Kids At Play

Today is the first day of school.  This means that summer is over (unofficially, at least).  My kids once again need to worry about getting ready in the morning, homework, and other "fun" school-related chores.  Before the sun set on summer fun for the last time, though, we had one more fun moment.  We went to Aunt S’s house by the lake.  There, they enjoyed many fun activities with their cousins and other members of B’s family.

Mountain Climbing

Ok, this is just a steep hill and not a mountain.  Still, the boys had a blast climbing the mountain and running down it.  I, meanwhile, liked climbing it for the view it afforded me.

mountain

Boat Trip

What good is a house on the lake without a boat?  Though NHL opted out in favor of the pool (more on that later), JSL and I went out with Nana, Papa, Cousin A and Uncle M.  The trip began in an eventful manner with the engine dying.  We were just far enough from the dock to see it slowly drift away with no way to get back.  We did have a good view, though.

Luckily, Cousin A found a loose fuel injector line, fixed it, and we were good to go.  JSL loved driving the boat and watching Cousin A water skiing.

The boat ride ended with a bang.  Or rather a splash.  JSL was standing at the front with Papa when a big wave hit the boat soaking both of them.  (Sadly, my camera was pointed elsewhere at that moment, so I didn’t capture it.)  JSL was first upset by the sudden face full of water but he quickly decided that it was funny instead.

boat

Pool Time Fun

As mentioned before, NHL opted to go in the pool.  As I understand it, he and Cousin S did some diving into the water.  The next day, JSL, NHL, B, and I went to the pool together.  B didn’t have her swimsuit, so the boys and I went into the water together.  JSL was apprehensive, especially once he felt the cold water, but he soon got in the pool spirit and was laughing along with NHL and me.

pool

Sand and Surf

Our last visit was to the beach right near the pool.  There, NHL and JSL broke out some sand toys and had fun digging in the sand.  We also walked all the way out to the buoys that mark the end of the "safe to walk/swim" area.  Having grown up on Long Island, the beach brings back some great memories for me.  I still find it very relaxing to just sit chest-deep in the water and let the waves rock me back and forth.  I showed this to NHL and he agreed that it felt nice and calming.

Of course, calm isn’t as much fun and getting down and dirty in the sand.

beach1beach2

Yes, school might be starting now.  Their freedom to do whatever they want will be curtailed as things they WANT to do take a backseat to things they HAVE to do.  Still, it’s nice that they had one last summer weekend milked for every ounce of fun it contained.

The Earworm and the Memorized Lyrics

The Earworm and the Memorized LyricsI’m not sure why, but songs seem to be getting stuck in my head recently. Yesterday morning, as I was leaving for work, the Today Show played a segment of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe.  I only heard two lines, but that was enough.  The song began playing in my head and didn’t stop for half the workday.  (Merely typing this out has resulted in a Call Me replay.)

That wasn’t the worst earworm of all.  That honor belongs to Lilo and Stitch.  Thanks to Disney Junior, a lot of older Disney Shows are getting re-aired.  One of these that my boys have taken a liking to is Lilo and Stitch The Series.  Where the original movie saw Lilo meeting Experiment 626, aka Stitch, this television series had Lilo and Stitch trying to catch the rest of the 625 experiments that Jumba created.

NHL, however, has gone a bit further than merely "liking" the series.  He’s memorized the theme song.  While in the car one day, he began to sing it – complete with Stitch’s "alien language" lines.  Yes, even those words have been imprinted on his brain to be recalled at will.

Unfortunately, the constant playing of the episodes and singing of the theme has left it imprinted on my brain too.  I’ll be in the middle of work and realize that the song is playing in my head and won’t stop.

Since the best way to stop an earworm is to share it, here’s the theme song.

What’s that?  You don’t stop an earworm by sharing it?  Oops.  Well, time for me to go.  Aloha!

Disclaimer: The image above is a combination of "Music Icon" by Minduka and "Green Worm" by Carlitos.  Both came from OpenClipArt.org.

Aloha Friday: NHL Turns Nine

How is it possible that my little guy is nine years old?  It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital.  In the nine years, there have been many ups and downs, but it’s been an adventure that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

This year has definitely been a great one.  NHL is finally old enough for me to share a lot of my geeky pleasures with him.  We’re reading the Harry Potter series, playing with Legos, and watching superhero shows.  I’ve even introduced him to movies like Back to the Future.

It’s so amazing how much he’s changed over the years (see the animated GIF below).  I can’t wait to see how he changes in the years to come.  Ok, maybe I can wait a little bit… I don’t want him growing up any quicker!

 NHL_2003_to_2012

Happy birthday, NHL!

I don’t exactly have an Aloha Friday question today, just a request: Please wish NHL a happy birthday.

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.


Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #152

Passing The Geekiness On To The Future

There are quite a few pieces of geeky culture that I have shared with NHL.  I’ve introduced him to superheroes, to video games, Star Wars, and even to the Internet.  However, there are still many more things to show him.  Some will need to wait until he is older, but this weekend I showed him yet another element: Back To The Future.

Back To The Future is, of course, the classic time travel tale featuring Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd.  NHL was pretty excited when we took it out of the library.  When the movie began, however, he changed his mind.  It was just going too slow for his taste and he wanted to turn something else on.  I kept reassuring him that this was all setup and that things would pick up once they went back in time.

Then, Marty got himself stuck in 1955.  From that point on, NHL was hooked.  He was on the edge of his seat as Marty’s siblings started to disappear.  He cheered when Marty triumphed over Biff.  He kept hoping against hope that Doc and Marty could pull off their plan and get Marty home.

Then, Doc showed up at the end and whisked Marty and Jennifer off to the future.  Though we didn’t have time, he kept trying to guess what happened next.  He is definitely a Back To The Future fan and can’t wait until we have time to watch parts 2 and 3.

What geeky movies have you and your kids watched recently?

1 5 6 7 8 9 39