State Fair 2015

Another year, another fair! We were lucky enough to have some great weather - even with it we didn't quite make it until the fireworks, our little people were getting a bit restless. All the same, it was a fun day! We found lumberjacks, rides, fair food, animals, and new rocks (not just one but two booths selling rocks)!

Geode Smashing

During the last holiday season we smashed geodes. The kids really liked it so I purchase more geodes online. One vendor advertised six larger geodes for $18 (with shipping) and another vendor sold 10 small geodes for $10 (free shipping). 

I was hoping to gently break the geodes open like we had done last time. The goal being to break a geode into two nice halves rather than shattering it into small pieces. We started with a large geode. Bentley held the rock chisel while Lincoln hammered at it with a rubber mallet. No success at opening it up. Jake tried next. No success. Bentley, Viva, and Evan took turns. I hammered at it. We could not get any geode to crack open using a chisel and hammer.

Viva, Lincoln, and Evan went back inside. I decided to quit using a chisel and just hammer directly on one of the larger geodes. I quickly cracked one open! At this point I didn't care that it wasn't two nice halves. Bentley and Jake cracked/shattered one large geode each. I convinced Lincoln, Evan, and Viva to give it another go. They had good luck, too. 

The smaller geodes were not easy to crack open. Only one, possibly two of them, had any empty cavity in them. The rest were solid which means they were not geodes since by definition a geode is any HOLLOW nodule. I was not at all happy with the smaller geodes, but Jake and Bentley had a great time hammering away at them. 

Bentley told me "I spent a lot of time out there and I got a lot of satisfying things." Here's his bin of satisfying things:

My Little Maker

Genevieve and Lincoln are great buddies.  One of the benefits of our slower schedule this summer (aka one without 12 hours a week of gymnastics!) has been the extra time she's had to play with her little brother.  She loves to make things for Lincoln and Evan, and is always thinking of ways to make them happy.  They're lucky to have her!

A few days ago Lincoln was a bit upset that Jake and Bentley's game didn't involve him.  Viva ran inside and came back out with this treasure which she threw together:

I love it!  A home made traffic signal.  And it looked pretty good too.  :)  There was, of course, a game to go with it.  Their imaginative play and the complex rules of their games are fun to listen in on.  When they aren't busy driving me crazy, that is... !

Super Cutie Evan (again)

My Mother informs that Evan is dominating the blog.  She seems to be implying that's not quite right... but it's not his fault he's the youngest/smallest/squishiest and thus the very cutest!  I think there is a universal law that states that the smaller the child the cuter they are.  I don't mean to imply my other children are not adorable (they are!) - but they are not, sadly for them, the youngest.  :)

Picture proof:

 

Even when lounging on the coach, studiously working on his ABCs and 123s (I hope!) he is too cute!  The fat elbows, the round face, the languid expression... I love it all.  :)

Boys in Motion

The kids have continued to take advantage of the warm weather and clear skies, and have been enjoying regular time outside.  I suppose they're getting old enough that I should be kicking them out there every single day regardless of the weather... (not my strong suite - outdoor time - but I intend to work on it!)

It's nice to see them all playing together, Lincoln and Evan are old enough now to get in on the fun action!

Kite Flying!

We had a windy day today, which turned out to be perfect Park Strip kite flying weather for the kids and Grandma Karen.  We've tried flying kites on our driveway before but we never seem to have quite the right weather.  I'm glad they found it today!

The Year of the Bike Runs

In looking through my text messaging with my husband I realize that I have dozens of pictures of this, from every week Matt's in town:

 

Lincoln and Evan have done a great job of exploring the trails near our place with their Dad.  Their bikes are much smaller than his, so Matt normally runs along behind them on the trail.  :)  First thing his little friends say when he gets home is "lets go BIKE!"  He (Matt) is quite taken with their enthusiasm.  I told him he'll remember this as the summer of running along behind the bikes.  There was not as much camping this summer as Daddy wanted, but there were plenty of other awesome memories made nonetheless.  

Karate Demo

At the beginning of August the boys had the chance to participate in a karate demo at the university's Japanese festival day.  They spent extra time practicing after class and on weekends for a few weeks, and worked very hard.  They did skits and weapons and kicks, and (if I do say so myself!) it went great.  There was a great turn out for the event, and they had a great time.  It was a good experience!  Unfortunately, the video footage didn't turn out the greatest - it was more than a bit blurry.  :(

Google did, however, piece together this lovely little montage for me:


And, for the record, here are the two video clips (albeit blurry) that we have:

Daddy & Mini-Matt

 

I love this picture.  I think these guys have great matching selfie mug faces.  :)  Matt and I were recently looking at some pictures from summers of past, and I think it reminded him that he used to make better use of the hiking backpacks - so this month Evan has had a few chances to try it out on hikes with Lincoln and Daddy.  It's certainly been a great summer weather wise - I'm glad the kids have gotten in so much time outside enjoying it!

Everyday Life: More July

Viva's flowers continue to grow and grow and bloom!

Lincoln loves to bike…and smile. He's a happy guy.

This is Evan not napping, but he sure is cute. 

Notice he has his blankie and his TWO giraffies.

These are Bentley's weapons set out next to the karate mat ready for weapons class. The long stick in back is called a bo. The pair of three pronged metal forks are sais. The pairs of wood sticks between the sais are nunchucks. The two wooden tools facing each other are tonfas.

The children like to dabble in color theory while taking baths. 

(They start with red, blue, and yellow colored water and go from there.)

Big Bro and Little Bros doing puzzles.

Jake built this fort.

Group Photo: Take 1

Group Photo: Take 2

Everyday Life: July

The Fourth of July! (Notice the kids have red, white, and blue t-shirts--stars and stripes…with Snoopy, Star Wars, and Batman logos!)

Our girl can jump!

Our boy can race!

The kids set up the Micro Charger track in the foyer. 

In July we attended our second rock club meeting. It was their semi-annual silent bid rock auction. Bentley picked up all these great rocks and minerals.

I-pad time for L & E

Kara has scheduled a daily reading time for the kidlets. They like it when she joins them.

Our Youngest Reader 

(Okay, technically he isn't reading, but he sure is enthralled with the book!)

Viva wearing a pair of her mother's earrings.

Sun Catchers

We recently painted up a batch of sun catchers. It seemed like a simple project until we discovered that most of the paint that came with the sun catcher kits was dried out either completely or enough so that the paint wouldn't drip or flow into the corners of the sections. This should not have been a major problem because we own a box filled with stained glass paint--dozens of bottles. Unfortunately most of the bottles were also dried out! We hunted out the useable ones and Bentley, Jake, and Viva painted four or five sun catchers each. Viva and I helped Lincoln and Evan do one each. We sent three of them to uroma in her birthday package (she turned 80 last Saturday!) and the rest of them went on the window.