Staycation - Last, But Not Least

LOTR Marathon

So, here it is, finally, the third, and last, installment of Staycation.

Did any of you figure out the meaning of LOTR?
Consider the suspense ended...
it means "Lord of the Rings".
As in the movies.
All three of them.
Extended versions.
Yup, all 11+ hours.

The seed idea of an LOTR Marathon was planted through a conversation with our nephew, Jess, during Christmas break, and finally came to fruition during the summer staycation.
(Wouldn't want to rush anything, you know.)
We're not crazy enough to do this marathon all in one day/night, however.
I do think I would've lost my sanity,
not to mention that I probably would've slept through
nine of the eleven hours.

My techie husband took charge of the techie details:
procuring a projector, purchasing a $6 white sheet from Wal-Mart
and installing it as a big screen on the wall of our family room,
rearranging the surround sound,
albeit originally mistaking the right and left speakers
(which we discovered when one character galloped off the right-hand side of the screen while his voice traveled left),
adjusting the furniture and making a pretty darn good home theater (or theatre for our northward-leaning relatives).

I took charge of the domestic preparations:
food...yeah, that was pretty much it...that, and making sure the bathroom was clean.

We invited Jess and our other nieces and nephews, as well as Cami's BF, Jacob.

Night One:
Discs One and Two of "The Fellowship of the Ring",
plus Disc One of "The Two Towers".
Menu: Sloppy Joes, chips, pop, and 4 kinds of candy.
Attendance:10.
Wakefulness: I made it through all 5 hours, only dozing ever so slightly during the final 2 minutes.

Night Two:
Disc Two of "The Two Towers"
plus Disc One of "The Return of the King".
Menu: Leftover Sloppy Joes, leftover chips, pop, 2 kinds of candy.
Attendance: 6 and 2 halves. (Cami and Jacob only came for the last half).
Wakefulness: 20 minutes sleep, 4 hours awake.

Night Three:
Disc Two of "The Return of the King".
Menu: Water bottles, chip dust, Otter Pops.
Attendance: 8.
Wakefulness: 100% - barely - even though it was only 2 hours and 20 minutes of viewing.

Jim, Sean, Nate, nephews Jess and Derek, and I watched
the WHOLE THING.
We were joined at various times by Caitlin, Alicia, Cami and Jacob.
I thought the whole experience was great fun.
I LOVED spending time with my nieces and nephews, not to mention my immediate fam,
and I LOVED finally understanding this movie series that my boys enjoy so much.
I can only hope that the next time I take them on in our LOTR Trivial Pursuit DVD game, I'll achieve more than my usual one "pie piece" (to their 6). I must admit that, to this end, I attempted to sponge every bit of info I could as I watched...Theoden, Mines of Moria, Ents, Grima Wormtongue, et al. I'll let you know how this works out for me. :)

Our summer has been sprinkled with visits from faraway friends,
afternoons at my parents' pool (although with the casino newly opened down the road, the privacy level is SURE NOT the same as it used to be),
lots of reading,
some special birthday parties (a first and a fortieth),
and a fun and beautiful weekend camping with friends.

A few more adventures still await!
Hope your summer has been as enjoyable as ours.

Meg