Forever Young

We're in Florida this week. Today, we stopped by the Fountain of Youth. We all drank a swig from the fountain. Looks like I'll be around for a long time.

Josie's Soccer Skills

Josie's been working on her soccer skills, too.

Soccer

McKenzie and I are playing soccer again this year. I've decided to be more aggressive this year than I was last year. I go after the ball. In today's game I saved three goals during the time I played goalie. And here's a video of me getting a shot on goal when I was on offense.

McKenzie's become something of a goal-scorer. She scored two in a game a few weeks ago.

Toothless

I lost my first tooth this week. I pulled it myself.

It had been loose for a few days. At school, I pushed on it and it almost came out. It was just hanging by a thread, so I pulled it all the way out.

That story makes Daddy cringe. But he told me whenever I pull my own tooth he'll take me out for ice cream. (I think he's just hoping he won't have to pull any himself.)

The Playground is My World

Daddy put up a playground in our backyard this summer. We actually bought the playground last summer, but Daddy warned us that it might take a few weeks to put it together. Over a year later, it's finally done.

Getting it together wasn't what took so long. It turns out we don't have any flat spots in our backyard, so we had to make one. First, we built a retaining wall, carting 150 retaining wall blocks into the backyard one wheelbarrow at a time. That took a few weekends (spread over a few months). Next, we had to fill it in with fill dirt. That took a few weekends, too. When that was done, we were finally able to start building. It was pretty quick from there. Of course, now it's too hot to play on the playground... but in a month or so it's going to be great.

To the Lighthouse

While we were in Florida, we went to the lighthouse in St. Augustine. (Apparently, it's haunted, so we went in the daytime.) They let you climb up the stairs in the lighthouse. It's a bit of a hike. You have to be tall enough for them to let you climb up. McKenzie and Josie weren't tall enough, so I went up with Moms. When we got back down, Dad wanted to go up so I went up again with him.

I was careful not to spit from the top. I didn't want to hurt anyone with my projectiles.

Beach Bummin'

We went on a trip last month to Florida. We stayed with a friend at their family's beach house and bummed at the beach most of the week. We all boogie boarded (I like to boogie), except for Josie who just wanted to stroll up the beach toward the horizon.

We took a little break from the beach to hit St. Augustine. We hit La Herencia for a Cuban breakfast and then infiltrated the Castillo de San Marcos there (an old Spanish fort).

It was a sweet trip. We got to hang out with friends and work on our tans. A great break before heading back to school (next Monday!). More on that later.

Swim Meet

McKenzie and I are on a swim team this year. Lots of neighborhoods have swim teams and every week we compete against other neighborhoods. Yesterday was our first swim meet.

Neither of us won, but we both finished. Not bad, given that it was our first competitive swim.

Karate Kid

I've been taking karate lessons. Today I got my yellow belt. I graduated up from yellow belt with white stripe. Check it out. I didn't even have to sand the floor.

Justin's Greatest Hits

Put Me In Coach

I play T-ball. This is my first year. Saturday was my first game.

It's not your normal T-ball, though. The rules are kind of weird (it's a church league). The coaches pitch a few pitches and if you don't hit those, then you hit off the tee. The only way you can get out is if the other team catches it or if the ball beats you to first. There are no outs at other bases. Each team bats through their lineup each inning, unless they get three outs first, which is only theoretically possible at this level (we got the other team out once during the game... one more time than they got us out). Also, we don't keep score. Everyone wins.

I got to bat three times (games are limited by time, not innings). Each time, I hit it off the coach pitching. No need for the tee here.

Uncle Hebe... I mean Jed

Uncle Jed paid us a visit last night. He stopped over on his way home from a work trip in Florida. We were excited to see him.

We gave him a taste of the suburban life. (He lives in the heart of San Francisco.) We played in the yard, grilled some fish (for fish tacos) on the deck in back, and chatted with our neighbors from deck to deck. The tacos were awesome, by the way. Grilled tilapia topped with tomatoes, guacamole, and chopped peaches.

After dinner, McKenzie knocked Jed out at Wii boxing and I played him to a draw at Wii baseball.

Only problem is, I kept calling Jed by Hebe's name. I guess I don't see either of them enough to tell them apart. They'll both have to visit more, maybe even at the same time!

Thanks for taking time to hang with us, Jed.

Back Home

On Thursday in DC, we went to the Holocaust Museum and then the American History Museum. They were cool. On Friday we walked around Alexandria a bit and then headed to Charlotte.

We spent the weekend in Charlotte and went to Austin Deal's farewell. Austin is Aunt Sam's husband's sister's son. And we were in their ward when we lived in Charlotte. And he's going on his mission to London, where we used to live. We told him all about it: to put his luggage in the boot, to always wear trousers over his pants, et cetera.

It was cool being in our old ward again. Everyone thought I was so big. I thought everyone looked like strangers.

After the farewell, we headed home. After being gone for a week and a half, it was nice to be back home, where the weeds were a foot high and we had two weeks of laundry to catch up on. Home sweet home.

Rocket Man

On Wednesday, we went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. It was pretty sweet. We saw lots of planes and spaceships and stuff. They had stuff that explains how planes fly. They even had a paper airplane contest (Daddy's plane was great).

They also had a room on planets. We've been talking about planets in school, so that was cool to see. I even learned something new: there are rings around your Uranus. Did you know there are rings around Uranus?

After the museum, we walked over to the Jefferson Memorial. It was really pretty. It looks out over the tidal pool toward the Washington Monument. You can also see the White House in the background. Very cool.

Monumental Walking

Last night, after it cooled down a bit (it was 90 degrees during the day), we walked around the monuments. We started at the Washington Monument. Then we walked to the World War II Memorial. Then we walked along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial. Then over to the Koren War Memorial, then back to the other side for the Vietnam War Memorial, then back to the subway. It was a lot of walking.

White House

Yesterday, we went to see Barrack Obama's house. Our appointment was for 11 am, but I think Barrack Obama was busy when we got there so we had to wait outside for a while. I think he was having a prayer breakfast for the miners. Later in the day, we saw a clip of him "speeching" from the East Room.

When we finally got in, we walked through the rooms they let visitors see. We saw the Library, the Vermeil Room, the China Room, the East Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, and the State Dining Room. My favorite room was "all of them." McKenzie's favorite was the "tea party room/wedding room" (the East Room), because it looked like a princess tea room.

The Capitol was Capital

We're in DC this week for spring break. We had planned to spend the week here anyway, before Aunt Sam died. She was going to spend some time with us. After her funeral in Richmond last week, we drove up Sunday to DC.

On Monday, we went on a tour of the US Capitol. The rotunda was pretty cool. Someone painted on the ceiling. I don't know my Mama and Daddy get so upset when I draw on the walls at our house...

On Monday night we drove out to Fairfax County to see Mike & Karen. Aunt Rach and her family came up, too. So did Uncle Ken and the kids. We had a good dinner (Daddy made Lomo Saltado, a peruvian dish) and played some fun games. Mike & Karen are great hosts. Thanks guys.

The Funeral

It was a hard week with the passing of Aunt Sam, but the funeral and other arrangements helped put it into perspective, and having lots of family around made it a little better.

I made friends with my cousin Noah. I drew a map to his hotel room so I wouldn't forget how to get there (it was across the hall from our hotel room). McKenzie made friends with Maggie (Noah's sister).

Josie made friends with everyone. She was so sweet and agreeable the whole time. Even Uncle Matt couldn't resist her.¹

¹ Which is pretty good, since Matt used to eat babies.²

² Just kidding. Uncle Matt used to deliver babies and I don't think he ate any of them. As you can see from the picture, he's a baby charmer.

Aunt Fireman Sam

I just found out that Aunt Sam died yesterday.

We sometimes called her Aunt Fireman Sam. She wasn't really a fireman. We just called her that after a cartoon in the UK called Fireman Sam to the Rescue. It was a term of endearment. Sometimes McKenzie would call her Grandma by mistake. Aunt Sam didn't think she was old enough to be called 'Grandma'.

When I said the prayer tonight, I said, "Please bless Aunt Sam that she'll feel better and that she'll be alive again." Isn't that what we all wish for?

McKenzie asked a lot of questions, like:

Q: How long will Aunt Sam be dead? (Like me, McKenzie knows that Aunt Sam, like all of us, will live again.)

A: A long time.

Q (to daddy): Will you die?

A: Not for a long time.

Q: Not for a long time?

A: I'll live for a long time.

Q: Did Aunt Sam live for a long time?

A: Not long enough.

McKenzie: I miss Aunt Sam.

Uncle Hebe & Princess Carley

Uncle Hebe and Princess Carley came to visit us last week. We had a lot of fun with them.

On Tuesday, we tried a new variation on Uncle Hebe's Stinky Cheeseburger recipe: we stuffed the gorgonzola cheese inside the burgers. We grilled them (it was in the mid-60s that day... jealous?) with buffalo sauce and pineapple slices. Mmm.

On Wednesday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium. We saw sting rays, sharks, jelly fish, and 'Nemo fish'. Then we went to the famous Varsity restaurant for some greasy burgers and fries.

On Thursday, Uncle Hebe made massaman curry. Finding coriander seed, cardamom pods, and shrimp paste (we had to substitute anchovies) was a challenge, but it was worth it.

On Friday night, everyone left us kids with grandma and grandpa and headed out on the town (apparently, to Eclipse di Luna for tapas). We said goodbye to Uncle Hebe and Princess Carley (they left early the next morning while we were still fast asleep). We loved having them and can't wait for them to come back.

Thanks for visiting!

Snowman

A few days ago we had a big snowfall. When I got home from school it was already snowing. So I put on my snowman-making clothes and got to work.

Here's the finished product.

Snow Day

It snowed some more overnight. See that thin layer of snow on the deck? It may not look like much, but it's enough to cancel school around here. Snow rocks!

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My Favorite Weather

It snowed today!

Before you get too jealous, keep in mind that snow here usually means that you can barely see the snowflakes falling through the sky and nothing sticks on the ground. That's what it was like today. Still, it snowed!

It was snowing when I got off the school bus to go home. I ran inside to tell Daddy and Josie. "It's snowing!" I shouted. "That's my favorite weather!"