I was going to use this location to post new happenings and photos, but my Aunt Sandy asked for updates on what was new with me and my family, so here's some stuff to cover the past few months:

In no particular order, and concentrating on my son Alex:

He plays baseball for the Apponaug Babe Ruth Baseball League (Cal Ripken Division)



He likes to ride his bicycle on our quiet dead-end street, and on longer jaunts with Dad



He recently celebrated his tenth birthday with a tie-dye t-shirt party at the YMCA



He flew a kite at the Connimicut Point Park on the Narragansett Bay



He visited the dinosaurs at the Roger Williams Park Zoo



He got all dressed up sharp for the first day of 5th Grade



He participated in a "Create your own Island" geography fair, and co-invented "Magma Island" with his classmates, including T-shirts, posters, pie charts, sports teams, transportation systems, maps, graphs, government, and national anthem. Wow!



He visited a fire house in Providence with his friend Keegan, whose grandfather is a retired fireman. There they were able to try on the (Heavy!) coats and boots, and were allowed to operate the ladder controls for Ladder Truck #7. We also got to take the truck for a ride aound the block!



He visited the Mystic Aquarium with his Parents and Grandparents



Some time in June we decided to repaint the house to match the new roof we had to buy because a winter storm had blown some shingles away. Laurie picked the colors and I climbed a lot of ladder. We're now 3/4 done painting, but you can't tell from the street that the back of the house is still blue. Isn't that a nice shade of raspberry?



Alex and I are now taking guitar lessons from a nice young man who plays in a Black Sabbath tribute band. I promise not to play at 78 speed. Alex is learning bits by Green Day, and I've got some Beatles and Emerson, Lake & Palmer to attempt competency at. We're both learning to master the 12-bar blues riff.

We also both take Karate; Alex is in a structured youth class with colored belts, and I'm in the adult areobics class which is good for saturating a t-shirt with sweat twice a week. The thumb I broke on Butchie's head last April is all better now.



Alex also swims weekly at the YMCA, where he has graduated from the "Shark" level of instruction, the highest level of instruction they have. We're deciding if we want to keep strapping on the fins and teeth each week, or be more diligent in attending the Family Swim hour. The paid-for nature of the lesson makes it more certain that we will attend, and I've been using the 45 minutes he's in the pool to work a round of Nautilus in the gym.

Futher updates as they come along, or as I think of other stuff to tell about.

(and as Blogger will allow: I've had the darnedest time getting all of these photos into one post)

-John