Battleship Cove

Here are some of the photos from our trip with the Cub Scouts to Battleship Cove in Fall River, Mass.

Nolan and I spent the night on the USS Massachusetts. We also toured the submarine USS Lionfish, the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. and a Russian missile corvette named the Hiddensee.

Spring at last!

We are so happy to have it be warm again and play outside. We've all decided we aren't winter people. We've been shooting hoops outside and practicing pitching in the backyard.

We had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day at Chris' mom's house with the Serafinis. There's nothing like corned beef, cabbage and Irish Soda Bread. This week we had the book fair too. At church, they've put me in charge of a large, intergenerational gathering that we're going to have in June. So I've started having some meetings about that. Thomas' teacher had emergency surgery and will be out 6 weeks, so some parents are making meals for her while she is out. Thursday was our turn, and Thomas LOVED seeing her and her farm. We got to help with the evening chores--getting eggs out of the coop, feeding the chickens and giving water to the horse. I dream of having a beautiful old farm like she has! Today Chris and Nolan are coming back from their overnight on a battleship in Boston. I'm anxious to hear how it went. Lights out were at 11pm and reveille at 6am, so I'll bet they will be tired. Chris' mom is going to pick them up soon from the bus drop off. Thomas is home with a fever today.

When Thomas came home from school on Thursday, he ran off the bus and twisted his ankle. He seemed fine the rest of the day, but the next morning it was puffy and he wouldn't walk on it. So we took him to the doctor and they took X-rays. Nothing broken, just a sprain. He's walking on it much better today, of course now he seems to have a little cold. We've had a quiet weekend without Nolan and Chris. We did see Helen and Olivia skate on Saturday at RPI--they were terrific and beautiful on the ice.

This week we finally have no more half days, so a nice normal week. Thomas and Chris are going to a Math Night at school Thursday night. We are checking out a kennel for Chester on Saturday for when we go to Boston. It's a 45 min drive, but it's on the way to Massachusetts and we've heard great things about it .

Singing in the shower

Like many people, Thomas enjoys singing in the shower. With apologies to Don McLean, here's his rendition of "American Pie."

Derby Day

Another Pinewood Derby has come and gone.

I'm super proud of Nolan's performance this year. For starters, this was his most detailed design so far. Also, each year he does more and more of the work himself. He did a lot of the cutting and sanding on his own this year -- and I think it came out great.

The maximum weight for a Pinewood Derby car is 5 oz. With some tinkering -- and bit of luck -- we were abble to get it to be exactly 5 oz. That, combined with some other design tricks we had up our sleeve, had us hoping for a strong finish.

He won three of the six heats his car raced in. But in the end he placed eighth overall (out of 25 cars). He was hoping to be closer to the top, but still I was very impressed he made it into the top 10.

The scouts also get to vote on which cars they like in various categories. He had his heart set on winning the "Most Scout-Like" award. Unfortunately, he placed a close second in the voting.

So he was pretty disappointed in not coming home with a big trophy for speed or design. But Kris and I were still very proud. He seems to be over it today and is already talking about next year's race!

Growing Up

Yesterday, Thomas and I cleaned the car inside and out in the beautiful sunshine. We cleaned the inside and then went in for lunch. I told him we would go back after lunch to do the outside. He said he might be too tired to do that. So I said he could always take a nap. His response? Men don't take naps. He cracks me up.

Matchbox 20

I heard a song on the radio this morning from this group called, Closing Time. I always loved this song and one of the lines in it. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." That is so true. When something ends, it frees us for new possibilities. And with the snow finally melting away and the yard inching its way back, the warmer temperatures are freeing us to have some new opportunities too.

I was marveling at Thomas' social schedule today. I was wondering what was making this week so busy, and partly it's because I'm bringing Thomas to so many friends' houses or having them here. He had 4 play dates this week! We will cut back, but it's cute that he's becoming so close to this one boy in his class. He's definately getting older. His swim lessons are going better now that all of us are going to watch him. I think he likes us as his personal cheering crew! I'm happy to oblige when I see him swimming such strong strokes. He is still a little hesitant, but he's getting there.

Nolan has his Pinewood Derby this weekend. He participated a lot more in making his car this year, and this year he got it to be exactly 5 oz (the maximum and best weight to be for speed). So we are hoping he'll be a winner this year. He decorated it with Cub Scout decals, so he could win an award for Most Scout-like too. We shall see--cross your fingers! He also has a baseball clinic to start getting tuned up for the season. So another beginning coming up soon.

We've been having a lot of half days to accommodate parent-teacher conferences. I don't remember them cutting the days like this when I was little for conferences. I think the teachers just stayed late one night and parents could come in to talk to them then. Now they have 4 half days twice in the school year. It seems like a lot of time off. it must be a nightmare for working parents. Thankfully, I'm not one of them!

We've also been absorbed in reading a lot. I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to the boys (I highly recommend reading this during Lent.) and they are watching the movie of it as I write now. Now we've started Harry Potter. They are really getting into it, and I love spending the time doing it with them. Sometimes Thomas gets ants in his pants, but he's still listening. I hope they always love reading.

I actually opened the sandbox for Thomas today! So another new beginning, although the sand was still pretty frozen. He played in it anyway. I think we all want spring.