Fireworks Fun

This year for the 4th of July we were on our own.  Just our little family of four.  We had a handful of options as far as fairs and shows and all my kids really wanted to do was light our own fireworks at home.



After a little research we decided to go out to JBLM Freedom Fest as we have never been out there for the 4th and wanted to do something new.  We've been out there for their airshow and had tons of fun so we thought we'd give the 4th a try.

The kids were a bit reluctant and would rather just hang out.  I wasn't having any of that laziness.  We had the day off and we were going to take full advantage of our day and do something fun that we don't normally do.

After getting on base and checked out we got on the bus to take us to the location.  We were there so early they were just getting started.  I have to say it was a lot smaller
then I had expected.  We made the loop in probably one hour or less.  We ended up looping several times and even checking out their car show.

The highlight for Andrew was the sword fighting booth.  They did role playing and had a bunch of supplies to be a knight.  There were shields, spears, swords, and so on.  All of the items kid friendly and nothing to hurt of cause injury.  Andrew got in the designated area a few times to act out fighting with other kids.  He loved playing and probably could have been there for half the day.  Megan had no desire to even play.

Megan loved the rock climbing wall.  They had a free wall that you could climb.  After both kids got on their gear and got on the wall it was clear Megan was enjoying herself but Andrew not so much.  He only made it a few steps up and called it done.  He didn't like being up so high.  Megan made it all the way to the top and wanted to hit it up again later.

We debated if we should stay for the fireworks show or go home and do our own.  The main issue was the crowds of people and trying to leave.  We'd have to take a bus back to our car and then drive home.  Fireworks don't start till 10pm and it was barely lunch time.  We had seen everything and just didn't know what to do with ourselves for such a long period of time.

We ended up deciding we should head out.  It was just too long a wait with very little to do.  We also didn't want to get stuck in a crush of people when it was time to leave.  Both kids were fine with this plan as they had really seen and done everything they wanted to do.

We went out to a late lunch and had a nice time.  We ended up at home and waited for it to get dark.  We heard fireworks all around us as people got their own parties started.  We waiting till it wasn't too dark but on it's way and it was finally time for our own personal show.

My kids were just over the moon with happiness with the fireworks we had.  We started out in our driveway but later had to move.  Some of these things just shoot out some crazy sparks.  We didn't want to risk damage to cars or property.  We moved down to the mouth of the property where we had a ton of room and we went to town.

My kids LOVED it and would have been happy with this private show.  Who needs the big show in the sky when you can get up personal with your own stuff.  All in all we had fun just being together and doing our own thing.  Good times...

Meg's 5th Grade Graduation

Megan graduated 5th grade this last week.  We've been planning and having lots of events leading up to this big day for her.  She was super excited to finally get to have her turn at graduating.

I came in early to help a team of Moms get everything set up.  It was interesting working with ladies not used to giving service.  It was interesting what people see as super important and what they make a fuss over.  It all came together in the end and looked great.

I didn't realize that I was going to feel so emotional during the ceremony.  I just thought it's 5th grade graduation but it just hit me when she did her walk in how big she's gotten.  I did get a little teary eyed but held it together. 

Megan got the golden seal presidents award for maintaining a 3.5 gpa for 4th and 5th grade.  She is a great student and I was really proud to see her up there.  She has really worked hard and it has paid off. 

Her teacher gave out special class awards.  He said this student is huge on details.  She is someone who will tell you every detail when you ask for a summary.  She also keeps the teacher on task reminding him of stuff and making sure he follows through.  She got the "details" award from him.  She had a big grin when he said it was for "Megatron"  this was his nickname for her through the year.  I knew right from the start that this was going to be her.  I think she comes by it genetically...

After all the class awards it was time for the completion certificate.  They kind of just read out the names and you came up in a line to shake hands and get your certificate.  The typically type ceremony tradition.

Megan made sure we got a photo with her teacher.  She had a great year with Mr. Bryd.  Looking back she said this was her favorite teacher for this school.  He really made the year fun and she loved it.  On the last day of school when she came home she had a total meltdown of tears because she was sad to move on.  She wished he was moving on with them.

 The reception to follow was okay.  Each student got a special chocolate graduation had as their gift.  It's a Hersey bar with a Reese cup attached.  Super cute and Megan loved eating hers as we talked about her graduation.

 She even got her name on the graduation cake that everyone got to have.  All the names didn't fit on one cake so it was split in two cakes.  It made the students feel a bit special to see their names all together.

We took Megan out for a special dinner. She got her own box of See's candy with flowers and a balloon.  She felt so excited and special on her big day.  Jeff and I are super proud of the awesome young woman she is becoming.  On to middle school.  I can only imagine what will come next.

2nd Grade Fieldtrip

Andrew had is 2nd grade field trip to the Children's Hands on Museum in Olympia.  Megan had this same field trip for 2nd and 3rd grade so I thought I was all set and knew what to expect.  Little did I know that it changed buildings.  It has moved several blocks and the building is so much bigger and better.  I was super impressed at how different this experience was.



I have to say I was not looking forward to going this year.  I was nervous that it was going to be tough.  So I enlisted Jeff to go with us.  He took a few days off and we got to spend them having fun.  Megan was off to camp and we took Andrew on his field trip.  Andrew LOVED having Jeff come along.  I think this is the very first field trip of both kids that he has gotten to go on.  It made it all the more special.

There was a small communication problem with Andrew's teacher.  I had told her that Jeff and I were both coming but she thought it was only going to be one of us.  It didn't matter that much but we did have like 7 chaperons.  Each adult had 4 kids and the teacher was able to just hang out and had no kids to be in charge of.  She just floated about keeping tabs on people.

Our four kids were 2 boys and 2 girls.  This made it a tad tricky at times when deciding on what area to play in.  The boys had one idea and the girls had another most of the time.  It was so nice having both Jeff and I there.  We'd just divide and conquer when needed so it was more like having only 2 kids to keep track of.  It also helped out just being able to keep eyes on the kids.  It was a bit of a mad house and hard at times to make sure all where accounted for.



Andrew loved this place.  I don't think he really remembered that we had been with Grandma and Papa before as that was the other location.  This place was all new for him even though some of the stuff was the same.  Since the building was all different it was like exploring a whole new place he had never been to before.  It also had some new items which made it fun.  When I asked what his favorite section was he said he had several.  There was no way he could choose just one.

He loved the "scream room" and all the touching and hands on stuff.  It was just so much fun.  He also said he loved the water spots and sand sections.  Really any place that he could just get in and play with his hands.  Not too big on imaginative play but sensory stuff was all good for him.

He was really good as were all 4 of our kids.  We had no real issues with anyone and didn't lose anyone either.  I consider this a big plus in my book.  No injuries or problems at all.  We just enjoyed out day out with Andrew.  He got to go to a catapult workshop which he loved and just had a great time.

We were there till about 1pm then we had lunch and made it back to the school.  We were all back and done by 3pm.  It was kind of weird to leave him at school after our fun day for another hours of school stuff.  In the past we've gotten back a bit later where I've been able to take them home.  This was a bit different then the usual but still okay.

I'm so thankful for the chance to be there for my kids.  It means a whole lot to me just to have the experience with them.  I love to see them grow each year and to just have that chance to be there for them.  Next up for him is field day on Friday.  Jeff took this day off as well so both of us will be there for the first time.  Megan is excited to have her Dad around for the first time at school.  We can't wait to have some family fun at school.

5th Grade Camper

Megan is a big 5th grader this year and along with that goes camp.  This is her last year at her school and she'll be moving on to middle school.  She was so excited to go camping I think I heard about the plans for months ahead of time.

Megan would come home and tell me about the shirts and name tags and cabins and on and on.  She was just over the moon at the chance to go to camp.  I really wanted to volunteer to chaperon and go with her this year.  Megan had other ideas.  She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of me tagging along.  She really wanted to have this experience on her own.  I wanted to respect her wishes so I declined to go and made sure to send her with a camera. 

I told her since she wasn't letting me go she needed to make sure to capture her experience on the camera.  She was thrilled to be the picture taker as that is usually my role.  So she got to go on her own and have the camera.  What more could the girl ask for?

I told her to make sure to be in some of the photos so I could see her in action and not take a ton of everyone else.  What she came home with was a few photos of people and the rest were of the camp and surrounding area.  She was so busy having a great time she said she forgot half the time to take her camera.  She'd rather have fun and experience everything then be bother with a task.  Totally understand that thought,  maybe this whole picture taking is better left to Mom?

She came home totally exhausted and dirty.  Her bus was an hour late bring her home so we only had a bit of time before Andrew was home to join in.  Both kids loved having a small 3 day break from each other and just getting to have their own space.  Three days was just long enough for her to have fun but not miss her terribly.

She loved learning camp songs and all the activities.  She had a new appreciation for eating all the food on your plate and not wasting stuff.  She was using camp terms as she was talking to us and letting us know almost every detail of her camp experience.  She had a great time.

I think she wished she could have gone for longer but did appreciate what she did get.  There are 6 elementary schools in the district and only 3 schools still go to camp around here.  I was saying to her teacher that when I was a kid we went for a whole week so 2 1/2 days is really not long enough.  That's when he said they are just doing everything they can to keep it going year after year as it's not that supported.  This makes me sad.  Camp is a huge milestone for kids and so much fun.  I hope that it stays around long enough for Andrew to go and then they can do what they need to.

Megan loved being on her own and didn't mind not having me there.  She did wish that Jeff could have gone but it just wasn't working out.  Then he's a male and wouldn't be able to spend that much time with her and what is the point of going if you don't spend the time with your child.  It all worked out the way is needed to and all of us were happy.

I'm super happy that she had a great time and that she got to have the experience.  It really made a difference to her.  She created some lasting memories and brought home a  few keepsakes to remember her time.  Next up is her graduation from middle school in a few days.  I'm so torn with her moving on.  Both excited and scared to see what comes next.

Night Rocket

We survived Andrew's first pinewood derby.  Boy is this cub scout event intense.  You have to have it not too long, not too short, and just the right weight.  It's all official with a measurement and weigh in.  Andrew was super excited to race

He told Jeff what design he liked and exactly what he wanted.  Jeff had to take the heavy tools to cut it down to size but Andrew helped in the sanding and painting of the car.  Megan even got in the action helping add the rocket and stars.  Andrew's first idea was just plain black but then decided he needed more and that's where a helpful big Sister came in.

It was fun to see the family work so hard on the car and really hope they had the fastest one.  Andrew was so excited that when he got home from school he decided to test it out on the counter in the kitchen.  I tried to tell him not to play with it but I was too late.  It went sailing off the counter and crashed on the floor.  The result was the loss of a wheel and a bent rear axle.  He almost had a meltdown right then.

I don't think any of us were too happy with the damage that got done right before the big race but what do you do.  Jeff got home in just enough time to do a quick repair job but we did have one crazy rear wheel.

There were lots of men around to help get the race cars ready.  Some needed last minute adjustments.  We had one car that was a bit too heavy and had to have some wood cutting and so on.  After all was sorted out and the boys had their fun with the practice runs it was time for the real thing.

Andrew was so excited for every race he ran and he did pretty good.  We were probably towards the end of the pack as far as wins but that didn't matter.  He just wanted to race as many times as possible and loved hearing when it was his turn.

In the end we learned a lot about our first pinewood derby.  Andrew got the award for the most colorful.  He even got a gold trophy that he gets to keep.  Andrew had a blast with his night rocket car and can't wait to build the next one.  He already has some ideas of what he wants and we'll have to see if Jeff is able to pull them off.

Great time for the whole family.  The scouts do get to do some pretty cool stuff.  We are super happy for all that he is learning in scouts and how much fun he has.  We can't wait for the next big event.



Reptiles...

The school had the Reptile Man come and do an assembly and then an encore show at night for parents.  My kids came home from school that day talking non stop about how cool all the reptiles were and how much they really wanted to hit up the night time show.  I was totally game to go but Jeff was on the fence.  He could take it or leave it.

Of course the kids and I won out and we headed out to the show.  Jeff was on his way home from work and had to meet us at the school so we went solo until he could join us.  We played in the park area while we waiting for Jeff and we ended up being a bit early.  The kids wanted to make sure they got a good seat.

The Reptile Man has a whole zoo near Monroe and often does shows at schools.  He used to be a Biology teacher among other things and decided that his love of reptiles deserved more from him.  He now runs his reptile zoo and does shows.  He was one of the most calm presenters ever.  The kids were all on the floor behind a line and let me tell you they were right on that line.  There was so much chatter and screams about the reptiles it was crazy.

He would calmly tell you about what reptile he was going to show and then he'd get it from a locked box.  He'd show it around the room and give your more information about the animal he was showing.  The kids being right there loved seeing what he was showing and only wished they could touch them.  My kids were front and center for the whole show.

Above is a snapping turtle.  This is not the most attractive animal and has such a snapping jaw it was crazy.  He had to wear gloves to handle it and at one point he touched it's lip with a glove and we all got to see it snap closed.  I would not want to be anywhere near that thing.  We learned it has a little pink tongue to look like a worm to attract food.  He'll go around with is mouth open and hope to get something to come in closer so he can snap it closed.

The snapping turtle was not on display to touch but the regular turtle was and both my kids loved to touch the rough shell.  They only touched and moved on as it wasn't too exciting as it just sat there.  Meg touched only once in a crowd of people while Andrew came back a few times for multiple touches.

This is some lizard I forget but it hangs from it's tail.  When he took it out of the box he swung it over the crowd of kids upside down and the screams went round the room.  The shock turned into giggles and the kids all loved it.

He showed his baby alligator and it even did a trick.  He got it to sit up straight while holding it's tail and then he'd tell it to sleep and it would roll it's head back like it was sleeping.  The kids loved this and all Andrew wanted from that point on was to try and be able to hold the alligator and see if he could get it to "sleep" like the Reptile Man.

There were a few lizards, a few turtles, an alligator, and a whole handful of snakes (king cobra, albino python, diamondback rattlesnake, and more.)  All the snakes he had he takes care of and all had their poison and venom removed.  He had them all in locked boxes and only a few on display after for an up close look.  None of the poisonous snakes could be viewed.  I'm glad for that, the gym went crazy afterwards and it was hard to keep track of my own two.

After the show you could get your photo, for a fee, with a snake or the baby alligator.  Andrew went nuts and really wanted that picture with the alligator.  Megan really wasn't interested and just wanted to see all the animals.  She just enjoyed being there and seeing her friends.  The lines were crazy long and Jeff tried to talk Andrew out of the picture but he was so sold on it.  Luckily we had come in two cars since Jeff had to meet us there.  I stayed behind with Andrew to get his pictures while Jeff left with Megan to pick up some dinner.  I offered Megan a picture if she wanted to stay but she just wasn't interested.  She was happy that she got to hold the Boa in a group during the show.

We all had a great time and were super happy that we decided to go.  Andrew now has a frame for his picture and I have found it in his bed several times already.  He LOVES his picture and it was money well spent.  It warms my heart to see  him light up whenever he looks at the photo.  Fun family night for sure.