Reports from Camp Nana-Pop!

While Carrie and I were working, Shane was having the time of his life. He swam daily, played with cousins, and Nana kept me informed (Thanks, Nana!).

"He hit the ball with his head!" Nana said.

Shane arrived to a welcome sign and the good times never stopped. He was having sleepovers with Cole...

...ice cream sandwhiches....

...and play dates galore. 

He never wants to come back from Nana and Pop's. 

You can't be a frail, wilting wimpo and offended by every correction you hear if you want to survive there, though! 

Exhibit A:

Which I find hilarious, by the way. Maybe the sense of humor is genetic.

I included the pictures here, so you can see that, yes, Cole did stick his tongue out by the last one.

I'm not saying Shane's better behaved than Kathleen's kids (you can come to your own conclusions!).

I am saying Shane's attention wanders. It looks like he forgot what Nana said and was moving on with life while Cole remembered (and wanted to rebel!).

But in general, even if Nana likes to spoil grandkids she won't hesitate to call them out and speak her mind.

Nor does anything embarrass her or worry her enough that she will forgo mentioning it.

For your reading enjoyment, I have included Nana's own words to describe what went on over the week. I got two emails in addition to all the texts.

Here's the first.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's Tuesday evening and we're at the pool and I just realized that I should send you a note saying how Shane is doing at Nana Pop Camp. We love having him here. He and Cole are getting along great. When they talked about various Pokemon shows and books, Pop said they sound like they are talking a foreign language. Cole and Shane love all the same things.

DIRECTOR'S LOG

     First day of camp - Saturday, August 15: 

      Eating yummy delicious food with you and Shane in the parking lot at the Chick-fil-a in Greensboro,  NC was so nice. Shane watched 2 movies on our van's rear entertainment system on the rainy drive to our house.

Kathleen and her 3 kids came over to greet Shane pretty quickly after we arrived. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the Welcome Shane sign that Pop, Cole, Evie, Tenley and I made for Shane. Note the effort and not the absence of any artistic genes in the family. 

Second Day of Camp, August 16:

      Kathleen invited Shane to go to their house on Sunday morning to play and do children's church there with them. Then they all came to our house for a delicious lunch of Hungry Howies pizzas, cheesy bread and cinnamon bread. That afternoon, Stu and Kathleen took their 3 kids and Shane to the pool in our neighborhood. Then Cole and Shane came back to our house to play. Cole spent the night at our house for their first sleepover together. 

Third Day of Camp: August 17:

    Monday morning, Kathleen took Evie and Tenley to school for their first day, so it was a good time for Cole to be at our house. Tenley will go to preschool from _____. Evie will go to the same Christian school for kindergarten for _________,  but she got out early (at ___)on Monday because of it being the first day. Kathleen picked up Cole about 12:15 on Monday, while Shane stayed with us. About 2 PM, Pop took Shane to their house to babysit the 4 kids so Kathleen could go to her eye doctor appointment.  Shane came home with Pop after Kathleen returned. I cooked beef tacos for dinner and Shane ate really well, which made me feel good. We took him swimming that night. Only Pop and Shane were in the pool. We went to Brewster's for ice cream for bedtime snack after leaving the pool.

Forth Day of Camp - August 18:

    Cole had to go to school this morning for a few hours of individual testing before school starts next week. Next week Cole will only go to school in person on Tuesday, because the rest of his school week will be done virtually for awhile. Cole and Tenley came to our house for McDonald's happy meals for lunch with Shane. Then Kathleen, Cole and Tenley left about 1:35. Shane enjoyed playing on the Nintendo Switch during my nap. I took Shane back to the Howlett's house to play about 5 PM. Pop and I picked Cole and Shane up about 7:30 to bring them to our neighborhood pool to swim. It's now 8:40 PM and getting pretty dark so we're going to take them back to our house for a sleepover.

Love,

Nana
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And so it's not a straight wall of text, I moved some pictures down to here.

Nana was real big on name tags and assigning things to us growing up, because otherwise no one ever fessed up to anything.

But most of the texts weren't like that. Nana's an encourager by nature.

And now, the second email:
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Director's Log, Thursday evening,  August 20:

We've been blessed with great weather at camp this week.  Shane has gone swimming 5 days in a row and is delighted every time. He seems to never tire from swimming. Kathleen took him swimming twice and he went 3 times with me and Pop. Only once in his 5 times of swimming did Cole not go and that was Monday evening. They both love it.

Pop and I had Cole,Tenley, and Shane this morning so that Kathleen could work. Then Kathleen picked them all up at about 1:45 so I could nap. Shane enjoyed jumping on the big trampoline, building with magnetic plastic pieces and doing electronics at their house. We picked Cole and Shane up from the Howlett's home about 7 PM this evening. Now we're watching them swim in the neighborhood pool, trying to get them worn out before bedtime.  They often talk in Pokemon (?) so they understand each other, but Pop and I don't understand them.

Megan called earlier today and said that B wanted to play Roblox with Shane, so we let Shane install it for free on my new Amazon Fire 8 tablet. I bought a second one, because Aunt Dot took over mine months ago to listen to tons of books online after the libraries closed. Shane likes the game Bee Simulater on Roblox alot. When Pop and I travel, we watch movies on Netflix on the tablet. I think the tablet only cost about $80. 

Cole and Shane love imaginative play. It's fun to listen to them. Now they are playing like the swimming pool water turns them into various things, such as chickens. I'm glad we are the only ones at the pool. They are so silly and so loud. Pop and I  think it's fun, but other adults might not. 

I cooked  sausage cut up into small slices and French Toast for lunch and Shane ate well. He eats a lot of fresh fruit. So far he's enjoyed fresh pineapple,  cantaloupe,  watermelon,  and bananas. Kathleen picked up pizza for their dinner.  

My new fancy ovens were installed last evening. I am enjoying learning how to use them. I've been cooking a lot more since the pandemic started. We pick up food-to-go about twice a week.

I hope you and Carrie are enjoying this week as much as we are.

Kathleen let Shane borrow a couple of books that Cole had from the library.  You can't go into the libraries here, but you can get online and order books for their drive-through pick up.

Love,

Nana
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Editor/Father's Note: I'm thrilled Shane got to have such a raucous good time in SC. I want to visit family more! I wish I could drag Carrie away with me and join in more, but a barn ties you to it. It's going to happen at some point. Thank you, Nana and Pop for taking such great care of my boy!

Henry

The animals help, but Shane needs time around other kids.

So it was great that we got to see Henry Tuesday morning! The boys went swimming.

Henry has been working with his dad in Maryland, surfing, and generally unavailable. When the opportunity to play popped up we accepted!

The boys went to the pool first thing. They played a ton with the hose. Henry made "a tank" and Shane looked for chinks in its armor.

The hose became a problem. Henry kept spraying Shane and Shane got annoyed. Only it wasn't really clear he was annoyed. There were times I thought he was getting pushed too far, but then he'd laugh and play in a way Molly and I thought things were fine. I coached Shane to grab the hose itself, but he kept swimming after Henry like it was a game until he got up and left.

The pool quieted down once Shane stomped off. Henry hung around for a bit until I eventually asked, "You think Shane's in the tree fort?"

The last time Shane stormed off, Henry followed him and they worked it out on their own. I would have loved a repeat, but Henry came back without seeing Shane. Enough time had passed without resolution, I figured it was time to step in.

I found Shane up a tree. Really, he signaled where he was. He wanted to be found (and told he was a good hider and a good climber!).

We only reflected for a minute or two before Henry found us. I told Shane Molly and I hadn't realized he was mad, because he kept laughing and swimming after Henry instead of the hose. We talked a little and Shane wanted a personal apology from Henry. I suggested this might be a time Shane needed to extend some grace.

It would've been nice if there were a couple more minutes to process, but Henry came around and started to show the zip line on the tree!

I played bridge. Henry asked, "How'd you get up there?" I said, "Shane's a great climber!"

The conversation developed from there and both boys left happier. I don't know if Henry asked that question to offer an olive branch or not (If so, great job!).

We ended up in the house about an hour after our pool (mis)adventure. I played tech support and helped set up Henry to play Minecraft online with Shane.

Our visit was cut short. Carrie called upset. Chilly's owner had messaged her that he was in dire straights. We went home for support. I played more tech support and helped Shane and Henry connect for their first online Minecraft game!

Shane tried to help, but Henry seemed to prefer to hear answers from me. Shane had some of the right answers, but he doesn't know how to communicate things so that people listen and understand yet.
Henry knows far more about physical tools than Shane, but Shane seems to understand the virtual ones better.

Not that Henry knows much more about communicating. They've played for several days since. My phone gets commandeered so they don't have to type and It's clear the boys have a lot in common with their social skills. It can be quite frustrating to listen to!

Henry will say the same thing over and over again until he gets a response. Shane might just sit there the first three or four times like he never heard it before he launches on a tangent and Henry repeats himself again!

The other day, Shane kept telling Henry to "Stop following him!" Shane wanted to make something for him in secret and Henry didn't want to go along with the plan. They boys argued back and forth and it got to a"Maybe I should go" and "Maybe you should" place.....before it settled into quiet and then went on like nothing happened!

Another time they were arguing and I liked that Shane was using "I statements." Carrie and I were playing cards and our eyes nearly bugged out of our heads when Shane said something like, "...and I feel like you're the devil and being evil when..." WHAT!?!?

Yet the argument settled into normal talk a little bit later. It's hard to listen to. It makes you want to intervene! I did bring up what I thought was extreme later, but I kept Carrie from intervening at the time. I figured if it got bad enough, I'd just turn off the internet as a natural consequence.

Kids need to be able to push each other, make mistakes, self-correct, and reflect. It doesn't make it easy to listen to. A kid who's never had the opportunity to push another kid to get mad at them is a kid who's probably never learned how to consider someone's else feelings and how to apologize. A kid who's never been pushed is a kid who hasn't had a chance to learn how to speak up for themselves and how to forgive. The give, take, step and misstep teaches how to set and respect healthy boundaries.

Or at least I hope it does! It worked for me. Getting into trouble taught me how to get out of it and eventually avoid what I could.

Experience is a seasoning. A lesson isn't finished until it's been learned, used, and internalized.

But that's enough of my own tangent from "We got to swim in Henry's pool and then the boy's played Minecraft together!"

Henry!

Play dates have been in short supply, but Henry came over last week! Shane's been on an ant farm kick. He started researched prices and watching YouTube videos with a ludicrously enthusiastic narrator ("The Phoenix Tribe!?" "The Fire Nation!?").

Shane enlisted Henry to help him find a queen.

I watched the fun from the kitchen window. No queens were found, but I heard the boys did find out ants can bite (And Shane's been telling me he really wants fire ants, ha!).

Henry was the first person we let into our house after who knows how long.

It was super hot outside and there was riding going on, so I was happy to let them play on electronics. 

We went over to Henry's house the following week.

They had a pool! Shane was psyched! He loves swimming!

Henry felt the same!

The boys were a whirlwind of energy. They were super rough with each other, too, play-fighting, wrestling, and trying to dunk each other. Henry was more serious about it while Shane was more silly which prevented too hard of feelings. It helped they were fairly evenly matched!

Shane did get upset at one point. He stomped off into the yard. Henry eventually got up and went after him and they came running back.

The adults and the dogs hung out in the shade. Sadie's was the only one other than the boys to get in the water!

The fun continued with showering off. 

Molly and I talked the whole time. We were both ready to get in the water, but happy to let the boys interact. When they solved their tiff themselves I figured it was worth 1,000x more than us running to the rescue.

The boys were hungry after swimming, so they grabbed a snack. Shane ate more at their house than he ever does at our house. PB & J's taste better when you're out!

The boys played in the treehouse while Shane continued to munch. Henry really wanted to go to the shop and the boys managed to work out a deal before anyone got in trouble: They'd play for 30 minutes in the tree house and then spend 30 minutes in the shop. Shane claimed the deal was his idea. I was happy, because Henry was about to get himself in hot water arguing with his mom when the deal deflected the doom to be.

Henry drove the boys over while Molly and I walked.

It was my first time wandering around the property. I like to explore!

Henry is really comfortable around power tools. More so me! I think it's neat how he's so capable and safety conscious. I said so to Molly and she replied, "I don't know if I was ever consulted!"

Shane's more impulsive natured than Henry. He was really excited by the compressed air hose! I was okay with him playing with that tool (though the noise got really annoying!).

Henry really wanted to build and show off what he could do. Shane was ready to move on, but the deal was still in effect. Molly showed us a ninja warrior course Henry had built, but it was currently covered in poison ivy.

We headed back to the house for some last minute playing before it was time to go. Carrie needed me to help with a therapy session for Heidi and be present when Lorelai left. 

Hopefully, the boys will be seeing each other at least once a week on average over the summer. I'd be happier if it was at least three times a week, but who knows what fun the summer will bring?

Meanwhile, Shane 2

I love this on so many levels. The face....the text....the memories of my own childhood...

Meanwhile, Shane

Throughout our moving adventures, Shane's been having a ball at Camp Nana-Pop. He went to VBS from Sunday to Thursday. Cole's out of town, so it was a good chance to meet other kids. Not that Shane had any trouble with that.

Nana introduced Shane to Shay and Piper (?) across the street. He met a 13 year old friend at the pool who claimed to be 16, and who knows who else! Nana spent the weekend volunteering with a youth prison ministry, so Pop picked up Minecraft for the Switch to help entertain Shane. 

I would have needed to take notes to keep track of everything they did and I didn't.

Two stories that stuck out:

1) The 'cut' - Shane cut himself playing with a toy. They way he described it, the protective cover came off a 'football-like' toy and the metal cut him when he tried to catch it. He talked about how it hurt and how it was treated and made it sound like he needed stitches. I was skeptical, and chose not to really react or pass on the information to Carrie. Pop was laughing on the other end and sent me a text later. He thought it was funny how much Shane talked up his 'papercut.' 

2) The snake - Nana called one night to say hello, but a snake appeared. She screamed and it frightened Indy so bad she refused to poop! "The boys" (Shane and Pop) came out and were fascinated. From what I could tell, Nana was standing on the porch talking to me and occasionally stopping to yell, "SHANE! Get back! Are you crazy!?!?" I was ear to ear smiling. I could visualize the whole scene playing out. "The snake is climbing a tree! Indy and I are getting out of here. Those crazy boys won't leave it alone!" Nana said.

Pop sent an email later. It was a black racer snake. "This one was about 3 feet long and climbed right up a tree.  Pretty cool.  Dad  "

This past week, Kathleen, Stu, and crew were back in down. They've made what seem to be daily pool trips.

Nana started to send me pictures.

I called to check in one night, but they were busy with water guns and splashing around.

Ka said, "Shane's a fish!" He loves to swim.

Kathleen started sending me pictures, too.

She said Shane wanted pictures taken of all his creations.

Cole doesn't seem to mind the camera either (At one point, Ka had a small youtube channel for videos he wanted to make).

The girls just like to be in on the action....sometimes.

Ka sent this picture a different day. She's invited Shane over for play-dates at her house.

She said that she had to boost Cole up into the tree for these shots. He wanted to follow Shane!

I got a text on Saturday that everyone went to Frankie's Fun Park on Saturday.

Shane and Cole ran around in the play structure, but the girls weren't interested (Which surprised me. Tenley seems like she's an adventurer at heart).

My siblings and I always loved climbing and running around in those. 

The boys got a double treat: They got to play their first game of laser tag! I wish I had been there!

I might have wanted to have joined the other team if I was feeling competitive, though!  Shane was Bulls Eye and Cole was Dark Knight. "I lost points for shooting my own base!" Shane said.

They had a blast. Shane told me he had a strategy to climb next time, but I told him that was considered "out of bounds," ha ha!

Nana's seen a few movies with the boy that I know of, too. They went to see Smallfoot during the week, and then Monday the 22nd, Shane told me they'd gone to see the redone Lion King! Carrie made a jealous face, but we were en route for our own adventure then (She loves to do family movie trips!).

Shane's in good hands. He wants to tell me about whatever legendary Pokemon he caught (or almost caught) each day when he calls and I have to direct him away from video game talk and more towards people and activities talk. He's trying to joke around on the phone some, but he doesn't have the knack for it, yet!