Dancin' Tie-Dyed Hippie Slacker

One of his favorite "movies" is "Movie Music," which Grandpa and Grandma Chadwick gave him.  He watches it almost every day.  The music reverberates in our brains like the little beads in a maraca.  It hearkens back to the Itsy Bitsy Spider days of the bouncy chair.  At least he's getting some exercise.  There are other times though that we question the value of television for a toddler when he just stares at it, his eyes all glazed over.  That might not be healthy.

A Taste of Summer

Charlotte held its annual 'Taste of Charlotte' downtown last weekend.  A mile or so of booths lining the main street, selling food and food-related and food-unrelated items.  You walk along, you spy something that looks potentially delicious, you sample.

We tried some sushi.  The trick was to keep Benjamin from poking all six of our eyes out with the chopsticks.

The bubble machine was a huge hit.

So was the fountain.  I think he wanted to get in and cool off with that other kid.  He looks pretty happy.

It started to warm up by noon.  We ended up hitting the smoothies pretty hard. 

Via a combination of strolling, getting Daddy to carry him, and self-propulsion, Benjamin made it the whole way to the end and back to the car.



Sparkling Natural Wonder, Overwhelming Toddler Indifference

The fireflies are here!  Those flashy bugs are one of the major elements of summertime for a kid, so I'm glad Benjamin is growing up in a place that has them.  Does Charleston have fireflies?  I'm sure it does.  Pocatello did not.  It had cockroaches, hobo spiders, and crows.  And the very occasional moose.

No, I did not take that photo.

I actually spent a few moments wondering whether to teach Benjamin the word "firefly" or "lightning bug".  It seemed important.

We let Benjamin stay up until dusk, an hour after his 7:30 bedtime, so he could see the show.  He was delighted for a few minutes, but then started looking at other things (sticks, cars driving by, airplanes).  I was hoping to see Magical Wonder in his eyes for an extended period of time, but it quickly dissolved into what looked a little bit more like Typical Boredom.

Hot

Nothing says "Summer" like watermelon in the swimming pool.  OK, scorching heat and unbearable humidity say "Summer" too.  Hence the need for the watermelon and swimming pool.