Biggest Spider Ever

I saw this spider in Belleville this week.  It really was as big as it looks - at least 4 or 5  inches long!!  I spotted him from the road while I was driving!

I'm Going to Live with Grandma

Will:
"If you don't give me what I want for breakfast (Kellog's Krave cereal, the first ingredient being SUGAR!) I'm not going to live here anymore!"

Me:
"Where are you going to live?"

"At grandma's house!"

"How are you going to get there?"

"Use the TomTom."

"Are you going to walk?

"No, I'm going to drive the go kart."

"You don't have a go kart."

"I'm going to buy one when I'm ten."

"Where are you going to live until you turn ten?"

"At Grandma's house."

"How are you going to get there?"

"The TomTom."

"Are you going to walk?"

"No, I'm going to drive the go kart."

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...

We continued this same conversation two more times until I couldn't keep from laughing!  He was in no mood to stop long enough to "get" the joke there but I certainly enjoyed it!

Will's First Outdoor Soccer Game

Will has been excited about outdoor soccer but unfortunately the timing of his first game was less than perfect.  The game started at 2 p.m. which is also his nap time.  On top of that, we spent the afternoon at DelGrosso's water park yesterday and then he woke up before 7:30 this morning.  To make matters worse it was hot outside.  The result was a very sluggish, spacey player on the pink team!  I was proud of him though because he hung in there without complaint and really did try hard!  Our next game is at 4 p.m. so maybe he'll have a little more energy!  : )

 

Outdoor Soccer Practice (and grasshoppers)

Outdoor soccer practice started Tuesday and they practiced again this evening.  Will is looking forward to his first game Saturday.

Bracing for impact!

Ohhhh!  A grasshopper!  COOL!!!

Oh yeah - back to soccer practice!

Happy Birthday Jerry!

Today was Jerry's birthday and Will and I surprised him with a special evening.  Will has been excited about the surprise for weeks now.  Almost daily he has been asking Jerry to cover his ears and running over to me with a new idea for Jerry's birthday!  I was quite surprised myself by the fact that Will never said a word to Jerry about any of our plans!  We spent the day today baking a mandarin orange cake, wrapping and hiding his present, making a card, putting up decorations, and cooking a special dinner.  Will asked a week or so ago what special dinner we were going to cook for "Pat" (as he is currently calling Jerry).  I told him we would have deer meat, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls.  He got excited and said, "It sounds like a birthday for me too!"

The only part Will had a hard time with was the present.  He wanted to hide it and give Jerry clues about where to find it.  He chose to hide it under the covers in our bed but as soon as it was time for the present Will yelled, "I hid it under the covers in your bed!" 

Will worked for a VERY long time on Jerry's card.  He stenciled the letters, CAREFULLY painted them,
and then added a picture at the bottom.  For those of you who need some extra help, the picture
is of an airport.  It includes the following features:  a ceiling, an attic, a sandbox, a door with a
doorknob, a table, a smokestack, an airplane and another one waiting in line, a kitten, another kitten hiding in a
vent pipe that is there to catch rain that might blow in the attic (and those are only the things I remember)!

Inside, Will created a machine for Jerry.

Our Kayaking Trip

Jerry has been wanting to go kayaking for quite a while now.  I have been dreading it for just as long!  I finally gave in and called Rothrock Outfitters in town and scheduled a kayaking trip for Saturday.  We rented a tandem kayak with an extra seat for Will so we could go together.  Our float started on the Raystown branch of the Juniata River at Corbin's Island just below Raystown Dam and ended at the junction of the main branch of the Juniata.

I will say they scenery was beautiful and the water was perfectly clear and shallow (too shallow at one point!).  It wasn't quite as scary as I imagined it would be (yes, I am a chicken) but I refuse to publish the unflattering photos Jerry snapped as we were first starting out (I looked terrified)!  Jerry and Will both had a great time.

It was HARD to get all three of us in the picture!

The scenery really was beautiful.

It must be dragonfly mating season, but luckily Will never noticed and didn't ask any difficult questions!
He did enjoy watching the dragonflies "using the leaves as kayaks."

This part of the river was just a little too shallow!  We thought we chose the best path
available but Jerry still ended up having to "tow us" back to deeper water!
I think we would have been fine in separate kayaks but with all of us
in one we were dragging bottom!

If Will tells you we went over a waterfall don't panic!  Here is our "waterfall."  : )

Will was getting hungry and consequently bored by the end of the trip so
Jerry moved him to the front with him.  Then he ended up on the top
where he could dangle his legs in the water.  I was worried
about him being up there but the more rational side of
my brain reminded me he was wearing a life jacket,
he probably could have stood up in the water anyway,
and the water wasn't even flowing fast enough to
move our kayak!

Writing and Other Funny Things

Will has shown more interest in writing lately and I love to watch him!  Here are some of the great things you can do when you write:

 - If you try to write a "W" but make an "M" instead all you have to do is turn the paper upside down.
 - The same is true for "p", "b", and "d" (even if the letter is in the middle of a word)!
 - If you run out of room for the rest of the word, just go to any other spot on the paper (or even another page!).
 - Letters in the same word can be any size
 - Capital letters can pop up anywhere
 - Sometimes "E" needs an extra line

Will's only rule is that all letters must be perfect.  He is not satisfied unless he feels like his letter is just right, and since fine motor skills aren't his strong suit he gets frustrated with himself.  I have always praised him for his attempts, but he has always recognized if his letter doesn't look perfect.  He is getting much better about that than he used to be though - he's more willing to practice!

 

Hiking at Wipple Dam

It was such a beautiful weekend!  Compared to the hot humid weather we've been having it felt almost cool outside.  On Saturday we visited the Huntingdon County Fair.  It was the last day so many of the animals were already gone.  : (   But the food was still there!  : )   Will and I shared a funnel cake and cotton candy (thankfully most of the cotton candy was saved for later or he would have been one hyper kid!)  Will chose to use some of his money for rides so we got a wristband and let him play for a while.  He was disappointed that he wasn't able to reach the pedals on the bumper cars so he had to ride instead of drive.  I told him he needed to eat a few more veggies, so at dinner that night be was asking for broccoli and corn!

After church on Sunday we wanted to enjoy the outdoors so we went on a hike at Whipple Dam. 

 

Caterpillar Abuse

Will found a fuzzy yellow caterpillar on one of our trees today.  He caught it and was looking at it closely through the glass jar.  He called me outside and asked me "Are those little black like things just dirt or is that his eyes?  Because if those are his eyes, somebody must have beat him up!"

He then asked if the caterpillar was male or female so he could give it an appropriate name.  If anyone has any expertise on determining the sex of a caterpillar, let me know!   : )

We're Famous!

We met Lindsay at the park to play Friday morning and ended up on the news!  Thankfully this time it wasn't regarding anything we did.  (We've been on the news twice now since we've been up here but last time it was for our car accident.)  This time Chanel 10 News was filming at the park to do a story on banning smoking in Huntingdon borough parks.  You know me and my views on smoking so I was excited to be asked to share my opinion.  Will and Natalee were filmed playing and then they asked Lindsay and I a few questions.  Here is a link to the news clip.