Fun things we did in May - bouncing, horsey riding, and murder

Beginning of May was a Tarleton party with this bouncy-house game I hadn't seen before. Four contestants are bungee-tethered to the outside. They run the center pit, pull out a little ball, and put it in the bags on their side to score a point. Whoever has the most wins.

The fun of course is watching your kids springing backwards as the tether yanks them around.

Then we had dinner with some friends of ours and the kids got to play with chickens and baby kittens and ride a horse.

... which apparently you can do with two broken arms

To celebrate our 13th anniversary, Joy and I went to a dinner theater, Mein Shaft. It's a comedy murder mystery performed in between and among the tables.

While we ate, the stars wandered around talking to some of the tables. Our favorite moment was when the Scotsman, played that night by Stephen Eyre, was chatting with us in character about how they don't let him join the celebrations anymore. I responded in one of my weirder moods, "Not since the incident with the goat, anyway."


Then during the play, we could tell he ad-libbed a few lines about how "A hundred noble Highland laddies lost their lives, and all fer a goat!" Our table erupted in laughter, to the confusion of the rest of the house (and probably the cast). He explained to everyone "it was an inside joke," and off they went for the rest of the play.

Joy particularly enjoyed his cheer. Several of the characters encouraged some audience participation, and he encouraged everyone to shout "Freedom!" with our fists in the air anytime he called out, "Will ye fight!?" Joy gave the most enthusiastic shouts of freedom, sometimes even without a cue! When he swore he would kill the card shark (who was standing immediately behind my wife), Joy cried out for freedom! Married 13 years, and I had no idea she was so bloodthirsty! He handed her his sword so she could do the deed, but she politely declined the privilege. That's the moment I most wanted on video.

Sadly we did not guess the murderer. They have four different endings (one for each of the suspects). A very fun evening.