A winter blizzard, some petty thievery, a tiny village, kisses for Mimi, extended hotel stays, feeding a giraffe, jellyfish handling, baseball swag and chocolatey sweets delivered by a furry little critter. This is our year so far…
In January we were pounded by snow. Over the course of just two days our car was buried and our yard disappeared under a freezing blanket of white. It gave the neighbors (and you) an awesome chance to practice sledding skills. Unfortunately, the weather was SO bad that you and mom couldn’t stay out long at all. Even worse, once it calmed down a bit, we left your bright orange sled on the porch and some terrible kid stole it in full view of our security cameras. He wasn’t caught and that pretty much ended the sledding.
Around the same time, Daddy received his (our?) long awaited order of Dwarven Forge “City Builder”. With the tiny pieces, we could build different versions of medieval villages and spent some time doing just that. We had a hard time deciding if it was a little funny or a little sad that you built a “Jail… for that guy that stole our sled” as your first building. In any case, we continue to enjoy it when it’s not being used for Daddy’s D&D games.
With the weather being poor, we stuck close to the house and didn’t do as much as we usually do. Your swim classes were ended by Mommy because you’d just sort of stopped paying attention. And school seemed to be less challenging this year academically, so you were prone to pay less attention there too. Mommy got you a desk, so you could study in the living room. And it was never that clean again…
One very exciting thing that happened in February: you got to see your FIRST concert. It was a children’s concert, so there was a pre-concert visit with the instruments. It was just short enough and active enough to keep your attention.
Since you were so interested in the music, Mommy decided that piano lessons might be something you enjoy. And wow, did you ever take to it! She bought you a keyboard and seat so you could practice at home. And practice you do! You can even play a couple of tunes (“The Tick Tock Song” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) with few errors. It’s pretty exciting.
We also started playing around with an app called “MSQRD” which lets you change your face. You’ve enjoyed that (and entertained Daddy) way more than we thought possible.
Even MORE exciting was our Spring Break trip to see Mimi in the Knoxville area. We had planned to stay with her, but only after two nights, she got strep throat and our little party moved to a nearby hotel. Not a problem for you; you LOVE hotels.
We didn’t let the illness spoil our visit. We went to a movie (“Zootopia”), visited the Knoxville Zoo. The zoo trip was PRETTY special since you got to ride a camel AND feed a giraffe!
Later, we spent a whole day making sure Mimi was okay (which meant, you pretty much played every game on her iPad, downloaded new things to her iPad and figured out a way to bump her iPad off the home network). She also loaded you up with toys and treats!
We saw some other relatives that you NEVER get to see. First it was dinner with Uncle Tim and Aunt Betsy (complete with an evening stroll through Market Square with ice cream). And just before we left, we got a quick visit from Uncle Todd (but Aunt Emily also fell prey to germs and couldn’t join us).
On the way home, we stopped for a couple of nights in the Hotel Roanoke. Roanoke, Virginia was a little smaller than we expected, but the highlight of the trip was the Pinball Museum. It was your first exposure to it and you REALLY thought it was fun. Another fun thing was a rest stop that allowed visitors to play a guitar while there. Mommy picked it up and strummed a view bars.
When we got home, just in time, the Easter Bunny left you treats in our basement! You’d visited his helper just before we left at a LifeTime gym event. (His helper also loaded you up with tiny eggs that had fun toy treats inside).
Since we’d had a long and crazy trip, the week following Easter we took it easy with yet another trip to the aquarium. It’s always a pretty calming and yet interesting experience. Rather than take notes or draw this time (which you’ve done previously) we just sort of wandered as Daddy took pictures.
Last, but not least, your “Dugout Club” membership came through. As a member of the Dugout Club, you get some fun Orioles swag and very affordable tickets for several Baltimore Oriole games. We know that Mommy and Daddy are White Sox fans first of all, but maybe we’ll root for the Orioles when the White Sox aren’t around.
Other fun things: You are going out of your way to write original jokes, you still absolutely love game shows and all things game show, and you’ve got a “girlfriend” in school named Safiya who you spend a lot of time talking about. Your other “pals” are the neighborhood dogs. Dean and Mandy’s corgis always get your affection and you just love our next door neighbor’s (Brenda) dog Tessie.
Oh yes. And you think it’s hilarious to call your Daddy a “dingus”… thanks, Mommy.
It's Campbell Time! 