Vacation

It felt like vacation took for ever to get here this year.  Jon and the boys started with a camping trip.  This was Zachs first time being able to go and he loved every minute. Ellie and I spent a lot of time with Corrie.  We also squeezed in some shopping and movie nights. 

We headed to Charlotte to see some family a couple days later.  It was a long drive, but the kids held up pretty well. 

We spent a day at the Discovery Place.  The kids could have easily stayed several more hrs.

Ellie loved the aquarium and jelly fish.  Sam loved doing some science experiments.

They checked out all the attractions, saw a show, grabbed lunch and wore themselves out!

Zach

Resting up for a big day of building Lego bridges.

Date night

Daddy/daughter dinner at Red Lobster!

T-15 days!

Changes are coming!

More soccer

He scored 3 goals last week.  He LOVES soccer!

Lego Robotics

Ellie is slowly warming up to her Lego class.  Zach thinks its awesome!

Science

We made some elephant toothpaste this weekend.  Each kid got to pick a color and took a turn dumping in ingredients.  It was no Mythbusters, but they had fun doing it.

Tickles

You don't even have to touch him!

Co-op

We joined a co-op this year and yesterday was their first day.  They were all excited to get book bags and have been counting down the days until "school."  They're all taking Lego Robotics and a STEM class.  The rest of the day is filled with instruments, math, science, choir, cartooning, crafts and body systems.  They all seemed to have a fun day. They switch classes like you would in middle and high school so I think they felt like big kids doing that.  I think it will be good for them to be exposed to such a large group of home schooled kids at one time.  The classes have a wide age and are really laid back.  They are also taught by volunteers with a passion for each subject.  Its like the very best of a "real" school, but even better!

1 more party

The kids chiropractor had a patient appreciation night over the weekend.  They had the usual stuff: bounce houses, face painting, ice cream etc.

I know its hard to tell, but they had a good time.

Zachs "tattoo."

Wordless Wednesday: Week 2

Parties

Our weekend was filled with birthday parties.  Ben went to a party Saturday night where he was 1 of 2 boys out of the 11 guests.  The other boy was the birthday girls cousin.  I didn't think I'd be dealing with this kind of thing with Ben.  Sam has always been the ladies man in our family!

Sign ups

The kids went to sign up for the yearly Rangers program last week.  They had bubbles, bounce houses, snow cones, balloons and face painting.

I think they had fun!

Soccer

Zach has been torn on what he wants to do this fall.  It came down to soccer and baseball.  I think he'd be great at baseball, but he decided on soccer.

They went through some basic skills then had a game.  He loved it! Of course, he did awesome!

The end, unofficially

Labor Day was the last day our pool was open so we made sure to get some swim time in while we could.

Of course, since it was the last day, Zach was finally ready to jump in, go under water and didn't want anyone to catch him.  

We went to a friends house for a cook out and ended the day with putt putt (where Jon cheated) and ice cream.  It was a great (unofficial) end of summer.

Just another day

Style

She's ready to fight crime and she looks good doing it!

11

My baby turned 11 yesterday.  The last four days have been all about Ben.  He's filled them with a party, Sky Zone, bowling, baking, lots of good food and a movie.  The boy knows how to celebrate in style!

This boy amazes me every day.  On the surface hes usually a kid that goes out of his way to be weird. He has his selfish and sometimes entitled moments.  Then the switch flips and he turns into the most compassionate, sweet, enlightened, down to earth, caring little man that I end up being in awe of.  He loves to stay up into the early hours of the morning and sleep as late as we'll let him. His lap top is his best friend.  He would love to be a serious You Tuber, but lacks the patience that takes.  He is sensitive and emotional about anything and anyone he loves.  He loves the color blue, shirts with collars and his ascot is turning into more than a phase.  He still loves green beans and broccoli, but hates Sweet Basil pizza (which is the best pizza around).  He is always literal which is borderline obnoxious.  He still lacks common sense which is rubbing off on his siblings, but he's helpful and usually more patient with them than I am.  He's definitely the best 11 year old around!

Party time

Ben had his birthday party over the weekend.  We found a place a lot like Sky Zone, but it also includes a ninja section that has a lot of obstacles you'd see on American Ninja Warrior.

They had a great time going through the course.  Dodge ball was also a favorite.

We decided to just bake a cake instead of ordering.  Our two main cake decorators weren't in the area so Ben graciously asked for a basic decoration that I could pretty much handle.  It wasn't pretty, but I think you can tell its a flag.

Ben had a great time with his friends and is looking forward to turning 11 tomorrow.

Fun 24hrs

We've had a good 24hrs.  The public schools in our city started today so we had an ice cream party for all the kids on our street last night.  This is Bens and Sams main group...all girls!

With the public schools starting and the eclipse, I thought today would be a good day for us to start school.  We're easing into it so today was purely eclipse, planetary rotation and viewing safety.
Of course we had to sneak in the traditional pictures:

Even though Zach is in kindergarten, he'll be doing mostly first grade work.  The boy is smart and excited to learn.

If Ellie could do kindergarten work, she'd be all over that. She has no desire to do anything school related.  If learning is involved, she walks away.  She's going to be even more annoyed when she sees Zach doing her stuff, and lets be honest, doing it better and faster.

Sam wasn't thrilled to hear we're starting today.  He complains a lot, but when he puts forth the slightest bit of effort, he does really well with every school task hes given.

Ben would much rather be on his lap top, but as long as he gets to stay up late and sleep in, he'll be happy.

Eclipse viewing with plates because I don't trust my kids!
If you can't read the signs, Zach wants to be a chemist. Ellie wants to be a mom.  Sam wants to be an astronaut and Ben wants to be a video game tester.