Nick's Life: April 2014

This was our 'moving out' month as we packed up from our home on Racewood.  So with music playing often in the background while packing, we listed to the theme from Jaws, by request... a lot.  Nick created his own home movie of Jaws, complete with Lego characters and paper boats, and of course theme music.  He was really good about passing time as we packed.  Then, the song after Jaws accidentally comes on.  And now he loves Air Supply.  Ugh. But mostly it was about the theme from Indiana Jones this month, which he hummed to every action seen he created.  He's never scene it, but it's likely YouTube has planted it in his head.

Our big adventure was the ZipLine which justified its own post.  Otherwise, half the month was in Georgia, so there's a lot of pictures roaming around activities in the south.  Except for the snow, which was on our moving day... even pushing back to April 15 couldn't avoid the snow, as we got the last 3 inches of winter that morning.

Nick saw a giant dead black snake outside, which was a precuror to his first live venomous snake in the wild a couple weeks later. Good news he found it with his eyes, not his feet.  The other pictures this month are of Nick and the boys at the entertainment park in Atlanta, on the slides, mini-golf course, and his first time driving small go-karts and a little Model-T. (Funny he's already driven real cars, one of his favorite things.) Teaching my niece Haleigh to drive a stick shift is on my list, too... the kids will be driving me around soon enough.

Pictures here from April.

- Jason

Nick and Mason on the ZipLine

Robin, Brandi, Bo and I took the boys to Adventure Park, a new 'aerial forest park' here in metro Detroit, or essentially a ZipLine park. I wasn't sure either of them (ages 6 and 7) would get up high in the trees attached to a rope and hook, but they were fearless, and Bo and I had to talk them down from the higher wires. Nick's review was, "This is the greatest thing ever.  Except it pinches my balls (referring to the safety harness.)"  

Video of Nick in the trees.
Video of Nick on the ZipLine.
Video of Jason on the ZipLine.


Mason led the first round, and Nick led the second.  This is a great exercise in not just balance and dexterity, but attention to detail and routine.  The boys got the hang of it in a matter of minutes, and probably could go up on their own.  Now I know what a Tweezle is.

Photos here from our day in the trees.

- Jason

Nick's Life: March 2014

March wasn't necessarily a month of excessive activities, other than school.  So we'll look back on this one more for what Nick said than anything he actually did, except maybe for being the first month he's ever demanded privacy for any reason.

"Mama, I'm going to have a conversation with myself.  I really like my penis. My penis has alot of ideas, they bubble up to my brain, then down into my heart." [What does it usually think about Nick?] "Mostly sharks."
"It's hot out tonight, I'm going to sleep in the raw (which means just in his underwear.)"
"I wear the same pants everyday."
"Where's my drinking shark?" [Why do you need it now?] "Because I need a drink!" (This was referring to the plastic shark my coworker Cheri saved for him from a tropical drink.  He loves Miss Cheri, and the shark pictures all over her desk from his drawings proves it.)
And every sentence seems to end with, "You know why?" I haven't figured out why everything is a quiz, but that's his style at the moment.
One night when we sat down to dinner, he wiped his brow with a piece of bread.  Because it was so fresh.  Still not sure about that one.
All this, and an overuse of the word "freakin'" at the moment... either the influence of other kids, or I've heard it from videos he watches on YouTube.

We did visit the Fernbank Museum of Natural History at the start of the month, which there's pictures here with dinosaur bones, and inside of a whale's heart. There was a great IMAX movie about swimming in the ocean, but the best was the whale and shark exihibit... the timing of our visit was perfect.

And the last pictures are the baseball stadium we built from Lego blocks.  His pile of blocks is becoming a mountain.

Pics here.

- Jason

Nick's Life: January 2014

We were in Atlanta for "Snowmaggedon", experiencing the city's paralysis from indoors.  Fayling spent nine hours on his commute home that day, but the rest of us didn't go out.  If Chick-fil-A isn't open, what's the point?  On a better day, Nick and Brandi took another trip to the Georgia Aquarium, but this time it was educational, for school.  He came home with Sharkey, really the first stuffed animal I've seen him become attached to.  Home schooling is going very well.  From what I can tell, he's reading at a level I would expect, mastering his flashcards, and we're working on counting money.

Brandi and I took the three boys to Monkey Joe's (an inflatable jungle gym) one afternoon.  Sometimes they play together, sometimes they just stalk and annoy each other, and sometime Seth is busy talking other kids out of their arcade money, convincing them to buy him stuff.  Not sure if that's a skill we should surpress? Afterward we had pizza at Stevie B's, and the kids had their faces and arms painted by a clown.  They two older boys were skeptical, but once Thatcher got Angry Birds on his arm, then Nick wanted a Shark on his face.  Finally Seth gave in, and got TNT on his forearm.

Nick is the first one in the family to own a tablet device, getting a new iPad Mini for his 7th birthday.  From YouTube, to Netflix, to games, he could spend days on end staring at it if we don't separate him.  Minecraft is addicting.

Pictures from January here.

- Jason

Nick's Life: December 2013

We were home in Detroit for only a brief time in December, with me traveling for work, then heading to Atlanta for the holiday.  Nick manages the long drive well with videos to entertain himself and games on the iPhone; at one point though, he asks, "Will there ever be a time when I can unsweat my butt?" (referring to removing himself from hours in the uncomfortable kid's seat.)

We made a stop in Cincinnati for a short Christmas evening, then spent Christmas morning in Atlanta.  Nick was upset Santa would miss him and that he's been bad.  Not so much, as he made out pretty well with gifts (although he's probably cashing in more from the Tooth Fairy).  He received an electronic/remote Lego train set, which he tore apart moments after I finished building it, and connected the electronic motor to his own train.  Grandmama built a Gnome.

I chuckle at the difference in personality of the boys. I ask, "Are you being good"?  Seth simply says, "Yes," and generally ignores me.  Thatcher cries out yes and runs to me for a hug of forgiveness, likely having done nothing wrong. And then there's Nick who says, "I'm trying, at least."

Most of the time was spent with the boys playing Minecraft, either on the xBox or their tablet devices. This is apparently the rage with all kids this age, and ours are certainly no exception.

Pictures from Nick's birthday are here, as we celebrated a little early.

Pictures from December here.

- Jason