YOB: #12. Painting Daisies On A Big Red Rubber Ball

By Lara

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the Veggie Tales. Silly Songs with Larry are some of the most clever children's songs ever written. There are few if any that I don't enjoy. When I first heard, "We Are the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," I thought it was brilliant.

That was the inspiration for "Go to Boston in the Fall." We decided that we should pay homage to the song by adding something else. Neither Beth nor I particularly wanted to lick a spark plug, sniff a stink bug, or throw our mashed potatoes up against a wall. Instead, we settled on "Paint Daisies on a Big Red Rubber Ball" for the second veggie-themed item on the list.

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YOB: #5. Go To The Beach In Winter (Lara)

By Lara

It has come to my attention that I never gave my perspective on making a sandcastle on the beach in winter. That is going to be my #1 priority today. Right now, in fact.

I believe the concept was born of the fact that neither Beth nor I like to feel hot. The beach is typically reserved for those people who enjoy sweating and sunburns. As I am not someone who enjoys either, I tend to avoid the beach. At least, I used to avoid the beach. Until Kate got a jeep. Assateague Island has an off-roading beach. That is much cooler than a regular beach that you have to walk to.

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YOB: #21. Visit Geppi's Entertainment Museum

By Lara

I have been curious about Geppi's Entertainment Museum since last fall. I heard an advertisement on the radio that they were having a murder mystery dinner party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the board game Clue. I thought that was super. I probably would have gone if I'd heard about it in time to buy tickets. Alas.

Since I missed my opportunity last year, I suggested that Beth put "Go to Geppi's Entertainment Museum" on the Year of the Birthday list. She did. That brings me to June 15, 2009.

Beth and I are both avid Harry Potter fans. I may have mentioned that there is nothing I love more than a good story. Although that is certainly true, I especially love a well written story. As we can no longer be terribly excited about the new books in the Harry Potter series being released, we have started becoming excited about the new movies instead.

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Why I Keep A Pirate In My Purse

By Lara

I have been notified that there was some question as to why I carry a pirate in my purse. Since Captain Jack and Boromir play a role in the year of the birthday items here and there, I suppose that is a reasonable inquiry. (See Beth's article for an explanation of why she keeps a prince of Gondor in her possession...)

When Beth's daughter was in the 4th grade, she had a project called "Flat Stanley." There are plenty of people with elementary school children who are intimately familiar with this project. Being an 8-year-old girl, however, Beth's daughter decided that her Flat Stanley just could not be a boy... because boys were gross. She named her paper doll Flat Stanleigh.

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Boromir Explained

By Beth

It has been brought to my attention that many readers will not understand my references to Boromir and Captain Jack. Since they have joined Lara and me on some of our birthday adventures and will continue to do so, for my next article, I will attempt to explain my half of the duo, mainly Boromir.

It all began in 1992 with the release of the movie Patriot Games, based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name. My father had read the book and once the movie was out on video (there were no DVDs yet) he bought it. I was an innocent young girl of 13 or so when I first laid eyes on the character of Sean Miller, as played by Sean Bean, in this movie. An obsession began. Patriot Games quickly became my favorite movie, eclipsing Treasure Island (the one with Charlton Heston and a young Christian Bale *swoon*). I knew the whole movie by heart, could quote all of Sean Bean's lines, in order with a reasonably good Irish accent and even went out and bought the soundtrack. It wasn't just the character of Sean Miller that I loved, I loved the story too.

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