So random

A totally random update for your perusal...

1.  I forgot about some super-cute pictures I found on my camera from a trip to the little free zoo we took with our friends Kasey & Reagan (and Jenny too!).  Charlie is delightful to take to the zoo; he giggles unrestrainedly at the animals - for some reason they are all hilarious to him.  Zach has never been an animal guy; he spends most of the time asking Charlie if he's ready to move on to the next exhibit.  But he loves the rides - what zoo would be complete without rides???

2.  While Charlie's ear tube surgery went swimmingly (pun intended), he developed a high fever that evening.  After phone calls to the ENT doctor and a trip to urgent care, we were assured the fever was unrelated to the surgery, that he had coincidentally caught some bug.  I wouldn't be surprised if he'd picked up those germs at his pre-op physical at the pediatricians two days before!  Fortunately, the fever only lasted 12 hours, and he was back to his normal self.  A self who seems to enjoy the sound of his own happy screams a lot more these days...!

3.  Zach had his end-of-the-season t-ball tournament this weekend.  Three games total, although those games followed the usual rules - no outs, everyone gets to first, no score kept.  So we're not really sure why they call it a tournament!  :)  But boy, you should see the cool medal he got!  And he's ready - bring on coach-pitch next year!

4th of July Celbration

This year was the 10th Annual 4th of July "Celbration" for us.  Amazing.  It does not seem like it was 10 years ago that I invited my boyfriend's (not quite mine yet...) friends to my parents' cottage on Pewaukee Lake for the Independence Day weekend.  It's too obvious to talk about, yet so fascinating to think about - how things have changed since those first kid-free get-togethers!  The first couple years were all about what size keg to get, and now our focus is on constantly making sure every little head is accounted for.

Anyway, the last five years we've celebrated at our friend Adam's parents cabin on Lake Cokato.  It's only a little more than an hour drive, and has the perfect set-up for the kids (the oldest of whom is about to turn 8) as the water is incredibly shallow.  And with the 95+ degree temperatures we've had lately - barely cool enough to help us escape the heat.  Thermometers registered three digits all over the Twin Cities on the 4th of July!

We arrived with my parents about 10:30 in the morning, and other than short breaks for lunch, bathroom visits, and cold drink replenishment, we didn't get out of the lake until 5:30 PM.  And that was for cake - Sylvia is turning 4 soon!  Fortunately the lake, and all of the Brodd's toys, provided plenty of entertainment for young and old:

Thanks again for the fun Brodd family!  We're looking forward to #11!!

Quick update

Charlie had his tubes put in this morning, and all is well.  We were there at 6:30 AM, which was good since he couldn't have anything to eat or drink (he was not too happy about that).  Everything went just like they said it would, other than the fact that our boy apparently has a high tolerance for anesthesia - most kids take about 6 breaths to go under; with Charlie it was quite a bit more than that.  So that wasn't a very pleasant experience, but what felt like an hour was probably 30 seconds!

It also took our little guy a while to wake up - he was sleeping soundly (could have been exhaustion from our 4th of July activities!) for about 30 minutes afterwards.  But he woke up a happy dude, smiling at the nurses, delighted with his new Cars sticker.  He had some apple juice with no issues, and home we went.  We were home at 8 AM!!

The doctor told us he had quite a bit of thick fluid in his ears; they had to use the biggest tube to suction it out.  He also thought it had been there a while - boo.  So it's going to be interesting to see if we can tell that he's hearing things differently!  Right now he's happily playing cars while watching Cars, so that's a sure sign all is well.  :)

As far as a Zach update, I realized I forgot one thing when I did my Zach post: book club!  Yep, our 5 year old is in a book club!  The son of a friend of ours asked his mom if he could start a book club, so we joined in.  I was quite skeptical, but it was cool to see how much the kids enjoyed the entire experience.  Zach was even more skeptical; he didn't want to read the book, didn't want to go to the meeting, etc.  But he loved the book, one of the Magic Treehouse series; we read it together in two sittings, and it would have been one sitting if he'd had his way!

The club meeting was fascinating - about eight 4-6 year-olds in one room, sitting in a circle on their own individual cushions, paying complete attention as my friend guided them through the discussion using a white board.  She had the kids volunteer to draw the characters, discussed the setting and the plot, and then even had related pirate crafts!  (The kids talked about the book way more than my book club does!)  It was a great experience, and we're looking forward to our next book!

Zach's turn!

If someone asked me to describe Zach, I think the first word I'd choose is "social."  He is perfectly capable of entertaining himself, but I can't stress how much he'd rather not.  He's never happier than when he hears friends are coming over, and we'd have a playdate with one of his friends every single day if it was up to him.  And, as I learned, it doesn't take much for Zach to make a new BFF...

I picked him up one afternoon from a short (2.5 hour) "camp".  He was quite excited to tell me that a boy from his t-ball team was there too.  As we walked to the car, he was disappointed he hadn't been able to say goodbye.  Spotting the boy across the parking lot with his dad, I told him to just yell.  So he did - "Good-bye Andy Jackson*!!" - at the top of his lungs.  The boy and his dad turned around, and I heard Andy yell something back, but couldn't make out the words.  Fast forward a couple of hours to the boys' t-ball game, and Andy's father is laughingly telling me what his son had yelled back to Zach:  "good-bye what's your name!!"  And the next week, after relating that he and Andy were going to another afternoon camp together, he rejoiced that he got to see Andy 7 times that month!  He actually counted.  :)

We rarely drive anywhere without Zach asking me how long it'll take to get there, how much longer the drive will be (even if it's places we go to ALL THE TIME!).  One day he asked me how much longer until we got to Costco; my answer was 5 minutes.  Scott and I were chatting away in the front seat a few minutes later, when Zach asked me to turn the music down.  I didn't do so quickly enough, apparently, for then he yelled - "turn it down! I'm counting!!!"  Mmm-hmm, he was counting to 300 to see if my estimate of 5 minutes was correct, and the radio was interfering with his concentration.

Zach got the game Sorry from the Easter Bunny.  And from Easter Day until late April/early May when the weather got nice, I would estimate we played Sorry an average of 4.3 times per day.  When our boy is into something, he is really into it!  Which reminds me, in case you're wondering, yes - he does still play with cars.

Zach's newest obsession:  Star Wars.  For some reason he and Scott agreed that one night Zach would get to stay up until midnight.  Scott negotiated that to a more vague "you can stay up late," and one Saturday night they did exactly that, while watching A New Hope (Episode IV, AKA the original Star Wars.)  Zach made it until 10:45, falling asleep with only 10 minutes left in the movie - perhaps the most exciting 10 minutes.  :)  They have since watched The Empire Strikes Back, and Zach is loving it.  He pulled out the Star Wars figures his grandparents gave him years ago, and is setting up fights all over the house.  That, by the way, is why he likes the movie - the fighting.  His exact words were "Mom, I like Star Wars because I like fighting, and there's lots of fighting in that movie!"  What every mom wants to hear.

Zach loves wearing baseball caps, and has a random assortment, including a  fantastic Badger hat and a Montana State one too.  One day he was choosing which hat to wear and he turned to me and said it was a good thing he had those hats, so he'd have something to remember his dad and me by.

On one lovely spring day, Scott and Zach were practicing their golf shots in the yard.  Scott said he was going to change clubs; Zach responded that he was too, he was going to use his sandwich, his iron sandwich.  (For the non-golfers out there, he meant "sand wedge.")  We chuckled.

After hearing our friend Vincent tell us how much he loves over-hard eggs, particularly the crispy edges, Zach decided to give them a try.  His verdict: it takes like plastic!

Our oldest son has definitely inherited the Willard/Norman math brain.  He is constantly asking us basic math problems, and solving them on his own.  And funnily enough, many of these conversations take place in the car.  One example:

Zach:  Mom, I can tell you what 58+58 is if you give me a minute.  (Note - this was out of nowhere. Completely)
Me:  Okay.  (long pause)
Zach:  I just need to know what 8+8 is, and then add 100.
Me: You tell me what 8+8 is.
Zach: (thinking)  The same as 12+4!
Me:  Yes - what's that?  (pause)
Zach:  116!!!

Of course, I had to ask why/how he got to 12+4 (you know, you gotta show your work!).  His answer:  it's hard to explain.

*Not his real name, to protect the privacy of the innocent.  But it's equally generic.  :)