Enuf Said!

Wow, did we sleep in or what?  Madison is getting older, obviously, and one of the sure-fire signs of a kid getting older is this chief complaint about going back to school soon:  getting up early.  She wants to sleep in, and that used to be not the case at all.  Of the three of us, Madison was always up and joining us in the bed, or playing with LEGO bricks in the playroom, or watching a movie downstairs.

We did do some work today, certainly a bit of unpacking and cleaning up.  Daddy had some work to do for the newer series and a bit of Summer Xtreme.  And Madison did some with her piano, and reading as well.  She's still got four books to go for the Summer Reading Plan.  Right now, she's finishing up Princess Labelmaker, but she's also been reading the Babysitter's club as well.  These are bigger books, so yes, she's not reading as many total books.  But as far as total pages to, she's definitely reading more than she's ever read before.

Early this afternoon, we went to go see "Spiderman:  Homecoming."  It was actually pretty good, although I place it third in ranking, just behind the first two Sam Raimi movies some time ago.  Since then, Spider-man has appeared in six films (if you include the Civil War movie last year), plus this one.  The slippery slope is in effect though, as anyone can see when watching a Marvel movie marathon as we did - the mature content and language progressively increases along the way.  It's odd, because it is in fact a PG-13 movie, and yet it's marketed for kids way younger than that (as you can see in the picture above).  As always, some of the content went over Madison's head.  But it's unfortunate that you have to go to that lowest common denominator sometimes.  Again, the movie on the whole was great, as were the villains in it, and of course the presence of Stan Lee.  Great to see him as always.  And great to see Tony Stark once more!  How many movies has he been in until now?  Something like eight, if you include that cameo at the end of "the Hulk."  Anyway, here he is again.  Tonight we were reading about Tony Stark and his ongoing battle with the Mandarin (or "Mandy") in the book, "The Gauntlet."  It's been great reading so far.  Madison and Mommy sit on the bed and listen to Daddy read the devotional first (this week is all about "Big Hero 6" characters), and then we read a chapter or so from the latest book.  This one has been engaging, as he's been on the receiving end of a surprise attack, and not working with a full suit. In fact one suit has been a medical suit, not really meant for combat.  The other suit is the party pack, which actually sounds like a lot of fun.

After the movie today, we did some shopping.  Back-to-school shopping, to be more specific!  Yes, it's July, so it must be time to start shopping for school supplies.  Does that last sentence sound absolutely ridiculous or what?  Nevertheless, it remains true:  we had a list we printed from the school, and went out to a few locations near the theater to find some items for Madison.  She got her new book bag for the year tonight, and this is somewhat of a controversial decision.  At least to Daddy it is!  The problem:  the new book bag doesn't have any character on it.  No Moana, no Spider-man, no Elsa, no princess, no superhero - nobody!  It's just got a nice decorative floral pattern on it!  Ah, our little girl is growing up and getting more "mature" book bags!  When did this happen?

I'm joking a bit of course.  But then again, perhaps I'm crying on the inside!  Anyway, we did our shopping, getting all the erasers, pencils, notebooks and so forth.  We're ready for school as of tonight.  Some things we had at home, so we didn't have to get the entire list.  But we're good to go!

Speaking of "good to go," we went to eat tonight at Cracker Barrel, which was nice.  Another monumental storm came through, blowing horizontal rain and shaking the normally solid street lights and signs as if there was an earthquake.  It was a gully washer!  We watched it roar by from within the quiet safety of our Cracker Barrel.  It was a nice meal, and afterwards we did a bit of shopping.  Mommy had some gift cards, so she got herself some clothing items.  She likes the clothing they have there.  Daddy and Madison got some candy, and even a few drinks that you don't see everyday.  Including this drink here:

This is Dr. Enuf!  Daddy hasn't seen this in some time.  I remember first trying it in 1997, I think.  We were on a road trip when I discovered it, a road trip to Minnesota.  There was a convenience store in Tennessee, and it had this funny title for a drink, "Dr. Enuf."  It tastes a little like Sprite, and perhaps a little like ginger ale, maybe.  It's an odd lemony mix.  The drink is okay - Mommy didn't care for it that much, but Madison and Daddy like it.  Tonight, we had that one when we got home.  There's another drink you'll have to see in the next few days.  That one should get big laughs.