It’s that time of year again…the night before we leave for our road trip. The bags are in the car, the dvd player and video games are charged up, and the mailman is holding our mail. We have a housesitter, so don’t get any ideas about short-sheeting our beds and pooping in our toilets while we’re gone. Annie and her caretaker will be here watching the homestead.

This year the annual road trip has taken on a new twist. I volunteered to stop and see someone in Myrtle Beach for work, since we would have been passing by anyway. Since I’m going to see him about a panic device, I’m taking one with me (see giant cardboard box in photo below). Since I’m taking a panic device with me, and since I have quite a few followers of my other blog and I don’t want to put it on hold for 2 weeks, I decided to do a series of posts about taking my panic device on the family road trip.

You can read the first post here if you’re so inclined. I’m going to have to be very careful not to accidentally post on my hardware blog about someone puking in the car, and posting here about the benefits of compression springs in an exit device. That could get ugly.

So we’re off around noon tomorrow…first stop – Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.

.

One thing I’ve learned from being Adlani’s mom is never to ask whether he did what he’s being accused of. For example, instead of asking, “Did you hit your sister?” (the answer is always an indignant “No!”), I ask him, “How many times did you hit your sister?” (“Just one, but she deserved it!”)

So a couple of days ago when I heard about an altercation on the Summer Scene bus, I called Adlani downstairs for his arraignment. After about 10 minutes of various stories and false accusations to get himself out of trouble, Aliya told me the story in great detail.

It apparently had to do with his disregard for the seatbelt rule, and his distaste for being told what to do in general. When Aliya and a very nice 4th-grade boy explained to Adlani that he should wear his seatbelt because he wasn’t safe without it, Adlani replied, “Shut up @sshole!” Where does he get that sh!t?? 😉

When I asked Adlani, “Why did you say ‘Shut up @sshole’ ?” (instead of “Did you say…”), Adlani’s response was, “It was all I could think of.”

Yesterday Adlani told me that a kid was picking on him on the bus. I told him that the regular school bus driver didn’t allow bullying on her bus, so when he goes to kindergarten she’ll deal with it. I said, “But I need you to tell me who’s picking on you, like ‘Joe Blow said I stink’ . ” Completely serious, Adlani responded, “Yeah! That’s who was picking on me! Joe Blow!”

I can already tell that this year’s kindergarten experience will be much different than two years ago. I just hope he doesn’t get expelled or set fire to the school. Wish me luck!

.

Last week we had one non-rainy evening in the midst of the storms, so we headed into Boston to see Eguie Castrillo and his orchestra play in City Hall Plaza. It was SO MUCH FUN!
.
We started by stopping at the aquarium just before closing time so we could see the new fur seal exhibit. Then we walked over to Fanueil Hall (via the fountain) for dinner, and then on to City Hall Plaza. There were SO MANY people from Barbieri and Blocks there because Eguie’s kids go to Barbieri (Blocks last year) and Walsh. The kids had a great time and so did we. We walked back to the car (via the fountain again) pretty late, but it was a beautiful night and Boston was hopping. We stopped to watch a really terrible comedic juggler on the way. Adlani was the only one who thought he was funny, and he was in hysterics. That tells you something right there.
.
It was a wonderful evening! Thanks Eguie!

Adlani pointed out how much this shark looked like a Bagelful, and he’s right! If I wasn’t so lazy I’d go take a photo of one and upload it to prove it, but I am. Lazy.

.

.

Adlani and Norah woke up before me this morning, and I should have known something was up because they were playing quietly in Aliya’s room. That doesn’t happen unless there’s something sneaky going on. The first one I saw was Adlani, sporting a pencil-thin mustache (or cat whiskers?) drawn by the artistically-advanced Norah:

This is a very heavily edited version of the first few minutes of the entertainment at Gayle’s birthday party. I knew that Charlie Brown video editing experience would come in handy someday.

.