Last Day of Camp

Today is Wm's last day of camp. He's had a great week!! In fact, last night, he was busily working on his video game in preparation for today. He created characters and a story, coded that into Scratch and created the game, and then created and added game music to the background. I'm not sure what he'll do today at camp since he was so diligent at home!

And, today is the last work day before VACATION!!!! Yaaaay!! Wm is less than excited because he realized that his fancy new computer is a desktop and not a laptop, so he can't take it with him on vacation.

The cats have no idea what is coming. I'm sure they won't even care that we're gone. Here is Luna sleeping cutely next to me yesterday:

I still will lick all your food

It POURED rain yesterday. Someone told me we got 4 inches. It was so constant, Flip did not get any of his walks. I think this may be the first day of his life that Flip has not had any activities. He was very depressed. Here he is looking sad about life:

The Face of Depression

He DID, however, get a new home! He is officially old enough now that he does not need to be crated! He's never been an accident risk, but he has been a "destruction of everything you love and also all feather pillows" risk. But, I think he's aged out of gnawing on all the things! So, his new home is easily escapable, much cuter, and hopefully more comfortable:

New home - checking it out

Flip is coming with us on vacation. Wm is going to ride in the backseat with him for 7 hours. He's not looking forward to it! But, I'm sure, if he knew what was coming, Flip would be!! I am sure there will be lots of vacation pictures coming soon. We are staying in an awesome farmhouse with chickens!

Since Wm and I have been leaving later to go to camp, we take Flip out back to let him get his zoomies out before we leave him alone alllllll day. Here he is being very angry that Wm and I were done playing "stickies" with him. (It involves playing tug 'o war with a stick while he growls very menacingly at you until you get you a splinter, then you throw the stick as far as you can, Flip retrieves it and it all starts again.) Wm hates to play stickies. Mostly because the stick is usually covered with slobber and it tears up your hands. But, this is what happens when he tells Flip he's done:

Swimmer

Wm LOVED his first day of camp!! He said it was even better than last year and was so happy when I picked him up! He already made 2 new friends and is star of the group because he's already used all the programming platforms they are learning. So he's jumped right in to his game design. He goes, "our group leader loves me." Ha! The only down side is that driving toward downtown during rush hour is KILLING me. We left with 45 minutes to make a 15 minute drive and we were nearly late. I can't imagine doing this every day of my life. I can barely handle one week! Steve goes, "welcome to my life." Insanity.

The last couple days have been SO HOT. Poor Flip doesn't get his walks or parks in because he overheats. So, last night, Steve took Flip to go swimming at the lake near our house with his best friend, Iggy. Swimming is the perfect hot weather activity! And Flip was exhausted when he got home - which is the goal. Steve's Dog BFF, Jen, got a great video of the doggos swimming all around:

Camp Week

Wm is off to COSI camp this week! He LOVED it last year, so I have high hopes. He was sad about having to wake up this morning (now that he's used to sleeping in!), so I reminded him that I signed him up for video design camp that involves computer programming in Scratch, which he adores. So, then, he was all bubbly with excitement.

This is Hell Week at work for me, so I am real glad it's my last week before vacation! We have huge groups of students coming in every single day for Orientation. Plus, my schedule is all wonky because I have to drop off and pick up Wm at odd times from COSI. I made Steve promise to be extra nice to me this week!

Speaking of the Old Ball and Chain, I hope he had a good Father's Day! I took him out for a giant margarita and he got drunk as a skunk. He also got a bubbling, massaging foot spa like he's been asking for forever (I finally cracked), and was pleased as punch! Wm wrote him a very nice card and he got peach pie and ice cream. Through no planning at all on my part, the World Cup is also on. So, basically, Steve is living the dream!! He even went to play soccer in this ungodly heat.

We've also finally completed the half bath! There are fun purple accents you can't really see, but you get the idea! Farewell gold accents, hello new toilet, wallpaper, faucet, door/doorknob, towel ring, and toilet paper holder! Still to come at some point is new white grout to make the ceramic tiles pop!!

Before. Ew.

After!

Survived!

Well, I was wrong! Wm didn't need any shots this year! But, we BOTH remembered the doctor telling us last year that he was going to get two! So, he was thrilled with life. Until the doctor said that he could get HPV this year or next and I was all, "let's do it now - we expected 2 shots today, so he was mentally prepared...one will seem like nothing!" Wm was not happy with my decision. He then had a whole flap when the needle showed up.  After the shot was over, he was delighted and told me what a genius I was to have him do this year. Ha!

We always have to wait FOREVER to see Wm's doc. We love her so much, she is the absolute best. But, the waiting is killer. I'm assuming she's seeing babies whose parents brought them in thinking they were dying when they had the sniffles. But, since I did the same thing...no judgement. However, Wm will not abide. Here he is pouting on the exam table:

Impatient

Wm is healthy as can be! He has grown 2 inches since last year - catapulting him into the 12th percentile! He has actually grown 2 inches every single year for the past 7 years. The doctor said since he's a late bloomer ("no sign of pubescence," she said) and a slow and steady grower, he will likely grow for longer than average. So he may end up being as tall as Steve! But not get there until college. Wm is sad about this. He likes being tiny. He says he wants to be 5'3".

Our next door neighbors are moving. The are RIGHT next door and our backyard kind of overlooks theirs (since we are on a slight incline). Flip even makes an appearance in one of their MLS pictures!

Flip, on guard

So we are REALLY hoping that someone cool moves in. Come be our neighbor (click here for listing)!! But only if you're cool....
(By "cool," I mostly mean will put up with a psychotic barking dog next door!)

And, lastly, we have cat care all squared away for when we are on vacation. Getting pumped!!!

Shots

I wanted to get a picture of Wm sleeping cutely in his giant bed, but a weird demon invaded the shot in his rush to wake Wm up with kisses. Notice Wm's old lady valance. That was here when we moved in (there was one in our bedroom, too!) Before we were even fully moved in, I had ripped the one in our bedroom down because it haunted me. I was on my way to do the same thing in Wm's room and he goes, "No! I LOVE IT!! I want to keep it!" So, Wm is keeping his floral valance. He's a weird kid. Next thing you know, he's going to have a damask settee.  He's got to be one of very few 12 year old boys who love floral old lady valances!! Different strokes for different folks!

Invading demon, morning light

I think Wm is getting a little summer cold. He always gets crabby pre-illness and he was a bit of a pill all weekend, so that explains it! Right about the time I'm ready to sell him to the gypsies, the coughing starts and then it all makes sense. I hope he gets it all out of his system before COSI camp next week!

Wm and I took Flip for a looooong walk yesterday and explored parts of our new neighborhood we hadn't seen. And we found the most gorgeous street. But, it was a hike!! When we got home, I got all the good snuggles! My most favorite thing is snuggles! And Flip is the only one left who snuggles me.

Flip is my favorite person

Wm goes to the doctor tomorrow for his 12 year check up. He's getting shots. He was all upset about the shots, but then he watched videos on YouTube about vaccinations and then he wanted all the details about what he's vaccinated against and has developed a hatred of anti-vaxxers. Now he's jazzed to get his shots and cross some additional scary diseases off his list of worries. He is upset that he doesn't get the smallpox vaccine.

It's kind of nice having Wm home for summer. I texted him and asked him to sweep the downstairs since it seemed crumby. I checked in a while later and asked if it was done and he said it was - so I asked if he'd picked up a bunch of crumbs. He goes, "only under my seat." Sounds about right.

Ridiculous Animals

Steve: I need to eat healthier. Make healthier foods for me! I'm going to die!! My cholesterol!
Me: Fine. I'm on it.
[a few days later]
Steve: What is this?
Me: It's a quinoa salad.
Steve: [poking at it] What's in it?
Me: Quinoa, arugula, strawberries, and feta - lightly dressed with a citrus vinaigrette.
Steve: Oh.
Me: Do you like it?
Steve: I mean...it's food.
Me: You said you wanted to eat healthier!!!
Steve: I guess. I didn't mean QUINOA!

So, basically, Steve is the worst. Our animals are also ridiculous. I went into the bedroom to discover that Steve thought Flip was cold and snuggled him up.

Ridiculous dog

Then, after Flip goes to bed, Schroeder comes and and stalks all around being weird. Here he is napping on the brick fireplace. That can't be comfortable!

Ridiculous cat

Wm is having a delightful summer break so far, but he's eating, basically, no foods while he's alone. Yesterday, he remembered to eat breakfast at 10am and hadn't eaten lunch at all when I got home from work. He's been hanging out with his neighbor friend and I force him to take a walk with me every afternoon, so he's getting out. Now if I could just get him to EAT. He heads to COSI camp the week after next!

We did set up our patio a bit. We had dinner out there the other day and it was GLORIOUS.

Ready for dining al fresco!

I painted our bathroom the other day. Afterwards, Steve made the mistake of installing new fancy light switches and they looked so awesome, I've been badgering him to do all of them. It's amazing what a difference something small like that makes! The bathroom also looks much better with its new paint! I really need to paint the entire house and woodwork...blerg.

At least it's FRIIIIIIIIIDAY!! And we leave for vacation in just a couple weeks! So excited!!

OH. Also, Steve has been keeping secrets, apparently! We were talking to an old neighbor who told us her car had gotten tossed the night before and how that happens to her at least a couple times a year. After we left, I told Steve how glad I was that we hadn't lived in that part of Clintonville since our cars had never been broken into (just the GD house!) Steve goes, "Oh - both our cars got tossed more than once. I just never told you cause you'd freak out." YEAH. Also, he just let slip that he saw a centipede in the basement that he wasn't telling me about. What other secrets is that dude keeping?!? Sadly...it's probably maintaining my sanity. Because now all I think about are centipedes. But, better centipedes than meth heads rifling through my car, I guess!

Hiking

It was gorgeous this weekend! We spent a good chunk of Saturday at the pool, which was awesome! Wm had a blast again and it is now a big fan of the pool and swimming. We had to carb load with pancakes from Jack & Benny's before the exertion of swimming. Then we had friends over for a cookout after we got back from the pool. So, nothing was accomplished with the house, but we had a great day!

Sunday, we went hiking and it was super fun! Other than the mosquitoes and Wm refusing to wear proper footwear so he whined the whole time. He also said he HATES the following things: nature, trees, ticks, mud, mosquitoes, the outdoors, hiking, and sandals. Wm goes, "What is that smell?" and Steve answered, "Nature." Wm's response: "Nature stinks and I hate it." Flip, however, LOVES nature. Love love loves it. He frolicked in a stream, ran top speed, tripped spectacularly over a root and went flying through the air, got up and looked somewhat confused, and then continued his run, unfazed. I told Steve he finally has his outdoor adventure buddy! Unfortunately, said buddy does not care at all about cleanliness and is a bit of a pill about getting cleaned off before getting into the car. As a consequence, my car will never be clean again (and Flip is not allowed it Steve's car because Steve is not a "YOLO" kind of guy).

Hiking adventures!

Wm sulking on the hiking adventure

After hiking, Steve went to play soccer (insanity) while I dusted the house - and discovered that cleaning a house twice the size I'm used to is a CHORE. Then Wm beat me resoundingly at Rummy 500. I won the first round, but the little nerd watched what I did...then did it better. After I actually got a math problem right that Steve messed up, I yelled, "I'm great at math!" Steve goes, "pffft...I am GREAT at math." Wm, nonchalant, says, "I'm better at math than both of you." And walked away. Mic drop.

I will close with a video of the BFF's being cute. Really, it's mostly Flip trying to nap and Luna trying to get him to hang out with her...and failing. But, they are super cute together! Meanwhile, Schroeder remains convinced Flip will murder him and just hisses and tries to scratch out his eyes. But, here is what happens if you're a cat and you're nice to Flip (spoiler: it's nothing)...