A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

Sep 4 2008

Lost in translation

Category: Family Fun

My family has its share of funny nicknames, but many of our made up words involve or are derived from food. My sister used to refer to Asbury Park (in New Jersey, near my childhood home) as Strawberry Park. But she pronounced strawberry as stowberry as in "Can we go to Stowberry Park, mommy?"

Nathan calls tomatoes, maymose. So V8s are now called Maymose Juice. He used to say sosa instead of soda. (Sosa is actually the Spanish word for soda.) So drinking a pop was "having a Sammy Sosa."
Then there's avocado or should I say, avamacodo?

Then there are the words and phrases that make life easier for Paul and me. For example, "Lucie, please stop screwing around with the DVD player. Opening and closing it constantly isn't a good thing. Putting in two DVDs at once is a great way to break it. Stop pushing all the buttons on the remote." These long, panicked sentences turn into the short but sweet, "Lucie stop messing!" It's amazing how the word messing means so many things:

• Lucie relocating her upstairs sock drawer in the downstairs toy box.
• Nathan pulling the CD drawer out of his computer.
• Lucie rearranging the contents of my wallet and diaper bag all over the foyer of a friend's home.
• Nathan pushing all the buttons at a museum exhibit just because it's fun to push all the buttons.

What fun phrases and made up words does your family use?

 

Aug 29 2008

Are you an aunt or an uncle?

Category: Family Fun

Having family spread out around the globe, we've created an extended family of friends. We have an Uncle Pete, Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Kurt, and Aunt Karen. We even have an Uncle Sheila. 

Uncle Sheila is married to Uncle Jimmy. Before you start thinking "alternative family," Sheila is a woman and Jimmy is a man. It is Nathan's doing that Sheila goes by that moniker.

When Nathan was two, Paul took him camping with Jimmy, Sheila and their two girls. Used to calling Jimmy "uncle" -- and not realizing there was a feminine version of the title -- he called Sheila "Uncle Sheila" and the name stuck.

Even today, I'm not allowed to call her aunt. She's always Uncle Sheila to us.

 

Aug 22 2008

Family fun at bass pro shops

Category: Family Fun

Coming back from a morning fishing trip, Paul announced that he, Nathan, and best friend "Uncle Jimmy" were headed out to the new Bass Pro Shop near Denver. Thinking that anything was better than tackling the laundry, I quickly told him that we girls wanted to come along. I knew Lucie would have fun looking at the fish and I took along a book just in case I got bored.

Our plan was to check out their new seafood restaurant. Featuring a bar that bellies up to an aquarium sized tank -- and longing for a dose of '50s kitsch -- I wondered when the "live mermaids" were going to appear. As we were seated, we marveled at the full sized fiberglass models of shark, tuna, dorado, marlin and sailfish that hung from the ceiling. If it weren't for the yummy smells from the kitchen and hustle and bustle of the waitstaff, I would have felt like I was under the ocean.

We were amazed by the huge old tuna mounts and pictures of sports fishermen and women from the 1930s. The food was fantastic, too, especially the grilled mussels. It's someplace I'd come with the kids for a quick soda and dessert just to enjoy the awesome decor. Cheaper than going to the aquarium, I vowed to return.

After lunch, the guys went to check out the outboard motors. Lucie, Nathan and I tried out the pontoon boats. Like RVs on water, pontoons are boating for couch potatoes. I rested on the sofa-like cushions in the stern while the kids pretended to steer and race their boats. When I win the lottery, I'm going to get me a pontoon boat so I can drink cocktails, coast around a lake, and watch my butt get bigger.

After Jimmy left, we went upstairs to check out the hiking boots and hunting bows. After Nathan tried out a bow on the shooting range -- he's still too small to properly pull it back -- Lucie and I spotted the stuffed bear mount. While Paul and Nathan discussed bow hunting with the salesman, Lucie and I spent our time running past the bear yelling, "Oh no, a bear!"

I think Paul was disgusted with all the noise we were making. It's not very manly when your wife and daughter run around waving their arms, and shrieking in mock terror of a dead, stuffed bear. He quickly got us out of there.

So the next time your husband tries to disappear to Bass Pro Shops, invite the whole gang along for a little family fun. He won't be so thrilled, but you and the kids will have a blast.