I've moved...temporarily

OK, so you've noticed that I haven't posted in over a year. Here's why: I'm finishing my Master of Education degree and I've had no time for anything else. I'm even off TV this year! So, if you want to see what I'm doing with my time, head over to my course-mandated blog @ www.volkmannm.blogspot.com and see what I do with my time...

Lions and Tigers and...

Afternoon announcements at SLHS:

"Good afternoon, this is your captain speaking. Several bears have been spotted in the woods behind the school. Until further notice, all students and teachers are to stay out of the woods. Additionally, teachers are asked not to park in the teacher's parking lot since the bears may break into your cars looking for food. Please respect the natural habitat that we share with local wildlife and stay out of the woods."

Are you kidding!!

I'd better take the twinkies out of the trunk...

20 Days and Counting...

That's how many days until I am required to be back at school. So what have I been doing? Nothing.

We spent a nice weekend at a cabin on the Racette River canoeing and swimming and playing in the sand pile and drinking gin and tonic. The kids had fun too.

The garden is producing so much pattypan (I don't know...that's what Mom said it was) that I've been trading it for zuchinni and corn on the Legacy Road black market. Word has it that someone might have a line on some early melons, so I'm saving my late strawberries to trade. Our corn is up too (Daddy says: "Is corn supposed to be this tall?").

So, summer is almost over and I haven't done anything. Sounds like a success!

Summer Starts...Finally!

Whew! After vacation, I need a vacation! We've been home almost two weeks and I finally feel like we've recovered. Now that we're home, it's time for story time, swimming lessons and a new addition: day camp. Every day I take Aiden to the bus stop and he is taken to the park. At the park, he plays with his friends until I come with Avery for swimming lessons. After lessons, we all eat a picnic lunch and then stay for free swim until about 2:00. This year, Aiden has lessons in the big pool, but since he's a year younger than all his friends, he doesn't know how to swim yet. At first he wouldn't even get his head wet, but then I said he couldn't go in the big pool during free swim until he knew how to swim. Now, two days later, he can use the paddle board to cross the pool and willingly dives to the bottom to get rocks his teacher has thrown. I estimate he'll be swimming in two weeks! Avery, on the other hand, has "keep-up-with-brother" syndrome and can do everything Aiden can except dive to the bottom. We've also been planting veggies: peas will be ready soon, but we'll have to wait for August to eat tomatoes and peppers. Hopefully, the strawberries will thrive and we can have some of those too!

Disney World: The Magic Kingdom

Disney World: Animal Kingdom

Disney World: Epcot

Disney World: MGM Studios

Pictures Taken: 972 Galaxies Saved: 1

I'm so proud...

More Fun Run...

Avery ran the entire course (about 400 m) chanting "Popsicle...popsicle...popsicle.

Aiden and his friend Brady discuss strategy....














The race is on!

Aiden demonstrates the classic "Volkmann running form."

Fun Run!

So Anne blogs about running and how she's training for a marathon or something...but tell me this: do you get a popsicle when you finish? I thought not...

Karate Boy Demonstrates Proper Usage of a Family Independent/Co-Dependent Play Device

Fig. 1: "the zip line"

Fig. 2: "the slide:

Fig. 3: "the swing"

Zip...Zip...thud...Zip!

Felix rigged the zip line with a handle-bar made out of c-pvc pipe and two elbow joints...Aiden spent the rest of the afternoon launching himself from the top of the slide and down the line. There was only one small mishap, and it scared Felix and I more than it did Aiden. As Aiden launched himself, his hands slipped and he landed on hands and knees on the ground a few feet below. He was fine, but my heart skipped a beat!

Avery cooks too! And in Anne's apron to boot!

Karate Boy

I was originally going to post only pictures of the zip line on the swing set, but I found these pictures as well. Family day was on Thursday and Aiden chose Avery as his guest. She did pretty well, but Aiden had a hard time. He wanted her to do everything perfectly...Avery just wanted to punch stuff!