Flashback Friday of the Recent Variety

That "104 Days of Summer Vacation" thing a la Phineas and Ferb is a myth.  At least around here.  Summer vacation is but a blip on the screen in our school system.  The last day of school was May 26th and they go back on August 9th (which is actually later than the anticipated August 5th due to a couple of furlough days).  That brings the grand total of vacation days to...74 including weekends.  Our family of five had lots of fun things lined up (like a trip to Orlando, a trip to Maryland, VBS, a potential trip to the gulf depending on the conditions of the beach), and with my dad newly retired and my mother-in-law also being on summer break we had lots of family willing to lend a hand in keeping our eldest occupied (and bonus - out of daycare, cha-ching) for the summer.

It really did work out great.  And the even bigger bonus is that when things didn't work out as planned, we weren't in a complete lurch, because my boss is a family man, and he loves children.  He knows that Ben is almost 100% able to occupy himself in one of the empty rooms, and "doesn't mind one bit" (his words) if he comes with me.  I can't help feeling like I'm taking advantage when it happens, so we try to limit his time spent here, but he really is a good kid and it really isn't any trouble.  (Even if by the end of a 40 hour work week, he drives me crazy as a result of our very close quarters.)

This was one of the weeks that life didn't work out as planned.  My in-laws have been dealt some unexpected health issues this summer, and have been unable to help out as anticipated.  Obviously, our concern is getting them better.  This absolutely isn't a woe-is-me plea or anything like that.  I think they were more disappointed than anyone.  Ben is popular.  Seems that everyone wants to hang out with him.  I'm personally still trying to figure out why.  (Poor Ben.  I hope he knows I love him.)

Anyway, this was the perfect week to have him here with me because the office manager was on a week-long trip to Indiana, so I didn't have to stress about him making too many weird noises or stomping up and down the hallway.  He's been an angel all week, even being sad when 5 o'clock rolls around.  Not too many six year olds I know can be so resourceful and self-satisfying.  He's a gem, this kid.

The flashback this week is a list (of course) detailing the various ways my sweet Ben occupied himself in our little engineering office for the past five days.

And here we go...

~Used spare plotter parts to fashion antennae (which he occasionally wore whilst riding the measuring wheel like a horse)...or maybe he was just trying to pick up local tv.  Either way, it made me laugh.

~Built a fort in the file room with old plans and cardboard boxes (but evidently it wasn't too sturdy because it collapsed into a heap of paper and cardboard before I could snap a picture)

~Rebuilt a fort in the file room, using different paper, same cardboard, and even more tape

~Learned how to make coffee using my french press.  (Seriously - score!)

~Colored/Drew pictures then scanned them in color and emailed them to people with helpful 8-step instructions provided by moi

~Accompanied me to the polls on Tuesday and received an "I'm a Georgia Voter" sticker

~Read an entire stack of library books in a single day, and returned the following day for more...can I get a hip hip hooray for the public library?  (Also, I highly recommend the book The Giant and the Beanstalk.  It's great.  Because I had to read all of the books too before we turned them back in.)

~Constructed two 3D woodcraft cars from a kit (which he has taken home and his sisters have already almost completely destroyed)

~Smashed leftover wooden pieces from woodcraft kit to smithereens using a screwdriver

~Made himself useful by utilizing the 3-ring hole punch and She-Ra stapler for legitimate business purposes

~Revived old DVD favorites including Jay Jay the Jet Plane and Barney (and he'd probably die of embarrassment if he knew I told people about this)

~Depleted the Hershey stash we have hidden away in a file drawer so my boss doesn't know about it (who told Ben about that, anyway?)

~Delivered items from the printer to the appropriate offices

~Delivered phone messages to my boss

~Took out the trash

~In three words:  "Unlimited" scotch tape

~Created life-sized likenesses of himself and me on giant recycled plan paper.  (Though I would contend the one of me is slightly larger than life.)

He got a little creative coloring on mine.  Please, try not to be jealous of my orange, blue, and green polka dotted shirt, plaid bell-bottom pants, and apparently exposed white underwear.

We're saving the highly-anticipated task of vacuuming for this afternoon's clean-up adventure.  (Because if you call it an adventure, almost anything sounds exciting.)  

And that is the account of Ben's week at my office.  

P.S. - Collating plan sets upwards of 150 sheets is slightly above the abilities of a six year old, even an exceptional one like Ben.  (Maybe next year...)

Happy Weekend, All!  

(And if you would find it in your heart to do so, please say a prayer for my in-laws Tommy & Lisa.  They're having a go of it this summer!  And we love them so!)