Jack's July update

The second half of July has been just as fun and busy as the first.

Last week, Jack went to Vacation Bible School at a friend's church. I had no idea this was a thing. I'd never heard of VBS until this year. But so many people I told about it said to me, "Oh, I loved VBS as a kid!" Who knew?

The theme for this VBS was SonSurf, which is basically Jesus at the beach. They had some fun dress-up days (crazy hat day, crazy hair day where he finally got to wear Violet's clips and pigtail holders, and team color day - and Jack's team color was his favorite purple), and Jack was in a group with three of his friends. I think he had a good time, although it's not entirely clear to me what they did or learned. He told me on the morning of the last day that the small group leader had been separating him and one of his friends "because of not listening." Great. He did learn a little song and dance that was really cute to see. But other than that, the main thing he seemed to have taken away from VBS is that Jesus was killed when he was 33.

Every few days, just out of the blue, he'll ask me, "Why did Jesus die when he was 30?"

"He was 33, Jack."

"Why did he die when he was 33? That's really early."

"Yes, it is."

"Why did those people put him on the cross so that he would die?"

How do I explain that?? I wish he had asked the VBS folks.

Jack has also gotten very into bowling lately. There is a program called Kids Bowl Free, where you can sign up and they send you coupons that allows your children two free bowling games a day. You just need to pay for shoe rental. We have done it a couple of times with Jack, and he loves it. They put up the bumpers so that he doesn't throw the ball in the gutter and give us a little ramp for him to push the ball down. It's a bit of a hassle with Violet, because obviously she is too small for even this kiddie version of bowling, but it is one of Jack's favorite activities.

Another favorite activity is having sleepovers. He has had two in the last couple of weeks, and he is on his third as I type. Tonight's is the first one where I'm not there with him. Fingers crossed that he's behaving and that they are actually getting some sleep.

He and I went to his first real first-run movie last weekend to see - what else? - the newest "Winnie the Pooh." I was a little worried, because they only other time he's gone to see a movie in a movie before this to see one of those Saturday morning cartoons and he didn't really like it at all. He said it was too dark, too loud, and too long. It was a 50-minute Care Bears movie. So I was nervous that he would have the same reaction to this one. But Pooh conquers all, I guess, and he and I both had a great time.

Another thing that he and I have been doing a lot of is playing Go Fish. Jack always wants to play games with me, but so many games that are geared for his age group bore me silly. The one exception is his Yahtzee game and now Go Fish. Sometimes Jack has a hard time making sure that he keeps the cards hidden, and he often gets so impatient that he asks for cards when it's my turn, thereby tipping me off to what's in his hand. Strangely, the more games we play, the harder it is for him to remember the rules, so we usually have to keep it to about three games at a time.

As I've mentioned before, he's really been in a Mommy mode lately. I try to give him some one on one Mommy time first thing in the morning before Violet sees me, because once she sets eyes on me, it's all over. Unfortunately, it never does seem to be enough for him, but it is very heartwarming that he still likes me so much. He tells me all the time, "Mommy, I love you. I'm so glad you're my mommy."

Or he'll say, "I want to whisper something in your ear." And then he'll come close and whisper, "I love you!"

But my favorite is when he says, "Guess how much I love you?" And then he holds his hands up about an inch apart and says, "This is 19 googol plus a 23-digit-number times around the world."

Of course, the actual number always changes, but it's always something similarly fantastically high. It's "I love you" in a way that only Jack would ever say it. My sweet boy.