liam at 10

It is really interesting to watch as Liam goes from being a little kid to being a tween, or at least an almost tween. He is moody and rolls his eyes at us A LOT, but he can still be really sweet when the planets are aligned.

 

Today was kind of the best of times and the worst of times for Liam. He got an iPod shuffle for his birthday, and was super excited to put on his headphones and dance around. But then he went to the dentist for a regular checkup, and unexpectedly got two teeth pulled! (We knew the teeth would have to come out because the orthodontist said they were causing his adult teeth to come in at weird angles, but we thought it wouldn't happen until his appointment in two weeks. Whoops.) So he was sore and unhappy for part of the day, but he recovered quickly.

In the afternoon we met up with Erin, Lucy, and Richie at the Taltree Arboretum, and spent a couple of very hot hours exploring the train garden and the children's garden. It was their first visit, so the boys were pretty much tripping over themselves to show Lucy all the wonders of the place. After that, we all went to get noodles for dinner, and then we parted ways with the other Forts and headed back to Hamlet for ice-cream cake at Bethany's house with my parents and siblings. He is for sure a boy who does not lack for people who love him.

 

I have a feeling that 10 is going to be a frustrating age for Liam. He wants so badly to have extra responsibilities (which in his mind means more electronics and possibly contacts), but he's just not ready to take on a lot of them. He is sometimes patient with his little brothers, but more often he is frustrated and brusque because they don't know as much as he knows and they can't process things as quickly as he can. It is hard for him to see that, for example, Henry has the emotional and physical limitations of a four-year-old and can't be held to all of the same standards as Liam. At the same time, Liam himself remains emotionally a little behind his peers at school (because he is one of the youngest kids in his grade), which has really presented some challenges this year. He's working on things, though, and he's excited about starting a new school (we have an intermediate school for grades five and six) in August. He says he wants to join the drama club and that if they had a "fantasy club," he would join that too (whatever that is). 

Liam is still really into video games (I have a feeling that will be a lifelong love) and recently discovered Harry Potter. He got a full set of the books for his birthday (thanks, Barb and Kevin!). He also spent about a week making and perfecting a set of wands for himself and his brothers using tree branches from our yard, then we surprised him with an Elder Wand (Professor Dumbledore's wand from the books/movies) today, so he's been casting spells on anyone/anything within range.

When he grows up, Liam's goal is to live in Delaware (why, we don't really know, but it's been an obsession of his for months now). He says he would like to be an astronaut, but that's out since there's no branch of NASA in Delaware, he will settle for being a chemist at DuPont. I thought we had better document these goals now since they're so specific and detailed. Of course, it'll be a while before we see how it all turns out.

In the meantime, we are happy to let our Liam keep on being a kid, spending his summer reading, riding his bike, playing baseball, and having some interesting adventures. There's time enough later for growing up.

t-ball blues

Henry is having a challenging go his first year of t-ball. Or really, I should say that Henry's coaches are having a challenging go with Henry on their team. He routinely "quits the team" (stalks off and refuses to play for a while), throws his bat when he hits (those poor coaches move pretty fast to get out of the way), picks flowers or plays in the dirt (or mud, as we've had lately), and just generally acts like ... Henry. I think maybe we started him too young in a sport where there is a lot of standing around waiting for something to happen. Anyway, last night, after an inning filled with Henry alternately "quitting" and getting put in timeout for kicking his batting helmet, one of the coaches got the brilliant idea to have him play catcher. It was great! Sure, he spent most of the inning flirting with some girls who were standing behind the fence, but he also had to pay attention, and he had more to do than in all the previous games combined. Plus there is just something completely adorable about a little kid in all that gear. Here's hoping the coach is onto something good with this! (And next year, I'm thinking soccer might be a better fit for him.) 

one more thing...

When we first arrived at Conner Prairie, there was this section built around an 1800s hot-air balloon, and there were places where you could put on pioneer garb to take a picture. We had to use up every available outfit for the kids, and Max's was all tied in knots, so we made them wait while my mom and I untangled the straps enough that they could put on the outfits. We got our pictures, all right, but in the process got at least one Very Grumpy Pioneer.

a capital idea

The boys and I are back home after an action-packed weekend in Indianapolis. We headed down Friday afternoon with my mom, my sister Loni, Craig (Loni's fiance), and Lilly (Craig's daughter). Dinner, pool time, and hanging out in our suite were pretty much the order of the night, because Saturday the fun started. We spent the day at the Indianapolis Children's Museum, and before we even got in the building, we saw (many of) the wonders of the world in miniature.

Our main purpose in going was to see the museum's really exhibit on Chinese terra cotta warriors. This is the only place in the United States they will be exhibited this year -- lucky us! They did a great job putting the exhibit together with plenty of things of interest for all ages. There were the actual warriors and artifacts in glass cases, but there were also full-size 3-D puzzles to give the kids an idea of the condition some of the figures were found in and how archaeologists pieced them back together. There was an area where you could use a mold to make your own miniature warrior or sculpt a face for one (my mom particularly enjoyed that part), and an area where kids could put on outfits, grab a weapon, and pose with the warriors.

 

After we finished exploring the warriors, we checked out the rest of the museum. Well, everyone else checked out the museum, while I sat with Henry, who had a complete meltdown and spent 20 minutes sitting on a bench (the most out-of-the-way bench I could find, which isn't saying much) screaming himself hoarse. I don't even remember what the fit was about, just that it was awful. But eventually, he got over it, just in time to join everyone to ride the carousel and play for a loooooong time at the water exhibit.

On Sunday, we visited Conner Prairie. This is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. I had been there twice before (for a field trip in fourth grade, which is the year kids study Indiana history, and again my senior year of high school) and had great memories of making candles and churning butter and talking to the people in the village. Loni went in fourth grade too, but the rest of our party was on their maiden voyage, which was pretty exciting. If you've never been there, Conner Prairie is a living history museum (I guess now they call it an "interactive history park"), filled with costumed interpreters who play the roles of pioneers from the 1800s (so any mention of technology or modern events is met with a blank stare).

We started with the 1863 Civil War Journey, which is new since my last visit (Imagine that -- they built something new in the 20 years since last time I was there!) and is really amazing. The setup is that a town was invaded by Confederates, and you are visiting the day after the invasion. There are smoldering ruins near the train depot, and the proprietor of the general store is trying to put his merchandise back on the shelves so he can reopen. There's a temporary army headquarters where you can sign up to help fight defend the state. There are all kinds of special effects. It's a really neat mix of new technology and old-fashioned acting. I can't recommend it enough. Neither can these two soldiers, who were solemnly prepared to fight the good fight.

After that, we headed to the 1836 village (which is how I remembered it), where a man played the piano for us (a song by that newcomer Chopin) first thing. We visited the blacksmith's shop (which Max really didn't want to leave), dropped in on a lady cooking some biscuits in the embers of her fireplace, checked out the schoolhouse, and loaded boxes from the general store onto a waiting wagon. The boys engaged in an exciting game of "battle doors and shuttlecocks" with a brother-and-sister duo, which was downright hilarious. We were also lucky that it was kind of a dreary, overcast day, so the place wasn't crowded, which meant that we got extra attention from the people working there. After the boys finished playing their game, one of the guides tipped me off that I could take them to the inn and ask for work so they could earn a little money. So off we went, and the boys swept the inn floor and were rewarded with a half-penny each. They had the option of spending their half-pennies at the general store (to buy nails, or recipe cards, or marbles) but they each chose to keep theirs as a souvenir of a most excellent adventure.

stingrays and dinos, oh my

On a quick morning trip to Chicago, we managed to hit two places of interest. First, we stopped by the aquarium (making EXCELLENT use of this year's membership!) to check out the Stingray Touch exhibit, which is outdoors and thus only open in the summer. It's basically a big, shallow pool under a tent, and the stingrays swim around, and you can reach in and pat them on the back as they swim by. Or, in Liam's case, you can pat them on the back for extended periods of time because they come over to you and just hover there (seriously, it was amazing -- he was like some kind of stingray whisperer or something). They feel about how you would imagine, sort of slimy and squishy and slightly bumpy. It was relatively uncrowded (we hit the Sunday morning sweet spot), and watching the stingrays go round and round was peaceful, almost mesmerizing. The boys were definitely in love, so much so that they were completely out of joint with us when we made them leave after a full 45 minutes of petting stingrays (they even got to watch them eat, which sparked a swimming frenzy that was kind of exciting).

After we finally managed to pry the boys away from the stingrays, they reluctantly accompanied us next door to the Field Museum. And where the aquarium was uncrowded, the Field was basically a ghost town. It was cool inside, and there was plenty of room to roam, and as soon as we saw Sue the dinosaur in the main gallery, the boys quickly got into the swing of things. They were impressed by the hall of rocks and gems (check them out on the space rock!) and with a history of the world exhibit that walked them through our planet's (many) mass extinctions, but the real stars, of course, were the dinosaurs. Max in particular was deeply interested and asking lots of questions, and he and Mike took off for a while for some in-depth exploration, while I supervised Liam and Henry exploring at a more frantic pace. We were there for quite a long time (for us), not leaving until our growling stomachs forced us out the door and in search of some food on the way home. The boys are excited to go back sometime soon -- and since we got in for free on a reciprocal membership, I think it's safe to say it will happen sooner rather than later!