Vacation... part 1

The boys pretending to sharpen knives at the Sycamore Shoals historic area

Climbing rocks at Fairhaven

Feeding the fish at Fairhaven. A lovely pair of ducks used to live here too, but we heard that a bobcat got to them. :/

Playing beside a stream, outside Linville Caverns where we learned that every bat eats 1,000 bugs per day. I think I like bats now!

At the top of Grandfather Mountain, NC. We all crossed the mile high swinging bridge. Dan and Isaiah went out farther to the end of the rocks. As you can see, there are no railings at the edge of the rocks, so Sam and I waited at the other end of the bridge.

Back from the wild, windy rocks of Grandfather mountain

Beautiful view from Grandfather mountain

Isaiah using my keys to play with an otter in the animal habitats at Grandfather mountain

Isaiah's birthday on vacation

Months ago, when Isaiah first started talking about his birthday plans, he included the Hands on Museum, the Chew Chew Cafe, and the Gray Fossil Site. I reminded him that those are in TN and that I wasn't sure when or where we were going on vacation. Well, as it worked out, we were on vacation in TN for his birthday, and he got to do exactly what he wanted to do, which is the same thing he's done for the last two years. The boys outside the Hands on Museum in Johnson City, TN

Trying on costumes on the stage... puppy...

And alligator

Ready for lunch at the Chew Chew Cafe. There's a train that runs around the whole restaurant, and real trains pass the cafe often.

Digging for bones at the Gray Fossil Site

Pirate decorations and cupcakes... keeping it simple for vacation

Weekend Camp

Isaiah was super excited to go to weekend camp for 6-7 year olds at Edinboro Camp. He didn't cry at all or even seem to care much when we were leaving. Haha!

While he was there, he learned fun songs, made a bunch of crafts and played games. He also memorized Joshua 1:9 and is still able to say it a few weeks later. He said the one night when he was in his bed, he missed his brother and cried a little. Isaiah and his counselor, Tyler.

When we picked him up on Sunday, he had these flowers waiting for me on his backpack. :)

He was asleep within minutes of getting in the car to go on vacation in TN.

Super easy science lesson

To compare the weight of different items, we cut a gallon jug in half. We tied three pieces of fishing line to the top of the jug, then attached those to a paper clip and rubber band. We hung it on a door handle and taped a piece of paper on the door. We grabbed food from the cabinets and started weighing. We marked the paper according to how far the jug dropped with the ounces of each item. Things with lightweight packaging were easiest and most accurate. An 8-ounce glass jar of taco sauce was a little tricky. We figured out by using the marks we made, that the taco sauce and its container weighed about 20 oz. Then we were able to figure out the weight of the jar itself, too... throwing a little math in there.

The boys had fun with it. Isaiah understood comparing the weight of different things. Sam liked putting in his toys and guessing how much they weighed. We briefly discussed the difference between weight and mass. We have a book on gravity that they both love to read because it has great pictures, so they had some basis for weight vs. mass although they probably won't really get it for a while. :)

Hershey 2011

As soon as school got out in June, my mom, my sister, and our kids headed out for some R&R in Hershey, PA. The cousins (minus Abbie!) goofing around

mohawks...

The kids with the Hershey guy

We found the Reeses guy at Chocolate World

We also found my dear old friend Charity and two of her three kids. :) We enjoyed lunch and a ride through Chocolate World together. It was too short, but still good to see each other!

The boys melting at Hershey Gardens. It was hot and humid that day! But the gardens were beautiful.