I Am Four

JW hit the big 4. Some things about him:

• LOVES ninja turles
• Likes trains
• Loves to play with his siblings
• Loves the beach
• Likes to run around like crazy
• Is an American Ninja Warrior (especially on the stair railing)

Kayaking the Lower Mystic Lake

Now that I have some Kayaks to my name, I have to do something with them. Two of them are not enough for the family, so we have to take turns. I took Kiwi out on a trip, and Luann took Gman. The littlest are not old enough to go until we get some smaller life vests, and mom and dad are more comfortable with that. The lakes are deep!

Kiwi totally loved going through the lily pads, and collected a couple to show the little boys. We made a good circle around the edge of the lake, and it was fun to watch her figure out how to work the kayak.

Gman got to put his new-found kayak skills to the test, since he just got the kayak merit badge at scout camp. I hear he did just fine, since he also returned from the minor adventure unharmed.

My First Scout Camp

I don't have many things to post about my first scout camp as a dad, and Gman's as a scout. Just some facts and figures:

1. By the LDS church rules, you must be 12 to attend, otherwise you have to have a male parent or guardian attend with the scout. So, I got to take time off of work (see the story about the kayaks for more details) and attend with Gman. Yay for me!

2. It was very hot and humid. It probably was in the 70's and 80's the entire time. Doesn't sound hot, but when you have to walk and hike everywhere, it got tiring for this old man (see post in June on the birthday for more details)

3. This old man had a hard time passing the swimming test, which requires a 100 yard swim in a variety of strokes; note that it was definitely short of that yardage, so yay for me! But I was glad I did pass, since that was the only way to get cool on the hot days. This was the only camp I have been to that only had HOT for a shower temperature.

4. Gman was a real trooper. He was not able to pass the swim test the first time, the second time, nor the third time. The swim area lead worked with him to practice the strokes, and much to his surprise, he took down that test! I did have to walk away, as I did not want to be caught crying with pride or anything.

5. I have no pictures from the camp, since they really frowned on the electronics, both for the kids, and the leaders. The above is good enough; just imagine a bit more tiredness in the eyes and dirt in the nails.

The Summer Crazy Begins!

We like to do some big events in the summer. Our biggest had to be the trip to Martha's vineyard. We drove an hour with bikes in tow down to the ferry that would carry us to the island. We were joined by another family of four plus a friend and a dad with his teenage daughter. That made 10 kids and five adults.

Once at the ferry, we parked our cars and loaded bikes and people onto the ferry. That's right. We were doing Martha's vineyard by bike. And half the kids weren't strong bike riders. It was an adventure! We biked 7 miles to a lighthouse and 7 miles back. There were stops along the way for lunch, swimming, carousel-ing, and pizza. I don't know if I'll do it again soon, but definitely an adventure worth having at least once every few years.

On the Bus to the Ferry. Lots of smiles all around. If they only knew.

Taking the ferry across.

The crew about ready to go. I think we're in for quite the day.

Having lunch before the bike ride.

Chad did the bulk of the hauling. The is the first half of the 13 mile ride.

Halfway there

On the way back we stopped to jump off a bridge. And play in the ocean. This was a much needed break.

The day ended with a carousel ride and pizza.

The sunset on the way home. So beautiful.

Kayaks for Fun and Profit

So, I bought some kayaks.

I am a very boring person normally. The most exciting thing that has happened to me is I think the move to Boston. I mean, who moves all the way across the country? A good number of people we have met here, it seems.

So back to the kayaks: why did I pick them up? Because the company I came out here for didn't need them. Why didn't they need them? They were no longer a going concern, meaning they had to close the doors (essentially) since the one product they had, after many years of licensing the product from Microsoft after Microsoft bought it from them, was no longer going to be sold. So time to buy up the assets!

That is how I came to be the owner of two fun kayaks. Now to take them on a little trip...

School (Finally) Ends

It seems that we're in school forever. We don't start until September and with snow days, it's almost July. Here are a few end of the school year event photos.

Field Day Fun

You can't beat a day of water play and Popsicles.

Playing after pickup time

A page out of Seth's end of year collage for his teacher

The Kindergarten concert

Greg's Choir Concert

Another Kindergarten classroom event

Really, those Kindergarteners get all the fun activities. Too bad I love to go and take tons of pictures. It's so fun to see them learn and grow throughout the year.

Goodbye 3rd and Kindergarten (and 1st for the photobomber)

See you later 6th grade (gotta love the socks).

Foam Fest

I ran my first OCR (obstacle course race) and loved it. It wasn't really about the running and more about the mud and water. So much fun. Unfortunately Foam Fest went bankrupt a month later. I was hoping to bring the big kids along next year. Oh well. We'll have to find another fun one for them to do.

                       Another great race with Liz and Jill. We had to include the Ragnar headbands.