Lightning Storm

Devon got a pretty neat video of a lightning storm one night. There are some pretty cool frames in there if you can freeze it just right. Of course, the real thing was more amazing- but this is pretty good!

Spencer has an amazing imagination. After using Elizabeth's camera he insisted that we make one for him out of paper. He spent a lot of time snapping pictures and looking at the screen on the back to check them out. He would even print them out for you.
The other day he was watching Backyardagins and they were using a metal detector. After I figured out how to make one he found a lot of gold and money all over the complex.
The great part about those things was that he really thought they were real, and he was totally satisfied with the paper version. Not so with the roller skates. After insisting for about 1 hour that I could not make roller skates (like he had seen on George) I finally cut out some paper circles and taped them on his shoes in hopes that that would satisfy him. I think he was quite surprised that they didn't actually work. He said "Well, they will work on the ramp." No luck there either. He finally tried his "Abra-cadabra wand" but even that would not make those paper wheels turn. He usually asks me to make roller skates about once a day now, until today when his friend brought out roller blades. He tried them, and since then has been asking all of the other teachers "Excuse me, do you know how to make roller skates?" At least he doesn't give up easily- or ever.
I do love to see him play though. He is always imagining something huge and wonderful. A few days ago we made a movie studio in his room with a flashlight and toy dinosaurs. Maybe he will be an inventor when he grows up!

Last weekend of summer

So I have been wanting to post these pictures for a while, but our internet has been mostly down. It usually doesn't work, but when it does it's like dial-up speed, how did we ever live with that? Today it is moving pretty fast though.
So the last weekend of the summer we packed with some fun things from around here. On Friday Devon had a school meeting in Blanding, so the boys and I met him and we tried the Dinosaur Museum. The boys really enjoyed it. James kept saying "Wow, Wow!" Spencer was running around looking at everything- luckily we were the only ones there.




Then we went to Monticello. We really made the whole trip to meet up with Thomas and Elizabeth on their way through to Texas, but Devon's meeting got over early, so we had some time. We stopped by the county fair. It was not too exciting. They had some big bouncy things, but they were expensive to go on. Other than that is was pretty much animals. But the boys loved it, especially the pigs. And they got to meet Smoky the Bear.



We didn't get any pictures with Thomas and Elizabeth, but we met up with them and went to a yummy burger place. Elizabeth let Spencer take pictures with her digital camera. He loved it. It scared me to death, but the camera was still in one piece when they left.
The next day we went on an excursion with the Whitakers. They have been gone all summer, so we wanted to have one last party with them. We went to this campground that we had heard about with the plan of roasting hot dogs and playing in the river. First the sign that said "No fires" ruined our plans. Also the river was quite high from all of the rain, so we turned around and changed plans. We ended up cooking our hot dogs at the church and roasting marshmallows over the burners.


We did find a place to wade in the river. It was so muddy! We had a good time though. James stayed right at the edge and threw rocks in. At that age Spencer would have been heading for the middle of the river. It's nice to have different personalities.
Now school has been in session for 2 weeks. It's been a much easier adjustment this year with no new babies. Actually, by the end of the summer (but not until the last week) I was ready to return to some semblance of schedule. It was a great summer.

If this summer could last forever!

I really would love to freeze time. This summer has been so nice. the weather has been great. It has not been too warm, and we have a rain/thunder storm 2 or 3 times a week to cool off more. I love being able to spend time as a family- and especially to have Devon here.



Most evenings we go outside after dinner and play and eat popsicles.
Sometimes it rains a ton and makes a lake to splash in- and float paper boats.


The boys both love to ride bikes, the only problem is they both love to ride the same bike.

Haircuts

So I decided it was finally time to cut the boys' hair. I was really sad to cut James' because he looked to cute with his long hair, but my sister is getting married over Labor Day weekend, and I wanted to have plenty of time for it to grow out. Someday I will learn how to do with without clippers, but for now I just use the longest one on the top and hope they don't look too bald!
Spencer after

and before

James after

and before

They seemed a lot shorter in real life then they look in the pictures!