In-Between Trips

Thursday was less of a rest day and more of a take care of business day. Carrie had an appointment with Armour. Shane and I drove downtown to buy a decal for our trash can and return library books.

I wanted to keep Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but someone else had it on hold. We picked up some new books, which helped keep Shane busy while I got my allergy shots.

Awkward moment: "Dad? What's a thong?" Shane asked.

There were "Failed superheroes" in the back of the book. Slider man instead of Spider man.....and King Thong instead of King King.

"You can figure that one out on your own, kid." I replied. Not that it stopped Shane from asking twenty  more times.

The cats were extra tolerant when we came home. They must have missed us. Bucket followed Carrie from room to room when she was home. Bucket declined to run in terror from Shane when Carrie was not home.

I cooked Shane and I fish-burgers for lunch.

Next on the agenda was friend time. The only way to grow close to someone is to spend time with them! I texted back and forth with Sam's parents to set up a play date.

They were a little late in arriving, so Shane started climbing.

To be honest, Shane's climbing makes me uneasy. I don't stop him, because I don't want him to grow up afraid of things. I try to focus on teaching him techniques to climb well and protect himself. I remember the thrills and joys of climbing myself and don't want to deny him that either (and trust me, I've done way worse than you saw in the video.....very fun, but very dangerous....probably the dangerous is what made it so fun).

Thankfully, Sam showed up before my nerves were too frayed or Shane hit the top of the tree. Sam's been at soccer camp the past couple of weeks.

Not that the boys kicked the ball around for more than a minute. I'd love for Shane to show more of an interest, but his mind is elsewhere.

Shane latched onto Sam and tried to drag him under the water almost immediately. I enjoy wrestling, too, but it's a fine line. Maybe Shane will be more committed to learning the skills and techniques this winter...

There was an epic moment. The kind of moment I heartily applaud. The kind of moment that happens when you give kids room to play and they take the initiative and come up with something creative.

Shane and Sam wanted to make a water slide.

I loved it.

I don't know where the bucket came from, but Shane started to ferry it back and forth. He dropped the water trying to climb up the ropes the first time. He started to go up the far side with the stairs after, but eventually tried the climbing ladder again with success. Go kid, go!

There was a large group of kids who all wanted to join in. Shane assigned a few of them to ferry water a few times.

It was super hot and muggy outside. All of the kids were wearing swimsuits, but even if they weren't the heat would have baked them dry in an instant.

I loved, loved, loved the game. I'd have joined in myself, but sometimes an adult present ruins the magic.

To Carrie's dismay, Shane has inherited my family's tendency to climb on top of the play structures. He's quite agile. He was walking and dancing on the outside of a tunnel trying to get attention from the other kids.

Again, my instincts conflict when I see Shane doing so. I don't want him to lead other kids into doing something they'll get hurt and I don't want Shane to get hurt himself (like falling or teasing the other kids so they grab at him and make him fall). Yet, I did the same thing as a kid and I'd do the same thing as an adult if I were to play on a playground.

The kids played some sort of 'prison break' game on the slide, too. Sam told me he managed to get away and up the slide even with people trying to grab his feet.

The kids kept up the water slide for over an hour.

Kids came and kids went. Tiny minds were blown.

Small town note: I was talking to Sam's mom and they knew Iggy and Lucy's family from tee-ball last spring. That seems to happen more often the longer we're in Cville.

Toby ran off with Kate for most of the afternoon, but he came to play with the older boys at the end.

Action shots are fun.

And there goes Shane walking and balancing on things that aren't meant for it. He so gets that from me.

We try to see Sam once a week. That seems frequent to my adult self, but that doesn't compare to how often my friends and I hung out as kids. It was daily. I hope we can keep growing closer to a few families to meet Shane's social needs.

Henry and his family were back from their vacation when we returned to the circle.

Hello, other Sam!

Shane brought Garfield out to read it to Henry.

Sam poked around the porch. They had been looking for crickets to drop in a spider's web with their dad.

Shane brought out the bubble rocket. He'd bought it to share after all!

Henry and Sam had a family of younger kids coming over to visit. Shane would have loved to have invited himself in, but I nixed it.

I'd wanted to go to the board game meetup again. I've been three times now. That's enough to start recognizing some faces, but not really make any deep connections. We ended up going inside later in the day than I'd planned and I missed out on it for WoW with Carrie instead. Shane watched Pokemon to settle down.

Friday was a lot quieter. Carrie let Shane watch three episodes of Pokemon to start the day and then it was "entertain yourself, kid." Carrie went to the barn. I went to work catching up on the blog. That kept us busy for hours and Shane had to figure out how to use the downtime.

At three, Shane and I left to meet up with Jama for dinner and John after work, so the forced calm was probably good for him.