Lightweight Champion of The Grove

Josiah has been tasked with cleaning his room before we do our travels this summer.  He is the type that likes to look at and play with everything as he cleans.  This week, as he sat on his disheveled floor, he went through an old Highlights magazine and found a recipe for strawberry bread.  He decided we needed to make it this week, so we went out and bought strawberries and whipped cream (since the magazine suggested it).  While Caroline helped dice the strawberries, Josiah took control of the bread making process.  It only made one loaf, but he really liked it.  There's nothing like hearing him cut a slice for breakfast at 7 a.m. followed by the pfshhhhhhp of Redi-Whip.

The kids were very happy that we finally made it to the pool this week.  We were the first ones there because we were under the impression that they were only open for 90 minutes and then would close for 30 minutes for cleaning.  That is what the sign at the gate indicated.  But they never closed, so we ended up swimming for two hours, which was about all our pale skin could handle.  Our fellow neighbors were there in force making up for their loss of swimming last summer.  Henry has maintained his swimming skills.  He can traverse the length of the pool back and forth without issue.  Josiah can swim like a dolphin and get where he needs to go.  And then there was Caroline.  I signed her up for swim lessons as soon as we got home.  Because of covid, they didn't get their lessons in last summer, so she's gotten a little rusty.  BUT they had a great time.  Our neighborhood finally fixed the water slide, so the kids went down that a lot.  (It has been broken for two summers now, so this was a big deal.)  We will probably frequent the pool more often just so they have a chance to work on their swimming skills.  

I had to go to a CC Practicum this week, so the kids were home doing media all day long.  I told them I would text them every hour to check in on them and I wanted them to check in with me, too.  Yeah.  Three hours later they finally got back to me with a smiling face emoji that they were fine.  The Practicum ended with a panel of two CC graduates and two CC high school seniors.  They spoke to us about their CC experience and then we were allowed to ask them anything.  They sat there for probably an hour answering all our questions and it was so, so encouraging.  One of the things we really like about the CC high school program is how well it teaches the kids to think well, speak well, and debate well.  These kids were not just brought in from a different area because they spoke well.  These were the kids of two of the moms that live right here.  The one family is in our CC group.  We are looking forward to Josiah moving up to the Challenge program and seeing him grow.  

Because I knew they were doing media the entire time I was gone, the next day we did not stare at screens and the kids made their own fun.  They went old school.  They gathered every blanket, every stool, and every folding chair we had and hauled them all up to the playroom.  There they made a multi-room fort.  Caroline had her own room.  The boys shared a room.  Then they had an open living room in the middle and a garden in the rear.  We're not sure if it is an English garden/backyard or a vegetable garden.  They played in there for quite a while.  

Todd typically takes the kids to Saturday morning jiu-jitsu.  They're competition classes to train the kids for tournaments.  None of ours want to enter tournaments just yet, but they enjoy the class.  Todd said the instructor divided the kids up into lightweight and heavyweight divisions.  At first, he had put Josiah in the heavyweight division, but then moved him over to lightweights.  Todd saw the disappointment on Josiah's face.  When they came over for their water break, Todd asked him what was wrong, but Josiah just said, "I'll tell you later."  Then the competition began.  Josiah won his first bout.  Henry, in the heavyweights, won his first fight.  (Caroline lost her first fight, so she was out.)  Josiah won his second round.  Henry won his second round.  The third round began.  Henry was up against the toughest guy there and, though he put up a good fight, his opponent won.  Josiah was up against the girl version of himself - lanky, but scrappy.  He fought.  He won.  He became the Lightweight Champion.  The last battle was the Open Weight fight.  It was between the heavyweight champion and the lightweight champion.  The parents chuckled in the audience, though they were rooting for Josiah.  He fought hard, but ultimately lost that battle.  When he went back to Todd at the next water break, Josiah told him there wasn't anything wrong anymore.    

Josiah's Championship Round

Lightweight Champion! (he didn't get to keep the belt)

And the Open Weight.  Champion vs. Champion

Unrelated to his championship win, Todd took Josiah out to eat at a barbeque place after jiu-jitsu.  It was the same restaurant where Henry had his memory master dinner, and Josiah wanted to try it out for himself.  He ordered a barbeque sandwich.  What he didn't realize was that it would have barbeque sauce on it.  He wasn't a fan.  He and I like our barbeque the same.  Dry.  He did enjoy Todd's sausage sandwich, though.  And he enjoyed three rolls because the waitress kept bringing them around.  

Todd has been walking Benson in the early mornings and Benson is loving it.  He jumps up and down and his tail wags a mile a minute.  They walk for about 45 minutes and when he comes home, he drinks all his water, and then passes out on the cool wooden floor for a few hours.  

And we finally have a night owl in the family.  She's keeping me company as I write this.