The Adventures of AquaBen

Daddy John: The Aquaman costume from Auntie Beth has been a big hit for Benjamin Roy (BR).  He simply won't take it off.  Even when he goes to bed!  At least we got him to take off the belt and boots when he climbs in...

What dreams of adventure has a boy?

BR: I am AquaBen! .... >snore<

AquaBen is out on his daily sea patrol...

AquaBen: It's my octopus friend, Topo!  What's up, Topo?

Scuba thieves raiding sunken treasure?!  Let's go!

AquaBen: You take those two, Topo!

AquaBen: This one looks like the ringleader!  I'll handle this guy.

Later on, AquaBen assists some marine archeologists explore ancient Atlantis...

AquaBen: You might learn some interesting history by those gates, men!

AquaBen: Don't worry about the sharks, fellas!  I've got them under control

and keeping an eye out for any more scuba thieves!

Suddenly, there's an SOS call from the modern underwater city of Atlantis!

AquaBen: Alien monsters attacking the city!

AquaBen: Laugh now, Xoton!  You won't find it so funny when 

my Justice League pals and I foil your evil plans!

Afterwards, good has triumphed once again...

AquaBen: It seems a hero's work is never done, eh Topo?

BR: Wow, what a great dream!  I can't wait to tell Pete all about it.

Aquaman created by Paul Norris

Aquaman & Topo © DC Comics

Be Mine

Marta: Hey Ravi, what are you doing?

Ravi: Making a Valentine's card.

Meghan: Oh? Who's it for?

Ravi: It's a surprise.

Holly Belle: Hmmm...

Meghan: What are you up to, Patrick?

Patrick: I'm making a Valentine.

Holly Belle: Why Patrick, you never struck me as the romantic type.

Patrick: >Ahem< Valentine's Day originated as an ancient feast day 

honoring several Christian martyrs named Valentine.  

It had no romantic connotations until Chaucer's poetry in the 14th century.

Holly Belle: >eye roll< Thank you, Wikipedia.

Holly Belle: Wow, who could have guessed that Mr. Logic would celebrate Valentine's Day.

Meghan: Or Ravi, for that matter.

Marta: Hmmm...I wonder...

Mikko: Patrick and Ravi?  Oh yeah, those two are crushing on each other big time.

Tyler: Didn't you know that, Hols?

Holly Belle:  No, I didn't know that!  How did I not know that??

I'm meant to know everything around here!  Don't call me 'Hols'.

Marta: Well, I think it's really sweet.

Tyler: It is.  Plus, it keeps all that nerdiness in one place.

Did you know they both actually like doing schoolwork?!?

Marta: What's wrong with that?  I like doing schoolwork.

Meghan: Yeah!  Learning is fun, you big doofus.

Holly Belle: I love school, except the whole thing about no talking in class.

I mean, can I help it if I have a lot of important things to say? 

Well, now at least we have that cleared up.  I just wonder how much else is going on around here that I don't know about.  Do I even want to know the answer to that question?

Mikko: >head shake<  Girls, I tell ya...

Tyler: Dude! You ate all the chips!

Laundry Day

 Daddy Steve: With this many kids, every day is laundry day here at Gregoropolis.

Old Alice: Back in my days, we didn't have fancy machines like this.

We had to run all the clothes through a ringer.  And everything needed to be ironed.

Anika: She does like to go on about the old days.

Robin: Old people are like that.

Anthony: It's easy to tell which clothes belong to whom.  

Luke's jeans are always the ones with the dirtiest knees; I don't know how he does it.  

And Rhoda always has the grungiest looking socks.

Anthony: And this could only be Frank's shirt.  Look at all the food stains!

Spaghetti sauce, chocolate, peas...

Robin: Peas?

Anthony: I know!  It's hard to believe, but Frank is crazy about peas.

Robin: It's always the quiet ones.

Anika: The laundry here certainly is a neverending job.

Anthony: Oh, I don't mind it.  You kids are all pretty helpful, and there's

a sense of order to the whole process that I really appreciate.

Tyler: Watch out, comin' through!  Comin' through!

Mikko: Yeeeee-hawwww!

Anthony: Oh, those two --- !

Anthony: >Sigh<

Anika: Yes, definitely a sense of order...

No Blue Ribbon for Hair Ribbons

 Daddy Steve: Lara is a 1968 girl with the wispy bangs characteristic of that year.  When she came to live here, her front hair was pulled back in a little ponytail.  It's my favorite Sasha hairstyle.

The trouble was that it was held back with a hot pink scrunchie - not an easy color to work with when coordinating an outfit!  For nearly two years I procrastinated about replacing it with a ribbon.  

The fact is that Daddy Steve is a bit intimidated by girl hair.  Whenever I fiddle with it, it never seems to go very well.  And attempting to tie a hair ribbon is always a disaster!  I've said before that my ribbons always end up looking like they were done by a drunken ape.

Lara's arrival at Gregoropolis; being welcomed by the always friendly Sasha.

Doctor Pat's ribbons are perfect in every way...

The late Susannah Lewis also tied lovely ribbons...

But my ribbons...eh, not so great.  In all fairness, I have slightly beat-up middle-aged guy hands that don't always do what I want them to.

This week I had a day off, so I thought I'd give it a shot ("So what did you do on your day off, Steve?"  "Oh, I spent the whole afternoon fussing around with my dolly's hair ribbon.").

Honestly, it's harder than you might think.  While you're fumbling with the ribbon, some stray hairs always want to slip out.  I can see why Trendon eventually went to simpler hairstyles for the girls.  I'm sure those early styles didn't survive kid play for very long.  After many tries, we came up with something satisfactory.

Naturally, Jennifer wanted me to give her hair ribbon another go.

Jennifer: Now re-tie mine, please.

Overall, an improvement.  Although, the girls did have this to say...

Lara and Jennifer: Don't quit your day job, Daddy Steve!

Ginger Kisses

 Wednesday, January 12th was officially Kiss A Ginger Day (seriously).  Here at Gregoropolis we love red hair, so our redheads thought they would share some smooches with you.  If there's a special Ginger in your life, don't feel that you need to let a whole year go by without kissing them!

Charles: Made-up holidays are silly!

Meghan: Party pooper.

Nanny Wendy: Ah, the attention of two handsome men!

What more could a girl ask for?

Gino: Solo un piccolo bacio?

Uli: >Humpf< Very vell.

Harriet: Are you a natural redhead?

Aubrey: Only my hairstylist knows for sure.

Anika: Um, have you been eating garlic?

Kevin: Sorry...

Frederick: So you say posh people kiss all the time?

Daphne: Oh, absolutely sweetie.

Frederick: And how do they kiss?

Daphne: Well, first they address each other as 'darling'.

Frederick: Darling?

Daphne: More like, 'Daahling'!  Try to sound bored or blasé about it.

Then a little peck that barely hits the cheek.

Frederick: Ta-ta, daahling.

Daphne: That's it, sweetie!  We gingers are just naturally posh.

Packing Up the Holidays

 Daddy Steve: The Christmas season is over, and the kids are all busy packing up our decorations.

James: What's going on in here?

Lara: Luke and Oliver are taking down the big tree.

James: How many ornaments have they broken?

Lara: Only two; much better than last year!

Luke: Oops!

Lara: >sigh< Three.

Holly Belle: It's a good thing I'm here to direct this operation.  

Who knows what would go wrong otherwise?  

John Martin, you move those boxes over there.  The Santa figurines go 

in that long box.  All the others...blah, blah, blah.

Nathan, go in the basement and get...blah, blah, blah.

Paul, check the cupboard under the stairs for the...blah, blah, blah.

Alright everyone, let's get moving!

Nathan: What would we do without her?

John Martin: >Sigh<

Paul: I love Christmas.  It's kind of sad to see all the decorations get put away.

Holly Belle: I know what you mean, but there are a lot of fun holidays coming up. 

Like Valentine's Day!  Flowers! Candy! Romantic cards!  

Isn't that right, John Martin?

Holly Belle:  ♫ Oh, John Martin! ♫

Hmmm, where do you suppose he went?

Nathan: Probably hiding out until Easter.

New Year's Day 2022

 Nobody in Gregoropolis made it to midnight last night (not even Daddy Steve or Daddy John), so some of the boys decided to have an impromptu pizza brunch today....

Annabelle: Woof!  (Mine!)

Later on, a few rocked the house.  Stephen Orange proved a capable DJ.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from GREGOROPOLIS!