I'm Not Up Late, You're Up Late!

The Gremlin has taken after his father (because he hasn't seemed to at all before now).

About an hour after putting the Gremlin to bed, I was happily watching Chuck the other night when I noticed that the hall - usually dark - had a sliver of light shining on the carpet.

I was approaching the hallway and my foot creaked on the floor when the light disappeared all the way. The door squeaked firmly shut, and the handle clicked in. When I attempted to open the door, it seemed stuck unless you gave it a bit of a push, in which case it seemed like there was a 4 year-old on the other side putting all his hefty 35 pound body weight against the door to hold it closed.

So, an hour after his bedtime, the Gremlin had gotten up, turned on his light and decided to build a Lego fire station inside his Spider-Man umbrella.

Apparently, it was necessary for not only his stuffed animals to assist, but also his entire platoon of Billy Blaze firefighter Rescue Heroes. (Oh, and it's even better writing this with the Gremlin here, because he can tell me that I missed one.)

Apparently once the cabal was assembled he thought he had marshaled enough force to retake: his prized Halloween Candy. If only the dreaded Daddy hadn't interrupted just before the surgical strike (which most likely involved scaling the book case in the dining room).

I wasn't sure what I was more proud of - that he was planning a strike to get his candy back, or the fact that he had the guts to turn his bedroom light on and prepare for it.

Sent back to bed to contemplate his strategy, the Gremlin was left with his own thoughts (such as getting so excited the firemen stopped right outside his house this morning), and was fast asleep within seconds.


Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Architecture Series: John Hancock Building

Happy Belated Birthday (And Belated Sugar Rush)

So the Gremlin's week has been full of late presents, the culmination of which came on Wednesday. The Gremlin received Allen Brothers' Cheesecake Oreo Brownie from his Uncle Thompson.

Upon receiving it, the Gremlin ran in circles through the house yelling, "Oh, thank you Uncle Thompson, I love you so much!"

It was an unfortunate blow to the Gremlin that it came frozen. To kill time, the Mother of the Gremlin took him to Green Lake where the Gremlin used another present to scoot around the path.

At each mile marker, the Gremlin would stop, turn to the MOTG and shout (as on his bike he is now faster than her), "Momma! Is my cake unfrozen yet? We need to get home before Daddy eats it all!"

When it finally did become unfrozen, the Gremlin would not eat it.

"Nono, we can't eat it! We have to wait for Uncle Thompson!"

"Buddy, he's not here."

"Yeah, but he sent cake!"

"Right, but he's in Chicago."

"But he sent cake! Why wouldn't he come over for cake?!" It took us four hours to convince him that Uncle Thompson just sent the cake as a present - that he wasn't coming to visit (during which time we were sadly not allowed to eat the cake)


Favorite Toy of the Week: Rescue Hero Mountain Command Center

Tell me how you really feel

Faced with the options of taking a bath or becoming homeless, the Gremlin made the obvious choice this week. (video pending blogger.com's uploading feature)




Here are some pics from Seapple. The first highlight was from "zipline park" with Uncle Zach.





The second highlight was from the Ballard Seafood Festival where the Gremlin took on a personality very much in line with his usual - the Pirate Gremlin



And I quote, "Yarrrr."


The final highlight I'm posting today is from later in the Ballard Seafood Festival where the Gremlin decided that, as pirate, he needed a boat. And proceeded to make one

Favorite Toy of the Week: Rescue Hero Fireman Billy Blaze 

Billy was discovered at the thrift store for $2 in two different outfits (making for two different rewards the Gremlin could receive)