Grant's Final Piano Recital (for a while) - James Bond Theme

 Today was Grant's last piano recital for the near future. It's bitter-sweet as he has developed musically but also personally through increased confidence and mastering a new skill. Grant has decided homework and more focus on swim is what will fill his evenings after school. Rebecca and I hope he will return to piano when he is ready or at least play for family to stay in practice. For his last performance, he played a perfect rendition "James Bond Theme" which was a treat as the movies are some of my personal favorites. Grant is too...

Oh! And this was posted on the same day as the event (for a change)! Dad is also focusing more on homework. 

Holiday Piano Recital

Grant has been learning piano for three years now. He meets with a piano teacher once a week and practices mom each day with the new music he is assigned. His practice is paying off and it shows at each annual recital. This year, Grant was moved up to the more experienced players and was also asked to be the finale playing together with the piano teacher for the crowd. He nailed it! Several families congratulated him after the performance and we celebrated with dinner out. Congrats on your personal achievements Grant...

Grant's (Early) 12th Birthday Celebration

First, let me admit, I've been a terrible dad by neglecting this blog and not adding more posts of Grant's accomplishments and celebrations. Grant is a wonderful son full of personal determination and compassion for others. I'm lucky to be there for him as a coach and need to remember to first be a father by capturing these memories for a time when they or I begin to fade away. 

Son, as you read this later in life, when I have turned this blog over to you to share with your son or daughter, know that I loved you more than I was able to express. 

Since Grant's birthday is in late July when school is out and everyone is traveling to get out of the heat, we decided  to have his birthday party in May to allow his "core" friends celebrate with him. He was trying to decide between go kart racing at Octane Raceway or laser tag and air hockey at Mavrix. Through some negotiating with the staff and because they are next to each other, we found a way to plan both events for the same price as one "birthday package". This kept the rambunctious young-ones excited, well-fed, and busy. Since they are all competitive, we even had cool swag for First Place in racing and laser tag at the end. 

Kids and parents commented the day was a hit! Most important to me, Grant enjoyed his day and thanked us for making it all come together. Check it out!

4th of July back in Munds Park

 Okay, okay...I am way behind on updating the blog for sure...

We decided to visit with friends in Munds Park, Arizona for the 4th of July again this year and it did not disappoint. We heard the parade had returned and with Grant unvaccinated, airports are still not a great idea, so driving up to Munds Park was a simple solution. We enjoyed the night light parade and the day parade the next day with floats, fire trucks, and water guns. Grant also had fun with some sparklers. Check it out!

Officially a 3rd Grader!

Today was Grant's first day being a 3rd Grader. Like many other 3rd Graders this year, it was online distance learning since it is not yet safe to return to campus. To keep some feeling of normal, we wanted to continue with the tradition of Grant selecting what he wants to wear on his first day of school and showing off his new backpack. Grant selected this salmon with light blue combo; very on-trend for the 9-year-old runway scene. While he will not need the backpack for a few months, we started adding new patches to it like "Don't mistake kindness for weakness." 

Grant's 9th Birthday Corona Style

So today Grant turned 9 years old! 

Since it is not yet safe to have large groups together inside, to make this birthday memorable in a good way we decided to decorate each room in the house in a fun style with a birthday present in each room. Think birthday scavenger hunt. One room was indoor camping where we set up a tent, installed lights that mimic a campfire, and played Pokemon in the tent. His room was a black light room with neon decorations and glow sticks. We laughed at how our teeth and fingernails were also glowing like aliens. 

He does have two friends coming over for outdoor fun in the pool over the weekend as well. 

In these times when most events are being cancelled, we are thankful Grant had a blast on his birthday this year.

Grant is a Millionaire!

With kids finishing the year on computers through distance-learning, we were struggling to find ways of balancing screen time needed for school work with additional time spent for fun and entertainment. The hours staring at a screen were growing each day so to keep Grant engaged in reading those old fashioned books he used to enjoy, I challenged Grant to exceed his class goal of 20 Accelerated Reader points and 300,000 words. If he could reach 50 AR points and 1,000,000 words before his score reset in July, he would earn some cold hard cash and we would celebrate all weekend with activities he chose (within reason).

He started out strong, reading nonstop for hours at a time. He even spent weekend mornings, typically reserved for Roblox or Mark Rober videos, burning through chapters in books from the library. When libraries shut due to restrictions, Grandma was one step ahead, mailing a new series of adventure fiction books for Grant to keep making progress. The reading began to retreat though and it looked as if Grant burned himself out on reading until local libraries opened with a pick up service. With new genres available, Grant loaded up and spent three days reading more than 200,000 words to finally exceed his million word goal by a few thousand and his AR goal by just under 10 points!

Grant, the 8-year-old millionaire!

Happy Cinco de Mayo from Grant!

Grant plays Piano

Grant has been working hard on learning to play the piano this year. He and mommy spend time daily working on new songs assigned by his piano teacher, Ms. Ewell, building up to group recitals where kids get to show off all of their hard work. Check out Grant playing the theme song from Star Wars. We all had fun with this song.

Grant's First Triathlon Age 8

Grant completed his first triathlon today. He has been training for two months and it showed this morning. He overtook several riders on the bike, aced each transition, and sprinted out of the water (reverse) to FINISH STRONG!

I am such a proud parent to see him train and then race so well on his first attempt! Maybe we can race together in the future.

Congrats Grant!

Eight is a great time for FOAM! Grant's 8th Birthday Party

Grant decided this year he wanted a foam party for his birthday celebration. This worked out well with what the Children's Museum of Phoenix has to offer for fun birthday experiences. Since he is getting older, we have only a few more years of fun at the museum before Grant decides "it's for babies".

We had his best buds (boys only, he decided) attend and enjoy cupcakes before going wild in the foam fun outside. Grant spent some time in the cleanest mess around before moving to spraying everyone with the hose and eventually building a foam fort from the suds with three rooms for guests.

Dad went all in on this one to get pictures which meant being covered in foam with the crew while working water proof camera gear. Whew!

Happy 8th Buddy!