fun treat. I'll definitely go back to get a package of artillery shells to save until New Year's. It's fun to pop a few off in the wintry chill.

After paying the nice lady behind the counter, she paused and said, "You know, it's really nice to see a woman come up and love this and know exactly what she wants." I looked at her incredulously and said, "Hell yeah!"

I have fond memories of driving to Wyoming with my dad, sisters, and the Hagstrom family to buy the bottle rockets that are illegal in Montana. We'd get hundreds, all different sizes, and shoot them out of our hands, out of the requisite bottle, and out of the PVC/5 gallon bucket combo my dad had put together for just such an occasion (those were the big ones - 2 or 3 feet long). The Myers girls had control of the torch (I didn't come up with that idea myself), and we'd light off the $200+ of fireworks that we'd all amassed between the two families and two states. Neighbors would come out on their porches for the show and contribute their own booty. We'd have a bunch of friends over, coolers full of good things to eat and drink, and we'd start the evening throwing snaps at each other.

I'm sad to say that the manufacturers put less gunpowder in the snaps than they used to. The ones I have now will barely pop when thrown hard, so Blake can't even get one going without dropping it on the ground and stomping it. The noise is sad and faint. We, on the other hand, would leave circles of char on one another's clothing, with the very occasional hole. It was awesome.

Hopefully, Blake will be a good little pyro, not like my cousin Wes, who would build bombs out of pop cans and gasoline and occasionally have to count his fingers to make sure they were all there. He and his friend moved up to milk jugs and gasoline, but that's a story for another time...