3 Sentence Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Somehow I made it through middle school (and several years of school after that) without ever reading this classic, but my niece Ashley convinced me to pull the trigger, and I'm glad I did. This is a beautiful (if not slightly contrived) story about a young girl growing up in Alabama during the Depression, her swift discovery of the highs and lows of humanity, and why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird (you have to read it to find out). I didn't like the ending at all until I later stumbled upon the oh-so-true one-sentence prologue that I had previously overlooked: "Lawyers, I suppose, were children once."

FOR DADDY

As a "Best of Tennyson" precursor blog to our trip to the midwest, this blog goes out to one person and one person only.  Daddy.  We miss you babe!

Tennyson kissing his "sister".
Tennyson kissing "daddy".

Grandma Julie being selfless while her progeny picks their nose.  Typical.
Grandma Julie's progeny showing her their bugger.
Discovering the wheel.

The average pioneer wagon wheel dwarfs Tennyson.
Good midwestern fun.
Tennyson being fearless at the gymnastics place.

What's not to like about foam squares larger than your head?

Fathers & Sons Camp

I recently took Tenny to his first fathers & sons camp at Cedarville State Forest, MD.  He loved the hotdogs and the ice cream (we were camping in style), but his favorite was the campfire.  He spent the vast majority of his time watching and poking the fire, and then that's all he could talk about for days.  It took Tennyson a while to warm up to the idea of sleeping in a tent, without mommy.  After I zipped up the tent door, I saw T's bottom lip quivering.  I asked what was wrong, and he said, "I don't like this tent.  I want mommy."  Luckily, 30 minutes of playing shadow puppets on the tent ceiling did the trick and Tenny fell asleep on my chest.  He's a good little camping buddy.

Tenny was the youngest dude at the camp, but he had some good guys to look up to.

Tenny warmed his buns by the fire in the early morning.

Tennyson appointed himself the official firewood gatherer.

The older boys (Jay, James, & Jamal) showed Tenny how to light a fire with one match (and one can of lighter fluid).

Here is a short video with more pictures of the fun.

Don't blink

(Or you'll spend the rest of the night cleaning.)

Caught red-handed, Tennyson hides behind his eyelids.

Tips for the kids

Tennyson is a happy boy. He maintains his happiness by following a few key rules of thumb:

Rule 1 - Always wear safety goggles

Rule 2 - Always follow proper tool safety

Rule 3 - Always wash behind your ears

Rule 4 - Always keep up with your studies

City slicker

Tennyson really likes playing with his farm set, though he's still trying to figure out what everything is (we just don't have that many farms on Capitol Hill). Here, we found Tennyson on the kitchen table, where he had fenced himself in and couldn't find a way out.

Climbing Sugarloaf Mountain

Sometimes you've just got to get out of the city, hit the trails, and enjoy nature. But since we don't have time for that, we opted to visit Sugarloaf "Mountain" instead.  As you can see in this photo, the summit of Sugarloaf towers over the valley below.  Fear not -- there is a road that gets you half way to the top so you don't have to work too hard.

Tennyson was a hiking fool.  There's just no slowing him down once he hits his stride.

Or at least we think that would be true -- he's never actually hit his stride.  He does like throwing rocks at the wildlife and trying to hit beetles and ants with sticks, though.

Suzanne just loved the reward at the end of the long, grueling, 15-minute climb.  "The view makes it all worth it," she exclaimed.

You have to stop and take pictures of signs with your name on them.  You just have to.

Oh, and we're potty training Tennyson, which only adds to the adventure and suspense.  

Ahhh, nature.