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Surprise Friday

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I had this idea the other day. There’s been this commercial for a place in Portland called Jokers. It’s much like a Chuck E. Cheese, I guess. (I’ve never been to a Chuck E. Cheese.) Both and Matt and Nat mentioned to me they wanted to go. I had taken the day off today to recover from the gig last night. (Incidentally, that gig didn’t happen!) So I figured I’d take the family down. And, I figured I’d make it a surprise! I didn’t even tell Susan.

Then, I had another idea. Jim and Rachelle live in Brunswick, about 1/2 way between here and Portland. I thought “I’ll call Jim and Rowe and ask if they want to come.” I go t Rowe’s cell phone from her Facebook page, and asked if they’d be game. She and the kids were game, but she didn’t know if Jim could make it. We’d have to play that part by ear. Nolan (their son #2 of #3) had a birthday party to attend today, so Rowe asked if we could leave a little early. I told her I would be there promptly at 10am, which would get us to Jokers at 11am.

We got up this morning, had a quick breakfast, swung by the bank, and headed for the surprise. We ended up at the Gilbert’s about 9:45. Rachelle was just pulling into the yard; Nolan decided to go to his friend’s birthday party early, and hang with them instead of us. Rachelle also told us that Jim was at a job (he’s a dependable Maine tiler), but that he’d meet us there. Cool!

We had a great time at Jokers. For less than $40, the five of us got to play in the giant inside jungle gym, play games, win prizes, and split a cheese pizza and sodas. I’d go again.

After about 2.5 hours, it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes in the parking lot, and headed towards home. It was warm outside, and even warmer in the van. Matthew said something about wanting some ice cream. And thus was born Surprise Friday Idea #2!

There’s a Cold Stone Creamery in Brunswick. I’ve been once; the rest of the family had never been. I figured it would be a good place to stop. Nat wanted mint, so he and I split a Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip. Julia ordered a cheesecake with white chocolate chocolate chips. Susan and Matt had cotton candy. Julia couldn’t finish her’s, so Matt polished it off.

And then we came home. It was a nice day, and I had a really good time.

Chocolate Jimmies

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I need to give the props out to my buddy Jimmy T! He hooked me up with some premium Dove creamy dark chocolate today. Yum! Sometimes dark chocolate has a dry mouthfeel. This stuff had the rich, bold flavor of dark chocolate, but the creaminess of milk chocolate. Two thumbs up!

Easter Photos Up

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I put some up in the gallery. I didn’t get many photos; the batteries died. The spare batteries in the camera bag were already dead. So I only got photos of the egg hunt at Grammy Nan’s; no shots were taken at Ma’s.

Dunkin Donuts and Pot

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I noticed something interesting on our local newepaper’s website this morning. Over in Waldoboro (about 1/2 hour south of here), a tranisent was busted for having 300 pot plants growing in a sophisticated hydroponic operation, the pot having a street value (when mature) of $350,000. Comments generated on that article? One. Then, in Camden (15 minutes north of here), there’s a plan to build a Dunkin’ Donuts on Main Street. Number of comments generated? 18!

As an aside, I hate the “We already have too many X shops/stores/whatever business.” Let the market decide. ‘There’s too much coffee already,’ they claim. ‘We don’t need another coffee place!’ What they really mean to say is ‘We don’t want a corporate business in there!’ If someone wanted to open an indepenant coffee shop, these same people would probably be thankful for the new jobs created. But it’s a chain, so snobery is ok.