Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Reading Update 6

Coco is now onto the last book in the series, The Deathly Hallows. The kid did slow down a bit but he's still a machine.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Reading Update 5

Coco is done with book 5 and on to The Half Blood Prince. He's really cranking out these books. I think basketball camp might put a crimp into his reading time though. I am very proud of him. He answer all my questions and offers some opinions and thoughts of his own. He's really paying attention to what he is reading.

Magic Tree House

The kids and I started building the requisite childhood tree house this weekend. The kids has picked out a spot with Demi a few weeks ago. Of course it was not where we had discussed even before that, but it will do. If the boys have their way, it will reside in the tree tops of the tallest pines we have. I think it will end up being a comfortable 7 feet off the ground. It will be interesting to see how the project goes with Dad and boys working together. I have a coupon from Coco entitling me to his help on the project. Caz is fired up for it and at an age that he can really help out.
I have to admit that part of me wants to out do the one my dad built for my brother and me. That one was barely 3 feet of the ground. Dad did well though. We used that quite a bit while growing up. But it will be a good benchmark for me. I will have to compare our tree house to pictures from my childhood, when it's done.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Movie 6 came out at midnight today. I am not quite that hard core where I was going to a mid-week midnight viewing. No, I was not going to pay for that trip for the rest of the week. I am very excited to see this movie. And I am looking forward to taking the boys. I think Demi is actually into it too. Selfishly though, I am not going the whole weekend without seeing this movie. Even if it is perfect beach weather.
I had a discussion with Coco too, to motivate him. As if he really needed it. The kid is really impressing me with his reading this summer. He is on book 5 by the way. He spent the whole day reading 350 pages of it. He told me that ideally he wanted to read book 6 before seeing the movie. I told him he'd better get reading and that I wasn't waiting to see the movie. He'd better be ready on Friday......

Monday, July 13, 2009

Up the Creek.....

Well, I certainly hope the Duxbury Bay Maritime school actually give the kids paddles during kayak paddling camp. I think this will be an interesting activity for the kids. Especially if the poor weather conditions keep up. Cold, wet, and rough seas. Not exactly a recipe for success. But....the kids are going to get wet anyway. I think the kids will dig being in their own kayak and fending for themselves. This is one of the many reasons that I love living where we do. Where else to you send kids to paddling camp, 5 minutes away from home? It's an easy thing to take for granted but I try hard not to. I impress upon the kids that this is an opportunity that not all kids have. I think they get the point.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Summer Hoops

Caz is doing a summer basketball camp this week. I am glad he decided to do it. I remember spending a lot of summers playing basketball and attending basketball camps. This camp is actually run by my old high school basketball coach. He was taken aback that in his 20th year of running the camp, he finally had a child of one of his former players attending camp. It said it made him feel old. That makes two of us. It's an erie coincidence that Caz is scoring well in his evaluations in rebounding and defense, the trademark strengths of his old man. Those areas of the game were my bread and butter. He received a comment that his coach appreciated his energy, especially on defense. Somewhere I am sure there is an evaluation from my old camps that says the same thing.

Reading Challenge - Update 4

Coco is on to book 4 - The Goblet of Fire. This is the book that transitions the series to the more adult audience. The boys have seen the movie, and we had this talk at the time it came out. I felt the need to reiterate this to Coco. We talked about how there were bad things that happened and that it was just a story. But if Coco was bothered by any of it, had questions, even questions about some of the vocabulary, that he should write it down and we would discuss it. Coco had a list of words ready when I came home tonight. Apparently the talk sunk in. Another one of those moments that seem to indicate that I might be doing something right with my parenting.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Reading Challenge - Update 3

Coco has finished book 3 and decided to go back and read Sorcerer's Stone. He's been so good with the books that I let him use my hard copy of the book. We had a slight incident with Gizmo and a paperback version of Chamber of Secrets that got left on the floor. Not that Gizmo wasn't too blame but not a good idea to tempt fate. This kid is cruising in his reading endeavors. I am very impressed with him.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Fireworks

We spent the night tonight out at Marshfield beach, watching the local fireworks display. This annual event was a tradition when I was growing up. It is amusing that the tradition is carrying on to this generation and my kids. It's very much Americana at it's finest. The Flag. Apple Pie. It's all good. The boys really enjoyed themselves this year. Caz was not digging the loud Booms last year, but all but dismissed them this year. It's really impressive, this amateur display. These folks must have spent a small fortune on fireworks. The crowd was well behaved this year. This probably was due to the extreme high tide, hitting at 9:35. Not much beach for the seedier element to wander around on. I told the boys that the celebration was in honor of their new cousin coming home today. I don't think they were buying it. But they got to stay up to 11:30 PM, so they were ready to humor the old man.

Coming Home

My brother and sister in-law bring my niece home today. It's always exciting, that first trip home with the new baby. I remember putting the car seat in the back of my old, been around the block (OK, quite a few blocks) silver Buick Century. I checked and re-checked the set up to make sure it was by the book. And then I checked it again. I drove like a first time driver right after getting that learner's permit. I checked my rearview and sideview mirrors before starting the car. I flashed my turn signal very early. I probably put it on when I was even thinking about turning. I drove exactly the speed limit. I remember pulling into the driveway. It was sort of like crossing the threshold, the first time as a married couple. Honestly, it was a bit better with the baby. That may have had a lot to do with not being 2 AM after a long night of celebrating and knowing I had to get up in a few hours to leave for the airport. I hope little brother finds it just as exciting.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Rain in the Summertime - Again

It is hard to believe it's summer. We just complete the month of June with 4 days, over the course of the month that didn't rain. 4! Can you believe that? And through it all, there was talk in the local paper that the town Selectmen were considering a voluntary water ban. I have set a sprinkler all of once. The day I put down fertilizer, I put out the sprinkler to wet down the lawn and soak it. To this point, I have still not put in the window AC units.