Category Archives: Games

2nd Grade, Activities & Interests, Baseball, Blue House, Games, Indians, Lulu, Rosie, Swimming, Top 10

Alan’s Favorite Activities

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Second grade — Part V — edition of the Top 10:

-Playing with Lulu & Rosie, of course.

-Drawing with chalk on the driveway after school with Cassady, Xavier, and TJ (who also lives on Iroquois).

-Bringing the green turtle stuffed animal into school whenever Blue House wins the weekly competition!  Alan says that Noah and Kennedy especially love seeing it and playing with it.

-“Free swim” at Saturday swimming lessons this spring, which usually involves breaking out the fins.

-Lexia sessions.  Alan officially finished all the levels on 5/6/19!  Alan, Gabriella, Madeleine, Alyson, and TJ were the first to get certificates of completion.

-Playing at the Highland Heights Park.  Alan convinced me to climb up to the slide on the 3rd level and slide down with him.  He loves seeing me in agony on the way down. 😉

-Summer baseball.  When we were practicing hitting at our favorite field (Dragga Field at the Mayfield Community Park), Alan told me he’s glad that outdoor sports season is back!

-Attempting to solve a Rubik’s cube.  After we bought one, Alan now knows it’s harder than it looks.

-Ice cream parties.  We bought an ice cream scooper, vanilla ice cream, and cones and we’re ready for ice cream and Indians games this summer.

-Marble run!

2nd Grade, Activities & Interests, Cousins, Creations, Games, Skiing, Top 10

Alan’s Favorite Activities

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Second grade — Part IV — edition of the Top 10:

-Puzzles with Tata and Jill!  The one pictured was 300 pieces.

-Playing with a parachuting lion & tiger picked up at United Skates during De’Onta’s birthday party and a parachute picked up at the Cavs game back in November.  Tyler and Carleigh have enjoyed them too!

-Throwing [soft] balls down the long hallway at home.

-Skiing at Alpine on Sunday afternoons, even though lessons are over.  Alan’s lessons came with a pass for the whole season, and he often still sees his favorite instructor Jen!

-Making a fort at home.

-Making a fort at Grandma Debbie’s.

-Playing Cribbage — which Alan first learned on the plane to New Orleans in December, then perfected with help from Jill.  He plays on my phone regularly now and taught me how to play.  Below are the results of his first and largest wins.

-Friday nights and Sunday afternoons at the Wildcat Fitness Center.

-Drawing cars and other forms of transportation during indoor recess.  And at home too — especially when making birthday cards for family and friends!

-Learning on the Chromebook at school!

Games, Trips

New Orleans Trip

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Alan’s recent trip to New Orleans Dec. 24-28 featured trolleys, street cars, steamboats, and castles.  He visited Jackson Square, drove past the Superdome, and went out on the Mississippi River.  And he raved about the 40-story Marriott that he stayed in.  Randomly, he even learned how to play Cribbage on the plane ride with some kids his age.  He had a blast and wouldn’t have minded staying longer — if he didn’t need to get back to see what Santa brought him!

2nd Grade, Activities & Interests, Baseball, Basketball, Games, Ice Skating, Library, Top 10

Alan’s Favorite Activities

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Second grade – Part II – edition of the Top 10:

-Sunday visits to the Mayfield Library – for playing and checking out books.

-Collecting on a new weekly allowance of $1!  Alan’s actually gotten to put his NASA wallet to good use holding his dollar bills, library card, McDonald’s card, and photo ID (2018 summer baseball card).

-“Lexia” sessions (online learning for 2nd grade).

-Ice skating lessons at Gilmour.

-Playing basketball on our Ohio State mini-hoop!  Alan sets the phone alarm and we play 3-minute quarters.

-Playing the dreidel game on the computer!

-Building racetracks, airports, and cities on Grandma Debbie’s coffee table.

-Doing crossword puzzles for kids with Tata.

-Constructing & playing, “Mouse Trap.”

-Setting postseason mini bat matchups!

2nd Grade, Activities & Interests, Books, Cousins, Games, Piano, Read-a-thon, Swimming, Violin

Fall Weekends

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Alan’s weekends this fall go something like the following:  Friday night hangouts with Daddy, followed by Saturday lessons and Sunday fun.

On Fridays we’re likely to play one of our board games together (Sorry!, Mouse Trap) and arrange baseball bats by match-ups.  Saturday lessons kick off with swimming at Hawken and are followed by piano and violin lessons back-to-back at the Music Settlement.  On Saturday nights, Alan heads to Grandma Debbie’s to see his cousins and sleepover at Grandma Debbie’s house!

Sundays involve taking Tata to Giant Eagle for shopping and then stopping by the apartment to have lunch and play.  We also usually play baseball or tennis too.  Occasionally we stop by the Wildcat Fitness Center as well.

There’s not too much schoolwork to do on weekends this fall.  Alan does do practice math problems though.  And we participated in Millridge’s Read-a-thon for the first time!  Alan logged 480 minutes while reading 22 books this month.

2nd Grade, Activities & Interests, Books, Creations, Games, Legos, Playing

2nd Annual ‘Guys Only’ Week

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For the second October in a row, Alan and I had extra ‘buddy time’ while Veronica went traveling for a week!

Together we had quite a week+, starting on the night of 9/27 and lasting through tonight.  There was a lot of math homework (50 problems a day), music (in the car on the way to school), books (it was Millridge Read-a-thon week), and even dad jokes (written on notes placed in Alan’s lunch bag).  There was also The Great Coffee Spill of 2018 mixed in, which fortunately we overcame.  🙂

We devoted a day (last Sunday) to board games.  Then midweek we went to Party City and bought a new one, Mouse Trap.  Alan loved it!

There was also sports (& creations).  Alan watched OSU beat Penn State while building the Lego Coast Guard set, then watched OSU beat Indians while building a new Tinker Toy 16-wheeler.  We watched the Browns upset the Ravens on a last second field goal in OT(!).  And we hit baseballs at the park, two days after Indians day at school in honor of the ALDS.

Fortunately Alan had some meditation time with this classmates after all the excitement at home.  🙂

1st Grade, Activities & Interests, Cousins, Games, Golden Gate Gardens, Indians, Playing, The National

Summer Fun

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Alan’s second-to-last week of summer break was jam-packed with fun activities.  It was a true representation of what a great summer weekend should be like.

On Friday night we returned to the baseball field to hit balls for the first time since before Alan’s surgery.  Alan was hitting mostly everything I pitched to him and ran the bases several times.  He was thrilled to get back on the field.  Afterwards, as we were packing up, Alan happened to see Ella from Mrs. Russo’s class at the park with her Mom and sister.  Alan stopped to play with them for a while on the playground, and then they chased fire flies together.  Ella also gave Alan an orange wristband to go with the friendship rock from earlier in the year.  After going home, we played chess and also continued to work on a car that Alan, an engineer in training, started to build out of a box. 🙂

On Saturday we began the day at The National Sports Collectors Convention (The NSCC).  After lunch, Alan and I stopped by the annual summer carnival at Golden Gate Gardens and participated in a cake walk and played a ball toss game together.

Afterwards, I took Alan to his friend Josh’s house to play for a couple hours.  Somehow the day was still just beginning though, as the highlight of Alan’s day was going to see Tyler and Carleigh.  First they played in a bounce house at Katie’s graduation party (where a photo was snapped of all the cousins), and then they played at Grandma Debbie’s house.  They ended up having a good four hours together in the two locations.  Alan let his cousins drive his “box car.” 🙂

On Sunday morning we headed back to The NSCC, before spending the rest of the day at the Indians game.  Lastly, we closed the weekend with one final game of chess!

Next weekend — the final one of summer break — figures to be another fun one too!

Alan's First, Games, Legos

Surgery

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Yesterday Alan had his first surgery — the removal of his tonsils and adenoids.  He braved through it and hopefully is now well on his way to having three fewer bouts with strep throat next winter as compared with last.

He was brave in the pre-op room, where he played with Dinosaur stickers, as well as on his walk to the operating room alone with the surgeon and nurses.  Alan’s Cavs doggy, which we got at the Cavs v. Suns game in March, was with him in the operating room, wearing  a ‘good luck’ necklace for Alan.  The gold coin on the necklace was a gift from Alan to me on last St. Patrick’s Day.

It was a very tough first 24 hours after the surgery with Alan unable to swallow as much medicine and water as he was supposed to (actually barely any at all).  But following a long night, a visit from Lulu and Rosie helped get things going in the right direction again.  They helped him overcome his fear of swallowing and Alan was able to get down medicine, water, and even a donut!  Later on in the evening, he resumed drinking milk and eating ice cream too.

7/22/18 Update:  Alan continues to get a little better each day.  He still has to take Tylenol for the pain and soreness, and nights have been especially tough for him.  But on the brightside he’s spent the last six days with Daddy or Grandma Debbie playing Chess, Checkers, Go Fish, and Legos.  Alan was excited to at least get the Lego Police Station out of this ordeal!  There have also been a lot of McDonald’s Happy Meals with The Incredibles 2 toys and popsicles/ice cream cones.

7/24/18 Update:  Alan built his Lego Police Station and took a photo for me.  What an awesome Lego city!

7/28/18 Update:  By Day 9 Alan was able to sleep through the night without waking up in pain.  By Day 10 Alan starting using his voice again.  By Day 11 Alan stopped having to take Tylenol.  Today, Day 12, Alan is now back to full strength and will get to see his cousins tonight! 

Activities & Interests, Baseball, Books, Cousins, Games, Library, Summer Reading Program

Summer Sleepover

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With his traveling behind him, Alan could finally get what he’s been waiting for this summer – a sleepover with Tyler and Carleigh at Grandma’s house!  In fact it was a true summer weekend from start to finish for Alan.

The sleepover took place on Friday night.  Alan brought the Sea Patroller (from Paw Patrol) as the featured toy of the night.  Highlights included the kids picking out donuts from Dunkin Donuts for their bedtime snack and going on a walk in their pajamas with flashlights.  On their walk, they met a woman with a white dog named Misty that Alan liked.  The kids were excited to explain that they were in their pajamas going on a “midnight” walk with their grandma!

On Saturday morning the kids went to the library to get new books (one of Alan’s favorites pictured below) and play with the kitchen set.  Alan’s doing the summer reading program again, and he earned a raffle ticket for reaching the halfway point on his game board.  The kids read and played some more until it was time to go home.

But the fun didn’t stop there for Alan.  Later on Saturday he went to Josh’s house to play with Josh and Killian.  The boys played outside, including in Josh’s backyard pool.   After I picked Alan up, we played two of Alan’s new favorite games – chess and checkers – on our brand new set.  We could have finished the night playing those games, but Alan wanted to run to the park to hit some baseballs until the sun went down.  We’ve been playing a new game when Alan hits a ball far where he tries to circle the bases before I can get the ball and track him down.  He likes showing off his speed ever since the coach told him he’s fast!

On Sunday Alan got to help Tata shop at Giant Eagle for the first time in several weeks due to his traveling.  He enjoys pushing the cart and helping out very much.  Afterwards we hit baseballs again at the park, despite the heat.  It was a full summer weekend for sure!

1st Grade, Activities & Interests, Artwork, Cousins, Games, Piano

Fall Weekends

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To Alan’s delight, fall weekends this year have been following a similar formula to last year.

Friday nights again involve parties with me.  Saturday afternoons involve music lessons at the Musical Settlement and Chinese & Martial Arts class at the Cleveland Public Library.  Best of all, Saturday nights involve visits to see Tyler and Carleigh and sleepovers at Grandma Debbie’s house!

Sundays can include trips to the Wildcat Fitness Center to practice basketball, visits to see Tata & Papa, or playing “Go Fish,” the Cars 3 Memory Game, or fidget spinner battles with Daddy.

On Monday mornings at school Alan has to write in his journal about what he did over the weekend.  Alan said that he enjoys writing about playing with Tyler the most. 🙂

   

(Pictured is a Chinese lantern craft that Alan made for his Mom).

1st Grade, Activities & Interests, Games, Lost Teeth

Fidget Spinners

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Alan now has a fidget spinner for each of his favorite teams.  After picking up a Cavs spinner at Giant Eagle a couple weeks ago and an Indians spinner at the Tribe game last week, we got OSU and the Browns at Kohl’s this week.

Alan takes his fidget spinners to school and has “fidget battles” with his friends before the morning bell rings.  During these battles, each participant spins their spinner and then bangs them into their opponents’ spinner.  The person whose spinner stays spinning the longest is declared the winner!

In other news, Alan lost his right front tooth today!  The new left one has not grown in all the way yet, so Alan says his mouth feels funny without any front teeth.