Tuesday, June 23, 2026

It’s working well to give ½ of the protein bar to Chase mid morning as a snack, and the protein drink in the afternoon. Today for lunch, Chase had the leftover chicken strip with his Raising Caine sauce and the French fries he likes. He gave the lunch a thumbs up. Once again, he quickly and easily did lesson 9 in Python. Nanaw is so proud of him. They did algebra, presidents, capitals, Weather Academy, workbook pages and touch-typing in addition to computer programming. That sounds like a lot but they only do school for an hour and only do a few minutes with each thing. Nanaw used to have Chase do two hours of school but cut back to an hour this year because he complained so much. He still complains but not as much. After they were done with that part of school, they went into Chase’s room and began listening to Gordon Korman’s book The Fort.  Nanaw bought the Kindle version from Amazon, and then they have Alexa read the Kindle book to them. Very cool. When they drive around in Nanaw’s car, they also listen to an audiobook of one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books that Nanaw checked out of the library. Chase doesn’t really like to read books so the audiobook idea is a way to get him to somehow enjoy fiction. In the evening, Mama went out to dinner with Aunt Becca and Daddy and Chase went to the driving range and had Dairy Queen for dinner. The last two pictures are ones that Aunt Becca made on ChatGPT for Mama of Sylvester and Sam and the Rainbow Bridge.

Monday, June 22, 2026

For lunch on Monday, Chase had leftovers from last night’s Imo’s. But he didn’t have pizza –he doesn’t like Imo’s thin crust. He had mozzarella sticks and toasted ravioli, two of his favorites. Chase had a workout on Monday, and the weather was really cool so he didn’t get so hot during the workout as he usually does. But on the way home, he told Nanaw he thought he’d overdone it and hurt his side. He said he shouldn’t have worked so hard at it. Also on the way home, he asked Nanaw if he could skip the typing course and the programming course today and just do the other schoolwork. He promised to do the typing and programming tomorrow. Nanaw said he could do that. Nanaw tried Mama’s suggestion about getting Chase to eat the high protein bar and drink. She gave him half a bar in the morning as a snack and half of the drink in the afternoon as a snack, for a total of 20 grams of protein. Maybe someday she’ll be able to get him to eat a whole bar and drink a whole drink but this is good enough for now. One of Chase’s stuffed animals, Puppy Love got lost. They had Nanaw look for him over the weekend at her house but he wasn’t anywhere to be found. Chase had looked everywhere in his room but the huge pile of animals on the floor at the foot of his bed. So he looked there after he got home from Nanaw’s and he found Puppy Love, the last picture below.

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Once again, Chase had baseball games in O’Fallon, Missouri, and he played on the A team as an outfielder. His friend Tucker was on the B team, and Nanaw was sure Chase missed playing with him. Unfortunately, it started to rain and lightning and thunder. The coaches waited it out for a while but finally they called off the tournament when they realized it wasn’t going to stop storming. Aunt Becky had a family brunch for Uncle Mike for Father’s Day, and Mama, Daddy and Chase weren’t able to go because of baseball but then baseball was cancelled. But they still weren’t able to go because the brunch was over by the time they got home from the rained-out baseball tournament. Nanaw went to the brunch and had a wonderful time eating lots of bacon and the cinnamon roll that Aunt Becky grilled for her, just like Rockbridge – better than Rockbridge, actually. It rained on the drive up there and during the brunch. But when Nanaw was ready to go home, the rain had stopped. When she got home, she texted Mama to see if it was all right to drop off Daddy’s Father’s Day card. So she got to see Chase and take his picture for Days. The second picture below is a Truman the Tiger golf club cover. Mama bought one for Daddy for Father’s Day and also got one for Chase – very cute.

Saturday, June 20, 2026

Chase had two baseball games on Saturday in the Bears tournament. They played out in O’Fallon, Missouri. He got to play on the A team because the team needed an outfielder. They lost the first game, 6 to 5. They won the second game 9 to 2. Mama said she wasn’t sure when they were playing on Sunday. She also said the fields are turf so unless it storms they won’t get rained out. The other day, as he and Nanaw were driving to his workout, Chase shared some funny memories. And these memories were from the boy who never remembers anything, ever. First, he asked if Nanaw remembered when she made him drink oil because it was supposed to be good for him. Then he said, but the worst was when you mashed up a vitamin that I didn’t want to take in the applesauce and made me eat that. Nanaw laughed and asked if he remembered any good things she’d done, and of course, he said no.

Friday, June 19, 2026

Chase’s sleepover with Tucker was a great success! Chase said they stayed up till 4 a.m. but Tucker said it was 5 a.m. Mama said they had Domino’s pizza last night when they got home from baseball practice, and she got donuts for them for breakfast on Friday morning. During the morning and early afternoon, they played VR and the Wii. Mama took Tucker home around 3 p.m. Chase is on the A team for Bears baseball tomorrow, and they have to be in O’Fallon at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning for an 8 a.m. game. Today when he made his bed, Chase discovered that Puppy Love was missing. They had Nanaw look for him but she couldn’t find him. She said she and Chase would look again on Monday. Chase wanted Chik Filet for dinner, and he made his Raising Caine sauce. Nanaw asked Mama how it was, and she said a little peppery. Chase was going to shower at 8:30 p.m. and go to bed early because he wants to get up at 5 p.m. for his early baseball game. Mama took a picture of Chase for Nanaw for Days of him holding the Squishmallow from Mama’s office. 

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Nanaw took a nap in the morning and when she got up, Chase had already made the Raising Caine sauce all by himself. Nanaw tasted it, and it was really good. It has ketchup, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Nanaw was very proud that Chase had done it all on his own. He found a bowl to use, the measuring cups and the measuring spoons. The little fellow is growing up! At noon, they went to Schnuck’s to get the chicken. Schnuck’s has changed the way you buy chicken; it’s now self-service. Nanaw picked out the only three chicken strips they had and a wing for her. Chase picked out a bag of frozen French fries. At home, they put the French fries in Nanaw’s combination toaster oven and air fryer, and they turned our really good. They heated the chicken up in the microwave. Chase was really happy with everything, and so was Nanaw. There was one chicken strip leftover so Nanaw froze it, and Chase will have it, along with French fries, for lunch on Monday. There’s also enough Raising Caine sauce. It was a very successful cooking experience for Chase. For school, they got everything done but the typing course, which Chase seems to want to avoid. Chase took a mini quiz for the first four Weather Academy classes and got all the answers right. Mama sent Nanaw a video of Chase (that’s below) from 2012 when he was about two years old. He and Mama were in her Rav4, which Chase called her bee-bye, and Mama was getting him to say bee-bye – very cute. In the video, Chase put Tee Tee in his mouth. So later, after Chase watched the video, Chase again put Tee Tee in his mouth and Nanaw took the last photo below. Tonight after baseball practice, Tucker is having a sleepover at Chase’s house, and Chase is very excited about that. He’s hoping that Tucker can spend a lot of time at his house tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Today was a very sad day for Chase and his Mama and Daddy and Nanaw, too. Sylvester has been severely ill for about 10 days and has been unable to eat or drink water. Mama has been taking him to the vet, who has been doing all the necessary blood tests and X-rays. But they can’t find out what’s wrong with him and have been unable to treat him. This afternoon, Mama and Daddy took Sylvester to the vet to have him put to sleep. Mama, the dog-lover, is devastated, and Chase has promised to be extra kind and loving to his Mama. It was a quiet day for Chase. Nanaw had to go to a church meeting in the afternoon, and so there wasn’t any school or Python computer training. Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass but then on his way home, unfortunately his little Ranger truck died on the highway, and he had to have it towed home. He’s hoping to diagnose and fix the problem tomorrow. If anyone can do it, it’s Uncle Mike. Today was Pawpaw and Nanaw’s 66th wedding anniversary, and Nanaw had Taco Bell for dinner at the cemetery, where the third picture shows two of the tiniest baby deer Nanaw’s ever seen. For tomorrow’s lunch, Chase has proposed the following to Nanaw: He wants chicken strips from Schnuck’s to be served with Raising Cain’s sauce, that he and Nanaw are going to make. He has an online recipe for it. The ingredients include ketchup, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Nanaw will report back as to how it turned out. Speaking of reporting back, Nanaw found out that Chase and Daddy played golf on Sunday at the golf course near Red Roof and the miniature golf course; Chase said it went well, and he had fun. BTW, Chase has changed his mind about playing golf at Gibault next year. The practices, meetings, etc. are more frequent than he and Daddy knew, and Chase doesn’t have enough time for them because his baseball and hockey schedules don’t leave much time for anything else. Chase says maybe he’ll play golf next year.

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

On Tuesday morning, Nanaw had to rush to get the house ready for the cleaning lady because she and Chase had to leave at 10:40 for his workout session. It was close but she managed in time. Chase’s friend Tucker was at today’s workout session and that made Chase happy. Tucker is going to spend the night at Chase’s house Thursday night because of the Juneteenth holiday on Friday. Mama and Daddy will be home then. After the workout, Nanaw took Chase to Sonic to get his lunch. Mama had given Nanaw her credit card to pay for the lunch. It was $14 and Mama texted that was sort of pricey. Nanaw texted back, asking if Mama was stalking them online. After he finished eating his lunch on the County library parking lot, they went inside to wait for the cleaning lady to finish. Nanaw found a Diary of a Wimpy Kid audio book that they started listening to on their way home. They had school from three to four p.m and managed to get everything done. Nanaw is still behind on the Python coding course with ChatGPT. Chase is on Lesson 7 and Nanaw is still on Lesson 6. But that’s okay – Nanaw will catch up. Sylvester is very sick and the vet can’t find out what’s wrong. Mama thinks they may have to put him to sleep, and Mama is extremely sad about that because she loves him so much.

Monday, June 15, 2026

On Monday morning, Mama and Chase brought the things that Chase took out of his locker on his last day at school over to Nanaw’s house. The idea was for Chase and Nanaw to go through them and decide what to keep and what to throw away. They did that, keeping the Children’s Bible Chase received years ago and school supplies he can use for next year at Gibault. Mama bought him a new backpack so he’ll have that for the coming year. Today, Chase announced to Nanaw that he felt a need to go to Sonic for lunch tomorrow. Nanaw told Mama about that and Mama gave Nanaw her credit card to pay for Chase’s $20 lunch. Nanaw misread Mama’s text about the times of Chase’s workout sessions this week. She thought both of them were at 11 a.m. but today’s was at 1 p.m. The weather was much cooler today and Chase didn’t get so overheated at the workout. In the afternoon, they did their usual schoolwork: weather, algebra, capitals, presidents, a Bridge workbook page, the touch-typing course, and the Python computer programming course. Chase is still doing really well with Python and doesn’t complain about it the way he complains about the touch-typing course. Surprisingly enough, they got through everything in just over an hour – amazing! In past years, school took them two hours. They’re going to add one more thing to school. Nanaw bought a Kindle Gordon Korman book from Amazon that they’ll have Alexa read to them. Nanaw figures Chase can listen while playing knee hockey in his room or in the dining room (but not on the computer).

Sunday, June 14, 2026

Chase and Daddy went to church on Sunday morning. The Bears baseball tournament was rained out again so they went golfing. Nanaw doesn’t know where so she’ll find out from Chase and also how the golfing went. Mama said he had some screen time and did some baseball in the back yard. She said she reminded him Sunday morning that he needed to clean off the top of his dresser and nightstand, and he did it in the afternoon without Mama reminding him. She was very proud of him for that. He did say he might not be able to keep them clean. LOL Mama sent the photo below to Nanaw for Days, and it looks like Chase had spaghetti for dinner. Chase loves spaghetti! Mama said Chase has two workout sessions this week: one at 11 a.m on Monday, and one at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Friday is the Juneteenth holiday for Mama and Daddy so Nanaw won’t get to see Chase. Maybe she’ll go out to the little house a little early. Mama also said that she’s sending Chase’s school backpack and things from his locker with him tomorrow so he and Nanaw can go through them.

Saturday, June 13, 2026

On Saturday morning, Chase had a uniform fitting session for the Columbia hockey team. Then he went to hang out with Tucker because their baseball tournament was rained out. Mama thinks the fields may still be too wet to play tomorrow, so Chase and Daddy may go to play golf. Mama put their family calendar on Chase’s phone, and he’s started putting his things on it. The first one he added was his next haircut with Brittany on Thursday, July 9 at 11 a.m. Chase had told Nanaw he liked playing on the B team even though they lost a lot. It was because he got to play all the time, and he didn’t get to do that on the A team. Mama said Chase did his laundry today. Mama taught him a while back but he wasn’t doing it regularly. Mama said he only did one load; she did his whites for him so he could go to Tuck’s house. Nanaw will find out from Mama tomorrow how long he was at Tuck’s house and what they did. The two photos below show his laundry basket with Truman and Lars and Chase with Lars in Mama and Daddy’s room, folding his laundry. 

Friday, June 12, 2026

Chase had a workout session on Friday morning, and he said it went well. He said he thinks the workout sessions are helping him get stronger. For lunch, Chase had another Ramen’s soup; he seems to like it. Nanaw put it on his grocery list for Mama, along with a pizza Lunchable, another of his favorites. Chase and Nanaw had a full school session on Friday, only their second one since summer vacation started. First, Chase did the touch-typing lesson. He seems to like it okay, and hopefully he’ll learn to touch type this summer. Nanaw thinks he’ll like it if he follows through with it. Then they did the ChatGPT Lesson 5. As usual, Chase finished before Nanaw so she put her lesson on pause and did the rest of school with Chase. He recited the names of the first five U.S. presidents; he’ll memorize five names a week. He did five algebra problems and two of the assignments in the Bridge 8th grade to 9th grade workbook – one was analogy problems and the second was answering questions on a reading assignment about Henry Ford. They also did the third lesson in the Weather Academy. For some reason, Chase didn’t like reading the lesson online, so Nanaw printed out the lesson and had Chase read it out loud to the two of them and that seemed to work for him. In the evening, Mama, Daddy and Chase went to the big park to meet his friend Tucker from his Bears baseball team and Tucker’s parents. Tucker and Chase wanted to practice baseball. Mama said the boys practiced baseball for a bit, and then they all went to Millers on Main for dinner. It was crowded, and Chase had pizza, of course.

Thursday, June 11, 2026

On Thursday, Chase had his haircut with Brittany. It went well with Chase talking to Brittany a lot. She asked him about his girlfriend (something Nanaw is forbidden to do). Chase said everything was fine even though they hadn’t hung out lately because he had hockey camp last week. Brittany told them about the new house her family had just bought; it’s on Rapp, the same street that Brady lives on. Brittany also told Chase about something she bought for the pitcher on the baseball team for 11-year-olds that she coaches. It’s called a kinetic sleeve, and it helps a pitcher improve their pitching. It cost $300, and Brittany paid for it so Nanaw hope it works. Nanaw asked Chase if he thought he would want one. Chase said he’s really not interested in pitching anymore; he likes playing shortstop or second base. Chase’s workout session was cancelled because of the hot weather. He was happy about that because he was miserable in the heat in his last session. Chase and Nanaw did their Python course with ChatGPT in the afternoon, and it went well. Chase always gets his done faster than Nanaw but eventually Nanaw gets it done.

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Chase had an out-of-the-ordinary ortho appointment Wednesday morning. He has a tooth that’s coming in at a slant rather than straight down. So the orthodontist wanted him to have laser surgery that would help change the direction of the tooth. The procedure was supposed to take an hour but it only took about 45 minutes. On the drive home, Chase talked all the way, giving Nanaw a play-by-play account of what the two technicians did. He said they needed two people because it was so complicated. He said he had to wear goggles and the technicians wore green eyeglasses. They had to do it twice because it didn’t work correctly the first time. They numbed the tooth area with a gel (no novocaine shot, thank heavens). He said it didn’t hurt too much. After the gel wore off, he was supposed to take Tylenol but he never did because he said he didn’t need it. He brought home some vitamin E capsules that he has to apply to the tooth area, one every night before bed. He said he wasn’t too nervous about it, and Nanaw told him he was very brave. He said he didn’t want to do any school, and when Nanaw asked if they could do the Python programming session, he said yes, they could do that. As usual, he’s way ahead of Nanaw and doing really well. He finished up Lesson 3 before Nanaw even started because she had to finish Lesson 2. So Nanaw has to work on Lesson 3 tonight and try to get caught up. Nanaw is very happy Chase is doing so well with Python. She hoped he would like it, and he seems to.

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Chase had a teeth cleaning appointment at the dentist’s office on Tuesday morning. At first Nanaw thought he wouldn’t have their friend Teresa because someone else came to get Chase. But when he was finished, Teresa came out with him and talked to Nanaw. On the way home, they stopped at Schnuck’s so Nanaw could get her newspaper and a loaf of soft French bread for Chase. He started eating the bread on the drive home. For lunch, Chase had Fettucine Al Fredo and lots of the French bread. Later in the afternoon, Chase had his first touch typing lesson. It went quickly, and he didn’t complain too much. Next they did the Python lesson with ChatGPT. Once again, Chase did really well and most importantly, he stopped complaining about it. He even helped Nanaw with her code when it wouldn’t run. Things do work out. Next, they did a couple of the small school things: reading over the information about the first five presidents of the U.S.; doing the five state capitals; doing five algebra problems; and doing one of the assignments in the Summer Bridge 8th grade to 9th grade workbook. So everything worked out well with the school activities with not too much complaining and fussing from Chase. Nanaw forgot to have them do the Weather Academy 3rd lesson so they’ll do that tomorrow and then continue on with the lessons. The second picture below is of a beautiful bouquet of flowers Mama gave to Nanaw. This is employee appreciation week where Mama works, and one of the activities was to make bouquets. Mama decided to give hers to Nanaw, which made Nanaw very happy. 

Monday, June 8, 2026

The young man who cuts down trees came by Nanaw’s house Monday morning to cut down the branch of the redbud tree in the back yard that was brushing against the house. He also used his Dingo to remove the pile of branches in the back yard. Nanaw’s plan for Chase on Monday was that they would start their computer programming project with ChatGPT after the tree guy was gone. Chase did his usual complaining about not wanting to do it but finally agreed. He did really well with it, better than Nanaw. This is a good thing for Chase to do, no matter how much he complains. It’s better for him than all the time he spends on his phone watching YouTube videos and playing games on the computer. They also started memorizing the presidents of the U.S., doing the first five, and they did another five state capitals. The one thing Chase refused to do was to start the online courses on touch typing. He said he was playing a game on the computer that he couldn’t stop. Nanaw was not happy about his refusal but told him they were going to do it on Tuesday morning when they got back from his dentist appointment. At 1 p.m., they went to his workout session. He seems to really like the sessions and seems to work hard at it. He came out afterwards soaking wet from all his activity; Nanaw had to put his clothes in the dryer. He says he likes the guy doing the workouts and likes what they do so good for him. 

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Nanaw checked with Mama about yesterday’s second game, and Chase’s team won the game 10 to 3, and Mama said it was a good game. On Sunday, Chase had two games but Nanaw isn’t sure where – St. Peters or Fenton. She’ll find out but she thinks it might be Fenton. The first game was at 3 p.m., and they won. The second game was at 5 p.m., and they lost 14 –1 but Chase had two hits and that’s good. After the game, they went to visit Wally’s with Tucker and his parents, the Pollnows. Mama said Chase enjoyed walking around Wally’s with Tucker. Wally’s is close to the ball field in Fenton so that’s why Nanaw thinks that’s where the boys played. They had Dairy Queen for dinner. Chase has a really busy week next week, and Nanaw will have a busy week driving him around to all the places he has to go. On Monday, he has a workout – called BBA, which means Building Better Athletes. On Tuesday he has a dentist appointment. On Wednesday he has an ortho appointment. On Thursday he gets a haircut and has a workout later in the day. On Friday he has a workout at 10 a.m. Nanaw had all kinds of ambitious “school” or “learning” plans for next week but maybe they won’t all happen. She wants them to get started on learning a computer programming language called Python. When Nanaw told Chase about it he didn’t seem too excited but after he thought about it he said that might be good because maybe he would need it later on. ChatGPT is going to help them learn it to that will be fun. The first photo below is a screen shot from mama’s calendar on her phone providing all of Chase’s activities next week. The second picture is a sort of goofy-looking selfie Chase took of himself and sent to Nanaw.

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Chase had two baseball games on Saturday in St. Peters. The first one was a 9 a.m. and they won it 12 to 6. Mama texted Nanaw during the second game and said they were currently winning 8 to 2 but Nanaw never found out the final score. She said Chase had a nice double during the second game. In the afternoon, Nanaw went to Irina’s graduation party at Uncle Mike’s house. The pool was open and lots of people went swimming. Nanaw had a nice chat with Peggy and learned all about the history of Lally’s place, the nonprofit tutoring place where Aunt Becky works and so does Peggy. Nanaw thought it was really interesting to hear the details of how Mary Pat started the tutoring nonprofit. In the evening, Mama texted Nanaw again to say she didn’t know what time Chase’s first game would be on Sunday but that she was going to try to go to the grocery story on Sunday morning. She asked Nanaw to text the list to her for what food she needed for Chase next week, so Nanaw did that.

Friday, June 5, 2026

Today was Chase’s last day at the Gretzy Hockey Camp. He seems to have really enjoyed himself although he was worn out and usually fell asleep on the drive home. He didn’t say anything about whether Wayne Gretzky stopped by the camp, which he usually does, so Nanaw will ask him. One of Gretzky’s son heads up the camp and sometimes comes out on the ice. Mama took him to camp on Friday morning and then went to Creve Coeur Park for a couple of hours to drive around, take pictures and take a walk. Then she went back to the Centene building and watched Chase skate. She took some pictures of him on the ice and sent them to Nanaw and made a Facebook post with them. Mama and Chase came and picked up Nanaw for lunch. They went to Bread Company on Telegraph Road, one of their favorite places. Mama and Chase had French Onion soup in a bread bowl, and Nanaw had Caesar salad. Mama also had a yummy-looking pastry. Chase got to stay at Nanaw’s house during the afternoon. He played pencil hockey and on the computer. He didn’t play as much on his phone as he usually does. Mama said it’s been a busy week so they were just going to chill tonight, with dinner from Jimmy John’s and watching the Cardinals baseball game – which they won 10 to 3. Mama, Daddy and Chase all had to rest up for a weekend of baseball out in St. Peter’s.

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Because the cleaning lady was rescheduled from Tuesday to Thursday, Nanaw had to clean the house again Thursday morning. Then she went to the gas station and the Telegraph Road Schnuck’s to get a newspaper. Then she parked in the library parking lot to watch her General Hospital soap opera until the cleaning lady was done. Mama took Chase to hockey camp this morning and then picked him up. About 4:15, she dropped him off at Nanaw’s house. Mama said he took a brief nap on the drive to Nanaw’s, just like he did the rest of the week. Hockey camp must really wear him out. Mama told Nanaw that she asked him the other day if he’d talked to Amelie, and he said yes. Mama asked if things were okay with them, and he said yes. He’s not real talkative. He had baseball practice tonight, and Nanaw asked if he was too tired for baseball, and he said no, he’d be fine.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Uncle Mike came over on Wednesday afternoon to cut Nanaw’s grass and visit with her, and Nanaw wasn’t paying attention to the time. She had to pick Chase up from hockey camp, and she should have left earlier than she did. She took highway 141, which takes a little longer than the 270 and 70 way, and the traffic was heavy. So she was a few minutes late getting there for Chase. She called him when she was a few minutes away and reassured him that she would be there momentarily. She brought snacks for him, and he also bought snacks for himself at the little Schnuck’s place at the Centene Hockey Center. On the ride home, Chase fell asleep, just like he did Monday and Tuesday with Daddy. Traffic was even worse on the way home because it was rush hour so it took even longer, and Uncle Mike had left. Mama texted Nanaw that she could keep Chase till 5:30. He had free swing at 6:30, and she wanted to make sure he had enough time to eat dinner.

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Daddy picked Nanaw up on Tuesday afternoon to go to Centene to get Chase from hockey camp. The idea was for Nanaw to see how to get there for when she picks him up on Wednesday afternoon. It turned out that there’s an easier way to go rather than 270 to 70, You can get right to the entrance road by taking highway 141. So that’s the way Nanaw is going. Daddy and Nanaw got to watch Chase skate for about an hour or more and that was fun. He really skated well and did all the activities well. Daddy told Nanaw hockey camp was the only camp Chase asked to go to. It’s fairly expensive but worth it because Chase is learning a lot. Next year is the last year he can go – 15 is the top age. Mama had dinner with her work family tonight at Bartolino’s to celebrate their boss Wendy’s retirement. Mama had pizza, of course. Wendy is going to take care of her grandchildren, just like Nanaw did with Chase. It’s the best “job “ in the world, and Nanaw loved every moment of her 14-½ years with Chase. Nanaw sent Wendy a congratulations on your retirement card and told her she’s going to love her new “career.”

Monday, June 1, 2026

Two updates from Mama: Number one is that Chase and Daddy did go to church Sunday morning before Chase’s Bears 1 p.m. baseball game. Number 2 is that Saturday night when they came home from baseball, they ordered Papa John’s pizza. And of course, Chase had to have stuffed crust. On Sunday, they had Panda’s after losing game 2. Another update is that Nanaw is riding along Tuesday afternoon when Daddy goes to the Centene Hockey Center to pick up Chase from hockey camp. This is so she knows where to go when she picks Chase up on Wednesday afternoon. So Nanaw won’t see Chase any mornings this week because Daddy will be taking him to hockey camp, which starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. Chase will come to Nanaw’s house after hockey practice so that makes Nanaw happy. Today, Chase was really tired from camp and mostly just lay on the sofa playing with his phone. Nanaw wanted to do a little school but he said he was too tired. But then he agreed to do 10 state capitals – what a sweet boy he is to do that for Nanaw.