Chats with Jack ⎮ March-June, 2016

Jack continues to keep us on our toes with his assessment of the world around him. He is funny and kind, a good friend to everyone, and a great big brother to Isaac. This is a little glimpse into chats we have had with him over the last several months...

Jack: I have a book cut.

Me: It's called a paper cut. 

Jack: Book cut is how you say it in French. 

When visiting cousins...

Levi: Let's eat all the grapes. 

Jack: No, that will give you a stomachache. 

I love policemen, they are my favorite super hero. 

At the start of a trip with my brother, Jack insisted we stop our car until Uncle Mark buckled his seat belt. 

After being stuck in a car on a road trip with Jack for many hours this conversation ensued between Mark and Jack:

Jack: Why? Why? Why? (regarding a variety of things)

Mark in response to a millionth "why" question: Just because. 

J: What does "just because" mean. 

M: It means stop asking questions. 

J: Why?

M: Because I'm tired. 

J: Why?

My favorite part of life is Ninja Turtles and elevators. 

Noah's Ark [petting zoo] came to school today, but not the boat. 

Mommy, you're ruining my love of making mud pies. 

Daddy come quick, its nature! it's so cool! Jack found a millipede outside and saved it from getting dumped on by the dump truck.

Me and Levi are a different kind of twins. 

Mommies and daddies know everything. 

Daddy, do you know who i am? I changed my name to Sideswipe [the transformer]. 

I'm wearing naked shorts [aka going commando].

I ordered an egg roll at a local Chinese restaurant while eating out with just the boys. It came before the rest of the meal and I cut it in half and asked Jack if he wanted some. He proceeded to tell me that it "smelled like poop" and he held his nose until the rest of our meal came. 

While praying: Thank you for everything, except bugs and bad guys. 

Jack has an imaginary friend named Dezzy who we can't see because he is camouflaged. 

Jack calls himself the "baby patrol."

Regarding a check I received for work, and the fact that mommy and daddy share money: "Do you break this in half so you both have pieces of the money?"

Daddy you don't even win because you were fourth. There's only three places just like Mario [Cart].

Regarding taking a nap: I didn't nap. I never nap. I just laid and snored. 

Mommy you were being mystic (optimistic). So tell me the truth. 

When are we going to get rid of Sophie... And get a cat?

I want a bumpy bed [bunk bed] from the blue store that has a playground [IKEA]. 

Do we get to do the "good game" high fives? [during a T Ball game]

[Chocolate animal crackers] it could make our brains happy. 

Jack: I'm a tomato, you know, that sucks up everything. 

Me: You mean a "tornado"??

Listening to the song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and Jack wanted to know if it was a song about "no more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Me: Was this a good day (referring to hiking Huckleberry Knob.)

Jack: This is the awesome-est day. 

On top of Huckleberry Knob is a cross and a plaque about men who died on the mountain. Jack's thoughts...

Maybe Jesus died there [at a cross].

I'm always going to be prepared. I don't want to die up here. 

If I swim in the water, I won't complain about cold. 

Did you know we are driving on God's hand? Because God has the whole world in his hand. 

Sushi is a real word. It means that people are eating rotten [raw] fish.

And that wraps up the latest installment of Chats with Jack.

Hiking with Kids: Blue Hole

Daniel has been assigned to work Saturdays for the month of June so our weekends have been shifted to Sunday-Monday. We are still finding our groove and the month is almost over!

For Father's Day, we thought we would go hiking but Jack wanted to cut branches with Daniel. Daniel was a good sport and did yard work with Jack in lieu of a more enjoyable activity (like taking a nap on the hammock or hiking).

We figured it would be for the best to hike on Monday because our desired location was the Blue Hole in Soddy Daisy and we had heard that it could be quite crowded during the summer. We hoped that a Monday would be a quieter experience.

Blue Hole is a series of swimming holes found in the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge on Mowbray Mountain. We actually visited this area several years ago with Jack, but he was much smaller and it was too cold to swim during that visit.

This time we headed to the mountain next to ours in search of a kid-friendly swimming hole. As we drove up Mowbray Mountain we noticed that the gorge looked bone dry (as seen from Dayton Pike). We didn't know if there would be enough water to swim, but we knew climbing in the gorge over rocks would be fine too.

Upon arrival we found a jam-packed parking lot. You pretty much had to make a space for yourself. Since we were in our big SUV, we were able to find a spot that was in a bit of a hole.

With all of the cars we knew it might be difficult to find a quiet spot. The place is known for raucous crowds on hot weekends. We picked a route over boulders away from a group of young adults blasting a radio.

If the gorge is crowded, you can just continue to head upstream as there are plenty of pools to cool off in. I'm guessing we went a little under a half mile before deciding to stop. There was another family swimming in the hole and it was partially shaded.

Jack was disappointed that we hadn't brought his goggles or puddle jumper, but he had fun splashing in the shallower water and throwing rocks.

Isaac ended up skinny dipping. I wasn't sure if he would want to get in, but he was pretty adamant about getting his whole body in. He collected a whole pile of rocks off the bottom of the creek for me.

Even though the parking lot was full, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon with our boys. Since we don't have swimmers yet, the lower water levels were perfect for our crew. 

We had read reviews that the area tends to have a lot of garbage – people like to come and drink and leave their beer bottles strewn about. We saw plenty of empty bottles tucked in between rocks, but not nearly as many as I expected. It was a fun afternoon to spend as a family and I look forward to going back and exploring further.