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Monday, June 30, 2008
●●●Baby
Birds!!
I
have been watching mama bird on her nest for the two weeks. I have been
trying to keep my distance, so she wouldn't get scared. Today, I noticed
that she wasn't sitting in her nest. I was afraid that she had abandoned
her eggs, so I climbed up and took a peek. And there were some very small
baby birds. I'm guessing they were just born! Now, I'm hoping mama
bird was off getting food, and hasn't left them!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
●●●Capital
Area Food Bank
Dylan went with a few other scouts to the local food bank for a service project.
Children had to be at least 7 years old, so I stayed home with Kyle. Dave
and Dylan seemed to have a good time, and felt pretty good about helping out a
local effort!
Apparently a highlight was that all the kids got to climb inside these huge
boxes!
●●●Children's
Day Art Park
The Austin
Symphony hosts a Children's Day Art Park every Wednesday in June and July.
I went many, many years ago when Dylan was a baby, and have been wanting to go
back ever since. So, when our friends, (Erin, Preston and Emmy Althaus), said
they were going this week, I said we'd join them!
Before the show,
there are clowns walking around handing out balloons and balloon animals.
There is also an "Instrument Petting Zoo" that has half a dozen instruments hanging
from strings. They give each child an antiseptic wipe, and let them
practice playing each of the instruments... I was so impressed, Kyle was
able to get the tuba to sing - a whole lot of air for a little boy!
For the show, they
had a story teller, a string quartet, and then Beto and the Fairlanes came and
played a variety of songs. It was great for the kids to enjoy live music
in a very kid friendly environment!
We lucked out, and
today was Blue Bell Ice Cream day, so after the show, they gave everyone a free
ice cream sandwich. There was an Art and Crafts tent (which didn't interest the
boys one bit) and face painting. And all of this was only 50 cents per
child!!
 
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
●●●Fountains
behind Dougherty Center for Arts
We
had never been here before, and, boy, were we missing out!
Tucked behind the Palmer Events Center and the Dougherty Center is a small oasis
of hilly, green grass. And in the middle is a circle of fountains that spray up
from a concrete pad. Probably two dozen fountains or more that sometimes
spray high and sometimes low. Just made for children to splash through!
We
went with Kyle's friend Abby, and her older sister and mom (who was the person
who informed us that this amazing jewel of a place existed - thank you, Amy
Jackson!!!) The kids had such a great time running through the spray. We
went late in the evening, hoping to see the lights come on. Apparently, in
the evening, the fountains put on a light-show, flashing all different
colors. Unfortunately, we kept waiting and waiting to see the lights, but
finally had to drag the kids home at 8:45 - and still no lights.
Nonetheless, the kids had an absolutely wonderful time playing in the water!!
This is one spot we will be sure to return to!!
●●●Peter
Pan Mini Golf
The
boys picked their second adventure for the summer, and it was Peter Pan Mini
Golf! We started nice and early, so it wouldn't get too hot, but both boys
were sweaty by the end (perfect excuse for a snow cone!). Both boys made
one hole-in-one, though I didn't do as well :o)
Afterward, we went to Barton Springs Creek and let them splash around in the
cool water. And then we went for a ride on the Zilker Zephyr followed by a
short bit on the playscape for a day packed full of fun!
Friday, June
20, 2008
●●●Vacation
Bible School
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This whole week was vacation bible school. I volunteered for the
preschool again, and had a really great crew! We only had six kiddos,
so it was a lot smaller and easier to manage than last year. The theme was
Surfin' through the Scripture!
Kyle was in a group with a lot of his friends from preschool, and Dylan
joined us after he finished with resident camp. |
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On Friday,
after the completion of the week, we went to Chik-Fil-A with a friend.
We were in our booth quietly munching on our chicken nuggets, when two young
girls came giggling up to our booth. They both looked at Kyle, put on
winning smiles, batted their eyes and said, in unison, "Hiiiii, Kyyle!!!".
Kyle just looked up blankly from his fries, then went back to eating -
having no clue who there were! Nor did he seem even slightly interested in
them... Give him a few years, girls! He is still more interested in spiders
and snakes right now! |
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
●●●Barton
Springs Pool
We
spent the afternoon after VBS at Barton Springs Pool with the boys' friends
Robbie and Cam. Every time I go to this pool, I wonder why I don't go more
often. I forgot my camera, so no great pictures, but this place is so
beautiful! And the water is soooo cold! It is a natural spring pool,
and the water sits year round at a comfy 68 degrees! It is surrounded by
huge shade trees, soft grass and frames downtown Austin in the background.
A pure Austin original!
The
boys played in the deep water a little, and then headed down to the shallow end
to chase fish and play in the algae (I know - doesn't sound like a whole lot of
fun, but they love it!)
The
pool also has a diving board that goes straight out over the dark, deep water.
First Dylan decided to try it, and, with much trepidation, made it off the edge.
And later Kyle tried it also - much to the applause of the watching children who
were all much older than he. However, the lifeguard, for obvious safety
reasons, does not want the children to jump off the side of the board, only the
edge. And neither boy was able to quite make that jump straight into the
deep, dark water.... Maybe next year :o)
Tuesday, June 12, 2008
●●●Resident
Camp
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Dylan and Dave spent three days and two nights at Cub World at Camp Tom Wooten.
They did all the usual fund stuff, archery, fishing, crafts, rockets and seemed
to have a great time!
Huge
kudos to Dave for spending all the day in the hundred degree heat and the
humid hot nights in the tent!
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Friday, June 13, 2008
●●●A
new friend
Two
days ago, when I watered the hanging plant on my front porch, a bird flew away.
I have a small stool that I use to reach high enough to pour water into the
planter. But, the stool is not high enough that I can see anything inside
the plant, so the bird startled me.
Yesterday, a bird flew away again while I was watering, but I was in a hurry,
and didn't think much about it.
Today, when it happened a third time, if finally dawned on me - there must be a
nest up there! So, I climbed up and peered inside, and sure enough, there
was a sweet little nest with five eggs. I don't know what kind of bird it
is - as she always flies away when I get close. But I am going to
discontinue watering the plant (and I'm sure the plant will die) because I don't
want to scare the little bird anymore, and make her abandon her eggs.
Maybe in a few weeks, we'll have some baby birds living up there!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
●●●Cub
Scout Summer Day Camp
We spent the last
three days at Camp Mabry for the Cub Scout Day Camp. Three days from 8am
until 5pm in 100 degree (or higher) heat! But we had a lot of fun!
Because Kyle was a
"Tiger" (meaning the youngest of the kids), I accompanied him throughout the
day. Due to the overall disorganization of the event, I wound up pairing
with another Tiger parent to become the "den leader". And it was a lot of
fun! The boys shot BB guns, went fishing, played on a huge slip and slide,
went on nature hikes, shot arrows, shot off rockets and, as you can see below,
went fishing.
Probably the most
fun for me was the fishing (even though I wound up baiting at least 50 hooks,
and finally got over my life-long squeamishness of pulling fish off of hooks! )
What was so great was to see how much all the boys enjoyed such a simple
activity. Some of them had never even fished before! Fortunately, the pond
was well stocked with small fish, so I think every child caught at least one
fish! The pride on their faces when they pulled out a fish was wonderful.
While the boys and
I came home every night smelly, sweaty, dirty and exhausted, it was well worth
it all to see the simple enjoyment of the boys!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
●●●Pioneer
Farms
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I was elected to
set up an "summer activity" for the cub scouts at Pioneer Farms. Summer is
a hard month, since so many children are on vacation, and I almost cancelled due
to the lack of interest. But, we decided to go ahead and host the event -
despite only three or four cubs attending.
Pioneer
Farms is a living history museum, which recreates life on a farm in the 1880's,
complete with costumed volunteers! I have been wanting to go to this farm
for years, but it is somewhat out of the way - and we have just never made it
before.
The boys explored
the farm, learned about pioneer days, pulled water from an old-style pump, and
talked to a real Indian. While we all enjoyed the day, I think if I were
to plan this event again in the future, I would pick a more temperate season!
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Friday, June 5, 2008
●●●Radijazz
- Jumping into summer
A great way to
start our summer adventures. I read the boys my list of "20 days of
summer" and let them choose our first adventure... and Radijazz it was!
And the boys had a great time! Jumping, running, playing. It was a
great way to jump into our summer break!
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
●●●Austin
Nature Center
Yes,
we've been here a thousand times - but it remains a favorite! This time,
we arrived somewhat late. The boys seemed content to spend the morning at
home, and I needed to get some stuff done. But they still had lots of time
to dig up dinosaur bones.
Another favorite part of the Austin Nature Center is their "Nature Exchange".
you can bring in a variety of natural items that you find outside, and they will
help you identify them. Then, they give you points for what you bring in,
and you the points to "buy" other items. We brought what turned out to be a
opossum jaw and a deer jaw that we found in the back yard. Kyle picked out
a cow rib in exchange, and Dylan picked out some petrified wood.
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
●●●Austin
Children's Museum
Our
second spring break adventure was to the Austin Children's Museum -- Kyle's
pick. The kids have always enjoyed coming here, and running around,
playing with the usual exhibits.
Currently, the museum's temporary exhibit was probably the best we've seen.
It was all about sound waves, and had lots of interactive exhibits. My
favorite was the 100 foot long tube that you could use to make echoes. The
boys favorite was a "sound machine". There are dozens of little hard
balls, and a variety of places to insert the balls into a cage structure:
a gear you could turn to move the balls us, a rope you could pull to move them,
or a slingshot. And within the cage were all sorts of instruments
(cymbals, drums, etc.) that the hard balls would hit and make "music".
They had a lot of fun flinging those balls around!
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
●●●Texas
Rodeo
Our
first spring break adventure! (We were going to go yesterday, but the rain
and lightening deterred us).
Every spring break we head to the Star of Texas Rodeo in Austin. The kids
enjoy the petting zoo, riding the ponies, and seeing the farm equipment... But
the huge hit is the carnival. We get there early and buy the half day
wristbands. For whatever reason, there are rarely any crowds, and today
was no exception, beautiful weather and all!
The
boys must have ridden 30 different rides, and many of them many, many times.
I joined them on about a dozen of them. We did the tilt-a-whirl, pirate
ship, roller coaster, ferris wheel, merry-go-round, haunted house, fun house,
and many, many more. Kyle turns out to be a huge thrill seeker, waiting a
turn so he could get the front seat on the roller coaster! Dylan was
lifting his hands along with every roller coaster! And, as it turns out,
my stomach is just not as hardy as theirs. I had to send them on some of
the rides by themselves, as I just couldn't do it!
A
corn dog, pizza slice, funnel cake, cotton candy and cheese fries later, we were
all ready to call it a day!
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
●●●Blue
and Gold
The
annual Cub Scout banquet was this Saturday and Stephanie and I were in charge.
After months of planning, the whole thing seemed to come together really well.
Stephanie was in charge of the food and she was amazing! She somehow managed to find sponsors for all of the
food and decorations, keeping the cost low.
I
was responsible for finding a presenter. I called a member of the SWAT team, who happened to have four
boys: two boy scouts, and two cub scouts. He came and gave a presentation,
then took the kids outside to tour the SWAT-mobile, and finished up by showing
the kids his taser. He was wonderful, fun and knew how to deal with active
boys. The kids seemed to really enjoy it (as did many parents)!
We
hired the boy scouts to help set up and clean up, which was a huge help for both
of us. They got some desperately needed cash for their start-up group, and
we had a much easier time of it, since we had a group of people helping us to do
all the heavy lifting!
All
in all, the event went as well as could be imagined, with good food, good
entertainment, and good fun!
Sunday, February 16th, 2008
●●●AT&T
Half Marathon
Another great race! And another personal record! I finished in two
hours and three minutes, and maintained a pretty steady 9:30 mile pace which
really thrilled me!!
Unfortunately, Danielle was not able to join me because she had bronchitis...
Which is probably why I ran faster... not so much chatting! But then
again, not so much fun, either!
I
was pretty terrified to start, because I hadn't ever run a race alone, but I
guess all of the training with Rogue paid off, because it went really well.
And
for the first time, Dave and the boys made it to see the finish of one of my
races! Which really made my day!!!
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
●●●Visit
with the Janneys
What
a great trip! It was so wonderful to see my sister and my sister's family.
I felt like I got some good time to spend with each of the children!
I,
of course, was in heaven holding Jonathon any chance I got :o)
Joy
is wonderful! She is definitely a mama's girl, and wasn't so sure of
me at first -- not to mention having the difficult transition of being the baby
of the family, to being the second youngest! I felt like a true success
when I she let me bathe her, comb her hair afterwards, and then even use a
hairdryer!
Grace is an incredible sweety - and an immense drama queen. I loved
hearing her tell me her stories, and she would flip back her hair and pose!
Samuel is all boy and very sweet! I would love to get he and Kyle
together, because they are both balls of energy!
Allison and I spent an afternoon baking bread together, and she is a true hoot!
Full of mischief and laughter and fun!
Katianne is, in a word, amazing. She takes on so much responsibility,
never complains, and is a lot of fun to be around!
Ted
Jr is brilliant and funny. He could have me bent over laughing so hard!
And
Ted and Laura seem to be doing very well! Ted looked very good!
I
didn't get as much done as I would have liked to, but I really enjoyed the time
I spent there. I also have a renewed appreciation for all that my sister
does!
The
boys were fine with Daddy and Grandma, though it was wonderful to see them
again!
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, because my hands were too busy to be
holding a camera - but if I can get one from someone else - I will add it here
later :o)
As
an added plus, my brother came down from Erie for the weekend! It was
really fun to see Logan and him again! And my dad's birthday was that same
weekend, so he came up on Sunday and we had a birthday party for him! Lots
of fun family stuff!
●●●Mardi
Gras
Our church always has a small
Mardi Gras "parade", and then a pancake supper. The kids decorate their
bikes and parade around the church parking lot. Very simple. Very
fun! This year, the boys decided to bring their scooters instead.
Kyle was thrilled that many of his preschool buddies were there. Below are
Abby and Devin posing with him.
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
●●●Report
to State
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Once
a year, all of the scouts within Texas march down Congress Avenue toward the
Capitol. After this march, the heads of scouting meet with the governor,
to "report" what they've accomplished in the past year.
Today bloomed as gorgeous as a Texas winter day could. It was a bit chilly
at the start (45 degrees), but quickly warmed up to a very comfortable day.
As usual, our pack was situated toward the mid-back of the parade - which means
it takes hours (literally), before we got our chance to walk down Congress.
But the kids were on a hay-filled trailer, and were content to just play with
the other cubs.
After the parade, we hung around the Capitol, which has gorgeous grounds. The
kids drank from a really neat fountain, climbed trees
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(see
the gallery for the great pictures Dave got of them!) and enjoyed the weather.
We then trundled inside to watch the first part of the "report". While
interesting, each of the 19 area councils gave a report on what they had done -
and the boys lost interest about half way through. So we headed back to
Congress, and grabbed a quick lunch.
The
only drawback was that I was already downtown with my running class that
morning. I got in an easy 7 miles, and then headed to the parade. If
I had known it would take over an hour before they paraded, I would have gone
home first for a quick shower!
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Sunday, January 27th, 2008
●●●Pinewood
Derby
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Ahh
- the events that all cubs look forward to, and all parents dread!
Fortunately, Dave takes on all the responsibility for helping the boys prepare
their cars. And I just sit back and eat hot dogs and cheer the boys on.
Dylan's car did well - not placing in the Pack final, but winning first place in
our Den (after the overall Pack winner who was also from our den).
And Kyle's car won the sibling race. Dave was a little frustrated, as a
last minute assembly error on his part cost Dylan's car some speed. But after
seeing the smile on both boys faces at the end of the race, he was reassured and
content.
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All
in all, this was a very busy weekend!
●●●3M
Half Marathon
Danielle and I ran another
half marathon -- my third half marathon, and second time running the 3M.
The 3M course is nice because it is mostly downhill - starting at Gateway
Shopping Center and running downtown to the Capitol. The weather was absolutely
gorgeous! Sunny, fairly warm, but not too humid.
We
ran the race in 2 hours and 12 minutes, which is a personal record for me.
The best part was that I felt strong and confidant the whole race - largely due
to training with Rogue since September. We kept up a fairly decent pace,
with our second half being faster than our first - and then ran full out for the
last mile! It was a wonderful feeling, crossing the finish line feeling so
strong!
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
●●●Bicycle
Rodeo
Pack 446 hosted its first
bicycle rodeo... organized by yours truly :o).
The
kids first received a safety lesson, had their bikes inspected, their helmets
fitted (and in some cases, replaced) and then practiced their skills on a
bicycle course. Marc Miller from the Austin Cycling Association showed up
the day of to build the course, and also donated a number of helmets - which was
a huge help! And the extra helmets were great, because Kyle's was too
small and cracked!
The
kids had a great time riding their bikes. Dylan had only been riding three
or four times since we took off his training wheels, and I was shocked at how
well he rode through the course.
The event took some time to
plan, but went off reasonably well, largely due to the amount of volunteer
support that showed up. All in all, I think it was worthwhile, and I'd be
willing to consider trying it again next year.
Monday, January 21st, 2008
●●●Jonathon
Michael Janney is born!
And
my sister made it to the hospital in time... barely... to give birth to her
seventh child! He was born at 2:38 am and was 8 lbs 7 ounce
Mother and baby are doing fine, though Laura is suffering the flu-like symptoms
that ran through her household all last week! Ted continues to undergo radiation
treatment, but seems to be keeping his spirits up. He was thankful that
the birth was on a holiday, so that he could take the day off. This is a
family of true heroes!
Here
is a link to the note Ted sent about the birth.
Monday, January 14th, 2008
●●●January
Camping
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