Family Fun
Pinewood Derby
The Pinewood Derby for our Pack was held at the end of March. Aden's car placed 2nd in 3 out of 4 races for his Den (second car on the right). Of course, Scott was the one who used the power tools to cut it down and sand it a little, but the design and painting was done by Aden. We did help him a little by showing him how to cover parts of the car with masking tape so he could get a yellow lightning bolt down the middle. Scott also helped apply graphite to the wheels to prevent making a mess. Aside from that, the car was Aden's. It didn't matter to us or to him whether or not he won. He was very proud of his car, as are we.
Cousins
The end of March and beginning of April stayed very busy. Scott's brother and family came down from Ohio to visit his parents during Spring Break. We went to his parents house and visited for the day. It was nice the cousins were able to spend some time together. One of Scott's cousins recently moved to S.C. and we were able to visit with him and his family briefly that afternoon.
Karate
Aden and Danielle received their blue and white striped belts in karate. Aden will soon be moving to a different class for youths aged 7-12, leaving Danielle behind. I don't know how much longer she will continue on her own in karate without Aden by her side. She looks up to him so much and wants to be just like him.
Poke
After having several months of severe neck a shoulder pain (probably caused by me pushing my body too hard in karate), I broke down and found an acupuncturist. Actually, my mom found him for me. He treated her in Charleston in 1988 and helped her quit smoking. He practices here in town a few days a week. The needles don't hurt nearly as much as I thought they would, but I attribute that to the skill of the acupuncturist. I finally have full range of motion in my neck again. I had been seeing my chiropractor (of 14 years) since mid-January, but spinal adjustments just hadn't been working this time. I'm liking acupuncture. I'm even getting relief from my migraines.
Camping
We had the last Cub Scout camping trip in mid-April for this school year. The boys learned rope making as well as how to make nets. An employee of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources came and talked to the boys about furbearing animals of South Carolina. He brought several pelts and plaster molds of animal tracks and explained different types of traps used. We played volleyball and kickball. When there was free time, we tried to fish, but caught nothing.
We participated in a flag retirement ceremony. The Scouts had collected about ten flags that needed to be retired. The biggest one (the one pictured) came from a Chick-fil-A restaurant. The Major conducting the ceremony explained the two ways to properly dispose of an American flag - burial and burning. Danielle got teary and emotional watching the flag burn. At the end, there was a question & answer session. Danielle asked the Major, "So if you love your country and your flag so much, why did you do that?" She received several sympathetic "Awws" from the crowd. She kept asking additional questions such as, "So if it's okay to bury a flag, why didn't we do it that way?" It was hard to answer that one to her liking. Eventually, I had to go over to my chatter bug and tell her to stop asking so many questions so other kids could have a chance.
The last morning we were camping was breathtaking. We had a rainstorm the night before. After breakfast they had a professional bagpiper perform and explain the instrument and how it plays. We had a good time as always.
Toe Pick
A friend of Aden's had bis birthday party at the ice skating rink. Scott was the only one of the four of us who had even been on ice skates before. Danielle's skates didn't fit properly - no ankle support. Scott helped push her around the rink for about an hour because she couldn't skate on her own with the cheap rentals she had on her feet. Aden and I got the hang of it and really enjoyed ourselves. The terrible blister I got has made me seriously consider getting properly fitted for my own pair.
Sorry, no pictures due to the fact we were skating/falling as well as the rink being too dark to get any good shots.
Sidewalk Monsters
This is a modified version of an idea I found in Family Fun Magazine. One person draws a head/body with sidewalk chalk. The next person grabs a slip of paper out of a bucket which tells them what body part to draw next. Our slips were labeled with normal body parts such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms/hands, legs/feet. We also had other slips labeled with standard monster parts such as horns, tail, wings, scales. We all had a good time.
On the first monster, Scott contributed the head, nose, and wings - Danielle contributed six arms about a dozen eyes, and mohawk hair - Aden contributed ears, the mouth, and feet - I contributed a horn and tail.
On the second monster, Aden started with the head and skeleton body and later added the feet - Danielle again drew about a dozen eyes - Scott drew the arms which we all though gave him a really creepy look - my only contribution was the nose before we decided he was perfect as he was.
Our next door neighbors even joined in the fun on the last one. Danielle got to start with the head and body, later adding wings - our neighbors contributed the mouth, arms (hidden in the wings), and scales - Scott did the horns and the very special fluffy bunny tail - I drew the pig nose and eyes - Aden did the ears. We liked this activity because everyone had a chance to show off their artistic talents.
Hanging Out
So the kids saw a commercial advertising upside-down tomato planters. They thought the idea was pretty cool and wanted us to get some. We decided to make our own out of empty milk jugs and thought that saving money was even cooler.
Tappy and Tippy Toes
Danielle's dance recital was held on May 10th. She performed a tap number to "Nothin' Could Be Finer Than To Be in Carolina" and a ballet number to "Try a Morning Walk Along New Greenway."
She received a trophy for three continuous years of a combination of dance/and or gymnastics.
The Pinewood Derby for our Pack was held at the end of March. Aden's car placed 2nd in 3 out of 4 races for his Den (second car on the right). Of course, Scott was the one who used the power tools to cut it down and sand it a little, but the design and painting was done by Aden. We did help him a little by showing him how to cover parts of the car with masking tape so he could get a yellow lightning bolt down the middle. Scott also helped apply graphite to the wheels to prevent making a mess. Aside from that, the car was Aden's. It didn't matter to us or to him whether or not he won. He was very proud of his car, as are we.
Cousins
The end of March and beginning of April stayed very busy. Scott's brother and family came down from Ohio to visit his parents during Spring Break. We went to his parents house and visited for the day. It was nice the cousins were able to spend some time together. One of Scott's cousins recently moved to S.C. and we were able to visit with him and his family briefly that afternoon.
Karate
Aden and Danielle received their blue and white striped belts in karate. Aden will soon be moving to a different class for youths aged 7-12, leaving Danielle behind. I don't know how much longer she will continue on her own in karate without Aden by her side. She looks up to him so much and wants to be just like him.
Poke
After having several months of severe neck a shoulder pain (probably caused by me pushing my body too hard in karate), I broke down and found an acupuncturist. Actually, my mom found him for me. He treated her in Charleston in 1988 and helped her quit smoking. He practices here in town a few days a week. The needles don't hurt nearly as much as I thought they would, but I attribute that to the skill of the acupuncturist. I finally have full range of motion in my neck again. I had been seeing my chiropractor (of 14 years) since mid-January, but spinal adjustments just hadn't been working this time. I'm liking acupuncture. I'm even getting relief from my migraines.
Camping
We had the last Cub Scout camping trip in mid-April for this school year. The boys learned rope making as well as how to make nets. An employee of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources came and talked to the boys about furbearing animals of South Carolina. He brought several pelts and plaster molds of animal tracks and explained different types of traps used. We played volleyball and kickball. When there was free time, we tried to fish, but caught nothing.
We participated in a flag retirement ceremony. The Scouts had collected about ten flags that needed to be retired. The biggest one (the one pictured) came from a Chick-fil-A restaurant. The Major conducting the ceremony explained the two ways to properly dispose of an American flag - burial and burning. Danielle got teary and emotional watching the flag burn. At the end, there was a question & answer session. Danielle asked the Major, "So if you love your country and your flag so much, why did you do that?" She received several sympathetic "Awws" from the crowd. She kept asking additional questions such as, "So if it's okay to bury a flag, why didn't we do it that way?" It was hard to answer that one to her liking. Eventually, I had to go over to my chatter bug and tell her to stop asking so many questions so other kids could have a chance.
The last morning we were camping was breathtaking. We had a rainstorm the night before. After breakfast they had a professional bagpiper perform and explain the instrument and how it plays. We had a good time as always.
Toe Pick
A friend of Aden's had bis birthday party at the ice skating rink. Scott was the only one of the four of us who had even been on ice skates before. Danielle's skates didn't fit properly - no ankle support. Scott helped push her around the rink for about an hour because she couldn't skate on her own with the cheap rentals she had on her feet. Aden and I got the hang of it and really enjoyed ourselves. The terrible blister I got has made me seriously consider getting properly fitted for my own pair.
Sorry, no pictures due to the fact we were skating/falling as well as the rink being too dark to get any good shots.
Sidewalk Monsters
This is a modified version of an idea I found in Family Fun Magazine. One person draws a head/body with sidewalk chalk. The next person grabs a slip of paper out of a bucket which tells them what body part to draw next. Our slips were labeled with normal body parts such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms/hands, legs/feet. We also had other slips labeled with standard monster parts such as horns, tail, wings, scales. We all had a good time.
On the first monster, Scott contributed the head, nose, and wings - Danielle contributed six arms about a dozen eyes, and mohawk hair - Aden contributed ears, the mouth, and feet - I contributed a horn and tail.
On the second monster, Aden started with the head and skeleton body and later added the feet - Danielle again drew about a dozen eyes - Scott drew the arms which we all though gave him a really creepy look - my only contribution was the nose before we decided he was perfect as he was.
Our next door neighbors even joined in the fun on the last one. Danielle got to start with the head and body, later adding wings - our neighbors contributed the mouth, arms (hidden in the wings), and scales - Scott did the horns and the very special fluffy bunny tail - I drew the pig nose and eyes - Aden did the ears. We liked this activity because everyone had a chance to show off their artistic talents.
Hanging Out
So the kids saw a commercial advertising upside-down tomato planters. They thought the idea was pretty cool and wanted us to get some. We decided to make our own out of empty milk jugs and thought that saving money was even cooler.
Tappy and Tippy Toes
Danielle's dance recital was held on May 10th. She performed a tap number to "Nothin' Could Be Finer Than To Be in Carolina" and a ballet number to "Try a Morning Walk Along New Greenway."
She received a trophy for three continuous years of a combination of dance/and or gymnastics.
posted by Jen at 7:34 PM
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