It is hard to believe, but with year round school summer's are short and we are almost halfway done. We have been busy, packing as much as we can into the time.
But first, a quick note on the blog itself. I gave up on the Microsoft blog editing software. It kept crashing and was not really compatible with the blog itself. So I dumped it and switched to something called Zoundry Raven. Much better. Not perfect, but it's free. I also changed to format of the page to mix things up a bit. Anyhow, on with the update!
We'll start with the end of the school year. The school always has a project each quarter that the students do in groups, and at the end of the quarter they give a presentation called a summative. Andrew's class studied animals and their adaptations. He was a penguin. Here is a video of his presentation:
Ben's class was tasked with inventing devices that would help a group of stranded Mars-naughts survive a crash on Mars. Not as cute any more but pure Ben. He was the project leader, and survived several coup attempts:
Somewhere in there Heidi and I foisted the kids off on someone and we had a nice two day retreat in Sedona, at the L'auberge resort. It was fantastic. Cruise the web site to see some quality pictures of the place. Here are some we took:
A duck. The place if famous for the ducks that hang out in Oak Creek and beg food from the guests.
This is a shot of the creek by our cabin. Very relaxing and pretty.
This is the view from the cabin's patio. It was very nice to sit out there in the cool and listen to the creek run.
As part of our adventure we decided to go horseback riding. Here is a very rare picture of both Heidi and me at the same time!
And then two pictures taken by real photographers who followed us around, then sold us a very overpriced CD. But the pictures were very nice:
We had a wonderful time. The resort was undergoing renovation at the time so we can't wait to go back when they are all done.
The next big event was Ben's 11th Birthday. Yes 11! Incredible. He had a grand time. We started with a sleepover where he had three friends come over and spend the night. They stayed up till the wee hours of the morning playing video games and such. Then we went to a big indoor play place for his birthday party called Amazing Jakes. Perfect for Arizona in the summer (and cold places for the winter) in that it is a giant warehouse with video games, bolling alley, put-put golf, laser tag, go-carts and a bunch of other stuff. All inside, all air conditioned. He had about 20 kids come and they spent the entire afternoon running around and chowing down at the all-you-can-eat buffet. They are getting to that age where you actually get your money's worth at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The only down side was that it was dark and had cheap lites, so I didn't get any good pictures (hence the long narrative). But here are two to mark the event:
Right after that was the last couple of days of school and then report cards. I have to brag and say that they both did fantastic this year. Andrew aced (or in the parlance of the new grading system, MD'd (mastered with distinction) Kindergarten. He even received a special grade for being leader in the classroom.
Ben really had to work hard this year for 5th/6th grade. The standards were higher and they covered a lot more material. At some point in the year he started to buckle down and get with the program. The end result is that he did very well and is excited about more challenges next year.
Once we got grades it was time for Heidi and the Kids to spend a week in the San Jose area with their Uncle/Brother and Grammy/Mother while they went to CMT camp. They spent 5 days learning a play then performed it on Saturday. I flew out on Friday and was able to get some pictures at dress rehearsal. Once we get the DVD of the play, I'll put some clips up.
This particular play had lots of singing and fist pumping:
And jumping. There was not enough light/I didn't have a good enough flash to get a clear pictures, but in the blur you can get a sense of th energy they had:
Ben did a lot of singing as well:
And Andrew had one of the best punch lines in the play:
Ben had a pretty good role as well. This play didn't have as much dialog and the characters were not as strong, so not a lot of acting compared to other plays. But here is Ben delivering his big lines:
This is a typical picture of Andrew. The director told them that when they are on stage, they should look at the exit stage at the back of the sanctuary. So Andrew spent the entire time with his eyes laser focused on that sign. Such a serious little boy!
Besides the play they got to visit with their Grammy, go down to Monterey for a day, and fill Uncle Bruce's house with a years worth of noise in 7 days.
While everyone was gone, Moe and I were playing bachelor. We got lots of chores done around the house, watched some serious TV/Movies and tried to go to bed early. We even got a couple of hikes in.
Here is Moe at the top of Telegraph Pass on South Mountain. That is downtown Phoenix in the haze in the background:
Last but not least, when everyone got back from California I drove Ben up to Payson and dropped him off at Boy Scout Camp. That was a big step because he was without our constant supervision and nagging for 6 days and nights, sleeping in a tent and running amok in the woods. I only got one pictures, of Ben with his backpack ready to hike up the hill to his campsite:
But, there leader brought her camera and posted some pictures so we have a small window on to what went on.
Early on there was horseback riding. They all learned that trial riding consists of watching your horse follow the butt of the horse in front of you.
They did shooting. Ben showed the Miller talent and out-shot all of the other scouts in both 22's and mussel loaders.
They had to do chores. Here they are on KP doing dishes.
And of course there were team building exercises. This is some sort of rope bridge thing.
What would summer camp be without canoes?
And rowing. I did get a report back that Ben needs to work on his rowing. The fact that the ores are thicker than his arms may be part of the problem...
And they did a lot of hiking and exploring. They found a berry bush and picked a few.
In the end it was a great experience. Not always fun, and sometimes humbling, but a lot of growing up. When I went to pick them up and drive a bunch of the boys home they were talking about about what they were going to do next year. That is a pretty good sign that they had a good time.
And that is it for the first half of the summer! And there is more to come - San Diego for week then one last camping drip and then the kids are back in school.
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