Pictures of Life in the Land of Oz

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Fear Factor

Tuesday at the reunion was Fear Factor day. Tommy asked me, "Mom, what is Fear Factor?" I told him Fear Factor is a game where we do things that might be a little bit scary or gross. He responded, "Um, Fear Factor is just where you play crazy games!" Accurate enough assessment.

Overall Rundown for those who don't want to read the coming play-by-play--This is my third time putting together a Fear Factor activity, and first time doing so with little to no idea what my facility and resources would be like. This took place in Pine Paradise, KY. I also split the event into two age group to accommodate younger family members at my family reunion. We had Juniors (ages up to11), and Seniors (ages 12+). The first event was a playground obstacle course. The Juniors did the whole thing themselves; the Seniors were partnered for the whole game, so they had to slap hands half way through to trade off with their partner. I was going to have them go through blindfolded to add a fear of blindness element, but Jonathan persuaded me that their size would be enough of a handicap and to let them keep their vision. Points were awarded for each second under 60.

Samantha Martin on the obstacle course

Tommy on the obstacle course

Brian filled in for Tyler as Brad's partner

Second event: the food one! Juniors were asked to eat a worm. No takers. So I told them I'd offer 10 points to anyone who put it in their mouth and spit it out. Ian was the only one to do so. The Seniors didn't get off so easily. I had about 4 drop out, refusing to play. Had to get creative with combining partners and fixing scores. Anyway, I had made what I call Homemade Vomit, and filled a frying pan with 6 cups of it at one end of a table with an empty pan at the other end. One partner had 60 seconds to transfer as much Vomit as they could from one pan to another using only their mouth. The remaining Vomit determined how many worms their partner would have to eat. 10 points for each cup of Vomit transferred, and 5 points for each worm eaten.

Junior food event

Ian deciding whether or not to put a worm in his mouth

Homemade Vomit (recipe to follow)

Ally moving some serious Vomit

Haley eating her worms

Christine's turn with Vomit

Third event: Juniors were given a spoon with a dead June Bug on it and were to race to a finishing point. If they dropped the bug, they simply had to pick it up and keep going. Points awarded according to finishing order. Seniors had a kayak battle. Two teams out on the water battling to tip the whole of the opposing team. 10 points awarded for each team member still above water at the end.

First battle: Jonathan and Katie vs. Aimie and Brad

Second battle: Michael Martin and Rachel vs. Ally and Haley

Third battle: Kristen and Callie vs. Evan and Christine

Christine's triumph as she and Evan both stayed on top

Play-by-play:

Junior contestants, times, points and ranks after first event:
Sam(antha) 41.00 s, 19 pts, rank 3
Seth 48.61 s, 11 pts, rank 4
Drew 38.27 s, 21 pts, rank 2
Ellie 36.25 s, 23 pts, rank 1
Tommy 1 min 54.55 s, 5 pts, rank 6
Ian 50.15 s, 9 pts, rank 5

Senior contestants, times, points after first event:
1. Ally and Haley: 37.44, 22 pts
2. Aaron and Katie: 33.00, 27 pts
3. Christine and Evan: 35.27, 24 pts
4. Angie and Jonathan: 41.20, 18 pts
5. Michael and Rachel: 46.94, 13 pts
6. Callie and Kristen: 41.82, 18 pts
7. Scott and Aimie: 30.38, 29 pts
8. Brian and Brad: 33.19, 26 pts

I was not playing elimination, but simply awarding points according to performance. However, I should have been a little more clear that, for the Seniors, those who chose not to participate would be dropped from the game because I had to reassign teams. Aaron, Angie, Scott and Brian dropped out of the second event, so I paired Jonathan and Katie, and Aimie and Brad, and averaged their points from the first event. Ranks then looked thusly:

1--Aimie and Brad, 27 pts
2--Christine and Evan, 24 pts
3--Ally and Haley; Jonathan and Katie, 22 pts
4--Callie and Kristen, 18 pts
5--Michael and Rachel, 13 pts

Junior pts and ranks after second event
1. Ellie, 23 pts
2. Drew, 21 pts
3. Ian, 20 pts (only one to taste a worm!)
4. Sam, 19 pts
5. Seth, 11 pts
6. Tommy, 5 pts

Senior second event:
1. Ally transferred 3 cups of Vomit, earning 30 pts and leaving Haley 3 worms to eat. Haley had no problem eating her worms (water and a brownie to follow were allowed), and earned 15 points.
2. Christine transferred 1 cup, earning 10 pts and leaving Evan 5 worms to eat. He ate them and earned 25 pts.
3. Michael probably had the worst time of this! He transferred 2 cups, earning 20 pts, leaving Rachel 4 worms to eat. She tried several times, but couldn't get over the gag reflex, and wasn't able to eat any.
4. Jonathan transferred 3 cups, earning 30 pts, and leaving Katie 3 worms to eat. She ate them with a smile on her face and then reported that they tasted like Alfalfa sprouts! 15 points.
5. Brad and Aimie petitioned to be able to skip the Vomit stage and just eat 6 worms between the two of them. The other contestants approved, so it was allowed. Brad ate 5 and Aimie was going to eat 1, but got a bit psyched out, despite her twin Katie's encouragement. Brad ate the 6th worm. They earned 30 points.
6. Callie opted out of the Vomit and left Kristen with 6 worms to eat. Kristen ate them, earning 30 pts

Ranks and points after second event:
1. Ally and Haley; Jonathan and Katie, 67 pts
2. Christine and Evan, 59 pts
3. Aimie and Brad, 57 pts
4. Callie and Kristen, 48 pts
5. Michael and Rachel, 33 pts

Here we had to postpone until Thursday afternoon because it was too dark for the third event.

Junior 3rd event--Ellie was too sick, and Drew didn't want to get out of the hot tub, so they didn't participate. I had a few extras join in on this one, and since it didn't matter much at this point, I let them. Matthew, Grace and Katie (my girl!) were the additions. Drew came to me 10 minutes after the race and told me he was ready. Sorry buddy, too late.

Finishing order: Sam, Seth, Grace, Ian, Matthew, Tommy, Katie

Total points and final ranks:
1. Sam, 26 pts
2. Ian, 24 pts
3. Ellie, 23 pts
4. Drew, 21 pts
5. Seth, 17 pts
6. Tommy, 8 pts
7. Grace, 5 pts
8. Matthew, 3 pts
9. Katie, 1 pt

Senior 3rd event:
In the first battle, Ally and Haley battled Uncle Michael and Rachel. Ally went down first, followed by Rachel and then Haley. Michael earned 10 pts.
In the second battle, Jonathan and Katie battled Aimie and Brad. Aimie dumped first, followed by Katie, leaving Jonathan and Brad to war. Jonathan jumped out of his kayak and onto Brad's, but slipped in the process, making Brad the winner to earn 10 pts.
In the 3rd and final battle, Christine and Evan battled Callie and Kristen. Callie got dumped first, then Chrisine and Evan went to work on Kristen. They overpowered her and both earned 10 pts in an amazingly short amount of time that sadly, was not timed. Eh, it wasn't a timed event, so we didn't think about it!

Final ranks and points:
1. Christine and Evan, 79 pts
2. Ally and Haley; Jonathan and Katie; Aimie and Brad, 67 pts
3. Callie and Kristen, 48 pts
4. Michael and Rachel, 43 pts

And now, to end with the infamous Vomit recipe.

Homemade Vomit
12 packs Ramen (flavoring discarded) + 1 dozen eggs boiled together for 20 ish minutes (I didn't time it. The point is to be gross, after all:)
2 29 oz cans tomato sauce
5 cans sardines, any and all flavors
sauerkraut
1 5 oz bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1 bottle mustard
1 29 oz can collard greens
2 cans spam
lemon juice
vinegar

After peeling the eggs, I just squished them in my hands to break them up, but leave good chunks. Same with the spam. Left the sardines whole. Really, just mix it up so that it's gross in looks, texture, taste and smell. Go to the grocery store and just throw anything into your cart that the general public considers to be unedible. I almost grabbed a jar of pig's feet. Other ingredients I've used before include green beans, okra, baby food and apple sauce. Yes, I've made this before.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Nauvoo

We got to our hotel in Fort Madison, Iowa around 8 Friday night, so we didn't do any Nauvoo sight seeing until Saturday. And since that was the only day we'd have there, and needed to get in Carthage, we had a packed day. Nauvoo, Illinois is a Mormon town from the 1840s where the church found refuge for a while until they were driven out by mobs. It was mostly destroyed then, and then restored in the 1970s or something like that. We saw the schoolhouse and played on chalk slates, then toured John Browning's home and gun shop. Then we saw the post office and Pioneer Pastimes area. We caught our scheduled wagon ride, which served well to cool us off, then played at the indoor Family Living Center. We finished by seeing all the places that give you souvenirs--the blacksmith, the brickyard and the bakery--before heading down to Carthage, Illinois. Carthage is the town where Joseph Smith was taken to jail with several other church leaders, on charge of declaring martial law and destroying a printing press that advocated for the harassment of church members, and there shot and killed by a mob dressed as Indians.

Begin the 4-yr-old photography. We were in the Browning Home and Gun Shop.

This guy in our tour group just thought Tommy was a great photographer and was happy to smile and pose for Tom's pictures.

John Browning and his son were gun inventors who never got their inventions patented, so they generally don't get credit. The top revolver is an automatic that can fire 5-6 shots before needing reloaded.

Part of the floor was original, but I don't think it was this part. Check out that awesome shoe though!

More gun inventions.

Closer look at the automatic rifle.

I can't remember if it was John or his son who invented that machine gun.

Pioneer Pastimes sheep

Wagon ride tour through town.

We saw this little boy while eating lunch and Shad and I both nearly flipped over that ingenious bib he's wearing.

Nauvoo temple

"Like a lamb to the slaughter." Joseph told his brother Hyrum as they rode to meet their captors that he knew they were going to their deaths.

Family Living Center

Covered wagon outside the blacksmith shop.

We ran into my aunt Angie and uncle Michael with their kids here. They were in Nauvoo prior to going to KY for the reunion as well. I'm trying out my "prairie diamond" ring in place of my wedding ring that I'm allergic to. So far no problems.

Tom is such a flirt and has no problem creating social opportunities for himself. While waiting for our tour to start at Carthage Jail, he walked into this side room and struck up a conversation with the sister missionaries in there. He corrected them that he's Spider-Man and Katie is Batman, though he acknowledged that he understood it was confusing for them since he was wearing a Batman shirt and Katie was wearing a Superman shirt. He introduced all of our super identities, and obliged the girls with his autograph at their request. He refused to tell them his REAL name. They tried their hardest and were surprised at how well he denied having any other name.

Outside of Carthage Jail, in Carthage, Illinois.

The beautiful drive between Nauvoo and Carthage. The road goes right along the Mississippi river.

Lily pads! Had we come just a couple weeks later, their white lotus flowers would be in bloom.

More lily pads.

We left Sunday morning to head down to Kentucky for a family reunion with my mom's family. We took a rest stop by the temple in St. Louis, MO. There's a park right next door with covered tables, functioning bathrooms and drinking fountains. Perfect stop!

Hello, Gateway Arch. I've always wanted to see you.

Road Trip to Nauvoo

On Friday the 11th, just after Tommy's birthday, Shad and I thought we'd wake up naturally and head out to Nauvoo on a relaxed schedule. Tom and Katie usually wake up around 7:30, but they woke us up before 7 and told us it was time to go to Nauvoo. They did everything they could to get us to move faster in our last minute packing, and were good helpers in the process.

Our first stop on the way was the Jesse James Home in St. Joseph, Missouri. I honestly had a hard time choosing our stops in Missouri between Jesse James sites, Harry Truman sites, and Mark Twain sites.

Headstones of family members relocated to be outside the house.

Not THE gun, but the same kind used by "The Coward Bob Ford" to kill Jesse James in his own home. The frame up above it protects the hole that was made by a bullet fired at Jesse's head while he was standing on a chair to reach something. It's much larger than the bullet originally made it to be, due to fans of Jesse's coming to the home to break off pieces of the wall. They also broke off pieces of the blood soaked floor boards.

In the room where Jesse was shot, with his portrait hanging behind us.

Checking out the Victorian outhouse.

Tom is really into waving pictures right now, so that's what most of our tourist family pictures show.

Overall review of the Jesse James House: Definitely worth a stop! It was $4 for adults, and something like $3 for kids, but they don't charge under 5. It's a small 4 room home, with a lot of newspaper articles, letters, artifacts, portraits, etc, detailing the life of Jesse and his family members and gang. Just go to the bathroom before you get there. The home itself doesn't have a restroom (understandable due to it's size), and though the Patee House RIGHT NEXT DOOR is owned by the SAME PEOPLE, they do not let you use the restroom. Jerks, lemme tell you what. Nice little gift shop in the entrance of the James' home with James trinkets and paraphernalia, all reasonably priced. Shad and I got a wanted poster replica for $2, Tommy picked a grandfather clock pencil sharpener for $3, and Katie got a blue crystal horse for $0.50.

Then we made our way to Adam-ondi-Ahman. Tom and Katie love that name, and repeat it constantly now just for the heck of it. Adam-ondi-Ahman is an LDS Church site in Missouri where Joseph Smith revelations told us Adam had blessed his posterity after leaving the Garden of Eden, and where he will return prior to the Second Coming of Christ. It is a beautiful, peaceful place to visit.