2017-12-17: Nose Frog

While playfully tickle-wrestling with Mom today, Nigel called her "a big-footed nose frog". He has become even more playful lately, if that is possible. He is certainly more able to receive teasing in a playful way these days.

2017-12-10: Nigel's Best Joke Yet

Nigel has made up a new joke:
Why was the scientist so excited about pink?
He thought he had discovered cold fuchsia!

"I really know my pinks, Dad."

2017-12-05: Growing More Mature

Tonight, Nigel laughed his way through spelling, joking about having spelled "churches" as "chruches", and how that sounded like "truches", and spelling was noticeably easier for him, despite having some tough words this week. After spelling, he decided to grab his violin and composed a multi-minute song, freestyle. At bedtime, when Dad set his phone on Nigel's dresser, Nigel handed it back and said, "I want to keep my room clean."

Mom and Dad have both noticed a real step forward in Nigel's maturity recently.

2017-10-07: More Nigel Quotes

Nigel, on his stomach hurting since having eaten an entire box of Mac and Cheese for dinner, plus broccoli:
"We are not talking Yoda-quality decision-making here."

On rubber duck racing at Cornbelly's, with Calvin:
"Calvin, this is an excessive amount of ducks."

2017-09-23: Bread and Milk, Mom

With the family nearly ready to leave the house, Dad left the van to go back into the house to get something. After he left, Nigel said to Mom, "Sometimes I just don't get that guy; I mean bread and milk, Kelly, bread and milk."

2017-06-17: At Ivan's Yurt

The family took a trip down to Escalante to camp, and were invited to stop by Ivan's yurt in Teasdale to spend an evening with Ivan and his wife, Gabby. (Ivan is Mom's personal trainer.) Ivan and Gabby have a nice property there with an octagonal house in the center, which Ivan refers to as "the yurt".

While Mom and Dad primarily spent time talking with Ivan and Gabby, Nigel spent a good portion of the time roaming around the property to walk the entire fence line. Upon returning, he announced, "This place is so big you could put in a cemetery!"

2017-05-19: Emulsion in My Mouth

Said by Nigel during dinner this evening:

• "This macaroni noodle does not please me."
• "This tomato sauce, parsley and noodles don't really go together. It is like an emulsion in my mouth."

2017-04-02: March Madness

The family has been picking teams for March Madness this year. It is Nigel's first year participating in this family tradition. We revise our picks each round.

Semi-finals: Oregon Ducks lose to UNC. Noooooooooo! Nigel and Dad both picked the Ducks to go to the final game, and were saddened to see them lose. It was that team's first time in the Final Four since the very first Final Four!

The family is looking forward to tomorrow night's championship game, between Gonzaga and North Carolina. We are all rooting for Gonzaga, and since Nigel's wanted to watch some of the play this year, we may get to stay up a bit and watch this one!

2017-04-02: Season of Skiing Coming to an End

The family got season passes to Brighton this year, and made it to the resort to ride about every other weekend, all winter long. This was a first for the family, and everyone enjoyed it greatly. It may become a family tradition. It was also the first year Nigel did not take ski lessons, though he improved substantially just by going so often.

One of the main advantages of going so often was the ability to ride in may different conditions, from warm to moderately-cold (we skipped the coldest days), and sunny to dumping snow. It was a great snow year, with a 160" base by the end of the season, and Snowbird open until June! (Brighton, along with the other resorts, closed by Easter weekend, in April.) There were lots of soft snow days.

Nigel's favorite activity is ducking into the trees along the sides of the runs, particularly with Dad to chart a course. He can maneuver quite quickly in those situations, and has a good deal of confidence in his ability to do so.

Mom is thrilled to be able to ride her new board with little knee or ankle discomfort. (Yeah for a lightweight, flexible board, and a highly-adjustable stance!) Her turns have become smooth and easy, and she is feeling much more confident and at-ease.

Dad has really enjoyed being able to ride so much, and has taken up tuning the boards and skis himself, to help facilitate getting on the snow as much as possible. After some early struggles to get a good wax surface for riding, he found a methodology that has been producing a fast and fairly tough base, though he continues to optimize his waxing processes. (His edge tuning has been pretty good from the start.) Dad even got a request to tune a friend's board, and she was quite happy with the result!