Connor and the creatures

So we had sort of an epic day on the day before the 4th that involved quite a lot of creature excitement for our young animal lover, Connor. It started with a dead squirrel in front of our house. This might not seem promising but a large vulture was right in street working on it. There is a Wild Kratts episode about the turkey vulture and you need to understand that for Connor to see an animal from the Wild Kratts is like seeing Robert Redford or some movie star for the rest of us. So here is Connor dropping some knowledge about the vulture:

Then we went off to the beach, which went pretty well. To enjoy Galveston several things have to be in your favor and they were this day. There was astonishing little traffic, it was not excruciatingly hot, and the beach was pretty empty. Next, there was really not that much seaweed in the water, which makes a big difference. And the water temperature was really pretty perfect. The beach we went to is very shallow and has soft sand too so the boys could play in the waves without getting in very deep so it was pretty ideal. Jamie, as usual, got very uncomfortable about the sand, but then a game of whiffle ball helped him move on. He liked it because it was windy so the ball curved. He knows I won't let him throw a curve ball til he's 16 so this was a big thrill. 

After getting from the beach, I realized it was the first night in a while we've had things sorted so early, so we cozied up and watched the rest of this movie about saving these three whales trapped in the ice in Alaska. It was cute and they both liked it, except one of the whales, the baby named Bam-Bam, dies. Connor seemed really not to register it when it happened but then when the others were free he said "Where's Bam-Bam???" We had to break it to him. He waited about 5 minutes and began sobbing, just sobbing. I toyed with going the cycle of life route, but instead offered to buy him a stuffed animal whale for his birthday. "You can name him Bam-Bam Connor," Jamie said, "so you can remember him in your heart." 

Boys love rain

Here is a quick video of Jamie in a torrential downpour. It meant that we could not go swimming, so what is a boy to do? Go get drenched in it of course! 

Awards

Here's a picture of our "civilized" little boy doing the pledge. What cracked me up about this was that they turned around to face the American flag to do the Pledge of Allegiance and then rotated 90 degrees to the right to face the Texas flag and do that Pledge of Allegiance. We live in Texas. Sometimes that still amazes me.

Both boys did really well in school of course and got the highest academic honor roll. Connor in particularly seemed very pleased with himself about it, so it was nice to see him feeling proud of himself. One of Jamie's buddies from baseball did too so I proclaimed "baseball-playing nerds" and he's been proudly repeating it since. Here's Jamie with his award:

Finally, here's a cute one of the bunny with a buddy from class at their international food festival. Our boys do not, repeat DO NOT wear hats:

Really?

So I just had lunch with Jamie. We sat outside and a couple of his friends joined us and it was a very random funny conversation in which we talked about playing basketball with bb's, cheerleaders (pros and cons), and blowing buildings up (all pros).

Before his friends joined us, Jamie informed me that he and a girl from his class had been chosen to represent the class at the awards ceremony tomorrow. I asked what that meant and he said they would read "some pledge or something." Then I asked why it was him and he said his teacher had chosen them because they were "civilized" (he made the airquotes). If only she knew...

Sweet big brother

So Connor got sick this weekend. It was strange, we were at baseball (that part is very not strange) and Jamie had an early game, Connor a later one), when in seemingly a moment he got a fever and felt terrible. So he came home and slept for an hour and had some Tylenol and felt well enough to go to the pool for a bit. But it was clear he wasn't himself and by the time we came home it was clear he was still not well. So we decided to cozy up the couch and watch a movie for a bit. Jamie, without any prompting asked Connor if he wanted his pillow and blanket and went to get them and set everything up for the bunny to get comfy.

Turns out it was strep throat, so while antibiotics have him feeling much better already, he had to stay at home today per school rules. Ideal really, get to stay home but feel healthy. This was cruel for Jamie who had to deal with the usual case of the Mondays while watching a chipper Connor stay home. But he didn't hold it against him. When Sarah picked him up the first thing he asked was how Connor was. Then she asked him how his day was and he said "Lonely. I missed Connor. When I went to lunch I thought 'Ooo, I can see Connor. But then I realized he wasn't there."

Not saying he does it all the time, but he can be a sweet brother.

The pattern holds

Jamie did it again. For the past 2 years we've been wanting to get Jamie riding a bike and just gotten nowhere with it. Wouldn't really try. Lately, however, a few things have changed. For one, ee has been very into his scooter. Sarah was just reflecting on how different he seems from the timid toddler we knew him as. He goes zipping around on the scooter fearlessly going down slopes (that's all we have in Houston, no hills) and practicing tricks. So he's been more comfy on wheels and this has led to a desire for a skateboard. We said not until you can ride a bike, so that was extra motivation. We also have some friends whose 4-year-old can ride a bike so that was some motivation.

So, being Jamie, he just up and rode a bike one day. I think it was Sunday. Up until then he could pedal a couple of times and then put his feet down. Then that day he told me to come out and see how far he could go and I watched him pedal down the driveway as if it was no problem. I don't think he even realized it, until I told him could now ride a bike.

He's a bunny and he knows it

Connor has taken to a kind of graffiti art lately. He finds bits of paper and secretly writes short words or phrases. Every so often I come across a piece of paper in my office at work with "I do not understand!!!" scrawled across it, in his unmistakable hand. Here was his attack on the shopping list: