The boys were both thrilled -- Mark so much so he even gave up his own bed. He's got bunk beds, but Sean took one look at it and declared he was sleeping in the bottom bunk. Mark took one look at all the junk he "stores" on the top bunk, and declared he was sleeping on the floor. I didn't care where anyone slept, as long as they did, indeed, sleep.
We ate pizza for dinner and then the boys ran off to play with their Tech Deck skateboards. They took a break from those and ran into Mark's room where I could hear laughter and suspicious thumping noises -- which I correctly guessed were stuffed animals and other inanimate objects being tossed about the room.
Mark couldn't wait to impress Sean with his mad DJ skills, so he cranked up my iPod and played "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" three times in a row. He and Sean discussed each song, and whether they could play it (Sean on guitar, Mark on drums). At one point, Mark yelled, "Ooh, I love this song!" and hit play. Sean smiled, said, "Ah, 'Help' by the Beatles," and I almost broke into tears. My son and his friend, able to recognize Beatles songs in two notes -- I was so proud!
Right about bedtime, they found a new toy -- an Air hog. It's a pump-activated foam rocket that they promptly aimed directly at me and tried to shoot off. Luckily, team work is not a strong suit for 9-year-old boys, and I was able to overtake them. I grabbed the rocket, the foot pump, and said, "Let me show you how this thing REALLY works!"
And so it was that we found ourselves outside at 9:30 on a Saturday night. The nearby shopping center was shining a spotlight through the night sky, and that quickly became our new target. ("Aim for the lights, Sean!" became our battle cry.)
Sean and Mark both stomped on the pump in bare feet with little success. I raised my leg and stomped with all my might, using my heel instead of my toes. The rocket shot straight up into the sky!
"Whoa!" the boys screamed. "I think you hit the spotlights!"
When the spotlights lost their luster, we tried shooting the rocket through Mark's basketball hoop. Mark succeeded in shooting it straight up, and then sending it down through the hoop. Sean stomped it up and then back down through the net.
Even though it was freezing cold, we were having great fun stomping on the Air hog. We finally stomped it so hard it landed on the roof, which was probably for the best, since it was pretty late by then.
The next day, the boys awoke and played Tech Decks again. I made breakfast, and the boys informed me that they were going to go for a pre-meal jog. They were serious, and didn't like it when I suggested they jog in the backyard instead.
While we ate, the boys discussed weighty issues, like the importance of breakfast meats. (We had none.) They decided bacon was their favorite, but the best would really be one type of meat stuffed with another.
"I would take steak and stuff it with sausage, and then stuff that with bacon, and then stuff that with ham," Sean said. "Then I would take all of that and stuff it in my mouth!"
The boys rushed outside to play and shortly came back with arms full of lemons. They decided to make lemonade and sell it at their own stand.
It took about three cups of sugar and 20 lemons, but they got it right. They decided on a price per cup (one dollar) and I talked them down to a more reasonable 50 cents. Then they took their sign and pitcher to the street.
They were only outside for five minutes before they sold their first cup to a really nice teenage boy. He told them he used to sell lemonade when he was younger too. He took a few sips and reached for his wallet, but then thought better of it.
"I was gonna buy a second cup, but it's kind of strong," he told me apologetically. I reassured him it was fine.
Buoyed by their success, Mark added another item to the menu.
"I'm gonna hand out flowers to the ladies," he told us. I told him that was some good customer service.
All in all, they sold five cups, including one to Sean's dad who came to pick him up. They each cleared two bucks and were very excited.
And I was pretty excited, myself. Partially because it was such a fun weekend, but mostly because Mark had such a blast.
He had so much fun, in fact, that he's already plotting his next sleep over. I better go get the Air hog rocket down from the roof.
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