It is past 8:00 and this is my first chance to sit down and write today. AJ has been a bundle of energy and we spent most of the day trying to wear him out. This morning we put on our boots and binoculars and made a list of things we wished to find and headed out for an �explorer walk.� AJ located a bird, a horse, a stick, a rock, icicles and ducks, checking each item off our list before heading home with his cheeks aflame with cold.

After a restorative cup of hot chocolate, we headed out to a museum in a nearby town, which proved to be much more interesting and fun than we�d expected. The museum was run by a county parks system and focused on county history of all kinds. It included everything form casts of mastodon teeth to a model speakeasy and in every room there were interactive exhibits pitched at kids and often quite low to the ground. It was one of those museums where everything was so well displayed and organized that you found yourself being fascinated with things you never thought you had the least amount of interest in.

On the way home, AJ was overflowing with conversation and he proceeded to tell us two stories. Here they are in their entirety in as close an approximation of AJ�s actual speech as my memory will permit:

The story of the Alex and his Grandfather.

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Alex and he lived with his grandfather. One day they needed to go buy some more tape. They went to the store and they looked for the tape but they couldn�t find any. So they asked someone, �Where is the tape?� And he said, �In Aisle 4.� Alex and his grandfather went to aisle 4 and they looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked but they just couldn�t find any tape. Then they went to another store and they found a whole aisle of tape and there was yellow tape, which was just what they wanted. They bought the tape and took it home. The end.

The story of the little girl and her great-great grandmother.

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Dorothy. Dorothy went to visit her great great grandmother. Dorothy wanted to buy a table and so did her great great grandmother. They went to a store that sold tables and Dorothy bought a table and her great great grandmother bought one too. They took their tables home. Dorothy thought her table was great. Her great great grandmother thought her table was great too. They were very happy. The end.

AJ seems to be getting the hang of the traditional beginning-middle-end story form. He also seems to have a thing for shopping. Perhaps we should be spending more time in museums. I seem to be raising a little capitalist.

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