Wild Animals

Here are a few pictures of the wild animals that live at my house.  They are acting very domesticated in these photos.

In these two pictures, Rye looks more like my friend Sara-Beth's kid than mine.  (except that he is a boy)

I am doing home school preschool with Ben this year.  Our first field trip was to the zoo this week.  Noah, Rye and Grandma got to come along too.  Ben and Noah got plenty of lessons on how to act like a wild animal from the Orangutans, Tigers, Elephant, etc.

An elephant trainer showed us how they get this 5 year old male elephant to do tricks.

The Orangutans were actually using their climbing ropes while we were there.  They swung back and forth over our heads as we walked through the zoo.

We also got to see the new baby gorilla.

The tiger paced back and forth in front of us.  I think Noah and Ben may have looked like a yummy snack.

Don't let this picture fool you.  This is one of the only moments during the whole trip when Ben and Noah held still.  I believe Noah looks grumpy because he had to stop so that I could take his picture.

It was a perfect day to spend at the zoo.  I had some tired wild animals in the car with me on the drive home.

Where the Red Fern Grows

Noah had to dress up as literary character for school today.  He went as Billy, the boy for the book Where the Red Fern Grows.  (I'm so glad his Storm Trouper costume is too small)

A Chance to Play Golden Ball

There is nothing my kids like more than a chance to be with their cousins (on either side of the family).  For the entire month of September, I answered questions like...

"When are we going to the beach?"

"Will our cousins be there?"

"Will Uncle Steve play Golden Ball with us?"

Finally the day arrived and we headed to the Outer Banks to spend a long weekend with my siblings, their spouses and children.  (Total count: 6 adults & 7 children...during last year's trip, the adults still outnumbered the kids) 

It was even better than expected!  We walked around the lake, played tennis, swam in the pool, hopped in the hot tub, went to the beach, rode a kayak in the surf, played on the sand bar, ate fantastic meals and played Golden Ball (more on that later).  We had so much going on that I rarely had time to think about pictures.  Here are pictures from the few times I remembered to bring a camera.

It is amazing how much gear we took to the beach every day.  Chairs, towels, tent, shovel, sand toys, football, boogie board, surf board, kayak and snacks/beverages.  The kids waited patiently on the front porch swing while the adults collected all the gear.

Grace and Ben race back from the beach.

Golden Ball...

Golden Ball is a game that Steve made up and is played regularly in my sister's neighborhood.  A parent throws a football at a group of kids and the kid who brings the ball back and puts it in the adult's hand gets a point.  Basically your can do anything to get the ball from another player.  The only rule is that you can't grab someone's neck.  Even as a mom with three boys, I am amazed at how rough the game gets and how much the kids love it.  Here are a few pictures from a game at the beach.

These pictures don't show any tackles, but I promise there were plenty of them.  This last one is a picture of Ben getting his first point.  The rules don't change for the younger kids, so Ben has been playing for a while without scoring any points.  My kids are waiting for golden ball to catch on in Harrisonburg.

We also had a few moments of non-violence at the beach.

 Millie spent her time watching her cousins and playing with people's shoes.

Philip, Noah and Grace loved the hot tub

Ben did not like it in the hot tub. 

Instead he sat in a swing nearby and was used as a pillow for his Uncle Bobo's nap.

He didn't seem to mind too much.

Here is a picture of the whole family.

Day at the Fair

In August we were blessed with a visit from Drew's mom and her two sisters, Pat and Pam.  We all decided to go to the County Fair to celebrate.  Here are some pictures from that event.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the sisters and brothers together.

I forgot to bring a hat for Rye, but his Papa was nice enough to lend him one.

This year there was a petting zoo.  The highlight of the fair for me and Ben was seeing the giraffe.  Ben was not tall enough to reach the giraffe, and even Noah had to stand on his tiptoes to reach its tongue. I think the tongue was a long as Rye's arm.

Both boys got to choose two rides.  Ben chose to go in the kid's castle obstacle course.

Noah chose the helicopter ride...

...and a small roller coaster.

I wasn't sure he was going to enjoy it, but I guess I was wrong.

And he was still smiling when it was time to get off.

Here are a few more pictures of Rye (since he slept through the whole county fair experience)...

Rye has decided to be a thumb sucker.  I'm not looking forward to dealing with thumb sucking when he is 3, but for now I am enjoying the way he looks when he does it.  It is hard to tell from this picture, but he likes to curl his index finger over his nose (my favorite pose).

We finally hung up the baby swing in our front yard.  It is a fun activity for the boys to do together.

Rye loved every minute of it!

Beach Trip In July (Yes, I know it is Sept.)

In July we took our annual Outer Banks beach trip with Drew's dad's family.  It is one of our favorite times of the summer.  This year Ben went into the ocean and jumped waves with his Papa.  We also started playing tennis as a family.  We are now taking full advantage of the tennis courts here in Bridgewater and hope to be better by next summer's beach trip.

Noah is enjoying a few moments in the shade.

There were a few days with little breeze and high temps.

On your mark, get set, dig...

...and bury your dad in the sand

The only way to get some rest around our boys, is if you let them bury you in the sand.  

Nice work Drew!

Drew took the boys out in a kayak one day.

Ben went first...

...and then Noah

Coming in to shore got a little exciting, but Drew brought both boys in unharmed and still laughing.

Rye got to have some special time with his Aunt Kristin.

And just to prove that I was at the beach...here is our attempt at a family photo.  I don't think you are going to be seeing this one on the Christmas Card this year.

A few highlights of Summer

Rye meets his Great Ma for the first time!

Ice cream and swimming with friends

I found these sunglasses one day.  Now the boys have shades when they go to the pool.  

Much cooler than their mom who doesn't have any sunglasses.

What would a summer be without fresh corn?  Noah and Ben became expert corn shuckers.

My Favorite Summer Moment...

Movie night and camping with friends!.

Getting ready to watch the movie...

Ben and his friends watch the Chipmunks movie.

A bunch of grownups watched too.

We had quite a few adventurous friends who camped out in our yard with their children.  The adults put kids to bed and then hung out until late (see chairs below for evidence).  Everyone slept in until 7:00 and then had pancakes and bacon for breakfast before heading home (probably to take naps).

I'll get around to posting beach pictures at some point.  :)