Summer Wrap Up, For Tomorrow We Go To School

No summer wrap-up would be complete without explaining the growth I have seen in my youngest, quietest boy. I spend entire afternoons thinking to myself what it is like to be him in our world. Not the world like the planet. But our home and the atmosphere the four of us create. 

He is a special star in our orbiting system of chaos. By him I guide many of my decisions. Because he is not loud and he does not complain I wonder if he suffers. And then sometimes he does something that rocks us back to our heels. 

One such day happened in the blaze of too much sunshine in the middle of the fabulous holiday we call summer break. In fact, it was July and we were enjoying our carefully planned family vacation to one of Colorado's small, beautiful towns. Atop a mountain sits the  Glenwood Springs Adventure Park. My husband researched this trip and this particular day. He was certain that our boys would love the roller coasters, an alpine slide, the zip line, the "swing". 

I was pretty sure that Cooper would, and that Mason and I would sit on the sidelines taking pictures. But I really do try not to control everything. Really. 

We started the morning with all the Amish, who were also visiting the park, on a gondola ride from the base to the top of the mountain. The gondola had Mason grasping for safe ledges to hang on to. I worried that this was a pretty clear sign that he had no interest in riding the roller coaster and began silently to devise plan B.

First, we went on a cave tour. As luck would have it, the cave tour drops tourists out on a ledge looking down into the canyon and at the most terrifying ride of the park. Down below us we could see what the tour guide described as a 210-degree swing on the edge of a cliff that could pull more Gs than most astronauts experience in training. I thought to myself, "Honey bunches of no, this girl ain't got time for that." 

That's exactly when our family started walking toward the swing. Hubby nonchalantly asked, "Who's ready for the swing?" Mason shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'll do it." 

What?!?!!? 

If you could only know the details of the past year. Of the trials. Of the fears. All the crying and failed attempts at courageous feats. 

Not going to lie, I just started crying. I frankly thought it was too much for a child to do. I wouldn't do it. Way too scary. Cooper and Mason marched up to the ride attendant, got themselves strapped in, and off they went. 

Well, after that both boys raced to the roller coaster -- touted as being at higher altitude than any other. A few times on that and they decided it was time for the alpine slide, the zip line, the [insert yawn] laser tag. Everything, they tried everything. 

I learned: today could be the day. We try and we try. We learn a little. We fail a lot. We get beat. Come in second. Whatever. But one day, it is the day. The day we win. The day we can. The day that courage comes to play.

Feats of Strength

We had a fairly big weekend. In terms of living in the suburbs, you could say it was a heavy hardware weekend. The Coop played in the Lacrosse Championships of his league/division/small corner of the world and won. Then the following day he endured the chaos of a kid triathlon. Both adventures earned him a medal. He's kinda a big deal.

What we didn't expect, was to have our Mason recognized, too. Following the lacrosse game it was parent paparazzi everywhere. I got some amazing pictures of Cooper. But what I missed with my lens and must capture here is what Cooper's coach did for Mason. He gave him a medal for his support! Indeed Mason went to every practice and every game. He was Cooper's no. 1 fan. He has his own stick and was Coop's practice partner in the backyard. Coach will never know the significance of this to me. 

After the excitement of the day blew over and we were watching TV, Mason started nonchalantly doing sit ups. Then he moved on to push ups. Before we knew it he was working the tricep-dip on the stairs and holding a wall-sit for an eternity. We sat up, we noticed. Like it was nothing, he lunged past us on the couch and asked if we could think of any hard exercises for him. The night continued on with us thinking of truly difficult feats of strength for Mason. Anything and everything we invented, he tried. If you know Mason, you know this is a thing. I can't help but think he was boosted by his hard-earned hardware. 

Can't wait for high school track when I see that kick!

We All Need Someone

Mom, when you were little did you have an imaginary friend?

Absolutely.

What was his name?

Mr. Fox.

Was he a boy or a girl?

MISTER Fox was a boy.

What did he look like?

I think he was like a fox that walked like a grown up.
So do you have an imaginary friend?

Yes.

What does he look like?

He has like skinny arms and he is yellow.

Like Sponge Bob?

No, like a little fluff ball with crazy eyes.

like The Lorax?

No, that guy has a mustache and my friend just has a really nice smile. He always listens to me.

Science Is Fun

Do you know what makes science fun? Vinegar. 

That's a little known fact. With enough eggs and vinegar you can pull together enough pictures and observation notes to create an excellent science fair project. You can also make your house smell really ... really ... really like a second grader's basketball uniform after it's been worn for both a practice and game on the same weekend without washing it. Also, if you stuff a dirty washcloth in the bottom of a laundry basket and forget about it for 5-7 days, it kinda smells like that, too. Anyway, they don't call it the smell fair.

Should you think the discomfort of preparation for this event was limited to an odiferous acid, let me also describe for you the contents of a birds' nest that we found in our yard and preserved for 8 months. Did you know, for instance, that baby birds actually crap all over the inside of the nest for approximately 30 days? As it turns out, 8 months in a sealed plastic bag turned that little bowl of sticks into a scientific marvel all its own replete with spiders. That my friends IS science.

I myself have never been a presenter or contestant in a science fair. That is why I am so particularly proud of these two. They had to go head-to-head with the judges. No mommies standing in the wings, no daddies helping with answers. Frankly, they really did know the concept of the scientific method and explained their hypothesis and conclusion on their own. The boys did it. They loved it. And they did great.  

I love this picture. Also, did I mention we tried to set fire to eggs? Mason wrote in his notes, "Burned Eggs Stink!" 

Here is Mason explaining his experiment to a friend. Read into his body language anything you want.  You are probably spot on.

The morning of science fair.

All I did was finance the poster boards, binders, folders, picture reprints, about a dozen eggs, two gallons of vinegar, and button-down shirts. Well, as long as we're patting ourselves on the back, I did a pretty good job as Mrs. Moneybags. Where's my medal? 

Best Vacation Ever

Let's face it, our kids have a way of romanticizing family vacations to the point of unbelievability. But it's nice to bask in their superlatives. Our short sojourn to Steamboat Springs was a success, even if we didn't ski the slopes. 

At the close of our long weekend, Mason and I waited patiently in the warm car while Steve and The Coop ran inside to checkout of the condo and grab a donut. Mason murmured, "Sometimes it's hard to say goodbye." 

His voice was so sweet and on the verge of emotional and I asked him why he felt this was true. 

"Because I had so much fun." he explained. I reached back with my Amazonian arms and patted his knee then realized it was the leg that was hurting after a day of sledding and playing rough in the snow so I said, "I'm sorry your leg hurts."

He replied while blinking back tears, "Maybe it's sad to leave, too."


Some pictures from the trip: 

Diary of a Reader

Sometime this past fall The Coop stumbled upon the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. These are insanely popular with the 2nd grade boys. In fact, I believe Cooper's first desire to read them came from wanting to fit in. Whatever it takes to get them reading, is fine by me. After he zipped through the first book his competitive spirit kicked in and he asked for the next one. I complied. Frankly, I bought the entire series right then and there because I had previously never seen him so into reading. What is interesting is what has happened to the cast offs -- the books he finished that he tossed aside, lost under his bed, or just left in a rumpled stack on his nightstand.

Mason picked up the first one on the way to Thanksgiving in Utah. And now he has read them all. I share this not to brag, but to start in on a one-sided conversation on how difficult it is to find captivating, age-appropriate reading material for an advanced reader who is a BOY.

When I realized he how fast he was reading the series, understanding the series, and perhaps comprehending it at a level that even his older brother was not I started to look for other books. First I checked out the Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present. There are some seriously good books on this list. Seriously.

Before you get all judgey, please understand that I'm not suggesting that these books should be written differently. I'm just trying to paint for you the picture of my current challenge: to imagine my sweet, lovely, naive, 6-year-old reading these novels.

A Few Examples with Snide Commentary from a Concerned Mother.

I thought I'd have the greatest amount of luck by going WAY back to a simpler time. You know, a time before school shootings, porn stars, and childhood obesity. I examined 1924's winner: The Dark Frigate. First, I should tell you that I had to look up what a frigate is. So for starters, this book is about an English orphan who signs up to sail across the ocean for Newfoundland to avoid being hanged. Off to a great start, eh? As I read the reviews online I was thinking back to the day when I took my sweet boys to see the pirate exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and there was an actual shin bone from the youngest pirate in history on display. Their faces were pricelessly terrified and gobstopped. Anyway, the orphan joins a group of pirates on their murderous expeditions. Needless to say, I thought bloody battles on the sea were a bit much. Though, the more I think of it, maybe Mason would love it.  

So, I tried books from the 50s. What did Donna Reed let her boys read? I found The Door in the Wall set in plague-ridden London. Ummm... this makes me nervous. Then I find out the main character is basically abandoned while his father is at war and his mother is serving the Queen. He's taken in by a friar who makes him live in a monastery. Enough, that doesn't work for a 6-year-old living in the suburbs.

What about what won the Newbery the year I was Mason's age. That is how I came to read about Jacob Have I Loved. I already knew this was a "girl" book. But maybe. Then I figured out it was about sisters, one of which lives in the shadow of the other and I was like, "Ummmm NO."

In a last ditch effort to find something on the Newbery list I looked at books that had won after Mason was born. One immediately screamed at me, because I have read it and loved it -- The Graveyard Book. Here's the thing, it starts with a toddler surviving the grisly murder of his entire family. Then the boy is raised by ghosts, in a graveyard. It is so good. You should read it. I'm just not sure my 6-year-old should. But I haven't ruled it out.                  

On to the next idea. I also perused genres for "boys" books. Here's a trend, lots of stories of professional athletes (Mason is NOT interested), and strangely just as many stories of boys who were either slaves or fought in wars. Whether you pick up Swords of Steel, Johnny Tremain, Amos Fortune, Free Man, or Rifles for Watie, you are asking to do a lot of explaining when the reader is 6. I'm just saying, until Martin Luther King Jr. day this past month, my 6-year-old didn't even realize there was a time in our history of inequality based on race. (PS -- I know it's still unequal but my children don't.)

Fast forward to the current century and you find books like James Patterson's Middle School books, Rick Riordan's heroes and olympians series, The Captain Underpants mess of books (don't get me started), and 39 Clues. These are all fine. But, I was hoping for something that was redeeming, intellectual, maybe even didactic. Riordan's books are perhaps the closest to what I was hoping for.

What I settled on were a few of my favorites and I'm still wishing there was an American Girl series for boys. He started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Even though Harry is an orphan living with an awful foster family he's about to live in a magical world in a magical school and fly on a broom. So, the fantasy can comfort even if the adventures are intense. It is probably a weak copout to say that being able to shut the book and say, "It's just pretend." is good enough. But for now, it is.

In the meantime I'm going to be reading a lot of youth books to find something that I can safely give this voracious reader. Open to suggestions.

Also, how happy am I that my boys read??!?!?!?

To The Other Side of the World

An account of how one momma drove her two boys 8 hours and 40 minutes toward a turkey dinner:

First I will tell you that my husband had business in Utah earlier in the week, so he flew out and planned for us to join him in a couple of days. The joining him part was my job.

It was also my job to schedule the floor guys for a final coat while we were away and ensure all scheduling of contractors and house checkers was done. (This was futile as it turns out because we came home to find that they had not done anything. I'll rant more about this later.)

4 a.m. 

Go ahead, blink a few more times and read that purported time, again. I woke up at 4 a.m., without an alarm, after sleeping for a full 7 hours. Tylenol P.M. is the bomb. People who know me well will truly be shocked by my waking up and functioning this early in the morning. Hell, people who know me really well will assume this is both a guest blog entry and a guest driver. 

Now that my boys weigh 50 pounds a piece there was not a chance that I would be carrying their slumbering bodies up a flight of stairs, through the door, down the garage steps, out to my death-by-incline driveway and buckling them into car seats. Instead I shook them awake from their camped-out positions on the sofa and ordered them to get dressed and get in the car. 

While they giggled and squealed like it was Christmas morning I loaded two sacks of sewing orders into my car and the last of the bags and coats into the back. Once they loaded up I locked all the doors and said farewell to my little house on the corner. 

4:40 a.m.

Make clandestine delivery to Cutie Petutie's warehouse before hitting the freeway, all the while Mason is chittin' and chattering about our adventure. 

"Mama, is Utah close to the other side of the world?"

"No; it's just on the other side of Wyoming."

"Oh, that's not that close."

A mere moment of silence -- I think just enough for him to take a breath.

"Mama, just a reminder, are you going to set the timers?" This is in reference to the prize timer that I set on long road trips. Basically at timed intervals if my children have played quietly in the backseat and not fought with each other they both earn a prize. Usually a LEGO minifig or theater-sized box of candy. I tell them the interval is 1 hour, but it is actually 1:20. Will this ruin them for life?

"Hey mama, have you ever seen me shiver and fall asleep?"

"Nope. But I would really like to see that."

"Hey mama, I wish you wouldn't have told me we were going on vacation because then I couldn't sleep. Next time just wake me up and then tell me we are leaving right now," suggests Mason.

4:52 a.m.

We are actually on the freeway, now. Mason has momentarily stopped chatting and is humming four measures of "Deck the Halls" over and over again. I haven't had any coffee, yet.

Cooper says, "It's kinda fun to be the only people who are awake because you don't get stuck in traffic." City boy.

"Hey mama," interrupts Mason, "Do you know that when I get woken up by someone I talk a lot?"

4:56 a.m.

"I think I know why I heard someone say, 'Reset the alarm.' on the walkie talkie." This is a reference to our IKEA evacuation earlier this week. But before I can ask why he says:

"Hey mama did you know the moon is the lightest thing at nighttime?

"I think you mean it appears to be the brightest."

"Yeah, that."

4:58 a.m.

Mason asks, "Hey mama I don't remember, did you remember to set the timer?"

"I did."

"OK if we are asleep and we don't wake up for the timer, will you save our prizes for when we wake up?"

5 a.m.

The alarm on my watch goes off. Both kids sit straight up. I attempt to calm them, "Stand down, that's the alarm to wake up. We're just ahead of schedule." 

Cooper resigns himself for waiting another 40 minutes for the prize timer, "I'm going to open my backpack." This is followed by Ooooohs and aaaahs! And an, "Awesome!"" (I hid new coloring books and a Wimpy Kid Diary in there.)

"Say, 'Thank You Mommy'."

Both,"Thank You, Mommy."

5:05 a.m.

"Hey mama have you ever had a song mash up?" asks Mason and before I answer follows with, "I was singing Batman and then all of a sudden I was like singing Black Eyed Peas. And, I didn't notice so then I was singing Put Your Hands Up in The Air." 

5:08 a.m.

Excitedly Cooper gasps, "Look! It's the Broncos' stadium."

Mason dryly responds, "Go Broncos."

5:20 a.m. 

You may think this represents 12 minutes of silence. Don't be fooled.

In fact, after 12 minutes of enthusiastic humming he has stopped and I think Mason actually fell asleep for a second. 

5:33 a.m.

First McDonald's stop/drive through for the day. Among other indulgences I order both a small coffee and a large coffee and neither are intended for Mason. 

5:59 a.m. 

"Mama how do you spell Plymouth?" asks Cooper and I believe this might be the start of our first holiday relevant conversation.

"P-L-Y-M-O-U-T-H."

"Where is it?"

"Hmmmm... I think it's actually a rock on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean right by Massachusetts." And this is where I start to panic because I realize I'm one of the historically illiterate that my idol David McCullough pities.

"Is that where they built their houses?"

"Pretty sure they just docked their ships there. Then they kinda spread out to build their houses in the woods." Oh jeez I'm botching this.

"What happens on the 4th Thursday?"

"That's Thanksgiving." Then I realize I don't actually know FOR SURE if it's always the fourth Thursday or the third Thursday and I wish he would just ask me about Duck Dynasty.

"Why do they call it that?"

"If you count all the Thursdays that happen in November it's the fourth one, so they call it the fourth Thursday. Wait, did you mean, why do they call it Thanksgiving?"

6:16 a.m.

I realized about 4 minutes ago that I forgot to inject Lovenox -- an anticoagulant that I must use on long road trips and flights -- so I start looking for a safe and well-lit gas station. I settle on a dive in Fort Collins just in time for the first prize timer. When we pull up to the pumps Cooper sees a woman filling up her car while smoking. 

He growls, "Get in your car and never come back." 

Mason pleads, "I'm too little to die." 

This gas station only has an outside bathroom that is approximately 26 degrees, so I elect to inject myself in front of my kids in the car. I hate doing this because they get really scared for no other reason than they don't realize not all injections feel like immunizations. So they cry and I hurry and fumble with the sharp in the dark. Super annoying and cause for a little more bruising than usual. 

I fill up the car with gas and ask if anyone wants to use the restroom. Both boys decline.

6:30 a.m. 

We're back on the road, the sun is up and it is 2 degrees warmer. (balmy 28)

6:42 a.m.

Mason, "Whoa, look at the sky!"

Coop, "I need to pee." 

Because 12 minutes ago you didn't?!?!

6:49 a.m.

We pull over at the only gas station I see on 287. We don't need gas, so we rush in the Shell station for a restroom, gum, and another coffee (don't judge). The gas station attendant is so cheerful and nice to everyone in her station. She's simultaneously listening to some old farmer's drama, running a credit card for something like $400 worth of gas, being sweet to my boys, and encouraging me for my long road ahead. Let it be said, I'm thankful for people like her. Sunbeams shined from her face. 

6:56 a.m.

Now that it is light enough to see, we start playing the license plate game. 

Also, in my hand-written notes I wrote something followed by an exclamation point. This is rare. So I suspect this was super funny. But I can't read my handwriting and I was really tired so I don't remember what it said or what happened. That's a bummer. 

Oh wait, I think I pointed out it was 33 degrees! That wasn't worthy of an exclamation point. 

7:16 a.m.

We cross the state line into Wyoming.

7:23 a.m.

Mason begins to experiment with tempo. Which is to say he hums the theme of Harry Potter in a staccato rush of notes and then draws out each note so long I can hardly recognize the song. This experiment isn't appreciated by everyone in the car.

Cooper is chomping on one of the apples I brought. I need to say they are the best tasting, crispiest apples I have ever tasted. I bought them at Target. Best ever.  

My phone says this part of the drive is called Granite Canyon, Wyoming. And I think it also says, "It's freaking cold here, turn around and go home!"

7:42 a.m.

Both boys are reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Silence.

7:46 a.m.

Mason sternly asks, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Color in your Angry Birds coloring book?"

"Naw, I'll just count to 36, sixty times."

7:58 a.m.

I see a huge bald eagle sitting on a fence post! A-MAZ-ING!

8:10 a.m.

Our first Idaho license plate sighting followed by Cooper shouting,"That's where we are going!" 

Uhhhhhhhh.

8:23 a.m.

Prize time, squeals of delight for the mini LEGO batmobiles I found at Target. (Yes, I'm telling you I love Target today.)

8:37 a.m.

We pass Wolcott and my stomach does a little flip. I lecture to the boys, "Do you remember when we had to stop there because the road was closed for a wreck and the gas station was closed because this town is lame and it was super cold because Wyoming has wicked weather and we forgot to bring blankets?"

They both nod yes.

I continue, "The lesson here is that we always take blankets, even if it is warm when we leave."

They both nod yes. 

On second thought maybe they were just looking down at their LEGOs. Either way, I capitalized on my opportunity to teach road trip safety. Yes I did.

9 a.m.

We cross the continental divide and receive a phone call from husband. 

9:26 a.m.

We spot our first international plate -- Ontario. 

9:43 a.m.

Prize time.

10:05 a.m.

We see our first Wisconsin plate and send good thoughts to our very own cheeseheads. Also, I switch to iced coffee. Which is to say that all my hot coffee is now cold and I'm drinking it anyway.

10:17 a.m.

Stop for gas in Rock Springs. The gas station attendant calls me, Hon. She doesn't know me, so I'm not sure why she does this. 

10:32 a.m.

Back on the road after extensive candy aisle contemplation. I also try to fill their garbage cans with all our car trash. In process drop my already chewed gum on my floor mat. I'm mad at myself.

10:48

We pass through the Green River Tunnel and Mason points out a rock formation to us and says, "That looks like a statue of a girl tied up." Has he ever seen a girl tied up?

11:01 a.m.

Mason, "When are we going to be in Idaho?" 

Uhhhhhh.

11:04 a.m.

After an interminably long time of Jazz (the genre, not the basketball team) radio followed by Country radio followed by lots of static stations, we find "I Will Wait for You" by Mumford and Sons and I am cheered knowing that with good music you can make yourself do just about anything. 

Also, the song puts me in such a good mood I declare prize time. 

11:51 a.m.

Cooper sighs, "Are we in Idaho, yet?

Uhhhhhh.

11:56 a.m.

We cross over into Utah. This is met with no reaction from the back seat. 

12:08 p.m.

Mason says, "Mama, when we get there will you play LEGO with me?"

"Of course."

Cooper clarifies, "Yeah, because me and daddy and grandpa and grandma and June are going to play dummy rummy. We've been planning that."

12:14 p.m.

"Look at that mountain, Cooper!" shouts Mason. I almost wreck my car in surprise.

"Oh, that's where vampires live," explains Cooper with no surprise at either Mason's loudness or that vampires might live in the mountains of Utah.

12:19 p.m.

We drive above Echo Lake (actually I don't know which lake it is). Coop starts getting ideas about it's entertainment value, "Can you fish in there?"

"I think."

"Can you survive swimming in there?"

"Not right now!" (it's only 48 degrees)

12:24 p.m.

"Mama are we almost there?" asks Mason

"Yup."

"How many minutes?"

Uhhhhhh.

12:25 p.m.

"Wow!" says Cooper. "Are those sheep!?!??  l love sheep." 

Mason adds, "And then the big bad wolf comes..."

12:39 p.m.

As we get deeper into the canyons that feed into the Wasatch Front the radio signal gets worse and the music gets questionable. 

Cooper says, "Why doesn't Idaho's music sound like ours?"

Uhhhhhh.

12:43 p.m.

With clear disappointment Mason asks, "Hey, why is it so snowy here?"

12:45 p.m.

The first complaints about butt pain.

12:53 p.m.

"I know this!" says Mason with confidence. "I can't believe we finished our trip in one day!"

1:04 p.m.

Oh I missed the exit to my in-laws' house. Now we are lost somewhere on highland drive. 

1:15 p.m.

My kids start talking about people and their ages and I don't really pay attention because I'm lost. But my ears perk up when Cooper says that he thinks I am 99! I correct him and he says, "I think you're as skinny as a grown up should be." Now that's consolation for an old comment. 

1:23 p.m.

After 2 panicked phone calls to husband, license plates from 25 different states and countries,  across 3 states in 8 hours and 40 minutes we find our way to the driveway of our destination. 


Editor's Note: I would like to apologize for periods of time in which  this entry was published without photos and  in draft form, and then with huge formatting issues. I tried to write and post this while traveling with my iPad. Frankly it didn't work very well. If anyone has a mobile app for iPad that they like for blogging, please suggest.