Track Meets & Birthdays & fireworks, oh my!

backyard pool

Track Club           Track Meet         Birthday cakes   John’s Incredible Pizza   Monsters University       Birthday Presents            Karl the spider           4^th of July BBQ   hiking @ Bald Peak & thimbleberries         Park Lanes bowling         GameStop          IHOP      BJ’s        Red Robin                Grammo & Pop Pop        Fireworks

Bayley :

12

This week I had my first track meet, celebrated my birthday and then Hayden's, and lit fireworks.

At the track meet I completed in javelin, shot put, and discus. I came really, really close to a ribbon in javelin (4th place); sucked at shot put; won second place in discus! I hope I win lots more ribbons.

10

Our birthday cakes were amazing. Mine was a Reese's cake. It had chocolate cake and frosting with a peanut butter filling. It also had Reese's pieces and peanut butter cups to decorate it. I hope my mom makes another one!

We had a lot more fireworks than usual for the 4th of July. They were pretty cool, but the ones I wanted to see were at a big annual party up the block, but they got busted for illegal fireworks and ended early. I hope they run late next year so I don't miss it.

Karl the spider

Hayden :

My birthday is on the 4th of July. Me and my family lit  tons of fireworks and I had my own birthday barbeque to celebrate.

Grammo & Pop Pop came up for our birthdays. They came to the barbecue and to John's Incredible and also to light fireworks.

Me and my brother went to GameStop. I wanted Lego City Undercover and my brother wanted Super Mario Smash Brothers Brawl. We traded in some of the games we don't play anymore, so I didn't have to pay anything, and Bayley only had to pay twenty buck for his game.

It's a ladybug...no, it's a grasshopper...no, it's KARL THE SPIDER. There was a giant spider on the wall. Pop Pop named the spider Karl. Dad got a ladder and sucked him up in the shop-vac.

At the track meet I did discus and I waited in line for the hurdles. I jumped over them really fast and I think I won, but it was chaos at the finish line and I didn't get my ribbon.

Miniature golf & Bowling & Birthday Parties, oh my!

Aloha Day @ Camp Invention

Safety Town                       Camp Invention (Bayley was a junior counselor)                               Laser Tag                             Bowling                                Track Club                    IHOP                      Hayden’s Birthday Party                               Bayley’s Birthday Party                  miniature golf                    Red Robin                    Big Al’s                  Menchie’s



Too cool for fro-yo

Hayden :

Grace doesn't like miniature golf. She did like finding the frogs there. After, we went to a Red Robin and saw Mr. Pahakula, our principal. They sang us Happy Birthday and he sang too. Then we went to Big Al's.



Hayden hurdles

At Big Al's we went bowling at the bowling alley. When we were done bowling, we played video games. I got one thousand tickets on one game. I have 895 credits left on my card.

Hayden's Party

After bowling, we needed a snack. At Menchie's I got cake batter yogurt and a lot of toppings. Everybody loved to eat the frozen yogurt.


At Track Club I wanted to try the hurdles. After I jumped over them I wanted to do them again. I knew I wanted to try them at the track meet.

These are things I did on the second week of summer.

Bayley :

This week I went to Laser Tag, miniature golfing, and Track club started.

The Scout Troop celebrated shad's birthday at Laser Tag. In the first round I sucked and got about the fifth lowest score out of everybody. On the second round I got the fifth highest score! There was also lots of candy and cake. We let Hayden come along since he'd never been before.

This week we went mini-golfing. We did all eighteen holes, but Grace stopped at two and Hayden started fooling around at ten. I lost my ball in the stream at hole six and had to use Gracie's pink ball. I got second place. Afterwards we went to Red Robin and bowling, which was a good idea. It was so hot outside I almost cooked.

Track Club started this week. We practiced javelin, shot put, and discus. I like all three. I might even win a ribbon in one of them, maybe more than one.

That's what I did this week. I hope I get to do more Laser Tag, mini-golfing and track this summer

Restaurants & Recitals & Christenings, oh my!

Acting Class

This year the boys are taking over the blog for the summer. I'm handing over weekly writing prompts from our week, and they are sharing their favorite events.
 

O’Sushi                 Red Robin                           On The Border                  Juan Colorado’s                                BJ’s                        John’s Incredible Pizza                 Park Lanes Bowling                         Bowling Class                     Swimming                           Epic                        Dance Recital                     Family Dinner                    Feed the ducks                 Acting Class                        Dentist                 Orthodontist                      Clara’s Baptism                 Natalie’s Birthday party                 Grammo & Pop Pop visit

 

Hayden ::

Epic

The first week of summer was awesome. Some think I liked were O'Sushi, Grace's dance recital, and Grammo & Pop Pop's visit.

Underwater

At O'Sushi me and Mom ate a lot of sushi. And if you know Bayley, he doesn't like sushi, but he tried some. And he liked most of the sushi.

We went to Grace's dance recital. All of the dancers were really good. Grace's dance was awesome until she stuck out her tongue.

Feeding the ducks

We ate at a lot of restaurants because we were so busy.

 Grammo & Pop Pop came to see Grace dance, and to see me and Bayley. And also for Natalie's party. And Clara's.

P.S. I hope we can go to Six Flags because they have eighteen roller coasters. I also want to go to John's Incredible again.

Bayley :

I had a lot of fun in the first week of summer. I went to O'Sushi, John's Incredible and had bowling lessons. I hop I get to go to all three places more this summer.

This week we tried a new sushi place called O'Sushi. It was really cool. It had all of the little sushis on a moving conveyor belt. My favorite were the sesame balls with chocolate inside. Afterwards, we all got mochi.

This week we also went to John's Incredible for my report card dinner. I played almost every game. My favorite one is the block stacker game. With a bit more practice I might be able to win a laptop! (If it doesn't glitch out like it did for Hayden.)

We are also taking bowling lessons at Four Seasons. I got the highest scores I've ever had. After the lesson was over, the instructor was really nice and taught me how to throw a ball with a hook. I still have some work to do, but I'm getting better.

I hope to go to all of these places again this summer, and also go to the beach!

Another Year, Another Bonfire



6th Grade Planners

Last year the boys started the last day of school tradition of torching all the papers that come home at the end of the year.

Bayley upped the game and invited his friends over for a ceremonial end to elementary school. I sifted through his papers, snagging out a few assignments I wanted (like his "I Am" poem and such) and then let him have at it.



Math workbooks? All in!

Yes, it is surely more environmentally friendly to have them recycle everything. But it's much more fun to see a half-dozen boys toss their math workbooks at the flames and say "Begone, ye math!"

Seriously, these boys are more entertaining than most. And organized. They liked when each boy lit up the same thing at once.

And then, of course, there were marshmallows and s'mores. You can't waste a good bonfire.

Sixth Grade Graduation

Breakfast

Bayley did it. He conquered elementary school and moved on to battle junior high. Yes, I am indeed freaking out about this new stage much more than I should.

license plate wall

I've seen graduation ceremonies for Bayley before - preschool, kindergarten, Webelos crossover to Boy Scouts. This wasn't such a formal event. No singing, no graduation hats, not even a Native American guide to lead them through.

breakfast

This was a party. A celebration of who this class of kids are as a group. Maybe it's the Lake Woebegone effect, but this is a great bunch.

Not sure about these sideways pictures

The clever road trip theme earned the kiddos their own 'license' in lieu of diplomas, and a license plate with their name on it. The tables were covered in maps (outdated freebies from AAA, so smart) and the cafeteria walls transformed with road sign posters. The breakfast had all the kids favorites - the towers of bagels and strawberries adorned with checkered flags.

I loved the slideshow the most. The kids did some great things this year (toothpick bridges, outdoor school) and I loved seeing them happy and confident.

After the graduation party, the 6th grade parades through the school, all the other students lining the halls to clap them out. The younger kids really get into applauding as the 'big kids' go by, reaching out to high-five their mentor, reading buddy, or neighbor. I think the 5th grade thinks thoughts of "One more year."

Service Project - School Clean Up

In Boy Scouts, the boys must earn a certain number of service hours for each rank advancement. As they move up, they're expected to take the lead on some of these service projects. Bayley decided to put together a landscaping clean up at the elementary school. In an attempt to save budget dollars, things had become quite overgrown. Lucky for Bayley, a parent was also organizing a clean-up, so they pooled their efforts.

Bayley struggled a little bit in terms of telling the volunteers what they should be doing. He didn't like the idea of telling the older boys (or even parents) what to do. He had to be coached through that, but once everyone knew the goal, they went to work.

And it was work! Thing were tedious, but the weeds got pulled and the hedges got trimmed. Maybe he can organize another event in the fall for bark and plantings.

Talent Show

Hayden and his friend decided to do a jump rope routine for the talent show. They didn't put in much practice time outside of recess, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well it came out!

Summer is for Sprinklers

At the first sign of sun, the sprinkler comes out! Unfortunately for Bayley, he's decided to be too old for sprinklers. I don't think this will last. Summer is long!

1st Lost Tooth

She lost a tooth! She was so proud of herself. She wiggled it out, walked into our bedroom and woke us up with the news.

Yellow to Orange

Hayden has decided taekwondo isn't his thing, but Bayley still wants to stick with it. He tested up another level, going from a yellow belt to an orange belt.

Because we haven't been consistent about lessons, he isn't progressing as quickly as he would like. But even though there are younger kids levels ahead of him, he sticks with it. I'm really proud of him for not getting discouraged.

As a parent, taekwondo gets scarier as they level up. Each level they have to be able to break a board a different way. I have no idea how they do this without breaking themselves. But they're always so excited to have done it, no one complains.