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As the school year winds down, I picked Nick up one afternoon from AfterCare (because he likes hanging out after school.) It was the start of our bachelor weekend with Brandi in Georgia visiting family. He wanted to play "Stratego", a board game in the library. So I sat down, and we played for almost an hour with a couple other kids coaching us. We were very popular, as if I was the only Dad ever to sit down after school and hang with the kids. Our weekend together was a bike ride, going out to a movie (Boss Baby), a swim, and generally relaxing. We went to the rental garages for Spring maintenance on the cars in storage, and Grandpa went with us. He challenged a lethargic Nick to a footrace, and they sprinted the length of the garage building. Nick beat him by a step or two, but I can't tell you how impressed I was at 77 years of age, my father hustled probably half the length of a football field and never even huffed a hard breath.
At school, Tom Nehring from the karate school came in one day unannounced to do a demonstration... he's done those for as long as I can remember. When he realized Nick was my son, he made Nick the assisstant, which gave the kid a sense of importance for the day amongst his peers. Tom's still a good guy.
With our list of summer tasks, we're going to have the basketball backboard reinstalled at Dad's house. I had a closely-sized piece of plywood in the garage for probably ten or more years waiting to be used, so Nick and I painted it one afternoon in preparation. It was his first use of spray paint, and I wore more paint than he did from the exercise.
When Brandi returned home (to her free-range eggs on strike), we visited Greenfield Village on Memorial Day weekend, where it was civil war re-enactment day. Nick cared more about the Train around the park than anything else, but the actors were very impressive, and the weather was perfect. Afterwards, we drove to the Cass Corridor downtown to the open house for Tiny Houses, a start-up for Detroit revival by a local church. Dinner was at Bigalora in Royal Oak, where we could eat and walk outdoors and enjoy the evening (still don't do that in most of downtown Detroit... but it's much improved.)
Nick's independence continues to expand, as he increases his personal preferences, like picking his own shampoo (some version of Old Spice, must be making a comeback).
Pictures linked here.
Jason
Nick's First Communion was this month at St. Joseph. It was a nice mass, I enjoy Fr. Ritter, and we had an entire pew reserved just for us. Nick's big thrill was a guy in front of us he swore was a 'YouTuber' named 'The King of Random', with 7MM hits on his site. It wasn't the same guy. I asked him the following week how his first Eucharist during school mass went, as he never said a thing. "That's because I was flawless."
We took a trip to the Henry Ford for the Rouge Plant Tour where the Ford F-150 is built. We spent an entire afternoon there, and Nick enjoyed watching the decals being applied on the various trim levels of trucks at the end. Along with White Castle sliders, it was an enjoyable afternoon. This was all part of passing time during Spring Break, which he spent over 60 hours during that week on his laptop, building who-knows-what on public servers. We peeled him away from the electronics. However, it's not like very little had happened this month: there's photos of a day hanging with Jack, a school field trip, and an afternoon at the Zoo.
Eventually he returned to school for the last push towards summer. He came home one evening in trouble for cursing, a word choice so bad the teacher couldn't write it down. So he and I reviewed his options, and colorful buffet of forbidden vocabulary, which I explained using a Quad Chart anchored with an X axis of 'rarely use/never use' and a Y axis of 'bad/really bad'. He had chosen a word in the upper right quadrant whereas his nemesis had used a word in the lower left... Nick's choice was much worse. He understands now. It's nice to be able to apply my working skills at home. (And the people at work loved it... my Chinese expat wanted a copy to reference.) We're exploring new schools for next year, and already looking to high schools that can start him early. A change is coming.
We bought a new car this month, only because I got a deal I couldn't refuse... cars are cheap at the moment, and I found a 2016 on the lot, still brand new. We took a picture of Nick with the old 2007 Chrysler 300 before we dispose of it. The side-by-side pictures of him with the same old car ten years ago when it was new, and now, are fun to see.
This here is the entire class photo for his first communion, although the kids are all one-to-two years younger than Nick, so he's even dressed to stand out.
Pictures here for April.
Jason
As we prepare for his First Communion next month, his first Confession was this month. He felt 'overwhelmed' on the Saturday we wandered in to meet our obligation. The church required an in-person session because, of course, a ten year-old has to get all the mortal sins out face-to-face. But we play by the rules, some of which have benefits, like the Friday Fish Frys. Blessed Sacrament Church has a great fish fry, his first one, which was very tasty, and included some playground time after. We also attended several mandatory 'classes', one Saturday was a three-hour mashup of sessions. They toured the church which was fun, and the lessons were good for kids. We did a coloring exercise of the Last Supper where we cut-out the characters and taped them to an egg carton (like a long table). Nick and I had Matthew 'dabbing', and James Major with a tattoo, and then there was the food fight. We got some looks from other families, but honestly, I couldn't care less. None of them were there the first time around, and if Nick finds some fun in religious education, that's a nice change. Heaven forbid anything associated with religion be enjoyable.
Nick's favorite joke this month:
Jesus says, 'Sir, I'd like a table for 26.'
Host: 'But there's only 13 of you here for dinner.'
Jesus: 'Yes, but we're only going to sit on one side of the table'.
We are reading a DNA book in the evenings, which is educating us both. He can rattle off the facts afterwards, I can't absorb it all.
He's playing the Forza Motorsport 3 video game this month from Christmas, and we can now race each other on the track. He knows things about cars that I do not, from watching 'Counting Cars', and 'Road Hauks'.
Some of the pictures this month are from chess tournaments, including the medal he was awarded above.
School continues to perplex us. We're still on the fence if we change again for next year (fifth grade). He got tossed out of Gym/PE for too much physical contact (during games like 'football'... yeah, I don't get it), so we had to coach him. We went over the rules carefully before a game of kickball, of which, the rules were so bastardized I struggled to understand them (and the coaches' awful grammar and spelling didn't help... I wouldn't hire someone with gramar this bad.) So he comes home after the first game, says it went well.. except he had to 'nudge' a kid blocking third base. I asked if it was intentional or innocent, and he believes it was the latter. So I told him to go easy. But if it's intentional, "Knock him on his ass." This is 'no apology month' for me... I understand all the rules less every day.
Nick and I spent an afternoon at the park, where his tossing of a football is greatly improved this year; he can throw a good spiral. After thirty minutes, he says (hand on my shoulder), "Dad, I really should divide my time across activities, so I'm going to go hang out with the kids now." He organized a game of hide-and-seek with several other kids. A young girl named Millie latched onto him, and messed with him for an hour... he'd count and she'd be standing right behind him. This cute little brunette would smack him in the head and out-run him, every time. Not surprisingly, he couldn't stop going back for more. This, I can understand.
And there was a Pet Day at work, where Nick's hermit crabs starred as the only aquatic life on display (I didn't carry them in, just pictures.)
Photos here from March.
Jason
We took Nick to the Toledo Symphony on a Saturday evening to see them play live. I told him to close his eyes and picture Tom and Jerry... it's the same music. He enjoyed it, and presented himself very well. Afterwards, a young woman approached us to compliment how well Nick handled himself. She looked familiar, and was probably sizing us up from mysterious recognition... Toledo remains small.
His Chess activities re-started for a couple of weeks, and he won his first match, and lost a couple. They still give awards to everyone, so a medal was in order. He's playing very well and can now beat me or Grandpa on his own right. He's excelling at Piano as well, but his timing and hand position need work. I don't think his young teacher is the best, so I'm trying to fill in the holes. Nick is playing by ear, that is obvious. Having a keyboard that Earl gave him for Christmas has helped with practice. It's just good to see him in productive activities and not rolling through the house like a 'tumble dweeb'.
He stays after school a few days a week just because he enjoys it. He's been crafting cartoon strips with a seventh grade girl, which lasted a couple of weeks. His humor is still rough, but he's picking up better on irony now, and applying it with more success.
Not too many photos from this month, so I just shared a couple here in the post, no link. The statue pic is out front of Five Guys, Nick's favorite snack.
- Jason
The Christmas season ended with sadness and tragedy, as arson struck our ginger bread house unexpectedly. No ginger bread men were hurt. Brandi wrote a story for her Facebook page, and the sympathies rolled in. Brandi also mourned the end of our Florida vacation by drinking from the plastic cocktail glasses from Opal Sands all month. A few more cold months of indoor living remain in Michigan, so we have pillow fights and balloon tosses to pass the time.
Quotes this month from Nick: "Meat is the greatest gift," and starting every sentence with 'Frickin' which is a habit to be broken. And in his attempt to be a comedian, "Was that funny?" follows frequently.
He wrote a paper on 'Why I like Christmas', however his main reason was, "I get to rip and tear [presents] open and it relieves some stress out of me." In today's world, worries of stress being at age ten, apparently.
We attended a mandatory parent session at school for his upcoming First Communion, which is in April. Afterwards, I asked about how his session went. He pays no attention to me.
ME: Do the other kids in your class receive communion? (during the week at mass during school)
NICK: The only thing I know about Canadians is their bacon.
ME: Not Canadians, Communion.
NICK: Yes, the Canadians take Communion, too.
Brandi was busy scribbling, "Avoid circular logic," on her notepad. We're not favorites in the Catholic church (I give too much money to the schools, not enough to the church.)
It was another month of heavy travel for me, from New Orleans to Turin to New York. I had Rabbit and Dumplings in NO which was fabulous (I thought my coworker Kim was going to hurl her adventurous hamburger when I pulled a piece of meat in the shape of an ear from my plate.) And I ate well in Italy, along with taking the long walking tour from the Automobile Museum to our Torino hotel, probably 5+ kilometers. There's six photos here from Italy, including my hotel, the Auto Museum, the Po River, and the stuff I brought back for Brandi.
Few pictures are of Nick this month, most from his birthday, which was a simple celebration. He received a microscope from the family, and the rest was small stuff. His mother baked cookies into the night for his school party.
Photos here.
- Jason
