Souvenirs

One of our favorite things to do as a family is spend time in the Upper Peninsula.  For the past several years, we've rented a house in Laurium, which is between Houghton and Copper Harbor in the Keweenaw Peninsula.  We have made some traditions that we 'always' do when we are Up North.  We always make at least one drive to Copper Harbor.  We always stop by the Jam Pot and buy a year's supply of jelly from the monks who run the place.  We always spend one afternoon playing in Torch Lake.  We always tour a copper mine (we alternate between the Quincy Mine and the Delaware Mine).  And we always make a stop at Copper World in Calumet to buy souvenirs. 

Sometimes the boys only get one small item.  This year, I just let them tell me what they wanted, then Bill and I decided if it was appropriate or not.  Surprisingly, none of them asked for anything really outlandish or expensive.

TJ.  Last year, TJ got a copper eagle necklace.  He loved it and wore it everywhere.  It broke at the beginning of June, and he was devastated.  We had promised he could get a new one, so he did (not a bad investment for $5).  He also requested a U.P. hat, which Bill could not say 'no' to...

 

Nolan is my stuffed animal lover.  He can't be surrounded by too many of them.  He wanted a large husky dog, but I asked him if he would mind a smaller one instead.  Of course not!  He also got a tiny $1 piece of copper.  He was overjoyed.  The dog's name is Kip.

Then there's Sam.  All Sam wanted was information on copper mines.  Bill helped him find a book on the Delaware Mine, and well, you can see how happy Sam was.  The shop owner, Tony, told Sam that the book he had selected was very special, as it is now out of print.  Sam was pretty proud when he heard that.  He also selected a nice piece of copper.

 

Bill was happy, because I  let him pick out a new tee shirt AND a new sweatshirt (we happened to be in the store on Father's Day, so I was feeling somewhat generous).  And I scored a tee shirt on the clearance rack.  Everyone was happy.  But no one was quite as pleased as Sam.

7 a.m. wake-up

School mornings are tough for Sam. He is NOT a morning person, and he tends to move slowly, even when he's in a good mood. That means getting him up, dressed, and fed by 7:45 can be a bit rough. I start at 7 a.m. by turning the light on and telling him it's time to get up. As I walk down the hallway to do this, I pass TJ. He is already dressed and heading downstairs. He is just like his dad, who enjoys mornings. I wake up Nolan right after Sam and he promptly gets up and gets dressed. 

Around 7:05, I yell down the hall to Sam that he'd better be moving. Around 7:10, I'll check and see he is still in bed. I remind him that he MUST be heading downstairs by 7:20 or he will be in trouble with me. At 7:19, Sam finally gets moving and races downstairs just in the nick of time. Then I have to prod him through breakfast in time to catch the bus. 

So mornings can be very exhausting. I feel like a prison warden. Imagine my surprise last week Wednesday when I looked in Sam's room to see his bed was empty. I figured he was in the bathroom but that was empty too. I asked TJ where Sam was and he had no idea. 

We found him. The day before, Bill had finally gotten a couple sprinkler zones working. Sam was up, dressed, and outside at 7:00, just checking on the sprinklers. He did the same thing on Thursday, the last day of school. It was wonderful!

I'm wondering if we can keep the sprinklers on year-round. 

Mass and Energy

The other day, shortly before bedtime, Nolan came trotting into my bedroom. He informed me he was really tired and he needed to see what he weighed. He messed around the with the scale for a minute ('tap on it, wait for the zero, then step on it'!). After a long pause he said, "That's funny. I still weigh 44. Even though I'm really tired."

I laughed and explained that your weight doesn't change even when you're tired. Nolan was a bit annoyed. That wasn't interesting to him at all. So he decided to weigh his wristwatch. He has quite the watch. He says it weighs four pounds.