Later that same evening...

Not too surprisingly, about 7:00 Frederick's eyelids became thick and heavy and all he wanted to do was sit in a rocking chair next to the fire, tucked under a blanket, and say "NO!" to everything we offered--until I suggested he "rest" in his bed---"not to sleep, just to 'rest the eyes'." So he crawled into bed, and peered at us suspiciously through the open doorway while we puttered around the kitchen/living room area. About 30 minutes later he was snoring loudly and we had to figure out how to fill out the rest of the evening. Simon discovered a stash of family games, all of which looked like they pre-dated either of us, in a closet. We picked out Scrabble, but Leapin' Letters did look tempting (the people pictured on the box sure look like they were having the time of their lives). About half-way through the game (just when I was on the verge of winning after blocking Thomas from making an 8-letter word on the red Triple Word block) Simon decided that he "had" to get out in the boat and light sparklers. Simon paddled out while Thomas and I waited on land and were eaten alive by mosquitoes. Simon set out. Will we ever see him again? Will we ever finish the Scrabble game? Was it worth all the effort? I'm not sure it was but Simon did fulfill another life-long dream so there is that.