Cub Scouts

Last night we had our final cub scout event of the summer. Grayson received all of his day camp awards, including his bb gun and archery awards. He also completed his "Wolf" requirements, which includes a pin for the mother. I think he was most excited about the candy bar he got for having a birthday though. Our activity this month was a bike rodeo. Officer Keller came and talked to the boys about bike safety, and let them take a look inside his police car while he was there.

Then it was onto the bike course.

The boys had to maneuver their bikes through a series of obstacles, and at the end throw a rolled up newspaper into a bin. Most of the boys went through the course three or four times, so I think it was a hit. Rowan did the course on his scooter, and seemed to think that the point was to run into as many obstacles as possible.

At the end of the event we got a surprise visit from our local canine unit. Now that is an obedient dog. I sure wouldn't want to have him after me.

We finished off the night with ice cream sandwiches. It was a great note on which to look forward to a new year of scouting.

Swimming Lessons

On Friday we had our last swimming lesson of the summer. This year just Rowan and Grayson took lessons. Fuller has gotten good enough that I let him quit, but about midway through lessons he was wishing he was still taking them.

Grayson made great progress this year. His strokes are all looking great and he became a much stronger swimmer.

Rowan did much better at listening to his teacher this year, not quite so silly.




Rowan always closes his eyes when he swims on his back, which means he usually swims in a circle. His teacher kept having to realign him.







The one thing Grayson really struggled with was diving. He had lots of bad belly flops, but never gave up. In the end he finally got one or two actual dives, and a high five from his teacher.

Grayson ended up reaching his goal of passing level 3, and Rowan made great progress on level 2.

The Oregon Zoo

A while back we attended Paul's company picnic at the zoo. Over the years I've probably been to this zoo at least 100 times, so I must say it's lost a great deal of it's charm for me. ( Especially since some of the animals there seem to be getting increasingly neurotic.)The boys were pretty excited to go though. They all like animals, but Grayson is the true lover. I think he could go there every day and never get tired of looking at the animals. They also like the free burgers and ice cream that's Paul's company provides.




One thing I did really enjoy seeing was the baby elephant. It was so interesting to watch how the three adults stood sentry around it. Every time the baby moved the adult elephants adjusted themselves so that they had it pretty well surrounded.



The lorikeets were the other big hit of the day. We had a great time feeding them, and happily no one got pooped on (which has happened to us in the past.)

I'm thankful to Paul's company for providing us with this day of family fun!

This ones about ME

I was tagged by Paige-

What is your current obsession? Throwing things away. I think the thought of maybe going back to work this fall has me freaked out about the condition of my house.

What do you hate the most that everyone else seems to love? Dancing with the stars.

What are you wearing today? Brown cargo pants, white t-shirt, Paul's nice leather flip flops

What's for dinner? COSTCO burgers cooked on the grill and fried potatoes(from the potatoes that we dug up in our garden yesterday)

What would you eat for your last meal? That's a hard one. Probably crab cakes and brownies, that's sounding good right now.

What is the last thing you bought?
Bandaids. The boys are going through some serious band aids this summer. Even with my no bandaid unless there's blood rule.

What are you listening to right now?
"Vacation" by Vitamin C- forgot how fun that song is! Also a fan of her "Graduation" song

What do you think of the person who tagged you? Paige is my all time favorite neighbor ever! She's kind and generous and always willing to lend a hand, no matter what the request. She has a great sense of humor and is always fun to talk to and commiserate with. Plus she's fun to go fabric shopping with!

If you could have a house, fully paid for, and totally furnished anywhere in the world, where would it be? Portland. That's my city!

If you could go anywhere for the next hour, where would it be?
The movies. Preferably with no kids.

What is one of your hobbies? Knitting

What are 3 things that annoy you most?
1. Rude people
2. Biased news coverage
3. Stepping on LEGOs in the middle of the night

What is your favorite color? Changes all the time.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe? My big pink fluffy bathrobe. If I could wear it in public I probably wouldn't be such a homebody.

What is your dream job?
Not sure. Something crafty, creative or involving books.

What are you going to do after this?
Take Grayson to WALMART so he can spend some of his birthday money.

What inspires you? Beauty in Nature.

Who was the last person you kissed?
Rowan, after he fell off his scooter.

What are you currently reading?
Just finished reading Fahreheit 451. Completely mind blowing how prophetic some of Bradbury's predictions were. Lots of good food for thought.

What delighted you most today? Watching Rowan jump into the deep end at swimming lessons today. The smile was priceless.

I'm usually horrible at doing tags, so I'm not going to tag anyone. But if you feel like doing this one it's pretty fun.

A Quick Trip

This last week the boys and I took a quick trip up north to visit my sister and her family. They live close to the water, so we were looking forward to slightly cooler temperatures. We arrived in time for lunch on Thursday, then headed for the beach. They live just minutes away from Kayak Point Park, which is a lovely area on Puget sound. The water was nice and cool and there was a great breeze.






Rowan is lucky to have nice older cousins who like to carry him around and help him out. He's everyone's little buddy.



The cousins lined up in order of height instead of age like they usually do. Alyssa at 17 really should come before Noah who's 13. I don't know what the story is with those 2 stooges on the end.

We had brought some inner tubes for the kids to play with, but they were much more interested in the big logs. Fuller did a good job of scraping up his chest and shins climbing on and off the logs.

The hosts with the mosts!

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In the evening when it had cooled down we went to check out the Stanwood/ Camano Fair.

Fuller and Noah fell prey to the carnival barkers and their promise of big prizes for simple feats. They both left poorer and empty handed.

Grayson enjoyed the animals the most, although his ride on the "Gravitron" was a close second.



Rowan was dying to try out some rides. His first choices were thankfully things he wasn't tall enough for. He settled for the big slide, the fun house(where he ran into a mirror) and a boat ride.

He really wanted to go in the haunted house, but I told him it was too dark and scary for him. He protested that "he loves the dark!"

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On Friday we had planned on going to Anacortes and then going over Deception Pass to Whidbey Island for a picnic on the beach. When we got to Deception Pass it was encased in a cool fog bank, so we headed back inland to Padilla Bay.

The boys thought it was a little cool, but had fun playing on the rocks and in the water anyway.

Grayson enjoyed sharing his lunch with the sea gulls.

And Fuller and Noah buried themselves in the sand.

My favorite part was getting to chat with my sister.

It was a really good visit!(Except the part where Rowan threw up. Lucky for me I was out shopping with the girls and Forrest got to clean it up!)