The Summer of '13, Part 1

The boys have been playing Rock Band on the wii and one of the songs they play over and over again is "The Summer of '69." One of the lines is "Those were the best days of my life," and maybe it wasn't the best summer, because we've had some good ones, but we sure had a lot of fun!  Every summer I've lived in Centerville, I've put together a park group in which I designate a day of the week and rotate parks to go to and invite everybody I know, just so the kids have time with many friends and so I can have time with my friends too. Last year the boys seemed to be reaching the point where playground structures were too juvenile for them, so this year I put together an activity/field trip group.  We drove a bit further, learned a bit more and generally got some good exercise!

One of the first activities of the summer was with Mark's firm at Lagoon.  We had a great time with one of Mark's fellow associates, Peter and his family.  We rode Wicked numerous times, as well as Colossus (excuse me, Fire Dragon Colossus) and got soaked on all the wet rides.  The great thing for Mark and I this year was that the boys were able to go on the rides themselves, so we were spared some of the headaches and nausea that seems to come with roller coasters and getting older. I can't even watch the boys go on the Samurai without dry heaving. Props to Mark for trying out Wicked!

When someone else pays for Lagoon, I like to take advantage of the bounce back passes where we can get four people in for the price of one.  During our second visit, James was able to go on most of the rides with his brothers except the Rocket, the Samurai and Jet Star II. We discovered that he could go on the one where you get catapulted into the air held in by a mere latch down cushion inside of a cage that had spaces an elephant could get through.  Go figure.  So we did it.  This was my second run, the first being with my brother Jed (who thought he was having a heart attack and screamed like a little girl-I screamed a little too).  James felt so cool that he was able to go on this ride and his brothers were a little envious!

One of our first activities with the group was to hike to Ensign peak.  The Gregersen's and Larsen's joined us (my stalwart attendees) and while we were up there, a man hiked up behind us and then handed out geode rocks and we found a $20 bill which we used to purchase Slurpees after the hike. 

One of my favorite visits for the summer was to the Hill Air Force Museum.  They have a new exhibit about prisoners of war that is very moving and was very appropriate right before the 4th of July.

The museum has a kids exhibit which we have missed every time we've gone because it is subject to the volunteers schedules, but this time we got in 20 minutes before it closed.  The kids dressed up in all sorts of uniforms and played virtual air games. 

The week of the 4th of July, Spencer and Mark were at scout camp, so D.J., James and I played.  We were persuaded to join the Centerville bike parade just to score a popsicle. 

Then of course there was the ever popular 4th of July parade wherein the kids risk life and limb by running into the street to collect a piece of taffy. 

Fireworks that night were a little lonely without Spencer and Mark, but D.J. and James braved the loneliness well as they experienced the excitement of lighting their own fireworks while I sat in a chair and watched both the fireworks and the mosquitos.

 D.J. and James wanted to go for a walk/scooter/y-fliker ride one evening, so we went to the Farmington trail which is a beautiful path that runs behind Lagoon.  We found this great log chair and some goofy faces.

Spencer's orthodontist hosts a party every summer at Cherry Hill.  He can invite a friend to come along.  Being the mean Mom that I am, I made Spencer invite D.J. so James and I only had to pay.  I also knew there were a number of Spencer's other friends who would be there, as all of them are wearing braces, but that doesn't make me less of a mean Mom.

 Spencer

 James

D.J.

Stay tuned for part 2 of The summer of '13

The Scouting Life, Part 3 (D.J.)

Mark is D.J.'s scout leader, so he got to plan the who she-bang. There are only three boys in his age level: D.J., Brock and Tanner.  Otherwise known at the triple threat. The Saturday before D.J. was supposed to leave for scout camp, he broke his thumb. Again. So, he had to wear a split at scout camp which unfortunately cut swimming out of the picture.  But it didn't stop him from doing anything else, namely rock climbing, shooting a bow and arrow, canoeing and many other events.  Though the favorite event, which did not require opposable thumbs, was trying to stump a camp counselor with questions like, "Where to atoms come from?" and "What is pi divided by your body weight?" 

D.J. climbed the climbing wall so many times, Mark lost count of the exact number.  Splint or no splint, D.J. will achieve his objective. Over and over.

This picture just makes me giggle at how determined he is with that obnoxious splint.  You can imagine how quickly I changed the wrap for that split when he got home. It changed from a fleshy color to a dark brown color over the coarse of the camp. I won't describe the smell for you.

Even though the boys didn't/couldn't swim, a very kind counselor offered to take them out for a canoe ride. Hooray for kind counselors! (Brock, Tanner, D.J., very kind counselor)

The Scouting Life, Part 2 (Spencer)

This is the first year Spencer went to a whole week of scout camp!  I didn't worry about him too much because Spencer is the kind of kid that has fun where ever he goes and most people have fun with him!  He enjoyed this long awaited yearly event that made him feel even more grown up than he already does.  Mark was able to join him for the last 2 1/2 days.  At the end of camp, he had earned five merit badges (adding to a total of 12 for the summer)!  He went to Camp Steiner, which brought back many memories for Mark.

A good-looking kid. A beautiful hike.

Spencer's tried and true scout leader, Jason Smith wrings out his journal.  Mark stayed in the same tent and had to bail out the tent one morning. Yuck. 

There are songs sung, poems written, jokes told, noses held about the legendary kibo. Behold the glory.

Spencer and his buddy Seth engaged in a relay that involved a canoe.  Apparently there was a troop where the majority of members were Samoan, that would rock the canoes as they came into the dock/shore.  Spencer has witnessed this and so as his canoe approached Spencer yelled, "Do not touch our canoe!" or something of the like, with such vehemence that the Samoans actually backed away.  I'm told it was quite unexpected and hilarious.

The Scouting Life Part 1 (James)

With summer comes camps.  This will be the summer du jour for the next. . . . eight years or so.  I get to go to Cub Scout camp and Mark likes to go to the Boy Scout camps.  While we are not gung-ho, silver beaver scouter types, we do recognize and appreciate the skills and opportunities the scout program has to offer a bunch of squirrelly boys. We recognize and appreciate even more the leaders that provide weekly activities, go with them to scout camp and ask whether or not they've put on deodorant, used the bathroom and other basic hygiene issues. What other program in the world finds value in handing a boy a bb gun, pocket knife, a rifle, and bow and arrow?  

 First up: lasso a bull head on a saw horse.  Bonus for successful lasso: Lasso the camp counselor.  Cub Scout camp counselors are highly entertaining and very good at their job.

The stick pull challenge. (Theo, James, Sam, Jacob, Colin and a boy from another troop)

Is that a good smile or a bad smile?

Obstacle coarse that must be run through at least 15 times.

Panning for gold! REAL GOLD MOM?!?!?

You know you've had fun when you come home with dirt all over your clothes and every orifice of your body. A shower never felt so good!

James - Never a Dull Moment!

James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree.

What a guy!

James continues to makes us laugh with his wit and thoughts.

In the last little while he's given us these tid bits of wisdom:

James: Mom you are missing something.
Mom: What?
James: A hug.
He hugs me.
Mom: How did you know I needed a hug?
James: I must be psychic.

Our Cheerios box says: "More grains, less you!" James said seriously: "More grains, less you! Is that true? Cause I wouldn't want to die like that!"

Me: Why can't you finish your coloring assignments at school. Do you talk to your friends too much during class?
James: No, it's because I (making quotation marks with his fingers) "color in the lines."

James (my 8 yr old): Mom, do you just like me because of my looks?
Me (after laughing): No, I like what's on the inside too.

We passed the oil changing place called Grease Monkey yesterday.
James: "Who would want their car greased by a monkey? That's just wrong!"

Boy #1: He pinched me for no good reason!
Boy #2: I had a good reason!
Mom: laughs instead of dealing out punishment for pinching and tattle-telling.

(Guess who boy #2 is)

Great quotes from James today: #1 - (looking at Dad's hair) "Dad, I like your stubs." #2 - Watching the Days of 47 parade, "She doesn't do elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist! She's not a true queen!"

I cut up an avocado for James because he loves them. I think.
Mom: James I cut up some avocado for you!
James: What day is it?
Mom: Tuesday.
James: No, is it an odd or an even day?
Mom: It's the 30th, so it's even.
James: I only eat avocados on odd days.
Mom: What?????

Me: We've been married 16 years!
James: Dear, oh, dear.

James, while trying to get out of eating his dinner (again): Mom my stomach hurts and my taste buds are out! They've suffocated!

James had to be tested for allergies yesterday by getting little scrapes of pollens and other allergens on his back. After the nurse explained the procedure to him, he exclaimed, "alright, as long as it's not haccupuncture!"

Mom: James, remember to clean our your ears.
James: OK
Mom (5 minutes later): James, it doesn't take that long to clean out your ears.
James: It does if you want to hear what your teachers says every day.
Mom: True. Keep cleaning.
James: Unless you don't want wood chips to get in your ears at recess.
Mom: Ear wax prevents wood chips from getting in your ears?
James: Yup.
Mom: Good logic. Keep cleaning.

James decided to make a lego representation representing his love for me: an arrow pointing to himself, a heart for love and a smiley face for me. Sweetie pie cutsie wootsie boy!

This is a big bad wolf.

This is a big bad wolf in Grandma's nightshirt.

This is a big bad wolf in Grandma's bed. He eventually learned how to share the cookies with all the animals in the forest and not be such a bully. 

James was an awesome big bad wolf! He had to sing two solos, say many lines and do a sneaky little walk behind the stage curtains.  He was the star of the show! (Though Little Red Riding Hood's Mom may disagree).  We will always remember Mrs. Roy's Little Red Riding Hood performance!

James decided to play flag football like DJ this year.  He took to it really well and had the enthusiasm and drive to be a good team player.

 He had a great (and quite entertaining) coach: Coach Culpepper
"Chest bumps! Chest bumps all around!"

Makin' his move!

D.J. J

No matter how many times I tell the school that his real name is not D.J. with a middle initial J., rather it is Dallin with a middle initial J., D.J. for short, they have never changed it. Whatever.

D.J.'s multi-age classroom (MAC) holds a Mother's Day ball every spring.  It sounds like we dance, but we don't.  Unless you count my awesome victory dance when I round the bases during our kick BALL game.  I don't think he fully appreciates the splendor of my Pepto-bismol dress, not when I hike it up to wallop the ball into left field, or when I hug him (his teacher made him do it). They won.

At the end of the school year, D.J. won the Presidential Fitness Award, which he worked very hard for and even stayed after school one day, just to make sure he improved a time for one of the events. He's certainly not one to back down from a challenge - especially physical ones!

 Dad is helping DJ find imaginative ways to  clean the windows.  D.J. is always willing to do his jobs, quickly and well. 

 One of D.J.'s favorite things is messing around with technology.  Often we open the ipad or phones to find interesting pictures of a warp face D.J. The above picture did not require any photo warping.  That's how we look normally.

 He did it again. The same thumb, just a few millimeters away from the last break, last year.  He was riding his scooter and misjudged a driveway curb.  He landed on his thumb. This time I didn't think it was broken, but he kept insisting and the swelling wasn't going down, so we went to the Instacare.  While we were waiting for the Dr. to come in.  He heard a little boy moaning next door.  Thanks to a Brian Reagan bit, D.J. said, "I've gotta out-moan him!"  So D.J. started to make loud moaning noises to get the attention of the Dr.  The nurse came and closed the door.  That probably doesn't make much sense until you see the Brian Reagan bit:

It turned out that he only needed to wear his splint for a week and did not need a cast because of the position of the break. Though this determination didn't come until the Dr. asked him if he had any pain and D.J. said no.  To which the Dr. stared at him for 30 seconds and asked point-blank, "Are you lying to me?" D.J. said no. So, no cast.  And he's still able to play the piano just fine. Unfortunately, the timing of his break meant he had to wear his cast through two scout camps that week (dirty, dirty, dirty - more to come later).

 D.J. is always up for a hike and loves to take Roxy along with us.  He is still very in love with his Roxy and still talks baby talk to her.  She's a good fit for him and us.

6th Grade Graduation and More for Spencer!

Note: I am woefully behind in recording our lives through this blog.  You will be bombarded with many posts.  This may be good or bad for you, but necessary for me to document our lives and provide me with a way to remember good ol' times.

Spencer did indeed graduate from 6th grade in June of 2013!  He is now moving on to Jr. High school and currently loves not have "just one teacher."

Prior to his momentous graduation, one of his last school projects was to choose a country he was not familiar with and then choose a famous person from that country.  He chose Ireland and Mr. Jonathon Swift.  The culmination of his research was to dress up like Swift, sit by a partner (dressed as someone else) and when Spencer's button was pushed, he stood up and posed while his partner informed the viewer of Swift's accomplishments (Gulliver's Travels and other writings).

He rocks that wig, don't you think?  He helped me make it out of a white knit hat, rolled batting, some material and a glue gun.

Looks just like Swift.

Spencer is hiding behind some of his good friends that he's been with for four years of school. Xander, Justin, Jackson, Seth, Mason, Micah, Jamison, Nolan and Isaac.

 6th grade party at the Rec center with all of his friends!

 Spencer's end of year program involved all of the Spectrum classes.  They called it "On The Radio" and they sang songs from different eras.  Spencer's class sang "Footloose," and "Man in the Mirror."

Good times and plenty of pictures for blackmail. 

 The 6th grade "walk" of graduation, where he earned the Presidential fitness award, a citizenship award and a perfect attendance award. In the above picture he is standing in front of the principal, Mr. Forbush and his teacher, Mrs. Peters.

He is wearing a lei because they went on a bon voyage cruise for the 6th grade party!