the real madrid deal

Grandma Lipsey recently returned from a trip to Spain with Aunt Katherine. Among the goodies she brought back for us were these authentic Real Madrid soccer football jerseys. Believe it or not, this team is like the Cubs over there in terms of popularity. And they regularly win championships. Incredible.

Not shown in this photo is the name van Nistelrooy emblazoned across the backs of these jerseys, which truly represents a masterful typographic achievement on any article of size 6 boys' clothing. Apparently, when Grandma Lipsey inquired about this van Nistelrooy character, the shopkeeper and customers spent half an hour regaling her with stories of his many great achievements. Unfortunately, we can't yet pronounce his name. Once Mom and Dad get it figured out, I'm sure they'll teach us.

So now, in addition to the Cubs, the Chiefs and the Royals, we count ourselves among the legions of Real Madrid fans. Well, "legions" may be taking some liberty where the Royals are concerned, but you get the point.

and for my next trick...

honesty 0; contradiction 1

Here we are playing nice and quietly in a restaurant downtown a few days ago. Of course, we don't always get along this well. Case in point:

Recently Wyn and I were playing in the kitchen while Mom and Dad were in the living room. All of a sudden I started screaming. Wyn ran out of the kitchen; Mom and Dad ran in and spotted me on the floor bleeding from my lip. Neither my brother nor I would say what happened, even though it was pretty obvious. Wyn wasn't going to fess up, and I certainly wasn't going to tell on him. Finally Dad got very specific with his questioning.

"Zak, did Wynston hit you with a truck?"

I kept my mouth shut while the question hung in the air.

"No, it was a bus," Wynston answered from across the room.

Oops.

We refuse to rat each other out, but we just can't help correcting Mom and Dad. Lesson learned on both sides.