Benny's Christmas Concert

When the sixth grade band first picked up their instruments in September, everyone had their eyes on the prize:  Their first ever concert in December!

That time has come.  All the practicing. All the hours of band class.  All the work, all the worry.  And at last, it was time for the annual Christmas Concert.  This is an evening where the middle school band as well as the high school band performs several holiday songs for the audience.  Raffle tickets are sold as fund-raising efforts for the band.  Cookies are sold as part of the fund-rasier too.  But most of all, it's an evening of fun and excitement, particulary for the sixth graders as this is their first time showing off all their hard work.

On the day of the concert the kids were all SO excited.  Benny was ready to leave the house way, way early.  We finally went ahead and left quite a bit early and dropped him off at the band room, then found a seat in the front row of the gym.

 

It's good we did, because soon the gym was filled to capacity. 

 

The middle school band went first.  They played "Jingle Bells," "Jolly Old St. Nick," and "Up On the Rooftop."  They were so good!

 

 

 

And so proud!  They had round after round of thunderous applause after each song.

 

 

When they finished, you could see the relief on their faces. And you could still see so much pride. They had every reason to be proud, too. It was a job very well done!

 

After they finished, the high school band played several songs. They were outstanding!

 

At the very end, there was a surprise appearance by SANTA!!

 

Santa made the rounds, and the middle school kids jumped up and down with excitement when he came their way.  It was so fun.  Santa also walked around the gym and poked and waved at all the tiny children staring in amazement.

 

It may be a coincidence, but Santa looks a lot like the man who coached Sam's soccer team two years ago.  Hmm.  Oddly, he also looks like the man who had been running the snack bar earlier.

But I'm sure that's just one of those strange things you can't explain.

 

Meanwhile, I cannot WAIT til the next concert.  And next December, this will definitely be one of the highlights. I see a new holiday tradition to look forward to---the annual Gilmer Band Christmas Concert!

Yey!!

 

 

Benny's Big 12!

 

How can my little guy be twelve already? It's not possible!

This is it.  The final year of having a
"child" instead of a "teen."  Next year--two teens in the house!

 

Benny opted for a small family party this year.  I was at a loss how to make it fun so I just turned to all the old, familiar favorites we've been doing since they were four. 

We started with pin the tail on the donkey!!

 

Benny won! Then it was on to Birthday Bingo.  Benny won that, too.  And yes, there were prizes for the wins...a sticky hand and a jar of "Flarp" were big hits.

 

Fortunately the boys were good sports and joined in the games in a good spirit. (I was worried they'd roll their eyes and be embarassed.  You never know these days what you'll suddenly get.)  So..that was fun.  After that, both boys were sent on a big scavenger hunt, running around the house gathering pens, rulers, socks, hats, cat food, and all kinds of treausres.

 

After the scavenger hunt they were both awarded the big prize of the night:  Confetti gun blasters!

 

They took them outside and enjoyed the heck out of them.

That went on a for a long time.  Then we moved onto the final game....the pinata.

 

Sam and I bought the pinata together.  We wanted a big cupcake.  But all the pinatas hung from the top shelf of the store and we couldn't reach it. We also could not reach the dinosaur.  Or the party hat.  The one and only pinata we could reach was a monkey. So that's what we got

And that poor monkey was smashed to smithereens by two boys who loved an excuse to be rough!

 

 

The (now) traditional birthday monkey decapatation. 

 

Then it was off to Papa's Pizza for lots of pizza and air hockey.  Then back home again for cake and presents!

 

Happy Birthday Benny, and don't be in too big a hurry to turn 13!

 

 

 

 

County Fair!

It's that time of the year again!  The county fair has come to town!

Benny kicked things off with a big bouncey trampoline thing, and he did lots of flips.  It sure looked fun!

The boys were thrilled to go, as always. In the last couple of years, the boys have transitioned from simply having a great time at the fair together, to having their great time TOTALLY HINGE on finding friends to hang out and ride rides with. So there's always an element of suspense now when we go. Will we find anyone? Or will we wander all over the fair grounds in the wet, buggy heat, looking and looking for a friendly face?

Fortuantely the boys found two friends and off they went.  It had just barely finished raining when we went, so there were no lines for anything.  The boys rode the bumper cars over and over.

Then they rode the spinny-thing.  This is a ride they were brave enough to try last year, and they love it. You actually stand up while this thing spins around and pins you to the wall.  They rode it a bunch.  Maybe one too many times, actually--they felt sort of sick afterwards.

Sam gives it the thumbs up!

Then it was on to the swings.....

And then while they ran off for more bumper cars, Marty and I watched the new little circus that is part of the fair this year.  It's a husband and wife team and their two children.  It was very good.  Here is the husband, being a clown and spinning plates.

There's the wife, doing some pretty amazing spinning high up in the air.

The daughter and her hula-hoop act...

The son and his Spiderman suit.

Then both the son and daughter got on motrocycles and rode them like crazy inside a metal ball.  It was pretty impressive!

The boys also rode The Claw, which is new this year.  They loved it.

Then we capped off the night with our traditional ride on the ferris wheel.  And of course, cotton candy, hamburgers, and a shaved ice!

We had a great time and can't wait for next year!

LegoLand

Summer continues to cruise along.  There were two highlights of the second-to-last week of the summer:   Legoland, and the county fair.

Aunt Martha came to visit and she brought little Lila with her.  The boys and I went down to Gram's to see them.  We all packed up and headed to Legoland for a fun afternoon.

There were two rides there and we rode them both.  Lots of fun!

But mostly, of course, we were there to see Legos. And the Lego folks did not disappoint. The centerpiece of the area was a room devoted to Atlanta. They had a mini-Atlanta city...

Complete with a lego Stone Mountain, a Lego capitol, and here you see a Lego Falcon's Stadium!

Let's not forget Turner Field!

The boys tried their hand at building Lego racecars.  That did not go so well since there really weren't enough pieces for all the kids piled around, all trying to build their own cars.

Sam developed a stomach ache and I took him back to Gram's early. But everyone else stayed tos ee the 4-D movie, which sounded very good.  Sam and I accidentally got to tour Buckhead on our way home, since we got lost.  We passed the Governor's Mansion, which we both oggled at, and we ended up stumbling upon a Starbuck's, which resulted in Frapps.  It seemed to perk Sam up a little, and the nap on Gram's couch afterwards helped, too.  After a big dinner, Sam was back to normal.

We had missed both Gram and Grandad's birthday this month because they were both in Virginia at the time.  So we had a belated celebration.  The boys put the candles in the cake and Gram blew them out.

It was fun to see Lila, and Marty joined us for dinner and afterwards took photos of all the kids.

Lila is coming back next year and bringing her whole family.  We can't wait!

Summer Sailin'

Summer is over a month underway already.  And we are having a good time. I have to say this first month just flew by.  This is partly because the first two weeks of the month were occupied by two big trips.

First off, the boys went to Wyoming with the father and stepmother.  By all accounts, they had a wonderful time, saw Yellowstone Park and Old Faithful, hiked, played in "tons of snow," ate some really good food, and went white water rafting.  Wow!

Almost immediately after that they were hustled off to Virginia with Gram and Grandad, so Marty and I could go off on our annual adults-only vacation.  While we were in D.C., the boys enjoyed a few days at the Massanutten water park, then a few days at Gram and Grandad's place in Williamsburg.  They also got to stop in and see their great-grandmother.  They had a good time and were well taken care of, but they were really, really ready to come home when it was all said and done.

Since then, we've been spending summer doing what we normally do.  I admit, a lot of summer is taken up with video games that the boys play online with their school friends.  This is a blessing when whoops of joy and excitement can be heard.  It's a curse when the internet freezes, someone's computer crashes, a download won't work, or someone's feelings get hurt.

Aside from video games, the boys have been relaxing by the TV with their IPads, snacks, and...if you look closely at this photo--their lap-pad/cats.

And of course we've also been enjoying playing with cats and taking lots of pictures.

Aside from that, we watch TV, we fix meals and snacks and try new recipes, we went bowling, we've visited the pizza arcade, we've eaten out several times, gone to a matinee, and last but not least, travelled out to Helen to our favorite little waterpark.

That's Sam on the right and Benny on the left.

It's been a great summer so far despite record-breaking heat.  The one thing that I don't like lately is that the boys really don't want me to take their picture.  Ever.  If I pull out the camera they get upset.  If I take a picture on the sly, they whip around and say "Don't put that on the blog!"  Or "Don't put that on Facebook!"

So. I have a zillion pictures of the cats and not too many of the boys.  But hopefully this is a phase that will pass. Because they are growing up so fast!

Washington D.C.

June is here, and that means our annual adults-only vacation to somewhere fun.  This year we went to Washington DC!

We stayed in a WONDERFUL timeshare that Mom and Dad were able to get us through their vacation club.  It was in old town Alexandria (not far from where I was born) and we enjoyed it very much.  We had a top floor corner room with a view of a very full moon all week, and we were only a few minutes walk from the metro.  We also made use of the free trolley that ran up and down the street every day.  We went to the waterfront several times, out to eat, and even took a nice boat ride one evening.

We visited so many places, it will be impossible to go into lengthy detail here.  But we visited Arlington Cemetary, for starters.  It was a beautiful place but of course, very sobering.  I have a grandfather and an Uncle buried here. 

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier was a must-see, for many reasons.  We wanted to see if, of course, but also I wanted to see it so I could talk to Benny about it.  Two years ago when Mom and Dad brought him here, this spot made a huge impression on him.  It IS pretty amazing to witness the dedication of the Tomb Guards, who guard the Tomb with great ceremony 24/7...despite cold, rain, storms, heat, night, or day.

Arlington House.

In fact, we were so awed by Arlington that we watched a couple of documentaries about it afterwards.  What an amazing place...one that will really make you stop and think.

From there we went on to all the touristy sites one needs to hit while in DC.  We took a boat ride one night and were treated to a magnificent sunset while cruising past the Washinton Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

We got very comfortable zipping around on the Metro and went to the city every day.  We saw the monuments......

And toured the Capitol.  What a gorgeous building, and so impressive inside, too!

But as amazing as the Capitol was, the Library of Congress was even more stunning inside.  What a gorgeous place!

Over the next several days, we explored many museums....National History, the Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of Portraiture.  We saw so many amazing things.  I was most awed and captivated by Linclon's Top Hat, as well as items from the Civil War, such as the chairs that Lee and Grant sat in when they signed the treaty ending the war.  WOW.

But the real Kermit the Frog is fun, too!

The Spirit of St. Louis!

 Museum of Portaitrue.

And lastly, a stop at the Museum of Natural History.  We toured the Butterfly Pavillion and took lots of photos.  We also caught a special exhibit of Nature Photography.  Spectacular!

All in all, a wonderful trip.  The boys spent the week with Mom and Dad and had a good time too.  They were taken to Virginia and spent lots of time at the water park and at the pool.  But even though it was lots of fun, we were all glad to come back home and be together again.  And now we are in the thick of summer.   Let the good times roll!