Bonding with Ethan and Kourtney

Monday morning Ethan and I sat in the rocking chair and read the classics. We started with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish, then Hop On Pop, and then Go Dogs Go. We were going to move on to more sophisticated material, Curious George Plays Baseball, but he needed to changed and fed and take a power nap. He loves to be read to, flailing his arms and cooing delightedly. At his age of course they are responding to the tone of your voice as much as anything, but it's still a wonderful experience for both of us. His father had a softball game Monday night, and Ethan sat in my lap while I kissed the top of his head and rubbed his belly and explained the fine points of the game. The Yakima Training Center Yakirats swept a double header, comig from behind to win the second game 20-19. Ethan's daddy Thomas had a line drive double to right center and several nice catches in left field before an enthusiastic crowd of soldier's wives and girlfriends.

Kourtney and I played 3 games of Clue, 4 games of Yahtzee, and 8 games of Sequence. Tom barbequed hamburgers Sunday night and we all participated in another round of The Backyard Olympics, this time thoroughly dominated by the Newlyweds, who finished 1 and 2 in the medal count, taking gold between them in every single event. Kourtney and I faltered badly and took turns sulking, although she did earn a silver in Bocci Ball and staged a nice rally in croquet.

It was a great visit. Ethan is thriving and the newlyweds are deeply in love. The tenderness and affection between them is wonderful to witness. I've never seen Stephanie so happy. I'm glad I spent the time and the precious petrol to make the trip. Easily the best vacation I've had in a long while.