What they will remember

Yes, I know they will remember the skeleton at the castle. In fact, the older one said it had made the entire trip worth it.

Heading toward Italy

The drive from Germany to Italy was not as scary as I had thought it might be. In fact, I found driving in Europe was easy except for some very narrow old roads every once in awile. We only stopped for a few short minutes in Austria and headed toward our favorite destination of the trip which will take me several days to cover.

Nuremberg

Why this photo - because the boys so enjoyed seeing all the bugs aglow over the river. It was late in the evening while we were wondering around. It was warm and it the sun sets so late you do not realize that it is after 10:00pm.

Simple Day

Wonderful slow day - spent the morning walking to two libraries to sign up for summer reading programs with the younger one and then walking the afternoon walking to the pharmacy with the older one. Sunny cool day perfect for long walks.

Germany

Germany was our first stop on our European vacation. It was a nice entry into the first overseas trip for the boys. My goal for the trip was to give the boys a chance to see a place that is different than what they know. I know that Europe is not as different as much as the world but it is a start. They noticed the difference is language, food, architecture and age of much of the buildings. They thought there sure were a lot of old things. However, I made almost all out hotels reservations in the historic older part of town.

Got Snowed on in Bryce

We woke up to snow. I like that I was able to get the boys to play along with the "photo shoot".

Last day of school

Yep a broken leg the last day of school. What a way to spend your summer.

USS Hornet

A while back we went on a night tour of the USS Hornet. When I made the reservation I did not know that the USS Hornet is purported to be one of the most haunted places in the US. When we arrived we were given the option to have a haunted tour or a tour with history and a little haunting. We choose the later. There were only 4 of us on the tour. We were given meters that would indicate if there were paranormal activity around up.
It was interesting - we learned a lot - and it was fun! All the lights were out and we had to use flashlights to get around. Our tour ended after 11:00 pm.

Kids Sports

I only have photos of the young ones volleyball games. The older one's track experience I have not been allowed to photograph.

Volleyball has been a great experience. He feels more comfortable with the older students (he is the only 6th grader) and the team having only one more game is undefeated. Best part he is quite good so I can see some volleyball in the future.

6th Grade Dance Drama

Some drama as a result from his first dance made me surprise him with lunch on Monday. Went to his favorite burger place which has been there for years and years.
Surprising how even when you think a successful occasion has occurred - drama might unfold.

More Canyoneering

The only point in the trip that I was nervous was climbing out - no ropes. I kept falling since I did not have the correct shoes - the boys did better at this point. Also after six hours at this we were getting a bit tired. We were also wet and even though the water was very cold we did not seem to get too cold since the weather was nice and we were moving.

Spring Break

During Spring Break we went to Zion National Park. Amazingly beautiful. And we had incredible weather.

While there we went on a canyoneering trip. During the first rappel into the cavern I could tell the boys were a bit weary however, by the second rappel, which was about 7 stories in height - they loved it. It was my idea of heaven. Adventure, challenge and glorious scenery.

Leadership?

This one has been selected by staff and students in leadership in his school to become involved in leadership. He was fairly certain that there must have been a mistake made but I however, think they see qualities in him that he does not see in himself. I feel proud but even more so hopeful, hopeful that he will be able to meet a new challenge.

6th Grade Dance

I was very impressed with his wanting to go to the first sixth grade dance. Many private schools in the area all attend so his small class of 10 in a dance with 200 kids seems even smaller. He went by himself and danced the entire night. And most impressive slow danced with girls from other schools to the dismay of the girls in his class. Bravo!

Forgot to post Birthday Post

It was just a small celebration with old friends to mark the 12th birthday. Last year with only teenagers. First there was bowling and lunch. Then some dancing and shooting. A perfect birthday.

CAL Day

Went to Cal Day today. Went to a lecture about the adolescent brain - so fun to hear the adolescent talk about what he had learned during the lecture. Learned about bats and stem cell research. Also how birds coloring is partly due to what they eat. Enjoyed ourselves for hours until it became too crowded and time to leave.

National Day of Silence

When I walked my younger son into school today ALL of the students were silent. It was to show support for those who are bullied because they are LGBT or bullied for any reason. They were so ernest and serious it made me tear up - such compassion for middle school students to take this on with such determination. Very proud.

Piano lessons pay off

My son who is in 6th grade has been taking piano lessons since he was in kindergarten. Starting last year his middle school has a rock band. Today while the band played some songs in from of the school and he had a solo jam. The others students yelled and screamed his name. I think it was the first time he was able to enjoy the crowd response and maybe some understanding why other people become musicians.

Hobbies

I have realized over the weekend that all my hobbies have no completion. I love to garden - always more weed to pull and plants to prune. Exercise - we know that never ends. Cooking - my boys are always hungry for more. I guess my hobbies of reading and photography at least do have some finished products. I want to take up knitting or painting or even pottery so I will finally have a finished product.

More photos taken on my morning walk taking my son to school.

Pondering if I should give it a go.

I do enjoy reading blogs but much like I am when I talk with other people - I prefer others stories than my own. Maybe that should be my plan, telling about people that I meet each day. Who knows. In the mean time some pictures from my walks this week.