Diary: Friday, June 20, 2008

Tonight was our last night without Timothy and Stephen.  They come home from camp tomorrow.  We've been looking at pictures of them on their camp's website, and they look to have had a good time.  Tubing down a river, a ropes course, a mud pit, and a home-made, industrial Slip & Slide were all featured in the photos.  

Last year we were surprised to find that the camp took and posted these pictures, but we were more surprised to find that the outdoor, photographed activities were not what Timothy liked most.  He really enjoyed the "church services" they had each day, and he and Stephen talked about these services the most before going.

Who knows what blend of righteousness and rebelliousness we'll see in each boy when he comes home.  I'm curious to see what effect this week has had on Stephen.  Timothy is steadfast and trustworthy.  Stephen is a barometer, and a highly accurate one.  They're both good boys.

Because my wife had plans out tonight with friends, Jonah, Sam and I went to Enzos Pizza in Tucker for dinner.  I like Enzos, although I think Fellini's has a good case if they decide to sue for infringement of "look & feel".  The pizza is at Enzo's is better, with a better selection (I like the Goombah: the meat-covered pizza).  They also still have glasses for drinks, which Fellini's abandoned long ago.  I loved those Fellini's glasses.  Our home glasses, which we signed up for in our Crate & Barrel wedding registry, were directly inspired by the ones at Fellini's.  

Enzo's pizza is not as good as Shorty's, which is also in Tucker.  When we moved here 10 years ago, there was no pizza place around, except for the Three Deliverers: Domino's, Papa John's, and Pizza Hut.  Now the Domino's is gone (that's right; you can't get Domino's pizza in Tucker), but we have three new independent-y pizza joints in town: Enzo's, Shorty's, and some new place next to my barber on main street that we've never been to.

None of this background is relevant, however, if Jonah and Sam don't like the place.  After tonight, they may never want to go back to Enzo's again.  You see, Enzo's doesn't have lemonade.  This is a great sin.  Jonah will drink only lemonade and water.  That's it.  Tonight he cried when he found out they didn't have any lemonade, and then he drank water.  

Sam likes "mix-ups" (which we used to call "suicides"; I like the new name better).  His usual mix is Sprite, fruit punch, and then lemonade.  If he's standing there watching, you have to do it in that order.  Moe's has these three, as does Fellini's.  But Enzo's didn't have lemonade or fruit punch.  So Sam bravely tried Sprite mixed with grape and orange Fanta.  He didn't like it, and settled for "just Sprite".

True to form, Sam ate half of his slice of pizza.  I ate half of my Goombah.  Jonah ate his whole piece, plus a piece of cheesy bread.

Then he ate a waffle cone of chocolate ice cream at Bruster's.  I don't know where he puts it, and I was amazed to watch him eat the whole thing.  Sam barely downed a "baby cone," which is about two tablespoons of blue Italian ice.  Jonah's cone was easily two full cups of chocolate ice cream, plus the waffle cone itself.

I had a cup of chocolate-peanut-butter something-or-other and then promptly came home and took a Lactaid tablet.  God bless Lactaid.

When we got home, Jonah was too wired to go to bed, so he invoked the summertime Friday Night Family Night of Movies Night, which means the three of us sat down and watched Toy Story, "the first one, with the boy with the skull t-shirt," as Jonah explained to Sam.  Jonah loves skulls on clothing, and Sam loves to know what's going on.

This being a Family event, I was required to sit down and watch it too.  In spite of my Stephenity, I actually was able to sit and watch half of the movie.  I love Pixar.  I'm glad they made movies when they did, so that my kids could be exposed to some good ones, instead of the drek that I watched as a kid.  Nostalgia is the only reason people will watch cartoons from my childhood, and when we're all gone nobody will ever watch He-Man again.  But I think people will watch Toy Story and The Incredibles a hundred years from now, and I think John Lasseter will be held in the same esteem as Walt Disney.

Needless to say, I enjoyed the movie.

Now the boys are in bed, my wife is not home yet, and I'm sitting here at the computer.  Tomorrow is the birthday party for my father-in-law, but Jonah has another party to attend, and Timothy and Stephen will be home sometime.  So I'll stay home and wait, and read some pre- law school books.  I'm okay with that, but I wish that I could go to the party.

Still, it's not a bad life, and I'll get to see my Wandering Sons return home.  And frankly, the anticipation of them coming home is keeping me just as awake as their anticipation the night before they left.