Deflection

Rylee and I have always spent time together, and we have grown to enjoy each other. Before he started school, we played stomp rocket. He would stop on the bladder that fed air to the luncher and the rocket would travel over twenty feet in the air. As I was trying to catch the rocket, he was trying to prohibit me from catching the rocket. It was hard enough catching the rocket without someone trying to run interference.

I have started taking him places during the summer. Last year, I took him to the Discover Center in Milwaukee and he enjoyed that trip stating it was one of his highlights over the summer.

This year we have been to the Wisconsin Geological Center in Madison where he saw a petrified wooly mammoth, and he was impressed. We went to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum next to the state Capital, and we walked through the state Capital. I feel that he enjoyed the museum more that the state capital, but I would imagine that he will learn about state governments in school this year, so the walk through was good for him. We when swimming a couple of times at Lake Ottawa.

Since I was hot on Thursday, we decided to take the trip to Chicago in an air conditioned train and see the bean. The train was an experience for him, but we are totally different people. He will sit there and play Nintendo the would trip, and I am watching continuously watching the scenery. I guess that it works well, since I watch the scenery and he lay me all the way down and all the way back.

After we got off of the train, we had to go down an escalator. Without me knowing that he had never been on an escalator before, he was unsure on how to get onto one. Well he finally got on to it. But, on the way back, he was again having problems getting on to it. So, I grabbed my camera, and I got a photo. Then I decided that a video would be more interesting. I did get a video of him trying to get on the escalator until I got to the end of the escalator. Well I did on fall down, but I got an interesting video, with the video making sharp movements. When Rylee saw it, he stated instant karma. The nine-year-old made me laugh. It is a funny video.

He was impressed by the big buildings. It was around noon when we got down, so I headed for the river walk, but they had a bridge under construction, so we could not make a direct route to the riverwalk. When I looked at the aerial photo of the area on my GPS, I thought that I found a way around the construction, but it turned out to be a long way around the construction. Rylee was not too happy with the long walk, since he was hungry. I when to the first place that I could find on the river walk, and we had hamburgers, so much for my high cholesterol. He stated that he enjoyed eating on the river walk watching the boats going up and down the river. We went into a lift bridge museum, and he got to see all of the working parts, and I feel that he enjoyed the diversion.

We then went to the bean, and I feel that he really enjoyed it. Seeing the reflections. On one end, he laid under the bean with only 1′.5 feet to clearance. This was something worth him seeing.

Then to the south of the bean, was a water park. It was two eighty-foot towers about twenty feet wide and about 250 feet apart. The water was spilling over the sides of the tower walls. Well, knowing Rylee, in just a few minutes, he was totally wet. The would circle a tower and come to me totally wet and try to get me wet. This is stomp rocket all over, again. This is what he totally enjoyed the most. And, yes, he was damp riding in the train all the way back to Harvard, Illinois.

We ended up walking five miles, but he was not happy walking that far, and I do not know why. He complained about walking far and then he had all of this energy when he got to the water park. I kept telling him that he does not have enough stamina for football, but I do not feel that my comments sunk in.

When it comes to Rylee, we just have to enjoy the boy. He will grow up to be a good man, since he has all of the makings, but I do not know what he is going to do with all of his extra energy.

Roger