Lord of the Rings

Mom thinks the Lord of the Rings movies are a little scary for Macho. He's pretty tough, but he gets nightmares from scary stuff. Mom did let Jammy and Macho watch the cartoon version of The Lord of the Rings (1978) last week. Wouldn't you know it. That one is scary, too.

Macho's been drawing pictures of battles ever since.

A castle wall being battered down by orcs.

This orc has been shot through, and is bleeding from both sides.

Dead orcs everywhere.

The hero with a triumphant smile as he delivers the mortal blow.

For Uncle Naters

When Jammy heard that Uncle Naters liked his "Little Teapot" video, he quickly recorded a couple more.

This is "My Computer" and this is "Love Somebody."

Uncle Naters, enjoy!

Magic Show

Jammy has been sniffling and coughing since he and Macho got home from their trip to Chattanooga for Thanksgiving.  By the time Mom picked him up from school today, his voice was almost gone. 

This cannot be, because Jammy has a lot of speaking to do in the upcoming "Holiday Moosical." Mom took him home and wrapped a scarf around his neck, and got out the neti-pot to rinse out Jammy's sinuses before bed.

At first Jammy complained about the neti-pot, but when he realized how awesome it was, he was excited.

"I could do a magic show for my friends, and we could take a little pot with no writing on it, and I could make water come out of the other side of my nose - for one of my tricks!"

And later, "Mom, I know what we could do for some money.  If someone never saw it before, they could pay $20, and you or I could make water come out the other side of our nose!"

Mom doesn't want to break the news to Jammy that there are people all over Youtube who are just letting people watch for free (netipot video).

Turkey Costumes

At school today, Jammy was supposed to decorate a turkey with a disguise to help him avoid being eaten for Thanksgiving dinner.

LEGO Indiana Jones Turkey

Jammy Says . . .

. . . with a shudder, while sitting in the minivan, buckled into his booster seat, "My life is really scary."

Mom, "What?"

Jammy, "Well, I'm talking about when I was a kid.  I fell off of the roof and broke a rock, and I fell at the park and broke my arm." (both happened over 3 years ago, when he was 3)

Mom, "What about last year when you broke your arm in your tap dancing class?"

Jammy, "What?!? I broke my arm in my tap dancing class?" (less than a year ago)

Story Book

Mom had this book on her Amazon wish list because it is about an explorer from Czechoslovakia, so she was happy to find a nice copy at Ed McKay's.

Jammy found the book before Mom had a chance to show it to him, and he loves it.  He says that it is the best book that she has ever bought from that store.

Movie of the Week

The Land Before Time is Macho's new favorite. He asks for this movie again and again, "I want to watch 'Shark' Tooth Rex!"

Jammy says, "I haven't seen this movie since I was little, but it's really good."

Posted on the wall at Jammy's school

Ricochet!

Today Jammy and Macho got to go see their friend Tuck's horse, Ricochet.  He is a very good horse, and the boys had a fun time.

First the boys had to go way out into the field to find Ricochet.

Then Tuck brought Ricochet back to the barn.

Mom thought that Macho would have more fun riding the horse than Jammy, but actually Jammy seemed to enjoy it more.  A couple of times, Tuck's mom had to tell Jammy to slow down because he wanted to ride Ricochet too fast.

Tuck's mom showed Jammy how to hold the reins.  Jammy liked going fast!

Macho liked riding Ricochet slowly.

Macho liked riding the horse, but he loved the donkeys and the little goats - probably because he could make friends with them more easily.  He even got to bring them some hay.

Jammy says . . .

 . . . when he found this book laying on the kitchen counter, "What's this for?"


Mom, "That's for my friend who's about to have a baby."
Jammy, looking at the book carefully, "Won't she get mad that you're making fun of her brand new baby?"

Jammy's Monster Mash

Jammy's school had a big Fall Festival on Friday night.  Mom was working at the front door greeting guests as they arrived, so Jammy and Macho had the run of the place, unsupervised.

It was going pretty well.  Why does Mom worry so much anyway?  The boys are fine without someone hovering around them all night.

Until, Mom saw a boy from Jammy's LEGO Club, directing Macho through the building.  He asked Mom, "Where's Jammy?"

Mom said, "In the music room."

Boy from LEGO Club, "Okay. Macho, you come here with me," and led Macho to the drinking fountain to get a drink.

Mom thinks, How sweet, Macho made a friend.

The mother of the boy from the LEGO Club walked up and asked, "Did you find his mom, yet?'

Mom, "I'm his mom."

The mother of the boy from the LEGO Club, "He followed us out to our car."

Mom was horrified. Macho was following people he just met, out to their car, in the dark.  What if they didn't notice he was with them? What if they hadn't been such nice people? This is why Mom hovers!

But, Mom was also touched by the care that the other little boy took of Macho.  The boy from the LEGO Club wasn't going to let Macho out of his sight until he was safely back with Jammy.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Mom (whose door duties were finished) took Macho to the music room to watch Jammy perform.

It's good to know that there are such nice boys around.

Jib Jab Rocks!

Jammy has been learning new Halloween songs from Jib Jab videos.  He LOVES the Jib Jab website, but it's not all age appropriate.  Mom was a little shocked when Jammy showed her the video he made by putting all of his family members' heads onto a video of a group of shirtless, Chippendales dancers.

This other video that he made, however, is funny.

Little Handy Man

The air was low in Jammy's bicycle tire today, but he's a pretty big kid now, so he knew just what to do. Mom was very proud!

Willawong Station

If you ask Jammy, this was the best part of the best day on the boys' trip to Seattle.  Willawong Station is an exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo where you can feed friendly little birds.

Exploring Seattle - Ballard Locks

Mom wanted to take the boys to see the Ballard Locks (aka Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) in the Lake Washington Ship Canal.  Jammy wasn't sure that he wanted to see locks, but he changed his mind when he got there.

The locks work like elevators, making it possible for boats to travel back and forth between freshwater lakes 20 feet above sea level and the salty Puget Sound below.

The first thing that happened when Jammy and Macho arrived at the locks was that a big, fat squirrel greeted the boys at the gate. Macho gave it a piece of muffin.










Next the boys found a trail of fish medallions embedded in the path. Mom told them it would lead to the fish ladder, but they reached the locks first.

There were no boats in the locks when Jammy and Macho first got there, but after a couple of minutes a little boat came in from the Puget Sound.  The captain of the boat tied it to the wall with a rope, the gate closed behind it, and the water level rose to lift the boat up.  When the water inside the lock was level with the lake, the gate opened on the freshwater side, and the boat glided into the lake.

Jammy had to admit this was cool!

The boys stayed to watch a few more boats go through. They saw a boat with a dog, a tugboat, and a sheriff's boat. 

 After they watched the boats for a little while, Jammy and Macho followed the fish medallion trail to its end at the salmon ladder.  This particular fish ladder is unique because it is a pathway between salt and fresh water.  It has an indoor viewing area where the boys could see fish making their way across. They also read educational signs and looked at the development of salmon eggs.

On top of the fish ladder observation area is a sculpture called Salmon Waves. Jammy and Macho thought it was cool, but it's supposed to be even cooler after dark.















All too soon it was time to go. Jammy and Macho had a wonderful time at the locks, but the most special part was that they got to explore them with their Greatest of Grannies.

There is no charge to visit the locks, but the parking lot fee must be paid in advance. The boys' tour took them about an hour, and they could have easily spent another hour looking around. The grounds have several more things to see, including a visitor center with a gift shop and the Carl S. English, Jr. Botanical Garden.

(Thank you DeliciousBaby.com for the outing idea! Jammy & Macho also approved of Debbie's Ballard recommendation of Clover.)

Holding Park Pool

It was "stinkin' hot" outside today, so Jammy (6) and Macho (3-1/2) wanted to go swimming.
There is a great, little, public pool in Holding Park near downtown Wake Forest. From the road, the kids had to go down the big, steep stairs to the bottom floor of the building to enter the pool.
No checks or cards are accepted, so Jammy and Macho brought CASH ONLY!!!
$3 per kid
$4 per adult
No coolers are allowed.
There is a concession stand, but they sell NO WATER.

Jammy and Macho felt pretty safe in the pool because it was not too crowded, and there were three lifeguards on duty.  

There is a slide and a diving board in the deep end of the pool. Jammy tried the slide, but decided that it wasn't his favorite thing.  He can swim, but the deep, deep water still makes him a little bit nervous. Jammy and some other middle-sized kids had a lot of fun in the shallow water, diving after these:

 

Macho was happiest to spend his time either jumping to Mom from the edge of the pool or checking out the pretty lifeguard.

Movie of the Week

Tarzan, "when he's big."  Tarzan II is about Tarzan when he's little which bothers Jammy a little bit.  Since Mom organized the videos, the boys found this old favorite, and have probably watched it 6-7 times.

Castles

This is the book that Jammy wants to read every night.  He especially likes the part about different alphabets and the part about garderobes.

Jammy's Point of View

Not unlike mom, if you give Jammy a camera, he will be busy taking pictures all day.

When Jammy is taking pictures (and movies), it is important to have a charger for the camera's battery and a way to offload the pictures, because the camera fills up quickly.

Early morning walk

Why do grown-ups always want to sleep so late, anyway?

For the boys, a day of vacation is a much better reason than a day of school to wake up early!

Fortunately, in the mountains, all they need to do is step outside to find lots of things to see while they wait for the rest of the house to wake up.