The art of the joke...

In the last week or two, Thomas learned what knock knock jokes are. One Wednesday night at dinner, the kids sitting at the kids' table started telling knock knock jokes. As far as I know, this is really the first time that Thomas has ever really heard them. Well, we are now all about knock knock jokes. The only 'problem' with this newfound entertainment is that he really doesn't understand what a joke is all about. Here are some great examples of the MANY knock knock jokes that we have been hearing over the last week:


T: Knock Knock.
Us: Who's there?
T: (looking up and thinking) Light
Us: Light who?
T: (looking around some more) Light fan
(Belly laughter)


T: Knock knock.
Us: Who's there?
T: (again, looking around for something to name) Camera
Us: Camera who?
T: Camera table
Hahahahaa hahahaa hahaha.....


Can't you hear the laughter now?? We have told him a couple of jokes, of which the punch line has gone right over his head. But, since he understands that we are telling him real jokes, he tries to put some of those words in his jokes. Now, we sometimes get jokes like:


T: Knock Knock.
Us: Who's there?
T: Banana
Us: Banana who?
T: Banana moon!


T: Knock Knock
Us: Who's there?
T: Boo.
Us: Boo who?
T: Boo shoe!


He clearly enjoys the attention and the fact that people laugh at the end of the progression. It is a little reminiscent of the autistic boy that I taught. One of his learning goals was to be able to tell knock knock jokes. I taught him he lines and he would go to someone and tell them a joke when told to, but, he had no clue what he was really saying nor did he get the punch line of the joke. Obviously, Thomas understands the interaction that is taking place, but he's just not quite old enough to fully get what jokes are about. I am confident that he will get lots of practice telling jokes and once he really 'gets it,' there will be no stopping him!

Manatawny

Two weekends ago, we made our usual trek back up to Pennsylvania for the Conestoga Valley church Retreat at Manatawny. We have gone back for this event every year since we moved. Any chance we get to be at Manatawny and spend time with our friends that we miss so much, we'll take it! The weekend is always a lot of fun and a good spiritual boost and this year was no different! There are very few times that I don't have my camera with me and this weekend was no exception. But, apparently I carried it all the time, but never took many pictures! I got home to unload my camera and realized that I had taken very few pictures. In the moment, I always enjoy just getting to be in the moment and not behind the lens, but then I regret it later. What I didn't catch on camera was- fun team building architecture game, amazing singing, cardboard testimonies (extremely powerful), thought provoking lessons, reading in the shade, making luminaries, AWESOME games of mafia (where I happend to win as mofia and where I had some amazing saves as the nurse), Kan Jam games, swinging, and lots more. Oh well. Here are a couple of the ones that I did manage to get...

We had a great weekend and ended it with lunch on Sunday at Five Guys with a large number of the group. It is always nice to 'ease out' of leaving by going out to lunch. This has also become a tradition after the Intermediate week. We can't wait to get back up to PA! We will miss some people that week and get to see some others that weren't there this weekend. We certainly do love and miss our 'extended' family!! Thomas has already been asking when we get to go back. 3 weeks and 1 day, my son. (Not that I'm counting down or anything...) ;)

Last Day of School

Last Thursday was Thomas' last day as a Tiger Cub. It was a sad day for me, since we have absolutely loved his teachers this year. We couldn't have asked for better teachers! They have had a lot of fun this year and Thomas is already asking when he gets to go back to school. We have discussed that school is done for the Summer and when he goes back to school, he will have new teachers with new friends. Most of the kids in his class this year were younger, so they will stay with the same teachers and will be together again next year. He is ready for Summer to be over so that he can go back to school and be a Frog. Personally, I am just hoping that the Summer doesn't go by too quickly! Our Summer is going to be disjointed, with lots of coming and going, both by us and by others coming here. That always makes things seem to go more quickly!


On the last day of school, the Tiger Cubs had their last chapel in the the auditorium. They hadn't done chapels in the auditorium since the first chapel in October. They did a really good job! They all actually went on the stage and stayed there without the aid of a parent, which they didn't all do in October. Thomas spent a lot of the time jumping, cheering and clapping.Yes, Thomas was 'that kid' that provided that humor for the event. 


Since Thomas was the May birthday, they also recognized him and sang "Happy Birthday."

They sang "Awesome God" complete with 'fireworks' at the end. I pretty sure that was Thomas' favorite part of the song. There were two kids that belted out the song the whole time. Thomas sang some but was mostly interested in looking around. 

This was the last time that Emelia would get to hang out with her friend. One of the kids in Thomas' class has a baby brother about 6 months younger than Emelia. Most mornings, both Emelia and Chase would be carried in their carseats and left to 'chat' at the front desk. I became pretty good friends with the mom and we enjoyed sharing in our related situations. Unfortunately, they are a Coast Guard family and are moving over the Summer. 

Thomas getting his 'Certificate of Completion'

Tom was able to work from home that day and took the time to come to the chapel. Ghee Ghee and Grandpa were also able to come.

Thanks for a GREAT year Miss Trish and Miss Jeannie!!

Two picnics, two different rivers

 It has felt like we have spent every day celebrating Thomas' birthday for the last week. Well, I guess in some ways, we have... We did get to enjoy the rest of our holiday weekend and did some relaxing up at my parents' condo. Although most of the day Saturday was spent having Thomas' birthday party, Tom and I did help Dad steep the mast on his sailboat. (What that really means is that we helped control the planned fall of a very heavy piece of aluminum.) 

Dad needed to replace both sails and in order to do that, the mast had to come down. This was the first time that we had done this in the 10 years Dad has had the boat. Once the mast was down, the boys decided to become electricians. The lights on the boat have not worked since Dad got it, so he hasn't been able to go out past sunset. Since the mast was already down, this was a good time to get them fixed. On Sunday, we got the mast back up. If bringing it down was a control fall, I don't think you could say that getting it up was controlled. My words of wisdom- Working against gravity is not easy and should be avoided if at all possible. Bottom line- the mast is up, the sails are on and the lights work!

After church on Sunday, we took a picnic to Yorktown and ate at the Moore House. It was a wonderful picnic with gorgeous weather, a nice breeze, and watching the boats on the York River. Emelia had a great time exploring. She would have walked around all afternoon saying 'Whaas thaa?'

Thomas got a T-ball set from Ghee Ghee and Grandpa for his birthday, so we took that along to play with. He had a really good time trying to learn to play. As we are well aware of, Thomas' strong suit is not his athletic ability. He comes by it honestly. By the end, he was at least starting to understand what he was supposed to do, kind of... :)

On Monday, we took a picnic to the beach. Mom and Dad found this beach a few years ago, and it is the best beach around. It isn't a big beach. There are some trees so people who so choose can stay in the shade. There is a lot of boat traffic in the distance to watch, but not close enough to be a concern. It isn't easy to find, so unless you know it is there, you aren't going to find it. That means that it isn't too crowded. The water is shallow, sandy and calm. All of these things make for a perfect place to play with kids! It actually took a wagon to get all the stuff we 'needed' to the beach. This wagon was one of the best gifts Tom got for Christmas last year!!

 We thought (and still do) that Thomas was  a water baby... His sister might just give him a run for his money. She LOVED to splash, had no desire to be carried and showed no fear. She would watch Thomas blow bubbles and would stick her face in the water too. When the water got deep enough that she had to have her face in the water to stand from sitting down, she just did it, no problem!

I'm not sure who likes to dig more- the kids or Tom.... Wait. Yes, I am....

 I love sandy toes!

 Thomas spent a lot of time practicing his bubble blowing. He loves to swim and I would venture to guess that he could be following in his Daddy's lifeguarding shoes.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend. It is so nice to be able to 'get away' for the weekend, and even better when that getting away means not really having to go far! 

Let the Birthday week continue!

 Somehow, Thomas has managed to have a birthday week. It all started on Tuesday. Since Thomas' birthday was on a Wednesday, we celebrated at preschool on Tuesday. Ghee Ghee, Emelia and I came in, shared a snack and I read a story to the class. They, of course, sang Happy Birthday to Thomas. This was the first of MANY, MANY times that he would be sung to. We couldn't bring in a sugary snack, so we made butterflies with colored goldfish and raisins. Thomas colored the clothespins. They had just finished watching caterpillars turn into butterflies at school, so this fit in nicely with what they had just studied. I had a little helper while I was trying to take the picture. She knew what was in there and wanted to eat them!

Thomas was also the calendar helper for the day. He likes to play with the pointer and pretend to be the teacher during free choice time.

On Thomas' birthday, we went to Bounce House for the morning. We did that last year too and he had a blast, so I thought we would do it again this year. His climbing skills have greatly improved and he didn't need much help. He loved getting to go on 'Spiderman' and we had fun sliding together down the tree house slide. Ghee Ghee came to watch Emelia. She would have been in to play in a heartbeat if we had let her. Next year, she will have a blast sliding with Thomas. Grandpa came over to watch for a little bit and then we had lunch at CiCi's Pizza. 

Although Thursday was not his birthday at school, it was 'Splash Day,' which made for a special day anyway. The spent most of the morning playing outside in little pools and sprinklers, shooting each other (and the teachers and parent helpers) with water cannons. The kids were soaked, as were most of the adults. They also had a popsicle treat, then a birthday treat of fruit to celebrate the Summer birthdays. While eating the second snack, they watched a movie of pictures that his teachers had taken over the year. Thomas loved the movie and I know that when he gets his copy, he will want to watch it everyday, at least once.


On Friday, we came up to the condo for the long weekend and to have Thomas' birthday party. It was a Dr. Seuss Birthday, since Thomas has been really into his Dr. Seuss books. Tom and Ghee Ghee made Truffula Trees as decorations and I made a Dr. Seuss hat birthday cake. 

The official photo in front of the chalkboard.

Thomas can now really pretend to do church with his new pitch pipe. Thanks to Mr. Bill, he doesn't have to use his train whistle before starting to sing his song.

Ghee Ghee and Grandpa gave him the Little People house, which is his favorite toy at school and at church. It has held his attention for long periods of time already.

Lunch was non other than green eggs and ham!

His 'big' gift from us was his own tablet. He was very patient learning to use his new tablet and figuring out the new games. Now, my Nook is a little safer! :)

I believe that all the official birthday celebrating is mostly over. He did get one more 'Happy Birthday' sung to him during Training for Worship at church today. He also has one more gift from Paw Paw Neumann, but we are having more difficulty than we should being able to find the gift.... More about that when we give him his last surprise! 


It has been a full and busy weekend and tomorrow is still another busy day! Since his birthday is so close to Memorial Day weekend, he tends to have a long birthday celebration, even if it isn't really birthday happenings. Tomorrow- off to the beach!