knock on that

I got to hang out with my almost-7-year-old nephew all day yesterday. My dad brought him to town. We all had breakfast together, then Dad parted company with us for a few hours to go fulfill some professional whatnot.

First J. and I walked down to the lake. He fell in and got his pants thoroughly wet, but fortunately it was very warm and not a bad day to walk around in damp pants. (He definitely did not want to go to a laundromat to dry them out.) Then J. got in a good workout throwing rocks at other rocks, while I observed his technique and made sure no passers-by were in danger. Next J. collected a bunch of sticks to put together for a raft, which I wove together. We later procured some string to secure it. Not very seaworthy, but perhaps an interesting piece of wall art?

I also got J. a plastic robot ball toy thing that caught his eye, which had to be rolled along the ground or thrown at the ground in order to get it to pop apart into full robot form. This we did on the lawn at the Capitol, because where else? We gave the toy a rest for a little while, though, to wander around the inside of the capitol and then check out the observation area overlooking the city.

We met back up with Dad, and the three of us went to lunch at a Greek restaurant, which J. thought he wanted although wasn't so sure when we actually got the food. Then Dad and I talked J. into going with us to the Children's Museum, but he was not impressed, so we cut out of there after a pretty cursory tour through the exhibits.

After a stop at a toystore where J. acquired an amazing little vibrating bug toy, we headed back to my apartment so that J. could show me his current favorite computer game, Monsters vs. Aliens Tower Defense. While he played and explained strategy to me, I tried not to fall asleep where I sat. That kid wore me right out.