A few memories from a summer day

In a single day, Grafton was introduced to the summer pleasures of a Slurpie and a milkshake. Taking the milkshake away from him before he finished its monstrous volume was like taking away an addict's next fix. No such issues with the Slurpie.

I showed Grafton how to use a fountain to make wishes, using a few pennies. Out loud, he wished to become a policeman when he grew up, a superhero for Halloween, and one another costume or profession which slips our memory. His first attempt at making a wish, he threw the penny straight over and past the fountain by about twenty feet.

On our way out of the house, he asked if we could go to Target and buy him the Lone Ranger Lego set he's been coveting for the past week. I told him he could buy it for himself if he brings his own money (he has a small amount of savings). He thought about it and then decided that he would buy it only after he finally got tired of his old Legos. We then talked about going to the movies, and he thought it better to stay home a watch a movie because the popcorn was too expensive at the theater. Ah, to learn the value of money!

Earlier in the day, Grafton spent 3 hours at the community garden with Mom, using a hoe to excavate an irrigation ditch in our garden plot. He enjoyed the work so much, he told Mom that he would start doing similar work for the other gardeners, as a way too earn money. After returning home, he spent an hour or two in the pool with Mom, until Dad returned from his bike ride.

Missed his own race!

Found a link to the below race on Velonews.com, and did a triple-take when I saw the name. Thought maybe I was delirious, after an active summer day in hot sun.

But I suppose there's still time to catch this event:

Manhan 20K

In muggy 90 degree heat, Grafton and Dad biked 20 kilometers today on the Manhan Rail Trail. We started at the Oxbow Marina in Easthampton and then headed north to, well,  Northampton. After stashing bikes at Dad's work and grabbing a bite at Woodstar Cafe, we made the return trip in the blazing sun. Grafton never slowed down! To keep motivation high, we play-acted the MotoGP World Championship teammate rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Grafton was Rossi and Dad was Lorenzo, and of course Rossi took the win at the end of the day.

24 miles

That's the distance Grafton has covered during his last 3 bike rides, all on the rail trail.

Here's the last one we did together as a family, averaging 8 mph!

 

Candy spot

At Wholefoods, I parked next to a handicapped parking spot. Grafton saw the sign and told me that I couldn't park in a "candy spot".

Snippets

After asking Grafton to brush his teeth yesterday night, he walks into my bathroom holding his rinse cup and tells me, "I'm doing an experiment". (He had mixed soap and water in his cup and was swirling it around.)

Earlier that evening, when Grafton asked me to play cars ("Spy Cars", to be exact), he told me that he would not not be bossy and that I could play the way I wanted to. (This bossy play behavior is something we've been trying to modify lately.)