August 9
In which things do not compute.
Okay, this month we actually have an excuse: The video card went out on our computer's mother board and it was in the shop for nearly a month.
(That almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about, doesn't it?)
At any rate, we have a lot to catch up on:
With the end of May, Owen celebrated Mother's Day at Montessori School and said goodbye to good friends like Miss Martha, the head of the Child Center. As Owen will tell anyone who'll listen, he's graduated now and heading to Kindergarten, a.k.a. "Sam's school." (Sam is the boy who lives next door.)
We marked the event with an overnight trip to Maine to visit the neighbors at their weekend home and to wish Rodna a very happy birthday. It was a very special treat for Owen because the Great and Wonderful Hunter lives in Maine. Hunter is one of the Older Boys that Owen so worships and, luckily for us, he's a really sweet kid who spends a lot of time playing with Owen and Rodna's daughter, Sydney.
The three of them carried on for quite a bit in the hot tub and then, after they went to bed, their parents carried on for quite a bit around the campfire.
As May gave way to June, Robin and I headed east for our annual and long-overdue trip to Paris. We had a wonderful time just hanging out in our favorite city. Paul and Pamela joined us there, traveling via Amsterdam. The four of us spent a leisurely time wandering the streets and visiting some of the more remote sights including the Musee de la Romantique and the weekend "puce" (flea market).
Robin, Pamela and I made a daytrip to Dijon and enjoyed ourselves despite the fact that it rained "chats et chiens" for the better part of the afternoon. We, of course, came back loaded down with mustards. Just today, in fact, I told someone I was eating a sandwich with Dijon mustard. "Actually from Dijon," I specified.
No one was impressed, but the sandwich was AWESOME.
On a lark, we took a Segway tour of Paris and learned two valuable lessons. Number One: Never take a tour guided by an American teenager who thinks the despot, Louis XIV, was "a neat guy." Number Two: If you must take said tour, don't bring Paul along unless you're packing a gag and a taser.
I'll leave it at that.
While we were being Intercontinentals, Owen was having a Big Boy Vacation of his own in Kansas City and Tightwad. He had a wonderful time reconnecting with his grandparents, the Schroeders and all of his cousins. He even caught his first fish.
(He caught said fish in a hatchery where it is impossible NOT to catch a fish, but he doesn't need to know that....)
We telephoned Himself several times from Europe. He would pick up the phone and ask imperiously, "Who is this?" When he found out it was us, he would say, "Sorry, too busy now" and pass the phone back to his grandparents.
Whatever worries we had about leaving him on his own are long since evaporated.
Upon returning home to Boston, Owen started up a new daycamp. We worried a little bit about the fact that he wouldn't know anyone at the camp. We needn't have. Barrack Obama Jr. was glad handing the staff in no time and talking the janitor out of his cleaning gloves. (I don't know why he's so infatuated with the gloves, but I suspect it has something to do with Michael Jackson. More on that in a bit...)
Robin picked this camp largely because they have an on-site pool and offer swimming lessons twice a day. The lessons got off to a slow start since New England was beseiged by rains for most of June and July. About the time the animals started pairing up and crazy old men started their arks, it stopped.
The lessons are paying off, though. Owen, who had some not so great swimming experiences last year, loves the water. He can swim now without a teacher or a floating noodle and he couldn't be more pleased with himself. The swim instructors are raving at how much he's improved since the start of camp.
Camp has put on two quick musical programs so far with a third scheduled for this Friday. Aunt Norma was in town for the first. She congratulated Owen with a series of gifts including the disturbing eye glasses and nose he's napping with.
Owen had a great time showing Norma the sights. The highlight was probably the Maparium at the center for Christ Scientist. It's a giant glass globe that you actually walk inside of. It's kind of strange looking at the world from the inside out and the acoustics in there are amazing.
We do need some work on our tour guiding skills. After a half day of answering Norma's questions with, "I dunno," she asked to just start making things up. We did and it was startlingly like being back in high school...
As the summer has worn on, Owen's become fascinated with some of the historic events of the year. He has a tendency to think every lean African American man looks like Barrack Obama (as every dark-haired woman looks like Mom and every blond man looks like Uncle Kirk). He also can't get enough of Michael Jackson.
Owen heard Michael Jackson's daughter speaking at his eulogy and came home asking questions about who Michael Jackson was. We found some of his old videos on cable and played them for Owen. That very night the boy was walking backwards and insisting on sleeping with sunglasses and a single glove. We still have to listen to "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" every morning on the way to camp.
Rodna tells us we should worry.
We would, but we've been too busy. Robin's work continues to be amazing. The Tall Ships came to Boston and Robin's boss arranged for an off-site meeting in the city so that they could enjoy the sights. They even had the chance to tour one of the ships!
At my work, there's a new vendor in the cafeteria. They make better brownies than the old vendor.
Back home, we also had birthdays to celebrate. Mom and Owen both celebrated their big days on Bastille Day, the 14th. Sadly, Mom's celebration had to take a back seat to Owen's festivities.
Owen had nine guests over to play and enjoy the performance of a magician. The Amazing Frank did a series of funny tricks, most of which involved Owen or one of the other kids in the audience. The culmination of the show was when Frank popped a baloon and made a bunny appear. All of the kids got to pet the bunny.
I told Frank that bunny hell must be working for a magician. Amazing Frank was a little put out by that. Still, I wouldn't want to be groped by 20 grubby little hands, let alone made to appear in the middle of an exploding balloon.
Sorry, Frank. I stick by my observation.
The party culminated with the traditional destruction of a pinata, or, as I like to describe it, "Who needs a dad?" There's nothing like balancing precariously on an unstable ladder and inviting a bunch of five year olds to swing blunt objects at you.
I'm not sure where we got the pinata thing started, given there's not a drop of Mexican blood in any of the three of us, but Owen loves it. This year's pinata was filled with toys including, delightfully enough, plastic whistles.
A word to those of you planning parties for young children: Whistles are not the best party favor idea.... I suspect some of the neighbors have filed a noise complaint. I was prepared to call one in on myself.
While Owen received many, many wonderful gifts, including a little aquarium of "sea monkeys" who are creepily breeding with one another, he's very much enjoying the 2-wheel scooter from Grandma Gloria and Grandpa and the giant pirate ship spray boat from Grandma Pat.
Said pirate ship comes with inflatable swords. I have been defeated and eviscerated in more sword fights than I care to discuss.
With the end of July, we were visited by our good friends from Kansas City, the Bensons. Roy and Eileen brought Shane and Jessica to stay with us for a night on their way to their annual Cape Cod summer vacation.
We took another trip into Boston and, having learned from Aunt Norma, we hopped on a guided tour. The Duck Boat, captained by "Hardly Davidson," gave us an amusing history of the city and a nice little cruise down the Charles River.
After the tour, we were pedaled to Faneuil Hall by some college kids with bike-drawn carriages. We had lunch and watched some of the street performers. Eileen and Robin took the younger kids home while Roy, Shane and I took a guided tour of the famous Fenway Park.
I'm not Bostonian enough, yet, to have the standard glassy eyed fanaticism about Red Sox. Still, it was an interesting tour.
Up next: Dad gets a birthday of his own and camp starts to wind down. We're looking forward to a visit from Grandma and Grandpa the last week of the month and from Aunt Lisa in September.
Hopefully, the computer will hang in long enough that we can share some of those pictures with you....
