Onward to Maine

We drove to Maine!

We met Carrie in Culpeper to drop off the truck. The back end was sinking too much when hauling the horse trailer. Shane and I had to drive a little more to pick her up, but picking the truck up on the way back will eliminate a drive out to Culpeper on our own time.

Originally, I'd wanted to leave from Jama's to cut two hours off of our drive the next day. Then I wanted to drive through to Maine.

That had been nixed. Carrie found a low rate for a hotel in Connecticut and we were going to spend the night there to break up the drive.

Until we didn't.

Stuff happened. The old plan was the new plan. Carrie came up to meet us in NOVA. Shane woke up early and we hit the road early (See the pattern?).

We beat traffic. That was beautiful. I had wanted to stop in NJ to visit Bill really badly. Carrie felt bad and asked if we could hold off for the return trip. Bill and Jill are due to have their first child any day now! I really wanted to stop, but now the hope is for the return.

Shane was impressed by New York City's skyline.

Our first big adventure in traffic was crossing the Hudson River.

I like to read maps. I predicted Google would direct us around to the north if the traffic was really bad.

It must have been really bad.

Google had us hop off the interstate and slide down some local roads to bypass most of the traffic on our detour.

We started to notice a recurring theme through New York and beyond. Our side of the road moved. The other side did not. I'm not looking forward to the ride home!

Connecticut roads were pretty. The road we were on had lots of low bridges which prevented large trucks.

The barriers were either huge logs or concrete. The sides of the road were covered in trees.

And there was a short tunnel. The Appalachians go through the area. Not a bad looking state.

We listened to Hank the Cowdog at first. Judy Moody wasn't as big a hit with Shane or Carrie.

Pokemon was. Shane played a lot.

The roads got a little frumpier when we hit western Massachusetts. We weren't on an Interstate.

The scenery was increasingly urban as we neared Boston. Interstate 495 runs a ring around it (Just like in DC).

We were in New Hampshire an hour. Then we were in Maine. We paid $34 in tolls. Most of the cost was in Maryland and New Jersey then the tolls decreased form there. MD had two tolls for $4 and $8 (got to find my notes to confirm). The New Jersey Turnpike cost $13.85 to traverse. We're supposed to get a "$5 toll by mail" from the bridge crossing the Hudson in NY. New Hampshire charged $2 and then Maine charge a buck.

I forget where it was, but Shane got in trouble a few hours out. He had to ride the rest of the way without the DS. He was stubborn and said he didn't want to listen to any books either. I'd brought a bunch. It would've made the trip easier on all of us, but I like to let the stink have some say over things. There's not a lot he can have a say over when strapped into a car seat all day.

What did he do to get in trouble? I forget the exact start. I know that he didn't apologize and that made it worse.

Shane has a tendency to move on to the next thing. Carrie brought it up at one point and Shane interrupted her to talk about something entirely different.

That did not help his case.

Shane tried to start a conversation later. I was game, but it didn't work out. Shane would ask a question. I'd start to answer and then he's start to talk over me about something else. When he didn't talk over me, I'd ask him a question and in lieu of answering he'd jump back to whatever he'd been talking about before. When I asked, Shane said, "I was listening, but I was thinking about what I wanted to say about something else!" He got frustrated when Carrie and I refused to talk about Pokemon.

It made the last couple of hours more challenging, but hopefully some lessons were learned and some resilience built up.

Even with getting in trouble, Shane did a good job overall. It's not easy for a kid his age to travel as far as we did.

We left at 7:45 AM and arrived 7:15 PM. We stopped for gas at McD's in MD and stopped to gas up and get dinner east of Hartford, CT. Carrie desperately needed to use the bathroom only the doorbell was broken! We were knocking on the side door when Grandma answered and Carrie bolted past!

I don't mind car trips, but this was a draining ride. We made it in time for us to greet everyone, unpack, and I got to get set up for my Sunday night game with the boys (I cut the game short due to Carrie's stress levels and to help with Shane, etc).

We were all tired for bed. It was great to be in Maine! It was a first for me and I was looking forward to exploring on Monday.

NOVA Mini-Trip

Shane and I drove up to meet Jama Friday night.

We went to dinner with her and Ed.

Shane did a remarkable job at dinner (especially for him). We were in the dining room for an hour and a half without any major incidents.

And that was after a two hour car ride!

No, he wasn't an angel. I'm still really proud of him. He ate well and behaved well. I told him so.

John swung by after work. Shane and I were out front looking for his car. We hopped in for dinner at Wegmans and a walk through Walmart.

It was already late in the day when we drove up and later still after dinner, so Shane had to go to bed afterwards.

I brought  my laptop, so I was able to meet up with Carrie, Chris, and Genevieve online after he went to sleep.

The next morning, Shane and I did our usual NOVA breakfast run to Wegmans. It's like nobody else wants to be up and out at 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning.

We went back to Jama's to chat and play tech support before going on our next adventure.

A couple of months back I met a guy at a board game night John hosted for work. Only two people came we didn't know that first game day. Ken was the quiet one. He came for a game, didn't say much, and then left. I wasn't sure he had a good time, but Ken came back for round two. We talked a lot more then and traded emails. He went to the third meet-up while we were at beach week.

Ken and I talked over email and he invited Shane and I over. He had two girls, Caroline (age 9) and Josefina (age 7). He thought that they'd get along with Shane.

Shane and I went for it. Ken lives near the library, so it was an easy stop on the way to John's game day. The girls were more reserved, but Shane is Shane. He's gregarious, genuine, and over the top. The all hit it off.

Ken and his wife, April, offered us lunch. It was a pleasant surprise!

The kids were having such a blast playing hide-and-go-seek I was loathe to leave for the board game day! If they had offered, I would have been tempted to leave Shane behind.

The original reason for coming up was to support and see John, though. I got a text that John had set the Switch up for Shane to play already. We saddled up and headed out. Ken led the way in his truck.

John was working and didn't join any games. Ken and I sat down to a group about to play Arcadia Quest. It was a arcadey, cutesy-style, competitive dungeon crawl.

Shane went straight to Shovel Knight and Mario Kart.

Ken won the first game. I won the second. I had one character who rolled abysmally the first game, Spike. I had another who rolled fantastically, Zazu. I started to get a little in character. "Zazu is INVINCIBLE!" and "Zazu does not care!" and maybe some Zazu does not back down!"

Zazu turned out to be a complete stud. I would have won the first game if I had used another character for the attack, but I wanted to go for a story win. I rolled two melee hits that would have won if I was Johan. They did nothing for Zazu with the ranged Nova Blast.

It was okay, though. I upgraded Zazu and had some phenomenal rolls the next game (Chanting "Zazu is the best! Zazu is an animal!"). It was a win that had other people at the table laughing and cheering. It was all in good fun. I try to point out moves that other people do I think are clever when we play.  I congratulate good dice rolls and commiserate when dice go sour. It's all supposed to be a fun, shared activity.

Things got a little dicey when Shane got bored of the switch. He came over to play with miniatures and ask a million questions. 

Shane went back to playing the Switch right before Matt, Renee, and Aiden arrived.

They only stayed for a brief chat before errand running, but that counts for attendance! Matt and Renee are hard to catch up with outside of beach week. Aiden doesn't make it any easier.

I expected to run around with Shane some afterward, but he stayed content. I taught the group I was with how to play Hero Realms before the program ended. It's a hike, but I plan on continuing to come until it's established and wrestling season takes over.

John, Shane, and I drove out to Chic Fila A for dinner after he got off work. It was a tactical maneuver on my part. Chic Fil A has a food, play structure, and it was fifteen minutes west towards Culpeper.

Carrie was going to drive up to Culpeper and drop the truck off at a shop. Shane and I were going to meet her and bring her to Jama's. Sunday we were set to drive to Maine and meet Grandma and Grandpa for a week's vacation with them.

We hung out until we got the call. It was a short trip and there are a lot more people I want to see whenever we go north, but they'll have to wait for another time. Shane and I need to catch up with Matt G and his girls next time (Matt G and I talked on the phone on the ride up).

SIDE NOTE: I called Megan on Friday and left a message. She called back on Saturday in the middle of me juggling a few things and I missed the call. She texted later and I found out what she'd been doing. She'd gone to Steve H's funeral. He died the previous Sunday. It was possibly a suicide. It added a sad note to things. Carrie and Shane don't know Steve, but we bumped into him for a moment at church the last time Shane and I were in NOVA. I'd tried to text with him some the Thursday before he died. Steve's dad, Dan, is heart-broken, but he gave a moving message and testimony online and at the funeral according to Megan. It's not really related to our trip, but it was. I felt it had to be mentioned. Our prayers are with Steve's family and friends as they cope with his passing. I cling to Romans 8:28 in times like these, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose."

Co-Operative Board Games: Rising Five

I am a fan of co-operative board games. Most of them are puzzle-like and, most importantly, I can get Carrie to play them.

Co-operative games are normally two games in one for me: The physical game and the team partnership.

The physical game is obvious. I want to win the game! I don't want a push-over. I want to be pushed to think and feel victory was earned. I don't mind losing if it was hard fought and I learned (as long as the loss was not the right moves foiled purely thanks to randomness).

The team partnership is concurrent game. How did the team function? What was the atmosphere? Did we talk through ideas? Did we celebrate little victories? Did everyone have fun?

It is possible to play co-operative games alone as a solo puzzle, but I enjoy the social dynamic. I've played a lot of board games. I figure I can beat your average game most of the time when I know how it works. Adding people changes the flavor. It adds a new perspective, but takes away control. If a teammate makes a pick I wouldn't have? Maybe it adds to the challenge. Maybe it highlights a strategy I hadn't considered. I don't look at the discussion as a competition with one player winning, but more as a collaboration. We'll sink or swim together.

The social game is more important to me than the board game. I would feel better losing the game after a strong team performance than I would winning the game after bickering and infighting.

But of course, I prefer both to go well. Winning a game solo is nice, but a win shared is worth far more.

Which brings me to my review of Rising Five. Carrie and I played it while on vacation in SC.

I am normally opposed to apps in board games. I have avoided games with apps. I feel like it adds a video game to a board game, and if I wanted to play a video game I would have done just that.

When I did the research on Rising Five, I saw there was an app. However, the app's job was to hold a solution to a puzzle and give you feedback without revealing too much information. The game came with rules for how someone could GM without the app, but the program seemed simple enough and the function a valid one.

Carrie did not agree. She was skeptical from the get go. The skepticism made her more critical.Then there was a rule issue we disagreed on. The rule book never mentioned pieces with red borders in any examples. They did not appear in the app either. I thought it was clear what they were for, but was flummoxed in explaining my reasoning. We disagreed how to use them, but they were non-essential to playing. It left both of us frustrated.

It didn't help that Shane showed up while we were trying to learn the game. He wanted to 'help,' but that adds a new layer of stress to the game when he's trying to pick up cards and pieces off the board to look at them.

We won the mission, but the game was lost. Carrie probably won't play it again. I thought it was interesting and the kind of game she would have liked. I'd play it again if she asked. The dislike of the game and the miscommunications will at least be a memory and be fuel to sweeten any future victories in other games (Gotta haves peaks and valleys in life to fully appreciate things).

I'll try to play it solo a few time if I ever find oodles of spare time (gotta get my money's worth). I wouldn't mind teaching it and letting some other enjoy it, but for my collection the game is probably destined for a trade in.

In-Between Trips

Thursday was less of a rest day and more of a take care of business day. Carrie had an appointment with Armour. Shane and I drove downtown to buy a decal for our trash can and return library books.

I wanted to keep Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but someone else had it on hold. We picked up some new books, which helped keep Shane busy while I got my allergy shots.

Awkward moment: "Dad? What's a thong?" Shane asked.

There were "Failed superheroes" in the back of the book. Slider man instead of Spider man.....and King Thong instead of King King.

"You can figure that one out on your own, kid." I replied. Not that it stopped Shane from asking twenty  more times.

The cats were extra tolerant when we came home. They must have missed us. Bucket followed Carrie from room to room when she was home. Bucket declined to run in terror from Shane when Carrie was not home.

I cooked Shane and I fish-burgers for lunch.

Next on the agenda was friend time. The only way to grow close to someone is to spend time with them! I texted back and forth with Sam's parents to set up a play date.

They were a little late in arriving, so Shane started climbing.

To be honest, Shane's climbing makes me uneasy. I don't stop him, because I don't want him to grow up afraid of things. I try to focus on teaching him techniques to climb well and protect himself. I remember the thrills and joys of climbing myself and don't want to deny him that either (and trust me, I've done way worse than you saw in the video.....very fun, but very dangerous....probably the dangerous is what made it so fun).

Thankfully, Sam showed up before my nerves were too frayed or Shane hit the top of the tree. Sam's been at soccer camp the past couple of weeks.

Not that the boys kicked the ball around for more than a minute. I'd love for Shane to show more of an interest, but his mind is elsewhere.

Shane latched onto Sam and tried to drag him under the water almost immediately. I enjoy wrestling, too, but it's a fine line. Maybe Shane will be more committed to learning the skills and techniques this winter...

There was an epic moment. The kind of moment I heartily applaud. The kind of moment that happens when you give kids room to play and they take the initiative and come up with something creative.

Shane and Sam wanted to make a water slide.

I loved it.

I don't know where the bucket came from, but Shane started to ferry it back and forth. He dropped the water trying to climb up the ropes the first time. He started to go up the far side with the stairs after, but eventually tried the climbing ladder again with success. Go kid, go!

There was a large group of kids who all wanted to join in. Shane assigned a few of them to ferry water a few times.

It was super hot and muggy outside. All of the kids were wearing swimsuits, but even if they weren't the heat would have baked them dry in an instant.

I loved, loved, loved the game. I'd have joined in myself, but sometimes an adult present ruins the magic.

To Carrie's dismay, Shane has inherited my family's tendency to climb on top of the play structures. He's quite agile. He was walking and dancing on the outside of a tunnel trying to get attention from the other kids.

Again, my instincts conflict when I see Shane doing so. I don't want him to lead other kids into doing something they'll get hurt and I don't want Shane to get hurt himself (like falling or teasing the other kids so they grab at him and make him fall). Yet, I did the same thing as a kid and I'd do the same thing as an adult if I were to play on a playground.

The kids played some sort of 'prison break' game on the slide, too. Sam told me he managed to get away and up the slide even with people trying to grab his feet.

The kids kept up the water slide for over an hour.

Kids came and kids went. Tiny minds were blown.

Small town note: I was talking to Sam's mom and they knew Iggy and Lucy's family from tee-ball last spring. That seems to happen more often the longer we're in Cville.

Toby ran off with Kate for most of the afternoon, but he came to play with the older boys at the end.

Action shots are fun.

And there goes Shane walking and balancing on things that aren't meant for it. He so gets that from me.

We try to see Sam once a week. That seems frequent to my adult self, but that doesn't compare to how often my friends and I hung out as kids. It was daily. I hope we can keep growing closer to a few families to meet Shane's social needs.

Henry and his family were back from their vacation when we returned to the circle.

Hello, other Sam!

Shane brought Garfield out to read it to Henry.

Sam poked around the porch. They had been looking for crickets to drop in a spider's web with their dad.

Shane brought out the bubble rocket. He'd bought it to share after all!

Henry and Sam had a family of younger kids coming over to visit. Shane would have loved to have invited himself in, but I nixed it.

I'd wanted to go to the board game meetup again. I've been three times now. That's enough to start recognizing some faces, but not really make any deep connections. We ended up going inside later in the day than I'd planned and I missed out on it for WoW with Carrie instead. Shane watched Pokemon to settle down.

Friday was a lot quieter. Carrie let Shane watch three episodes of Pokemon to start the day and then it was "entertain yourself, kid." Carrie went to the barn. I went to work catching up on the blog. That kept us busy for hours and Shane had to figure out how to use the downtime.

At three, Shane and I left to meet up with Jama for dinner and John after work, so the forced calm was probably good for him.