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Brandi and Nick continued their summer travels, since I was gone for work all month. The July trip was to Atlanta for a couple weeks, for lots of time hanging out with Thatcher. There was a couple of evenings with fireworks (with Todd and Aiden) as the kids tried to sneak fireworks behind the backs of adults, including sneaking them into their bedrooms. But generally lots of time on the iPad, and playing Five Nights at Freddy's (taking turns playing animatronic monsters, and avoiding jump-scares), as usual. Megan's 'pet' cat died before their arrival, so there was a memorial service to attend. Nick bonded with the relatives, playing Halo Reach with Uncle Jason, and trying to trick Aunt Megan into buying him more trains.
We take for granted the things that must be taught to our kids. My brother-in-law stopped using the upstairs bathroom in his home for months because of an unknown 'leak'. Turns out Seth was showering with the curtain outside of the tub, soaking the entire floor, and running through the walls. We shake our heads, then Brandi catches Nick doing the same thing. Ugh.
Nick is in the back seat of the car explaining the inner-workings of a Volcano to me, magma flowing, layers of the earth's crust, and on and on. So I ask him what happens once the volcano erupts? "All hell breaks loose, Dad." Technically, that's accurate. And one of the instances that lead us to believe we probably can't stick him in a more strict religious school (with their 'theories' on science.)
At the end of the month, we attended an engagement party for Jessica and Jeff, where Nick frolicked in the pool for four hours with Mason and Myles, pictures here.
- Jason
With school winding down, you'd expect an assignment requiring huge effort in the last four days of the school year, right? Not impressed with this school. We had 4 months to 'create a business model' at the last school in second grade, this year just four days. So he repeated the clay figurines model... and sold more than anyone else in the school market. The decision facing us is whether to send him back to the same school for fourth grade. Very undecided.
He continues to grow up on schedule, more than just losing his first molar this month. He's into maximizing the number of Mountain Dew flavors her can try... buys a bottle, and leaves a flat spit for me to try at the end when I get home from work. Says things like, "Let's get naked and play UNO," although it's still harmless at the moment. And he thinks he's ready to add mowing the lawn to his chores list. Don't rush it.
We went strawberry picking on a Friday evening at nearby Whitaker's Farm, on a perfect evening.
I traveled almost 6 straight weeks for work, so Brandi and Nick left for Pennsylvania for a few weeks. He went fishing with Daddy Bobby (although he catches more bats than fish with his cast... Pap calls him 'nester' because he tangles more line than he casts), and they made Pizza together at Paisano's. He drove an amphibious vehicle and went target shooting (at explosives) with Uncle Andy (what ten-year old kid wouldn't love firing a Savage 243 Trophy?) It's good for him to see the outdoors and get away from the laptop, moving heavy logs and swinging axes (for the first time, all limbs still intact.) There's also pictures from the Caverns in Huntingdon. They wrapped up with a day trip out to Danville to visit Grandma Little, where they saw a bear-on-the-highway accident, and watched the Penguins win the Stanley Cup.
Enjoy the pictures.
- Jason
Bird watching is a thing now with Nick, with reference books and recognizing birds on-sight that I've never heard of. We plan to take him to an aviary in the near future. Our (tiny) back yard contains some reasonable wildlife, with a couple rabbits, squirrels, and lots of birds, which Brandi feeds. She also raised a jar of tadpoles and released them in the ditch nearby... at the start of a two-month drought. We think they made it.
We made a trip to the Detroit Science Museum, where he learned how steel is made, and memorized the four ingredients.
Grandpa is spending more time working in Nick's pitching, which he can nail the plate at the sanctioned distance. Still doesn't catch well, but we'll work up to it.
We also went to Went to Sterling State Park for an afternoon. It was a little chilly and windy, but made for a nice walk and a little kite time. Lots of photos of Nick on the beach digging in the sand.
School ended with the St. Joseph Festirama, which Brandi took Nick for fair food and rides. I skipped it.
Still enjoying swimming with Jared. He need to practice keeping his legs out on the same plane, and keeping his head down when turning. He can swim the butterfly better than I ever will, but needs work on making the shape of an S on his stroke.
Pictures here.
- Jason
Nick loves shrimp, so much that he'll dig out the tails from whatever's on the table. There's a shrimp wrapped in bacon intended for fajitas at Cinco de Mayo restaurant, and he'd live on them if we let him. Brandi made drumsticks one evening for dinner, and he sits down and says, "I love chicken femurs." Have no idea where that came from. He's also decided he'll eat a salad (lettuce is no longer the enemy.) Really the big story in consumption is volume: we went out for a mixed dinner (we all got fast food from different places) and he ate all his Five Guys burger, and then wanted half of my Chipotle burrito. The one that gets me is eating ice cream cones from the bottom up.
When he was young, we encouraged him to read out loud, not thinking it could permanently damage his ability to read quietly to himself in the future. Singing I can appreciate, like how he sings 'Animals' by Maroon 5, having no idea the song is about a stalker (at least I think he has no idea.)
The boys were up from Georgia for a week, and we got in as many activities as we could. We did a day at Castaway Play in Howell. Brandi took the boys swimming one evening while Jason and I had drinks with the guys from the karate school. We come home and Thatcher says to Brandi, "You are so pretty without your clothes." He meant in her swimsuit, but still! (BTW, I took a business trip to Toronto, and when I told stories about the boys, they think the name Thatcher is the coolest name ever for a boy... it plays well in the Queen's territory.) The kids are all growing up fast now... Seth's voice drops an octave every few months when I see him. There were also a couple trips to the Toledo Zoo. One was with his school as the year winds down, and his friend Owen is in many of the photos. Brandi says the kids got to ask questions of the zookeepers... and Nick was answering all of their questions. His comprehension still well outpaces other kids, and wildlife is his passion. The other visit he went back to touch sharks in the new exhibit.
Nick started private swimming lessons this month. His instructor, Jarett, is excellent, and says Nick is the most teachable student he has. Nick loves to swim, and he's now doing strokes that I could never do. The pictures here are from swimming and diving classes.
Photos this month are behind this link.
And Nick is adding more to his YouTube channel. Here's the video of his Minecraft world under construction.
- Jason
We took Nick with us to vote in the presidential primary this month, so he got to see a voting booth firsthand. A few weeks later we're walking in the mall, and he gets all excited to rush into a Spencer's, and sees a 'Deez Nuts' T-Shirt for ten bucks (not the band). I bought it for him, with the agreement he doesn't wear it to school. How does he know about this?
We passed the time one afternoon with a drive at the Whitmer HS parking lot... Nick drove. He hasn't had practice since last summer, but is progressing well. He's advancing to the mindset of a teenager, more worried about the radio channel than the traffic. This goes along with him spending his free days in bed with 2-3 devices and a bag of beef jerky. He's not a complete loafer, now in swimming and diving on Saturday mornings
Some of the dangerous genetics are creeping in as well. "Can we keep the container?" comes up way to often. And he's thinking ten steps ahead of everything we do, which is good, but it gets annoying at times as well (can we just enjoy the moment sometimes?)
We took Nick to the Henry Ford Museum for a day during the week, when crowds were small. I was excited to see the cars, and Nick nearly exploded having to wait to get to the real steam trains. Fascinating how much stuff they have on display as 'historical' that doesn't seem that long ago... the display dedicated to the 1980's looks very familiar (I could re-create it with the crap I have in storage... most of it still in boxes... which again relates to that 'let's keep it' mentality Nick has inherited.)
Today is Easter Sunday, and we're laying low, surrounded by every flavor of Peep imaginable, and candy wrappers all over. He was up at 4:00 AM to take in his haul, which his mama let me sleep through it. He doesn't sleep well when he stays up late, and last night was my fault, but he's started reading more on his own, and I hate to discourage it.
More photos this month..
- Jason
