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| Pix and Vids |
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| Pre-Party Prep |
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| 2-liter bottles marked with points
for the Ring Toss game |
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| the Ring for the Toss |
Bonus Ring Toss Dolphin |
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Just a small stack of the 2-liter pop bottles
that we are using to create our entry floats. |
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| DO is making her float in sections. |
| The start of John's Pirate Ship |
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Jim is working on his float
while DO looks on |
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Jim will be riding the
Star Trek Starship Enterprise,
as soon as he mounts the
warp nacelles to the saucer section. |
Two days before the party, we all finally
finished up our floats. This is DO's entry - a barge for
Cleopatra to sail on the "Nile", as she looks for her asp.
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More of the Enterprise is together now. Jim had to run into his
work for a while (to deliver a vehicle, and he sold another one
while he was there.
 ), so
we moved all the parts out to the garage. |
| The finished Enterprise (top and
bottom views) |
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The smallest contestant in Pooltag
will be Rosita. We built her a little pet shop window display
to ride in.
She'll be playing the part of the "doggie in the
window". |
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I'm going to ride in what?!?!?!?
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DO takes a break from float building to sit with my partner for
the event. The dolphin is going to play the part of Christine
from "Phantom of the Opera". I should look enough like the
phantom in a cape, mask, and black Speedo.
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| This will eventually be the boat that the
Phantom (that's me) and Christine (the dolphin) ride in across
the pool. |
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| "Long John Silver" continues to
work on his pirate ship. He'll be adding cannons to it soon. |
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| DO and I also spent some time this
past week working on the games for the party. The hoop toss
seems like it will work well, and here we are working on another
koosh ball toss. MouseOver these pictures for some CloseUps. |
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I don't have any pictures from the
final entry in the contest.
Linda, Kerry and Kayle are working on a canoe, so Kayle can ride
as Pocahontas. |
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| Setting Up |
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As our guests arrived, we gave them
a folder that they could decorate and then tape up on the fence.
Throughout the day, as they accumulate points from the games,
they can put they point cards in the folder to be tallied later
in the day. |
| Since we might have
anywhere from a dozen to two dozen guests, we also set up the
badminton set, that way not everyone would be in the pool at the
same time. Although Jim's pool is pretty big, two dozen people
will probably make it quite crowded. |
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We got a small tank of
helium and put balloons around
the patio and the pool to enhance
the party atmosphere. |
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My honey, the birthday boy Jim,
blows
me a kiss
while we wait for the guests to arrive. |
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Just me, sitting and smiling for
the camera |
Don't we make a cute
couple?
(As you can see, Rosita has arrived at the party) |
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Linda helped out quite a bit by
creating and providing costumes for several of the Pooltag
entries. Along with some headdresses for the guys to wear in
DO's skit, Linda also created this cute outfit for Kayle, so
that she could be Pocahontas. Rosita doesn't know it, but she'll
be playing the part of Meko, the raccoon from the Disney version
of Pocahontas.
MouseOver this picture for a CloseUp of Kayle |
| Because of the length
of Team Clark's entry into Pooltag, it had to completed when
they arrived. Having worked on our floats throughout the week, I
pitched in to give Kerry a hand in finishing up their "canoe"
for "Pocahontas". |
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John's pirate ship
hasn't fared so well in the heat in the garage the last couple
of days.
But never fear! There was still plenty of duct tape and
willing hands to help him rebuilt his ship. |
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MouseOver CloseUp |
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| Guests |
| We also invited another guest to
our party. Angie is one of DO's neighbors and frequently plays
with DO's grandkids, when they are over visiting. We asked Joyce
to bring her along to join in the fun. Angie was a little leery
of the pool at first; but with a little encouragement from DO,
she was soon swimming and splashing around with the rest of us.
Jim awarded Angie 200 points for being a first-time guest at the
pool. |
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Kayle poses for Jim |
Kerry loves his Grandmother
(and
her cookies!
) |
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Kerry hammed it up all day,
as did everyone else having a ton of fun |
| Everyone really enjoyed the pool.
Although the day started off very overcast, by the time everyone
began to arrive, the clouds blew off, the sun came out, and it
got HOT! |
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| Angie and Becca pose
for Jim |
| As soon as everyone
got into the pool, a conga line started and really put a swirl
into the pool water. |
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Click below for a movie
Do the Conga |
Click below for a movie
Parade of Guests |
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| Games and Activities |
| To play the games, we had to take
ALL the toys out of the pool and set them out in the yard. (Winners of the games will be highlighted in bold) |
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After everyone arrived
(the Richard Clark family got a bonus 100 pts. for being the
last to arrive
 ), we started the fun with a volleyball
game in the pool. Using the big 48 inch beach ball and a rope
dividing the pool in half, we split into teams. At first we
started as Boys vs. Girls, but the teams ended up a little
different. One team had the birthday boy, Jim, along with
Kerry, Ritchie, Richard, Angie and John* . The other team was me, DO,
Mike P., Linda, Kayle, Becca and Angie. My team was losing
pretty badly (because hitting the ball out of the pool garnered
my team a negative point each time) when Jim invoked his
Ultimate Judge powers and reversed the scores. Later he used his
power to make us switch sides of the pool. We all had a great
time and the Birthday Boy and his team won (even after reversing
the points! LOL) with a score of 21 to 16, earning each of them
500 points.
(*the winners) |
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Our next game was a 5-Ring Toss. I
had made slip covers over 15 2-liter bottles with various
points, ranging from 25 up to a whopping 500 points. |
Click this picture
to watch a video
of DO tossing for points |
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| DO takes a turn |
MouseOver to see Jim toss a ring |
| Mike P. takes his turn |
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| 5-Ring Toss |
Adding up the points |
Kerry hams it up
for the
photographer again
LOL |
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| 5-Ring Toss Scoreboard |
| *Kerry |
950* |
Jim |
625 |
| Kayle |
875 |
John |
525 |
| mIkIE |
825 |
Linda |
500 |
| Ritchie |
750 |
Becca |
500 |
| Angie H. |
675 |
DO |
450 |
| Mike P. |
650 |
Angie C. |
375 |
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Richard had to go to his work for a short time
and did not play in this game |
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The next game was a koosh ball toss. We flipped the "Gilligans
Island" float upside down and you had 10 water-soaked koosh
balls. The object was to get as many as possible into the center
hole. |
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Jim is the official scorekeeper
(He's wearing a hat that he got from the Flugtag
event that inspired our Pooltag event) |
| Kerry, Kayle and Linda
each take a turn tossing the koosh balls |
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Jim confers with the second
scorekeeper to make sure his tally is correct. MouseOver this
picture to see who was elected to hang out under the float to
help count and keep it at a good distance from the ball
throwers.
(It's our friend, Mikie P!
) |
| Koosh Ball Toss Scoreboard |
| *Jim |
900* |
Kayle |
400 |
| Kerry |
600 |
John |
400 |
| mIkIE |
400 |
Linda |
400 |
| Ritchie |
400 |
Becca |
400 |
| Angie H. |
400 |
DO |
400 |
| Mike P. |
400 |
Angie C. |
100 |
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Since there were only a dozen guests at our party, and since
things were going so very well, we never got around to any of
the other games that I had on the schedule. Nor did anyone every
play badminton; but that's okay, because everyone really had a
great time playing the games that we did have time for. |
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| Pooltag Floats |
| A view from the back of Jim's
property, as we move the floats out to be displayed before the
contest. |
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The Pooltag Floats:
the Enterprise, Rosita's float,
the Queen's barge, and
a rowboat with Christine inside. |
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We waited until our special guests
(Carolynn and Trent) arrived before starting our Pooltag Main
Event.
We had six floats in our contest, with each float accompanied
by costumes, a skit, and music. |
| The first contestant: Rosita - "How much is that doggie
in the window?" |
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| original concept |
completed float |
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Our first contestant was also our smallest
contestant.
We built Rosita a cute little pet shop window (sponsored
by my old pet shop, "It's Reigning Pets").Music: "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?" |
Click on this picture,
then watch and listen
as Rosita rides
around the pool |
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MouseOver this picture for a
CloseUp of Rosita in her float |
| the second entry: Joyce as Cleopatra searching for her
asp |
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| original concept |
completed float |
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Next up was DO. Her skit was as
Cleopatra being pushing on her royal barge as she looked for her
asp.
(Yes, there is a good joke right there about what she was really
looking for. LOL)
Although DO's point total wasn't good (she was given -200 points
for an "H20 porch violation" [that's squirting water out of the
pool and onto the patio], and -500 for getting Kayle's costume
wet), she definitely made up the loss with her acting abilities
as she was guided around the pool.
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Everyone had to have a little bit of help
getting into their costumes and onto their floats |
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Decked out in a headdress, DO used a telescope
as she searched the pool for her missing asp. Her grandsons,
Kerry and Ritchie wore headdresses that Linda made so that they
looked like slaves for the Queen. Click on this picture to watch DO's skit
(You're sure to laugh at her madcap acting!
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Music: "Walk Like an Egyptian" |
Everyone helps to clear DO's props and float
from the pool for the next entry. |
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| the third contestant: "Long John Silver" roaming the
high seas |
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| original concept |
completed float |
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mIkIE and Linda bring John's float
up to the pool for the launching |
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this ship is flying the Jolly Roger flag
and has cannons on both sides |
With a bandana on his head,
John was a great Pirate. |
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Click this picture to watch John's voyage Music: "Popeye/Pirate Mix" |
| Even though John's float had fallen apart in
the heat of the garage over the past few days, with a little
help from Mike P., it turned out to be quite seaworthy after
being hastily repaired. |
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| the fourth entry: Linda and Kerry set Kayle a-sail
as Pocahontas |
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| original concept |
completed float |
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Next we loaded up
Team Clark's canoe
for Kayle to paddle |
| Kayle, as Pocahontas, climbs into her canoe.
Once again, Linda provided a little extra with the great costume
she made for her daughter. Jim awarded Linda a special 500
points for all the costumes she provided for some of the skits. |
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Rosita got to ride in another float. This time
she's playing the part of Meco, the raccoon that accompanies
Pocahontas in the Disney film version of the story. |
Watch Kayle paddle the canoe
by clicking on this pictureMusic: "Just Around the River Bend" |
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| the fifth entry: mIkIE is the Phantom of the Opera,
as the dolphin plays Christine |
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| original concept |
completed float |
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| For my entry, I dressed up the dolphin with
black hair and a white cape to play Christine from the "Phantom
of the Opera". I have a black cape and mask, along my a rowing
pole, to play the part of the Phantom taking his "angel of
music" through the water-filled caverns under the theater. |
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| Unfortunately, I was the one to run
into problems with a float. Oh, my float stayed on top of the
water, and Christine floated around the pool. However, the poor
Phantom fell out of the back of the boat and sank into the
water.
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loading up,
and starting to slide off
the back of the float |
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Going, going.... |
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gone! |
The Phantom's float floated
but he didn't |
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Click this picture for my video
(and listen to everyone singing in the background
)Music: "The Phantom of the Opera"
Even though I didn't get across the pool, my float did, so Jim
awarded me 1,000 points just because he loves me.
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| the final entry: Captain Jim, the birthday boy,
pilots the Starship Pooltag |
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| original concept |
completed float |
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| Jim received an extra 200 points
for having the largest entry into Pooltag with his version of a
Starship |
| Unfortunately, my camera must have gotten too
much sun and quit working for a while. Because of that, we don't
have any still pictures of Jim riding his float. Click this picture to watch the full video
of Jim's adventure across the pool
as he sings along with the music
Music: "Star Trek Theme/Star Trek Rhapsody Mix" |
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| Magic Show |
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Instead of the Pooltag competition
being the end of the fun, it was just one part of the fun. We had one
more "trick up our sleeves". After we
cleared the floats and props from the pool, we all found a seat
on the patio for a special Magic Show from Angel (the stage name
for Randy's younger brother Trent). |
| Carolynn (one of my Ohio moms) also
came to Pooltag to assist Trent with the music accompanying
his performance. |
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Teaching Angie the "Magician's
Toast", Trent first opened and drank a can of coke; then he
astounded us by making the can un-crumple, re-seal, and even
re-fill!
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| Kerry hams it up again,
as he assists Trent in a card trick. After drawing a deck of
cards, Kerry's card slowly seemed to rise from the drawn deck.
At the end of trick, Trent gave Kerry the paper with the
drawing. And Kerry's card was also drawn on there. I've got no
clue as how Trent pulled that one off. |
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Trent's act was especially nice
because he involved the whole audience in his tricks. He even
included me, as I was blamed for providing a banana instead of a
bandana for a trick.
Becca helped Trent out with a balloon
trick and ended up with a balloon dog named "Pierre" (since
that was the only trick he could do - "pee air"
) |
| Even telling us how he was
partially doing the trick, Trent surprised us with his "Rope of
Mystery" trick. I know I saw one piece of rope that was cut into
three equal lengths (by the "Scissors of Death"). Eventually
Trent turned the pieces into 3 different lengths before making
it back into one long piece. Simply amazing! |
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| Near the end of
Trent's show, we all participated in a trick. Trent had four
envelopes with instructions for us. According to the first
envelope's instructions, half of us stood, and half
remained seating. Those seated were the first ones eliminated. Half of those standing raised their hands and were
eliminated by the second set of instructions. When only two
people remained (Jim and Kerry), Kerry turned around and was
eliminated when he followed the third set of instructions. When
Jim opened up the final envelope, it held a special message just
for him! |
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MouseOver CloseUp
of the message from the final envelope |
| Happy Birthday
Jim! |
| I really can't begin to tell you
how wonderful Trent's performance was. I haven't seen him a lot
through the last few years, so I still remember him as a kind of
quite and shy guy. Trent isn't anything like that though as Angel
the Magician. His act was filled with puns and jokes, and he
deftly included everyone in the audience to help with the tricks.
Some of his tricks were just cute and some were downright
amazing! I was only about 7 ft. away from him and still couldn't
figure out how he did the things he did. It must really be
magic!
If you're looking for something special for one of your parties,
send me an email and I'll tell you how to get in touch with
Trent. You won't regret it at all. Trent and his magic really
gave the party a great boost. |
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| Cookout |
After a full day of
swimming and fun, we all had huge appetites. By the time anyone
remembered to take any pictures of the cookout, we had already
gotten our fill of
hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, potato salad, and DO's newest
specialty - grilled cheesy potatoes. |
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| You can see from these
pictures that everyone is having a great time! |
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| When we finally got our
cameras out (mine was finally working again), the birthday cake
was already more than half gone. |
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| You might remember
that last Summer, Jim and I hosted a two-day pool party. For
that party's conclusion, we had made a large cake that looked
like a giant hamburger. We stayed with
a similar idea this year, and the dessert was a "pizza pie"
cheesecake. (Actually, I made three cheesecakes because they are soooo good.
) |
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(ideas taken from the internet) |
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Strawberry slices for pepperoni,
kiwi pieces as mushrooms,
and drizzled yellow icing as cheese |
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| Balloons |
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Sunset at the end of a
fun-filled hot Summer day |
"Graveyard of the Ships"
the remains of our Pooltag floats |
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At the end of the day, EVERYONE received a trophy for
participating and helping Pooltag 2006 be such a great event!
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| During last year's
party, we had a blimp flying above us. (Canton hosts the
Football Hall of Fame inductions and festivities this time every
Summer.) Capping off the end of an awesome day, we had over a
dozen hot air balloons fly over the the party. |
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Although my funds are really limited right now (what funds?!?
), and sometimes my
health isn't so good, Jim is always so worried about me and so
helpful. I really worked hard to make this a special party for him. I told him that all he'd have to do was be the Host and greet
everyone. With all your help, Jim got to play and enjoy himself
the whole day. |
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I would like to thank everyone for helping to make this a
very special 50th birthday party for Jim. Just building the
floats and joining in the games with us made the day a whole lot
of fun. It's not every day that you could con your friends into
such a crazy idea as Pooltag. I'm so proud of all the effort you
put into your floats, costumes, and skits.
Special thanks have to go to Linda for the costumes and to DO
for those yummy potatoes and helping with the cleanup after the
party. Of course, I can't forget to thank Trent so very much for
a great performance that really helped make this party extra
special for my honey Jim. |
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| You may be wondering
how we could ever top this party. Well, by now you should know
that Jim and I have already been planning the next crazy
escapade. Jim announced after dinner that in 6 months, we will
be hosting "Snowtag". The object will be to use 2-liter bottles
to build a sled. Jim's already got an idea of how to design a
sled that looks like a round island with a palm tree and I'll
thinking about using Rosita with a single antler attached to her
head, like Max the dog from the Grinch Christmas story. |
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