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This was a busy month for family activities. Jessica got married mid-month, so there was a small wedding to be attended. About half way through the evening, we realized the boys were entertaining themselves and the venue was still standing. This is a first for all of them (Noah, Nick, Mason and Myles) together. Usually someone must be contained (usually, it's Nick). Nick sat down at a piano in the bar, and began playing, sat there a good 20 minutes. So Noah grabs his trumpet. Now, I'm pretty sure they weren't playing the same piece, but it was close enough that they sounded good.
Fayling brought his boys up from Atlanta for a week, which was filled with swimming at the YMCA, lots of pizza, lights at the Toledo Zoo, and a day at Kalahari water park. At Kalahari, we had a great setup with an indoor cabana, TV, and a place to relax. We lost Thatcher in the first hour, but otherwise, the day went smooth. On Friday evening, the kids enjoyed the Toledo Zoo Christmas Lights, which was a bit wet out, but overall not too busy. Todd and Aiden joined us for the week. Nick and Aiden get along really well... they are on the same (short) wavelength.
The pictures you don't see (because there aren't any) are from our moving across the complex to a new condo, and back again to the original unit, in a single week. I'm only mentioning this because someday we'll try to remember which month that was! I got two turkey dinners from the month, which soothed the anxiety.
Pics here.
- Jason
Obviously it's Halloween this month, and Nick decided to be a ninja. Have no idea where this came from. His costume had rubber nunchakus, which I showed him how to use properly... for a moment, I impressed him. He made the rounds this year without getting tired early, covering a couple of blocks and filling his bag. We got to focus on running with him while my Aunt Connie came by to hand out candy from the front door. I got my usual Halloween beer from my Aunt Peggy (which Nick quickly swiped from my hand... Amber's kids are of the age they can't get near a beer yet, Nick's still young enough I don't notice), and shared some photos with my niece Haleigh, who we saw earlier in the month as part of the flag corps for the University of Toledo football game. Along with this experience, he's more into the OSU v UM game, which they wore jerseys to school. He can now use the term 'Suckeyes' appropriately in a sentence.
Nick went to his first live football game, BG v UT, where we had front row seats at mid-field. Really, it was too close, at least for this venue. But a Fall Saturday afternoon with the temperature around 70 degrees, and decent food at the alumni tent (for BG, of course), made it a great experience.
Photos are from the pumpkin that his Grandpa grows for him every year. After the holiday, they were placed in our back yard where the young deer found them edible. You can also see Nick was helpful in closing the pool this year, and somewhere in there was a trip to the zoo.
Pics here.
- Jason
Nick and I stopped by the flower shop to get his mama her monthly rose, and he handled the transaction completely on his own... knew what he wanted, and resolved the bill. While we waited, he was shopping the wine section by name. I have no idea how he knows anything about wine. ("Is that a Riesling? I love the aroma.") His taste buds are getting expensive, not only with his consumption of seafood, but now he has a thing for Jamón Ibérico which is $94/lb. Kids all have their way of getting what they want. My younger nephew is still learning about religion as well, and his point-of-view is, "I wish Jesus would get me a Sprite." They figure it out young to ask God for stuff they want, I suppose.
He made buckeyes with his mama this month as a treat. Then proceeded to press them against his face and create chocolate circles around his eyes. But he's got a responsible side of him, it's not all blab. As we finished dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant one evening, I volunteered to be the passenger as I had a margarita. "I think you belong in the back seat, Dad." I was nowhere near intoxicated from one, but he's got the idea.
School is still bumpy, as he continues to fall out of his chair. I can't picture how it happens. He says, "It happened again. Unprovoked." He has good weeks and bad. He asks, "So other than all the bad stuff, I got a good report?" He's making the grade (all 'A's with a 'B' in Religion, I can work with that.)
He's forming his own tastes in entertainment. He favorite band is currently Skillet, a metal band from over a decade ago. And he loves the slapstick film Kung Pow. As Nick tells it, "It's better than bread crumbs and beaver spit." I have no idea what that means.
We went to the local Mustang show, spent an afternoon at Crosby Gardens, he had an afternoon with his buddy Jack, blueberry picking, and did science experiments with dry ice at home. It was a full month.
Pictures here.
- Jason
This was our biggest swimming month with the hottest August on record in Michigan. We were in Grandpa's pool nearly every weekend, including a four-day weekend away from work when I tried to make up for the seven weeks of summer I lost to travel. Kids went back to school in Ohio early, by my calculation, his summer was two weeks shorter than Michigan or Georgia. A little grilling and enjoying the wireless speaker (blasting our classical music louder than the neighbor's kids' screaming) by the pool was very relaxing.
So school has begun, and Nick's ready to 'level justice' on the turkeys. We're struggling with school, while the teacher seems to work well with Nick, and the students are a better bunch, he's been sick a couple of times, and can't get into a rhythm. I come home from work exhausted from nightmare commutes (thanks to Michigan road construction) and Nick says, "I think we should have a beer and relax." I agree.
We bought Mama a new car, as our Fusion had become unreliable - too many repairs for a car only three years old. Nick was more excited to get the Lexus than we were (this was somewhat the result of the Clinic I did for work last month... this vehicle won the clinic, so I decided against the Jaguar. The images in the link look just like ours, inside and out.)
He's beyond just noticing cars on the road, and is now able to talk powertrains. Part of this is the new obsession with Forza Horizon 2, the racing video game on XBox. He's graduated to games for older kids (it's an adult game, really), buying cars, swapping engines, and winning races on the roads of Italy. Certainly something he and I can talk about, better than trains. And I suppose his interest is fueled by being without his iPad and laptop for most of the summer.
We got one summer trip together, meeting Brad in Pittsburgh for a weekend of baseball at PNC Park. It was an easy weekend getaway, with a nice hotel, a train ride away from the ballpark, and Brandi and Nick visited the National Aviary Museum for an afternoon. Nick and Brad spent the evenings playing UNO or rummy or something, and taking selfies. They have way too much in common.
- Jason
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
