Summer Preview

 It was a warm weekend. Warm-enough for Shane to lay anywhere to "sun bathe."

I took Shane to that International Tabletop Day meetup listed at the library. We were the first ones to show up! There was a 4 year old who Shane played with for a chunk of the time we were there.

I ended up teaching two people how to play The Crew. Shane joined us for the last hand or two. Shane's words: "It looks like you all need another pro!" 

Shane and I dropped by the library on the way home. We hung out for a little bit before continuing on to find Carrie making an onsen inspired house in The Sims. 

She and Shane started playing The Sims a little together. They both like making things and the computer is positioned, so that Carrie can stare out in the field at Mama and Baby.

Saturday evening, I took Shane to the pool for the first time this year.

A girl called him over and he jumped into a soccer game in progress. I'm pretty sure they were on the same soccer team last fall, but I forgot to ask Shane (and who knows if he knows!?).

Shane didn't hop in the pool for at least the first 20 minutes we were there! During the next break, he tried to join some older kids playing volleyball. The ball went over the fence and I saw all the kids debating if someone should climb over to get it or walk around.

I kept my head turned the other. I would've gone over the fence in a heartbeat as a kid. As an adult I felt a need to reinforce pool rules if anyone saw me looking, so I figured I'd keep my head turned and see how the kids handled it. I hoped Shane would be brave and maybe even the hero of the moment!

Apparently, the top of the fence was sharp and no one made it over. One kid made the decision to run around, but even everyone debating the climb and talking about how sharp the top of the fence is makes for a good story! I didn't want to take that away from the kids.

Shane did say the older kids weren't the nicest. I heard him do a dinosaur roar at one point ("You know, words are more effective than noises with kids your age and up."), but Shane said it was no big deal and ran off to swim.

Shane loves Sharks and Minnows and any sort of splashing game.

The diving board is fun, too, but Shane prefers to land near people so they can gawk at him in midair and be hit by the tidal wave of his splash!

We went again on Sunday. Shane was doing some sort of game where he'd crawl out of the pool and pretend to sleep. Someone would splash him 'awake' and he'd jump back in to act crazy and splash them.

I only heard the lifeguards call out his name a couple of times (Is it a good or a bad sign that they remembered Shane's name?).

Shane acted like he didn't want to rejoin the pool this year, but I felt like he fit back in well. Kids remembered who he was and he got right into the thick of playing!

There was one small bump when Shane bumped his head on the pool.

He said he was swimming with his eyes closed because of the chlorine and smacked into the wall. There was a small red mark.

Aside from walking the length of the pool with his head in his hands, he took it well. He didn't whine or cry and when I asked if he hurt the pool he laughed. I got to be the encourager and tell him he was a tough kid rather than harp on dramatics. I was proud.

Other than some chores, it was a chill weekend. Shane and I had quarantined enough, so we drove into church. We went to Wegmans on the way home and Shane bought some Oreo drumstrick cones with his money while I grocery shopped. Carrie put on Wandavision and the family made it through some episodes of those. Shane called some friends and played some Roblox while I booted up Xcom2 for a little bit.

It was a wonderful weekend. It felt like a preview of what summer could be like. It made me sad that I had to go back to school on Monday, but at least there's only a week left!