Over a Year Later

For our first day of stay-cation, Carrie and I drove north to visit Genevieve and Chris!

We ate Indian food and played games.

I'd rather visit friends and family somewhere than hop on a cruise ship (unless the friends and family want to hop on as well....).

Then there was IKEA.

It's hard to keep Carrie away from an IKEA.

We had to drive through a thunderstorm on the way home, but it was worth it. We had a great first day of our time together!

Veteran Trip

From one set of grandparents to the next: Shane got to spend a long weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's. I drove him down first thing Friday morning.

Once we got there, we hopped into Grandpa's car. I had requested a special trip.

We hit traffic and construction, but eventually we made it down to Norfolk.

Four carriers were in town!

Grandpa is a Navy veteran. He took me to the naval base when Carrie and I were engaged to size me up.

I must have passed.

I remembered the trip, and I thought Shane would love a chance to look at some big ships.

I'd hoped to walk around, but it was more of a driving tour. I didn't want to take a ton of pictures on a military base, but I took some.

I think the tugboats excited Shane the most.

Or maybe it was when we got McDonald's for lunch (I haven't eaten at one in years).

Honorable mentions: Airplanes. They also provided a great segue. 

We drove through the base to try and avoid the massive tunnel traffic backlog. Near our exit there was a small outdoor museum.

Grandpa got to reminisce about his days running supply operations at sea,..

...and Shane got to run around big planes. Everyone was happy.

One of my all time favorite planes (and tail-fin paint jobs) was there, too!

Grandpa tried to take a picture with me and Shane.

Shane only wanted to be silly. Where does he get that from?

"What do you think, Shane?"

"Quick, Daddy! Do you want to see what I'm scared of?" Shane said. Then he ran to the back of the F-14. "Look! A big wasp!"

It was a big playground for him.

We had a long drive back, so it was great to let him stretch his legs some.

A helicopter swooped overhead and turned sharply to land behind us.

Shane had no interest, but I enjoyed Grandpa's stories.

The bombardier/navigator from the Flight of the Intruder story was once Grandpa's CO.

Thankfully, we were able to avoid a chunk of the traffic on the way home. The drive would have been mundane for us if not for Shane. He found the construction vehicles and the tunnel fascinating.

I returned home soon after. I made it back before 5 PM. Carrie and I were alone!

.....and she was sick. She fell asleep on the couch. We were going to go to WV, but decided to go with a stay-cation instead (to recoup horse bill losses and rest). 

Twas for the best!

Star Trek Drawings

Carrie must have been excited. She posted at the first stoplight after she hung up.

Shane was pumped to show her, too!

Carrie's watched a couple of episodes of Voyager around Shane. He loves the intro. He forbids her to fast forward.

All it took was for me to doodle some on a piece of paper. Shane will almost never draw on his own initiative, but if he can swipe something I start?

I'll leave off my doodles, but Shane drew a borg cube,....

....and Voyager, some asteroids, and a planet. 

All good stuff! 

Beach Toughened, Pool Approved

Little man and I headed to the pool Tuesday.

We weren't alone.

Shane picked up some swagger from the beach. He wasn't afraid of the 3'6" water anymore. We went all over and he refused my help multiple times. Thank you, waves!

Wednesday, our usual pool was closed, so we tried out the other city pool.

Shane and I showed up early, played, and made friends in line.

This was our fourth pool trip. It'll take eight to break even with the pass cost.

I don't regret the purchase. Even if we didn't visit another pool this summer, the passes helped motivate me to get Shane out and about.

Shane's not an independent swimmer yet, but I think he's grown a lot more confident this summer.

He certainly enjoys himself.

Our usual pool opens at 10:30 AM. That means there's an hour and fifteen minutes until the first break is called. That's about the right amount of sun my skin can tolerate, so it's a natural exit point.

This pool opened at 11:00 AM. Shane really didn't want to go home at break, so I showed him another time honored tradition instead. It got me out of the sun, too.

I made Shane stop playing around after he sprayed the ceilings and arced the spray over towards my phone. We successfully killed 10 minutes.

There was one life guard who I thought was awesome. He played with the kids during break.

I wasn't sure if Shane would prefer this pool (Washington) over the other or not. There weren't as many slides and activities. I appreciated the sight lines. It was much easier to keep track of the boy! I'll have to see where he wants to go next time.

Shane did not want to go when I told him it was time. He loves the water!

Return to Normalcy

Back to normal here.

Costco after church.

Outside later in the evening.

They either expanded or re-blazed the trail near the playground.

It led under the bridge to Shane's old daycare before the overgrowth consumed it again.

The heat has kept the playground and streets empty most days. There were a few kids out when Shane and I wandered around this time.

Including this character! Raheem met us at the park. I don't know if he was looking for us, or exploring on his own.

Mira is doing much better and came home on Tuesday. Carrie took off work to get her situated.

Shane and I got the flat fixed, too.

 

Home, sweet home.

Now if only Carrie could get healthy again.....or is that our new normal? I hope not!