Birdhouse building 101...

All winter long Pam and I sat in our pentagon room watching the birds come and go, and then watched them build nests this spring.  There were some who built them in trees, some who found a spot on the pergola to nest, and some who were fortunate enough to build in one of the bird houses we have back along the fence and the wood pile.  Other than an intrusion by one of the farm cats or a raiding starling, things go along pretty routinely as far as the spring reproduction cycle goes.

So, then we were getting ready to go visit the grandkids in NY and wondered how all of this happens there.  After all, this is the Big Apple...things have to be more hectic, grander and maybe a bit more dangerous there, don't they? 

They have a small back yard, and it is constantly patrolled by cats and squirrels.  I expect it is quite a struggle for some of them to have a successful hatch.  So -- I thought, why not do something to change some of that and give the kids a little project.

I went to the local hardware store and bought lumber, screws, nails and painting equipment and decided to make some bird houses. 

Of course, I had to make each one of them unique and different for each of the kids, so I chose the ones shown above.  The top one is the "Q" house (for Quinn), the middle one is the "H" house (for Heath) and the bottom one, naturally, is the "V" house (for Vivian).  I cut them all out one day prior to the trip, pre-drilled them and got them all ready.  All they had to do was finish nailing or screwing them together and paint them, and they would then be ready to hang up in the trees in their back yard.

Assembly went pretty smoothly, but painting was the best part.  All of the kids got to paint their own house.  Quinn was all business -- paint it and move on to something else.  Heath was pretty particular and spent a good bit of time squatting over his, getting into the cracks and making sure it was all covered.  Vivian, on the other hand, was bound and determined to do it her own way.  She, too, was very particular and made it clear that she needed no help from anyone.  She was going to paint  that house no matter how long it took.  She had a tendency to do one spot for quite a while and when Grandpa tried to help or move her to another spot that needed paint, she let me know that she was in charge.

One funny thing that came up was when Vivian finally got to a point where she was "done" with her work, I took the brush from her and she started to cry.  I think she wanted to keep painting, and painting, and painting. 

Well, when she was still crying, I used my best Tom Hanks voice and said: "Vivian, there's no crying in painting."  Well, she found that pretty funny, and broke out in a laugh.  I adapted that line to a couple of other situations over the weekend, and each time she went from crying to immediate laughter.  Tom Hanks -- eat your heart out. 

 So, when all the houses were dry, we "hung" them in the trees.  

We added the appropriate identifier to each house so the bird housing authority could keep them straight.  The latest report is that they have not been occupied yet, but we missed the nesting season so they may get to weather for this year and will be ready for occupancy next spring.  We'll get periodic updates.


If you do not do enough fun, silly things while you are young, you'll have nothing to talk about when you are old.
Hooah

Quinn earns his Bear Badge...

I got a text from my son last night telling me that my grandson, Quinn, had earned his Bear Badge in Cub Scouts.  That is quite an accomplishment and we are very proud of him. 

I am so glad he took up scouting and has stayed with it.  I have always been a big outdoor enthusiast and am so glad to see that he has taken an interest in scouting, which will lead to an enjoyment of the great outdoors.  Perhaps one of these days, he and I (and maybe his dad and brother Heath) will be able to go camping somewhere.  That would be super.  I think it is good for young boys to learn a sense of fieldcraft at an early age.  Probably not going to be a mountain man, but those skills come in handy and the respect one comes to have for nature and things outdoors really helps to round out one's development. They are things one remembers all through their life.

I won't start packing up the tents and poles right away; my wife might think I am getting a bit close to the edge.  But all that stuff is out in the barn and I know right where all of it is.  Probably wouldn't take more than an hour to gather it all up and load it in the Jeep.  Wonder what Quinn and Doug would think of trap shooting. Hmmmmm.

I still remember the entire Boy Scout motto. I don't remember the serial number of my gun in the army. I don't remember the number of my locker in school. But I remember that Boy Scout code. Tommy Lasorda
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/tommylasor610903.html?src=t_scout

I still remember the entire Scout motto. I don't remember the entire serial number of my rifle in the Army.  I don't remember the number of my locker in school.  But I remember that Scout Code.  (Tommy Lasorda)

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I still remember the entire Boy Scout motto. I don't remember the serial number of my gun in the army. I don't remember the number of my locker in school. But I remember that Boy Scout code.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/tommylasor610903.html?src=t_scout

I still remember the entire Boy Scout motto. I don't remember the serial number of my gun in the army. I don't remember the number of my locker in school. But I remember that Boy Scout code. Tommy Lasorda
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/tommylasor610903.html?src=t_scout

I still remember the entire Boy Scout motto. I don't remember the serial number of my gun in the army. I don't remember the number of my locker in school. But I remember that Boy Scout code. Tommy Lasorda
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/tommylasor610903.html?src=t_scout

Boy does this bring back memories...

The annual Pinewood Derby was held in Brooklyn last week.  Thought you might want to see my grandson, Quinn, winning one of his races.  I bet a lot of you have done this in the past.  Great memories.

The coolest thing is that the other guys all cheer for each other, and the memories often last into adulthood.

"When I was in Cub Scouts, I got stuck on Webelos for three years because I kept losing the Pinewood Derby."  (George Costanza)

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What goes around comes around ...

What a surprise I got last week -- my grandson, Quinn, went to his first Cub Scout meeting.  I didn't even know he knew what Cub Scouts was, let alone was going to go to a meeting.  But Doug texted me a note one evening telling me that he was taking him to a meeting to see if he would be interested. The next day, he said it was pretty much a bunch of kids running around.  Doug said he kinda remembered that from his early days as a Cub.  I had to laugh to myself.  But this week he sent us a picture of Quinn in his uniform.  Doug said they are broken down into Dens now and they are moving forward.

Doug did pretty well in going through the ranks of Cub scouting.  He had lots of badges on his shirt and seemed to do pretty well at it.  Pam was one of his Den Mothers and that was really neat to watch.   Here aer some pictures of Doug's shirt and vest.

The history of scouting in our family goes back to when my dad took my brother and me to our first Cub  Scout meetings back in Zanesville.  Our pack was associated with/sponsored by the Armco Steel Company.  I stuck with it through Boy Scouts (First Class).

So now it looks like the tradition might continue.

One thing I really like to see is the enthusiasm on his face.  Pretty impressive for a 7-yr. old.  I certainly hope he likes it. It will open up a lot of avenues of exploration and challenges, and serve as something he can take pride in as he moves through the different levels and earns badges and arrow points.  I can't wait to see if he makes a pine wood derby car.  That will be fun to see.

Oh, by the way, notice the Minion pumpkin behind him that they made for Halloween.  Pretty cool, guys.

The values you learn as a Scout are like a compass. They can help you find your way through difficult and sometimes uncharted terrain. (Bill Bradley)

Hooah

I forgot to post this. Hope you like it...

I took this video of Quinn putting out reindeer food at Christmas. Turn up your sound and enjoy.

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!  (Irish proverb)

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What a way to celebrate #5...

Quinn turned 5 last week and what a celebration. 

He and his brother and parents were at Lake Gaston with the Mills families.  I don't know many other youngsters who celebrate a 5th birthday in such a grand fashion.

Tubing with mom.

Tubing with dad.

I'm helping my big brother celebrate.

Doug said Quinn would have stayed out there all day if he could have.  Not too bad for a little guy who just started taking swimming lessons. 

Quinn, remember this...You will not grow old by merely living out a random number of years.  You will grow old by losing your lust for life, by deserting you creative spark, by losing sight of what God has given you.  You will not know what this means now, but only know that years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.  (Irish blessing)
 
Hooah

Now it's our turn...

Many, many years ago, my grandmother took me to see the circus in New York.  It was the Greatest Show on Earth -- the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus and it was playing at the Madison Square Garden.  I was pretty young then, and really impressed with all the trappings of the circus.  The animals, the strange-looking people (some of whom were even in the circus), and the surroundings. It was quite a show.  Having read about it before we left Zanesville, I thought I knew what to expect.  However, it was every bit as advertised -- the greatest show on earth.  Every grandparent should have the opportunity to take their grandchild to the land of make believe and wonder.

Now, many years later, my memories have shifted a bit.  I do remember getting sick because I ate too much junk food (and that is why I wouldn't let our grandson have a cotton candy when we went this past week).  I also remember all the shiny toys and trinkets and how much I wanted to have  ............. whatever it was.  I can't remember now!!  Anyway, it was a great time.  So when we were planning to visit NY to stay with DDQ&H for the week (Quinn's schools were closed for Spring Break) and Doug sent us an email telling us that the circus was in town, I knew we had to take Quinn. What an opportunity.

Since Doug had to work and Danika had to stay with Heath, we would have to navigate the subway system all by ourselves (well, Quinn would be there and surprisingly, he knew his way around pretty well).  It wasn't that big of a deal.  It was only 10 stops and one flight of stairs.  Piece of cake.

So here we are at the Barclays Center getting ready to go in for the show. It was really pretty good, but had a little more gymnastics than I remember.  And I didn't see the clowns who would twirl the plates up on sticks.  I missed them.  But all in all, it still had the big show appeal.

 

On the way out of the show, Quinn convinced us that he had never had a snow cone before and he really, really wanted one.  So, since we're either the two most gullible people on the earth, or just because we thought it would be fun to have a frozen ice treat too, we bought one for him.  I have never seen such a blue mouth before.

But like I said, it was fun for us, and pretty amazing to see him react to everything.  This is truely one of those things every grandparent should experience.  Who knows -- maybe your grandson will also get to put on a big red nose and think just for a second what fun it would be to belong to a circus.  Maybe you'll put it on yourself!!

Sometimes I think God wants there to be a circus so we can show there's another way to respond.  (Tony Dungy)

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P.S.  While I was watching the Rignmaster do his thing out there, and he was really quite good at it, I wondered where he got his training.  I wondered if he was a theater or music graduatge from a college or university.  I mean it makes sense, doesn't it.  Anyway, the point  is -- I bet his parents are proud of him -- graduating with a degree and then running off to join the circus :-)

Three strikes, but I'm still in there...

Last week, Pam and I had the opportunity to go to NY to take care of Quinn for three days.  The NY schools had something like a mid-winter ski week vacation, so all the schools were closed.  With Doug and Danika still having to work, they asked us if "we would mind coming over to be with Quinn for a few days."  I don't even think Grandma had logged off the computer before she had the kennel on the line to check for openings. 

They have another week off in April sometime, and Grandpa Randy and Grandma Margret will get to be with him.  Probably not much hesitation on their part either!!

Anyway, that's not the story line.  Let me tell you of the trials leading up to getting out of our driveway and then I'll relate some Quinn moments.

I had somehow contracted a pretty good sinus cold (Strike One) just a couple of days before going.  I thought it would go away pretty quickly because these sorts of things do with me.  I was sniffling pretty good, but that wasn't going to stop me.  So out to the garage with the last piece of luggage and the dog's things for the kennel.  I then brought out Bailey, lifted her up into the back of the Jeep and began to pull down the back door.  All of a sudden, "WHACK!#*%!!" -- the leading edge of the tailgate came crashing down across the bridge of my nose (Strike Two).  I saw a few stars and felt my knees get a bit weaker, but I didn't go down.  I did have a handful of blood though. 

So now, I had a nose full of sinus junk and yuck from the aforementioned karate chop from the tailgate.  Fortunately, my nose wasn't broken, but I figured I would need an orange wide load triangle to hang around my neck.  After a few choice words, we were off, complete with cold cloth on my nose.

The drive was pretty uneventful and we made it in just under 10 hours, door to door.  I guess I was owed one because there was a parking place right in front of their apartment that opened up just as we drove up.

The best part of the day, however was the greeting I got from Quinn when we walked in the house.  He came running across the room yelling "Grandpa, Grandpa" and jumped up for me to catch him.

 I wasn't much count the first day there, but got better after that.  We visited the NY Aquarium (I drove straight to it -- piece of cake).  We read some books, played with most of his toys, and went to the "water-fish park" (but didn't stay too long because it was very windy and cold).

 We also baked cookies, and Pam and he made stick toys and other things with his art supplies. Unfortunately with all my sinus issues, Pam got saddled with most of the morning time, but she wasn't complaining.

 

This is called "The Happy Cookie Dance."

The trip back was fine -- a little snow in the PA mountains, but nothing stuck to the roads where we were.  The Jeep got a little over 25 m.p.g. on the way over, but only about 19.7 on the way back (20-30 m.p.h. head winds all day long).

So now, it's almost a week later, and the sinus infection is getting better, and the nose didn't swell up too much.  No black and blue.  I do have one word of caution however, if you want to try one of those breathe-right strips, just beware that if you put it on tightly you may peel off skin when you take it off (Strike Three).  For the last two days, it looks like I had been in some sort of fist fight.

Oh, and one other thing -- I would caution you against trying to shave  while sniffling.  I got a pretty good shaving cut (Strike Four ?) doing that.

Given the ups and downs, the ups (being with D,D&Q and Pam in NY) far outweighed the downs.  I'll take a visit with them any time!!

Grandparents, like heroes, are as necessary to a child's growth as vitamins. (Joyce Allston)
 
Hooah

First Field Trip...

Last week, the preschool (a.k.a. Big boy school) that Quinn attends in Brooklyn took a field trip to a petting farm located in Queens.  It was his first field trip ever, and I think it was his first trip in a school bus.  What a day.  Doug said it was supposed to be about 45 min. away via the expressway, but the traffic that morning turned it into a 3-hour trip getting there.  He said the kids did alright, but some of the parents got a bit frazzled.  Anyway, they got there just fine, and were greeted by the guides who asked "Who wants to take a pony ride."

That was the start of a great day for them.  And when I saw the pictures, I had to think back to some of my childhood, growing up in a rural Ohio setting, surrounded by farms.  I spent many summer days working for neighbor farmers, cutting, raking and baling hay and straw, stacking it in barns, cleaning out pig pens, showing pigs at the county fair, and even milking goats for one old lady who got sick and had us look after things for a while.

Seeing Quinn in these pictures really brought back some memories of good times.  How lucky he was to have gone on a trip like this. 

I really don't know what kind of chicken this is, but I am totally surprised he is holding it.

When he was telling us about the pigs, he said, "They stink."  Maybe some day I'll tell him about the summer I slept in the hog pens with our pigs during fair week.  I don't recall it being that smelly, but then we were just teenagers and may have smelled as bad as the surroundings and just didn't know the difference.

This picture really surprised me, him being out there in the middle of the sheep.  He really doesn't like our dog, Bailey, coming up to him.  Maybe he's growing up.  Maybe it's just because all his classmates were there too.

And what would a field trip be without a bunch of worn out kids sleeping on the bus on the way home. What a great experience.

To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while.

Hooah

Good Weekend Trip...

This past weekend was pretty good for us -- we took a quick weekend trip to NY to see Doug, Danika and Quinn.  Gas was sitting at $3.69 when we left Anna, and the news was reporting that the NY prices were hovering around $4.39.  Ah, what the heck.  These little trips are always fun, and maybe we'll be responsible for reviving the economy.  I got 22 mpg going over.  Usually get 24, but the traffic that day was pretty heavy.  Little did I know that I would drive into 30 mpg sustained winds all the way back to Ohio on Sunday.  That was the day the big tornadoes hit the North Carolina area.  Well, we only got 17 mpg going home.  I have never driven in such heavy winds for such a long time (10 hour drive).

When we got to their apartment on Friday, we spent time helping Quinn paint his new model car.  Kinda creative.  We let it dry a while and then put the stickers on.  He/we really had a good time doing this.  He is SO particular in where he wants to put certain colors and stickers.  He studied the box to see where they should go and then he told us where he would be putting them.

 We went to the Coney Island Beach, but the winds were really blowing and it was really cold, so we drove back to the apartment and played some more with his car and his other toys.  We also played a game of concentration, after Quinn read the directions.

On Saturday, we went to the NY Museum of Natural History to see a huge dinosaur exhibit.  Very impressive.  And how fortunate he is to be exposed to that kind of history and see those kinds of things.  Doug and Danika take him to these exhibits, to the aquarium, to the other zoos and things, to the beach -- what a growth experience for a child.  He soaks it up like a sponge.

 Pam and I got to baby-sit for him (actually, he was in bed already) while D&D went out for dinner.  We've wanted to do this, but living so far away (for now?) has prevented it. That's why these trips are special.

 And of course, no visit would be complete without some wrestling on the floor.

 What a bargain grandchildren are ... we give them our time, and they give us back a million dollars' worth of pleasurable memories.

Hooah