First Days of School

Both the boys and I are back to school now! Yikes! The first day arrived super quickly, and I am not sure how prepared any of us were. The boys spent the week at art camp before school began. They have gone for several years now, and it's great because the camp is essentially an artist's workshop. The week has a purpose and techniques they focus on, and works they produce. This year, the focus was tessellation.

At the end of the week, the kids have an art show where they explain to you the different projects they worked on and what they were trying to do. It's quite intellectual and interesting, I think, and the boys like it and are proud of their work.

Fresh off their visit to the Burtons and the accompanying Nerf Wars, the boys are infatuated with the idea of buying Nerf guns, too. So, they did some accounting to start thinking about what they can afford. In addition, we are working out the details of beginning to give them allowances. So, this is just to warn you of incoming darts perhaps the next time you see them.

I had a big talk with them about the futility of competing to have the most money,
but I am pretty sure it fell on relatively deaf ears.

Another pre-school beginning activity was the Roundhouse Theater Gala. Maceo decided to go rather than attend a 6 year old's birthday party at the pool. I wondered how he would like it if he were chosen to take part in the acting workshop, and I thought he might be cowed, but it appears otherwise!

Perhaps this is from some weird production of "Harry Potter"?

Getting into character as a travelling wizard guy.

 Then came the day! Maceo is starting 3rd grade and Cassius is ready for 1st! This posed picture was much better than the picture we got at Yu Ying upon drop off.

Look at those unsuspecting happy faces!

Maceo is somewhat a good poser on first days.

With his best friend Dean.

Cassius makes interesting posing choices.

The third day of school, as I drove to pick the boys up, I received a phone call that Maceo, while playing tag in the school lunchroom, had cut his knee on a corner and would need stitches. So, off we went to the ER. He did great, and Cassius was pretty great, too.

"Is that...is that a video game over there?"

"It is! It is a video game over there!"

Cassius was a little joker to help Maceo feel better.

In the end, he received 2 subdural stitches and 9 surface stitches. The next day, he was more embarrassed about the extra attention he was going to receive at school than bothered by the wound, but I sent him off to school anyway. At least he gets to use the elevator, so that should be exciting.

Cassius Turns 6, Continued

One of Cassius's birthday presents was a trip to Dave and Buster's. Both boys have been quite entranced by video games for a while now (I know, what a surprise!), but I am not about to buy them a video console and lose them to the screen! So, on a Sunday, off we went, with Maceo along for the ride. Luckily, they prefer the car games to the shooter games, and so they spent most of their money on those types of things.

Maceo beat me three times in a row on this car racing game. Booo!

Mace and Cassius competed in this weird Olympics game,
but they had a hard time comprehending how to play.

Getting ready for the 100 yard dash!

The place is dark and cave-like, seemingly with only neon lights to illustrate the rooms. On exiting, I felt slightly nauseated. It was hard to know how much time had passed, and the sun was a shock to the system. But the boys loved it, of course. So, undoubtedly, there will be other trips there sometime in my future. Grrr.

The End of the Idyll

Sadly, the week in Vermont drew to a close. We had a few last adventures, and they were also terrific! First, the boys and I went to Battery Park one day to play, look out over the lake, and have lunch.

A little music for the masses at Battery Park.

Then, we went to meet the McMurrers as they finished up their tour of UVM. My boys, Bridget, Seamus, and I went to the legendary UVM Dairy Bar where the ice cream has so much fat in it that it can't be sold on the commercial market!

Maceo is impressively clean after devouring his ice cream.

The boys enjoyed more games of Nerf football on the street throughout the week.

Thursday night, we went to looooong time friend Anemie's house way out in the woods in Charlotte. It was lovely, and Maceo learned that he liked the squash soup and the country rice! And the hearty bread Anemie had made. And we all really liked exploring the amazing post and beam house they've built.

Anemie pulled out some puzzles and games for the two boys.

Deep discussions and homemade bread go well together.

The boys and I had one more outing: to the ECHO Aquarium! Their favorite exhibit was the 50 States room where each state had a fun activity as its signature. So, herer's Maceo in Oregon, I think, kayaking on open water.

Cassius is trying to balance metal balls on the flat as a board map of Kansas.

Cassius played this old timey Coney Island type game for nearly 20 minutes.

Upstairs, they made marine life buttons,, played with sand, and generally really enjoyed themselves.

We wanted to break the drive south in two to make it easier on us, so we went to visit cousins in Chatham, NJ. (We waved as we passed Dover, Nene!) We arrived at the country club where my cousin Allan and his family are members. That night, there was a Nerf gun battle organized for all the little kids, and Allan and Beth had signed Cash and Maceo up! So, they got some free gear, and they happily shot other kids with Nerf bullets all night. We also got a yummy dinner there. Maceo ate three (3!) sliders in addition to a bunch of other food. Cassius, you ask? Hmmmm. I think you know that answer.

These guys are stone cold killers.

Allan and I are about as gray as we used to be, maybe.

In the morning, Johnny, who is 7, and the boys watched some cartoons
and contributed running commentary.

All in all, it was such a lovely trip, and on the way home, as we discussed high points, the boys kept bringing up this activity or that moment of the vacation. I can't wait to get back to Vermont with them, especially if it's summertime! Winter can wait, however.

Scenes from the House

We were lucky to be able to stay in friends' housing while in Vermont--David and Elise were off at their North Hero summer house, so we invaded their home on a quiet one block street in South Burlington.

Activities around and in the house varied by ages, but they were plentiful and lots of fun!

Seamus may have met his match in Words on the Street!

Cassius dubbed this cat Mr. Friendly. Here is a on-our-way-to-bed good night.

The boys are suddenly WAY into nerf football and wiffle ball. Many hours were spent either playing wiffle ball at the neighbor kids' house (Stella and Rio) or throwing the nerf in the street. They soon learned to yell, "Car" when a car appeared at either end of the block, though Cassius would add in the name of the make, a sign of his fascination with cars.
"Car! That's a Honda. Car! That's a Toyota."

Of COURSE, we played Sleeping Queens!It appears that Cassius's explanation of the rules
did not suffice for Grandpa Jim.

The boys and I slept in a tent in the backyard. Cassius was great about just going to bed in the tent, but Maceo started in the living room, and then he wanted to be transferred later. Here, we see Cassius fell asleep while reading Calving and Hobbes with his head light on.

The boys making Dino Gummies using a kit Maurice and Mamy got Cash for his birthday.

Ben & Jerry's and Huntington Gorge!

I've been told that if you click on the title of the blog post in the email, you'll be taken to the actual blog where you can watch the embedded videos! Just a hint!

Today, after visiting an Urgent Care Clinic to get Maceo's chronic cough checked out,

Luke! I'm your father!

we all piled into the cars to visit several wonderful sites. The first was the Old Round Church in Richmond, a historical landmark where the Devil can't corner you as there are no corners! From there, we went to the Ben and Jerry's Factory for a tour and a taste and a picnic outside.

Millionaires in the making.

Maceo did not appear because he was busy on the playground.

We got free samples of Strawberry Cheesecake, and then went to some picnic tables. Before we left, the boys got a single cone: Maceo got Salted Caramel Blondie, and Cassius got Chocolate Fudge Brownie. They were both quite happy with their choices. From there, we meant to go to a waterfall in Stowe, but I mistakenly went to the previous spot in the GPS app. However, the happy accident was that the previous spot was Huntington Gorge, a beautiful gorge that I wanted to visit anyway.  The boys were excited to do some swimming and jumping, and we ended up staying there for over an hour of fun times.

Woohoo! Gorge swimming!

Watching daredevils do the crazy jumps.

QCP and Red Rocks

We visited our old house in Queen City Park. Suzie, the woman who bought it from Dad, was home and gave us a lovely tour of the house, the back yard (complete with tiny house! I want!), the garden, and the trail in the woods behind the house. It was amazing to be back in the house, and most if not all of her decisions were improvements, though I loved the spiral staircase she removed. Then we walked the neighborhood and said hi to a few folks. There is some serious gentrification in what used to be kind of a blue collar and dirty neighborhood. It's impressive to see.

The boys and I biked off to Ledges, some cliffs that I have always gone to for diving into the lake. We had visited last summer, and Cassius especially was excited to return.




After a while, we biked over to a fancy nearby Whole Foods-type grocery for a snack--a small bag of pretzels, two bottles of apple cider, and two boxes of five maple sugar candies for $18. Gah. Then we biked home and had an excellent quiet time! 

Lake Monsters

We started our trip to Vermont with a quick detour: the dentist's office! Cassius needed to get his teeth checked out for his annual checkup. We spent some time in the waiting room making our own mazes on business cards while we waited.

Verrrrrrrry concentrated.

Watching me try to complete his maze.

From DC, we drove to Philadelphia to visit our friends Stefan and Liz. Unfortunately, their three kids were off at camp, but it was still lovely to see them and to spend the night. The boys enjoy their three legged cat, and Cassius tends to regale them with different stories, most beginning with, "Can I tell you something?"

Petting the three legged cat.

Cassius waiting for his opening to tell a story.

The main reason for going to Philadelphia was to break up the long drive to Burlington, Vermont. In the morning, we drove to Amherst to meet up with the McMurrers to drive to Burlington. From there, it was a pretty quick jaunt to our final destination, and we had Bridget in the car to help add a fresh new dimension to travelling in the car. 

The first night, we ordered pizza from one of the fancy new pizza places in town (Burlington has gentrified quite a bit!) and went to bed. In the morning, the boys and Bridget and I went to nearby Oakledge Park. 

The water was much warmer than I had anticipated. And the lake monsters enjoyed it!

Cassius was a slow learner when it came to slippery moss-covered rocks.

Searching for skipping rocks.

More rock searching. 

Obligatory Lake Monster pose.

The McMurrers brought some birthday presents for Cassius and a present for Maceo.

The center of attention!

The cool alien t-shirt will be worn for years to come!

I know that quiet time and bedtime will be somewhat of a challenge with so many people in the house, but the first try for quiet time went well. Cassius focussed on doing the Rubik's Cube and Maceo read Calvin and Hobbes.

Sunday evening, the big plan was to go to a minor league baseball game--the Vermont Lake Monsters! We got seats all together and we all got free hats! However, the Lake Monsters lost 11-0. 

Showing off our new hats!

After the game, kids were allowed on the field and given a free baseball! So, we played a little pitch and catch in the outfield where the pros play!

Cassius so far has decided to sleep on the floor in Bridget's room, and last night, Maceo and I slept in the tent in the back yard. The first thing he said to me in the morning was, "Did you see the stars last night? They were really pretty!"