Days 17 and 18 - Netflix and Kayaking

Friday (Day 17), I woke up at 9:30am, and Max was excited to see me. I walked outside my room, sat down and petted him. We had egg sandwiches for breakfast again, because Uncle Troy likes them and wanted to have it again. I watched Netflix and YouTube while relaxing. I watched Doctor Strange on Netflix and it was a really good movie. I made us Mac 'n' Cheese for dinner tonight. It didn't turn out to bad. Uncle Troy said I didn't use enough butter or milk. I guess he could be right because I didn't measure out anything, just added what I thought it needed.






Saturday (Day 18), I got up at 10:30am to Max barking at my door. He hates it when I sleep in, and tries to get me up every morning, but I still sleep late. Uncle Troy made some eggs and toast for breakfast this morning. After a little bit, we got around and took the kayaks to the lake and went on the water.  It was cloudy when we left, so not to hot, but while we were on the water it got really hot. The kayaking looks easy, but it was a lot harder than I expected. I had a little trouble because it was my first time kayaking. Once we got the kayaks into the water, it was a lot of fun. We were on the water for about two hours, but had to leave because it was getting way to hot, and Uncle Troy was getting sun burned too. When ate Dairy Queen on the way back home, and then put the kayaks away and retreated to the AC. I went to my room and watched some TV for awhile. There was really nothing that  good on, so I came out of my room and hung out with Uncle Troy. He made us Mac 'n' Cheese for supper later on that night.

Day 16 - 3D Project Almost Complete

Wednesday (Day 16), I woke up to Max barking outside my door at 8:45am. I opened the door and sat on the floor in the living room. He really likes to like my face to wake me up. I went back into my room because Uncle Troy wasn't up yet and started to watch YouTube. About ten minutes later, I heard him getting some coffee, he asked me if I wanted a cup and I said yeah. We then went onto the back porch and drank our coffee. We glued the 2 halves of the 3D project and let the glue dry after we were done drinking our coffee. After the glue done drying, I started to sand it. Then when I was done sanding it, I started to paint it. I was going to paint it different, but I decided to go with my own idea because the other one was going to be way to hard. So, I was painting from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. After I was done painting, I went ahead and started to look up a tutorial on how to make something that would help me carry it. But, I stopped working on that about 3:30pm. I have to make it out of leather so it's defiantly something new. But, I decided to stop for the day and I started to watch vines on YouTube. About 7:30, Uncle Troy rented "Ghost in the Shell" and he told me it wasn't that good, but it wasn't terrible.

Day 15 - Lawnmower rides to Movie Night

Wednesday (Day 15). This morning, I woke up at 8:30am to Max licking my face, I've been waking up like this for awhile now. We had eggs for breakfast, and we started printing the other half of the 3D project we are working on. I rode the 4-wheeler and got it up to 30 mph, but got off of it because I thought it was running low on gas. I went inside and told Uncle Troy about it, and he told me gas gauge display is messed up. Uncle Troy has a weather alert radio, and it sounded the alarm in the morning.  We went outside and took down the canopy that was covering the deck because we thought a storm might be coming it.  When we got inside and checked the weather advisory, and turns out the alarm was for a heat advisory from noon till 8pm. I relaxed inside for a little bit so I could cool off and watch some Netflix. Then Uncle Troy had me bring the riding mower to the house. I rode it to the garage so he could replace the ignition switch, then rode it back to put away in the shed. After that we relaxed inside because it was getting super hot. Uncle Troy suggested that we watch a movie at 3:30pm, and found the movie NERVE on Amazon, and it was a pretty good movie. After the movie Uncle Troy worked in his room while I watched some more Netflix. We decided earlier in the day to go see the new movie "Valerian", and had to leave at 6:45pm. We made it just in time to see the first trailer, and the movie got out at 9:30pm. It was a really good movie, and the visual effects were amazing. Uncle Troy gives it 4 out of 5 stars.  Well, I know this is a short read, but in the next few days, I will post what the 3D project is. It's pretty awesome and I think everyone will enjoy how it turned out.

Days 11, 12, 13, 14 - Winner Winner Steak Dinner

Saturday (Day 11), I woke up at 7am, our memory's are fuzzy about what we did. I know I rode the 4-wheeler and got it up to 25 MPH in low gear, even though I can take it into high gear now. That night we went to Burger King for dinner, and then went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Uncle Troy also mowed the big yard in the morning because it was overcast and cool.

Sunday (Day 12), I got up at 8am. It was way too hot outside to do

anything out there, so we stayed in the AC. I played with Max for awhile, watched some YouTube on the TV, and watched some Netflix. Basically had a lazy day indoors. We had steak for dinner that night with mac & cheese, and corn. Later on after dinner, we took turns playing the Xbox. Uncle Troy was 3D printing some parts for his printer, which took 8 hours of print time. Uncle Troy stayed up late waiting for the printer to get done so he could go to sleep (he wont sleep with it on just in case).


Monday (Day 13), Got up at 7am, and started to help Uncle Troy pick up sticks and firewood. We basically cleaned up the backyard. Uncle Troy then mowed the backyard. We couldn't use the weed eater because it had no gas and no line. I watched some more YouTube and took a nap. Only reason why I took a nap was because Uncle Troy fell asleep. Later that night, we had pizza for dinner, and played some Call of Duty. We stayed up and had a lot of fun playing Call of Duty.

Tuesday (Day 14), Woke up at 8am to Max licking my face again, Uncle Troy let him into my room. He was barking outside my door right before that, which is something he does to me, same as he did to my grandma. I drove to a gas station that was a couple towns away, so Uncle Troy could buy gas without Ethanol for the weed eater and lawnmower.We then went to Huddle House after dropping off the gas at home. Uncle Troy and I both had Country Fried Steak and eggs for breakfast. We then had to go to ACE hardware store to get a chainsaw chain that Uncle Troy had sharpened, some line for the weed eater, and some Thompson Water Sealant. I stained the back porch with the Thompson Water Sealant, and Uncle Troy said it turned out great. We decided we were going to print something awesome today, and the 3D printer will be printing until about 10pm tonight. A full 8 hours of printing. I will show you the final product after I paint it and customize it. I made Mac 'n' Cheese for lunch and watched The Flash while I was eating. Well, that about does it for today.  We were planning on going to the movie tonight, but didn't work out because the printer wasn't done in time, and you can't pause a print after it starts or you lose it all.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Day 7, 8, 9 and 10 - Homemade Rocket

On Tuesday (day 7 here), I woke up at 11:45 to 12pm. After I was up for a little bit, we talked about what movie to see, and Spiderman was playing at 4:05pm at the local theater.  It was awesome, and this was probably the best Spiderman in the entire Marvel franchise. After the movie was over, we stopped at Walmart and picked up the golf tubes we ordered to make our homemade rocket. We needed plastic fins too, so on the way home we got an old sign off of a telephone pole to make what we needed.

After getting back to Uncle Troy’s house, we got everything together we needed to start building a rocket. Uncle Troy cut up the fins while I cut the rocket body. Then I looked up a video on how to make the parachute, and then made the parachute while Uncle Troy glued the fins onto the rocket. I made the parachute out of a tablecloth, which I had a little trouble with, but I could do it again if I have to. After we got done, we relaxed. Around 8pm Uncle Troy made us some spaghetti and garlic cheese bread, It was all super good. He also told me to start setting my alarm for 7am so I don't sleep till noon every day. We cleaned up and went to bed.

Days 4, 5 and 6 - Relaxing, Then a Long Haul

holding like Spec Ops

So, first off, the reason why this update is late is because Uncle Troy and I went to Mississippi for a visit, and we didn't get back until yesterday. The day before we left (Friday) I didn't wake up until 12:30pm, and I never sleep in that late. When I got up, Uncle Troy made some eggs, sausage, and toast, and we didn't do anything that day, super hot outside. We just relaxed all day long and watched T.V. We had pizza for dinner.

Sleeping on the way

Saturday, we woke up at 6am so we could get on the road for Mississippi. It was about a 5 - 6 hours drive there, but I slept most of the way. I definitely slept all the way through Louisiana, which is normal because I always sleep on long car rides. Just wait until we have to go to Iowa, more of the same I bet. When we got to Mississippi, it was like a small reunion for me and Jason, because we haven't seen each other in a really long time. We went for Jason's daughter's Birthday party, and it turned out to be so much fun. 

Day 3 - When You Work, You Sweat

So I was going to do my update last night, but Uncle Troy and I were both playing games, so when it was bed time we just went to bed.  This update is for yesterday, and I’ll do one for today…tonight. 

Uncle Troy woke me up at 830am. We had eggs and sausage again. After breakfast he started working on the Batman patch with the letters “DV” for me, doing another practice run with his embroidery machine. When it got done, we glued the stitches and set it aside to dry. It can take a while to dry, so we went to Tractor Supply to get a bag of dog food and some lag bolts. After that we stopped by Lowe's to look around, and while there Uncle Troy got some wood for a door vent he is going to build into the furnace door. The vent that’s there now doesn’t let in enough air so it hums if the door is closed. After that we went to Wal-Mart to get the ingredients for chili cheese dip. I got some couple of shorts and t-shirts, and some more apple juice because we drink a lot of apple juice.

Day 2 - Work Hard Relax Harder

So, today Uncle Troy woke me up at 8am so we could start the bonfire, we didn’t make it at 5am. It wasn't that hot out when we initially went out there to light it, but hotter and hotter as the morning wore on. Max went with us (Uncle Troy's dog) and he kept dragging sticks out from the pile before we got the fire started, but thankfully he kept running around and tired himself out so we were able to finally light it. Morning dew had everything wet, so we had to use gasoline

Day 1 - Working in the heat

Uncle Troy woke me up at little after 10am. Before I ate Fruity Pebbles for breakfast, I took a shower. Then, me and Uncle Troy went out to ride the four-wheeler. He took me in the woods and showed me a tree that fell over and blocked the 4-wheeler path, so he showed me to go around it and we kept going. He also showed

Introduction

Jesse is my nephew from Illinois. He will be staying with me for about three weeks (summer 2017), and go home after our annual family reunion in Iowa. It is my intent that this blog will serve initially as a way for his family to check in on him and see what he is up to.  Secondly, it will remain up as a way for him to look back and remember his summer here in Texas with me. Please comment and interact with Jesse about his adventures and activities while he is staying with me, I'm sure it will be fun for both of us to read.

I plan to have Jesse add to the blog with pictures and summaries of what he while staying with me, although I will ask him to...it will be up to him if he does it or not.

Happy reading.