Fun Time with Grandma and Grandpa

Have I mentioned lately how incredibly fortunate to have all of our parents / the kids' grandparents here in town? It's so much more than helping us out with babysitting - although I won't hide the fact that it's been an absolute lifesaver through the years.  But the kids actually get to do stuff with their grandparents and are going to have memories of fun times and every day moments with them.

We skipped out on marching in the Memorial Day parade with the scouts and the library this year in favor of attending a pancake breakfast and game day for grandparents and their families at my parent's condo complex. It was fun, and relaxing, and tasty!

Grandpa catching his breakfast

Wesley awaiting incoming pancakes

A couple of handsome, and full, guys

Ryan was quite taken with this dragonfly that was hanging around the party

After stuffing ourselves on pancakes it was time for some games - had to work off those carbs somehow!

There was cornhole

And kickball croquet

Beanbag skee-ball

And our favorite - the grandparent/grandchild water balloon toss

Then it was time to hit the pool. The boys especially loved Duane throwing them into the deep end over and over and over and over.

It was such a wonderful morning! After the festivities we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to cool off and relax and have lunch on the patio. It was a perfect day and I loved every second of it.

Remembering the Fallen

Memorial Day weekend may be the unofficial start of summer, but it's so much more than that. We are certainly doing our share of fun things and cookouts this weekend, but we also made sure we took the time to remember the soldiers who lost their lives for our country, and those who served and have since passed on.

We started the day yesterday by joining a number of other scouts at a local cemetery to place flags at the graves of former soldiers.

I was so proud of how seriously the kids took their job. They were respectful of the flags, the graves and each other. Truly a scouting moment.

This morning my dad, my stepmom and I did the Field of Heroes 5K. It was my dad's first ever 5K and I was super proud of them both.

Before the race

My dad, Lynne, and my dad's walking buddy Luke. Can you believe he's in his 80s???? I couldn't!

These soldiers did the 5K with full army packs on.

The race went through the local fire station, and this amazing field of flags honoring the fallen

Ceramic poppies honoring the women in the wars

So very proud of these two!!

So many soldiers gave their lives fighting for their country. As we celebrate the beginning of summer, let us take the time to remember what we are really celebrating.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Ryan wants to either be an inventor or a veterinarian when he grows up.  Right now, my money is on engineer because this kid is a problem solver and likes to try and figure out solutions. He has tested as "gifted" in "superior cognitive thinking" and, while I think most of those tests are very subjective, I'm totally buying this one.

Ryan's class is currently working on projects to demonstrate force and motion. To be honest, I'm pretty clueless about this project. I've read the handout that came home, but I can't really tell when this is due, if it has to be something made from scratch, or really anything else about it.  I'm trying not to let it bother me too much since it's the end of the school year, but it's still a bit frustrating.

Last week Ryan took his "coin coaster" to school for the project and I thought it was done. Simple enough. Last night he informed us that he had to take something in today and leave it at school until Friday when the projects would be presented. He wanted to take his marble maze, which we said was fine, but at bedtime he discovered an important piece was missing.

Of course it was at bedtime.

We let Ryan stay up an extra 20 minutes to look for the piece, but he couldn't find it. Duane even looked for it after Ryan went to sleep. No luck.

When Ryan got up this morning the search continued. As the time to leave approached, I told him that he'd just have to take the coin coaster to school again if he couldn't come up with something else, but the marble maze was not going happen. About thirty seconds passed before Ryan asked me if we had an empty milk jug.

"No," I said looking in the refrigerator. "But we have a juice jug I could empty out for you."

"That will work," he assured me.

I transferred the juice into a different container and as I was rinsing the jug I asked, "What are you going to do with this?"

Ryan squirmed, "Well....I don't think you're really going to like it."

"Now I really want to know what you're planning to do with it," I said.

"Well, since I can't find the missing piece to my marble maze, I figured I'd use this one (he held up a piece identical to the missing one - he needed two for the maze to work) as a model and just cut a new one out of plastic. Then I could attach the new one to the maze and it would work perfectly again."

As much as I hated to admit it ten minutes before we were supposed to leave for school, this sounded like pretty solid plan.  Except for one little thing.

"Ryan, how to do plan to cut the plastic? This jug is pretty thick"

Ryan patted me on the arm, then reached for the scissors. "Trust me, Mom. I know what I'm doing."

Turns out that I was right and the plastic was too thick to cut, but I was incredibly impressed with his ingenuity.  The kid saw a problem and, instead of throwing a fit like his mom or brother would do, he acted like his dad and found a plausible solution. I'm telling you, this kid is going places.

The Weird One

Wesley's favorite musician is Weird Al Yankovic - which is perfectly okay with  me and Duane since we both love the weird one.  One of my first cassettes was Weird Al's "In 3-D" and we both kind of love that Wesley has most of Weird Al's songs memorized. He even chose to do his biography report at school on Weird Al.  As you can see, we have a true fan here.

Several months ago we learned that Weird Al will be doing a concert in town this summer. We immediately bought tickets for the family (Ryan likes Weird Al too), but decided to keep it a surprise for the kids. The concert isn't until early July and we really don't want to hear them talking about it until them.We'll probably tell them a day or two ahead of time, but no sooner.

Apparently Wesley isn't the only kid at school that likes Weird Al because his teacher announced to the class that Weird Al would be doing a show here this summer. Ever since that announcement all we've heard from Wesley is how badly he wants to go to the concert. So badly in fact, that he and I had this conversation this other night

Wesley: I really want to go see Weird Al in concert when he's here July 8th.  (Note: this is NOT the actual concert date, someone told him wrong)

Me: I know you do, hon.

Wesley: Do you think we can go?

Me: (trying to answer the question, but not actually lie to him) Concert tickets are pretty expensive.

Wesley: I'll buy my own ticket! I have a bunch of money and I can save up more!

Me: I know, but you can't go to a concert by yourself. Someone would have to go with you.

Wesley:  And it starts kind of late, like 8:00, so that must mean it's a grown-up show (this is what we tell the kids when we send them upstairs so we can watch Game of Thrones). But if there are any bad words in it, I know better than to say them.

Me: Weird Al doesn't do bad words much.

Wesley: Well, he has that song called 'Nature Trail to" H-E-L-L  See, I didn't even say it then.

Me: I can tell you really want to go.

Wesley: I really really really do. I've GOT to go! I've got to see Weird Al in concert.

Repeat this conversation over and over and you know why we aren't telling him yet. But I cannot wait to see the look on his face when we do. And when we get him a concert shirt, which I am insisting on.  Something we do is actually going to make our tweenager happy this summer. It's going to be worth the wait.

Weekend Wrap Up

We have reached the point in the weekend when I grunt and groan every time I sit down. When I yawn every couple of seconds and I dream of routine and predictability of work. Yes, we have reached Sunday night of another marathon weekend.

Friday night was the usual grocery store, ukulele lesson routine. Although I took Wesley to his lesson on the way to the store this time and Grandma was going to meet him there.  As we approached the music studio Wesley said, "You can just drop me at the curb, Mom. I'll be fine going in on my own."

I have to admit, my heart skipped a beat when he said that. It was one of "those" moments in your kids' life. The ones where you see them growing up before your eyes. You see another milestone being reached and another small part of childhood left behind.  I'll admit, I had a few tears in my eyes as I pulled up in front of the studio and let Wesley hop out. In some ways it was just as difficult as leaving him at school for the first time.  Ack! He's just growing up so fast.

Saturday morning we woke up for an early baseball practice, only to discover it had been rained out. Probably a good thing since we had lots of other things on the schedule for the day. With our new found "free" time, I started my weekend rhubarb binge and made a batch of rhubarb scones and Devonshire cream.  Throughout the weekend I also made a rhubarb pie, rhubarb simple syrup for rhubarb martinis, and a rhubarb almond coffee cake. Can you tell, I'm on a rhubarb kick?

We headed off to the last soccer games of the spring season. We've had miserable soccer weather this spring, just miserable! Cold and rainy every weekend but one. As much as I enjoy waching the boys play, I won't miss Saturdays in the rain. Here's hoping Mother Nature likes baseball better than soccer.

Although the pictures below are from before the game, Wesley played incredibly well - possibly the best I've seen him play in all his years of soccer. He was tough and aggressive and kept a grin on his face just like in the warm up shots. 

Ryan's game went really well too. He had a fantastic shot on goal that just went a bit wide. Very proud of both my boys.

Ryan and one of his best school buddies

Ryan's team - the Superheroes

After soccer, Wesley's team reconviened at a local restaurant for lunch and awards.  As the coach handed out medals, he said something nice about each player. He said Wesley "is going to work on kicking the ball with the side of his foot, but he's really fast and always has a smile on his face."  I don't think there could have been a better comment for Wesley. He knows he isn't the strongest player on the team, but he keeps a good attitude and has fun. That's all I care about.

As soon as we got home from soccer, the boys and Duane headed off to scout camp.  I didn't go - partially because I had signed up for a race that night, but mostly because I really don't like camping. Duane was a great sport about it and he and some of my other scout family friends made sure I got some pictures of them all.

Camp fire

Flag raising

Wesley and his handful of achievements

The brand new Webelos 2  - with their brand new hiking sticks. I was assured that the child who has Wesley in a headlock was actually giving him a bro-hug and the two were inseparable all weekend. 

Duane and our brand new Bear scout

A. is one of Ryan's best friends. Her brother is also a scout, so Ryan got to camp out with his buddy!

And what did I do while the kids and Duane were roughing it? Well, I headed out to a race of course! Grandma and Grandpa H. went with me since the race was out of town and we had a really nice evening.

Ready to run!

The sign says "Start" but the other side said "Finish" which I did in 30 min, 45 seconds!

My post race beer and nifty glow in the dark medal!

After the race we stopped at an ice cream shop that had been recommended by some friends of mine. TOTALLY worth the extra steps and I enjoyed every single lick.

It was a quiet night at home then, but I didn't sleep well. I never do when Duane is gone. Lucy, on the other hand, slept wonderfully well and got Ryan's whole bed to herself.

The guys got home today a little before lunch. Lucy spent a big part of the morning watching for them out the front window and her tail started going a million miles an hour.  I think she missed them almost as much as they missed her. Maybe.

After the guys got cleaned up and the camp stink was removed, we ran a few no fun errands and then managed to carve out about an hour where we didn't have to do anything or be anywhere. Only about an hour though because tonight was Wesley's first Club 56 event at church.

Club 56 is a special group for 5th and 6th graders - kind of "youth group lite."  Tonight's potluck was a send off for the kids leaving the group and starting 7th grade next year (2 kids) and a welcome to the 4th graders who are joining the group as 5th graders in the fall (12 kids) and their families.

Warm up game

Nothing says "good food" like a church potluck

Ryan took the insides of three double stuffed Oreo cookies to create one massive sugar bomb!

Ryan pitching during a kickball game

Wesley running home

We did skip out a little early though. When you find your oldest child laying on the floor and asking, "Can we just go home now?" your weekend needs to officially be over.  I think we'll all sleep well tonight.