Saturday, July 11, 2015
The Third Child
This is what happens when you ask a 6 and 5 year old to play with their 8 month old brother for a few minutes ...
Monday, July 6, 2015
Encore
A couple of weeks ago Carter did a summer camp at his school called Encore. The camp is for 5 days and runs from 8:30 am to 3 pm each day. There are about 50 classes offered and the kids get to pick 5 (they do the same five each day of the week). Carter loved it. And the best part for me was that it was super cheap compared to most camps - only $160.
I read through the descriptions of all the classes and let Carter choose. The only guidance I gave him was to try to pick things he doesn't normally do (such as a soccer class since he plays all the time).
Here are the classes he ended up choosing ...
(1) Dinosaur World: Come explore the wonderful world of dinosaurs! You can learn about a T-Rex, Stegosaurus and everything in between. You will get to raise a dinosaur egg and create your own dinosaur!
(2) Canvas Art: Campers will create two original abstract painting on Canvas. One painting will be created using painter’s tape and the other painting will use melted crayons to create a masterpiece.
(3) Glow Week: Do you like to move to the music? You will create a movement video using glowing props. Your hands, feet and props will all be glowing in the dark.
(4) High-Tech Treasure Hunting: Do you want to find a hidden treasure? You will learn to use a GPS unit to find treasures. Discover prizes as you explore!
(5) Lego Challenges: Enter LEGOLAND where you will be challenged daily to create an original design such as a maze, house, and a solar system.
Carter liked each class - he couldn't really pick out a favorite.
He learned a lot of new things about dinosaurs. I think this noodle fossil was pretty cool!
Carter completed 2 art projects in the canvas art class:
Carter's Glow Week class came up with a dance to Pharrell Williams's Happy. The filmed their glow performance (they had 2 glow sticks each and no lights) and we got to watch it during the Friday performances for the parents.
Carter came home each day with prizes from the GPS treasure hunting class.
The Legos class was fun because one of Carter's best friends from kindergarten was in the class with him. On Friday he brought home a little book that showed what he did each day.
Carter had to miss a week of swim team for Encore but he really enjoyed it and he'll probably do it again next summer.
I read through the descriptions of all the classes and let Carter choose. The only guidance I gave him was to try to pick things he doesn't normally do (such as a soccer class since he plays all the time).
Here are the classes he ended up choosing ...
(1) Dinosaur World: Come explore the wonderful world of dinosaurs! You can learn about a T-Rex, Stegosaurus and everything in between. You will get to raise a dinosaur egg and create your own dinosaur!
(2) Canvas Art: Campers will create two original abstract painting on Canvas. One painting will be created using painter’s tape and the other painting will use melted crayons to create a masterpiece.
(3) Glow Week: Do you like to move to the music? You will create a movement video using glowing props. Your hands, feet and props will all be glowing in the dark.
(4) High-Tech Treasure Hunting: Do you want to find a hidden treasure? You will learn to use a GPS unit to find treasures. Discover prizes as you explore!
(5) Lego Challenges: Enter LEGOLAND where you will be challenged daily to create an original design such as a maze, house, and a solar system.
Carter liked each class - he couldn't really pick out a favorite.
He learned a lot of new things about dinosaurs. I think this noodle fossil was pretty cool!
Carter completed 2 art projects in the canvas art class:
Carter's Glow Week class came up with a dance to Pharrell Williams's Happy. The filmed their glow performance (they had 2 glow sticks each and no lights) and we got to watch it during the Friday performances for the parents.
Carter came home each day with prizes from the GPS treasure hunting class.
The Legos class was fun because one of Carter's best friends from kindergarten was in the class with him. On Friday he brought home a little book that showed what he did each day.
Carter had to miss a week of swim team for Encore but he really enjoyed it and he'll probably do it again next summer.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
5th of July
We had a ton of rain late yesterday afternoon into the evening - enough to have a flash flood warning in our area. Sooooo, all the Williamson County firework displays were canceled and done tonight instead.
Last year we went to Crockett Park in Brentwood and sat maybe 100 yards from were the fireworks were shot off. We also walked over a mile on the greenway to get there so we didn't have to deal with the crazy traffic in the park. I wasn't so sure this was a great idea with an 8 month old (and an hour past his bedtime).
So instead we decided to park at Ravenwood High School which is on a hill about 1 1/2 miles from Crockett Park to watch the fireworks.
Before the fireworks began the boys got to run around and catch fireflies - perfect entertainment!
We ended up standing in the bleachers for the football field to get as high as possible and it worked out great. I love being closer to the fireworks but a calm baby that actually seemed to enjoy watching the sky light up was much more pleasant than a completely freaking out baby screaming for 20 minutes :) Hopefully we'll go back to our closer vantage point next year!
Last year we went to Crockett Park in Brentwood and sat maybe 100 yards from were the fireworks were shot off. We also walked over a mile on the greenway to get there so we didn't have to deal with the crazy traffic in the park. I wasn't so sure this was a great idea with an 8 month old (and an hour past his bedtime).
So instead we decided to park at Ravenwood High School which is on a hill about 1 1/2 miles from Crockett Park to watch the fireworks.
Before the fireworks began the boys got to run around and catch fireflies - perfect entertainment!
We ended up standing in the bleachers for the football field to get as high as possible and it worked out great. I love being closer to the fireworks but a calm baby that actually seemed to enjoy watching the sky light up was much more pleasant than a completely freaking out baby screaming for 20 minutes :) Hopefully we'll go back to our closer vantage point next year!
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Little Ninja
We've been watching a lot of American Ninja Warrior lately. But I think this is the cutest little ninja ever :)
Crawling Progress
Grayson's crawling is improving. Now he looks like he's doing the Worm ...
Carter was helping me get a video of Grayson's crawling by encouraging him to get Legos. It's a daily challenge to keep Gray away from them. He sees the big boys playing with them (and that they are all over the floor in the family room). He wants them so bad!!! :)
Birthday Hike
On Rylan's birthday we decided to go hiking. We had his party the weekend before and the weather finally cooled down so it was a perfect day to go. Before we had kids, it was Brian and my tradition to go hiking on my birthday. But the middle of winter is usually too cold for the little ones now. So maybe hiking can be Rylan's birthday tradition for awhile.
We grabbed our Sunday paper as we headed out around 7 am. My mom was with us and read the paper in the back with the boys :)
On our way to our first state park, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a birthday doughnut (we did this instead of make more cupcakes).
We got a pack of Munchkins to share - they were super yummy!!!
Our first stop was Fall Creek Falls State Park. We haven't been back to this park since we moved to Nashville. It's definitely changed a bit and is now a very popular place to swim in the water ABOVE the waterfall. The water was low but we still saw a lot of people venturing to the edge. Crazy! It was extremely crowded in the parking area but thinned out a lot on the actual hike.
Cane Creek Falls:
Rockhouse Falls:
We hiked about 2 miles round-trip. I carried Grayson in the backpack for half of the hike and Brian did the second half. Carter and Rylan did a great job hiking.
Brian and the older boys did some scrambling up a rocky outcrop at an overlook along the trail.
My mom, Grayson, and I decided to watch :)
The boys want this giant rock in our yard!
Fall Creek Falls and Coon Creek Falls were barely more than a trickle.
A picture of the 5 of us!
The swinging bridge may have been the highlight of the hike since the waterfalls were unremarkable.
One more view of Cane Creek Falls:
After Fall Creek Falls SP, we stopped in McMinnville for a late lunch. Since we were so close, we decided to check out a park we'd never been to before - Rock Island State Park. Again, it was overrun with people wanting to swim in the river but the one place we stopped forbids swimming because of the currents so it wasn't too bad.
Twin Falls was not lacking in water and made up for the other falls.
Twin Falls is unique and here is the description of it from our guidebook:
Water gushes from a steep hillside, forming a pair of high-volume cataracts rumbling 65 to 80 feet into the Caney Fork River. The springs did not occur until after the construction of Great Falls Dam. Collins River is immediately behind the hill from Caney Fork, and it is speculated that, upon its level being elevated, forming Great Falls Lake, water began seeping into caverns thought to be inside the hill. The water had to go somewhere, so it proceeded to "leak" out the other side.
We all did some rock scramling by the river to check out the falls. Brian and the big boys went a little further around a bend in the river.
The big boys and my mom:
We had a fun day getting outside! Rylan seemed to enjoy his birthday as well!!!
We grabbed our Sunday paper as we headed out around 7 am. My mom was with us and read the paper in the back with the boys :)
On our way to our first state park, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a birthday doughnut (we did this instead of make more cupcakes).
We got a pack of Munchkins to share - they were super yummy!!!
Our first stop was Fall Creek Falls State Park. We haven't been back to this park since we moved to Nashville. It's definitely changed a bit and is now a very popular place to swim in the water ABOVE the waterfall. The water was low but we still saw a lot of people venturing to the edge. Crazy! It was extremely crowded in the parking area but thinned out a lot on the actual hike.
Cane Creek Falls:
Rockhouse Falls:
We hiked about 2 miles round-trip. I carried Grayson in the backpack for half of the hike and Brian did the second half. Carter and Rylan did a great job hiking.
Brian and the older boys did some scrambling up a rocky outcrop at an overlook along the trail.
My mom, Grayson, and I decided to watch :)
Fall Creek Falls and Coon Creek Falls were barely more than a trickle.
A picture of the 5 of us!
The swinging bridge may have been the highlight of the hike since the waterfalls were unremarkable.
One more view of Cane Creek Falls:
After Fall Creek Falls SP, we stopped in McMinnville for a late lunch. Since we were so close, we decided to check out a park we'd never been to before - Rock Island State Park. Again, it was overrun with people wanting to swim in the river but the one place we stopped forbids swimming because of the currents so it wasn't too bad.
Twin Falls was not lacking in water and made up for the other falls.
Twin Falls is unique and here is the description of it from our guidebook:
Water gushes from a steep hillside, forming a pair of high-volume cataracts rumbling 65 to 80 feet into the Caney Fork River. The springs did not occur until after the construction of Great Falls Dam. Collins River is immediately behind the hill from Caney Fork, and it is speculated that, upon its level being elevated, forming Great Falls Lake, water began seeping into caverns thought to be inside the hill. The water had to go somewhere, so it proceeded to "leak" out the other side.
We had a fun day getting outside! Rylan seemed to enjoy his birthday as well!!!
Friday, July 3, 2015
Dozing Off
This what happens during breakfast when Grayson doesn't sleep well and also gets up too early.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Swim Meet vs. Maryland Farms YMCA
Carter had his last regular season swim meet of the season yesterday. It was another home meet in the indoor pool.
Carter did great! He improved his time in both freestyle and backstroke by almost a second. Also, in order to maximize points, Carter and Chase got to relays with the 7-8 year old boys. Carter did the freestyle relay and Chase did the medley relay.
Here are Carter's results:
6&U Boys 25 Yard Freestyle: 32.45 seconds (3rd place)
6&U Boys 25 Yard Backstroke: 35.89 seconds (3rd place)
7-8 Boys 100 Yard Freestyle Relay: 2:13.65 (5th place)
Carter did great! He improved his time in both freestyle and backstroke by almost a second. Also, in order to maximize points, Carter and Chase got to relays with the 7-8 year old boys. Carter did the freestyle relay and Chase did the medley relay.
Here are Carter's results:
6&U Boys 25 Yard Freestyle: 32.45 seconds (3rd place)
6&U Boys 25 Yard Backstroke: 35.89 seconds (3rd place)
7-8 Boys 100 Yard Freestyle Relay: 2:13.65 (5th place)
Rylan's 5-Year-Old Checkup
Rylan had his 5-year-old checkup today. It was very uneventful - which is great! No shots, no blood draw. Only a urine sample which Rylan thought was so cool! :)
My only real question was about Rylan's adenoids. His speech teacher recommended we have them checked because Rylan always sounds congested when he talks. Dr. Huss said they were larger but not worthy of surgery in his opinion. He said that Rylan's seems like he has allergies because the tissue in his nose is somewhat inflamed and he has a line a across his nose which usually comes from rubbing a runny or itchy nose a lot. I've never noticed any real allergy symptoms but Dr. Huss said Rylan might benefit from using a spray like Flonase for a month to try to reduce the swelling. But he also said it would most likely be more trouble than it's worth (since Rylan would probably fight it).
Here are Rylan's current stats and others for comparison:
Rylan's 5 year stats:
My only real question was about Rylan's adenoids. His speech teacher recommended we have them checked because Rylan always sounds congested when he talks. Dr. Huss said they were larger but not worthy of surgery in his opinion. He said that Rylan's seems like he has allergies because the tissue in his nose is somewhat inflamed and he has a line a across his nose which usually comes from rubbing a runny or itchy nose a lot. I've never noticed any real allergy symptoms but Dr. Huss said Rylan might benefit from using a spray like Flonase for a month to try to reduce the swelling. But he also said it would most likely be more trouble than it's worth (since Rylan would probably fight it).
Here are Rylan's current stats and others for comparison:
Rylan's 5 year stats:
- Weight: 43 lbs (66th percentile)
- Height: 42.5 inches (39th percentile)
- Weight: 39.25 lbs (77th percentile)
- Height: 40 inches (44th percentile)
- Weight: 40.2 lbs (46th percentile)
- Height: 43 inches (50th percentile)
Cheekwood
I don't think we've even been to Cheekwood this year yet so we stopped by yesterday with my mom for about an hour.
They have redone the train exhibit and it's really cool. The trains come out of logs and you can walk under them now. The big boys had fun exploring and finding all the new things.
Grayson LOVED the trains too. He got so excited whenever he saw one ...
There is also a new outdoor art exhibit at Cheekwood this summer. The exhibit is titled "Human Landscape" and it is by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. The boys had fun finding all the sculptures in the garden.
Carter imitating the art :)
We didn't stay too long since it was hot and Grayson was fussy but it was fun getting to explore the new exhibit!
They have redone the train exhibit and it's really cool. The trains come out of logs and you can walk under them now. The big boys had fun exploring and finding all the new things.
Grayson LOVED the trains too. He got so excited whenever he saw one ...
There is also a new outdoor art exhibit at Cheekwood this summer. The exhibit is titled "Human Landscape" and it is by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. The boys had fun finding all the sculptures in the garden.
Carter imitating the art :)
We didn't stay too long since it was hot and Grayson was fussy but it was fun getting to explore the new exhibit!
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