Sam, cat whisperer

Sam continues to amaze me with our cats. Yesterday, he simply crooked his finger in their direction and they went to him. At least once a day, I see him lying on the floor, talking quietly to the cats. It's funny and sweet at the same time. 

The month of September is going to be rough. The house won't be done when we move out of our current home on August 29, so Bill's work is putting us up in a hotel on the east side of the state until the house is done. The cats most likely will not be with us. I'm hoping we wind up in a place (like Extended Stay) that takes pets. It's just one less thing to worry about. And one more thing that will provide some normalcy for the boys. 

Problem solver

Tonight, Sam wanted to know what Katie weighed. He just came home from 10 days at Cran-Hill last night, so Katie was happy to see him and was willing to put up with his experiment. Sam is her favorite boy. 

Sam picked Katie up and lugged her in to my bathroom. He climbed on the scale. Together, they weigh 63 pounds. He set Katie down and weighed himself. 54 pounds. He then subtracted his weight from the first number to figure out what the car weighs. Is this rocket science? Of course not. But (at not quite 7 years old) he figured it out all by himself. Bill was very proud and gave Sam a big high five. 

And Sam informed me that when he grows up, his truck will have a trailer hitch on it. Well, duh. :-)

The joy of camping

This is our annual week at Cran-Hill Ranch. All three of our boys have now reached the delightful age where they don't require constant supervision. Nolan tends to stay close to the trailer and TJ and Sam must let me know where they are going to be (plus, they each have a two-way radio, which is quite helpful). And of course, they are not allowed on the beach unless an adult is with them. But other than that, they have a pretty loose schedule. And I love it. 

Sam is in his glory. He told me that Sunday (the day we headed up here) is his favorite day of the year. He was so excited he was literally skipping. All week, he has kept himself busy. I bought him a pond net and he has been fishing out tadpoles and other specimens from the pond to show me. He's been on nature walks. He's gotten absolutely filthy (no joke, I had to scrub him down several times before he was the right skin color again) by playing in the sand dunes. Bill is teaching him to ride a two-wheeler. Multiple people have arrived with trailers and Sam has gotten to watch them set up. The barn store has sherbet and lactose-free soft serve ice cream for him to choose from. He gets to pull Auntie Boo's wagon around and pretend it's his trailer. 

 

He has been smiling almost non-stop. I love watching him have a great time. 

Wimps

Proving that black-out blinds are for wimps, here is Nolan, sound asleep at Papa and Grandma's house in Grand Haven yesterday. He apparently felt it was too bright in the bedroom, so he fell asleep with both hands pressed firmly over his eyes. 

He no longer takes daily naps, but yesterday's nap was important since he stayed up late and watched the fireworks.