Ty and I were downtown and we stopped in for dinner with an old friend of mine. I have known Vanessa since a teen tour across America we took together after our freshman year of high school. All these years we have kept in touch and made plans to finally get our kids together.
Here is Ty showing off his awesome reading skills to Vanessa's daughter, Ava Rose. He read her a bedtime story after dinner and then we headed back uptown to bed ourselves.
Right next door to the Museum of Natural History is the Rose Center for Earth and Science (formerly the Hayden Planetarium). This place is the mecca for astronomy geeks like me. I remember the room full of scales where you could see how much you weighed on different planets. Ty was in awe of all the photos and exhibits here. He loves science and that's cool by me.
This small little town in Fairfield County, CT is where Ty's Dad grew up and my parents still live. Westport is home to a few celebrities and some historic revolutionary war sites, it can now boast a place in Ty's travel log. Ty has been here a few times before, but now it's official with these photos.
The weather cooperated a bit to allow us a stroll down Main Street where the banners hang. Then behind Main along the Saugatuck river, Ty poses with the bridge in the background. That road is US 1, or the Old Boston Post Road which winds through the whole town along it's journey all the way to Florida.
History lesson over. On to more pictures.
On our first full day in CT we headed to South Norwalk to visit the Maritime Aquarium where Ty had gone once before when he was very little (link to old post). The fun part about that is at his age, that means virtually no recollection of the visit. So everything is new again.
We looked at sea lions and penguins first outside, before checking out some of the other marine life inside that is found along the Long Island Sound.
Ty shows off some new designs at Gram and G-Pop's house. I am sure that the folks who build the stuff you see below once started out this way.
Ty and I returned from an awesome week in CT and NYC with friends and family. This post begins the recap of what we did and who we saw.
I tried to capture the wing out the window while we were flying, but the exposure difference was too wide for the digital camera to read. Either way, it still makes for a nice introduction as we headed from Austin to JFK.
An extreme home makeover was done on Ty's bedroom. We went from white walls and a plastic twin car bed, to a "big boy" room. Here is a shot with the new wall paint and furniture. I think this is nicer than my room was as a kid.
The second photo shows some artwork I had commissioned for Ty's room by an artist that I discovered online and communicated with via Twitter. Her name is Natasha Wescoat. More of her work can be seen here.
Congratulations Ty on completing the full three year primary cycle at Community Montessori School. Here he is accepting his diploma with his Primary Guide, Ms. Nancy.
We recently attended a birthday pool party that quickly became an indoor event as one of the famous Texas thunderstorms appeared and darkened the skies. They improvised the limbo dance with a pool noodle which I found very amusing.
After I was forced to embarrass myself and almost throw out my back demonstrating the limbo move for the kids (no photographic evidence luckily), they each took their turns. Each had their own unique style. Ty is shown here during his sideways ducking maneuver.
When I was growing up I imagined that by this time (the 21st Century) we would all be driving flying cars just like in The Jetsons. What happened to that?
Anyway. Here's Ty whizzing by in circles (thanks new camera for freezing time) just moments before he lost that tooth by bonking his face against the steering wheel. Last post from the carnival now, really.
What do you get when you cross a crazy kid and a sledgehammer? Tons of fun!
At the same festival where Ty recently lost that tooth, we went over to this booth that allowed people to take a couple of whacks at an old beat up car for charity. Ty could barely hold the hammer up, but he made a few dents and enjoyed that feeling of power. Later he also shot a paintball gun at the sheriff's booth.
Only in Texas, right?
I had to sneak a quick flash picture inside of Ty standing in front of the vast stacks of books. It is quite an impressive site for anyone who hasn't been inside to see the open windows revealing the stacks of presidential documents collected during the LBJ administration.
I added another wider shot of the whole wall for better perspective. Ty wasn't so interested in the president's memorabilia as our main focus was the exhibit on the Apollo missions. They put together an awesome collection from the exciting years that led up to the first lunar landing. The highlight of the day for Ty was this laser light show in a small side room. He sat through it twice.
