first golf lesson

Back when it was spring, sort of, Tim had two short golf lessons with the pro at Collindale Golf Course.  Paul gave up his lunch hour to take him to the lessons and spent his time chatting with the grandfather of one of Tim's classmates while they watched the three students.  The other two students, a boy and girl, both came with their own golf bags and three clubs, but Tim managed to keep pace with them despite his borrowed equipment.

he has his mother's balance issues, which I'm sure he'll fix before she does

The lesson started at the driving range, and then they got to take the a ride in the golf cart to the 9th hole where they played a game of scramble, using the best shot of the three to progress down the fairway.

oops

apparently the body language that comes with a disappointing putt is not learned but instinctive

He says he wants to take some more lessons, so when the 22 inches of snow has melted (it's already half gone), we'll get him back on the course and see if we can't turn this into a family affair in the future - for totally selfish reasons, of course.

swimming

Tim commands the entire pool  now.  He walks anywhere he wants for half of it, and makes his way around quite quickly in this car that we bought for him in Turkey in 2008.  It survived being driven over last summer, but the steering wheel had to be taped together.  It came off completely on this trip.  It's one of those impulse purchases that has served us well.

five

Tim has been waiting impatiently to turn five for at least three months.  During those months, he had a lot of questions about whether the things that he was able to do (running, jumping, counting, etc) were the kinds of things that only five-year-olds can do.  This is the first of his birthdays that I've actually wished would hurry and arrive.  The day after his birthday, he started asking if he was six yet.  Sigh.

He got to celebrate his birthday three times.  The first was at GG and Gramps's house on his actual birthday.  He got a lot of cool Scooby Doo stuff and a great big cake.  His second birthday celebration was with Gran, Grand-da and Melissa on Skype.  His final celebration was with his brother and four of his friends at home: JT, Bobby, Zach, Addie.

He requested car minicakes (again), but only Finn this time which made it much easier for me.

 opening gifts

handmade super hero costume

 super tim and batman

tim, jt, zach and addie (bobby not in picture)

an oddly quiet moment

first ski lessons

Tim took his first ski lessons recently and did very well.  We were fortunate to have nice weather, which makes skiing a far more pleasant activity.

Kitted out in his ski gear.

Students are instructed to make a pizza with their skis to control their speed.  Once they master this, they will be instructed to make french fries.  Is this contributing to Americas obesity?

Tim is riding the magic carpet to the top of the ski school 'hill.'

The magic carpet in action

This is Tim's class. He is to the left in the photo, standing next to a smaller child with a yellow vest and red helmet.

They put vests on the kids that have handles on them so that the instructors can pick them up by the handle when they fall down or when they need to have a quick course change.  I wouldn't mind falling so much if there was someone (a large crane) to pick me up each time.

christmas at four

 The shops around here sell gingerbread house kits for about $10.  They come with the gingerbread already cut, the frosting made, and enough candy to decorate it just like it is on the box or as you decide.  Tim always wants it to be just like it is on the box.  This is the third year that we've done this.  The first year was with the children of my friend, and Tim didn't contribute much.  This year, I put on the frosting, and he did just about everything else.  It's a good thing Paul took this photo as soon as we finished because Tim started eating it immediately after that.  He even shared it with the rest of us.

Tim was very helpful decorating the tree this year.  

We had some relatively warm weather on the 23rd and enjoyed an early evening in Old Town with GG and Gramps looking at the lights and eating ice cream.