Rylee graduated from preschool. This is Jackson's last week as a second grader, and Ariel has begun a new semester and internship at NYU.
The weekend Durango trip may be the highlight of our summer as far as vacations go.
I'm going to prepare some photos and attach them here.
Talked to Mom & Dad yesterday. They are back from Hawaii and they sounded very happy about their trip. I told them stories about Ry, Jack and Ariel.
Ry is sleeping in the tent in the boys' room and keeps all of his baseball uniforms ready to change into. There's a photo of that. Now he's also adopted Jack's cub scout hat and bandana from his Wolf year and is collecting rollie-pollies. Jackson is now a Bear in Cub Scouts. We will miss a fishing trip with the den, as that is the same weekend as the trip to Durango.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
May already
School is almost out for the boys and little league ends next week, too. Ry will be able to go to kindergarten at Jack's school next year. Jackson had a very successful year at school and appears to know just about everyone there, adults and children alike. Cub Scouts has ended except for a graduation this weekend, where Jackson will move up to Bears. There's camp possibilities for the summer, and there was some talk of a trail clean-up project and a fishing trip with his den. There's also talk of Jackson on swim team this summer at the gym. (I'd love to get Rylee involved, too, but he's too young. Maybe the solution is to take both boys to the daily early morning workouts and me and Ry will swim and watch while Jackson works out and then see how that goes.) Rylee is excited about his birthday coming up and has very modest ideas about how to celebrate and what he wants. We are planning to go to Durango for Father's Day weekend (I wonder if Dad & Mom would want to join us there somehow.) And Ry thinks that's for his birthday even though it's about two weeks afterwards.
Father's Day in Durango involves camping at a very comfortable campground just north of Durango. Campsites are on grass, very cheap, and the grounds include showers and a pool. A walk to the Animas River and maybe some fishing. A short drive into town. We've done it a few times before with Elley & Don & Nicholas & Lauren, who bring their pop-up to an adjoining site. And we go into town for Thomas the Train at the old depot and a lunch usually. This year Dorie & Pete & Brendon & Jordan may join us in Papa's small RV. Maybe two nights. We have our big tent and all the camping gear, which fills up the Dodge Durango. I just pulled out the tent Ariel and I used to use for backpacking and we'll bring that along, too, for the boys and their cousins. Set up chairs under the shade to watch the narrow gauge trains go by and wave to the passengers. Set up a kitchen outside. Maybe grill something good in the evening and make big breakfasts in the morning. I'm sure we'll bring bicycles, too, and maybe some baseball stuff to play in the grass. I'm looking forward to it.
Jackson has been playing on the Rockies at the machine pitch II level. All of a sudden, the boys are looking like real ballplayers. Jackson's skills are right there and he really enjoys it. He makes the big plays under pressure, although I don't see him pressured at all. Ry wants to practice and play all the time. He's on the Dodgers, playing TBall. Even though he will only be 5 next season, he's decided he doesn't want to play TBall again and wants to move up to the machine pitch I level, which is for 6 and 7 year olds. His skills are good, though, and he probably will belong in the next level. He is amazing to watch. He is able to cross his glove in all directions. At the last game, the league double-booked the Saturday morning TBall game and we ended up playing in the "sandlot". Ry loved it. From the pitcher's position, he fielded hit after hit, turned, took the ball out of his glove and threw without hesitation directly to first base. Not wild throws, either, each was thrown to be caught. When he didn't scoop a fast-hit ball in his glove, he managed to block it, juggle it, and still make a quick play. He really wants to play catcher next year.
Jackson is so bright. He recently downloaded Sketchup so he can design 3D renderings of his ideal homes. We looked a lot at a professional architecture software program online, ran through all the tutorials, that he really really wanted, but of course we're talking about a pretty sophisticated program that's a few thousand dollars. Sketchup seems tame to him, but I don't think he's really learned how to use it yet or explore all of its possibilities. Architecture seems like a real interest for him.
Ry is learning to read and write a little on his own and spends a lot of time building things out of legos and then playing, whenever he's not playing baseball. Often he'll just throw the ball against a building so he can play catch with himself. He loves to tell jokes and he has a new friend, Anna, next door, he likes to visit.
Father's Day in Durango involves camping at a very comfortable campground just north of Durango. Campsites are on grass, very cheap, and the grounds include showers and a pool. A walk to the Animas River and maybe some fishing. A short drive into town. We've done it a few times before with Elley & Don & Nicholas & Lauren, who bring their pop-up to an adjoining site. And we go into town for Thomas the Train at the old depot and a lunch usually. This year Dorie & Pete & Brendon & Jordan may join us in Papa's small RV. Maybe two nights. We have our big tent and all the camping gear, which fills up the Dodge Durango. I just pulled out the tent Ariel and I used to use for backpacking and we'll bring that along, too, for the boys and their cousins. Set up chairs under the shade to watch the narrow gauge trains go by and wave to the passengers. Set up a kitchen outside. Maybe grill something good in the evening and make big breakfasts in the morning. I'm sure we'll bring bicycles, too, and maybe some baseball stuff to play in the grass. I'm looking forward to it.
Jackson has been playing on the Rockies at the machine pitch II level. All of a sudden, the boys are looking like real ballplayers. Jackson's skills are right there and he really enjoys it. He makes the big plays under pressure, although I don't see him pressured at all. Ry wants to practice and play all the time. He's on the Dodgers, playing TBall. Even though he will only be 5 next season, he's decided he doesn't want to play TBall again and wants to move up to the machine pitch I level, which is for 6 and 7 year olds. His skills are good, though, and he probably will belong in the next level. He is amazing to watch. He is able to cross his glove in all directions. At the last game, the league double-booked the Saturday morning TBall game and we ended up playing in the "sandlot". Ry loved it. From the pitcher's position, he fielded hit after hit, turned, took the ball out of his glove and threw without hesitation directly to first base. Not wild throws, either, each was thrown to be caught. When he didn't scoop a fast-hit ball in his glove, he managed to block it, juggle it, and still make a quick play. He really wants to play catcher next year.
Jackson is so bright. He recently downloaded Sketchup so he can design 3D renderings of his ideal homes. We looked a lot at a professional architecture software program online, ran through all the tutorials, that he really really wanted, but of course we're talking about a pretty sophisticated program that's a few thousand dollars. Sketchup seems tame to him, but I don't think he's really learned how to use it yet or explore all of its possibilities. Architecture seems like a real interest for him.
Ry is learning to read and write a little on his own and spends a lot of time building things out of legos and then playing, whenever he's not playing baseball. Often he'll just throw the ball against a building so he can play catch with himself. He loves to tell jokes and he has a new friend, Anna, next door, he likes to visit.
Monday, April 19, 2010
weekend
Something both boys did this weekend I wanted to report on, but this morning I don't really recall. Ry's back into wearing his baseball uniforms most of time, with frequent changes. He wore his St. Michael's crab boy shirt all weekend, too.
Ry wants to play all the time, sometimes in catcher gear (even though there's no catcher in TBall), sometimes batting, sometimes catching. He' been tossing the ball on the side of the house and catching it off the wall. One of his favorite teams is now the Cardinals, because he has a baseball card with a Cardinals player. He's also learning the names of cities (and states) who have teams.
Jackson spends time on the internet, mostly apps or Disney.com or YouTube, as I reported a few days ago. He watches for Ariel to appear on Talk or Skype, and reports she hasn't been on for a week. I enjoy playing catch with him, something he didn't do a lot of until Rylee showed an interest. They even play together. We had a great game of chess. He's a very clever player and sees the board quite well.
They both had games on Saturday, and they both did well. Jackson had some good hits and played good defense. The play is much more sophisticated this year. Ry is showing some advanced talent at TBall with fielding, throwing and hitting. Based on our recent games of catch, in which he consistently catches the ball with his glove up, I'm anxious to see how he does in the next few games. The team batting cage practices are helping Jackson, and we've got to find his "magic" batting glove. We took in an Isotopes game on Saturday night, courtesy of a friend who had extra suite tickets. Sunday was a day at the pool. It felt like summer, but less crowded. Some of Jack's friends from cub scouts were there, so that was fun, too. I made some tri tips I had marinated and froze, and we watched Home Alone 3 for the nteenth time. (One of Jack's favorites.)
It rained off and on this weekend. We spent about an hour cleaning up the playground at Ry's preschool.
I got my domain fixed up so we can share a private webpage for a shared calendar, etc. and Jackson can have a place to publish web pages. I can also create email users and addresses at the domain name, and I've begun to develop that, too. (It might have had more success a couple of years ago, but we'll see where it goes.)
Ry wants to play all the time, sometimes in catcher gear (even though there's no catcher in TBall), sometimes batting, sometimes catching. He' been tossing the ball on the side of the house and catching it off the wall. One of his favorite teams is now the Cardinals, because he has a baseball card with a Cardinals player. He's also learning the names of cities (and states) who have teams.
Jackson spends time on the internet, mostly apps or Disney.com or YouTube, as I reported a few days ago. He watches for Ariel to appear on Talk or Skype, and reports she hasn't been on for a week. I enjoy playing catch with him, something he didn't do a lot of until Rylee showed an interest. They even play together. We had a great game of chess. He's a very clever player and sees the board quite well.
They both had games on Saturday, and they both did well. Jackson had some good hits and played good defense. The play is much more sophisticated this year. Ry is showing some advanced talent at TBall with fielding, throwing and hitting. Based on our recent games of catch, in which he consistently catches the ball with his glove up, I'm anxious to see how he does in the next few games. The team batting cage practices are helping Jackson, and we've got to find his "magic" batting glove. We took in an Isotopes game on Saturday night, courtesy of a friend who had extra suite tickets. Sunday was a day at the pool. It felt like summer, but less crowded. Some of Jack's friends from cub scouts were there, so that was fun, too. I made some tri tips I had marinated and froze, and we watched Home Alone 3 for the nteenth time. (One of Jack's favorites.)
It rained off and on this weekend. We spent about an hour cleaning up the playground at Ry's preschool.
I got my domain fixed up so we can share a private webpage for a shared calendar, etc. and Jackson can have a place to publish web pages. I can also create email users and addresses at the domain name, and I've begun to develop that, too. (It might have had more success a couple of years ago, but we'll see where it goes.)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
collections
Ry is clever about the things he's interested in. I appreciate how he organizes. When it's legos or bakugans, he will find, on his own, an empty bin so he can put them all together and then he'll find a special place to put the bin. He constantly goes through his stuff, stacking the cards together or placing the lego creations in a row to gaze upon and consider. Baseball is the big thing now. For a week, he had his uniform all laid out for his first game. Then when we bought new cleats, he folded everything and put it all in the shoe box. Two days ago, he found a pail and he filled it with all the baseballs we have so he could take it wherever he went. When he's not using them, the pail goes in the same spot in the garage, next to where the bats and other sports gear are stored. (He's the only one who gets that the bags and bins in that corner of the garage are just for sports gear.) Last night he found an unused backpack and put his batting helmet, fielder's glove, batting gloves, and a ball inside and put his TBall bat in the water bottle holder on the side. At yesterday's game, he got a pack of baseball trading cards and now he's absolutely fascinated by them. He likes to figure out what team the player is on, his position, and, of course, what he's wearing. I said we'd get more cards. He's a character.
Speaking of characters, Jackson had a good year in cub scouts and is already up to speed in the minor machine pitch II league. His head is in the game and he's excited. I always say Jack enjoys the social aspect of sports, but when he's playing he's energetic and competitive. Tonight's his last religion class at the Catholic church, and cub scouts will also wind down for the summer. I just fixed some applications and mail for my internet domain and, of course, Jackson is the first to start exploring it. I'm glad. I suspect he will be publishing some great internet stuff soon. He and Ariel have been videochatting, and now he's got me on Skype. Cyndi looks to him for all her computer programming needs. YouTube is replacing tv. Besides Phineas & Ferb episodes, the boys watch homemade videos of domino setups being toppled, often very elaborate, often made by a child, often revealing pictures, often set up like a Rube Goldberg machine. Other popular videos feature Lego Star Wars figures with the child's dialogue acting out scenes. In fact, Jackson has made some videos like these already, on the handy Flip camera, along with some interviews he's recorded.
Chris is visiting Ariel. I talked briefly with her. She was working hard as usual. Chris was going to a climbing gym and then they were going to meet in Manhattan via subway for dinner and then a talk & social gathering with folks from Science Friday. That just sounded cool, I thought. Ariel is quite excited that Terra is expecting.
Cyndi and I were just talking about the baseball season. It ends by Memorial Day. Then it looks like it'll be swim team for the summer, soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter. A second soccer season begins in the early spring, and then baseball again. This year I'm not coaching in any official capacity, but I've been out there for Ry's TBall, prepping the field, getting the batters on deck, coaching first, coaching in the field. Pretty basic stuff. Fun to watch. Ry's got an arm, by the way.
Got to go pick up Jack.
Speaking of characters, Jackson had a good year in cub scouts and is already up to speed in the minor machine pitch II league. His head is in the game and he's excited. I always say Jack enjoys the social aspect of sports, but when he's playing he's energetic and competitive. Tonight's his last religion class at the Catholic church, and cub scouts will also wind down for the summer. I just fixed some applications and mail for my internet domain and, of course, Jackson is the first to start exploring it. I'm glad. I suspect he will be publishing some great internet stuff soon. He and Ariel have been videochatting, and now he's got me on Skype. Cyndi looks to him for all her computer programming needs. YouTube is replacing tv. Besides Phineas & Ferb episodes, the boys watch homemade videos of domino setups being toppled, often very elaborate, often made by a child, often revealing pictures, often set up like a Rube Goldberg machine. Other popular videos feature Lego Star Wars figures with the child's dialogue acting out scenes. In fact, Jackson has made some videos like these already, on the handy Flip camera, along with some interviews he's recorded.
Chris is visiting Ariel. I talked briefly with her. She was working hard as usual. Chris was going to a climbing gym and then they were going to meet in Manhattan via subway for dinner and then a talk & social gathering with folks from Science Friday. That just sounded cool, I thought. Ariel is quite excited that Terra is expecting.
Cyndi and I were just talking about the baseball season. It ends by Memorial Day. Then it looks like it'll be swim team for the summer, soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter. A second soccer season begins in the early spring, and then baseball again. This year I'm not coaching in any official capacity, but I've been out there for Ry's TBall, prepping the field, getting the batters on deck, coaching first, coaching in the field. Pretty basic stuff. Fun to watch. Ry's got an arm, by the way.
Got to go pick up Jack.
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