T-Rex or not T-Rex, that is the question!

Last night we played Charades.  We all took turns acting out whatever we wanted while the others tried to guess what we were. 

Chloe was Captain Moroni writing the Title of Liberty.  Her actions were well thought out and very accurate...definite first child!  She pretended to rip her cape, write on it and tie it to a post!  O'Neill guessed it pretty quickly! 

Sethie was a dragon from the cartoon Dragon Tales.  I'm not going to lie to you, that one was tough.  He put his arms out like an airplane and ran around the room in circles.  We guessed Superman?   Buzz Lightyear?  An airplane?   But nothing was right.  When we asked him to do another move to help us out, he went from straight arms to flapping arms.  Hmm?  This time we guessed a bird?  An owl?  Harry Potter (that was Jimmy's!)?  Still not the right answer.  When his little string bean arms started to get tired, he gave us a verbal clue...which is normally against the rules!   "I'm blue, pink and green."  OK...What?  That did NOT help.  When O'Neill asked what letter it started with, Sethie said "D-ragon!"  We finally figured it out but not before Seth collapsed from exhaustion!

O'Neill was He-Man.  That one was a little bit easier because he mouthed, "I HAVE THE POWAH!" while holding his imaginary sword up in the air.  I considered it homage to my little brother Eric who was (and maybe still is) a devoted fan of the He-Man! 

Then there was Lulu.  On each turn she would twirl a lot then drop to the floor and do some sort of buckin' bronco move that would then evolve into slithering and eventually end with some sort of  bunny/frog hop.  It was very athletic!  We would all yell out random guesses like "Horsey?"  "Pirate?"  "Princess?"  "Crocodile?" "Mom doing an excercise tape?"  She would keep going until she heard an idea that she liked.  Then, she would stop and proclaim the winner... "Yep!  I'm a  Horsey!" 

I was Joseph Smith praying in the grove.  Either I am an extremely excellent actress or that one is just too simple.  They guessed in two seconds.  How disappointing!

When it was Jim's turn,  the kids chanted, "Go Dad!  Go Dad!"  He hesitated so I begged,  "Come on sweetie!  Give me something spectacular!"   

He left the room to prepare.  We waited anxiously!  I wondered, could there be a wardrobe change?  (That would take our game to a whole new level!)  The anticipation was getting to us!  "Come on Dad!  We're waiting!"  we pleaded!  "Hold on!" his voice was strained from the other side of the wall, "This is harder than I thought!...Grrr!...Owie!...Hmph!  Wait...wait!  OK!  I'm ready!"  We sat on the edge of our seats! 

After a dramatic pause, Jimmy burst into the room!  His arms were sucked into his short-sleeved shirt and so all we could see were his hands popping out of the arm holes.  He moved with giant prehistoric steps while showing his teeth and making some sort of deep, guttural, growling sound.  His head writhed from side to side as he continued to take enormous, exaggerated steps around the room.  His little hands flapped about as he roared and gnashed his teeth.  He bent over as if trying to eat Lulu but couldn't grab her with his little armlets.  She squealed with delight and ran to my side for protection.    ROAR!  (Stomp!  Stomp!)  GRRROWL!  (Stomp!  Stomp)  RARGGGGGH!  (Stomp! Stomp!)  It was an amazing show!  Jim was by far, hands down, no contest, the most spectacular T-Rex I had ever seen in my life. 

I was hysterically laughing!  Through teary eyes, I looked at each child.  Chloe had her head thrown back in deep laughter.  O'Neill and Seth were literally bouncing up and down in their seats.  They may have even been clapping, I'm not sure.  Lulu was beside me squealing and giggling!  It was such absolute delight delivered in classic Jimmy form! 

Winded and slowing down a bit, Jimmy pleaded..."Is anyone going to guess, or what?"  Chloe and I were laughing to hard to answer.  But Sethie did not hesitate!  He yelled...

"I know!  I know!  You're a CAT!" 

I fell out of my seat!  Chloe laughed harder!  Jimmy stopped!  He was laughing so hard that he had to catch his breathe.  Then O'Neill topped it all off when he, in all seriousness said,

"You were a CAT?  Wow Dad!  That was a great CAT!" 

Oh dear me!!!!  I knew Jimmy would serve up something spectacular but I had no idea that it would be that delicious! Encore!  Encore!