Andrew's Birthday!

Andrew turned six! At his request, we planned a party (at my request, it was small and low-key, unlike many of the parties thrown in these parts).

For his party, we planned ways to keep a group of six boys happy and outside as much as possible!
Here, they're getting their rain gear on to head outside to blow bubbles!

To my friend Heather and I, this sight was hysterical! It looks like they've all been sent to a time out for being naughty! Actually, they're hiding their eyes (well, except for Jacob) while we hide the peanuts for a peanut-hunt.

I've learned that peanut hunts are not a nationwide phenomena. For those of you who aren't familiar, they're really great...fun, easy, and long-lasting. Simply label a big ziploc bag with each child's name (paper lunch bag, if you're organized enough to remember to buy them ahead of time), get a huge bag of peanuts (in the shell), and scatter them all over the yard!

You can hide them in good hiding spots like you would hide an Easter egg, but you can also just throw them all over the grass and it works just as well...great for a range of ages!

A successful hunt! Everyone is proud of their find!

After playing on the swingset, blowing bubbles, and having a peanut hunt, it was time for a picnic lunch in the tent (still set-up to dry from our camping trip)! Andrew requested pizza, pea pods, and watermelon for lunch.

Cake time! Andrew wanted a "rocket party," which simply meant a rocket-ship cake, and we also pulled out the play rocket ship for the boys to play in. After cake and ice cream, we did a book exchange!

I got the idea for the book exchange from Amy's post about Sky's birthday last year. Rather than have each child bring a present for the birthday-kid, everyone wrapped up a used, good-condition book. For me, this solved several things:

1. Helps avoid the materialistic mind-set that birthdays are just about getting presents (I know, I know...some of us adults still struggle with that one! And don't worry...he still got presents from his parents and extended family)!

2. Eliminates imposing the need to bring a gift on friends. (eliminates the subconscious "What if this is much more expensive/less expensive than other gifts there? What will they really like? Our gift budget can only go so far, and this is the 13th party we've been invited to, etc" conundrum).

3. Elminates the "we really appreciate all the nice gifts everyone brought, now where are we going to put all this stuff?"

4. Eliminates the "we really appreciate the nice gifts, but we don't do _____________ (pick your sore spot...Pokemon, Power Rangers, etc), now how are we going to get it out of the house?" conundrum.

5. Eliminates the worst part of the party...a bunch of kids sitting around restlessly for half-hour or more watching someone open presents and either not getting to play with any of them or some of them actually getting broken before the birthday-kid even gets to play with it.

6. Eliminates the "need" (okay, I know this isn't a need, but a very real peer-pressure that moms deal with) to have goody-bags for all the attendees...goody bags full of useless stuff that the mom will want out of the house before the week is out! (Speaking from experience here, albeit from my very "antitheses of a pack-rat" syndrome. No need for a goody-bag when you get a new book!

So, everyone brought a book (acutally, Neil brought two books, which was a good thing. Jacob was so excited to give his book to one of his friends, that he was carrying around the wrapped book all morning talking about who might get to take it home. Somehow in that process, it got lost, and no amount of searching by six little boys did any good to bring it to light. So, we proceeded with the extra book Neil brought so that everyone could play).

As you can see from the video, it was a blast! I turned it into a hot-potato like game, where they passed around the presents until I stopped the song. In theory, they would open whatever present they had when the music stopped. In reality, at least 2 of the boys would have in their possession the book they had brought! It took 3 or 4 tries on my part to get it so that only Andrew had the book he brought (I was trying for none of them to have what they brought, but it's more difficult than it sounds!), and since he was the birthday-boy he got to trade with whomever he chose! It was extremely helpful that Dave had come a little early for Neil, as he got the job of helping Jacob with the whole concept!

It's nothing short of miraculous to see six little boys, all of whom have had cake and ice cream, sit still and start reading a book that's brand-new to them (sorry, I didn't get the quiet part on video)!

Swimming Lessons

The boys just finished up two weeks of swimming lessons...and they loved every minute of it!
Andrew was "old hat" at it, after doing two or three sessions of lessons last summer. He did very well, and our only disappointment is that he had to miss 2 of the six lessons because he was sick last week.








Jacob was ecstatic to be old enough to do something that Andrew is doing! We haven't taken him to the pool in a very long time because we didn't want to aggravate his ear isssues.
Well, I found a nifty product to keep water from getting in his ears. Silicone ear plugs with a head wrap to ensure that the ear plugs don't fall out. He loved having lessons, and did very well at attempting everything Miss Sylvia asked him to do!














I post this picture for those of you who have trouble facing the world because of a low self-esteem.
It's okay to laugh...I'm his mother, and I did. But only out of the presence of the children. So go ahead, but also remember that you, too, can have such exuberance and joy in life despite whatever self-esteem issue you may have!
Cuz' if Jacob could care less that he has on an ear band, yellow goggles, and a band-aid on his chin, nothing can be that bad! :)

One more...

Couldn't resist posting this pic of Jacob wearing his pj's and Anna's hat!

Tram Ride!

I find it a little sad that it's taking me two weeks to post about one camping trip....

Anyway, we had great weather all day Saturday for our bike ride, picnic, unsuccessful attempts at a nap in the tent, dinner, making s'mores around the campfire, and bedtime. Sometime in the night, though, our luck with the weather ran out, and we awoke to a gray, drizzly, drippy day. Our options, as Mark saw them, were 1. Struggle in the rain to set up the canopy tent over the picnic table for breakfast prep and eating, pack lunches, and pack up a wet tent and gear to head home early or 2. Drive into Girdwood to take the tram to the top of the mountain, have lunch at the restaurant in the mountain-top lodge, and pray that the weather cleared by the time we got back to pack up. Guess what we chose? :)

Having never taken the tram before (we generally don't do too much tourist-y stuff), the boys didn't know what to expect. But after seeing one of the trams "fly" up the mountain (fly being Jacob's terminology), they were enthusiastic about trying it themselves!









Before the tram started up, they asked if it would be scary...we told them that we didn't think so, but they could decide. They were too absorbed in the trip to be scared!




The tram operator included in her speal a question directed at the boys "Aren't you excited to see snow up here still? You can go play in it!"
And then we told here where we're from, and she said "Oh-never mind then!" And they didn't seem any more excited about it than we did...considering all the snow has been out of our yard just over a month!









I stayed up on one of the observation decks to get this pic of Mark and the kids. Even though it was cloudy, it was still a beautiful view!




The tram on its way back up...








The lodge and the "docking station" for the trams.






The view on the way back down!
We were very glad we took the opportunity to do this with the kids...we all had a great time, and they're still talking about it. Jacob was telling Aunt Becca about it just the other day
"We flew in the tram up to the castle on the mountain!"

PS: Yes, it was a little clearer when we got back to the campsite, just sprinkling off and on. No, the tent wasn't dry. But we were in good spirits after a fun relaxing day of not enduring kids camping in the rain. Mission accomplished.

Bike Trail

We picked our campground based on its proximity to this bike trail. The trail runs for maybe 20 miles along the highway, and cuts through some amazing scenery. Last summer, Mark's dad and Andrew did a portion of the bike trail together...dad on the bike he bought to use when he visits, and we care for it at no extra charge :) (it was about the same price to buy one as to rent one for the number of days he wanted to use it on their trip a few years ago), and Andrew on the pull-behind bike that Jacob now uses. It was quite the memory for Andrew, as everytime we pass the trail on the way to Anch., he talks about it, saying "You know, sometime I'd like to take you on this bike path that Grandpa and I did!"

So, we finally made the opportunity for him to do just that! Saturday was glorious, and after a camp breakfast of pancakes and sausage and packing a picnic lunch, we headed out on our bikes. The boys really liked crossing this bridge, and the trail circles down around under the bridge to cross the highway. We rode for a ways and then came back to have a picnic by this river before heading back to the campsite. Clocking our mileage on the way home the next day, we figure we did about 6 miles roundtrip! Pretty impressive for a 6 year-old, I'd say! (And not so bad for our out-of-shape selves, either).

Anna slept some on the way out, and by the time we were headed back into the campground, we had to keep Jacob talking for fear he was falling asleep and ready to fall off the bike! The next day, on our way home, we stopped at another portion of the trail near a really neat bridge underpass, the section the dad and Andrew had done, and did about 2 miles. Andrew was thrilled, and we enjoyed it, too!

Camping Trip!

Two weekends ago, we were finally able to get away for a camping trip! We needed to find a weekend before we got our goats and when Mark had someone to preach for him.

We were blessed with beautiful weather for most of the weekend! We didn't get to the campsite till about 8 p.m., but made quick work of setting up the tent, starting a campfire, and having dinner! The boys were so excited!

Andrew really enjoys roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. He was a huge help with Anna, too...at one point grabbing her when she escaped from the tent!

Jacob did really well with camping, in spite of being really overtired! It was almost midnight before they got to sleep the first night, and woke early! We tried to take naps after our bike ride on Saturday, but I think Mark and I were the only ones who managed to doze off...so Jacob was a bit grouchy at dinner on Saturday.

I can only suppose what Anna thought of the whole deal. She was good-natured about all but the sleeping part. I can just imagine her thinking, when she returned to her own bed Sunday night, "Now what was that all about, anyway?" :)

Soccer!

As you may have guessed from my last post, it's not really Anna who has soccer practice-it's Andrew! He really wanted to play, and although we hesitated going into yet another activity right after t-ball, we're glad we let him play. He is having a blast!

His coach is fantastic, focusing on following directions, trying your best, and teamwork-and she's very enthusiastic and encouraging to the kids. We had the choice to put him with the 4-5 year olds or 6-7 year olds, with his birthday falling so soon within the start date. But since he had never played before, and most of the kids have, we left him in the younger age bracket. So he's experiencing alot of success in the skills he's learning!

He has practices/scrimmages just on Monday and Wednesday evenings for an hour, and it's been good for us to connect with other parents!

Anna's "1st soccer practice"

Fourth of July

We had a very quiet 4th, spent putting up our goat pen! I will post pics of the process after I get some pics of the completed project!
Despite the project, it seemed like a relaxing day at home. After we finished up the fence, we headed down the road for ice cream cones! Jacob was too tired to ride his bike (he's still adjusting to not taking a nap), so we let him ride in the stroller with Anna. Everyone enjoyed the ice cream, too (well, Jacob enjoyed the candy he picked out since he couldn't have ice cream, and didn't seem any worse for it)!

Season's End

Ah...the bittersweet last game of t-ball for the season!

At bat, they pitched to them twice before having them use the tee.

Batter ready...batter swings...batter tries a successful third time with the tee!
And then there's that base coach that I've had a crush on the whole season. Hmm...















They're just so cute in the batting helmets!











A confident fielder!

















A good experience all the way around!