Author grimholtz

Nearly every day of his life for the last 3 1/2 years, Elliot has been going to the Chabad Greenwood Village campus, even during the summer. This summer was his first time at Camp Gan Izzy, which is based at the same location. Today is his last day there. It is a bittersweet end. Maybe he will be back next summer. I hope so.

There are a few things I want to do when I pick him up today:

1. Chase him up and down the ramp calling after him “Brains! brains! bad hamster! I want baby boy Elliot brains!“
2. Carve his name into a cucumber and throw it into the creek; protection from the Kappa monster! We’ve done this several times before.
3. Maybe we should visit the silver, blue, and purple rooms before we go. Maybe not; maybe I will cry.

In two weeks, he starts the next stage of his life of kindergarten at Denver Jewish Day School. He begs me not to sell his home at 715 Mueller Drive every time I mention moving closer to the school. I explain to him that we will have to wake up very early, that we can’t linger in bed like we always do, we can’t read books in the mornings before school, and that we will spend a lot of time driving. He says he that is ok.

Of course, he’s only 5 and does not understand what those things mean on a day-to-day basis.

Pictures from the Douglas County Fair and in the Chabad parking lot, trying on a fake fur hat.

Elliot wants a Siamese cat (he saw a picture of one in the cat book) and will name it SkippyJon. When I asked who will take care of it, Elliot said he would. He showed me how he can fill the Grendel and Pepi’s dishes with food and water. He did it quite well. When I said we already have two cats, he asked if we could get a Siamese when Pepi and Grendel die (but only if we don’t die, too). I also asked who would care for SkippyJon when he is at mama’s house? He said I could. Later he said he’ll get one when he is 17.

17 is this magic age when he says he will drive, live without grown-ups, have a Siamese cat, and do all the sorts of things he can’t do now, apparently. He’s talked about it a lot in the last month or two.

Photo from Camp Gan Izzy visiting Elitch Gardens on Aug 2, 2023.

Chuck E. Cheese. The other day, Elliot said “I was born a gamer.”

We woke up and read stories from Native American myth book. After that, we had FaceTime with Allie. Then we eat breakfast and read Elliot’s magazine. Then we did Elliot’s reading homework. Then we went to Shabbat services. Then we looked at a house daddy was thinking to buy, but Elliot does not want to move.

Then we got home and daddy took a small nap. Then we had A WATER BALLOON FIGHT in the backyard. And Elliot did a water balloon TECHNIQUE (a new word he learned and I think he means a special way of attacking me). Then we went to the pool next door.

Then we came home and ate dinner. Then we played Minecraft together. Elliot was the farthest because he had fireworks while wearing Elytra. Daddy could not catch him. We made a TNT tower.

Then we lit a fire in the backyard and toasted marshmallow. Elliot saw his first rattlesnake in the backyard! We heard the snake before we saw him, the rattling. Grendel was not too far and elliot was trying to retrieve her when we heard the snake. But the snake was 15 feet away and no danger. Daddy grabbed Elliot and Grendel and climbed back over the fence into our yard.

Then Grendel was attacking a mouse! And Elliot saved the mouse. Elliot is a mouse rescuer. A mouse hero.

It was fun, but not nearly as peaceful as Jefferson Lake, which we did kayaking on Jefferson Lake with Yiftag’s inflatable kayak on 7/9/2023. We switched from canoe to paddle board because Elliot wanted to be in and out of the water a lot. Then we a had A LOT OF FUN. At Jefferson Lake, our fun was a snowball fight in July.

“Elliot, why aren’t you wearing any underwear?”

“I left it at camp.”

“Oh”

—-

We bought a new Venus fly trap m. This one is from Trader Joe’s. Elliot named him Pitfall. The last one was named Charlie, which I got online for Elliot’s 4th birthday. He died at karolina’s apartment.

Elliot told me that he killed a bug that was biting him, maybe a mosquito. I’m teaching him not to kill, so he was a little upset. I explained that you have to defend and protect yourself. It’s ok to kill when you are being hurt by a bug.

Nevertheless, it was sweet to hear.

We then talked about Darien, from preschool, who kills bugs. Elliot said again, “he’s not Jewish.” Made me smile.

Elliot and I stayed at a cabin over the weekend at a KOA campground. So the cabin didn’t have water or toilets; those were communal. There was an also a communal game room.

On Sunday morning, in the bathrooms, Elliot and I were brushing our teeth, hair, etc, getting ready for the day. A young man in his 20s was in there, too, and he stopped to talk to me on his way out. He said (paraphrased):

“I’ve had the opportunity to overhear you and your son a number of times over the weekend, here and in the game room and the store. I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re a good dad.”

I thanked him for going out of his way to tell me that and said it made my day. It felt really good to hear that from a complete stranger (I did not even recognize him) who had no agenda or bias or motives.

When I picked up Elliot today, he told me he meditated on the water slide at camp. I am proud of him. I hope I am setting a good example by meditating in front of him.

I showed Elliot the two twisted sister videos today. He loves them, just like Max did. We watched a video of Max at about age 5, dancing to the songs, and showing his butt,so Elliot wanted to do it, too.

Elliot read his first book tonight. It is called a “Bob book”. This is after completing 25 of the 100 l reading lessons.

I am so proud of him!

July 6, 2023. He loves playing hide-and-seek when I know where he is, especially in the trunk of the car. We’ve been doing this since he was 2. How many more times will he enjoy this?

I spoke to elliot on FaceTime. He was excited to tell me that he went on a school bus (first time). I love those little novelties that are such a big experience for kids. Camp Gan Izzy went to the zoo, hence the school bus.

Elliot on the one with Allie for the first or second time, with Naomi in the background: “Did you know God is Jewish?”

You are a fixture in all of the Pizza Kitten stories. You were a fixture in Elliot’s life for about 18 months. Elliot drove you to and from the pool, the playground, up and down the cul-de-sac. His friends, like Maya and Ella, and Luca and JoJo, and many others joined him in the passenger seat. We had one song on the SD card radio: “Sunglasses at Night” by Corey Hart, which I copied there thinking it would look ridiculous for a 3-year-old to play that song while driving around the street. The car did have a radio and some built-in Chinese songs, too.

Thank you to cousin Mark Schaier for giving it to Elliot on his 3rd birthday in 2021.