This is too funny not to write about.

Zach has a ceiling fan and light in his room that is controlled by a remote control (for when he was younger, and couldn't reach the light switch, he could still turn his light on and off). Today while they were "resting," Adam secretly sneaked into Zach's room and took the remote control. He went back to his room and was turning Zach's light on and off and the fan on high, and then low, and then off, etc.

It too a while for Zach to figure why his light and fan were acting so crazy. Next thing I know, Zach is screaming Adam's name over and over and yelling, "Stop doing that!", and is all up in arms because his light "is going on and off and the fan is on high!"

I look over at Adam's room and he's at the door, which is open just a crack, and he's trying so hard not to laugh (I, too, am trying to control myself). So I tell Adam that it is not a nice thing to do and that he needed to give back Zach's remote control.

Just another way to torment your little brother, I guess.

I rode my bike to the Y today. Please, hold the applause and the "woo-hoo’s." According to mapquest, it is 3.92 miles from our house to the Y. It took me 30 minutes. That seems like a long time, but I was riding fast (at least I thought so). As I was riding by the Farmer’s Market at 21st and Ridge, some nice stranger with three huge watermelons said "keep up the good work" as I rode by. Halfway through my ride I thought "what was I thinking?" I had my cell phone with me in case I need Scott to come pick me up. But I made it there and back in one piece. Now whether I’ll be able to walk tomorrow is yet to be determined. Scott rides to work about twice a week (20 miles roundtrip), so I figured I could try and ride too! Scott even rode his bike to the liquor store once. It was an emergency.

We discussed "allowances" with the boys today. Adam was all about it, asking questions and counting money. Zach was more interested in "typing letters" on my laptop (a favorite activity of both boys) and reading library books. I asked Scott where his graphs and powerpoint presentation were…he just gave me a dirty look.

After Zach "typed letters" it was Adam's turn. He asked me how many pages the computer could hold. "A hundred?" he asked. When I said, "probably more than that," he was amazed at the idea of endless typing. He filled up 57 pages using a custom color (grey) and the fonts "arial" and "webdings." Then used the "backspace" key to erase it all. He even knew how to "x out of it" (clicking on the red X in the top right hand corner) so I could "shut it down."

This week I also tried to explain why we had to pay for electricity and water. That was a tough one. The conversation started with Adam asking me "Mom, are we in debt?" Wow. That’s a loaded question.

We almost had another "vent" incident today. During rest time, Adam starts crying about Zach with monopoly dice and the floor vent. For those of you who don't know the story...a few weeks ago, Zach took his vent off and dropped a golf ball down it. Both boys got so upset (even though it was just Zach's ball that got lost) and we discussed that we NEVER drop ANYTHING down the vent. (On a side note: Adam lost a golf ball underneath the kitchen cabinet and we have a contract that when he turns 21, we'll take the cabinets off and get the ball - it's officially signed by Adam and Scott.) Since I didn't know where the ball ended up, Adam wanted me to call Uncle Steve and ask him. I told him that Uncle Steve was at work and this was not an urgent situation to interrupt him at work. So we called Aunt Sherry instead. Sometimes she knows things from being married to Steve. She told us the vents go under floor but there are so many turns and things that it would be very difficult to know where the ball was. So, today, Adam found Zach putting the dice ON TOP of the vent. He had not taken it off, but that was close enough for Adam. Zach gave me the dice and I put them in safe place. Whew! Sometimes I think (know) Zach does things like that because he knows it will get to Adam. I know I never did anything like that to my older sister.

We have a MAJOR break through at our house. Zach LOVES to ride his bike! It all started about a week ago when we went to get Scott a new bike (he decided he was going to ride to work one day a week). We took the boys with us and they enjoyed looking around the bike shop. Especially cool was the bicycle built for two.

Once Scott had his bike at home, Adam wanted to go on a bike ride (a long one, not just up and down the street). Zach said he wanted to go to! So we strapped on the helmet and off they went.

THEN he wanted to take his bike to Scott's parents house over the 4th of July (they had one bike without training wheels that Adam could ride). Not wanting to diminish the excitement, we hauled bike up to Bates City, MO. I think they went on two, maybe three rides over the weekend.

Once we got home Sunday night, he wanted to go again. We went Monday night, and also this morning! He even falls off sometimes and doesn't get upset. If you remember back in April, he took a spill and said he didn't want to ride his bike "ever again"!

We had a busy 4th of July weekend. We drove up to Bates City to Scott's parents house. We did the usual trip down to the creek, roasted hot dogs on the fire pit, played king of the stump and climbed on the firewood. Scott's parents live in a neighborhood in the country (some people may not think it's in the country, but if you see deer, hear wild turkeys and are surrounded by trees, that's the country to me). We saw deer, rabbits, spiders and a big black snake!

On the Fourth, We went out to Powell Gardens and let the boys cool off in the interactive fountains. Then Mick and Jackie came out to celebrate that night. The kids enjoyed riding their bikes and big wheels, and playing with the dump trucks outside. We shot off fireworks, not as much as others do, but the kids thought it was a good show. Favorites included "parachutes" that shot up straight in the air, exploded and then a parachute came down; "ladybugs" that spun around making a zipping noise and then shot up in the air (although we had a few defective ones that shot OUT instead of UP), and smoke bombs.

Saturday, the boys spent most of the day with Grammy and Grandpa at Burr Oaks, a nature center, while Scott and I went to lunch and a movie.