Summer Camp

We had a busy week this past week with Summer camp for Maggie and a Learning is Fun class for Alexander. Maggie's class was in the morning and Alexander's was in the afternoon so we did a bit of running. At first I didnt like it and wanted to be able to lounge around in the mornings and do whatever, but as the week progressed I really liked being on a schedule and am actually looking forward to the school year starting. Alexander took the Make it a Musical class which he actually loved! He cant wait to go back next year! Maggie did really well and played each day with the only other child she knew in class. She said that she did not know any of the other children's names so she couldn't make friends with them! Poor Maggie! I think she did a lot of swinging! When I dropped her off she went to the swings and started swinging and every day when i picked her up she was swinging!

Maggie before camp this week

Today we went to the Jones/Wilson reunion in Monterey, VA. I have never liked the trip- 4 mountains that always made me sick. This time I drove- which helps immensely and the trip didnt seem too bad. Very beautiful scenery and the kids were good. They were excited to see where Pappaw grew up and went to school. The reunion happened to be in the building where he went to school (yes, K-12) and my uncle Tom lives in the house where he spent most of his childhood and we were able to stop there. It brought back a lot of memories for me. On the way there, Mom went with us, and she told of the story when we slid down Jack mountain on the way home from Monterey one night. All I remember about it is that my brother and I were laying down (no carseats) in the back of our red stationwagon and my Mom told us to get down. That's all I remember. She said we would hit the bank on one side of the road and the snowbank on the other. I asked her what my Dad was saying and she said that all she remembers him saying was, "I have to keep the front of this car in the front." Wow. How scary is that? She said that when they got to the bottom of the mountain and used a pay phone to call Dad's parent's that they could hardly even stand up it was do icy. My grandmother got the salt trucks to come back to the mountain and my uncle Tom met them at the top of the mountain. Tom said, "I knew you would make it because Meg (Toms wife, my aunt) had the whole town praying for you!" So we spent another night in Monterey instead of attempting the next 3 mountains. That's a story for you, Jenny M.!

Alexander during his program the last day of class

Dianna's homecoming!

I couldnt find a "just because" marker but just so everyone knows: Dianna will be home in a week!

Camera woes

I impulsively gave my camera away to Bob, who wanted a better camera to take to Russia with him. Now I really miss it. He told me to buy a new one but I thought that the camera I really wanted (a lower end DSLR name the Nikon D60) was cheaper than it really is. I should have read into the fact that you have to buy the body and the lens separately. I could get a perfectly good point and shoot camera like the Canon S5IS. But it doesnt have RAW images and I am thinking this would be totally cool to learn. So if any of you folks who read my blog know anything about digital cameras and could give me some advice, vote on the poll to the right!
THANKS!

Good times!

I can't believe that we went to the Bridgewater Lawn Party Wednesday, Thursday, Friday ,and Saturday and I dont have a single picture to show for it! There were some times when I could have gotten some awesome shots of the kids (big A and M riding in the cars, coming down the super slide, eating their snow cones) and I never remembered my camera! Now today I was determined to remember my camera, but I gave it to Bob for his trip to Russia. So, I decided that I would just borrow my Mom and Dad's camera but, initially couldnt find it anywhere. Finally found it and put in my bag. We got to the lawn party and there was no memory card in it! ACH! The pains of trying to take a few picts of my darling kids at their favorite lawn party!

Well, I will try to describe it for everyone who yens for that picture on the blog (like me): Alexander was so excited on Tuesday night. "Mommy, this is my favorite time of the year. I love the lawn party." Me, too. I can remember the fun: the thrill of the rides and the excitement of seeing friends from school during summer break. I remember laying in my bed at night, listening to the bands playing until what seemed like the middle of the night (that was before we had air conditioning). I dont remember the actual lawn party when I was Alexander's age but I do remember it when I was older. I loved all the rides. They were so much more fun that those at Kings Dominion, etc because there was always the risk that they would actually just fall apart! They were also pretty jerky which added to the thrill. We would pack 4 or 5 kids in the Octopus and try to get that thing to spin so fast! Good times-Ok- back to the here and now.

Wednesday night Alexander rode the swings for the first time. I got to ride, too! He loved them and laughed the whole time. Today he rode the Scrambler for the first time. What a dare devil. I dont think that I would have let him go by himself but I was on the carousel with Maggie and couldnt do anything about it. My Mom and I were making faces at each other (hers was guilt ridden and mine was an Oh my gosh face). I think that I have eaten way way way too many cheesburgers this week (but they are so good at the ole lawn party) and anyone that knows me, knows that I dont typically eat cow. I will be much better this coming week. My kids have had way way way too many snow cones, which they would refute, saying that no one could ever have too many snow cones!

Okay, I think that I have written enough about the lawn party. We rode a lot of rides, ate a lot of food, had a lot of fun, did a lot of sweating (it was hot!), and spent a lot of money! Good times! Oh, the big parade was Friday night. Other than the candy, it really didnt have a whole lot of substance. Has anyone been to a really good parade lately? The Treasure Mountain parade in Franklin, WV in Sept is actually a good parade.

I have to tell on Alexander a little bit. Since the lawn party has opened he has decided that we are going to make our own lawn party in our back yard. Today he decided that we needed a sign for the food options we have available, so he brought a pen and paper to the lawn party. He then decided that we needed to copy the menus from all the food stands and write them on this paper. I'll be he was the only kid at the lawn party to do that! That's my boy! Good times!

And he's off!

I had trouble getting the video downloaded the other day so my newest post is below the slide show! Check it out!

Check out my Slide Show!

And he's off!

Andrew is definitely getting around these days- by crawling! He is so cute at it! I just love to watch him make his way around the house! He tries to go really fast and ends up falling on his little face which is a little bit funny and a little bit sad at the same time!
Oh, Andrew, do you really have to grow up so fast?

"Heavy Breathing"