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.