Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Highlights from an Aunt Date

Even though this is a short week for me, it has not gotten off to the best start.  So instead of dumping all of my complaints/woes/worries on you, I am going to focus on the positive and tell you about something fun I did recently!

Last week, I planned my study hours so that I would have my afternoon free to spend with my nephews.  Unfortunately, the younger one (Matthew) was feeling under the weather, so it ended up being just Andrew and I - which was still wonderful.  Here are some highlights from the time we spent together!

- Andrew is part of a chess club so I asked him how it was going and said maybe he could teach me how to play some day.  He responded by asking for my email address and said:  "If you send me your email address, I will send you a screen shot of a chess board with instructions on how the pieces all move."  Who is this person and what happened to my 7-year old nephew?  No really - he knows what a screen shot is? And he followed through on this and sent me a file later that day with a voice recording of how the different pieces move.  He may be more technologically savvy at age 7 than his 32 year old aunt is.

- When I asked Andrew what his favorite class was, I was SO happy to hear that it is reading!  When we got to Barnes & Noble, it was fun to watch him pick out a book as he was so excited to get the latest Captain Underpants book!  In fact, he was so excited to read it, he sat down on the ground and started paging through it while I was picking out a book for his brother.


 - After we had picked out a book for his brother, we headed over to the 'big kid' section so I could show him the Happy Potter books.  I can't wait for him to be old enough to read them!

- We finished the afternoon by heading to Cold Stone for some ice cream.  He picked out raspberry yogurt with sprinkles mixed in. 


We had such a fun afternoon together.  I am so sad that these aunt dates will be a thing of a past when I move to Charlotte, but I feel lucky to have had as much one-on-one time with my nephews as I have had during the years I've spent in Minneapolis.  And I know we'll have more aunt dates in the future, it just might be 1-2 years before they happen on a regular basis again.

16 comments:

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

That looks like so much fun- as you know Barnes and Noble is probably my favorite place in the world, so that plus ice cream and I am sold. Can he read the Captain Underpants books on his own yet? If they are a little hard, I recommend Ricky Ricotta- easier and by the same author. I use it usually with my 2nd graders but that's in tutoring, so obviously the kids are a little behind. I may have already recommended that one to you though, can't remember :)

Becky said...

"If you send me your email address, I will send you a screen shot of a chess board with instructions on how the pieces all move."

OMG. I mean seriously!

I know you'll miss these nephew/aunt dates, but just think, now Andrew can school you on the intracicies of G-chat and Skype when you have video dates!

Unknown said...

This is great! Sounds like it was a fun day.
Video chats!

Abby said...

That is awesome Lisa! Just be happy that you've had these opportunities and this move is not totally permanent. Visits home will be so cherished!

Andrew sounds like his Dad! That is too awesome!! Wow - smart kid and he is definitely way more tech savvy than I am! I had to go to the store to get help on how to text or make phone calls with my iPhone when I got it!

Leigh said...

He sure is smart for a 7 year old! My 3 year old niece knows how to work an ipad with no problems...it amazes me! I love how you take your nephews on dates. Such a great way to make memories!

Stephany said...

I swear, my nephew is so much smarter than me sometimes! He helped us figure out how to put together his Hot Wheels racing set during Christmas and actually figured out the harder stuff we couldn't figure out. He's a genius! :)

I'm glad you have been able to have some great nephew dates while you've been in Minneapolis. Something to cherish and you'll be back for more!

J and A said...

Awe this is awesome!! I love time with nieces and nephews!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

What a handsome fella! That's awesome that he loves to read ... so many kids don't enjoy it these days.

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

Based on the things Gavin has picked up as a two-year old, I can only imagine how much he'll know when he's 7! Now I don't think my parents were quite so insane when they limited what we were allowed to do on their computer when I was a kid ... they knew we knew more than them and it made them nervous!

Elizabeth said...

What a great time together and those are the moments he'll cherish! There will be more though---don't worry!

Melissa said...

I may be extremely emotional these days but this is SO. CUTE. It sounds like you guys had a great time! I love how much he loves reading. This is making me so excited for my nephew to be at a real reading age. I hope he loves it as much as I do :D

jdotzenrod said...

He had such a wonderful time too! Thanks so much for taking him out and staying for dinner!

Nora said...

The chess thing darn near killed me. That is the sweetest thing ever! Seriously. I love it. I hope he continues to email you and send you screen shots :) Definitely a good way to brighten the day!

Jeanie said...

I"m thinking that in some ways maybe it was better to have one-on-one! He's so darned cute, I can tell how much you will miss him. And smart, too! Maybe you can play online chess together!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Awww, that's so fun! I would love to go to Barnes and Nobel and get ice cream! Even now. So...enlighten me: what is a captain underpants?

I used to go and stay with my aunt and uncle for a week every summer and it was the highlight of my year. I am sure that it is the same for your nephew. He will remember these dates forever.

Amber said...

I love that you do aunt dates!! I really wish we lived closer to our nephew and nieces so we could spend more time with them. Whenever we do go home though we usually take our nephew to the movies and it's great to spend time with him and spoil him a bit!