A New Era

Sorry for the silence...It's just been a busy week of catching up on chores. We're still not there yet, but having a long weekend helps. :)

So, let me explain my title... When Chuck was a kid, his dad and him shared a bond of R/C car racing. When I say "R/C car," I mean radio control, not to be confused with remote control. Remote control is what you buy in a toy store. Radio control is a much more serious deal. For instance, your r/c car can run on gas like a real automobile. Anyhow, Chuck and his dad have many fond memories of building and racing these things, and his mom and sisters on the sidelines cheering him on. He's flirted with the idea of getting back into it for a long time...and now that Charlie is just about old enough, you can imagine his joy.

A couple of weeks ago he discovered that there was a hobby store with a r/c car racing track near us in Boerne. We drove around for an hour trying to find it, with no luck, and endured Charlie's long whiny cry in protest when we gave up. Then Chuck's dad came to visit and they ventured out looking for it, too...but couldn't find it. Finally Chuck located the darn place, and his dreams came true. It's a real track, with real races, and selling real r/c cars! The picture above was taken when Chuck took Charlie to the races there yesterday. So, thanks to that stimulus check, he purchased a small r/c car for Charlie to learn on. I'm told it's not enough to actually race (it's not the right size), but the tradition has now been started, of father and son bonding. Legos weren't enough...

[This is the new r/c car, err, truck.]


[You can tell how small it is - it fits in the palm of our hands.]

It is so funny and absolutely heartwarming to see the boys (Chance included, actually), playing with Chuck. The r/c car runs for 10 minutes, then requires 20 minutes to recharge, but these guys will play over and over. Chuck's chased them in circles around the house with it, they've made ramps for it to jump on the driveway, Chance loves for it to run thru his legs. Here's the first time Charlie got to try it:

Now Charlie keeps talking about how we all need our own r/c cars and how we need to buy the bigger kind so he can race. You can imagine how thrilled Chuck is. Charlie is officially a boy after Chuck's own heart. At least I still have Chandler...for now... Ha!