Great Start To Summer

I'm hoping today is a good indicator of how our summer is going to go. It's been a good day. We started off with a mile or so bike ride after breakfast. I'm really enjoying getting out with the kids to get some exercise. After our ride, I unfortunately had to face the commissary. It was filled with kids and stressed looking moms. I had more than one smile at me and sarcastically wish me a "happy summer."

After lunch we grabbed a friend and loaded up Gracie for a trip to Happy Hollow. We were surprised to find the water was not frigid. It was actually very comfortable. The kids had fun playing in the sand and moving rocks around in the water. Gracie even seemed to enjoy exploring in the shallow water.

And now, Caden and I have popped our own popcorn and are settled down watching Gilligan's Island episodes.

The perfect summer day!

Last Day of School!!!

This year has flown past!  I can honestly say I'm glad it's over.  Caden has really excelled this year with his amazing teacher.  I can't say that Allie has had a bad teacher, but she hasn't been great either.  She's been very blah.  Allie has done her best and I think she's ready for 5th grade.

Jaelyn, on the other hand, has struggled so much.  It's been a hard year with her teacher that she LOVED leaving mid-year.  We've had lots of behavior issues that are partly her, but partly her peer group.  I'm looking forward to new friends for her next year.  We are still debating homeschooling her.  I'd say we are 95% of the way to deciding to go for it.

 

The Katy Trail and Jefferson City

With our bikes all fixed, Dan decided to find us a state park to go ride in.  He discovered an apparently well hidden, from us, Missouri treasure, the Katy Trail.  The trail used to be a railroad that ran across the state.  It was no longer being used as such so several years ago, the state park service converted into in a cross state biking/walking trail.  It's crushed limestone and very flat...perfect for a family bike ride.  We started out in Jefferson City.

The scenery was gorgeous.  I can say several bad things about Missouri, but I also have to admit that it's a beautiful state (even if the beauty makes my throat hurt).

 

Caden is our weak link still, but those little legs are getting stronger day by day.  He stopped often on the way out for water breaks, but after lunch, he seemed to recharge and had no trouble heading back towards the car.

 

Jaelyn saved and nurtured a spiderwort plant in Maryland.  We found it growing wild everywhere along the trail.

 

We saw a lot of nature...turtles were out in force.  The kids spotted what we think was a baby fox and we nearly ran over two black snakes.  Someone told us "there's an otter in water up ahead" (are you singing "there's a zamp in the lamp and a jurtain in the curtain" along with Dr. Suess? - I was.)  We never did find the otter or the water up ahead for that matter.

 

I just got a new lens for my camera (18:270).  No more switching lenses.  I had fun playing with the zoom.

 

 

 

How would you like to live on top of this bluff?  If you look closely at the right hand corner, you can see a huge house.

 

In total, we road 12 miles.  I was beyond impressed with the kids.  I think the girls could have gone further, but we were all pretty tired at the end.  Allie said she had pudding legs while Jaelyn thought hers felt more like wet noodles :).

 

Since we were there, we drove into Jefferson City to tour the state capital building.

 

Jefferson City is named after Thomas Jefferson.  Missouri was the second state formed from the Louisiana Purchase after Louisiana.

 

The massive steel doors were amazing.  Too bad we couldn't go through them.

 

My Griffons are scarier than the ones that guard the building.

 

This capital was built in the early 1900s.  This was is all stone as the first 2 were destroyed by fires.  After it was completed, they still had one million dollars left over.  That money was put into a special endowment on to be used for art in the building.  The ceilings and murals were amazing.

 

Just a little Missouri history for you.

 

 

We wrapped up our day with an early dinner at Chipotle followed by ice cream sundaes at home.  I wish we had discovered this trail sooner.  It would have been fun to ride the whole thing over the course of our time in Missouri.  We saw several families with camping gear riding it with their kids.

Bikes and Such

The tires on both girls' bikes went flat at the end of the last summer.  No amount of pumping would help.  It was weird...dry rot maybe?  Or just bad inner tubes.  Last week, we finally decided to either replace the tubes or buy new bikes.  Allie really needs a new bike because she's grown a ton, but we decided to make her ride her smaller one this summer so she can jump up to a much bigger bike next summer rather than buying an in between size.  Jaelyn's bike still fits her just fine ;).  The tubes only cost about $5 each, but in the middle of the changing process I was thinking new bikes would have been the way to go.  Sheez. 

We started our weekend with a Friday evening bike ride on base.  We went about 3 miles.

Randomness

These are random photos from my phone over the last week.
1. Allie said she wanted bangs the other day and I was having a day so she got them :p. please ignore her fever blister and dry skin. It's almost cleared up.
2. Roses out of the yard in a vase Dan made. Cut roses always remind me of my Grandma Molly.
3. Caden is my little reader. He's currently ready a Star Wars book that I'm guessing is about a 5th grade level
4. Gracie's newest discovery. Water comes out of this thing in the tub. I keep hearing this kerplunk type noise and find her playing in the bathtub.

Dip Dyed Hair

I get the cool mom of the day award!

The girls have talked about highlighting or adding streaks to their hair, but they are too young for anything permanent. I found a pin on Pinterest about dip dying hair in kool aid temporarily. I found two methods. The first was doing streaks and the other was dipping the ends. The streaks did not work at all, but dipping the ends worked fabulously. I love Jaelyns hair. Its only been 5 days, but it's faded to a great red. It almost blends with her hair at some angles, but when she's in the sun, it really stands out. She want to make it blue next time although I'm not sure blue would show in her hair.

Cleaning While I Sew

I've been so tired this week. I just attributed it to allergies and napped every morning until around noon when my energy kicked in. Well...I went to the doctor yesterday for a physical and learned I've been mixing up my allergy medicine. Oops. I've been taken the morning med at night and the night, makes you sleepy, medicine in the morning. Today has been so much better. I've actually cleaned half my house and gotten all the material prepped to start Jaelyn's birthday quilt. I just realized I have 8 school days to got it done. I can't believe school is almost over. Next year, if we live in Fairfax County, the kids won't get out until June 20th.

I'm Allergic to Missouri Grass and Other Things

The title made me laugh after I typed it...I mean grass as in the green stuff that grows on the ground, people :p.  Caden has been struggling for weeks with the tree pollen, but thankfully, I've been okay.  I've been watching the pollen levels on a map as grass pollen has creeped North.  Sunday, I watched Caden and a friend play tennis (I use the term "play" loosely) for twenty minutes.  That's all it took to close up my throat and start the drainage.  Grass levels hit "moderate" on Saturday.  Allergy medicine makes me sleepy so I have been very unproductive this week.  On a side note, allergy medicine makes Jaelyn meaner so she's about to fend for herself without any medicine in her.  Oye!

When I haven't been sleeping, I've been working on our itinerary for our South Dakota Trip.  It's all planned out and I've started making the reservations.  It's going to be so much fun.  On our list is visit the Badlands, the Minuteman Missile Site and Wall Drugs (which I've been told is a must see tourist stop.)  Then we'll drive to Mt. Rushmore to see it, Custer State Park, and Crazy Horse Memorial.  In Hot Springs, we'll see the Mammoth Site were the kids will get to be junior paleontologists and maybe go through Wind Cave.  We'll also drive into Wyoming to see Devil's Tower and stroll through Sturgis and see the wildwest show in Deadwood.  I'm sure once we check into hotels in each area, we'll learn about even more things we should do.   It's going to be a fun filled, packed full, memory making adventure and I can't wait!

4th and 5th Grade Track Meet

Today has been a fun day.  I started with Muffins with Mom in Caden's classroom.  He made me a "If you give a mom a muffin" book and gave me a corsage made out of a coffee filter.  Sweet.  After that, I raced to the middle school track to watch the girls' track meet.

 

Jaelyn started out running the 800 meter.  I think this picture is kind of funny.  Jaelyn is in orange and black in the center of the picture.  Most of the other girls are a head taller than her.

Long Jump

 

I don't think she placed in anything, but she had fun and tried her best which is all we can ask for.

 

Allie ran the 400 meter, and did the high jump and long jump.  She tried 3 times to get over the high jump, but her legs caught the bar every time.

 

 

On a side note, I am proud to live in a military community.  A local soldier that died in Afghanistan was brought home today.  There was a procession from the airport on base.  I was at the track meet so I didn't actually see it, but I heard stories about people standing on the side of the road waiting to show their respect and honor the soldier.  Flags off post where flying at half mast and I saw several signs in windows on Main street recognizing the Specialist as a hero.  It makes me proud that some many people would put a hold on their lives to pay their respects.  I know there are parts of this country where that would not happen.