How to bond with a pre-teen boy

On the even of starting middle school, we went by the old elementary school to check out some construction that is going on there. And if you see a huge pile of dirt you have to play 'king of the mountain', right?           I went around to the top, and he climbed straight up. I stood and waited for him (it was quite the climb!). He got to the top with two feet and no flip flops. One was visible, and he scooted back down and got it.                 The second was not as obvious, so I climbed halfway down to help in the search. We dug and dug with sticks but couldn't find it. We NEVER found it.     The flip was flopped, and we actually had to finally give in and give up!   The dirt was very loose, and when you stepped down, you really sunk....that flip flop is buried somewhere on the playground along with a tooth he lost in 2nd grade.    We can home filthy dirty and happy.  You really can't climb a huge dirt pile and not laugh.                                       It's really not hard to bond with boys....meet them where they are, even if you have to get a little (or a lot) dirty to get there.