June in Review

June has flown by and with it, we have checked many items off of our summer-to-do list.  From birthdays, to swimming, to a visit from Grandpa and Grandma, to reading and to so much more, we've done it!  We've played hard, rested hard and just enjoyed this summer.  Despite the heat, we've been able to do quite a lot.  Honestly, this Momma is a bit tired.  However, they will only be home a few summers and we need to make the most of our time together and all the fun things our current location has to offer.   Even though, we've been busy, I still have a few ideas up my sleeve for July and the beginning of August.  Hope they enjoy it!

Trip to The Magic House.  It's always fun to try fun, hands-on items. They were most excited about seeing the mock-ups of the branches of government, but in the end, they just enjoyed the hands-on things to play with.  Here, they were checking out the huge sand castle and sand building area they had available (but it was hot - quite hot!)

 We checked out the Science Museum with friends.  Yes, our arch is a bit lopsided, but it was standing on its own!

 The kids loved the step-by-step science experiments they got to do.  Here, Andrew and Luke were doing an ink analysis on a simple mystery case.  We also got to seperate DNA from wheat germ.  That one was a huge hit!

 We've had a few picnics this month and I'm sure there will be a few more in the weeks to come.

 Reading....lots and lots and lots of reading!

 Family reunion - Andrew style

 Chris was the kid magnet at the reunion.  The best entertainment for the day was figuring out how to retrieve a frisbee from the lake without getting wet!

 Water fight with friends!  I'm not sure why they loved throwing the balloons when they were just a few feet apart.  We also had water guns and I think at some point, they just sat in the tubs of water.

 Luke fell in love with the Sting Ray exhibit at the zoo.  He got to touch a sting ray (plus, a baby sting ray!) and a shark.  He talked about that for some time.

 Andrew's favorite at the zoo was the carousel and he was partial to this seat with the snakes....

 We hunted down the giraffes for Hannah, but I thought she did a pretty good job of exhibiting her ball balancing skills like a sea lion.

 Despite our many days of very hot days, the day we went to the zoo was just the perfect temperature.  That didn't stop them from thoroughly enjoying the misting fans.

 So long June.  Here we come July!

Andrew is 8!

This kid!  This child is a joy.  He keeps me on my toes.  He's smart, funny, serious, loves any sport, but football is his favorite, and has a book in his hand if he's not moving.  This year, we got to go to a gym, which just happened to be on his birthday.  He pronounced it, "the best birthday ever!"  

 When I asked him what kind of cake he would like, he decided a basketball would do.  He's had a football themed cake the last couple of years and I guess wanted to change things up a bit.  Thanks to the internet that is full of ideas, this is what I could do.  When I showed him, he was surprised that I knew what a basketball was.  Um yeah, the only thing I could come up with in response was that I was from Indiana and everyone there knows what a basketball is.....

 He spent the rest of his evening and part of this morning putting together this - a Lego chess set.  I on the other hand, took some time out of my day for a crash course in how to even play chess (thank you chess.com!).  I played my first ever game of chess this afternoon and got soundly beat!  Honestly, I don't think I did as badly as I thought it could have gone.  I was trying to remember all the different moves as well as what the rook, knight and bishop looked like because they do not look the same as a regular chess set.  Not to mention, that his rook, knight and bishop even looked different than mine.  I will play again.  I have a feeling that I will be beat soundly a few more times before I experience success!

Climbs, Jumps and Drops

We were gifted a free morning at a local gym that promotes a ninja type obstacle course.  Let me just say, it was a HUGE hit with our kids.  They spent 2 1/2 hours pretty much non-stop jumping, climbing, dropping off of all sorts of equipment.  I think they have a new appreciation for those that complete the obstacles on one of their favorite shows, American Ninja Warrior.  I was impressed with how much they improved their skills and technique in that short amount of time.  Yes, a lot of strength is needed, but technique is also involved.  They all also did things that initially seemed intimidating and scary.  They did them, though, and returned back to those obstacles to do them again.  They were surprised by how sore they were this morning or in their words how "cramped" they were.  Hannah concluded that it hurt to even turn a page in a book.  Honestly, I don't think they were that bad off since they looked and acted just fine to me! 

It was very fun morning.  The timing couldn't have been any better since it was the morning of Andrew's birthday!

 Hannah on the small warped wall.  They could all make it up this shorter version.  The medium height one was doable with a bit more practice, but none of them could do the tallest one.  Keep in mind, these are kid sized, not the adult ones from television.

 Luke on the steps

 Andrew trying the swinging rings with some assistance.  They were far apart!

Luke and Hannah get all of this climbing skill from Chris!

 Learning to jump off a ledge correctly 

(that is onto your bottom so your legs don't kick you in the face)

 Repelling down a rope

 Just swinging on a trapeze

 They also had adult ninja obstacles.  Chris attempted the warped wall.  He made it to the top of the 12 foot wall.  That alone is impressive!  They make it look so simple on TV.

 He attempted their 14 ft 2 in wall several times with his finger tips coming within just a couple of inches from the top.  That was still impressive to me since he's never trained or practiced that before.

 Andrew taking a leap

 Hannah with Daddy's help

 Luke and Hannah "rock" climbed to the top of this 12 ft wall and then they got to zip line down.  Yeah, they thought that was a pretty good end to their morning!

From This Moment - A Book Review

From This Moment felt like it had the potential to be a book that I just couldn't put down and must keep reading to see who was behind all the problems all the characters in the book were encountering.  However, it wasn't.  I liked the book and the author kept giving little pieces of information and events, but it wasn't fast paced enough to hold my attention for long periods of time and make me itch to come back and read more.  The last quarter of the book made me want to sit down and read more, but the first three-quarters did not.  I'm not sure exactly why, but I think it may have had to do with the two main characters.  I found their strong, artistic and flamboyant personalities were difficult to identify with.  I did really enjoy the story line, though, and felt like it was well thought out and not too predictable.

I received a complimentary copy of From This Moment by Elizabeth Camden from Bethany House Publishers.

Landscaping Saga

When we move, we tend to make a few changes here and there to the homes we live in.  It is my hope that they are in a bit better shape than when we first moved in.  At the least, they are more to our liking.   Anyway, this home was no different.  We've made some "minor" changes throughout.  One of our most time consuming projects this go around was our landscaping.  I don't have a picture of it when we moved in, but suffice it to say that we had small trees in much of our landscaping.  A big thanks to my parents who took a lot of time to cut it way back so we could at least see out the windows when we first moved in.

The rest of the project has taken nearly two years to get it to what I prefer - manageable.  The first item we fixed was a heart shaped bed in our yard by the road.  The kids and I took all the rocks and roots out of it and then we just covered it with grass.  So much better and less for us to maintain.  Last spring, we offered free landscaping rock if people would come and get it.  We had so much that 4-5 different people came.  Needless to say, I'm quite content if I never have another rock in my yard again!  Chris also took a pick axe and a lot of muscle to remove all of the roots of the small trees that were in the landscaping by the house.  Once that was completed, he redid some of the drainage around the house, tilled the dirt, laid a new wall and planted more grass seed.  Just to make it more manageable we now have less than half of what we initially had.  Fast forward a few more months to this spring, the kids and I filled the walled in portion with a lot of dirt.  The kids did a great job helping.  I couldn't have done it as easily or quickly if they had not.  Finally, we added the fun and pretty stuff that I'd been wanting to add this entire time - flowers.  I am in no way a landscape architect and I'm sure I've made many design errors.  However, I like it.  I'm thrilled the flowers are starting to bloom.  In the end, it was worth all the work and waiting.

The house when we initially looked.  The landscaping only grew for two more months after that.  We couldn't see at least one of the windows for the plants.

 Where it all started - moving all the rock off this large patch of landscaping.

 Chris and Luke redoing some of the drainage around the house.

 The building of the wall

Today!  Many of these plants are still in the "baby" stage.  I'm looking forward to how it will look once they fill in a bit.

Miscellaneous Disney

This picture makes me smile.  This is the way we did Disney.  My sister suggested fanny packs and she let us borrow the water bottle hooks.  Since we are no longer in the 80s, it's not as easy to find fanny packs as it once was.  So, I had to order them and the kids got to pick their color.  I can not tell you how excited they were for theirs to arrive.  They asked me several times before they arrived if they were here yet.  Once they were here, we got them all set up.  The question did arise as to why they were called fanny packs.  They were all excited, but Luke is getting older and wiser.  At 10 years old, he did ask if everyone at Disney wore one.  In the end, he carried it without complaint.  They were full of snacks, a poncho in case of a sneaky afternoon rain (which it never did!), sunscreen and then they each had a water bottle.  It worked perfect.  I didn't have to carry anything and they could get their snacks when they wanted one.  Perfect!

 The kids LOVED the pool where we stayed!

Our tickets also included four other activities on Disney property.  We chose both of the water parks.  We only  have a couple of pictures from those days because water and cameras don't mix well.  We also played a round of miniature golf and spent an afternoon at an arcade much to the delight of the kids.  It was all fun.  Here are a couple of putt-putt pictures.

 Need I say more, this is just Andrew

 In case you didn't figure it out, the course had a winter theme

 Our last day, we checked out Disney Springs.  We enjoyed the arcade, Disney store and of course, the Lego store.  The favorite part for Chris and me was the parking garage.  I know that's strange, but it was high tech and really neat and easy to use.  As you pulled up, it told you the number of available spots on each level.  At the end of each row, it once again told you the number of spots available.  As you turn down the row, each spot that ws empty, had a green light above it.  

As you may see, we had a good time.  May was a crazy month.  We are thankful to now be home for most of the summer and to get back into a routine.

It's a Small World

Andrew really wanted to see this attraction and so the picture

It never ceases to amaze me how small our world is especially when we leave the confines of our little neighborhood.  This vacation was a huge reminder of this.  The first chance came while eating breakfast at a random hotel in middle Georgia on our way to Florida.  I had a tap on my shoulder with a friendly greeting from a family that is in our Sunday School class.  What fun it was to see them there!  The next chance came a few days later as we were waiting on the Animal Kingdom to open.  Again, I had a tap on my shoulder with a friendly greeting.  This time it was a family we had attended church with while we were stationed in Wichita.  She used to watch the kids in the nursery and her kids were in Sunday School with mine although they don't remember that....  Anyway, I just love to have sightings like this as we travel.

We also had the privilege of visiting with three families we've met along the way in our Air Force journey.  One family we met during pilot training in Enid, Oklahoma and we shared our next assignment in Georgia.  The other two families we met while stationed in Kansas.  If time would have permitted, we thought of a couple of families we could have visited with as well.  It is such a gift to know these families and pick up with conversations that we could have easily had years ago.  So thankful for our military "family".

Epcot

Epcot was our final park in our Disney adventure.  We did learn that Epcot actually stood for Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow at one time, but they scrapped the idea to make an amusement park, but the name stuck.  Just a little bit of trivia for you....

We also enjoyed Epcot.  We started the day designing our own vehicle and then competing with others on the Test Track.  So fun!  The 65 mph around the outside of the building caught me a bit off guard, but it was short.  Another favorite was Sum of All Thrills where we could design our own bobsled course, roller coaster or jet.  The boys picked the bobsled, Hannah and I picked the roller coaster and I bet you can guess that Chris chose the jet.  After we designed it, we got to try it in a simulator.  That was really neat, but again, not really worth it to wait in line once again.  One of our last rides (thankfully!) was Mission Space.  I should have known.  There were all sorts of warnings if you chose the more intense version over the mild one.  They said it spun, which is usually not a big deal for me.  However, I didn't think they meant centrifuge!  The idea of the ride is to simulate a bit a mission to outer space.  To do imitate the gs, they spin you.  Everyone loved it, but let's just say, I didn't get sick.  However, I did not feel well after that one and any motion ride thereafter, kind of set me spiraling again.  It could have been worse.  We did do a quick walk through of the countries.  The kids didn't really enjoy that, but they were happy about the pretzel snack in Germany.

 Test Track

 This was taken to appease me.  I wanted a family picture with Mickey

Goofy and the Gang

Hannah and Minnie

 We survived Mission Space

 We all fit.  Who knows if we will fit if we ever make it back to Disney

 The topiaries around the park were fun

 Mission Accomplished