Antics

Don't ever let anyone tell you that all these electronics are ruining our kids. Sometimes they play together nicely, even when they're playing on their tablets. See?

Archer climbed into the recycling bin, and David told the other two that this is what happens when kids turn 13. We recycle them. Then we get a new one. That's what happened to the other kids. Eli only believed it for a moment, asking us, "What other kids?" Then he moved on to demolishing a cardboard box with a plastic bat.

On another day, David and I sat in the van and watched as Eli went after a box with this giant bat. He had no regard for anyone watching, he was simply performing a job. He crashed his bat into that box over and over, relentless. Finally, after 10 or 15 minutes, the whole thing was reduced to flat chunks of cardboard on the floor. He casually put the bat away, looked at his work, brushed his hands off against each other, as if to say, "Job well done." Ever wish you could get into the mind of a six year old? What makes him tick? He didn't look back at us, just turned and walked into the house.

First Beautiful Day

Finally the promised WARM WEATHER has arrived. Here in Wonderful WI you just never know when the next beautiful day will come, so I dragged the kids out to the woods with me.

All went well. There were lots of sticks thrown into the water, lots of mud mostly avoided. We spotted a bunch of frogs and one turtle (the turtle seemed maybe like he was resting in peace?). There was a debate about whether or not Archer is a Turtleini expert. You can imagine.

Children + sticks = sword fights, fort building aspirations, stick prodding = Mom gets annoyed and we move on to the next location.

After enough traipsing around and checking out the wildlife we reached the near breaking point and got out of there just in time.

I'm looking forward to more great hikes in the woods in the months to come. Now cross your fingers that we can have another day or two of decent weather, before the next snowstorm!

P.S. Super secret ulterior motive. I recently started feeling nostalgic for my own childhood experiences of exploring pastures and woods for hours on end with my siblings. I was wishing I could take my children to those places from my childhood. But I can't re-create those exact same moments for them. I was wallowing in this realization, but this is no way to move forward into the future, clinging to something that's gone. So instead, I can give my children these little moments of exploring what we do have, the things around us. And that starts only a couple miles from home in the beautiful nature preserve with miles of trails and countless birds and bugs to discover. And we got a good start on that today.

Wrestles & Cuddles

Quite often the days look like this...


And at night, they end like this...

Ah, sweet family

Notes

Some stuff from school, and also from your heart, thanks for sharing, Eli!

Scouting Again

Eli's scouting experience is keeping him busy...

Fire Station Visit

Scouting For Food bag handout day, we had to call in reinforcements (cousins) to help get the job done. Thanks Cuz!

Eli's car was one of the top 3 in his Pack so he was able to compete in the District Derby. Also, our family ran the event. We've done this before so it was all routine and there weren't too many big surprises.

Well, there was one big surprise. There was a promise made to the competitors that there would be a Blue Angel fly-by before the racing commenced.


Thanks to the Angels (and the boys who will not be named for making this possible!).

Eli registers his car.

Shelly and friend Claire run the concession table, selling hot dogs, popcorn, candy and beverages.

David did a fantastic job of coordinating everything and the whole event went off without a hitch. The boys in Archer's Troop were key in keeping everything running smoothly. Another day of great memories for all involved!