Saturday, July 3, 2010: Block Party BBQ
Making friends is difficult, but doing it as a family is sometimes cumbersome. For instance, friends from work, there may be that camaraderie; however, the coworker’s spouse might be annoying, or even worse, their offspring resemble the devil’s spawn. Likewise, children may have friends from school they enjoy playing with, but their parents might not mesh well with you. As previously mentioned, I’m not a social butterfly, and I’ll be the first to admit that I have my share of eccentricities.
Despite all of this, I decided to organize a last-minute block party BBQ. Why? I thought I’d get out of my comfort zone. Between two residences in the five years I lived in Chula Vista, I did not know ONE of my neighbors. The outcome: only five families participated (including ourselves), three replied they were going to be out of town, and the other eight families didn’t respond. It could have been my fault because when I distributed the 14 flyers, I just taped them to the door. The friendly thing to do should have been to ring the doorbell and introduce my self. After all, the homes on our street are equipped with video-intercom so neighbors could see and speak to me without opening the door.
Nonetheless, the five families who participated had a good time eating, and sharing conversation with delicious food as the lynch pin.
Saturday, July 4, 2010: Misawa Base Freedom Fest
I want to begin by writing that I was truly amazed by the holiday festivities put on by Misawa Air Base. I would highly recommend this activity to any family stationed on base. After attending the Easter Egg Hunt this past March at 32nd Naval Base, I felt highly skeptical about attending another free base activity because I despised pushy parents trying to hoard free food and prizes for their children. The Freedom Fest was nothing like my Easter Egg Hun experience.
In addition to plentiful free food (hamburgers, hotdogs, BBQ chicken, potato salad, slushies, and soda), children entertained themselves with a dunk tank, inflated toddler bouncy (not overrun by big kids), small go-cart track, basketball throw, ring toss, life size connect four, checkers, and chess, and food eating contests. Most of all, there were more than a sufficient amount of game prizes for kids. Older kids might not appreciate the prizes, but the younger ones looked like they did. A Japanese Elvis impersonator was on hand to entertain the crowd.
My favorite part of the day was when I learned that I won first place ($150) in the Colossal Cookie Challenge – Talia’s Treat: chocolate chunk peanut butter macadamia nut cookies. My other entry, Camren’s Cookie: wheat-free, gluten-free, fairy-free, egg-free, vegan chocolate chip cookies did not place. However, because I knew the entries would be placed in a cookie book, I wanted to add it so other parents who have children with food allergies could have a sweet treat for their little ones.
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