Labor of Love

It was a labor of love; it was a total sacrifice on my part to spend Labor Day here.

We spent the last official day of summer at my very favorite place on Earth.

If we were still in Virginia, I would be truly saddened to flip the calendar to September this weekend and say good-bye to summer, and if we were in Germany, I would be saddened to have never said hello to summer.

Six more weeks of summer weather. Six more weekends to make it back to our favorite place.

Be All You Can Be

"Mom, I would never be a soldier unless I needed money to pay for college. If I do need money to pay for college, like something happens and we become really poor, then I want to join the Army and fly. Do you think the war will be over by then?"

Hammers, Cameras, Oh My!

Today I hear a scream. I see a flash as Keagan runs past me. I hear the pounding steps of Man Child as he chases his little brother. It is then I notice the red video camera in Keagan's hand and the hammer in Evan's hand.

I intercede.

No worries. The screams are fake. The boys are filming a horror movie. Certain that a true horror film was only seconds from becoming my reality, I took the hammer. It is now hidden in the bathroom among the towels.

The boys have now returned to recording Instructional films on how to beat the enemy while playing Skylanders, a much more calm and less dangerous filming process. For the time being anyway.

Eight, Skate, Donate

Keagan told me a week before his birthday he wanted to spend his birthday weekend at a hotel on the beach, riding bikes, and eating shrimp. And so we did.

Within our first hour of swimming in the water, Evan was bitten by something that he swears was a baby shark. He ran out of the water crying and that was the end of that. To make matters worse, we checked into the hotel to learn we were in the midst of a hundred or so couples celebrating the 12th annual Shaganza, a fairly popular dance with the sixty something crowd in Coastal Georgia.

Suffice it to say, we all felt better about the weekend when we learned a soccer tournament was taking place a mile down the beach, and of course, we couldn't be that close without catching a game or two. We never did get to ride bikes along the beach, but Keagan did have a new bike awaiting him on the morning of his birthday!

Happy Birthday, Keagan! We love the sparkle in your big blue eyes, your wonderful sense of humor, and your wicked ability to run like a Jamaican. We love you!

First Day of School

Another first day of school. The last first day of school in Georgia.

Keagan is in second grade this year. He told me it was a great first day of school because "after all of the rules, we went straight to work. Straight to work." Lunch was also a highlight. Some things never change from year to year.

Evan is in fourth grade. I sent him to school happy because his science teacher had told him he would be able to build a rocket. He never likes school; always finds something unfair, unjust about the process. This time it was unfair that the teacher had built up his expectations only to disappoint him when he learned the rocket would be made from construction paper. The first week of school he read two chapter books. I think I find something unfair, unjust about school.

May the next 179 days begin with the same big smiles.

Irony

It was six years ago that I decided to start a blog so that I would have a record of all of the amusing things my boys did as babies. I recorded it all: the first day of pre-school, learning to ride a bike, football games, the many, many soccer games, and the amusing day-to-day events that I will surely forget without them recorded in print.

Now it is gone. All gone. I have mourned the loss of those photos, videos, and blog entries as if it were a family member. Eight weeks later, 55 days to be exact, I have decided that every day I cry about the the six years I have lost, I am neglecting to record the here and now.

And so it begins again. Living with Boys

Let Freedom Ring

How appropriate is it that we would spend American's birthday on some of the colonists' original stomping grounds? Fort King George was built in 1721 by English colonists.

The fort is surrounded by wetlands that we soon learned are filled with alligators. This was of course after I allowed Evan to walk to the water's edge to throw rocks into the water. We almost became an episode of Gator Boys on the Discovery Channel. Keagan said while carrying his oversized wooden musket, "Don't worry, Mom, I can take care of you and hit those gators between the eyes."

The fort is a four story building that was filled with secret doors and hiding places, perfect places to aim a gun or cannon without the enemy even knowing you were there. The boys LOVED it and the elderly just smiled when they came around the corner with guns pointing at them.

They climbed in the rafters, flipped open trapped doors, pretended to battle the enemy, and hiked the nature trail.

We also arrived in time to see the re-enactors fire the cannon over the Altahama River. 

Keagan was taken prisoner by King Evan. He played the part perfectly.

We made our way back to the car, and Keagan gave me a huge hug and said, "Thanks, Mom, a million thanks for bringing me here. This was the best day trip ever!" Eight hours later, he is still thanking me. It might have had something to do with the over sized musket.

 Happy Fourth of July!