Farewell to Marika

We went to Jenny's house this evening for a farewell party for Marika, their foreign exchange student from Germany.  Everyone was sad to see her go including Will - he picked with her as much as he did with Brittney!  

 

Although it was almost July it was COLD outside!!  I really don't know how
they did it but they enjoyed the pool!  : )

Bird Trap

Ever since he was little, Will has wanted to catch a bird.  Which I think is funny, because mom has told me that I used to try to sneak up on birds in the yard.  It must be genetic!  : )  Well, Jerry told Will once that he had made a trap and caught a bird in a box.  Will became obsessed after that with making a bird trap.  He sat forever watching for a bird to take the bait and wander under his box so he could pull the string, releasing the stick from the edge of the box, and capture the bird.  Unfortunately, our yard had very few birds, and those were only the fastest and smartest ones thanks to our efficient small mammal, reptile, and bird eliminator (a.k.a. Skippy)!  Skippy also hindered Will's efforts because in his estimation a string dangling across the back yard couldn't be anything except a toy just for him!    

 

Reading

I bought this book randomly at Once Upon a Child hoping, as always, to stumble across something Will would enjoy reading.  Well, it finally paid off because Will really liked this one!!  At first he denied liking it, I think mostly because I seemed to like it too much!  (It really is a cute book.)  But after reading it and gaining confidence that he could do it, he actually brought it to me and asked to sit down and read.  IT MADE MY DAY!!!  Up to this point reading had always been a HUGE, HUGE battle.  I always worried that by making him read when he hated it so badly I would ruin reading all together for him.  This gave me some hope that he may still enjoy it some day!  : )

 

I snapped this horrible, awkward photo in bed that evening as he
was reading to me.  He wouldn't pose for a picture so I had to
sneak one in!  : )

Vacation Bible School

We attended a large church in Fincastle while we were in Roanoke.  I would have preferred a smaller church personally, but the pastor was a great speaker and always had a good message and the children's program was excellent.  As a result, Will really enjoyed their Vacation Bible School.  They had petting zoos, water slides, bounce houses, boat rides, and zip lines!!  And I know he learned a lot too because afterwards during VBS at mom's church he raised his hand to answer the question "Who is Jesus and why do we want to learn about him?"  Will said, "because he's our creator, provider, protector, savior, and king!"  Which is what they focused on each night during our VBS.      

 

Lest I ever get carried away with being proud of my son, I'm always met squarely
with a reality check:  This is the Bible cover they decorated one night at VBS.
Yes, those are guns!!!  I was some relieved that at least they are pointing
at a deer (his granddad Mike would be proud!) but still -
Guns on a Bible cover!!!  I only hope his teacher was a hunter's wife!

 

Catching Lightning Bugs

Lightning bugs ranked up there with butterflies and minnows for entertainment over the summer, and I enjoyed them as much as Will did.  We had an abundance of them all through the fields and in the front yard.  I guess it was the perfect habitat.  It was hard while school was still in session though because the lightning bugs didn't come out until bedtime.  Since school started so early in the morning I couldn't let him stay up very often to catch any during the week.  That was another huge challenge in kindergarten was getting Will up and out the door so early.  We had to leave the house by 7:35 at the latest, which meant I had to wake him at 6:30.  My son is not an early riser and he's not a morning person either so I dreaded every morning.  It's horrible to have to wake your soundly sleeping child and make him get up and ready to go to school all day, and it makes it even worse knowing he dislikes being there.  I really will not miss that school system!   

 

Super Bouncy Ball

While Andrea was here she took Will shopping and bought him this super bouncy ball.  We all had sticker shock at the register because the thing ended up costing about $9 I think, but it turned out to be worth every penny.  Surprisingly, it was our favorite toy for most of the summer!  : )  We took it with us to the park one day where we could bounce it really high without fear of loosing it - and it definitely lived up to it's claim to be a super-high bouncing ball!  Isn't it funny how toys like balls never loose their appeal through the ages?   

 

Gardening

Will decided he wanted to grow a garden earlier this summer.  I was disappointed that we were moving because I had thought about putting in a garden in the back yard since I finally had enough space for one.  Since I wasn't sure we would be around long enough to harvest our crop, Will decided to plant his garden at grandma's house.  She roped off one end of her garden just for him.  We started the plants from seed inside earlier in the season.  Will chose squash, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, and black eyed peas.  I don't think any of his green bean plants sprouted but everything else did and we transplanted it to Will's end of the garden. 

 

He ended up with a nice crop of everything except carrots.  They grew but were never able to grow through the peat-pod that we started them in so they were short, stubby, and twisted around each other!  We harvested them anyway and mom cooked them - it yielded a whole spoonful of carrots!  : )

 

One weekend Will spent the night with mom and they set up a produce stand in her yard.  He was thrilled to sell his vegetables!  He was giving away cherry tomatoes as "an extra little bonus in the bag" as Will put it.  Even when they were sold out he wasn't ready to close up shop so mom got out some store-bought broccoli from the fridge and let him sell that too!  : )     

 

Each time we went to mom's house Will harvested his vegetables.

Science Museum of Western Virginia

Aunt Andy came to visit and we took Will to the science museum while people came to look at the house.  We had such a fun time!  

 

This game was cool - it measured your brain activity while you focused on
moving the ball across the table with your mind. 

Will's favorite part was the butterfly garden.  Butterflies have been right up there with minnows
in popularity this summer!  His little green net has served a dual purpose!

Playing with cars

Though cars aren't usually the first thing Will gravitates to in the toy store any more, they are still good entertainment for him.  Even when he builds with Lincoln logs it's usually a parking garage, a road, or a whole village with tanks and other weaponry.  : )  

 

Catching Minnows

One of Will's favorite activities this summer has been catching minnows.  It started with a trip to the lake with Kristen where she worked VERY patiently and diligently at catching a very elusive minnow for him.  He was addicted after that!  Mom took him to the lake once after his trip with Kristen and he actually had a huge fit because he didn't catch any that time!  Just a note - it wasn't for lack of trying on mom's part.  They actually missed church that night because mom lost track of time while they were minnow hunting!

 

Since lake minnows are so elusive, we started going to Humpback Bridge to fish for them
at the edge of the river.  Tom made a good minnow catching partner!

He was very successful on several occasions over the summer.  Hopefully he didn't
put too big of a dent in the fish population for next spring!  : )

Virginia Safari Park

On Father's Day Will and I followed Jerry to Natural Bridge on his way back to PA.  There, we visited the Virginia Safari Park.  It's basically a drive-through zoo where the animals come up to your car to eat from the feed buckets they provide.  I'm not big on zoos because I feel sorry for the caged animals but here most of the animals weren't caged.  And I must admit I did enjoy petting them! 

 



Will was a bit unsure at first!  And the pushy animals like the camel here were
a bit intimidating since they didn't hesitate to stick their heads right
in the car searching for the white bucket!  Which they would then
chew and try to steal out of your hand!  : )

 

Jerry kept his distance too!  : )

 

It got better after we were past the camels!  Petting the animals was great!

 

Here is the camel with the bucket in his mouth trying to pull it away!

My little lama feeding a lama! 

 

 

 

They also had a bird area where you could feed parakeets.  Will
really enjoyed getting to pet a bird!

Mama lama and lama lama!  : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field Day at Greenfield Elementary

Will had fun at field day.  I did too since it was one of the few things I got to help with throughout the year!  This school system was the easiest thing to walk away from when we left Roanoke!!

 



Will got soaked (purposely) first thing that day.  It's ironic because he
loves to GET wet but hates to BE wet afterward.  Thankfully we had a
showing at the house that day so I had grabbed the laundry basket of clean
clothes on the way out the door.  My habit of stashing household messes in
the car provided Will a dry set of clothes that day!

Sack races!!!  Sooooo cute to watch!!!

 

 

The pool of bubbles was a big hit!

Will showing his teacher, Ms. Salsgiver, how to blow bubbles with her hands.

Kristen's Birthday

How many 33-year-olds choose to spend their birthday with a six-year-old at the Thunder Valley Go-Kart track?  Only one that I know of, and I'm glad she's Will's aunt!  We had such a good time together that day!  

 

Singing the song from Disney's Frozen

 

Will loves to sing and thankfully he is much better at it than his mother!  Two of his favorite places to sing are in the bathroom and in the shower.  I recorded this on the way home from Covington after we went to church with mom and granddad.  It was POURING rain which is the static-like sound in the background.  Also, be forewarned that watching the video is likely to create motion sickness!  I am no better at filming than I am at singing!  : )

Swimming Lessons

Will really benefitted from the swimming lessons at Green Ridge.  He was beginning to work on the butterfly stroke before we moved.  He loves being in the water!

Picnic at Mom's House

Will had so much fun playing the Isaac, Rebecca, and Kristen! 

He had trouble staying loyal to just one team in the water fight that broke out.

His lack of loyalty backfired several times!

But it was all good fun in the end.  : )