Indiana gets a "Thumbs Up"

Any of you who know Kevin well knows that as a child (and now for that matter) he was a huge fan of Indiana Jones. He still owns the real jacket and hat, and spent many days on the farm he grew up on swinging by his "whip" from barn rafters.

In a convergence of events worthy of a Spielberg trilogy (or quadriligy?), the much-anticipated new movie, Ethan's penchant for costumes and the highly-identifiable outfit of Indy has blossomed into full-blown OBSESSION. After he saw the teaser trailer, he immediately came up with a makeshift "Indy" outfit made up of a Zorro hat, a pirate jacket, a camera bag and belt to one of Allison's sweaters as a whip. Childhood ingenuity on full display. See pictures. (In the one to the left, he's showing off his Indy expression.)

The good news for Kevin: He now has a comrade-in-arms in the world of Indy fandom. Gives him someone who'll listen to him talk about how "Raiders" is the best movie ever made. Also gives him great pleasure for him to derive elaborate "Indiana Jones adventures", where they'll slink down the stairs to the basement (can't get above the banister or "poison darts" will hit them), swing across a "ravine" on their "whips" to the carpet, and then run from a boulder (a beach ball) once they enter the "temple" (the playroom). Kevin usually hides the "treasure" (a piece of candy) somewhere in the basement and gives Ethan a clue as to where it can be found, such as "you must look within yourself to find the treasure" (means it's behind the sliding-glass mirrored doors), or "it's at the end of a long, narrow blue road" (placed in the blue vinyl crawl-tunnel).


The good news for Allison: Ethan enjoys hours of relatively quiet playtime with the Indiana Jones lego sets that are rated for kids twice his age. He still loves them. Recently, they've become an invaluable incentive tool. He got the latest set (with Marion and the "Lost Tomb") today on the promise that he would stop sucking his thumb. He cheerfully made the bargain, which shocked us as much as if we had found the Chachapoyan fertility idol in a Marrekesh marketplace.



The excitement continued as the guys found the holy grail- the beginning of the mass marketing at our local grocery store. Indiana Jones gummy snacks??? Ethan was in heaven.

"Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?"

We are planning a trip to Disney in May where Ethan is going to see the Indiana Jones stunt show--I'm sure there will be much more to share on this topic...stay tuned.