Tuesday, July 28, 2015
2015-07-28: Preparing for a Play Date
Overheard by Mom, while Nigel was in the playroom preparing for a play date with Owen: "Oof! Ouch! This will never do!"
Saturday, July 25, 2015
2015-07-25: Odd and Even Numbers
Nigel and Dad talked through what constitutes an odd or an even number today, for Midnight Math. Dad wrote the set of even numbers vertically down a whiteboard, and Nigel noticed that the evens all end with 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
2015-07-23: Handcart Days Parade
Bountiful hosts a large parade each year the day before Pioneer Day. This year, Nigel and Dad went up to spend the evening at the city park, enjoying the activities and watching the end of the parade. Nigel enjoyed the large inflatables, particularly one where kids would stand around a large, hanging, inflatable wrecking ball, swinging it at each other in hopes of knocking someone off the pedestal each stood upon.
Nigel is quite tough and bold, when it comes to confrontation, and he showed those traits in this case, when playing with two kids who were a few years older and a fair bit larger than him. The other child Nigel's age took to ducking under the ball when it was thrown at him, but Nigel just leaned into it and grabbed at it when it came at him. He never fell, either, though he was rarely able to hang onto the ball to have a turn to throw it himself, and when those turns did come, it was clear he was much less strong than the older kids, who, unsurprisingly, had no trouble handling his best swings. While Dad was worried about Nigel being intimidated and uncomfortable being in this situation, Nigel quite enjoyed the experience.
Dad and Nigel climbed all over the large spider web-like climbing apparatus while Grammy scoped out some treats, and they all explored the fair-like attractions together. Grammy obtained a Tour de Utah (bike race) frisbee for Nigel, which he and Dad used to play frisbee leapfrog* all the long way back to the car when they all left the park.
*Frisbee leapfrog consists of one person running ahead, then turning around to catch the frisbee, then staying in that place until the other person has run ahead and is ready to catch.
Nigel is quite tough and bold, when it comes to confrontation, and he showed those traits in this case, when playing with two kids who were a few years older and a fair bit larger than him. The other child Nigel's age took to ducking under the ball when it was thrown at him, but Nigel just leaned into it and grabbed at it when it came at him. He never fell, either, though he was rarely able to hang onto the ball to have a turn to throw it himself, and when those turns did come, it was clear he was much less strong than the older kids, who, unsurprisingly, had no trouble handling his best swings. While Dad was worried about Nigel being intimidated and uncomfortable being in this situation, Nigel quite enjoyed the experience.
Dad and Nigel climbed all over the large spider web-like climbing apparatus while Grammy scoped out some treats, and they all explored the fair-like attractions together. Grammy obtained a Tour de Utah (bike race) frisbee for Nigel, which he and Dad used to play frisbee leapfrog* all the long way back to the car when they all left the park.
*Frisbee leapfrog consists of one person running ahead, then turning around to catch the frisbee, then staying in that place until the other person has run ahead and is ready to catch.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
2015-07-18: Whitewater Rafting
Nigel, Mom, Dad and Grandpa took a short trip down to Moab to go whitewater rafting this day. It really was a pretty short trip, leaving Friday afternoon once Dad and Grandpa were done at work, and arriving home Saturday night. While short, the trip was certainly worth it.
After eating breakfast at the hotel, the group met at the expeditioner's shop on Main St. to get life jackets and join the crowd boarding a bus to the drop-off site. A 45-minute-or so drive brought everyone to the drop-off point to wait for the boats to be prepared and load up. Once on the water, Nigel wasted no time in diving into the arsenal Grandpa had brought along. With little concealment, Grandpa had brought an array of squirt guns and cannons to liven up the day. He and Nigel started with the small guns, as it was a remarkably cool July day, for Moab: cloudy, with the temperature in the 70s as we set off. Everyone struggled to get the small guns to fill, but Nigel persisted in filling them and immediately emptying them on everyone within reach (which consisted of Dad, Mom and Grandpa, and primarily Grandpa). Fortunately for everyone, the clouds cleared around the time of the first rapid, and the weather climbed toward a sunny 90 degrees.
Growing bored and frustrated by the small guns, Nigel wanted to trade up to the water cannons, and Dad finally turned him loose once the weather warmed up, but only to try to squirt the other boats. The guides of those boats were well accustomed to water fights, and allowed some good skirmishes between the boats to occur. In particular a French-speaking family took to splashing our boat and throwing water with anything they could find at hand, doing a pretty good job defending themselves with water bottles. Seeing a distinct imbalance, and having plenty of arsenal at-hand, Dad signaled a truce to the other boat and arranged a hand-off of two squirt cannons to them, to even things up. The skirmishes became more even-handed for a time, until the guides subtly spaced the rafts far enough apart to bring an end to the soakings. (This was later explained as probably a good safety measure, given the temperature and possibility of hypothermia, particularly for the smaller boat occupants.)
One more assault was planned - a sneak attack. Toward the end of the day, at a long flat water portion of the trip, Dad and Nigel jumped into the water with another traveler from their boat. They swam far ahead to catch up to the boat with the French-speaking family, bringing a single water cannon with them, but keeping it under the surface and out of sight. Upon reaching that other boat, Nigel (riding on Dad's back this whole time) brought forth the water cannon and he and Dad tried soaking the other kids as best they could. Their response was largely ineffective, given that Nigel and Dad were already in the river, and couldn't possibly get any more wet no matter how much squirting they received. It was a very devious plan.
The rapids were four in number and quite fun. Categorized as IIa and b, and IIIa, depending on water conditions, they made for some good excitement. In one case, the guide steered the raft to thoroughly soak the occupants on the left side, and another time soaked everyone sitting on the right side. Grandpa objected to the afternoon guide (we switched boats after lunch) about lack of aggression in the morning's chosen lines. That resulted in a huge blast of water up and over the bow of the boat in the afternoon rapid, and was quite the thrill.
Though Grandpa was hoping for a bit more excitement in the trip, reminiscent of his trips down Cataract Canyon in the Boy Scouts and with Grandma M., Mom easily had her fill of excitement, and Nigel also seemed quite satisfied with his first whitewater experience. The family would love to do another trip, and several such ideas have been floated.
After eating breakfast at the hotel, the group met at the expeditioner's shop on Main St. to get life jackets and join the crowd boarding a bus to the drop-off site. A 45-minute-or so drive brought everyone to the drop-off point to wait for the boats to be prepared and load up. Once on the water, Nigel wasted no time in diving into the arsenal Grandpa had brought along. With little concealment, Grandpa had brought an array of squirt guns and cannons to liven up the day. He and Nigel started with the small guns, as it was a remarkably cool July day, for Moab: cloudy, with the temperature in the 70s as we set off. Everyone struggled to get the small guns to fill, but Nigel persisted in filling them and immediately emptying them on everyone within reach (which consisted of Dad, Mom and Grandpa, and primarily Grandpa). Fortunately for everyone, the clouds cleared around the time of the first rapid, and the weather climbed toward a sunny 90 degrees.
Growing bored and frustrated by the small guns, Nigel wanted to trade up to the water cannons, and Dad finally turned him loose once the weather warmed up, but only to try to squirt the other boats. The guides of those boats were well accustomed to water fights, and allowed some good skirmishes between the boats to occur. In particular a French-speaking family took to splashing our boat and throwing water with anything they could find at hand, doing a pretty good job defending themselves with water bottles. Seeing a distinct imbalance, and having plenty of arsenal at-hand, Dad signaled a truce to the other boat and arranged a hand-off of two squirt cannons to them, to even things up. The skirmishes became more even-handed for a time, until the guides subtly spaced the rafts far enough apart to bring an end to the soakings. (This was later explained as probably a good safety measure, given the temperature and possibility of hypothermia, particularly for the smaller boat occupants.)
One more assault was planned - a sneak attack. Toward the end of the day, at a long flat water portion of the trip, Dad and Nigel jumped into the water with another traveler from their boat. They swam far ahead to catch up to the boat with the French-speaking family, bringing a single water cannon with them, but keeping it under the surface and out of sight. Upon reaching that other boat, Nigel (riding on Dad's back this whole time) brought forth the water cannon and he and Dad tried soaking the other kids as best they could. Their response was largely ineffective, given that Nigel and Dad were already in the river, and couldn't possibly get any more wet no matter how much squirting they received. It was a very devious plan.
The rapids were four in number and quite fun. Categorized as IIa and b, and IIIa, depending on water conditions, they made for some good excitement. In one case, the guide steered the raft to thoroughly soak the occupants on the left side, and another time soaked everyone sitting on the right side. Grandpa objected to the afternoon guide (we switched boats after lunch) about lack of aggression in the morning's chosen lines. That resulted in a huge blast of water up and over the bow of the boat in the afternoon rapid, and was quite the thrill.
Though Grandpa was hoping for a bit more excitement in the trip, reminiscent of his trips down Cataract Canyon in the Boy Scouts and with Grandma M., Mom easily had her fill of excitement, and Nigel also seemed quite satisfied with his first whitewater experience. The family would love to do another trip, and several such ideas have been floated.
Monday, July 13, 2015
2015-07-13: Sports Day: Tennis and Baseball
Dad and Nigel went to a park this afternoon to play some tennis. Dad invented a new game called Skyball they both thoroughly enjoyed. At the tennis court, there is a wall for practicing with oneself. Dad would hit a ball against that wall to Nigel, who would try to hit it up and over the fence the wall is attached to, practicing approaching the ball with a rising stroke. Nigel hit all six of the balls they were playing with over the fence a few times before they were finished for the day.
Upon arriving home, they decided to play baseball, and went down to Nic's house to invite him to play. He and his family were just returning from a day of boating, with patchy sunburns to show for it, so Nigel and Dad went home to play by themselves. That was not to be, however, as Trevor soon came by to talk, and ended up playing a fielding position. The weather was hot, and Dad called an end to the game after a few innings for drinks and cooling down, only to have Nic arrive wearing a baseball cap and fielder's mitt. Nigel and Dad finished their beverages and headed back out for a few more good innings.
Nigel now prefers pitched balls to hitting off a tee, and Dad acquired a thicker bat to make that workable for him. Nic swung a narrower bat that ramped the difficulty up just about the right amount to keep things pretty even between Nigel and himself. Nic and Nigel played on the same team, against Dad, which made for a pretty competitive game, really pushing Dad hard. Nic preferred to play in the field with his mitt, allowing Nigel to pitch, which went surprisingly well, Dad thought.
Following this game, Nigel seemed well worked, but Dad was completely exhausted and spent most of the remaining evening sitting with ice and heating packs on his sore ankle (still recovering from a nasty sprain incurred the previous year).
Upon arriving home, they decided to play baseball, and went down to Nic's house to invite him to play. He and his family were just returning from a day of boating, with patchy sunburns to show for it, so Nigel and Dad went home to play by themselves. That was not to be, however, as Trevor soon came by to talk, and ended up playing a fielding position. The weather was hot, and Dad called an end to the game after a few innings for drinks and cooling down, only to have Nic arrive wearing a baseball cap and fielder's mitt. Nigel and Dad finished their beverages and headed back out for a few more good innings.
Nigel now prefers pitched balls to hitting off a tee, and Dad acquired a thicker bat to make that workable for him. Nic swung a narrower bat that ramped the difficulty up just about the right amount to keep things pretty even between Nigel and himself. Nic and Nigel played on the same team, against Dad, which made for a pretty competitive game, really pushing Dad hard. Nic preferred to play in the field with his mitt, allowing Nigel to pitch, which went surprisingly well, Dad thought.
Following this game, Nigel seemed well worked, but Dad was completely exhausted and spent most of the remaining evening sitting with ice and heating packs on his sore ankle (still recovering from a nasty sprain incurred the previous year).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)