summer camp...

Eli is on his way to camp. I told him that I might really miss him so much that I may have to drive to the camp and bring him home...he went and brought me a picture of himself off of the bookcase and said, here you can see me all the time and when you need to, you can kiss this and it will teleport to me.I'm better now...

...And every last inch of me is covered with hair....

Eli took a bath the other night ( after many threats, much coaxing, and a little bribery). He was in there for awhile and finally emerged clean and smiling. Sherri noticed it first and commented how he smelled like a man...he had used my body wash...a better way to put it is he had used up all of my body wash. I know that when there is too much perfume in the air, people say it smells like a brothel...not sure what people say when an 8 year old boy uses too much of a scent...hmmm???
Anyway, he wanted us to smell him...which we could...and did...and of course we did the obligatory sniff...which I blame for messing up my sinuses. Then he announced that he is getting underarm hair and " chess hair"...which he is not...unless he has been looking through Sherri's magnifying make-up mirror, then maybe...but to the naked human eye that is squinting and trying to see something, it isn't there. I suppose I will have to hide my razor for the next few years...even at the cost of having his imaginary beard look like the guys from ZZ Top or Duck Dynasty.

Boy...Scouts!

So Eli has decided that he wants to be a boy scout...only it's his version of the boy scouts, which isn't the boy scouts at all. In Eli's version, I am his leader. I have to make up things for him to do in order to receive badges... These badges were once badges that we're given to him for participating in the Lowe's Build and Grow workshops. We have about 20 of them with different themes. Eli has renamed them all..there is one with a gingerbread man on it from a Christmas ornament decorating workshop that is now a cookie baking and decorating badge. There is one from mother's day that has been recycled into a badge for naming all of the plants in the yard with their scientific names....I even pulled out my old badges from boy scouts to add to the collection. I added cleaning up after yourself, mowing the lawn, helping around the house, and even suggested that one could be used for trying and eating new foods...Eli told me that he may not be ready for our boy scout adventure yet.

Base-ball been berry, berry , good to me...

The other day, Eli told Sherri what he wanted to get me for fathers day. He told her that he wanted to get me a baseball glove so that we could play catch together. Having my son want to spend time with me is the greatest gift I could imagine. So this morning, when I opened my present, there was my glove and an eight year old with a huge smile. I can't wait to get to the park and throw a few balls together. So glad to be a dad...

Catchers are the only guys on the team that get to wear armor...

Last night, Eli's team started their end of season baseball tournament. We one so we will be playing again tonight. The coach was short a few players tonight and asked Eli to play catcher. Eli suited up and was beaming ear to ear. He came out of the dugout waving and smiling ...and sweating. He did great in the position - staying focused the whole time. I think what he liked best about the position though was that the catcher gets to wear a type of costume...and Eli is all about costumes!

Eli being catcher

Ninja's are always prepared!