Happy Bday, Love!

Carrie wasn't pro-Birthday this year. She said something about "I've never really liked my birthday."

So I went right to the blog to say, "Look! We did this! And this! And...ok, that year was basic, but what about this!"

The day of Carrie's birthday this year was a rainy, muddy mess. She had been scheduled to attend a riding clinic, but they pushed back the start time. To Carrie's amazement, they didn't cancel. She and Micayla opted not to go. That led to a lost deposit and lots of grumbles.

Sunday made up for it. It was a downright party at the barn!

Laura and Amy came to do morning chores, but they brought cupcakes! Barbara and Heidi came too and it was a horse lover's party.

Shane and I came down after an hour of adult time. He brought his normal level of energy.

He revved Loki up to wild levels and got a bruise from the roughhousing. I wish I could say I was surprised.

However, I want to give Shane a quick shout out for discovering a new kitten game. He calls it "Sonar."

The game is simple: Shane takes a small rock and gently throws it. The kittens hear the sound and pounce! 

They're showing good hunting skills. I missed a fantastic video of Aria doing a mid-air take-down of a locust. I hope they move on to mice soon....

It didn't take long for Shane to notice Mommy's cupcakes.

Or Tsuki!

Amy was really kind to make them and she was even kinder to listen to Shane talk about "tick worms." That's a leech in Shane-speak. He watched a video with Carrie on YouTube and was a fountain of facts.

Amy pulled the video up on her phone and they watched it together! Shane and Laura have both worked with leeches and maggots at the hospital. 

Amy entertained Shane while Laura focused on Ernie. He lost a rear shoe.

He got a duct tape temporary one (Is there anything duct tape can't do!?).

Heidi and Laura went for a walk with Eddie and Ernie and Barbara took Maddie for a short spin while everyone talked. It was just a fun time.

Ellie arrived as people were leaving to take care of Magic. He showed up lame for breakfast on Friday. The ladies think it's an abscess that needs to work itself out. He's got some love and Epsom salt baths. 

He was, also, the recipient of a duct tape shoe (but pink!).

Magic pulled a trick on me later in the afternoon. Carrie and Ellie had him on stall rest. I went down to refill his hay and check water. I closed the stall door, but I didn't clip it. I honestly held the clip in my hand and thought, "Nah. This will take a second and he's resting."

A second was all Magic needed.

I heard the door and he was in the aisle as I turned.

He got an opportunity to sniff around as I called Carrie for backup (Flip flops and an unwilling horse aren't a great combo).

Magic's tour of the grounds was brief. He was back in his stall with new hay with only a minor fuss.

For him, it was a bit of fun.

For me, it was a good humbling moment and reminder that little things are important!

For Carrie, it made it added a little more excitement to make the birthday weekend less routine.

For Shane.....well, the kid had no clue at first. When he did see Magic on the security camera and thought to tell Carrie! I was already on the phone with her, but it was a good reaction.

Happy Birthday to Carrie! Sorry we couldn't go to Busch Gardens or do something fancy, but maybe next year!

Gift Money

I worked all weekend and I made Shane do some work, too. I told him it was time to start writing thank you notes. 

He chose to write to Jama first (Maybe because her name is the shortest? Ha!). 

It took him over two hours of farting around to start it. 

I was clear. "You can't have any electronics until it's done. If you want to play in your room or whatever, go ahead. But you won't be done until you do it."

Shane eventually got frustrated he wasn't done and I got frustrated he hadn't started! I'd been grading papers the whole time!

At that point, I made Shane sit down and sketch out a draft. I helped him with some spelling and then he started a final draft...which didn't go well.

I told Shane he could be done in 15 minutes if he just did it. He complained it would be hours, so I turned on a stopwatch.

Shane protested.

"Turn it off!" he said. "I have my own watch. You don't need to!"

I didn't and it took Shane around 14 minutes to complain, start, and finish. Then he got to spend some Nana-Pop money on Slime Rancher and play while I went back to work.

Shane spent $22 on the game (with tax). I'd given him a choice: Buy now for full price or wait until the big sale hits later on. One way cost more, but he'd get to play sooner. The other way required patience, but would save money.

Shane chose, "Play now!"

It was his money, so I let him.

The game did go on sale a little over a week later. It only cost $8 on sale, so Shane could have saved a lot of money! I brought it up to him driving home one day. I figured he'd either be happy he got the extra time or he'd learn a lesson about patience paying off over time.

Side story:
Carrie forced herself to be social and went to a wreath-making party at another barn. Max approved.

I didn't approve when Max kept trying to eat it and threw up on the kitchen floor several times. I put the wreath on top of the fridge to prevent further messes.

Max approved of me moving her wreath to a new perch. It's 100% dog safe.

Shane's Party!

Shane and I drove down to NC Saturday morning. It wasn't just to give him the opportunity to climb in a "don't climb zone."

We met up with Nana and Pop!

Originally, Nana had talked about driving up to Charlottesville and staying at a hotel so that Shane could swim. Splitting the driving distance seemed far more fair (and economical).

We went to the Greensboro Science Center.

"Look! Penguins!"

Shane ran from exhibit to exhibit. Either he dragged Nana or Pop said, "What's this?" and he came running (usually with Nana!). I sauntered leisurely behind.

I got excited when we got to the penguins. I noticed their names on their wings. One penguin had the same name as one of my students! I wanted a pic to show at school.

The bird pooped.

That's either hilarious or ominous depending on how you look at it. The bird with my student's name crapped on my photo.

I chose hilarious.

I went to school and projected it.

But back to the science center. Shane and Nana really enjoyed looking at all the fish.

Pop pointed out an iPad talking about how venomous a scorpionfish was (Hint: Very).

There were stingrays to pet on the way out of the aquatic wing.

I held off due to cuts on my hands, but Shane went past elbow deep!

We had to pull him back before he started to swim.

My only regret was that we didn't have any kids or cousins around to enjoy everything with Shane. He didn't seem to mind.

Shane really wanted to go in the tornado machine. He didn't seem to remember doing it with Carrie at our last visit. I went with him and Cole in one before that during a beach week (That was the same trip Uncle Kevin's hair proved tornado proof).

Fast forward: There was an "Arctic Winds" machine on our way out. Shane wanted to try it, too.

Pop and I didn't want him to chicken out if it got cold. We blocked the door.

It turned out to be the same machine with a different name. The air wasn't cold at all! Nana felt a little ripped off, but at least it was worth a laugh!

But back to the present. There was an amazing maze Shane and I ran through. I would have LOVED to have played tag in that maze for half an hour with a group of kids. As it was, Nana refused to set foot in it.

She wanted to see the peacocks.

"Oh, I love peacocks!" She said.

Clearly a big fan.

Shane wanted to touch them, but I wouldn't let him. Nana wanted to feed them, but Pop wouldn't let her!

Does that mean we're no fun?

We don't think so! There was plenty of joking around!

My ADHD skills picked up on another grandfather teasing his kid when we were in the creature house. "We could put you in a booth on display!" It was totally something Pop and I would have said. It made me smile.

Coolest thing from the creature house: A snake midway through shedding.

We wandered around outside for a bit. There was a barn section, but that was too close to our daily lives to be too exciting!

There were dinosaurs inside!

I thought Shane would have stayed longer in the weather room, but the saurian call was too powerful.

Shane loved the virtual petting zoo.

What's a virtual petting zoo? It's a camera that puts you on a TV screen that has dinosaurs walking around.

I would not advise lying down and rolling around with live dinosaurs.

It's a lot of fun with the virtual kind, if you ask Shane!

If there were more hours in the day, we could have stayed longer. However, Shane and I left later than originally planned (9:30ish AM instead of 8 AM) due to horse chores and Shane sitting on his floor  in his underwear reading when he was supposed to be getting dressed. There was still a three hour ride home and Nana wanted to take Shane shopping at a toy store she spotted online.

There were some cool toys....but prices have gone up from what I remember. Even on junk.

Shane didn't see anything he liked for a price that didn't break the budget, so we walked next door to the 5 Below.

Sometimes quantity is a quality of it's own.

I'm not sure what high quality equivalents would cost for the things Shane likes.

I'm okay with practical joke toys breaking before they wear out their welcome. The fart bombs are a daily occurrence here, so they were easily overlooked (I'm glad that Shane didn't think to get the fake dog poop and get Loki in trouble!).

Shane had a lot of fun shopping and happily pocketed what he didn't spend.

Nana made sure that Shane understood two things. First, that she loved him. Second, that if he didn't send a thank-you note in the mail his birthday and Christmas were cancelled for the rest of his life!

"She'll do it, too," I said. "There was one year I had to sit and watch everyone else open presents."

Pop and I laughed as Shane was left flabbergasted. 

Nana and Pop dropped Shane and I off at our car and we said our goodbyes. Shane and I made one small stop for gas and made it home in a little under 3 hours (shortly after 8 PM?). We listened to Redwall by Brian Jacques and Christmas carols to help pass the time.

That's another year in the books. Shane is 9 years old, loved, and in possession of a whoopie cushion he really wants to catch Carrie with. Thank you Nana and Pop for helping make his birthday memorable!

First Wrestling Tournament

Friday was Shane's birthday and the first official tournament of the season! I helped set up during my planning period and after school ended. Coach Wendell started things, but I took over mat rolling and mat taping while he worked on Trackwrestling and tech.

I got some nasty cardboard cuts on the tape squad (like papercuts, but worse!).

I left during weigh-ins to pick up Shane and bring him out. He likes wrestling tournaments! Plus, I knew my old team would be around!

Shane immediately latched on to Jin's leg!

I saw a bunch of familiar faces. Most of them had gone through growth spurts, too! I was really happy to see everyone.

Shane and I hit up the hospitality room for dinner. They started the coaches meeting while we were in there. People started laughing and Shane joined in. When they stopped he announced, "I was laughing, because I had no idea what was funny!"

And he says he's shy sometimes...

I spent most of the night behind a score table. 

It was harder than I realized.

No, not the software! What was hard was staying utterly focused on the referee and nothing else. If I started to watch the wrestling I wasn't as quick on the clock.

Without fail, Coach Palmer came over multiple times and asked questions just as there was a flurry of action.

Coach Palmer's daughter volunteered at the beginning of the night and then it was Coach Winfrey and me for a while. There was one match where both boys looked like brothers in nearly identical singlets that could only be termed as "Challenge Mode." Neither boy had much experience and they were flopping back and forth between reversals until the ref was twisted up and had to check with us to see what had been happening!

Shane spent most of his time in the wrestling room.

I borrowed a dock from a kid (Jay) and left Shane playing Angry Birds happily. He played on the phone most of the time, but went a little wild with some pool noodles, too.

He abused the training dummy in ways it was not meant to be abused (That's not how you do a flying squirrel, Shane!).

I brought him out for food and to force some socialization.....and he started latching on to the legs of wrestlers on other teams! Jin tried to talk him out of talking the kid with the mullet (Whom three different adults looked at and said, "With that haircut, he better win!" haha!).

Carrie was asleep by the time we got home around 9:45 PM. The tournament was still underway, but I wanted to get Shane home and in bed. It was a long day! We both had fun, though.