Mechanic In Training

Anders surprises us pretty frequently with what he constructs. As an example, Anders built these two tools with no help from us and proudly showed them off by name:

Oil Filter Wrench and Impact Wrench

These are not exactly your everyday tools. But I recently had to buy an oil filter wrench, so that is where he got the inspiration for that one. As for the impact wrench... he apparently learned about that one from one of the "shows" that he occasionally gets to watch. They almost always involve some sort of heavy machinery.

Over the next several days, Anders used the impact wrench to "fix" the tires on our cars. He even did a pretty good impression of the sound an impact wrench actually makes.

Anders already has more mechanical repair knowledge than I do, and he's not even four. Looks like somebody is going to be getting a small engine repair book for his birthday this year...

- Mike, Corinne and Anders

Camping Dry Run

This summer, for the first time in a LONG time, we pulled out our camping gear. My brother and his family were coming to visit us in August, and our plan for their time here included several nights of camping in Oregon. Since Anders has never been camping, we thought that it might be a good idea to do a "dry run" at home before we ended up in a strange campsite far from home.

Thankfully, Anders was pretty excited to sleep in the tent. We weren't sure if he would be happy in the tent all night; he sleeps through the night maybe 75% of the time, but this would be something entirely different. That's why we're trying this at home first, right?

We set up our 2-person tent in the yard, laid out our sleeping bags and blankets, and Anders and I climbed in for the night.

Not a bad place to camp, huh?

Just big enough for two sleeping bags (barely).

Anders had a great time. He slept through the night with no problem, and he actually fell asleep fairly quickly. (He appears to have inherited Corinne's sleeping genes in that respect.)

I learned a few things on this trial run as well. I woke up with a few kinks in my back, so we will definitely be buying some sleeping pads before our next camping outing. For some odd reason, we actually have three different tents, with this one the smallest. To camp with the whole family, we will need to use one of the larger ones.

I think this is a rite of passage for any parent and child. And I can say that it was unequivocally a success.

- Mike, Corinne and Anders