Ready, Aim, Fire!

Homeschooling has definitely given us more time to work on cub scout requirements. This week we built catapults. Emmy and Mazee stopped by for a visit just as we were trying them out.
We decided we should probably only shoot cotton balls in Grammie's house just in case we were to misfire. :)

Brady and Grant set up a battle in the hallway.

Dinosaurs!!!

Since we're living with my parents almost an hour from the kids' school, I decided to give homeschooling a try this year. We started 3 weeks ago, and I'm happy to say we're all still alive. I was kind of expecting a lot of whining and complaining and some extra fighting since we're together all the time, but instead my kids have been enthusiastic, cooperative and nicer than ever to each other. It's been an amazingly positive experience so far. I think the best way to learn is to experience, so we're trying to do as many hands on projects and activities as possible.

The first week of school we were studying archeology in our history books. What better way to learn about archeology than to take a trip to a cool natural history museum that has lots of dinosaur bones? This museum is on the campus of OU, and we spent the entire day there. Our friends Jared and Faith went with us while their parents were on vacation.

They were pretty impressed with the head of this animal, but they were much more impressed with the next two dinos we saw. They were massive! Here's a little bit about them:

And then we came across this...

We saw many other dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. It was really amazing!

Next we moved on to the discovery area where everything was "hands on".

Digging for dino bones

Drew loved the skeleton

Run, Grant, Run!

Jared is holding a bison bladder. I love Brady's "Eeeew!" face.

Drew enjoyed playing with all the toys in the discovery room.

Back to the dino dig--this time with goggles

Drew's First Soccer Practice

Drew did something this week that he's been waiting to do for about 4 years...he started soccer! He went to his first soccer game when he was 8 months old and has been to every game Grant and Brady have played since then. He's also been at almost all of their practices "helping" me coach. He was so excited to be on a team of his own. He wore his shin guards and soccer socks for several hours before we left for practice, and he had such a great time that he's been talking about it all week.

My awesome brother-in-law and sister are the coaches of his team, so I know it's going to be a great experience for him. He's especially happy to be on the same team as his cousin Brent.

Last Day of Summer Fun

The day before school started, Steph and I decided to take our kids to Andy B's for one final hurrah before it was back to the books.

Drew and Sydney were seriously adorable dancing together on this game. Sydney tells Drew that they're going to get married someday, so we'll see what happens. :)
I love Andy B's because they have smaller go-karts that Brady and Drew can drive by themselves.

Here are Brady, Micah, Drew and Sydney all lined up and ready to go.

Sydney

Drew cheesin' it up for the camera

Grant and Cole were waiting for the younger kids to get done so they could ride the adult size carts

It's been a whirlwind summer with packing, moving, building and everything else in between, but we've had lots of time for fun with our friends, too. I can't believe how fast it went by!

Cub Scout Lake Trip

We've hopefully started an annual tradition to take the cub scouts on a lake trip. This was our second summer to take them, and we love having them out on the boat with us. They are a great group of boys!

The Webelos had to do an out and back swim to pass off a requirement. Going out was easy, but swimming back to the boat was a little hard because of the wind.
They finally made it!

Joe, Grant and William

Jared and Cole

Joe, William and Grant in the boat watching Cole and Jared tube

Brady M., Brady H., Micah and Jared N.

Dusty, Brady and Jared

Grant and one of our wonderful scout leaders, Tom Swegle

Trent and Micah

Skate Park

We've been in Cleveland at my parents' house for 3 weeks now, and we've had a great time. It's sort of like being on an extended vacation. One thing that the kids are loving is this brand new skate park that they just built in Cleveland right before we moved here. We go almost every day and let the boys ride their scooters and rip sticks.

Wicked

At the end of July, my mom, sister, sister in law and I all went to see "Wicked". None of us had seen it before, and we all loved it. I've seen a lot of musicals, and I think this was the best I have ever seen.

More Lake Tenkiller Pics

When we stay at Fin and Feather, there are so many other fun things to do besides just going to the lake. The kids love to ride their bikes around on the trails, go fishing in the pond, and just hang out with their cousins.