Nick at the Beach

This is just a great set of images of Nick at the beach over the years. Certainly not the only instances, as we've been to Clearwater Beach a couple of times as well, but the poses are coincidental, and fit together perfectly.

March 2018

Nick tested for his purple belt this month, and sparring has begun on Saturdays. He's cautious in selecting an opponent, as it's quite an adjustment to have someone throwing punches and kicks at you for the first time (this, I know.)  I don't stay to watch, but he comes out from class having had quite the workout.


We saw the play Shrek at the Valentine Theater in downtown Toledo, as my friend's daughter was the star, and Nick loves her shows.  The picture here is Nick with Carly afterwards. My coworker Greg brought his boys down for the show as well.  It's not a secret Nick's attraction the shows is a stage full of high school senior girls... one look at his Google search history makes it obvious.  That said, he was also on stage for his own school play, which is the picture of him laying on the ground, hat pulled over his head, taking a siesta.  Brandi and I also had lunch this month downtown at the M Osteria, which was excellent.

This Spring has been his growth spurt... he's now taller than Brandi, and is passing his outgrown shoes down to Grandpa.

We've been somewhat active, like attending Aiden's birthday party at Dave and Busters, even with me travelling so much (NADA in Vegas), and Brandi feeding the contractors on our house.  There's just not many photos this month, so no extra link.

Jason

Spring Training 2018

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

February 2018

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

January 2018

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