Mr. Art

The kids and I often visit our neighbor Arturo on the days we walk home from school.  He stands outside his garage every morning and afternoon, waving to all the moms and dads and kids as they walk to and from school.  He's watched many of them grow up over the last ten years he's lived here and his garage is covered with all sorts of children's artwork given to him over the years.

He's an awesome grandpa to his own grandkids and loves the neighborhood kids the same way. He often passes down his grandchildren's toys to Sam and Evie and he taught Sam how to play darts.  There's always a dish of candy out for the kids - Sam likes to eat it, Evie just likes to unwrap it.   He loves to talk about what he's planting in his garden, just like our Pops!  He grows some of his plants from seeds and has a little greenhouse in his backyard that he likes to show off.   I like when he tells stories about his time as a soldier in Desert Storm or shows us his bowling team patches from the seventies and other cool treasures from his past.  

The kids look for him everyday and they're always disappointed on the rare occasion he's not outside when we pass by his house.  Sam and Evie have wonderful grandfathers of their own, but it's also nice to have a grandfatherly neighbor right down the street, too, to ask you how school was, spoil you with candy and toys, and tell you to stop fighting with your sister!  

Panning and Playing

We had a nice, overcast morning yesterday, and Sam asked if we could walk to the basketball court at the end of our street so he could ride his scooter around. I grabbed my camera as I usually do, not knowing if I'd take any pictures or not.

As we walked I realized this would be the perfect time to try the panning technique I'd seen used many times.  I like how they turned out and I plan to try again sometime, maybe once the weather cools down a bit.  Sam likes them, too, and had fun showing off his scooter skills for me!

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New Neighbors, New Game

While we were scootering, panning, photographing and doing fancy tricks on the basketball court, a boy from down the street came on the court with his basketball.  He was very friendly, introduced himself to everyone, and asked Sam if he wanted to play ball with him.  They quickly became friends and played for quite a long time together.  Our new friend was very sweet to Evie, too, and made sure to include her in the basketball game.  Sam's never shown an interest in basketball before (the Lakers shirt he happened to be wearing that morning was a hand-me-down), but he had a blast that day.  We stayed for a long time and even shared snacks together on the basketball court.  I told Sam it's pretty special to be a first grader and have a friend in the FIFTH grade!  He and Sam see each other almost every day at school and wave and say hi, and Evie asks where he is at least once a day.  He was a precious kid and a good role model for Sam.  We hope to see him again soon!