TJ's visit to "Hansen Man Camp" for 2 Weeks

On the drive home from Waterloo, Hunter & Graden explained to TJ that he was going to "Man Camp" for the next 2 weeks (of which, TJ took as he'd literally be going to a camp, so we had to set that straight!). As much time as he spends around girls and women, we thought he'd be good to spend some time with men.

Hunter has spent a lot of time with TJ this week ... in fact, he hadn't spent any time with his friends, he has dedicated all of his time to his cousin. A very selfless, impressive act I think for a 15 year old boy! They have been to the pool, played baseball, run practice drills for football, played video games, went on a run ... just to name a few things. They both really seem to be enjoying the others' company. I think this will be a memorable summer for TJ!

In addition to Hunter having some great moments with TJ, I have too! He is a sweet kid, very bright and so well articulated! ... and I discovered he's a Planner! Let me explain: While here, we quickly put him to work - having him cover Dayne's chores (feeding the dog , taking the garbage out and unloading the dishwasher).

Planning alert #1: On Saturday afternoon, as I was folding clothes in the laundry room he says to me, "Tiffany ... do you think you'd be able feed Oz for me? Since the baseball game starts at 7:00, I don't think we will be back in time for him to eat." I clarified that I, too, would be going to the baseball game and that we'd feed him as soon as we got home. I was impressed to see he was thinking ahead!

Planning alert #2: Later Saturday afternoon he looked at the garbage and said, "Tiffany ... I think I will need to take the garbage out about tomorrow morning. Looking at how full it is now and how fast it fills up." Again, he was thinking ahead.

Saturday afternoon I was cooking chicken and TJ kept me company while I was cooking. I was almost done with the last of the Twilight series books, and he, too, enjoys Twilight. He was asking me questions about the books and what happens to each of the main characters. During that coversation we covered quite the array topics: vampires, werewolfs, teenage pregnancy (!!!!), children born out of wedlock, and a few other oddball topics in between. Enteraining, to say the least!

Saturday night we went to a KC T-Bones Baseball game ... good to get out of the house and enjoy a cool summer evening! Unfortunately, the game was very, very boring ... and our team lost 2-0. : ( But, the fireworks after the game were great! : )

The boys enjoyed hot dogs, sodas, cotton candy, kettle corn and fresh homemade strawberry lemonade! Amazingly, they didn't have stomach aches that evening!

TJ shows off is new T-Bones gear - baseball and t-shirt!

The boys watching the fireworks.

The boys are planning a canoeing trip in Joplin, MO later this week .... if Graden can take the day off work and they can get 2 canoes (TJ will be in Graden's). That will be quite "manly" and a good experience, I am sure.