Yes, thank you so much Mars Man!
I tried writing when I got home last night, but I fell asleep before being able, please forgive the late report:
My sons and I had a great time, we really enjoyed it, and we totally look forward to going again next year!
To anyone thinking of making the trip to the Mars Man mecca: Mars Man is the perfect host and his whole family is so welcoming and friendly. All of the party-members were so cool: MM, MM's Wife, MM's Kids, MM's Kids' friends, Mike, Ashikaga, Davey, Miyuki & Mizuho!
It started with a toast, and a drink (as I recall, I started with a high-quality German beer, the first of many beers consumed that day.) The food was delicious, I ate a LOT of pizza (there were many pies, vegetarian ones were topped with eggplant, green pepper, and tomato) and I had about 10 plates of guacamole with chips, and so much grilled vegetables (with the right yellow mustard for dipping potatoes in), my sons ate a lot of the above plus the big, big burgers (looked so good and cooked with so much love I halfway considered rethinking my vegetarian stance for a bit, ha-ha) and all the other variety of high-quality BBQ meats there were, and at night there were even marshmallows for roasting (which was a first for my sons, a very special moment they'll always remember for the rest of their lives.)
And the Dozou! My kids were so stoked: the first floor had a room with enough legos to build a virtual city! My sons quickly began connecting roads and creating vehicles and characters and situations and imaginative stories. Then they started getting into the world of trains, excitedly laying out the tracks and curves and splits and even some bridges above tracks, then turning on the moving-trains (wuu-huu) and watching them run the courses they had created, they loved it. Then, on the second floor: The Clubhouse. It was the ultimate relax room, with a wide selection of sofas and seats and pillows and blankets, and a wide space for entertainment, with a beautiful background of white-walls and white-ceiling, framed by the beautiful colors of the new-wood flooring and the old-wood original posts and beams. Behind the entertainment area there is MM's room which includes an amazing original chess-board with an extra-dimension added above it, imagined and created by MM himself, which takes the game of chess to a whole new level, artistically crafted with wood and glass. Speaking of glass, there were some beautiful pieces of stained glass custom-made for MM by one of his many friends.
The entertainment was great, Mike and MM are amazing musicians, MM had his acoustic guitar and Mike had his electric ukulele, and together they played and sang in perfect harmony. And Miyuki and Mizuho are super dancers, everyone got so moved by their dancing, we were all clapping and drumming along, and even my kids started dancing too. And then Miyuki showed us some beautiful hula dancing, we were transported to Hawaii.
Then came some strong black label whiskey. Then came the darts, the complexity of which surprised me, I had no idea there was so much to learn about points and technique. The pros like MM and Mike and Ashikaga helped explain to us rookies how to play, and it was so much fun! (Oh yeah, speaking of playing, I forgot to mention about the badminton games we played earlier in the afternoon. I guess I forgot to mention that, because, honestly, I need to get my game-up in badminton, before we meet again next year.) In Darts, I managed to throw a few darts into the 20 slice when needed, but I think out of all us rookies Davey should get some kinda' prize for his inspiring multiple bulls-eyes. We played Darts for hours, before finally calling it a night. And oh yeah, during darts, I learned that Mars Man has done a LOT of reading, and thinking, about the brain and how it works! It's inspiring to see his level of expertise, and makes me want to learn more.
My sons and I were given the choice of sleeping indoors or camping outdoors in a big tent, we chose the tent. Another first for my sons: sleeping in a tent. They loved that! There were plenty of sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, mats, and lights, it was totally comfortable. And the next morning we woke up to delicious fajitas (our thoughtful host even made sure I got vegetarian versions, thanks!)
Add to all of the above, countless hours of stimulating conversation, funny jokes, and warm smiles. And oh yeah, I was able to talk with Undrentide on the phone, a girl with a very beautiful voice who I made promise to come next year, even if it means bringing along her 82-year old grandfather! C'mon, Mars Man needs someone here close to his age! ;-)
All joking aside, I loved it, my sons loved it, and we are very grateful we were blessed with the opportunity to visit your home Mars Man. Thank you again, and see you next year!
