Barn Chores Weekend

Jenny is out of town for the weekend and asked Carrie to help with barn chores.

These pictures are not from Jenny's barn. They're from Nibs'.

Carrie recruited me to help give Nibs a bath.

Nibs is scared of the water and a handful for one person. Carrie managed Nibs while I bathed her.

I did well enough I got hired. This is going to be a once a week job. Nibs wolfed down her food when Carrie put her in a stall to dry.

Shane sat on the Gameboy 2DS the whole time. I'm not sure he even realized he was in a barn.

Nibs is very anxious in the stalls at the barn.

Carrie pulled in another horse to keep her company.

We left Nibs in the stall when we left to help her get more accustomed to it. The stalls are pretty, but not the best for horses in Carrie's opinion. They only have one way out the horses can look. A window to the outside or bars between stalls to increase their field of vision would be preferred.

Shane and I stayed in the rest of the day. Shane had the start of a sore throat Friday. Then he started to have a temperature in the upper 99's after barn chores (Not that he did any). The fever topped out at 100.3 that night. If he has a fever in the morning I'll take him to a doctor.

Carrie went on to her evening barn chores and was gone for nearly 5 hours!

Friendly Friday

Shane's good at Connect 4 for his age. He can watch out for traps, but hasn't learned how to set them. I was proud he took losing in stride. He seemed to comprehend the strategies I mentioned, as well! He's going to be hard for the school kids to beat.

Connect 4 evolved into it's own mini-game. 

Which further involved into a game of Shane's making. It didn't make sense, but maybe that's why he had so much fun.!

Rah knocked. He said he was going to get picked up by his Dad at 6 for the weekend, so we stayed out to play.

Shane likes to climb.

All over the place.

Rah stayed on the ground. Somehow a berry throwing game commenced.

I brought out paper, pens, and Dog Man books after they overheated. Then I encouraged the boys to draw. Shane had a longer stamina for it than Rah (Talking the entire time!).

Rah asked about some games after art. I brought out a small selection. Rah wanted Uno. Shane wanted Battle Kittens. They got some exercise in compromise.

I tried to stay inside. Have I mentioned before I think it's important for kids to get practice interacting with other kids? They're both so loud I can sit and listen in to whatever goes on. First, the boys worked out which games to take turns at. Shane accused Rah of cheating in Uno and they worked that out. Then Shane tried to answer questions about how to play chess.

The best experience gathering moment? Some of the Uno cards fell through the deck. The boys decided to use the welcome mat to prevent repeats. I'd seen the possibility immediately, but as long as the boys were playing Uno and not a game I cared more about I let it happen. That dread of the cards falling is a lesson with more staying power than me saying, "Play on the mat."

I did hop in for a few rounds at the end.

The kids played with the hose for a little bit at the end. Rah couldn't get wet....and I didn't want Shane to get wet anyway!

Rah's a good kid. It's good for Shane and good for Rah to hang out but I still make it a point to keep tabs on what goes on. There's a big enough age difference between the two and, while Rah's physical needs are met, he doesn't get a ton of supervision. He's not into trouble or any trouble, but age and less supervision normally means access to things that I don't want Shane exposed to too early....especially in the era of the internet and electronics.

Near the end of the school year, Rah started to have a mini-tablet at the bus stop. Normally, he sat across the street to get wifi signal from his house and rushed over when the bus pulled up. However, one time Carrie took Shane to the bus stop for me. Rah was watching this without headphones:

The beginning had guns and it was a couple of weeks after a school shooting. Carrie was upset. She didn't see the power rangers come up and Shane kept trying to run over. When Shane hopped on the bus he immediately went to sit next to Rah (Normally, they split up). 

I asked Rah to show me the video when I saw him in the circle later. He doesn't have many interactions with Carrie, but he knows me, knows I care, and cares what I think. He showed me the video. Shane, ever nosy, asked, "The one with the dancing power ranger robots?" when I sent him inside, so I'm 99% sure Rah didn't try to pull a switch on me.

Rah and I watched the video. Then we had a discussion about why the guns upset Carrie, how Shane was younger than him, and I asked, "How do you think Shane's teacher would react if he started rapping ____?" I let that sink in a moment. Then I reminded Rah that Shane's younger than him and said I didn't want Shane watching that type of video. Rah got the picture. We had a similar discussion about the game GTA once.

Honestly, on a scale of 1 to 10 of what you can find on the internet, the video wasn't bad. It's not something I want my impulsive, can't-stop-talking child to be introduced to yet, but it's par for the course with something a 4th grader in a city would be around. The world will be quick to introduce all sorts of things. Parents are quick to hand kids electronics. 

We didn't have any more problems with videos the rest of the school year.

Like I said, Rah's a good kid. I think the internet and electronics create all sorts of exposure risks to things kids aren't ready for (or even that I'm not ready for!). Shane and Rah play low-tech outside. That's something I think all kids need.

Board Game Meetup

I transitioned from horizontal to vertical with my collection. I think it looks better. Maybe because everything is flush along the bottom of each shelf.

I went to a board game meetup tonight. I tried a year ago. I was weirdly apprehensive this time, but did it anyway.

It went fine as a scouting trip. It was at a quieter restaurant this time. I was a bean farmer in a group of 7 playing Bohnanza. Six stuck around for Decrypto. Then, I would have headed home, but someone wanted to play Sushi Go. I had brought Sushi Go Party. I ended up running the game and playing with a group of five. Decrypto had to be my favorite of the three games.

Someone picked up my copy of Kingdomino though. Whether by accident or artifice, I don't know. One of the guys joked, "I guess this means you have to come back next week to get it back!"

Simple Day

Uneventful day. It's the kind of day I feel like I've needed, and then second guess when I get it. That's irony for you. I'm still feeling drained and low energy. 

I took a few pictures, though. Shane and Bucket watched Carrie play some Portal 2 in the AM.

Shane's been reading, drawing, and writing Dog Man for his writing time. He got into it while Carrie was still sleeping. Dog Man ate the Chief's cake which led to the Chief hitting him in the back 18 times with a hammer to wake him up. Dog Man then went crazy and smashed up stuff until he saw a lady with a cake. It earned Shane early and extra electronics. I wanted to reward him writing without being asked and reinforce the enjoyment of creating something.

Even drained, I don't like staying in the house all day. There was a children's theater performing Charlotte's Web at a local library at 2 PM. Shane and I read the book, so he knows the plot.

It was empty when we arrived, but then the kids from Venable's summer program showed up. It got packed quick!

Shane complained at first about the "smell of so many people." I told him to hush and enjoy the play.

It was done well enough. We had to pay for a book Shane spilled water on it, so I guess it wasn't technically a free performance for us. Still a good outing.

Carrie met us at the library and we went to Wegmans as a family. Then it was a quiet night with Teen Titans Go and Pokemon.

Wandering but not lost

Raheem knocked early today. 10:15ish AM. He's normally not awake by then. Of course, Shane wanted to play. I watched the boys from the window as Shane described everything there was to know about our plants to Raheem. I don't know if Raheem was bored enough to listen, interested, or it just took that long for him to get a few words in to convince Shane to do something else (I suspect the last one). I went outside when they started to move around the circle more. 

Surprise, surprise, Carrie brought Max out! We still have a harness or two from when Carrie and I were dating. I wasn't used to cats and I wanted to see if I could have some fun and/or get them to be a little more dog-like. It didn't work, but Max likes to be outside.

Max tried to bolt when the boys started bouncing a ball. That's when I offered to take them to the playground. Shane rode his bike. Rah and I walked (Rah's bike was stolen a while back).

I'd hoped we'd find kids. We didn't. Shane wanted to play on the playground. Rah wanted to play on the courts. I agreed to play a game of RAHEEM (aka Horse) with a soccer ball (I lost). Shane only wanted to play on the court after he saw I was involved.

When I sat down, the game stopped and Shane ran off to explore nature. He started to throw rocks in the water and that got Rah's attention.

None of the water is very deep. There is broken glass sometimes, so Shane always has to wear shoes.....which I didn't realize he jumped in the water with until it was too late. My goal is always the same: Keep them safe enough while letting them take risks and play. Shane would have liked to have gone through the drain pipe to the other side, but I nixed that (Not to say I haven't done it myself as a kid but not while my parents were around).

The boys started trying to traverse down the creek the other way.

I followed up on the ledge out of their sight, but they were in mine. I knew where they were going, so I watched and hopped onto the path ahead of them....

....and almost stepped right on a snapping turtle.

I caught myself before I was too close. I yelled a, "Woah!"swung my step to the side, and turned it into a leap.

The snapper was dead. If you don't know much about snappers, they are a threat. Especially on the ground. I was super cautious checking it out. I came up from behind, pulled on the tail, and eventually flipped it over. I checked the Virginia Herpetological Society's ID guide once I was sure it wasn't going to move on us. It was an Eastern Snapping Turtle. I started to read stuff out loud to the boys as they examined it.

Random fact: Many have leeches. This one had them on it's back legs.

I didn't seen any obvious cause of death. No external wounds or anything like that. There was a lot of trash around, so I assume the turtle ate something that killed it. I'm not an expert.

I was extra paranoid, because I'd read a story about a rattler biting someone in TX after it's head was cut off recently. I didn't want to let the boys near the mouth. I know that's silly, but I was also a little concerned to see a big enough snapper on the trails we walk. Shane likes to wear sandals and is stupidly curious. 

It was an adventure, though. Nothing like a little danger and a tense air to make you feel alive. We went back to the playground after.

The boys adjusted their swings' heights and climbed up. Rah needed to use me a stepping stool.

We stayed out for over a couple of hours. Shane learned why he's supposed to tie his shoes before riding his bike on the way home.

There are so many lessons in life you can hear, but experiencing makes allllll the difference!

I had to drop by work to take care of something, so we said our, "Good-byes." Rah wanted to know if we'd be around in the afternoon. Sure enough, he started dancing on the sidewalk when he saw me drive back an hour later.

Henry must be out of town, because we were the only ones on the street. I remember talking to Mikaela about it.

The boys played around with Kingdomino and with running around. I was ready to call it when it was dinner time. The rain started to sprinkle and that made it even easier.

For a day with no plan we were busy enough. The snapping turtle was a neat find.

Summer just means a different age of kids

Monday, Carrie, Shane and I went to see The Lego Movie as a family at 9:30 AM. It was part of a kid's summer movie program at the Alamo Draft House. We invited Sam, but he wanted to be picked up afterward.

Sam's parents were both working, so his grandma was providing childcare for Sam and Toby. I picked Sam up at noon to lighten the workload. Hopefully, for both of us!

My plan was to get the boys outside for at least half the time. Sam started reading Darth Vader and Son when I was trying to get Shane to eat a snack. Sam says he hasn't seen Star Wars yet......oops, spoilers.

I let them read for a little bit before I told them we were going to the creek. They wanted to run ahead. I told them to stop at the stop sign, so Shane showed Sam the bagworms.

The water levels were high from all the rains. I warned the boys about ticks and prayed we wouldn't get eaten alive by mosquitoes.

I felt a little guilty we didn't knock on Raheem's door, but I didn't want to overextend myself. I already had an extra kid and I had no idea how he'd react to the great outdoors.

Sam was more cautious than Shane, but not by much. If anything, I'd say he was less reckless. The boys started jumping from rock to rock, throwing rocks to make splashes, and tried to make a dam.

The boys were curious about some foam in a still, offshoot of the creek, but I wasn't sure what it was. I took a picture to check later. A quick search says it's natural.

I tried to experiment with camera angles a little bit as the boys splashed and played.

It's a pretty area. I wish I was more moved by the like. I'm more interested in the exploring and traversing like a puzzle.

The boys did a great job of staying out of the actual water until Shane got overeager. With his feet already wet, he was happy to wade all over.

Sam refrained. I told Shane to keep the water below his knees. He would have happily continued to charge off and swim through the deeper areas if I'd let him.

I brought the boys up the path to the Willoughby playground. I'd hoped there would be other kids around. It wasn't as hot out, but we were the only ones around.

I let the boys run around and explore. I heard a few, "I'm boreds" from Sam, but the kids kept finding something to do.

Sam started the twirling under the swings. By the time they were at it long enough for me to decide to take a picture, Sam was done and Shane was attacking it with typical Shane gusto.

I would have stayed longer, but Sam started to say he was faint and hungry. "I could die!" he said.

I was unsympathetic to the whining. "Well, let's wait here for a moment......nope. You're still alive." But, it was getting around time to head back. It's a longer walk, so it's better to start before it's too late.

We were out for over two hours. I can handle that in the shade.

The boys were ready to snack when we got home. I made nachos and chicken nuggets. Turns out Sam's a picky eater He wasn't overly fond of either. He also doesn't like peanut butter!

The boys went over to the Legos next. They really wanted to play Pokemon on the 2DS, but I told them, "No electronics until 4." Sam's dad was supposed to pick him up after 5, so I wanted to save the electronics for the home stretch.

Sam's a read and he started reading. The next thing I knew, they were on the stairs curled up reading a Garfield comic. Shane wanted to read out loud to Sam and Sam wanted to read out loud to Shane.

They were on the couch each reading and showing each other Calvin and Hobbes comics when it struck 4:00 PM. A mad rush for the 2DS ensued.

They got along well with it. Sam only wanted to watch. The hard part was when it was time to turn it off. First, Sam threw a fit that his dad was there to pick him up. Next, Shane squawked when I took the 2DS from him to make it easier on Sam to pull away. Pokemon should be listed as an addictive IP for kids.

I thought I was off duty for the day, but then Raheem started to knock. Shane wanted to go outside, so I shrugged and said, "Sure."

I parked on the porch and told Shane not to dig in the mud. I hoped that would help the boys focus on playing with each other and leave me to observe and read.

Rah asked if they could play Kingdomino at one point. I went to grab it and play referee.

I tried to ask thinking questions and counted aloud during scoring to work on multiplying......yeah, I'm a teacher. Summer just means a different age of kids.