Fearlessness in the Ocean

Here I Come
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

One of the interesting things about our trip to Miami was to observe the kids fearlessness in the ocean. Even Alex regularly ventured in chin deep, and would return to the sea even after getting his mouth washed with saltwater. When he was younger Alex liked to be knocked down by the waves close to the seashore, but now he likes to venture a few feet out letting the waves carry him up. With glee he has his mouth barely above water and his feet lifted above the seabed.
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He "is Full of Happiness."

I Can't Believe It
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

One of the things that is interesting about Michael, is that overall he is a very happy person. In fact, in February, as he was going to sleep he told Jens that he "is full of happiness." To an extant you have to wonder if his happiness may curtail his achievements; if he is already happy, he won't need accolades or accomplishements to increase his well being. If that is true, then some of his compulsiveness is a good thing; that maybe since he is already happy he needs his compulsive behaviors to accomplish the things he is capable of.
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Norton has never been to Miami

Bear Boy
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

The boys did well last week visiting the ladies of South Florida. They conversed well and, while the adults were talking, entertained themselves. Generally we visited people in the late afternoon, after the boys played by the beach. This allowed for them to be a little less energetic. Of course both drives were at least a half an hour (in opposite directions), so that allowed them to charge up a bit.

Alex took Snowflake to each location, and at Ann's place he and Michael played hide Snowflake and go seek. That bear gets around more than Norton. After all Norton has never been to Miami.
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This was your Lucky Vacation

Coming And Going
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

After we arrived at Port Columbus, Michael found a penny on the floor. He saw the penny, picked it up and Alex said, "Michael, this was your lucky vacation!" You see Michael had found about 6 lucky pennies while on the road.

Jenny really liked the idea of it being a lucky vacation, and just the utterance of the thought makes her smile.
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Slide Train

Slide Train
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

As always, the boys enjoyed their trip to Florida. Out of all the hotels we stayed at this one had the nicest pool. It was set in a garden and was so authentic, that Alex called the walk into it our 'nature hike.' The pool was a series of lagoons and waterfalls. The boys liked the hot tubs, but really liked the waterslide. It was not as impressive as the one at the rec center, but it was outside, and it was warm and sunny.
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Kung Fu Reader

Kung Fu Reader
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Michael's reading abilities seem to improve at an ever increasing pace. In the last 2 days he has started and finished a book in a single day. Of course these are children's chapter books, but still it is impressive.

The hardest thing has been to get him to buy into new reading material; he has loved his Magic Treehouse series, but has been much more close minded about starting other similar collections. Well, recently he finished all the currently printed Magic Treehouses (all 35!), and that has forced him to read new material such as a "Mouse called Wolf". He fought it first, but has found some stuff that he enjoys enough that he starts and finished in a day.
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Impressive Enough that She was Going to Share it with all the OtherTeachers

A Boy And His Blanket
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Alex has been doing well lately. In his parent teacher conference Mrs. Carpenter raved about his mathematical and problem solving ability. In fact something that he did (she did not specify what to Jens) was impressive enough that she was going to share it with all the other teachers in the district at their math council. He is one smart panda.

In addition to being smart, he is also good and unfortunately that is less common than you would hope for. When Jens was watching Alex's friend Jacob and his kid brother at Chuck E Cheese Jacob took all the tickets from his brother. A different friend, Will, was using inappropriate language at locker soccer and then lied to Jens face about it. Not only does Alex not do these things, they clearly registered as the wrong way on his moral compass and that is good.
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