Jude got a package in the mail from his online government school teacher who is very nice, but very behind the scenes. It contained a certficate for the “A” Honor Roll for the first semester. He was pretty excited when I explained what it was.
Today we took our star student and his brothers to the Mall of America for an afternoon of free rides, hosted by Children’s Hospital. Jude is now tall enough to go on some fun rides, like rollercoasters. And, given that the snowstorm kept people away from the mall, there were no lines.  Jude isn’t a total ride daredevil like me, but he’s not a total ride wuss either, like Andy. He is somewhere in the middle. We had a ton of fun and Jude was really brave, even going on rides multiple times when the first time was really scary for him.