Date Night with Brayden

Last night, Brayden and I went to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Just him and I - Mikayla was too scared to go, and it's really not the kind of movie that John is dying to see. It allowed him to take his little princess on a date night as well.

We had gotten all of those free movie passes from the Safeway deal and, hard to believe, but we're already close to the time they expire (where has this summer gone?!). So, with the three we still had left (they expire Sunday) - we headed to the cinema, got our tickets and awarded the person behind us with the extra one. That always feels good to be able to do something like that.....

Brayden thought the movie was AWESOME - I enjoyed it as well. The 3-D effects were cool, but sometimes a bit distracting. I wouldn't say it's the best movie I've ever seen, but perfect for a date night.

Unfortunately, as we returned to my van in the parking lot, there was a pick-up parked next to it on the drivers' side. I noticed movement, and sure enough, there was a teen-age couple making out on the "bed" of the truck. They were positioned lower than the sides, so you wouldn't see them unless you walked right up, but given where I was parked, there was no avoiding it. ICK! I was able to get Brayden in on the passenger side, but trying to ignore them and make no noise at all for me to get in was akward indeed. And, then, of course, Brayden was gawking as soon as he got in the van. At least their clothes were still on..... PULEASEEE! If you are going to park and do that - pick a less populated parking spot!

As I've mentioned before, summer is a really good time with Brayden. Yes, he still pesters and messes with his sister - that's my number one issue with them - bugging each other - but, his mood is generally happy and pleasant. It certainly was last night. The pace and activity choices of summer are what Brayden's all about - so it's no surprise.

Lately, we've come up with an expression that kind of fits him as well. When we had Koda over a couple of weeks ago (a very active lab), Michele made the mistake of tossing a tennis ball to get Koda to leave us alone when we were "getting some sun" on the patio. Of course, this thrilled Koda and she returned with the saliva covered ball ready to have it thrown again. Michele was irritated, because Koda was relentless, but I pointed out, "your mistake - you threw the ball". That's the expression we now use with Brayden, because all it takes is something simple - some physical gesture of playful wrestling, or silly teasing with him - and there you go - you have a "Koda" - a kid who doesn't know when to stop, and wants to keep playing and playing and pushing it until you are exasperated. I'm pretty good at not feeding into this - I pride myself on anticipating probable futures based on passed experiences..... but Michele has fallen into this trap quite often and ends up asking for me to get him to stop. "You threw the ball, Michele....."

I'll tell you what, though, I'll take a "playful Koda" anyday over a brooding, stressed out boy that we often see in the mornings and afternoons of the school year. I've been doing a lot of praying - I sure hope this is the year where it all comes together in such a way that Brayden doesn't perceive school as such "work", but gains energy from it as well. Cuz, I will sure miss my "Summer Brayden" if that's not the case.