Superheroes in the house

Am I supposed to feel safer?

Well, it appears Edward's tween transition is good for at least one thing--a return to blogging. This story/photo is definitely one we'll want to remember.

Lately Edward has been asserting his independence by vehemently rejecting (for no reason) any plans I suggest. Last night I suggested we visit the new grocery store with a huge prepared food section to pick up items for a picnic dinner to take to the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. We could eat, the boys could ride their scooters and John and I could stroll around the lake on a pleasant July evening.

Edward's reaction to the idea: "NO!"

Why? "NO!"

OK, you can stay home by yourself. We'll be back in about an hour and a half.

This is mostly a bluff on my part because I know he is too scared to stay home alone. However, I think he could stay alone for a short time and would follow through if he actually called my bluff. I wouldn't put it out there otherwise.

So I'm telling Daniel to put his shoes on so we can go and calling upstairs to Edward that we'll be home by 7:30.

"NO!!! I don't want to stay home alone!!"

OK, then come get your shoes on and get in the car.

**Stomps downstairs and proceeds to put on two different shoes**

I think he was attempting to extend the argument and hoping that I would force him to wear matching shoes. Sorry kid, not gonna engage on that level. He's apparently just as stubborn as I am and went ahead with his sartorial statement.

He actually wasn't still mad by the time we got there, but made a face about me taking a photo and then insisted that I not share it because "Then people will see I have two different shoes." I didn't share with the wider Facebook audience, but it's now recorded in the family history that is this blog.

It ended up being a beautiful night, and we did have a nice time together. Truly, once we left home, Edward abandoned the attitude, eating dinner and happily propelling his scooter around the lake. We tried to find some rocks to skip, but mostly just ended up throwing to see how far they would go.

 I hope this level of family harmony can be sustained on our week-long vacation to northern Michigan a week from now!

Dinner conversation 

Daniel: When I'm a teenager I'm gonna be "swag."

John: What the heck does that mean?

Daniel: It's when you wear your pants low so your underwear shows. Teenagers do that. 

John: Since when is that called "swag?"

Edward: Get updated, Man!

Oh…these next few years will be interesting. 

And since I missed posting anything from baseball season, here are a few shots. You'll have to forgive the delay, for as both of my readers know, the baseball season pretty much took over our lives from April to June. The boys loved it (Daniel much more when he mastered the pitching machine and started getting hits) but I am not sad that it is over.

I was proud of Edward being named "best teammate" at the end of season pizza party. His coach was great and really took note of Edward's easy-going attitude.  Several teammates did not handle losses very well. Good thing they weren't on Daniel's team, which only won two games all season!

Grandma and Grandpa were superfans--coming out to the park for many, many games, including the end of season tournament while John was away in Germany. The boys are so lucky to have them close!

My parents also made it to two games the week John and I were in Japan. And the late May weather was masquerading as March so bonus points for them!

Daniel's shoes did not quite last the whole season. This was discovered while we were already at the park so the remedy was to make Edward, who had already completed his game, take his shoes off and hand them over.