Tales From My House: Summer!

It is hard to believe we are already three weeks into our summer vacation.

I already wrote about week one, which was uneventful. Week two, Jack went to a camp to learn to fly drones. He absolutely loved it! When he turns 14, he wants to get a commercial license. Luke went to a soccer camp, it was very intense. He came home grumpy and exhausted every night, but gave it 9/10. Anna went to a camp at the middle school that she also enjoyed. Kara stayed home.

We just finished week three. It was a good week. We started with a visit to my Dad. We decided to celebrate Father's Day early and took him and Maggie to lunch and gave him his gift. For lunch, we went to Applebees. They had a soccer game on the screens, including two t.v.s right in front of us. It seemed like every time we looked up, a player was injured on the field. Then, a player went down and didn't get back up. They pulled out the defibrillator and started doing CPR. We seriously thought he was dead. It was pretty traumatic and not the kind of thing you want to watch during a lunch out with your father and kids. Fortunately, the player ended up being okay. They are not sure what caused him to collapse, and his heart did stop beating, but thanks to the immediate medical care, he should recover.

We spent several hours at my dad's house. Rather than give him the usual gift card (he doesn't want stuff) we bought him lottery tickets. Luke was completely fascinated. He "helped" scratch them and asked if he could save his money to buy his own tickets. We had a good talk about how they are for entertainment and only for special occasions and blah blah blah. I am not sure how much of it Luke heard and I kind of wish we had stuck with the gift card (or given him the gift as we were leaving). We also played spoons, which is always fun. After we finished at his house, we went to a Flying Tigers game.

Whose gift was it?

In other news, Luke and Kara moved into basic level 2 for ice skating. I think it may have been a little premature for Luke, but Kara was definitely ready. They also moved Anna up, she is in a basic level 3. Anna really loves it and wishes we would take her everyday. We go on average twice a week, once for a lesson and once for a practice session. I wish the rink was a little closer, but it isn't terrible (about 30 minutes away).

Anna and Jack had a STEM camp this week. It was pretty amazing. They only went in person 2 days, but even the virtual part was good. They worked on programming drones and other skills. They also had guest speakers who talked about interesting career paths. It was free and they actually gave the kids a $125 stipend for finishing the week (along with small drones, gift cards, a t-shirt, etc.). They had around 90 applicants and only took 20. Anna and Jack both felt very lucky that they were able to participate. I am not exactly sure what they were looking for when they chose the participants, but we were glad J & A were in the group. The in-person days were at UCF and they also enjoyed seeing some of the campus. We are going to try and go to some events there. With how quickly time is passing, it doesn't seem too early to start getting them excited about college (not specifically UCF, but college in general). Luke did a morning sports camp at the YMCA that he really liked, and Kara helped out by babysitting him in the afternoons.

They were trying to make the drone blow bubbles

On Thursday night, we went to Universal Studios (all but Jack, he stayed home). It felt really crowded. Social distancing is a thing of the past; I miss having personal space. On one ride, they have a little pre-show and people were literally breathing down our necks. I wish we could keep a little of the distancing that was common over the past year. They asked that you wear a mask if you aren't vaccinated, but obviously there is no enforcement. I would say maybe 2% of people were wearing masks. We had Luke wear one, but the rest of us are vaccinated, so we did not. I am not worried about Luke, but he doesn't mind wearing one and we felt like we should comply with the rules. Luke tried two new roller coasters--Rip Ride Rocket and Velocicoaster. They are both huge, intense roller coasters. I was nervous for him, but he loved the rides. All of a sudden, he is really brave when it comes roller coasters. We just need him to grow 2 more inches and he will be able to ride everything!