Old Guys Rule

I parked the car at the ocean. The dude at the parking lot had a shirt that had on it "Old Guys Rule".

I told him if old guys rule then I am a King. He smiled and said that we're all kings.

Nothing like beach philolosphers.

The Tractor and the Man

Every farm that we go to has an abandoned tractor that children love to play on.  Forget about the kids, Grampy wants to play on all of these neat gadgets.  Ethan climbs on the tractor and starts making all of these loud engine noises.  He turns the wheel and slaps the gears.  It is neat to watch him act out his imagination.  It makes me wish that I had an imagination that is as creative as a child.

Never Grow UP

We should never grow old...We should never grow up...We should always appreciate the things that are around us and discover what joys they can bring us.

 

Ethan tried walking up the slide, he almost made it to the top.  It didn't matter that he didn't succeed.  He shrugged it off and went on to something else.  Adults sometimes forget about moving on and they try to hold on to failures.  I am learning so much.

Airtime

It just does something to you to see children with happy smiling faces. Their happy faces and their laughter will lift your spirits and you can't help but laughing and smiling along with them.

I wonder if anyone can be depressed who is around children that are playing, having fun and laughing.

Day on the Farm

There is so much to do at Davis Farm.  There are the farm animals, the splash park, hay rides, pony rides, learning centers, and playgounds that you can only appreciate with a child's imagination. 

Janelle on the Farm

Janelle is enjoying the day at the farm.  She is alway the happiest when mom is around!

Sign Language

He wears Nike pants and Thomas the Train shoes. After crossing the finish line he takes a victory walk and waves to the crowd. Buddy is fooled by the outstretched arm. He thinks that something has been thrown for him to retrieve and he can't find anything. Buddy is running around the yard, checking in the bushes. He stops every other second to look at Ethan to make sure that his arm is still extended.

Ethan picks up on this non-verbal communication. He sees that if he lowers his hand, that Buddy will come to him. And if he raises an empty hand, then Buddy will look for a ball that he never saw thrown.

The communication process is truely amazing, and words are such a small part of how we communicate. Our words, body language, facial expressions, hand gestures and the interest that we have shown in the past, all contribute to a very complicated communication process for a child to learn.

Chicks

Ethan got to see and touch, a one week old chick. Ethan pretended that he wasn't interested, which made the pretty girl with the baby chick try all the harder for him to touch the baby chick.

Grampy was observing Ethan's moves as he once again showed me how he is able to have women fight for his attention.

Wet and Dry

What do you do when you think that you are finished playing in the water? You ask to be dried. And then you see the water and you want to both play in the water and also be dry?

Ethan has a solution that he is going to market to Nike. It is a drag and travel hoodie towel.

Trickle Down Theory

Ethan is very observant and he intently studies things so he can understand how they work. He discovered that if you place sand on the top, that it will trickle down to the other levels below.

I reminded him that this is what happens when he throws sand at Grampy, it trickles down to his feet.

He reminded me that it is the same principle as the diaper trickle down theory.

Don't Blink

David turned 31. It is his birthday, yet I am the one feeling older. I am looking at my son and his son. I don't know where the time has gone. It seems like yesterday that he was a little boy. In the time it took to blink, he is all grown up with his own son. You can't do it over, you can't relive it, you just have to live it. Try to create the memories that others will remember and that you will cherish.

And as the song says, "Don't Blink".

Nothing

Nothing. The absense of anything! Nothing at all!!

The vet found no cancer in Buddy! My world got a lot brighter knowing that Buddy was okay. I received encouragement from so many people who took the time to call, write and pray for Buddy.

I am very fortunate to have so many people that care and who show it.

Thank You!

Waterworld

You can sit on the beach and play in the sand. You can also play in the water. But if you want to combine the two, you may want to do what Ethan did. Just sit down in the water and play with the sand and the stones.

If you run your hand over the sand, you can create a sand storm in the water and watch the sand swirl around and be carried away by the waves. This was fascinating and had to be repeated many times. I got bored and splashed him with water. He responded by jumping up and we had a fun splash fight.

It is nice to have someone my age to play with.

Footprints

Footprints show us where we have been. If we walk forward, our footprints are always behind us.

However, if you walk backwards like Ethan did, then your footprints are in front of you and you can watch as you create your footprints. When he walked backwards and saw his feet create "prints", he stopped, and then walked very slowly so he could witness how these mysterious prints appear in the sand. The slower he walked, the more he could witness their being created, but when he went so slow that he stopped, his footprints stopped being created. He bent down to look under his feet to see what happened to his footprints.

He learned that footprints are only created as we walk, when we stand still, they stop being made. This was a learning experience that was hard to explain. There was an exception to the rule of no footprints being created when you aren't walking, which was Grampy.

Grampy weighs so much that when he stands in the sand, he sinks into it and makes a sand pit. Some of us can stand still and still make an impression.

Table Walk

Eric has grown so much in the past year. He can do the table walk. That is where you stand up, wobble a little, get some confidence, and then stand up straight.

When you do all of that you smile at your success and share your accomplishment with those around you.

Buen Giorno

Eric has this great safety net that looks like a hand.

Wouldn't it be nice if adults could have safety nets?

Three Birthdays And A Pizza

Faith, David and Jonathan all have birthdays in August.

We celebrated with pizza, but had cake with candles to blow out.

The blessing of life is a wonderful gift.

Buddy

About a week ago, Buddy was sprayed in the face by a skunk. A few days ago, he developed a dry, hacking cough. I thought it might be a reaction to a throat irritant or airborne bacteria from the skunk. So I took Buddy to the vet, expecting to get some medicine.

I wasn't prepared when they discovered a lump in his lymph glands that was placing pressure on his throat. I was stunned when they used the cancer word.

I don't know how this will all end. Buddy still takes me on long walks. I am always amazed that whereever I am and whatever I am doing, that he wants to be there and be included.

After this news, Buddy took me on another walk. Did you know that dogs can say I Love You without even speaking.

Anticipation

The adults will tell you to be patient and wait. But how can anybody wait who has tasted spice cake that mom has made!

So you will put on your best manners and do anything the adults ask you to do. No one has ever seen such perfect bahavior. And in the end you will have your cake and you will eat it too.

The Letter G

Ethan has discovered drawing and writing in the sand. Sticks that lie on the beach are really paint brushes or writing instruments.

Ethan told me that this is the letter "G". I think that he is becomming a man of letters.

Summer Olympics

We have all been inspired by the swiming competition at the summer olympics.

Ethan has his tightest speedos on as he prepares for his dive.

His dive consists of bending over and looking into the water for fish and stones.

My Space

On the web, my space exists in cyberspace. But at the lake, my space is real. A young man can throw a ball and run after it. He can write in the sand and bury Grampy in it, or he can play in the water.

This is his time and his space.

My Right Foot

It all started with shovels. We would each dig and then look at the other. Then, while one was digging the other one would fling sand at them and scream. Then it came to burying toes and feet.

I have no idea where he gets such behavior from.

Sunblock

Ethan found the perfect sunblock solution. With this big bad hat, no harmful UV rays can get to any part of his body.

This is the one solution that provides sunblock for the entire body!

Shockwave

It is a summer day and the water is freezing cold. Eric puts his toe in the water and then suddenly stops. He wasn't expecting such coldness. But he kept on going and had fun playing with Dad.

Nothing can compare with the laughter of a child and their sounds of happiness!

The Sandman

What is there about sand, shovels, trucks and cranes that have an irresitable attraction to little boys?

They dig up the sand, haul it away, dump it and return to dig up some more.

Grampy caught on to this routine and found some time to sit in a chair and watch Ethan!

Grammy and Janelle

Grammy is enjoying holding Janelle and playing with her.

These are very special moments and Grammy is treasuring them.

The Abused Grampy

It was a simple request. Faith was in the kitchen. I was asked to put Ethan's pants on.

Some things are not to be taken literally.

Two Minute Sandcastle

Ethan has discovered how to make the two minute sandcastle. You turn the pail upside down on the beach sand. Then you use your feet to beat out a sandcastle.

The next time I hear of someone "Kicking The Bucket", I'll probably think of sandcastles.

Ice Cream

Ice cream may be served in a dish or in a cone, but it is always eaten off of your shirt.

When your ice cream falls on your shirt, you take your spoon, and starting at the bottom of your shirt, you slide your spoon up your shirt.

This simple process assures the complete re-cycling of the ice cream.

Reflections

The restaurant booth has a dark glass partition between the booths. The edge is the perfect width and length for drag car racing. Ethan is also fascinated with the "boy" in the glass. He stares at his reflection looking back at him.

The most amazing thing happened, his reflection does everything that he does! And at the same time!

Birth Day

People in many cultures celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth.

In our work culture, we celebrate with Oreo chocolate cake. Michelle was being honored on the second day of her birthday celebration.

I think that the celebrations will continue thru the end of the week. We need excuses for having chocolate.

Easy Install

I got a new wi-fi router that was advertised as an easy install. It was anything but easy. I installed it but couldn't sign on. I had to call in the big guns. Jonathan discovered that the security settings had changed my password into hexa-decimal code.

Who can remember hexa-decimal code? Turns out that Jonathan can. He has several memorized. The desk is a battlefield of manuals, cables and cd's. This was a very difficult install, but the computer doctor got it all done the right way!

Pizza Delivery

While we were at the Cape, we had a great pizza delivery guy who would bring us the pizza, open it up and eat it for us!

No Love

I am switching Internet providors, so I decided to create a google email account. I logged on to check my email and received this message.

You don't have any mail. Our servers are feeling unloved.

Now I am being insulted by the Internet and cyber space.

Blog This

I took my mother out to dinner and she sits across from me making faces.

I get no respect.

Splinter

It was only a splinter that I asked my mother to remove. She loves her work and she loves to torture me. No matter how old I get, the needle that she uses is still midevil, large, rusty, and nasty. She loves her work!

Blueberry Festival

At the Greenbriar kitchen in Sandwich, they are having a blueberry festival. The volunteers are cooking up a storm!

This is the greenbriar patch that inspired Thorton Burgess to write his children classics about Peter Rabbit.

Mixed Jam

Here at the Greenbriar kitchen this stove is cooking blueberries and rhubarb. When mixed together, they produce a wonderful jam.

Jamin

At the Greenbriar kitchen in Sandwich,MA, they are making blueberry jam. They do it the old fashioned way, they do it by hand. Here, the blueberries are being strained by hand. Everything is prepared with care and pride. You should try these jams!

Line Up Your Putt

How does a two year old line up his putt? If you are Ethan, you align your feet to the blade of your putter. Then you use your shadow. Pretty smart young man!

Passing It Down

From generation to generation, the game of golf is handed down and passed along. Ethan is only two, but he had fun hitting the ball and then chasing it. Grampy spends more time chasing than hitting.

Hole In One

No matter how it happens...No matter how old you are...When you see that ball drop in the hole and you hear it drop, something happens in you and you want to celebrate. Tiger may have his fist pump, but Ethan has the famous angry pelican dance.

Fun

Fun is a three letter word that means "fudge under nuts". This kind of fun just comes naturally. Ethan really likes ice cream!

Computing

Ethan is learning all about computers, They seem to come naturally to him.

He knows how to insert paperclips into drive slots!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Janelle is enjoying the Cape and the sunshine.  I love the bib with the "Let's focus on Me"! I am going to start a business that sell bibs to adults. There really is a need for them!