Spring Break: SC Day 2

Monday morning was quiet. Everyone met at the table for breakfast, caffeine, and a little chatter.

Dot made the coffee and Carrie was grateful!

Carrie and I went on a morning walk to enjoy the weather. Nana made us take along food for the ducks.

Maybe I shouldn't be posting this, but Carrie didn't follow instructions: She fed a goose.

Nana has a vendetta against the local geese. However, it was alone and Carrie was worried about why.

It hissed and honked a storm at Carrie even as it accepted the treats. When we walked away, it called out and what we assume was its mate appeared. Carrie suspected there was a nest somewhere nearby and the couple was taking turns protecting it. 

But back to our regular Shane-centric program. Tenley came over! Cole and Evie were in school, but Tenley's preschool isn't five days a week.

There was lots of fooling around and a bridge competition.

Nana put an end to it, because she was ready to go.

Go where, you ask? The pool!

I asked Shane on the drive down, "What are your three big wishes for this vacation?"

He answered:

1. A sleepover
2. Swim at the Kroc Center
3. Bounce at Big Air (or whatever it's called).

Well, Shane's wishes were getting ticked off in quick succession. Saturday night was a sleepover. 

Today was the Kroc Center.

I'd never heard of the Kroc Center, but they're apparently a nationwide thing.

They're Christian and their goal is to make a safe, welcoming community space. 

I think it's great! I wish there was one near us. It was fancy.

It took a while to get checked in, but the kids were pumped as we approached the pool.

Shane ran up to a lifeguard and asked for the slide to get started. I'd heard about the famous slide many times (including the repeat descriptions in the car on the drive over!).

Shane's excitement was palpable. He was ready!

And he got his wish!

I went down the slide soon after. I could see why Shane liked it! It's fast, dark, and it surprised me by twisting unexpectedly.

It was about that time that I was called back to the check-in desk. They wanted a picture for safety reasons.

I walked dripping wet through the halls as the air conditioners battled to bring winter back to SC (aka it was cold!).

At least it only took a few minutes. Pop watched the kids while Nana and I were gone.

Tenley isn't a good enough swimmer yet to go on the slide, so Shane had to stick to the shallows to play with her.

They only had each other to play with. There was one toddler who was around for a little while, but he wasn't up for Tenley and Shane's wild splashing.

Every time Shane's around younger kids he starts some game of chase.

Usually Shane's "it" in the form of a monster, zombie, or anything else that roars.

I tried to hang back and let the kids play with each other for a while before I hopped in. I swear that Shane gets jealous if I start to draw too much attention to myself.

I made a game out of trying to sneak up behind Shane and Tenley. I shocked Tenley once and from then on she was wise to me!

We made a bonus pitstop on the way home: Chuck E Cheese! "The place where a kid can be a kid!"

Once upon a time, Chris mentioned a lot of his coworkers loved Chuck E Cheese. He didn't get it. I didn't either. It was obvious what kids would like. The pizza's pretty good, too, but what was there specifically for adults?

Beer. 

Chris said his coworkers would let the kids play while they sat with their adult friends and drank beer. It made sense then, but at these prices, I wouldn't have found it fun!

But today was about the kids (It usually is at Nana's!).

Nana bought Tenley and Shane an hour of play time.

There had to be an explicit understanding that neither Tenley or Shane would brag to Cole or Evie about how much fun they had while Cole and Evie had to go to school!

Tenley ran from game to game. She tried something once and moved on to the next.

Shane sat in one spot. He was focused on earning tickets to go home with a prize.

I thought it was boring to sit in one spot and spin a wheel for tickets, so I followed Tenley around (Though I did pull on the wheel once....and got a jackpot of 25 tickets! There was no way I was going to pull on it twice and ruin my winning record!)

Shane came over to see where the fun was at just before we sat down to eat.

Chuck E Cheese may have lost the animatronics, but they kept the good pizza.

I saw a sign saying that they were hiring and told Nana she could apply to keep busy and get discounts for all the grandkids (She declined)

Shane got back on the ticket hunt immediately after eating. At least he switched to a different game that required some measure of skill.

And he got good at it! The jackpot bonus payout was much larger and Shane hit it time and time again!

Pop took a turn guarding our table and Nana followed Tenley around. A nice woman who kept winning at the claw game handed Tenley a bouncy ball.

When it was time to go, Shane was eager to spend his points.

He'd done really well! He wasn't going to win a PS5 or anything crazy (they mathematically make sure of that!), but he walked away with enough toys and candy to feel like a big winner.

"Walk away" may not be the best way to describe how Shane goes from place to place, though.

Carrie had missed me terribly when I was gone and said it was her turn to do something vacationy. We went to the movies!

In our family, we do PDAs.

We finally got around to watching the new Spider-Man movie, No Way Home. It had been out for 3.5 months and it was a matinee showing on a Monday, so we had the theater to ourselves!

Meanwhile, Shane went to Ka's. He got to play with cousins before Ka took Cole and Shane to "Ninja Training."

Basically, it was an excuse to run, jump, and climb all over!

I wish we had something similar in Scottsville!

I'd probably sign up to do it with Shane.

Cole's been going for a while. Ka and Stu were thrilled they found something physical he liked to do.

Everyone looked like they were having the time of their lives in the pictures Ka took.

I can hear Shane roaring something like "I'm on top of the world!" 

Shane didn't act happy when we picked him up. 

It was multifaceted: All the climbing had rubbed his hands raw, he had a headache from being overtired, and he felt bad Cole was better at it.

I don't recall Shane saying "Cole was better and now I'm sad," but it can be inferred. Shane's normally more athletic than Cole in every way. However, Cole's been practicing this and just look at how he handles the ladder.

Being smaller can be an advantage in some sports, too. 

I think it was good for Shane. I want him to learn that effort is what matters. Talent is a multiplier for your effort. Someone who is talented will progress faster than someone who is not, but with zero effort....well, what happens when you multiply anything by zero?

I think it was good for Cole, too. He got to be better at something physical for a change. His efforts paid off!

I hope Shane will go back again next time. I'd love to do some practice stuff with Shane around the house somehow, but that'll take more effort than I have to give at the moment!

Carrie and I picked Shane up, praised him for how awesome he looked in all the pictures, and then took him out to one of his Greenville favorites: Panda Express.

Shane is all about the orange chicken there. 

Today was incredibly busy for a vacation. It felt like we tried to cram several days worth of activities into one.

But it worked. 

I love visiting everyone in SC. It's enough to make me think about moving...until I look at how SC pays and treats their schools. But maybe once I can retire in VA we'll reconsider (only 13.5 years left until I qualify for the maximum pension!).