Sharing our life - all our adventures and bumpy rides. Family of four with two young boys - moved back home to allow them the similar experiences and opportunities we had living in North Carolina. Come explore with us!
We signed Kade up for Soccer through the town of Apex. They play all games at Hunter Street Park, a very cute little park right downtown we had not ever visited up to this point!
Kade is Blue Jersey #15! First game was August 26th and Kade played pretty well for only attending two practices prior! (Some mis-communication with getting assigned to a team late made us miss the first 3 practices! Oops!)
Yes... he got whistled at this throw... (got to keep your feet down while you throw!)
I was amazed the refs weren't calling the game - thunder was going on all around us!!
Soccer seems to be a much better sport for his body - constant movement!
Soccer game from September 16.
Kade was SO close to a goal!
Good looking soccer Dad.
And then he played goalie! Good thing this was the only time the ball came near him - otherwise a very uneventful goal keeping.
Game from September 27. Kade is goalie with a little more action!
He made that save!!
I think he thoroughly loves having the attention of his teammates during his goalie kick!
Game from October 7.
He can be pretty speedy when he wants to be!!
Two more games and then Fall Soccer season is over. He's already asking to play again in the Spring! Success!!
We celebrated Papa's 73rd birthday! Dinner menu consisted of beef tenderloin, Atlantic salmon, white rice and garden-grown zucchini! Nana Phyllis wasn't feeling well unfortunately, but we sent Papa back home with some dessert to share.
Wish I had taken some pictures, but both Brock and Kade showcased things that they like for presents for Papa. Brock wrote a story about them going into a forest and seeing a real Moose. Kade completed four long division problems.
Happy faces about to devour that apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert!
Another weekend, another Big Mabel opportunity! This time we talked the kiddos into trying it backwards. Hard to get a picture of both their heads up over the edge!
There they are - with the U.S. Route 64 bridge in the background!
Turned back around - and they both agree; they like it better this way.
We like it too so we can keep an eye on the big bounces.... like this one!!!
No one was hurt and he was happy to continue! What a nice Labor Day weekend!
First day of school and last year (for awhile) that they're both in the same school!! Both kiddos were really excited to be going back to school this year - Brock is in a class with one of his good friends, so that has really brightened his spirits! Kade is entering SSA (Single Subject Acceleration) Math this year and pumped! Both boys received brand new Pottery Barn backpacks this year - Pac-Man (X-Large!) for Brock and Minecraft for Kade (backpacks not pictured).
We are ready for a new school year!! Moose was excited to get his picture taken too!
After just a week of missed busses (their fault, not ours), we are good to go - last year took almost three weeks, so I call that an improvement!
We are starting the new year fresh and really excited! Kade goes down the hall to a fourth grade class every day for his math hour - and it happens to be Brock's teacher from last year!
These are some snippets from Brock's teacher - they flew paper airplanes in the courtyard, collecting data to make a line graph (Brock has his back to the camera up against the wall). The second picture was a "directions test" - that's Brock's friend making the very dramatic gesture - guess he didn't follow the directions so well. ;) Both pictures you can see Brock's new accessory - glasses. We are so proud of him and his dedication to wear them (even if the incentive at home is driving him) - it surely makes a difference when you can see things!
One of the many cool things about their elementary school - electives! They choose them the first week of school for Quarter 1 and 2 and were just released today! They get two each quarter.
Kade's Electives
Quarter 1 = Logic & Problem Solving (AIG) and Character on Trial
Quarter 2 = Math Around Us (AIG) and Multiplication & Division. (Can you tell he loves math?)
Character on Trial sounds pretty cool - he will bring a fairy tale villain to trial using our own legal system and laws, build a case, write about it, and argue the case.
Brock's Electives
Quarter 1 = Rocks & Minerals: Treasures from the Earth and Lifetime Sports (PE class)
Quarter 2 = Media Masters: The Truth about Advertising (AIG) and Robotics
Media Masters can be very practical information and Brent will surely appreciate Brock being informed in marketing schemes!
Last bit of "new beginnings" - Brock is officially a Wahoo! An RSA (Raleigh Swimming Association) Wahoo, that is! He started September 1st and is loving it. More blogs to come of his swimming and swim meets!
Brent and Kade hanging outside of RSA waiting for Brock's practice to be done.
Every two months, Kade completes his Taekwondo cycle and gets tested at graduation. You have to show what you know!
Each student shows off their Form, Sparring, and Board Breaking to be able to graduate to the next belt. Kade was working towards his Brown Belt Decided.
A few days later, we were back at Carolina Pines Community Center for the local tournament.
This was a much bigger deal than the last time - he was competing against nine other boys in his ring. He was so close in his Forms. He was in a three-way tie for second place and had to perform his Form again.
Unfortunately, the judges decided to award the other two boys with second and third place, leaving Kade with a fourth place finish in his Forms.
Nevertheless, he persisted! On to Weapons where he showed off his nunchuck routine! He did really well, placing Second in Weapons.
This time Kade wanted to sign up for Combat weapons in addition to standard sparring. He was so good!!
He was awarded Second place at Combat Sparring. There was one boy in particular who was TOUGH to beat!
Kade got him in the end though! Both boys moved up within the sparring bracket to meet each other again in the final sparring match. The other boy was much taller than Kade, which Kade used to his advantage! He crouched down when the other boy kicked and it would miss him! Kade could get a few punches in that way too! The other boy would then try to punch Kade, but since Kade was crouched down, he punched his head (helmet). He received a warning the first time, but the second time - he was disqualified from the match - making Kade the winner! Ha!
It was a long morning at the tournament - Kade was exhausted afterwards! We loved watching him and so proud of how well he did!
I'm going to add this in here too.... we grew a watermelon!
We planted this thing in APRIL! I think it was a good learning lesson to the boys to be grateful for the things we can just pick up at the grocery store - how long the process takes for things to grow, just for you to eat!!
We booked a long weekend in Roaring River, North Carolina. Our cabin was tiny. Technically, one bedroom, one loft and two bathrooms. The boys had their own "cabin" - two twin beds in a loft above the family room/kitchen of the main house. The covered porch connected the main cabin to the master cabin - where we slept - one bedroom and a bathroom (and laundry). 700 sq feet of air conditioned space on 18 acres of land! Perfect for us to let Moose roam free!
It was wonderful to be in nature and breathe that clean mountain air!
There was a nice trail through the center of the property that opened up to corn fields on one side and hops field on the other (also bordered tobacco fields).
Brock was so excited to find a wild mushroom!
We attempted to build a fire in the fire pit the first evening, but so much of the wood was wet. We got a little fire going - enough for the boys to make s'mores!
Moose thoroughly enjoyed the stick finding part of building a fire!
The next day, we drove the 5 miles over to Stone Mountain for a hike to the waterfall. I think roundtrip from the car was about 2.75 miles.
It was pretty slippery standing in this part and at about this same time, 3 other dogs showed up with their owners. We decided it best if Moose and Brent hang out at the top and Kade and I walk down to see the actual waterfall.
Kade showing off the waterfall.
Look! We walked to Stone Mountain Falls!
I made us all redo the picture because Moose wasn't facing the camera! Haha!
On our way back to the parking lot, we stopped to check out the stream. Moose liked wading in it, but that's only because he was hot - otherwise, he does not like to swim.
The next day, we packed up our stuff to head "into town" for some Cracker Barrel breakfast! Can you believe in just one night this amazing spider worked such an intricate web?!?
I know it's hard to see - it was on Brent's truck between his side mirror and door!
Goodbye mountain house! Our favorite thing to do was to hang out on the porch of the house in the shade and just sit around and talk. The owners had lots of games for the kids to do (huge jenga blocks, cards, dart board, etc) and we just hung out as a family. The boys ate lots of popsicles and we sipped our drinks. The big industrial strength fan mounted on porch kept the mosquitos away. It was nice to "unplug" and just spend quality time with the family.
(Picture from part of property - Old shed still standing from the 1800's!)
We arrived at Camp Cheerio! Brock was in the Cheyenne Cabin this year!
Wouldn't you believe about 10 minutes before they officially opened up the road for all campers, the bottom fell out and it POURED!! We were SOAKED! We ran inside with all of his things and made his bed and put out his toiletries. We had plans to walk around a bit - take Moose around the big field by the flagpole, etc - but not in this downpour! Gave our hugs and wished him a great week!! (Yay for bottom bunk!!)
We (I) waited for the release of daily pictures every night, scouring to find Brock in them!! We found him in a few group shots - soccer, fishing and evening program pictures!
Sixth boy from right (blue shark bathing suit)
(Brock is wearing his USA shirt and blue crocs)
This one from the last day was totally worth it - getting ready to go down the slide at the lake! Love that smile!
He was ready to come home after a week at camp! Cheyenne scored Honor Cabin twice this week. He said his favorite thing to do this year was the Canoe trip and favorite evening program was Predator-Prey!!
