Teddy hasn't told too many stories about camp; maybe if you ask him, he'll tell YOU some of them.
Willie has continued to work on his 3D CAD blueprints for his current boss (aka Papa) and has also been getting in some culinary practice by making his own smoothies and sometimes lunches as well. Is this what they mean by Independence Day?
Oh yeah -- speaking of that -- we watched the fireworks from our usual ringside seats (ha ha) and Willie was telling Mommy what are some of the elements that make the fireworks be different colors, and the relative values of those elements. He also opined that $500K is a lot of money for fireworks and even though they are fun and all, shouldn't that money be used for something more helpful?
Willie had the privilege (?) of going out to dinner in a relatively fancy restaurant, and -- baby's first sticker shock? -- being appalled at the prices. (Not to mention the entree options, until he heard the simpler ones the waitress was kind enough to offer.) A soothing antidote to the affront of the menu -- and the confusing array of forks, plates, and glasses at each place -- was the lovely basket of bread that was sitting RIGHT THERE, for anyone to eat. It was a good, filling meal, and "the front half" (of the table) declined the dessert menu, but "the back half," led by the unstoppable Mommy, got the menu and drilled right down to the basics -- dulce de leche ice cream (we could have ordered it in an espresso float, but it was pretty late) -- one for Willie and one for the three others. Guess which "team" finished theirs?
Now both boys seem to be on a pancake kick -- sometimes, even, with chocolate chips. Mommy says these boys don't know how advanced and privileged they really are; SHE didn't have her first chocolate chip pancakes until high school. (IHOP, after the junior prom, if you want to know.)
Then came Heat Wave 2010 and everyone went into hibernation -- except Papa, who had to help in the shul kitchen in the 90-degree heat. If ever this family were to take up with the Raw Food movement, seems like this would have been the time for it. At least there are now enough fans in the house for all people, and most relevant windows. Certainly they work well enough that Mommy can continue her year-round litany of "it's freezing in here!" and go put on her bathrobe.
Then came preparations for The Great Migration, including the crafty plan by Willie and Teddy that since they would not be home for breakfast on Sunday morning, shouldn't they have waffles on Saturday? (And Teddy made them pretty much by himself.)
The migration itself went without a hitch, except the unexpected overnight stay in Oakland...Oregon. Who knew there even was such a thing? Anyway, Motel 6 really did have a clean comfortable room for a very low price, not including KFC for dinner and Denny's for breakfast, but nonetheless enjoyed by all.
When we finally got to the real Oakland, it was BBQ'd hamburgers for everybody (but not before stops at Costco for a FastTrak thingee and Grocery Outlet for budget food. Nana was quite disturbed to see fully cooked ground beef coming in from the grill. Darn that e-coli--see what we have to do to our meat now?!? And a little later, houseguest Mike came by to say hello. We'll see more of him before too long. Tomorrow is our first scheduled march thru the woods, redwoods that is.
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