1st Day of School

Yesterday the boys started back to school.

I think everyone was ready!

I left the house the same time they did so I could go to the store. I stopped at school and got a quick picture of them as they were about to enter the school.


I found it interesting, Adam had all summer to sleep in, yet most days he was up by 6:15. The 1st day of school however, I have to wake him at 7:10!

All of my boys came home yesterday, and seemed to have had a great day. Adam had stories about his teacher. Austin didn't say much (never really does), but from what I could get from him, it sounded like a good day.

We are all very excited about this year!

Quick Weekend Trip

We had one last trip for the summer this weekend, before school starts.

Friday we headed to PA and stayed with Mike's friend from High School. They have boys that are about our boys ages, they love to go there and play. This is the first time they got to have a sleep over. The boys laughed and giggled and talked way past their bed time!

After the boys were in bed, but not asleep, we were able to play game with Troy and Delise. Usually we visit, the boys play and we leave. It was nice to have time with just the adults to play a game and be a bit goofy!

Saturday morning we went out to see the zip line that Troy installed.

Austin had a turn.....

Adam had a turn.....

Mike took a turn.....

and even I had a turn. I'm not usually on this side of the camera!

Then the boys thought it might be fun to go on it together!

We had a great time! (Adam's sad face is due to the fact that he wanted to Mike to push him on the zip line, but it was pushed a little too fast, and he got scared!) Thank you Dylan and Micah for letting us play!

Then we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch and more play time.

As soon as Austin got out of the car he saw this mushroom, he thought it was pretty neat. I'm always glad when they find an interest in science.

Adam rode the Gator...

Austin rode the bike...

Then they would switch. So much fun!

After lunch we went for a ride in the golf cart around the block.

We had gotten to the first turn when Austin saw...

this beautiful deer.

Their block is about a 2 mile ride. It was a nice relaxing time.

One of the boys favorite things to do at Grandma and Grandpa's is to get a hammer and....


hit dead tree stumps. They do this about every time we are up there!


Then the boys got the walkie-talkies. They were going to play walkie-talkie hide and seek. But found it to be just as fun to talk on them. We had to laugh because the were within talking distance, but would use the walkie talkies. Then to top it off, they were both riding in the Gator, and talking to each other over the walkie talkies. At least they were having fun!

They rode the see-saw!

On the way home we often stop in Carlisle, PA at a military place. They have tanks, helicopters, and trenches are built. They even have buildings like the mess hall, chapel, and offices, but they were locked up this time.

This is the first time that we have seen the simulated people in the trenches.

Austin enjoyed acting out what they were suppose to be doing.

This is the helicopter that we saw from the road, how we knew this was there and decided to visit the first time.

This one is a newer display.

In the trenches.

This was a quick trip, but lots of fun!

Pillow Tower

This is Adam's post! Below are the notes he dictated to Mike about "Pillow Tower."

~Adam made this by himself.

~The cave is really, really warm inside.

~It is called "tall." It almost touches the ceiling.

~When the door is closed it is really dark inside.

Teachers and Classrooms

We went to meet the boys teachers yesterday. I think it is going to be a good year! I find it interesting that both of my boys have male teachers!

Austin has Mr. Byler. We knew Mr. Byler before this. We used to go to church with Mr. Byler, Mike taught one of his daughters a few years ago, and my dad used to work with him.

When we got to Austin's room, we saw all kinds of excavation pictures on the door. I tried to get a picture of some of them, but the first one would not take clearly.


This looks like the dump truck my dad used to drive.

The verbiage on the door is "Dig Into Third Grade." I thought that was a play on words, especially with excavation.

Austin has a lot of friends from his second grade class in his room. Austin found out that this year they learn cursive and multiplication. That is going to make for a big year!

Adam had Mr. Swartz. I don't know much about him, but have heard very good things from previous students and parents.

Adam went to see his room, and he explored and explored. I think he looked in every nook and cranny in the room. Mr. Swartz said they are going to have a scavenger hunt to become familiar with the room, it should be no problem for Adam.

Adam's best buddy in Kindergarten moved in May. I am very excited for him that he has some nice children (that I know) in his class. I'm sure it won't be hard for him to make new friendships.

We are all looking forward to this school year!

Picnic

Monday we had a picnic with the teachers and staff at the school where Mike teaches (and the boys attend)

The picnic was at a local park, it was nice to have a place for the boys (and other children) to play while we finished eating, or we were talking with some of the others there.

The boys had finished eating and went to play. After a little, Adam came and asked if we would like to try a new seat. Mike said he would go see what Adam was talking about and he came back with this picture.

Adam found an octagonal table. He wanted us to sit there, but we really enjoyed sitting with the other adults. I think he was fine after Mike went and saw what he was talking about.

One of the new teachers was there. Her husband brought croquet to play. Mike heard this and was searching Tim out to play a good game of croquet. Little did Tim know how competitive Mike is about croquet. He knows now!

Mike started teaching the boys how to play. They enjoyed that!

It was a really fun, relaxing evening. Nice to have a time like that to reconnect with the teachers at school.

Oh, Adam!

Here are some of Adam's most recent thoughts and actions that left me saying, "Oh, Adam!"

The other day, Adam was outside, I opened the door to tell him something (or ask him something. I really don't remember) He was sitting on some bricks that make support pillars for the carport. I right away asked, "Adam what are you doing? He replied, "Spitting on ants."

Now, 1. Can you imagine being the poor ant that is going along, and all of the sudden someone spits on you? YUCK! and 2. I can honestly say that when I was a child (and I'll even add as an adult) that particular activity NEVER crossed my mind!

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A few nights ago, I tucked the boys in bed and went down the hall. When I came back, Adam called me into his room. I figured he wanted one last hug or kiss. When I got there he told me, "I wonder who I'm going to marry." I sighed, and said, "Adam be friends with everyone. One day you will meet a really nice girl and you will know that she is the one for you to marry. But, right now just have friends."

Again, I can honestly say, at that age I'm pretty sure I thought about my wedding. However, I'm pretty sure that I did not worry about WHO I would marry. Even if I had thought about who, I can assure you that I would have never come up with a guy from Eastern PA!

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Adam was talking with Austin and said, "Guess what?"
So, Austin replied, "What?"
Adam said, "No, guess what"
Austin, again, said, "what?"

Adam became upset and came to me. He really wanted to Austin to guess what he was going to say. A conversation like that could go on for some time. The possibilities really are endless! I told him that when people don't know they just say "what," but he really did not like that answer!

Austin's Stats

I had Austin to the Dr. the other day for his yearly check-up. I wanted to record his height and weight. That way if he is curious someday, he can look back and see how tall he was and how much he weighed at 9.

Height-48.75 He is 1/4 of an inch shy of 4 foot 1 inch. Only 8 more inches to go until he is out of the booster seat.

Weight-64 pounds. Dr. says that his BMI is great!

We had a good appointment!

Austin's Quote of the Day

I was talking to the boys, as we waited in line at the deli. They got to talking about dinosaurs. Austin said, "Yeah, dinosaurs, like back in......1991!"

I had to explain that there were not dinosaurs in 1991. He acted shocked!

Little does he know how old he just made me feel! :)

A Day at the Lake

Last weekend, we went on our mini vacation.

We have done this for the past couple of years. We go to my sister's house in Roanoke on Friday, Saturday we pack up and head to Smith Mountain Lake.

We got to the lake and I couldn't believe that I had forgotten the camera!! So, all the pictures for this post are thanks to Lana's husband, Matt.


This year, we had a little one with us. Mom, Matt, and Mike made her a mini lake to play in.

Adam loves the sand! That was one of the first things he asked when he found out we were going to Smith Mountain Lake. He was thinking it could have been Riven Rock, which has rocks rather than sand.

They have canoes to rent there. Mike took the boys out on a ride. We, also, rented paddle boats, but there aren't any pictures of that. Mike had just come in when Matt got this picture. It looks like Adam was trying hard to get in on the picture! :)

And we swam!

And sometimes, we just acted like we had been washed ashore.

It was a GREAT day!


On Sunday, we went for a hike on a trail near Matt and Lana's house. This is before!

It is about a 2 mile hike, one way. This is the 3rd time I have been there, but the first time that I actually finished the hike.

The boys did great. Although, Adam did start to get tired. A BIG Thank You to Carol, she gave Adam several piggy back rides, and relieved Mike and me from carrying the extra 40 some pounds.

We finally made it to the top. It was called Buzzards Rock.

Austin on one of the big rocks. He looks like he just conquered some major task!

We took a quick breather and headed back down.

It was a quick weekend, but we all had a wonderful time.

Pool Pics

Austin was so excited to get back to the pool, after learning he could jump off the diving board! He got up the morning, and when he got dressed he put on his swimming trunks. I told him while we were running errands he could have regular clothes on! After each errand stop, he would ask, "Is it time to go swimming yet?"

Finally, it was time!!

Mike took his waterproof camera, and got some really neat pictures.

Here he is jumping off the diving board. He did this over and over and over... Yesterday, there was quite a line that he had to wait in. Today, there were only a few others that were in line, so he was able to jump more often.

After doing this for quite some time, he told me that his arms felt wobbly. I told him that was because it uses muscles to swim, and it was making him stronger. Little did he know that something so fun could also be exercise!

Jumping In With Both Feet

Austin ventured out and did something new today!

We went to the pool. I had 5 boys in my care. I had my 2 nephews, but honestly, once we were at the pool I hardly saw them. I had my 2 boys. I, also, had a friend of Austin's, Isaac. Isaac is a good bit taller than Austin. He is tall enough that he can do the pool slides. Austin measures himself every couple of times we are at the pool to see if he is tall enough. He has about 8 inches to grow!

Isaac mentioned to Austin that he wanted to go off the diving board. Austin wanted to try. I was not going to let him do this without me right there! So, I sat on the edge of the pool and watched my little boy jump into 12 1/2 feet of water. He came up and started to swim. the first time it was more of a doggy paddle. Then he did it again, and again.

As Austin got more and more comfortable with jumping, his swimming became more and more graceful. He started to remember his swim strokes from swimming lessons and began using them. I sat on the edge and thought what a fun way for him to practice his swimming.

He really wanted to go back for more jumps, but I didn't feel right pulling Adam out of the pool (again) to do that. Next time Mike will come with me and that will solve that problem.

Applesauce, Pumpkins, And All

It is summer! This means that it is time to make applesauce!

We started the whole process on Monday. The boys were interested in helping, so I gave them a peeler, and told them to watch their fingers. No skin was lost, but there were peels everywhere! :)Austin working hard at peeling his apple.

Adam only did 1 or 2 apples. But it is a beginning. Next year he may do more!

Then to add to the chaos, I found that one of my pumpkins was ready to be picked.

It was not an overly large pumpkin, but it was a pumpkin from seeds from one we had last fall. I am really surprised we got anything at all.

Austin was the pumpkin photographer from here on:

The boys helped to clean out the inside of the pumpkin.

It is ready to be baked.

Mike came to get the boys to take them to the free movie at the local movie theatre (this helped as we were finishing up the applesauce)

After the movie, Mike took the boys to feed the rest of their popcorn to the ducks at a little park near our house. They really enjoyed this!

Then, they saw a new visitor!

It's a good thing I was not there! I would have screamed and scared it away! The boys enjoyed watching it. I would not see the enjoyment in that, but to each their own!