Jacob wrote a story recently for school about some time we spent playing in the yard. I thought instead of writing something up along with the pictures and video I would just use his story. Let him know what you think.
2010 was the year that I got my dad two katana swords for his birthday. Which I thought was really cool. The sad thing is that I didn’t get to play with them until last Saturday. Also because it was one year since I had got those swords. They’re really cool and it was worth the waiting! They are made of white oak which is a very strong type of wood. One of the swords is over half the weight of the other! I could barely lift it. Well, anyway I asked my dad, “Can I get the ninja swords out and play with them?”. “Gosh, I totally forgot about them!”, dad replied. “Well, all right.”
It is rare to get snow in Georgia, or well normally it is, but the past few years we have received at least a little, normally after the turn of the new year when winter is in full swing. This year however we were surprised that the weathermen were actually right for once when it started snowing on Christmas Day. It didn’t take long before the temperatures plummeted and massive snow flakes started to stick and accumulate. It was a wet snow to start with, wet enough that Dad and I were able to chase off Autumn, pummeling her with snowball after snowball when she had to leave Christmas night – I guess next time she will stick around
The day after however much of the wetness had dried up and all that was left was a nice power – little icy for skiing but nice nonetheless. The CoTC could take it no longer though and wrapped themselves in layer upon layer to head out into the arctic cold. Great times ensued !!!
It was great to have snow and even better to have it on Christmas Day.
Today Isaac participated in his first Cub Scout outing, Rocket Mania. He is just getting into the groove of being a scout and the outing could not have come at a better time to show him some of the fun stuff they get to do while learning. Part of the day was dedicated to learning about various physical and mental exercises that had to later be demonstrated before one of the instructors. He learned all about kickball, including some variant rules the scouts follow, a little geography including the important elements of a map, in particular the legend, as well as how to find a point on a globe using latitude and longitude. He also had to learn about and demonstrate five manners that were important in everyday life – things such as not interrupting, and saying please and thank you – it was interesting to watch him walk around with instructor (Southern Mrs. Manners) and introduce her to random people with polite sincerity.
After all the learning bits were done and lunch was in our bellies it was time to get out the rockets. These were the hard core, no nonsense liquid propellant type – water rockets. There were rockets of all shapes and sizes, some with nose cones, other without, a few with fins and others with wings – some with nothing at all. The rocket was put onto the launchpad, filled about half way with water and then pressurized to around sixty psi before the safety was removed and the trigger was pulled. Isaac was one of the few that had a weird fitting bottle (thanks dr. pepper) and it did not fully clip into the launch pad so guessing when it would release was somewhat tricky since the release was not fastened into place – once the pressure was just right it would literally take off whereas the other rockets would sit there until you pulled the trigger. His rocket flew pretty well, no nose cone or fins, but it went high and far – I wouldn’t have wanted to be a passenger in it though.
Great day!!! He is looking forward to whatever comes next.
I was enjoying some quite time watching a chick flick – Last Song – when the house started shaking and music started thumping from the second floor. I figured Jacob was just jamming out to some music but after a while I decided to head up and see what he was up to. I peaked into the room only to find Jacob dancing like Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer. I went in to be supportive (he could be up to worse things…) and danced with him for a few minutes. I left to grab the camera and ninja’d back up to get a video hoping he would not stop or get embarrassed. Instead he got cocky and danced harder (just like his mother….grandmother!!!). I did get a good video from the door and another from his room (after editing supporting cast out of the video) of him jamming to his favorite tunes….High School Musical 2.
Sea World here we come!!! The kids were very excited to be headed out to their adventure “under the sea”. The drive was about one hour and they kept themselves busy doing what all twenty-first century kids do in the car – watch movies and play games.
After a day in the car the kiddos were revved up to get out and burn some energy. I think they would have been happy doing anything but we decided that a good dip in the ocean would do them all some good. It takes a while to get us all lathered up in sunblock and out to the sand but we eventually made it right around the time the sun was a massive ball of fire directly overhead.
Today we left for our family vacation at the beach.We had plans to be in bed early and on the road by four so that we could get the kids out of bed, still sleeping, drive most of the early morning and arrive around lunch with an afternoon of swimming to look forward to.But after finally getting into bed somewhere near three-thirty four didn’t sound so appealing.We did eventually get on the road but not until after nine.Not too far down the road, right before pulling onto the expressway, Carol was curious if I shut the garage door.Of course I did…right?We had to go back into the house several times for this or that prior to leaving and neither of us could remember if we shut the door the final time.We called in a favor and the thought paid off – sure enough I had left the door wide open to the world.
We had a great time this past weekend spending some time cooling off at the Duluth Town Center Fountain. The Sun was blisteringly hot and the air might as well have been dripping water, but the water coming from the fountain was refreshing and cool. We grabbed some Chick-Fil-A along the way, ate on the curb, and headed in. Once they all got used to the water they had a great time. Isaac didn’t need any warming up and was racing in circles as fast as he could swallow his chicken and fries. Piper was on his tail but needed her hand held for the first few minutes – that was until she got wet and started play. Violet needed a bit more prodding and she wasn’t having anything to do with me taking her through. Carol grabbed them all took them on a few laps to get them all good and soaked – that’s all it took to get Violet all revved up as well.
Jacob received a remote controlled car for Christmas this past year. One that can drive over nearly anything, spin in circles, do wheelies, and glow in the dark. Piper loves this car. She has only just started learning how to drive it with any control, but half the fun is figuring that part out. Her and Violet both took the car for a turn around the house. I followed them around with the camera while they had a blast. One turn for Piper and one for Violet. About a week after this we saw the same car on Woot and decided to get one for Piper as an extra gift for her upcoming birthday.
With a high level of excitement and glee, Jacob and Isaac, got to go shopping. They each received a gift card from their Grandma Donna. We gave them the option of saving it for later, surprisingly an option they have taken in the past, or using it now. They opted for the latter so we headed out toy shopping. With a figure in their head, limiting how much they could spend, they rummaged through the toys at Walmart for thirty minutes. The decision was complex of course. The selection had to be just right. Had to feel perfect. Jacob went patiently from one item to the next, meticulously inspecting its value, Nerf Swords, to G.I. Joe, to H.A.L.O to Lego. He finally settled on a pair of Lego sets that complimented each other. Isaac on the other hand created a moderate sized collection of his choices in the middle of an isle (wish I would have taken a picture) and mulled over the ultimate choice. Back and forth went the decision with the price climbing in to the hundreds of dollars and then back down into teens. With twenty-five dollars to spend it was a hard choice: does he get one larger toy that is “cool” or get a few smaller ones that offer more opportunity for play. At the end, with the clock ticking, he panicked and left his gathered assortment of mix matched items and narrowed his focus between Lego and a selection of Star Wars characters. Opting for the Star Wars route after some counseling from his clock watching oppressors.
Thank you Grandma Donna. Jacob and Isaac had a great time getting to shop for their gifts.
