Rewards and Awards

In light of the fact that Roland will start school in the fall, we have tried to do some fun things this summer to break the monotony of everyday life. We did manage to go to Myrtle Beach for a few days after graduation. It was so nice to get away from home and responsibility, at least for a little while.
While we were there, Duncan got to experience his first log ride. During the ride he was really good and did not cry or want to get off, but the look on his face in our picture was just priceless.
Full moon on the night of our arrival. Arrrooo!
The boys anxiously awaiting our first day at the beach.
For all you SNL fans, this is "The Falconer" from the Medieval Times. They let the falcon fly around the arena and he flew right over our heads-and right over our plates! Not very hygienic, but cool.
Tooling around in the pool. This is by far one of the best purchases we ever made.

Hanging at home...
James Russell style
Let the battle begin: Water guns vs. ...
Karate

We also wrapped up Roland's first year (1/2 year) in Awanas. Roland's age group is called cubbies. The goal is for kids to learn about God and to practice what they learn through applying what they learn. Each week they complete a section of a workbook and do something that relates to that week's lesson (like planting a plant, or learning about another country). In the end they earn badges for their efforts, which they put on their uber cool cubby vest, as depicted below. We are very proud of him.

It's gettin' hot in here

With the start of summer (which has been ridiculously hot, so far), we are officially doing "stuff" faster than I can post. Right before the end of the school year, both the boys participated in the tric-a-thon for St. Judes. Fortunately for us, Shane found this awesome pedal car while dumpster diving behind work. And no, things are not that bad financially, that's just who we are. Both boys love the pedal car and it has an adjustable seat. What a sweet score! The competition was so intense that Roland had to break out the driving gloves. My boys do love their accessories.
Duncan enjoyed riding into the brick wall at full speed. Repeatedly. Thankfully helmets are required for participation.

As we were watching TV a few Sundays ago, we saw an ad for a farm about 30 minutes away and said, "What the hay-let's go." This billy goat was so gruff. He nudged all the other animals out of the way so he could eat all the food.
The guys.
Time for the goats to go to the slaughter house.
The best part of all was this gazebo full of corn. It must have been 3 ft deep in shelled corn. We did belly flops and buried each other. Way cool.
Okay, so the slide was pretty awesome also. It is this HUGE piece of culvert pipe that, frankly, made me almost wet myself with the bumping action. It was very fast though and well worth the risk.
The crazies part 1:
part 2:

Cowboy for Hire #036966

Did somebody say "loose canon?" I just wanted to say congratulations to Shane for passing the PE exam (although he is very physically inclined, this has nothing to do with gym class). He is now officially licensed by the state of N.C. as a professional mechanical engineer. With the phenomenal amount of studying involved, difficult subject matter, two kids, and no time, it is really an amazing accomplishment. Not to mention he only slept 3.5 hours the night before.

Can I get a woot woot?

Grad-u-ma-way-tion

A self portrait

As insane as it seems to me, Roland has graduated pre-school! I can't say that he was very excited about it, but that is mostly because he knows that now he will go to "big school," and he really has no idea what that entails. I think that on some innate level, he knows it will require lots of paperwork. Oh, and lest I forget, "The hat makes my head itchy." I feel his pain. Back in the day, all the girls complained about the hats crushing their 6 inch high bangs.
He was such a handsome little man. He and his classmates sang several songs and recited some poems prior to walking the stage. They all did such a great job.




Each student is given a Bible as part of their graduation, as seen below. Roland keeps telling me we need a Bible (which we have), but I pointed out that he now has his own. So he counters, "I mean a real Bible. That one is not real." I do not understand the 5 year old mind sometimes.
Congratulations Baby Man! Mom and Dad are very proud of you and look forward to many more of your milestones.

Testing-Attention Please.

Here we are a short 3 months after Duncan's stitches, and I am finally adding a close up shot. Actually we are test trying a new camera! I am very excited. We are long overdue a decent camera. We sort of wussed out of buying a DSLR camera due to the bulkiness, but who knows, we might go back and exchange this one.

This past weekend we had gymnastics recital, which was a hoot. We didn't get the camera until after the recital, so again, the pictures from indoors are limited. I did get some video and hopefully will post some of that. I had a great Mother's Day weekend with some Indian food, some champagne, and a hike in the woods (and a swim in the Eno River for Roland) with some two awesome kids and an awesome husband. I couldn't ask for more.

Night shots. You would think that two kids that were so gung ho about wearing safety gear (however misplaced it might be) would have less bruises/scratches/stitches. Hmmm.

Roland's action shot.
I'd like to say that Buckwheat is looking none too happy here because Duncan is eating his dog bones in the next picture, but in truth, that's just his look.
According to the kids, milk bones taste pretty good.
Mom is loving this face.

Rockin' the D.C.

Family reunion with Shane's folks?* Nope. Just the Natural History Museum in D.C.

Seriously though, we took a mini vacation to see my good friend Renny get married! It was a great wedding with great food and great friends. We spent one night with Shane's old roomie Scot (aka Squaw), whom the boys idolize (maybe we can get a video some day of exactly what a "catch and release" is, but just let me say there are no wild animals involved), and then we had the day of the wedding and reception, and then a day of tourism. It was nice getting to catch up with a lot of my lab homies all at once. It has been a long time since we have all gotten together. My crew was certainly tired by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around.
Chopstick anyone?

Chopsticks as a weapon anyone?
Now that's tall.
Not the greatest pic in the world, but definitely a highlight of our trip...the Metro! It is cheap, fast, and the boys loved it. The pictures don't accurately portray the "escalator to hell" feeling of this particular station. Roland cried when we got off at our last stop.


Washington Monument.

And that's a wrap.
*Disclaimer-Had Shane written the blog, he could have substituted "Shane's family" for "Christy's family." But seeing as he neither writes nor reads the blog, "Shane's family" stays.

Older and Wiser

Wow. They aren't kidding about those milk hormones.