Just Because

Wes was at home today while I was at work. He captured these photos of the boys' fun adventures. Love them!

Silent Drill

After flying home yesterday afternoon, we drove to the Iowa Jima Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to watch the Marine Corp's Silent Drill. The boys were restless, and understandably so after a two hour drive to the Dallas airport, a two hour wait in the airport due to our plane's mechanical failure, and a two and a half hour plane ride. However, the "dual" between the Sergeant and the Private peaked their interest, and Keagan determined that "the boss" won with the best rifle tricks. (There is no dual, contest, or boss, but with little boys battles of supremacy always make for a more interesting story.) This was one more event I can cross off of my list of must-sees before we leave next summer.

God's Country

We have now been in Texas for a week, and for anyone that is a native of the state of Texas, you know it is often referred to as God's country. As much as I like Texas, I must admit I am a bit partial to a state that has four seasons. Texas does not. Here there is hot and even hotter. We left Virginia looking forward to the heat, as all summer it has been too cool in Virginia to swim outdoors. We got what we wished for, and we have spent every day in the water.

Texas Top Five:
5 - Driving a motorized kid-sized John Deere tractor and fishing in a backyard pond with our friends Henry and Max.

4 - Teaching Oma and Opa to play Pokemon and Ben10.

3 - Watching Mallory, my 11 month old niece, squawk like a macaw on her first visit to the zoo and petting the pygmy goats.

2 - Eating peach icecream at a Peach Farm in Pittsburg and bringing home a bushel of peaches for cobbler. The Texas flag out front was the perfect backdrop for another picture.

1. Swimming in Oma's pool with friends and family

Soccer Camp

This week the boys spent a week at soccer camp at the rec center. This is our last camp of the summer! Already? Say it ain't so.

Evan and Coach Gary - I had to give my right arm for this picture! Well, almost anyway.

Keagan and I end the week with a game of Jimmy Neutron. I wasn't really banking on parent participation.

At Friday's "World Cup" Evan scored a goal against a much older player. He celebrated like never before with a huge jump and then the airplane celebratory fly-by.

Evan's UK Elite Soccer Team - On Wednesday he was moved up to the 8-11 year old age group where he played for Coach Gary, a semi-pro player out of London. 

I told the boys that I could live every day like the past two weeks....Football and/or soccer scrimmages in the AM, swim leassons after lunch, trip to the library in the late afternoon, bike rides before dinner, and evenings filled with card games or checkers. And Keagan said, "Don't you get tired of driving the car all those places?"

National Harbor

A friend of mine suggested we spend a day at the National Harbor. This person does not have young children, and although it might be a great place to go at night to have a good meal, hear live music, or to take a walk around the water, it is not the place to go with two young children when it is 90 degrees! The best part of the day for us was climbing on the huge God of Water buried in the sand at the edge of the water. 

Football Scrimmage

Today was Evan's first football scrimmage. He played safety, his position of choice, and even though his team lost, I am very proud of him for keeping up with the older boys who had stronger skills and much more experience. Just as I predicted a year ago, he has told me that if he can only play one sport this fall then he wants it to be football. He says he wants to play full contact (one league begins full contact at the tender age of 5!!!), but we have found a flag football league that we think might be a better fit - especially for Mom.

Backyard Bible School

 Every summer our church hosts a Backyard Bible Club that targets a neighboring community with disadvantaged youth. Our church volunteers go to the neighborhood and set up stations as any church would do inside a building when hosting a traditional VBS program. We do this hoping that we will reach people that would otherwise not be exposed to the Word, and because well, we don't have a church building to use. The boys LOVE it because in addition to music and Bible time,

there are crafts like making shell necklaces and beaded bracelets (only Keagan participates in this; Evan hates artistic activities)

games with relay races involving water, sponges, and lots of competition

and always food. Last night Wes loaded our grill into the back of the truck and cooked hundreds of hot dogs for the kids and their families. I have learned that this model of VBS has been adopted by military installations around the country so if we indeed move in June this will not mean the end to Backyard Bible Club.