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Nick and I flew to Tampa at the last minute to watch some Spring baseball, catching two games over a weekend. We stayed in Maderia Beach, and jutted between Lakeland, Clearwater and Dunedin. While he's not a huge baseball fan, he can follow the game, and got in some activities that interest him: building on the beach at sunset, riding in the Mustang convertible, and of course lots of steamed crab at dinner. The highlights:
Friday afternoon was Mets @ Tigers in Lakeland, where we ate a helmet full of cheese fries, and the Internet was clearly inaccurate about our seats being in the shade. French Fries drowning in nacho cheese in a helmet was our snack, and the helmet came in handy for digging on the beach later in the day. Box Score
Friday night we walked along Madiera Beach, from digging in the sand for nearly two hours, then to dinner at SeaBreeze Grill where he had us both covered in butter, and ice cream after dark.
Saturday afternoon we tried a place called BurgerFi, organic hamburgers, which was excellent. Then to Dunedin for the Tigers @ Blue Jays, which was cloudy but warm, and the small stadium really puts fans close to the field. We had dinner at Crabby's in Clearwater Beach, at Nick's request, just before the rain moved in at sundown. Box Score
My best takeaway were the cozy confines of Dunedin Stadium, where we were so close to Miguel Cabrera, we could have patted him on the back as he walked by. Nick was not impressed, more likely to remember our server from Crabby's, Taylor, who made the biggest impression on him. Getting up at 3 AM for the flight home gives him an idea of what his Dad does when traveling for work, but Nick was an easy travel partner for the entire weekend.
Pictures here from the trip.
Jason
Nick has some really good writing skills. He wrote a fiction paper for school on running in the woods from people chasing him, which was an impressive read. It's difficult to imagine small details and put them to paper, but he's got a knack for it. That said, we bought a card and candy for his mother for Valentine's Day, and he signed it, "Happy Ash Wednesday." (After whining that he didn't get anything, I reminded him, "this gift is from you, dummy!" to which he smiled and remembered.") And he signed a birthday card for his friend Aiden, with a monetary gift inside, "Hope you enjoy the free cash." He's a creative writer, not necessarily smooth. He also posted a note on the bathroom door in need of privacy, that said he was 29% done with homework and not to be bothered (image here.)
He lost his last baby tooth this month, to which he exclaimed, "This one should be worth at least fifty bucks!" What a view Nick has on life. We spent some more time building our hockey arena in Minecraft, of which he is very proud. We'll work on a video of that soon. The photo here is of Nick building a snow cave along our driveway after one of the heavier snowfalls this month.
Jason
Now an orange belt and participating in the advanced classes, Nick is into weapons and sparring at karate (I know this because I bought him a bag full of stuff that weighs more than him, including the black gi.) I visited the school for the first time on a Friday night for a Ninja Party, which Nick won from the school. Nick was called up upon to demonstrate a few moves, and he is amazingly attentive and structured in his karate class. His friends Will, Ali, and Aiden came along for the evening, and we went out for burgers at Quimby's afterwards.
Karate and piano were not enough to fill Nick's time, so Brandi decided to sign him up for Scouts. His friend Xander from Karate is in a troop at St. Clements Church, so that's where he joined. After the first evening, I put him on the phone with Brad to compare notes, since I know nothing of Scouts. Then I end up at a pancake breakfast and kid's service when Brandi can't attend. I connected with a kid named Brody who does impressions of cartoons. Good bunch, but I don't know how we keep up with another commitment.
He got a new XBox One for Christmas, and a new game that came out in January followed for his birthday, Railway Empire. So Nick peeled himself away from his laptop... to spend time on the XBox. It's been such a cold month, outdoors activity is limited anyway.
Word of the month: 'nipple-a-gyna'. Have no idea what it means, regardless of the context in which he uses it.
I've taken Nick's name out of the post titles, as I suspect he will not want to be the focus of this blog soon.
Pictures here.
Jason
When we were young, chewing gum in school was a bad thing, but apparently that's not true anymore. Nick says kids chew gum all the time in class. In fact, he has a kid in his class that 'deals gum', selling it for pencils or other non-monetary items. A gum dealer... first time I'd heard of it. They are also practicing yoga in school, and he showed us a few of his moves.
He participated in the school shopping activity for the holidays, purchasing some small gifts for family members. What impressed me is that every gift he bought had intent and purpose - something he knew we needed, or remembered us mentioning it. Nick's also expanding his independence in the kitchen, where he's cooking a little on his own. He now grills dinner for us with limited supervision.
Before we left for our trip, the pet crabs from last year passed away, about a month apart. Grandpa was happy about the timing, so they didn't die on his watch. We're not sure if it was age or stress, but Brandi certainly cared for them with great attention. She's become 'wis-ly' about raising crabs.
Our holiday trip was a success, with 5 warm days in Clearwater Beach, Florida. We stopped on the drive down, where Nick dropped my dinner on the hotel floor in his usual whimsy whirlwind. But I was able to relax, with two full days not wearing socks (that's a big deal for me), but a good portion of the trip still on my laptop. Working by the pool with a cocktail was so much more enjoyable. I got a little sun (literal sideburns). Nick had crab for dinner twice, but didn't see the girl he remembered from last year. He announced that it was the best place on earth ("Hot girls, hot cars, great food, the beach... the perfect place.")
I spent an afternoon with Donny catching up. Nick and I had custom donuts at the Donut Experience, and played billards one morning. Overall it was lots of walks, some building in the sand, and much needed relaxation.
On the way home, we stopped in Pinehurst for a visit with Lee and Judy, seeing the local sites and giving Nick a chance to blab at someone new about birds and technology.
The last stop was Christmas in Cincinnati, where Nick spent the afternoon playing with Noah, Mason and Myles, and I built a nativity scene from vegetables. Carrie's new boys, Gabriel and Ethan, were a treasure to play with, and I spent some time getting to know them from inside the playpen.
Pictures here from the adventures.
Jason
Nearly eleven years of writing this blog, it is at the end of the eleventh year that Nick has begun reading it on his own. At the moment he thinks chronicling his life is cool. We'll see how long that lasts. At some point he should be able to write this himself as he writing more for school. He wrote a poem for Thanksgiving that sounded like casual conversation ("Don't kick the bucket yet, you have reading to do!") but it certainly kept the reader's attention.
November is the month when we eat, a lot. Brandi's Thanksgiving dinner was amazing, as always. She also baked cookies for school, and for my office. It's the warmup to the holidays, but since we'll be traveling again at Christmas, she has to get the baking in early.
He's still at the karate school a couple days a week, and tested successfully for his yellow belt this month. I've still not seen him in action, but it's best that I don't interfere since this is his thing, and I am sure everything they do is different from what I remember. There's also a few pictures here from a school saftey program. All is well at school, and that's important.
I was gone again with business travel this month, missing most of the home activities on a whirlwind from NY to Chicago to SF for Mercedes. I attended the MSU vs. Duke game in Chicago, just a mile down from our facility there (maybe it will be the Spartans only loss of the season.) The trip ended on an exciting note, with our luggage being stolen right from our rental car in SF, outside of the facility. I was able to visit the Wine Train in Napa, albeit wearing the same clothes for the third day in a row.
Pictures here.
Jason
