You missed a good housefilk

We had a small but pleasant housefilk last night, mainly because the Bohnhoffs thought our party was this week instead of last week. caplor and family also showed up. The Younger Daughter, super_star_girl did yeoman service keeping the little ones happy while the rest of us sang.

For the last couple of years the chaoswolf has been getting deeper into filk; she sang a couple of her own parody songs, and sang with me on "House Carpenter" and "Demon Lover". Did a great job, considering that not only had we not rehearsed, but she hadn't even seen "House Carpenter" before we did it. She's still a little shaky on pitch, as I was (and still am to a large extent, if I don't have a guitar underneath me for reference).

Father's day

I spent much of the week wondering what to ask for as a Father's Day present. I don't really need much; the tendency in this family is to buy things when we need them rather than waiting for special occasions. All I really wanted was to be able to wish my Dad a happy Father's Day; he died in 1999.

So rather than asking for some stupid object to add to the household clutter, I decided somewhere around Thursday to do something with the kids. Spend Father's day being a father -- what a concept! It's complicated by the fact that the kids don't like museums much, which is one of my favorite family outings. But they still enjoy the zoo, so that's where we're going.

As soon as they wake up.

Father's Day followup

It took until nearly 11am to get both slugs out of bed, dressed, and sufficiently caffeinated, but we finally succeeded, and off we went to the San Francisco Zoo (where we have a family membership). It's been over a year since I was there last; a few things have changed. Not all for the better, but there you are.

The kids were very good most of the day, until the Y.D. started getting bored. They bought me a picture of the three of us on the Little Puffer train (which has been a zoo attraction since 1905!). Came out very well; I'll try to post a scan at some point.

The flower_cat survived the trek surprisingly well, though she was fading badly by the time we left -- another reason we left when we did. My ankle held up ok, but I'm glad I didn't push it any further. I was tired and sleepy on the way home; the Cat and I both took naps before heading out for dinner at El Torrito -- not the best Mexican place on the planet, but reasonably consistent and the kids know they like it.