'Hamster Hunger Games 2014

I haven't posted in ages.  Guess I got kind of busy, and I've got some catching up to do.  I'll start with yesterdays fabulous, epic, First Annual 'Hamster Hunger Games - Live!!

Several weeks ago, the kids began discussing plans for playing their own field version of The Hunger Games.  I offered to be a parent Gamemaker, and yesterday 17 kids and about 11 parent helpers gathered in a large park for a three-hour duel to the death.  We tried to re-create the games as closely as possible, so parent Gamemakers kept things lively using cellphones and walkie-talkies.

The Rules:

Each Tribute carried a cell phone, and was required to report in every hour by text that they had obtained a food pack and water.  This kept the kids moving, since they had to get to one of the three water fountains in the park, or find a filled water bottle, as well as a food pack every hour.  The fountains were all out in the open.

The games began at a Cornucopia in an open hay field.  The kids were placed in a large circle, each standing on a piece of cardboard as a "platform."  In the center, and  scattered outside the circle, was a pile of weapons (nerf guns and foam swords, called "boffers," and various backpacks.  The backpacks were loaded with a single food pack (containing a granola bar, grapes or trail mix) and sometimes a healing potion, a small weapon or an empty water bottle.  One pack contained a length of rope (which several kids later cleverly used to pull a weapon towards them without stepping on a mine), and several contained "mine activator" cards.

Some of the cardboard platforms that the kids stood on were marked "Mine," and with a "mine activator" card, could be used to blow up other players.  They could not be jumped over, and had about a 6' explosion radius.

The weapons were nerf guns, which could stun for ten seconds, and boffer swords, which could wound with a blow to the limbs, and kill with a blow to the body.  Heads were off limits!  The kids also had a few (foam) throwing weapons, and the mines.  If wounded, a Tribute had to obtain a healing potion - a sip of Powerade in a disposable water bottle.  We placed some in the Cornucopia and hid others around the arena for Tributes to find.  Every food, water or potion container was labeled with a Hunger Games sticker, so the kids knew it wasn't someone's leftovers dropped in the park.

The Action:
I called out, "May the odds be ever in your favor!"  Then I blew the whistle and the Cornucopia scramble began.  The kids had 2 minutes of kill-free time in which to gather supplies and get away.  I watched Hailey and her friend Monica grab a backpack and a nerf gun and head for the woods, away from the other kids.  They knew they couldn't survive long against the big boys who boffer all the time, so their plan was mainly to hide.  But, of course, they'd have to come out for water eventually...

The Tributes at the Cornucopia

Claire and Hunter had an alliance, and when I looked up at about thirty seconds before kill time began, they had grabbed between the two of them: a couple of backpacks, at least 3 or 4 nerf guns and several boffers.  But they weren't moving.  Thirty seconds until kill time and they're still standing in the Cornucopia, not twenty feet away from a big group of teen boys!  I couldn't resist calling out, "Run, Claire, Run!!"  She didn't move.  Now I'm counting down the time until kill time, and getting frantic for Claire.  "Ten, nine...Run Claire!...eight, seven, six...Run!"  Finally she turns around calmly and says, "I'm allies with all of them."  Haha!  So six of the strongest kids in the game - were allies in control of the Cornucopia!  The parents all looked at each other and said, "They're the "Careers."  The game is over for everyone else."

Claire, armed and ready. 

The "Careers" - well-armed, unafraid, totally dominant.

The day was really sunny and hot, so we parents had set up a headquarters in the shade at some picnic tables on a grassy field, and we headed back there to await developments and man the phones.  No action for about ten minutes.  The kids were all in the bushes, but they had to have one food and one water every hour, or become "depleted" and only be able to walk, not run.  

Pretty soon, I was getting worried that we hadn't distributed enough food and all the kids were going to die within an hour.  Then I saw the "Red-Headed Rippers," two red-haired sisters and their equally red-haired best friend who always wear black.  They were the youngest and probably weakest players in the game.  The three girls were wandering along the treeline in the open and I knew they must be needing food soon.  Feeling sorry for them, I tossed them a food pack.  They grabbed it and disappeared into the bushes.

By 3:00, everyone had texted in that they had eaten and drunk, and no one had died yet.  We Gamemakers were just considering what mischief to stir up when we received a text, Hailey asking, "Um, how do I fire a nerf gun?"  She had a gun and a pile of bullets, but no clue how to use it.  After ten minutes of both girls trying to figure it out, they texted for help.  

Then another text arrives.  "Monica is dead."  Oh no!  Monica was with Hailey, safely hidden in the bushes.  Now another text: "Hailey is dead."  Oh no!  What happened?  They came back to HQ to "re-spawn," since each child had two lives in the game.  We asked them what happened.  The girls looked sheepish.  They had been fine for food and weapons, but had had to leave the woods to get to one of the three drinking fountains in the arena for water.  The girls made it safely to a fountain, congratulated themselves on still being alive, and Hailey leaned over to take a drink.  She looked up.  "Um, Monica, we're dead."  Huh?  Monica looked down.  They were both standing on a land mine!

The Careers place a land mine at the water fountain.

After awhile, the Gamemakers decided that the Careers and another pack of four strong boys needed to be moved around a bit.  So we sent in two dads as "fire" to burn them out of the field they were in.  They moved.

The boys' pack on the move.

The Gamemakers continued to control the game, periodically sending out tracker jackers, fire, etc. to herd the kids around or occasionally wound or kill them.  At one point, one dad, Joe, and I decided the Careers were getting too strong, so we sent ourselves in as carnivorous monkeys.  I wounded one and Joe killed Claire.

Grace texted in at one point, "I need water."  We texted back, "There are 3 water fountains in the arena."  She was bummed because the Careers were guarding the only one anywhere near her, and time was running out before she'd become depleted, so we sent her a water.

By about 3:50, just over an hour before the end of the game, eight kids were fully dead and turned into Beasts, who were themselves viciously attacking the Tributes.  All of the remaining kids except Spencer had only one life left.  We sent in killer monkeys to challenge Spencer, but unknown to us, the Beasts were after him too, so the poor guy had a bunch of people on his tail.  He texted that he was wounded and needed a healing potion, so we told him if he could make it to HQ, we had one for him.  We didn't see him for a long time, but he eventually made it in.

Gamemakers attacked the kids in other ways too.  If a parent roamer overheard kids planning something, they reported it to HQ, and we then sent out a "Jabber Jay" text to another kid with the overheard information.  We had a basket of names we drew randomly for either mischief or district sponsor gifts.  Sometimes we'd text that they could have a mine activator card, or the location of a healing potion they could search for.  We also told the kids that if anyone saw a squirrel, they were wounded, because the squirrels were carnivorous.  (None were spotted.)

 Gamemakers plotting mischief against the Tributes.

At about 4:20, with the game ending at 5:00, we decided to narrow down the arena, so we sent out a text saying, "The Cornucopia field will be nuked in 5 minutes."  Sure enough, most of the big kids who had been camped out near the Cornucopia came pouring out onto the grass field near the Gamemakers.  A few skirmishes ensued, but we were still missing a handful of kids, so Ted decided to narrow the game down to just the grass field in front of us.  We sent out this text: "Poison (deadly) rain is falling everywhere but the main field in front of the Gamemakers.  Get there or die."

With about twenty minutes to go in the game, we Gamemakers are frantically scrambling for how to narrow down the eight or nine remaining  players.  We decide on a "musical chairs" approach.  While Ken drafts a text message saying that the acid rain requires an antidote in the form of a red cone, Joe and Ted dash out to place five red cones on the field.  But the kids, knowing this is it, all gather and begin dueling it out!  

The final melee.

The first to drop is Spencer - shocked amazement, since he's undoubtedly the strongest player in the game.  Then Noah and Christopher fall.  Really?  The big boys are dropping like flies.  Ted is now darting in and out grabbing the red cones we no longer need.  

Now it's just Brennan and two of the red-haired girls.  Then, ten minutes before we would have ended the game, Brennan is felled by a slashing boffer.  Only the red-haired girls remain!  They turn to each other, then raise their boffers, and slash their own throats rather than kill each other.  The red-haired girls are the winners!  "Red-Headed Rippers, indeed!"

The Gamemakers

What a great day!  The whole thing went better than any of us imagined, and we can't wait to do it again next year.

Spring Vacation 2014

A couple of weeks ago, we took a little spring vacation on the Oregon coast.  The cottage we rented was just adorable, which was a good thing, because we spent most of the week in it, reading, playing games, and cooking.  When we ventured out, it was often just to go to the beach across the street.

I sat in this bedroom chair a lot, reading.  Lovely little chair.  Our bedroom had a whole wall of windows looking out toward the beach, which we could have seen, if not for the big hotel across the street.  But we could hear it.

Brennan had a little loft nook all to himself.

We did go out to eat at Mo's, because everyone said we should.  Then we took a freezing cold walk on the beach, and retreated back to the cottage.

We also checked out the Tillamook cheese factory.  Mmm, cheese.

And, um, dubious cheese by-products?

 

And you know what goes with cheese?!

The five-flavor sampler - a great idea for the indecisive!

We had a very relaxing trip.  The kids took a million pictures of themselves, which I'll post separately.

An Unexpected Happening

I just had An Adventure.  I was going to run at the gym, but found it closed at 7:00, so I decided to try the track, because although outdoors (and hence in the rain), I thought it would at least be well lit and safe.  

Sure enough, it was.  The big lights were on because of a soccer game in the middle field, but the track was wide open.  So I buzzed along, in warmish weather, no rain or wind, feeling great, for about 2 miles.  Then the game ended, and people were kind of standing around in groups.  Eventually they left, and the lights went out, but no problem, the sky was still a little bit light, and the track is obstacle-free anyway.  I'm feeling great, and wondering if I should go ahead and do 5 miles, but I'm doing a long run tomorrow, so I figure I'll stop at 4.  I get a drink, walk for a bit to cool down, and head up toward my car.

And that's when I discovered that I was locked in.  Locked in!  To the entire stadium. I prowled the high fenceline, like a cat, looking for any opening that I could squeeze through, an unlocked padlock, a hole in the fence.  Nothing.

But no problem, because the light's on in an office, so I holler through the mail slot.  I can hear a radio in the background, and the maintenance guy's truck is still there, so there must be someone around with a key to at least one of those padlocks.  No answer.

My phone was very helpfully in my car, only a few paces away, on the other side of the fence.  I began to wonder if I'd be warm enough sleeping all night in just my fleece, starting out hot and sweaty, and would the bathroom floor or a stadium seat be warmer?  I wondered how long Karl would take to come and get me, and whether I'd told him specifically where I was going.  I wondered if I were able to flag down a car, could someone do anything anyway?

Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I climbed the chain-link fence.  I wasn't at all sure I could do it, but at least it didn't have barbed wire on top.  I wedged my toe into a hole and pulled, fairly certain that my wimpy upper body could not hold the rest of me up.  I hesitated at the top, thinking that as soon as I threw my leg over, I'd topple head first to the ground.  But my days of horseback riding kicked in, and I clung like a vise to the skinniest saddle I've ever sat on.  The scariest part was sitting on the top bar, hovering 8 or 10 feet in the air, hoping that if I fell, it would be on the grassy outside, not the asphalt inside.  Just before I swung my other leg over, it occurred to me to check to see if any part of my clothing was hooked at the top.  It was.  Then I imagined myself, hanging upside down from one hooked ankle, and hoping I wouldn't be in that position long before I was either found and released, in utter humiliation, or my pants tore and I scuttled home half naked in utter humiliation.

Thankfully, neither occurred.  I dropped lightly to the ground, and instantly felt like an uber cool, black-clad, cat-burgler, hot-shot, superhero!  Cue the Mod Squad music.  I'm hopping tall fences, no big deal.  Oh yeah.

Drill & Chill 2014

We're on vacation, hunkered down in the rain in a cute little cottage in Oregon.  More about that later.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from our third annual "Drill & Chill," the warm-up event for the 15th Alabama's upcoming season, where the gentlemen dust off their rifles and try to remember what "at the left oblique" means.  We ladies chat and take pictures, as usual.

The Captain says I shouldn't call it a "Drill & Chill" because of bad memories from our first year, when the soldiers had to drill in the snow!  But I don't think "Drill & Social" has the same ring to it, do you?

This year, we had a period dinner together after the soldiers drilled.  Everyone dressed, and it was great fun!

Private William Berry Sr.  

Fuzzy photo, but you can still see his sparkling blue eyes.

Sergeant Josiah Henry Newton

Peace out, man.

Captain Brock, ready for the serious business of drilling the troops.

The 15th Alabama, Co G, battle line.

2nd Sergeant Lawless and 1st Sergeant Newton

The Captain, demonstrating to the new troops the significance of the bars on his collar and the "chicken guts" on his sleeve.  Never say "sir" to anyone without them!

Or you know what will happen: "I will not call the First Sergeant 'Sir'!"

Sergeant Newton, inspecting the new recruits.

Fine new recruits.

Miss Rose

Though I see her modern counterpart every week, it's not the same as seeing my dear 19th century niece!  Miss Rose is working on a fine new dress for the season.

The sergeants, firing over the shoulder.

Wake up, fellows!

Another over the shoulder shot.  It looks cool.

Aim at Mrs. Kirkland.

Um, Captain Brock, how oblique did you mean, Sir?

Private Kirkland, are you really aiming straight for your mama?

Battle line hilarity.

The Captain - shame on him - teaching the youths to play cards.

These two caught on quickly, and cleaned up!

I took the opportunity to practice my loading again.  You never know when I might need it!  (Excuse the horrible hair farb.  I ran out of time to put it up!)

We ended the day with a period dinner: pot roast with orange, roasted potatoes, green beans and deviled carrots.  For dessert we had strawberry-rhubarb pie, apple pie, and Victoria spongecake.  I heartily regret not getting some pictures of the dinner, but perhaps someone else did.  It was absolutely wonderful to see everyone again, and I cannot wait for our first event together!