Sunday, July 31, 2011

CHANGE IS HERE!!!

Due to privacy and security concerns, I need to move my blog of grandchildren to another address which can be accessed only by requesting permission. Please write to me at burlingtongal@aol.com to receive access to the new blog address. Thanks!!!!

VBS Redux

A friend mailed photos to me that were taken of Kevin at VBS earlier this summer.

Holding a craft.

Friday, July 29, 2011

A Niagara Day

I needed to go to Niagara Falls, NY, today to mail Gabe's birthday presents. He will be TWO August 6! Kevin was not thrilled with the expectation of a trip in the car. Of course, I brought along activity books to keep him busy, though his most favorite thing in the car right now is listening to the CD of "My Fair Lady" music -- particularly song #3 -- "All I want is a room somewhere..." He has it memorized!

Kevin was hungry, so we stopped at a Tim Horton's for a coffee for Grandma and a treat for him. I asked what sprinkle donuts they have. Canadian maple leaf sprinkles!


Last Sunday, I promised Kevin we would return to Niagara-on-the-Lake and told him that is what we are doing today. He was not happy... He didn't want to ride anymore. Because of the high volume of border crossings today, we had to use the less-used Niagara Falls Rainbow Bridge. I told him we were going to travel along the Niagara River. Before we were there, he began complaining saying, "I'm bored." We saw the Falls coming and going over that bridge, then turned away from the Falls. He began to be interested in the gorge saying, "I've never seen a canyon before!" He wanted to stop, but I told him we had to wait for a place to pull off. The first place we came to was the Whirlpool where there is an aerial ride across the whirlpool area.

He wanted to ride the Aero Car, but I had to explain it was a long wait and we would spend our whole afternoon there. He couldn't comprehend there was yet a lot more to see along the river.

Our next stop was a museum/gift shop. Here we found a woodworking artist! Kevin could have spent the whole afternoon watching the man who was very patient with Kevin.

Kevin didn't beg for any of the carver's pieces, but he certainly would have liked one! Yet I couldn't imagine his Mommy wanting to decorate his room with an Indian wall-hanging or animal statue.

From this stop was a nice view of the river gorge back to the whirlpool area.


Next was a power plant. You could take a tour, but we just looked at it with Grandma feebly trying to explain electricity was produced from the water power and spread throughout Ontario and New York State and beyond.

Beyond the power plant is the Floral Clock.

Kevin was motor mouth! Here he is asking, "How deep is the water? Do the fish go potty in the water? What does it look like? How do they clean it out?"

The questions were endless!!!!
How do the lily pads grow?
How do they get the money out?
How do they get up there?
How do they plant the flowers?
How do they cut the grass?
What is a weed eater?
Is this all there is to the clock?
Why don't they have a second clock? A smaller one?
Why do they grow grass instead of flowers? (around the back of the clock)
Look at all the weeds! We need to go in and pull them out.
Is there a clock bigger than this one?
He had already asked a hundred questions before I started writing them down!!!! He had ME in hysterics! LOL

Next stop: Brock's Monument.

General Brock led the British troops against the invading Americans at Queenston in the War of 1812. As we approached this soldier, I announced, "We are Americans! Are you going to shoot us?"

The 185 foot monument has 235 steps in a tight corkscrew to the top. We didn't check how many steps there were before starting, so we had no way of knowing how close we were getting to the top. But we counted them on our way down.

A view from the top of the river flowing into Lake Ontario.

Another view from the top.

Kevin at the top. At the bottom of the photo, you can get a bit of an idea of how tight and narrow the steps are.

Back on the ground, another soldier told Kevin that mulberries are tasty to eat. We have a tree in our backyard, but we have never tried them, though the wildlife loves them! He helped Kevin pick some berries.

A major reason for returning to Niagara-On-The-Lake was to go through the Trish Romance Gallery. We arrived in town at 5:30. It closed at 5:00! But the fountain across the street never closes and it was full of kids. Kevin changed into his bathing suit and had a blast.



When he had had enough of swimming, he went to the playground nearby.


Then it was time to go home, yet he insisted he was not hungry. We arrived home at 7:11 and went to the club for fish and chips. He LOVED it, but insisted the fries were fries, not chips!
He declared this to be the best day yet!!! And he started out the day by saying he was bored... Life is NEVER boring with Grandma!!! ;-)

Thursday, July 28, 2011

A Day with Aliyah

Aliyah returned yesterday after being away for several days, and she is going away again next week. So today, they played together most of the day. They watched movies at her house this morning. They had a picnic lunch together in the backyard. We took her with us to a conservation area nearby which has an Iroquoian village.

After visiting the Seneca Indian Museum (the Senecas were part of the Iroquois Nation) a couple of weeks ago, we have read some books about the Iroquois, so this was a treat to see a village and have some of Kevin's questions answered which I could not answer. From the books, we did not know how they entered their village through the palisades fence. They developed a maze! You entered the village in single file, thus a band of enemies could not rush into the village easily.

Through excavation, we know that a village with longhouses stood in the exact positions where they have reconstructed this village.

The guide demonstrated how to light a fire without a match. Aliyah's Dad is a naturalist, so she already knew many things about surviving without the conveniences we have today.

Aliyah declared she learned much from this experience! Kevin and I did too!

The guide did not know the real name of this weed, but said it smells and tastes like pineapple. The kids had to try it! A bouquet of it came home with Kevin.

We found a cute butterfly mood ring in the gift shop for Aliyah, but could find nothing worthwhile for Kevin. He insisted he wanted a mood ring too, but I insisted they were for girls. I told him I had his Mommy Karin's mood ring at home, and he could have that one.

We arrived home in time for Kevin's swim lesson. He did back floating today

as well as practicing the crawl stroke, AND he began learning to dive!


Today was the first day his hands entered the water before the rest of his body!!!

Once home, he and Aliyah continued to play until bedtime -- mainly riding their bike and scooter.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Summer Reading Completed!

This morning we took Guinness for his much-needed walk to doggie park. Kevin rode his bike, drew a picture of Mommy Karin in the soft soil of the baseball diamond,


went into his tree "den" where he found another exoskeleton of a cicada, not a locust... as MLE pointed out to me! :) (can be seen in front of his forehead)

and climbed his favorite tree.

We returned some materials to the library and turned in another list of books read for the summer reading program. He has now read enough to count for having completed their program! He was given a fish on which to write his name and tape to the window. YAY, Kevin!!!

In recent days, Kevin mentioned that he likes Wendy's, mainly because of their milkshakes. So we went to Wendy's for lunch. Do all boys do this, or only ones with Monkey for a middle name??

Besides, Wendy's is on the way to the Botanical Gardens where he will be in an art day camp next week. I wanted him to see what the Gardens are like so that he will look forward to it. He was very impressed, and I was too. There have been a lot of improvements since I was there last. He had fun chasing the Canada Geese!

Tonight is our skating night, plus Melanie came with us again! There was some "snow" outside the arena, so Kevin did some summer snow sliding.


Melanie was delighted with his improved skating ability! He skated around the big rink, not at the end where beginners practice, most of the evening! He is doing very well, though an adult still needs to hold a hand around the rink for his safety with so many fast skaters there.
Grampa called while we were on our way home wanting a peach Blizzard from DQ. Kevin was in tears that Melanie couldn't go to DQ with us. He couldn't understand -- if she went, and we took her home again, Grampa's Blizzard would be mush by the time he got it. But they did not have peach. So we bought two Hawaiians -- for Kevin and Grampa, forgetting that Grampa does not like coconut. Oh, well...

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Piano and Pool

For lunch, we went back to the mall for another crepe. They are just too yummy!

Today was Kevin's third piano lesson. I wanted him to practice a bit before his lesson. Bad idea! He was already cooked by the time he arrived at his lesson. Oh, well... He did OK, but his attention span was not great.

We brought a photo of him playing his one piece on a keyboard at the Club last week while the jazz musicians took their break and invited him to play. His teacher added it to her album of student photos.

After working hours, Melanie's family went swimming and invited us to join them. I intended to get in the pool too, but the 90 degree weather has passed, and the water was just too cold for me!



Melanie pointed out to me that Kevin pronounces her name "Men-a-lie"!!! Cute!

Monday, July 25, 2011

THE Helper!

Grampa had told him to never go in front of the bushes of our yard, though he has permission to roam the driveway and backyard.

After the recycle truck came today, I saw a blond head at the street. By the time I opened the front door, Kevin was coming up the steps with our recycle bins. It WAS him at the street!!! I didn’t reprimand him at that moment, but thanked him, thinking he was done.

Then I realized he was missing! I checked the back. Other doggie parents from our condo townhomes were there and told me he was bringing in everyone’s recycle bins! :-0 I ran to the front; couldn’t find him; ran to the back; one of the dog parents said he had sent him home. When I found Kevin, I instructed him to compare the number on each bin with the number on the townhouse, and sent him off to do that. He said they were all right.

Oh, my.... the neighbors got a real hoot out of Kevin's willingness to help! One asked if Kevin could carry their garbage TO the street every Sunday evening and begin a lucrative business! Another wrote, "A very personable young man." That he is!

He even hosed out our bins when he returned them to the garage! And he said he helped someone else wash out their bins too, because "they were stinky."

Shortly after seeing my grandson at the street, I had Guinny in the sideyard with us without his leash. I turned my back to him for no more than two seconds, and he was GONE! I heard cars beeping their horns on the street and ran! Yep! Guinny was at the side of our busy road! The poor dog is not getting his daily exercise with Kevin here. Instead of five big walks per week, he is getting only one. Apparently, he is trying to take himself for a walk!

I am still giving Kevin the cough syrup per instructions. He does not like the taste of it, but it very good about taking it anyway. He has to have a large glass of water in one hand and the medicine cup in the other to take it. Today, he reminded me of Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" saying, "There's no place like home." With the same vocal inflection, he repeated, "Smells like Gatorade. Smells like Gatorade," trying to convince himself it would be OK before drinking it.

We pulled my hula hoop out of the garage. I can still do it!!! And he had fun trying.


We went swimming at the pool which he says has a shorter distance for their swim test. He almost failed it because he did a dog paddle with his arms instead of doing a crawl stroke. The lifeguard was kind and gave him a second chance. If he would do half the distance again using the crawl stroke, she would pass him, and he did.

Having fun in the shallow end.

Kevin was in a bit of a strange mood today. He refused to concentrate on practicing piano. At lunch, he disobeyed Grampa when reprimanded for playing with his fork) and then again at dinner for trying to push his fork through a woven hole in his placemat. But he did eat THREE helpings of mac & cheese with cauliflower!!! My recipe which makes wonderfully rich mac & cheese is done in a slow cooker.

After dinner fun:

Some of our trees have developed branches which hang low enough to hit our heads. Kevin was a wonderful assistant as I pruned them.

We played ball again tonight. He is really enjoying playing and is doing quite well at pitching, I think!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

My Fair Lady, Indians, and Removing Pastels from Garments

Grampa noticed a lump in Kevin's bed, but no Kevin.

When the lump was disclosed, Kevin was found -- found watching Pink Panther on Netflix on his iPhone (inherited from his Mommy Karin but no phone service).

We went to Niagara-on-the-Lake for lunch and to see "My Fair Lady" at the Shaw Festival. As we walked in, Kevin saw the beautiful gardens outside and wanted to know if he could go outside. I told him, "Yes, at intermission."

First, he headed for the shallow, clear pond with rocks covering the bottom. He picked up a rock and threw it across the pond! ARRGGGHHH! I told him not to; he threw another! A man nearby said, "He is doing what I want to do." We headed for the gardens and found hidden paths AND Grampa! We also found waterlilies. Kevin is pointing out the blooms hidden under the leaves.

Kevin loved the play, but he was more fidgety than at "Camelot," probably because of the seats. We were third row balcony, but he could not see over the high backs of the seat in front of him, so sat on our laps alternately. He was the first to note we could see the harpist from our vantage point, and we heard the harp often through the production.

I have been talking to Kevin about Trish Romance and her paintings and about her gallery in this town. As we drove into the village, he saw the cute main street and he wanted to walk the street. We said, "Later." After the play, Grampa was eager to get home. He cried that he could not walk the street, see the gallery, AND splash in a fountain where he saw other kids. I had to promise to bring him back.

As a result of stopping at the National Indian Museum a couple of weeks ago, we borrowed books on the Iroquois from the library and read them as we traveled today. We both learned a lot!

Kevin played with the hose and little pool once we were home.
The heat wave temps have dropped 15 degrees, so we had our dinner outside.

We read the first part of Longfellow's "Hiawatha" poem before bed. In spite of the wonderful native rhythm, Kevin insisted it was not a poem, because it does not rhyme.

Tonight I washed dark colors -- mainly Kevin's and Grant's things. Oops! The hot pink from the pastel pallette on Thursday came home in Kevin's pants' pocket. I told him to take it back on Friday. He forgot. I forgot. It went through the wash fine, but fell out of the pocket in the dryer and created quite a modern art scene on perfectly good clothes including a $300 pair of Grampa's jeans! I used Fantastic to get it off the interior of the dryer, and it worked great. So I tried it on the clothing. It worked fairly well. I spent at least two hours scrubbing all the spots with Fantastic, then sprayed them with Spray N Wash, let it soak in, then rewashed. It worked! Almost every trace of hot pink is gone!