Meet the Family!

Thanks to MommyNinja’s amazing logistical planning skills, at 2pm L’N and the whole family were in the L’N Mobile and backing out of the driveway onto North BlackBerry Lane, headed to the ZOO! With his routine wink and four-finger wave to L’N in the rear-view mirror, Daddy reached up and hit the little blue button on the mirror. After the L’N Mobile automatically decreased the front and rear air conditioners, and lowered the volume on the XM Radio, there was an immediately familiar tone to which L’N responded, “Star-Star!” A very friendly Star-Star Navigation Advisor named Susie came on the line and asked Daddy “Where can On-Star take you today Mr. Oriani?” You have to understand of course, that this kind of super-secret satellite uplink to Star-Star Central HQ is highly classified; however, everybody in the vehicle has been cleared at the very highest levels of the L’N Hierarchy.

First there is MommyNinja, a former Lil’ Ninja and the youngest in history to graduate to Full Ninja, a status she achieved at only 16 years old. She trained on the elite United States Junior Olympics Equestrian Team, a highly classified cover group of Little Ninjas that operate across the nation, fighting crime and hunting Pirates on horseback – pretty cool stuff! Her current assignment has had her deep undercover for the last 8 years in a high-paying career as the Executive Assistant for a very powerful Billionaire with offices in New York City and London.

Next in order of classification-level is Carmine’s AWESOME 15 year old big sister and fellow crime-fighter, TrishaNinja. She is a very cool big sister and companion Pirate combater. Patricia, Trisha for short, is one of those rare teenagers who have not arbitrarily abandoned The Gift as she has matured into a beautiful, independent young lady. Perhaps it is because she enjoys exploring worlds filled with vampires, werewolves, demons, and the occasional Fairy Queen. When she isn’t chasing hot teenage boys (she IS a 15 year old girl, after all), busy with her school work, chatting on Facebook, or sending & receiving 6495 text messages in a single month, she can usually be found with a pair of ear buds in listening to an Audible.com title on her iPod. She typically listens to at least one audiobook every two-three weeks, which probably keeps her sense of The Gift sharp.

Next, there is Carmine’s 19 year old brother, Brandon; he is what is known as a Guide.  A Guide is a Lil’ Ninja friend or family member who has the security clearance to be “briefed-in” on the Lil’ Ninja’s secret identity, but who is not himself a Ninja.  Guides are an extremely important part of a Lil’ Ninja’s support network. They assist the Lil’ Ninja in any way they can, without becoming personally involved with the day-to-day crime-fighting itself. For example, a Guide might be a daycare provider, or a teacher at a local elementary school. They might make subtle recruiting suggestions if they come across a particularly bright young person in their group or classes. Guides are often family members, as is the case with Brandon.

Finally (for now) we have Carmine’s Daddy. He used to be an Air Force Officer, but at some point, Daddy had to make a very serious choice—keep doing what he was doing in his career and essentially miss out on most of Carmine’s childhood due to long- & short-term deployments; or make some major changes in his and his family’s lives. Thankfully for our story, he chose the latter. After some sincere sole-searching and many family discussions, Daddy walked away from his six-figure position with the U.S. Air Force, and instead took on a 24/7 position that paid far, far more albeit not in dollars. Daddy became the full-time caregiver, housekeeper, family chef, and pre-school educator for our Lil’ Ninja! WHAT A PROMOTION!!!

To be continued …

Father’s Day at the Bronx Zoo—Morning Plans

Sunday was a GREAT day for our Lil’ Ninja superhero; he spent Father’s Day at the Bronx Zoo in NYC with the whole family! L’N started the morning like most—up with Daddy around 7:00am, quick change of the ol’ diaperoonie, and a fresh milk bah-bah. With a fresh bottom and bottle, it was downstairs to feed the doggies. L’N has many fun & furry friends in his family which we will meet another day, and he was really looking forward to meeting some new ones at the zoo later that afternoon!

 At 12:30p L’N had a pretty typical change of plans in order to accommodate a member of his family, this time it was his 19 year old brother, Brandon. Originally, MommyNinja & Daddy discussed going out to grab a simple bite to eat for lunch with the family to kick-off the Father’s Day activities before headed to the zoo. However, when his 15 year old sister, TrishaNinja, finally reached Brandon via the L’N IFCoN (Inter-Family Communication Network), a.k.a. text message, they learned that Brandon was, and we quote, “Still on my friend’s couch … can you come get me?” This together with the fact that TrishaNinja’s close friend Cathy had slept over, and now needed a ride home, created their first set of schedule glitches for the family.  

Master logistical planner that she is, MommyNinja didn’t skip a beat! Without demonstrating an outward hint of stress, or losing a single drop of ninja sweat, MommyNinja went onto the World-Wide Webster, ordered their lunch from the yummy local Mamaroneck Dinner (www.mdiner.com), and planned Daddy’s transportation route. His mission, should he choose to accept it, was to get two 15 year old girls up and out of the house, drop Cathy off at home, pick-up Brother Brandon at the designated rendezvous point, swing-by the Mamaroneck Diner to pick-up lunch, and return to base, all before the milk shakes melted! This was obviously gonna take some serious Daddy Taxi skills, but the family had complete faith in Daddy’s ability; after all, he WAS a retired Air Force Transportation Officer … duh!

Well, needless to say, MommyNinja’s logistical prowess proved flawless once again! Her plan allowed Brother Brandon to shower & change while the rest of the family ate lunch, meanwhile her and Daddy prepared a container of L’N Power Meal (Mac & Cheese) to take with them to the zoo. Flawless! The family was in the L’N Mobile (Buick Enclave) headed to the Bronx by 2:00pm – about the same time they would’ve finish lunch anyway … way to go MommyNinja!!!

To be continued …

L'N Story Time: "If I Ran the Zoo"- Dr Seuss (1950)

After Sunday's trip to the Bronx Zoo, this title seemed especially timely for yesterday's Lil' Ninja Story Time. It was very well received from our 17mo old audience! Check out this classic children’s title if you haven’t read it in a while, or if you are planning a trip to the zoo anytime soon ;-)

Bronx Zoo Group Therapy

Very soon City Hall will vote on whether to slash our budget by more than half. Ouch. But you can help us, make sure your voice is heard by signing this petition: http://bit.ly/iqW7Fr

Bronx Zoo animals in therapy over massive budget cuts

secure3.convio.net

The animals at the Bronx Zoo are freaking out over the City's proposal to cut the budget for WCS' Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium by more than 50 percent! Check out the video of their latest therapy session then lend these poor guys a hand - tell City Hall to restore their funding.

Bronx Zoo Crystal Ball

Look into the big Bronx Zoo crystal ball ... Where are the Dirty Pirates hiding? Are they in the Monkey House? I KNEW IT!

Inaugural L'N Posting!

WELCOME to all the dedicated and occasional Lil' Ninja (L'N) Friends from FaceBook and across the world-wide web of the Pirate-vs-Ninja (PvN) subculture. If you are new to the L'N Adventures or have never heard of the age-old PvN debate, do not despair! We will occasionally be bringing you educational tidbits and random links that you may or may not find informative and maybe even entertaining ... no promises on the later though.

We will be chronicling the day-to-day adventures of our favorite Lil' Ninja- Carmine. He is a "17-month old, Highly Trained Pirate-Fighting Machine" disguised as a beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby boy out of the New York harbor village of Mamaroneck. His top secret identity is only known to a handful of trusted family members, handlers, and FB Friends. Follow along as he locates and neutralizes hidden sects of what he calls, "Those Dirty Pirates" in his day-to-day adventures. See you soon!!!