Science Fair and Writing Workshop

We concluded the year with a science fair and unit on writing. The kids did their final presentations last Friday and we are officially done for the summer!

 We honored the grandmothers for all their hard work and endless projects.

The chicks have arrived!

Jackie's science class hatched chicks and we're babysitting them for one week.

 The excitement is truly amazing around here. But nothing compared to the noise 3 chicks make.

 This is Jackie's teacher, Lunar Lynn.

Rails to Trails

So this is where we ride. From our house. It's pretty amazing to think the Tobacco Trail is a half mile from our house and we used to travel hundreds of miles to find amazing trails like this. As in going to CO or UT. So it was a bit mountainous there and it's plenty flat here, which is good for us retired racing folks. Occasionally we have to dodge horses, and other cyclists, walkers, runners, etc.

 When we can, Dave and I ride together for 2 hrs on Sundays. It's our date night.

My favorite part is that Dave has gotten me each and every bike I've owned.

Farewell Froggie

After 3 months together, it was time to say farewell to our fully grown froggie (sniff, sniff).

 We still have 4 tadpoles/frogs in various stages at home under the gentle love and care of the kids. Amy was done with the extra responsibility and decided it was time to release all tadpoles/frogs into the community pond. Unfortunately, we lost a frog (as in died) probably because I took him out of the water too early and gave him only crickets and meal worms to eat, rather than tadpole pellets. So, before any others parished, we felt it was time to part ways.

 Deane and Amy gathered the troops and headed to the pond.

 The transfer was carefully made. And if you can believe it, Jackie was really really hesitant to release our frog. There were even a few tears.

 Goodbye, Swimmy! And so continues the life cycle of a frog.

 So we're getting a chick next week. It's only for one week. We're changing our establishment's name to the Paul Farm.

As always, thanks to Deane for the wonderful pictures! XOXO

Doing it their own way

Per Mama's instructions, she is reading in her bed, afterall.

 The math equation was 14-9. And he needed a few extra digits to count. Bella was clearly not impressed with his math manipulatives.

 Before the real tattoos, come the painted on ones.

 Good choice, JBird. (The other ones says MOM).

Gardening According To Deane

We had an uber-successful garden last year, thanks to Deane's planting and planning.

So this year, when the weather got warm enough, I asked for Deane's help once again. She took our soil to the NC State Ag dept and had it tested to determine what nutrients have been depleted.

Dave also offered to expand the garden once again and I jumped on the offer. Moving gazillions of wheelbarrows full of dirt (and tilling it all) was akin to walking across hot coals while blindfolded- nobody's favorite pasttime.

But we did it and have back pain/leg pain to show for it.

 So now we have a ginormous garden, rich with nutrients and freshly tilled. Deane helped me plan the garden and plant everything. She also discovered that marigolds keep away the aphids (very effective last year). Cameron was eager to help dig holes and water the plants. He also re-arranged the plant identifiers according to color. So it will be a bit of a surprise which tomatoes and peppers are where. The hose is hooked up to our 250 gal rain barrel. We were fortunate last summer to water the garden exclusively with water from the rainbarrels.

Here's hoping for a full harvest of basil, oregano, cilantro, cucumbers, (heirloom, roma, cherry) tomatoes, watermelon, (yellow, red, baby) beppers, (read leaf, sweet) lettuce, eggplant and a jalapeno!

Soccer Galore

We've immersed ourselved in soccer this season. Jackie is playing on an all-girls league and holding her own. She has 3 coaches who are very supportive dads of teammates. They have done a phenomenal job finding each girl's strengths and playing to them.  

 Dave (or Ken) takes the kids to practice twice a week, and I have alone time with Lucy Lu, which we both enjoy immensely.

 Clearly, Dave loves to be the soccer parent. And CamO is totally into the game.

 Cameron's friend, Braxton, is also on his team. Despite his little stature, Cameron is a fierce soccer player!

There's been some major developments

Of course I'm talking about the tadpoles and frogs. Check them out!

 When we left for the beach, they had tails. When we returned, they were nearly gone! It's amazing how some are still content to be just tadpoles, with no signs of leg buds.

So our frogs now have their own cage, since they are now air-breathers and carnivores, which require live food. So we have frogs, crickets and meal worms in one cage. Tadpoles and water in another. And it's pretty cool.

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny came early since we spent Easter morning at the beach.

It was a bit chilly, but we had a fantastic Easter celebration.

Atlantic Beach

Day 1 of our trip to the Atlantic Beach. We started at the beach, then the aquarium, then the beach again, where we saw a couple of dolphins swimming 100 yds off shore!

 What a relaxing day it has been!

Go Lucy, Go!

After MUCH persuasion, this little princess finally got on her bike and rode around the circle with a grin from ear to ear! She was dressed for aerodynamics too. Dave was checking out the skid marks from her awesome speed.

All About Rome

The kids did their unit celebration on Rome this past week. We are proud of their hard work. And have their Grandmas to thank for all their help with the projects!

 (Yes, we realize the Great Wall of China doesn't really fit into the Rome unit, but it was better than the Americas unit).

 Every good unit study presentation has at least 2 princesses in it. Isabella and Lucy were happy to oblige.

 The kids wrote out a newspaper called The Spartan Special, written as if they were in the time of ancient Rome. They gave the grandparents a copy of their very own.

My Dee and Me

Lucy had her first solo sleepover at Deane's house last night. This girl couldn't have been more excited about it!