Summer!

The forecast was for upper 80's and lots of sun today, so we put in the effort to load up the car with the canoe and head out to the St. Croix. Usually the logistics of such a trip kind of sours me before we even start, but I went in with a good attitude today. And it was so worth it. I'd do it again tomorrow if the weather was right. We put in at Osceola and within 5o yards Eli was unable to resist the pull of the river- he jumped right over the side of the canoe and into the lovely waters of the Croix. It was the perfect temperature- refreshingly cool, but not cold. The water fluctuated from ankle deep to way over their heads and they delighted in it all. They donned their PFD's as diapers (have you ever tried it? It is the best) and floated behind the canoe, hanging on to ropes. When it got too shallow they would bound behind us in wide-legged straddling lopes, diaper lifejackets slowing them down...then they would topple over a dropoff and shout with glee while they frantically groped for the trailing ropes. Jon and I tried our best to ditch them, but they were wily. Raptors were circling endlessly overhead and we even saw an airplane release a glider it had been towing. Theo had to remind me that our national bird is a bald eagle, not a 'bald-headed eagle' as I called out when one swooped by. We stopped at several sandbars and tried to catch minnows darting through the shallows. Ok, Jon did that with the boys while I laid back in the stern, trailing my hands in the cool water -thinking about how great it is to have nothing else to do all day but mosey downstream. And to think that this little paradise is less than one hour from our house. The pictures are of sandbar exploration- I like that I seem to have captured Theo walking on water.

mood swings

We were out at Camp St. Croix's 100th anniversary this past weekend. The weather was lovely, it was a joy to see my kids express some ownership of the camp now that they have a few years of daycroix under their belts, and I had belly laughs with people I hadn't seen for 15-20 years. It is amazing to me how we all remembered different little stories from those summers back in the late 80's, but as soon as someone brought an incident up, the whole story flashed back to me in total color, and I found myself bursting with laughter. I wish that more 80's-90's staff would have made appearances, but overall it was a sweet little weekend.
Of course it would not be complete for Theo unless we made a trip to the camp store. Nothing is finished for Theo unless it is capped off with a little consumer spending. He eagerly cruised the crowded displays of mugs, keychains, and t-shirts all emblazoned with the camp logo. And settled on a mood necklace. A black cord holding a silver pony whose interior is composed of that mood ring stuff. No mention of Camp St. Croix on it, but that did not sway him. He bought it and immediately begin pressing it to his skin and then reading the little label to find out what mood he was in. At first I was thinking 'waste of money!' but then realized that Theo has a lot of moods and any help I could get in reading any of them would be worth any size of investment. All day Sunday he kept getting a reading of solid blue- calm and peaceful- which was great, because it convinced him to act calm and peaceful. This morning he came downstairs, still rubbing his eyes, but with the necklace clasped in his palm, taking his first 'reading' for the day. While he stood there I popped one of our first garden strawberries in his mouth. His eyes lit up and he let out an involuntary groan of delight. Then the reading- it came out a swirl of blue, green, and pink. He did a quick consult of the label to find out what this could possibly mean. Here's our conversation:

Theo: Blue- peaceful- well, I am still feeling all sleepy and calm. Green- slightly anxious- well, I am starting to get excited about going to Grandma and Grandpa's tonight with the cousins. Pink- Love???

Me: Obvisously- that's because you love me so much.

Theo: Yeah. Hmmmm... NO! the pink is for that strawberry!!! I loved that!!! This necklace sure does work!

I felt a little shafted, but I like that Theo is under the impression that there is a tool that can explain himself to him. And to us. Because we sure have found ourselves wondering from time to time.

Beautiful

As I walked into Expo this am for my normal Friday am volunteer shift I noticed a couple of large speakers wired up and facing the flagpole field. I wondered if they had been accidentally left out from the fun run the previous evening- but no, about 5 minutes into the day Ulla began to usher Theo's class outside for the (apparently) annual all school group dance. I finished up a task I was working on, debating if I should continue to enter homework into the gradebook or go out and check it out. Then Sam A turned up late and was a little panicked that he could not find the class. I walked him out and found the flagpole field jam packed with 700 kids. They were lined up roughly by grade level, eyes eagerly on Ms. Bev Stoffels, the gym teacher (only they call it BK now for Bodily Kinistetic- this generation is so technically minded). The little kindergartners in the front were literally bouncing with excitement (yep- I'm talking about Haakon- he was adorably fired up) while in the back some of the sixth graders were striving for looks of practiced boredom. But then old Bev cranked up the volume and the Cha-Cha Slide boomed out over the kids. I didn't see a single one who could resist it. There were 700 kids- from all types of families and backgrounds and ethnicities and cultures- all grooving to the latest (probably not THE latest, because even I know about it) hip hop dance hit. From hip hop they slid into the Macarena and then finished up with a triumphant version of the great gay anthem 'YMCA'. I loved hearing all the kids belting out "Young Man!" while they swiveled their hips and got ready for the big chorus. Let it be known that the teachers were having a blast. I got teary eyed. Don't let my kids know, they'd be embarrassed. But to see the entire huge group grooving away to these songs, throwing cool to the wind in favor of just plain energetic fun, made my day.

Growing up

Theo's second front tooth has been hanging by a thread for weeks. This weekend, after fortifying himself with 253 swedish pancakes (they are thin), he stood up on his breakfast chair, grabbed the dangling tooth, and gave it a good tug. His astonishment when the tooth popped out nearly toppled him from the chair. He danced around the house tooth in hand and tongue pressed through the big opening in his mouth.
By nighttime he was a bit more reflective about the whole experience. He had tucked his tooth under his pillow and then accosted me in the hallway. "Mom. I know who the tooth fairy is." Uh-oh. "It's Milo's dad." Whew. He went on to explain the complicated logic behind his deduction. I agreed that it sure sounded like Milo's dad was indeed the fairy in question. Then he went off to find Jon. Apparently as he explained it to Jon he began to doubt his theory. Jon said that his face clouded a bit and then Theo said, "Well, actually I think there might be a tooth fairy in every family, and I'm feeling a little embarrassed right now because I think I might be talking to the one in this family...." Whereupon he took off to bed, hand reflexively darting underneath the pillow to check his stash. Jon found me and whispered that the gig was up.
But is it? Theo woke up several times that night, each time dancing into our room and stage whispering, "I can't sleep!! Do you think I should check to see if the fairy has come yet????" When morning finally arrived he bounded in and jumped onto the bed, shiny coin in hand, tongue busy working the empty spot, and a grin a mile wide.

A good story

Reading with Theo is quite entertaining. Every story is played out in his little body. When good things happen, he laughs uproariously. When it gets tense he starts fidgeting madly, picking at this fingernails or even toenails, wringing his hands, gasping. And when something bad happens his little face crumbles and he cries out. Watching his face is amazing- he draws his lips in, his mouth becoming a cave, his eyes sparkle with tears, and he seems to lose two inches of height, even though he is usually lying down in bed while we read. Tonight, we were getting some foreshadowing that in the upcoming third book of the Unicorn Chronicles the evil Hunters might find their way into Luster and do damage to the good Unicorns. Theo crumbled. Started gasping. It just so happened that Eli happened into the room in that second, having finished book number 365 of the day and was heading toward the ladder and up to his bunk. He heard me trying to explain to Theo that every good story needed some kind of tension, that all good all the time was boring. Eli, without a moment's hesitation says, "....and the unicorns lived in a valley of daisies. They spent their days making flower garlands and drinking fruit cordials....the end. I hope you liked our story brought to you from Pretty Pony Productions." I guffawed at the mention of cordials. How DOES he come up with these words? It did the trick and brought Theo out of his near hysteria. Then Eli climbed up into the bunk and started whispering more of his conflict-free tale ".....hello my dear Mrs. Lightfoot, would you like some of my sparkling pear cordial, it has been fermenting for twelve years...." Man, that kid can use words in a way that boggles my mind. I'm off to the hallway to see if I can catch more of his tale. Who says that conflict free is boring? 12 year old cordials? Things are about to get exciting.

Mother's day love

Jon took the boys off into the woods and snapped some lovely pictures without my knowing. They then put a bunch of the new pictures in frames that were already around the house. It only took me a day to notice. Here are a few of the outtakes- in all their glory:

With a Rebel Yell

Last night we were doing a little youtube trolling and somehow landed on some old Billy Idol videos. Don't ask how we got there- it was a long and windy road- and thoroughly enjoyable. Theo took one look at Billy scowling his way through 'Dancing With Myself" and proclaimed "I could look like that!!" It is true that his smile is definitely lopsided and tends to a left sided smirk- and when he is telling himself a good tale it is always told out of only one side- his lips skewed and stretched over to the left. He watched with saucer eyes, something calling to him. We were finally able to pry him away and get him in the bath. At first he was protesting, but then found a pair of goggles and soon enough he was telling himself a tale, half out/half under water. Jon and I moved on to better videos. Erasure. Men at Work. After a while we sensed a presence watching over our shoulders and we turned to find this:

He had stuck his hair up with soap- after getting out of the tub- and was trying with all his might to scowl. He does it better when he is not trying. But try he did- hoisting himself up on the sink to check out his 'smirk' early and often. Thankfully he seems to have forgotten this overnight, but he has claimed that it is what he wants to be next Halloween. Billy Idol. He is already thinking about enlisting his grandma Sherry to construct the artfully ripped up leather vest. Worn over a bare chest. Here's hoping next Oct. 31 is a warm one.