Mario Kart Grand Prix

In conjunction with the release of the new Mario Kart 8 video game on the Wii U, the Improvables (and friends) gathered in Bountiful last weekend for a Mario Kart tournament. Lorin both came up with the idea and carried it out brilliantly over the course of an enjoyable six-hour event.

 

Lorin also purchased and engraved trophies for the first-place winner (and for other accomplishments) and brought fireballs (cheese balls), mushroom and star cookies, and Mario gummy treats, to boot:

 

 

 

As for the actual gaming, well, it was a lot of fun. Yours truly performed rather poorly, though I had a great time anyway.

 

Parker took first place and can be seen here drinking a celebratory quaff of Martinelli's from the first-place trophy:

 

 

He was then joined for a photo op with the "other" trophy winners, including Erica (Best Defense), Chad (Best Offense), and Ricky (Best Attitude/aka Mr. Congeniality).

 

 

Not pictured is Richard, recipient of the "Which Way Is 'Go'?" Award, who left before pics were taken.

 



Finally, the entire group gathered for this shot before we called it a night:

 

Good times were had by all.

Olaf's Revenge

At the latest family dinner two weeks ago, some of the kids colored in pictures from Frozen, the most recent animated Disney phenomenon to take the world by storm.

As you can see, McKenna got especially creative with her interpretation of the snowman Olaf, who looks somewhat more like a zombie than a snowman.

I must say that I wholeheartedly approve.

Nickel Creek Reunion Tour 2014

One of my siblings' and my favorite bands is Nickel Creek, whom we previously saw in concert at Abravanel Hall back in 2007 on their "Farewell for Now" tour. At the time, Biz and Jeff were only dating and Ben and Steve were both single men.

A lot has changed in the family since then, but Nickel Creek still puts on a great show. Their reunion performance at Kingsbury Hall in May was fantastic.

In addition, Biz scored some backstage passes so that she, Jeff, Ben, and Steve could meet the band in person afterward.

Yours truly picked up an autographed copy of Nickel Creek's new CD as an early birthday present. Overall, it was a win-win evening spent out with the family.

Droid

A few of us were surprised to show up for improv recently and then spot R2D2 in the parking lot in the back of a pickup truck.

Well, at least, I think it's at least a decent effort at an Artoo duplicate.

Family Dinner 4-13-14

We have family dinners—parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and sometimes even pets included—essentially every two weeks. Each is a lot of fun and is one of the highlights of the month.

We recently gathered at Mike's and Jana's home for dinner, during which . . . well, pretty much the Plowmans did the Plowman thing.

Improvables Class of 2014

We (collectively) recently completed teaching another beginning improv skills workshop. At the conclusion of it, the attendees, joined by Erica, Richard, and Ryan, with yours truly as M.C., had a chance to perform and show off their improv skills.

It was a fun and memorable night, as they always are.

Promenade

School's out for summer! Before school got out, though, my 16-year-old niece Kylee attended her first prom. I happened to be there when her date showed up to meet the parents and snapped this photo when she tried on her wrist corsage.

The look on her face says it all, methinks.