the education of henry

Mixed Feelings

2025-04-06

We had some sad news this week: Great-grandma Joan passed away on April 2nd. We put up a collection of pictures from the blog to remember her.

But we also had some good news: Freya, Kara, and Josh got a new puppy!

We had a regular week of school, with some extras. I got a haircut, and we watched Cory Booker's historic holding of the Senate floor for 25 hours - and in honor of that, we watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which talked about all the same kind of corruption and greed that Cory Booker was speaking on. I guess some things never change.

I also went to the second session of the college class with Dad, which was even better than the first one. I can see why this guy was Dad's favorite professor. Before class I got to see Joe - I am almost as tall as he is!

Time for a haircut.

Happy with the result.

Watching some of Cory Booker's speech at lunch.

Kara sent us a picture of Josh and Zelda.

Me with Joe, one of the librarians where Dad works.

Trying on one of Dad's shirts to see if I can wear it to Great-grandma Joan's funeral.

Saturday morning we drove up to Freya's house. What was going to be just a visit with Zelda, the new puppy, turned into a full weekend. We decided to go to the Hands Off protest at the capitol.

Finally got to see Zelda in person!

Making protest signs.

On the way to the protest.

Beautiful day to use the First Amendment...along with 25,000 other concerned citizens.

After the protest we went to BAM to see if Rob was working, but he was not at the store. I added a few battle droids to my collection, and a First Order snow trooper. Then we went back to Freya's to play with Zelda a little more.

At the first BAM of the trip.

More puppy fun.

On the way to our hotel, we stopped at the BAM that is closest to Freya's house, where I almost bought a big ship - but just bought a couple more battle droids. After that we relaxed at the hotel until bedtime.

At the second BAM of the trip.

Sunday morning we went to Freya's to play with Zelda, and around lunchtime we left to go see Great-grandma Muriel. Freya rode with us, and Kara met us there after she was done with church.

Mom with Zelda.

Tired puppy....

Ready to play again.

On our Switches for the ride to see Great-grandma Muriel.

Me and Freya with Great-grandma.

From Great-grandma Muriel's we made a little detour on the way back to the hotel to stop at a couple more BAMs. The first one was new to us, as it just opened a few weeks ago. The second, our fourth for the trip, was one we visited on my birthday trip. I bought some more battle droids and Kira's speeder from Solo.

At the third BAM of the trip - first time at this one. (We did go to a fourth this day, but forgot to get a picture).

Since we were passing by the LEGO Store on the way to the hotel, Dad thought we should check the Pick-a-Brick Wall...and it was a good thing we did! The wall had two kinds of masonry bricks, a lot of foliage we had not seen before, and other interesting pieces that were new to us. Normally we spend a couple of hours packing a box or two, but since we had less than 30 minutes we worked fast and managed to fill five boxes before closing. Whew! That was fun.

We were at the LEGO Store until closing.

On Monday we went to Great-Grandma Joan's funeral. We got up early and drove for a few hours to get there. I talked to Jacob and Tanner for a little bit, and I talked to Ross about history. Once Freya and Kara arrived, I hung out with Freya. We watched the ceremony from the family room, where it was quieter. I'm not a fan of loud organ music or group singing. Mom and Dad talked to people and sat in the service. After the food, we went out to the cemetery, where it was windy, just like every time we have been out there (although not as cold as Great-grandpa Eldon's funeral). We only got a couple of pictures because Mom and Dad were too busy talking.

Freya and I hung out in one of the side rooms while the adults did their thing.

Mom and Kara.

We said goodbyes and drove home from the cemetery. We stopped at the BAM by Grandma Wynne and Grandpa Al's house since we were driving by. I bought some more battle droids to keep building my army.

And that was my week - plus a day. It was sad to say goodbye to Great-grandma Bettin, but good to see everyone. And it is great to have a new pup in the family!

Take care!