New Year's Eve Visitors

We had some visitors to make New Year's Eve special! Kim and Ryan drove over from Richmond to see the new house (and dog!).

We met up at the barn before we headed out to the tavern for lunch. They chose to drive the back roads to get here. Kim was happy to report they didn't get trapped behind any tractors or slow-driving country folk on the way over. 

Shane wanted to show off his room (and Pokemon stickers) to Ryan before we headed out. Like me, Ryan said, "That's Mewtwo," only to have Shane correct him, "NO! That's a Mewtwo Y!"

I tried to catch a wild Shane on the way back from lunch. Shane rode with Ryan and Kim. Kim's window was down, but I missed!

I had to hop out of the car, pick it up from a puddle's edge, and slam dunk it in.

"Daaaad!!!!" Shane yelled.

No, we weren't driving. We were parked at the hardware store for an errand. The roads don't have passing lanes, so it's not like I could drive up beside them. Plus, Carrie would have been in the passenger seat and killed me. 

Kim commented that she didn't need a radio while we sat around. Ryan and Shane kept up a steady stream of beat-boxing to keep her 'entertained.'

We gave the official tour of the property when we got back. Heidi pulled up and Carrie peeled off from the group to saddle up herself.

Kim, Ryan, Shane, and I went back to the house and opened presents! I don't know how they find time to shop for as many people as they do, but they manage and they're good at it. Shane got some Harry Potter LEGOs, a HP coding game, and a LEGO Technic car.

He pulled out the wand right away and started to treat it like a weapon. "Say it! Don't spray it, kid!"

There excitement was broken when Max stirred up some excitement of her own. She was stalking some shelves, so I shifted them to see what she was on to.

A mouse shot out. Max caught it.

"Good girl, Max!" I said.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Shane shouted. Kim had the opposite reaction.

I had to stop Shane from racing over to Max. She trotted out of the kitchen and down the hallway with her prize. I started to laugh as she moved to Shane's room. (She was bringing him a present!).

"What!?" Shane yelled. "Noooo!" He ran after and Max dropped the mouse! The mouse skittered into the laundry room and I had to move shoes to help Max zero in on her target again.

I'd hoped she'd kill the mouse, but she was treating it like a prized toy. Stress can kill a mouse and I didn't want it tortured, but I wouldn't cry if it keeled over.

After Max dropped and caught the poor thing multiple times, I pulled out the camera to take a video.

You can tell I got highly distracted at the end. We never had the chance to see if Bucket had hunting instincts. By the time Ryan and I had retrieved her from behind the TV, Max had dropped the mouse and it had run under the fridge.

When the excitement died down, I let Shane show Slime Rancher to Ryan. Shane interjects Slime Rancher into any random conversation, so I figured it would be best to get it out of his system.

With Shane plugged in, that gave Kim, Ryan, and I time to sit down, talk, and play a board game! We learned to play Azul!

That's the temptation with video games and kids. The games can buy you a moment's peace, but if you overuse them...

I pulled the plug shortly after our game. Shane showed Kim his room and ended up wrestling with Ryan and Loki!

Carrie came in from riding and showed Kim Happy-cat while the boys played. (I didn't get this picture pre-approved, so I put it in small until the censors could look at it!)

"We should get a picture before you go," I said. 

Everyone agreed, but not everyone had the same type of picture in mind.

This led to a few tries.

Ryan applied tickling to try and get a smile.

And I guess that's the best we could get out of Shane posing. He stood still, at least.

Amazingly, Kim barely moved even with some wrestling adjacent to her! She knows how to avoid getting blurred out!

I'm glad they visited, because it made New Year's Eve a special memory. We weren't planning on staying up or anything of the like. I would have been happy if they chose to stay the night, but it was not to be!

Shane started working on his new Harry Potter LEGOs right after they left.

I'm going to need to get him working on a thank you note....in 2020!

Williamsburg to Richmond

Our health insurance ran out today, so Carrie bit the bullet and agreed to go to a doctor. She's had a sore throat and lost her voice all week. The nearest Urgent Care was in Williamsburg. Carrie made the appointment Saturday night, but when the alarm went off Sunday morning she was groggy and didn't seem safe to drive.

Naturally, Shane and I escorted her. We made the 8 AM appointment and dropped her off. Shane and I picked up bagels while we waited for Carrie to get done. Then we all had breakfast while we waited for the pharmacy to open (The doctor thought it was viral, but gave us a prescription "just in case" in morphed into something more). 

We had planned to go to the church in Providence Forge we've made our "New Kent Church," but we were now leagues away. Ironically, we stopped at a church between services that was a Pokemon gym.

Shane noticed it at breakfast and it was on the way to the pharmacy.

We took Carrie home to rest, but then Shane and I hit the road again! This time we drove west to Richmond!

Kim and Ryan had just gotten back from a vacation. They'd celebrated their anniversary on the west coast. We had lunch at Wendy's and Ryan showed Shane his Pokemon Go collection and taught him how to play the Harry Potter follow-up.

We went to Wal-Mart on the way home (That's a lot of W's.....West....Wendy's...Wal-Mart...). Ryan and Shane led the charge, while Kim and I talked and spotted some oddities.

I started to send pictures back to Carrie.

A certain movie always comes to mind...

We discovered a robot while picking around.

The name triggered an Ouran reference I knew Carrie would enjoy.

It seemed to be built for scanning the shelves.

Shane followed it around for an aisle or two before we made him move along.

When we got back to Ryan and Kim's house, Ryan was eager to mow. Shane was eager to help....drive.

But before that there was a moment. Ryan was outside. Kim and I were talking and Shane ran into the bathroom. There was a thud, but I didn't think much of it.

Shane ran out of the bathroom and said, "DAD! I had a pee accident! I was peeing and I slipped and fell and couldn't stop!"

I couldn't keep a straight face. I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard. The image of Shane slipping on his back and peeing straight up into the air! You can't make this stuff up.

I know it embarrassed him, but once I was done laughing we took off his shirt, put it on the front porch to dry, and got some paper towels to clean up. I'm sure Shane learned a lesson! He shrugged it off and he'll laugh about this at some point (I'm still laughing as I write this!).

I got to pitch in for a moment before Ryan and Shane started to mow. Ryan's got a bad back, so I climbed into the crawlspace to turn on the water for the sprinkler system.

Which Shane ran straight into after I told him not to. Thankfully, it's hot enough to quickly dry off t-shirts and little boys.

Shane took a break from running around to show Ryan and Kim's neighbor the wart on his foot.

Ryan and Shane had fun mowing. That tone may change when it's Shane's job to mow our farm, but it's a delight right now!

Kim had work Monday and they still needed to unpack, so Shane and I left around dinner time.

Today was a perfect example of how I don't feel like there needs to be a special activity to visit people. It's fun just to be around and live life with them. We ate, talked, shopped for groceries, and did yardwork....and it was fun! 

Level Four

I was trying to take a picture of Shane, but Sarah was happy to smile and wave.

Shane did a lot better. I told him he graduated to "level 1" last time. I hoped he'd get to "level 2 or 3" this time, but he got to "level 4" instead!

He got it and he was happy to be doing better. I got a small video.

Shane really tried to work it so that he could go to Ryan's house again afterward. He asked Ryan to ask his dad. The kid has no shame when it comes to putting himself out there!

I saw one of my students while we were out. I don't know if she was more surprised or I was. She laughed as Shane went by sitting on his heels and using his hands to propel himself.

I saw one of my elementary school wrestlers on our way out. I'd seen him last night and goofed his name (Bah!).

New this time: Shane got to use the bathroom while wearing roller skates. I'm pretty sure he would have cried or hit his head if I'd made him keep them on last time!

Roller Skating (+Bonus Surprise Visit)

Shane and I met Ryan and Sarah for roller skating at Carver Rec Center today. It was a lot more popular than I expected. We had to wait in line over 40 minutes to get inside! Shane and Ryan wrestled and entertained themselves for the most part.

Shane does not know how to roller skate.

Typical me, I was trying to break it down in steps and explain concepts, but all Shane wanted to do was get right at it. He's a pretty crappy listener at times if I'm going to be honest about it.

When Shane wasn't instantly good (and after he fell on his butt multiple times), he was ready to give up. "Skating is not for me!" "I wasn't made for this" "I don't like skating anymore." "Can we go to Ryan's house?"

I made him keep at it for a while and then told him to sit down, rest, and let his butt heal some while I skated. We waited in line for 40 minutes, and it's good to teach kids the world doesn't revolve around them. I was going to skate no matter what!

Shane popped up and tried to skate on his own almost immediately after I skated off each time. I think it was more from impatience and being left out than grit, but I made sure to praise his effort and progress whenever he got up.

He made a lot of gains for his first time ever. I told him he'd gone from level 0 to level 1. "You're doing way better than everyone who hasn't tried and everyone who gave up after falling once!"

I'll need to make him go again to keep improving. I'm not sure how he'll react to that, but I guess I'll find out.

Shane tried to invite himself to Ryan's house afterward. Ryan invited him afterward. I was invited too, but Shane really, really, really wanted to go without me.

I felt bad dumping my kid on someone, but I let him ride home with Ryan, Sarah, and their dad. Truth be told, it made me a little anxious. I'm not used to letting Shane drive off with other people, but it's gonna happen.

It was only for a short time. Ryan's family had to go somewhere, so I picked Shane up around 50 minutes later.

They played Fortnite the whole time.

Not my first choice, but when it's social and at another kid's house I don't mind. It's a popular game with my students, as well.

Bonus visit: Genevieve and Chris stopped by! They were on their way back from visiting some friends in Roanoke. Chris scratched at the door instead of knocking and gave Carrie the heebie-jeebies! I was upstairs having a talk with Shane. The laughter clued me in we had visitors. There's a short list of people I knew Carrie would invite inside, so I was merely surprised instead of shocked to see them!

Shane wanted them to spend the night, but they had to keep on driving. Adults have to work to pay bills!

Ryan and Shane - Wrestling

I drove Ryan to and from wrestling on Wednesday. He and Shane enjoy talking and I enjoy helping out.

They talked about Fortnite the whole drive in.

The only other topic that came up was Shane pooped a lot at school today. 

Let's call it foreshadowing.

It was a decent practice. The boys were goofy, but they wrestled some and didn't do anything seriously wrong.

They ended up in a group of three after Shane's sudden departure, but it worked out well enough. Ryan's the only one really motivated to improve (albeit with the focus of an average 8 year old!).

On the ride back, Ryan wanted Shane to come over so that Shane could watch him play Fortnite. I said, "Maybe this weekend."