When we got to the Centralia area, Derek and I talked about stopping some place for lunch and "wandered" the roads to find something suitable to eat. Not seeing anything appealing on the streets, we pulled into a conveniently located hotel to "check out the restaurant there or ask the hotel desk for recommendations for food." This hotel had some large wolf carvings out front, I might add. Derek wandered the lobby with the kids while I talked with the front desk.
With a thick brochure in hand (with colored wristbands sticking out the top), I go back to the family and tell them we should try the restaurant at the hotel. Jonah is still oblivious and thinking this is merely a rest stop on the way to Portland. At the restaurant, I tell them about this resort we stumbled into and all the features it has... it's an indoor water park and apparently guests at the hotel have full access to the water park, but they need to wear these wrist bands (while I am handing them out).
Jonah puts one on and goes back to staring at his phone, but not before asking "so when are we going to Portland?" "Um, Jonah... we're not going to Portland. We're spending the weekend here. Surprise!" At which point he proceeded to tell us how much we sucked and that he was never speaking to us again. He would have been more convincing, had he managed to keep a grin off his face when he delivered those lines.
In the middle of summer, Juliana and I attended a mini-family reunion on a Baltic Sea cruise. Uncles, Aunts and cousins from the States, Hong Kong and Canada were there. Juliana spent quite a bit of her time playing with her cousins and making use of the Kids Club aboard ship. I almost didn't know what to do with myself with that alone time. I have so many pictures of Juliana and her cousin Jaden together, they were nigh inseperable and ran to give each other hugs whenever they met.
Towards the end of summer, Jonah returned and everything was all about Escape the Fate this and Escape the Fate that. If you didn't know, Escape the Fate is a band and Jonah's favorite. They're touring with the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with a handful of bands, including two other bands that he likes. As it turns out, one of his friends from school had a birthday recently and her (yes, a GIRL) mom gave her a gift of concert tickets and permission to invite along two friends. She picked Jonah and another female friend. Being the dutiful parents we try to be, we talked with the Mom and eventually met her to talk through the details of the event and compare rules/expectations - no drugs, no smoking in the car, etc. So now he has our permission to attend this concert, so long as he keeps his grades up and his homework turned in on time. Otherwise, he'll get this permission revoked. He's doing great so far and the concert is in 2.5 weeks.
Luckily this year, Jonah seems to be enjoying his classes more than last year and doesn't find this term's teachers to be annoying. One of his classes this term is acoustic guitar. I may have to figure out a way to record him practicing...
