Fireflies

Olivia and I went firefly catching in the back yard.

She tried sneaking up on them...

Some moderate success! We caught 6 in all.

Time to let them go

Mud Run Boot Camp

One of Rebecca's goals this year is to do a Mud Run or other 5k obstacle course. The one she's really pushing me to do with her is the Hero Rush in Concord this October. As a warmup, she signed up for a "Rugged Mudder Boot Camp" (put on by a friend of ours through the High Point YMCA) that really pushed her limits. There were only 6 obstacles but she had to carry that wonderful tire through each of them. And actually, she had around 30-40 minutes of "warm up" boot camp style exercises on the soccer field (most involving that tire) and then went through the course, practicing each station for 10-15 minutes each. That meant that she completed the course around 7 times. The end was a timed race, from the soccer field into the woods for the obstacles and then around the YMCA building back through the soccer field. I'm really proud of her determination. She finished the 1-mile course in just over 15 minutes.

Blueberries

We took the kids blueberry/blackberry/peach picking last week. It's an activity we all enjoy a lot. It gives the kids a chance to stuff themselves with as many blueberries as they can eat while we attempt to fill a bucket or two. (Reminded me of the mother bear in Blueberries For Sal saying, "eat all you can" and Sal's mother saying she is trying to gather hers to take home for canning, not for eating at that moment.) We like that the kid experience that our food requires work and comes from a farm. It makes the food taste all the better.

5lbs of peaches, 3lbs of blueberries and 2lbs of blackberries. not a bad haul for an hour. 

To go hand-in-hand with the picking, Rebecca read Blueberries for Sal to the boys as part of the Before Five In A Row curriculum. They loved the book and begged for it at every meal. 



They loved putting the berries in the bucket to hear them go "Kerplink, Kerplank, Kerplunk!"




We use the books to talk about many different subjects, counting, trees, animal classification, working in the kitchen, seasons, colors.



Our Kids - Too Cute

 We took advantage of a break in the heat to go for a walk through the Arboretum near our house.  The kids really appreciated to opportunity to run around and be silly.

Gabe loves to dance, and when he does, it's hilarious to watch. he usually makes horns like a bull and runs in circles.

Olivia will often get into the act as well.

We love to see the differences between our boys. Gabe has the funniest running stride. He's very forward with his chest and runs with his elbows locked.

Ezra, on the other hand, looks like an aggressive marathon runner

Ezra found a huge leaf but it was wet, so he threw it back.

Then he spotted some ants and kept trying to squish them.

July 4th

This year, we took a drive up to "Mayberry, USA" (Mt. Airy) because we heard that they have a great parade that's not loaded down with a bunch of political junk; just a good, old-fashioned, small-town parade. And they were right. Having never been there, we didn't know quite what to expect, but it was a very nice little town. I will say that they LIVE off the Andy Griffith tourism stuff, but it's still not overdone.

The kids started their long, hot holiday with a fantastic red, white and blue berry parfait.

Once at the parade site, we settled in to await the start. The boys were already getting hot.

Emma looked tired and we hadn't even seen anything yet

Olivia waited with barely restrained glee.

 

Olivia waited as each car passed, hoping for some candy to be tossed out. She came home with quite a haul.

Yep, that's really Aunt Bee.

Ezra loved the big diesel trucks that were in the parade.

There were a lot of very pretty classic cars.

A very cool portable soda fountain. Too bad it wasn't stocked and open for business.

There were even a couple of bluegrass bands.

Ezra was excited about the firetruck right up until it blew its horn. It was loud enough to scare all of us.

Even the livestock got dressed for the occasion.

Olivia got her face painted.

Later that afternoon, we had some fun and games with friends.

We only had 2 potato sacks, so we did head-to-head sprints. The bag was almost big enough for Olivia to get lost in, but she did really well.

Rebecca took on a few of the kids and taught them important lessons in losing.

Even the old guys got into the act. It's not as easy as I remember, but it was just as fun.