Callaway

Since our vacation, I had planned to take one more day off work this summer to do something fun with the boys before school started back. When my buddy, Dan offered me his season pass to Callaway Gardens a couple of weeks ago, that settled our plans. I called Alice and Mom and we made plans to go this past Wednesday.

I have a lot of fond memories at Callaway, so it was particularly special. Every summer when I would spend a week with Granny, she would take us to spend a day at Callaway. We'd take one of our Dawson friends and she would take Mrs. Edith and off we'd go. She and Mrs. Edith would sit under the pavillion reading books in their rocking chairs and my buddy and I would swim in the lake, ride the train, ride paddle boats and have lots of summer fun. Callaway is special because of those memories and I was excited to share some of that with my boys.

It has changed some over the years, but really is a lot like it was when I was a kid. Riley, Owen and Jacob loved the water and spent most of the day splashing around. Ethan wasn't very interested in the water but hung out with Nanny in the shade while the others swam. They have a play area out in the water with lots of inflatable toys - rock climbing walls with slides on one side, 2 huge trampolines and several smaller ones. Riley and Jacob loved playing there, especially jumping on the trampolines and landing in the water. Owen tried one of the smaller trampolines but was a little more cautious and ended up watching the older two. You'll notice in all the pictures below, his hair is dry. He absolutely hates to have water over his head or get splashed in the face. We'll have to overcome that sooner or later, but for now he prefers to stay in water where he can stand.

We all enjoyed a game of putt-putt too and a ride on the paddle boats. Unfortunately the train was out for repair and the circus didn't have a showing on Wednesdays but I don't think the kids missed either of those, there was plenty else to keep them busy.

The cousins all played really great together and except for a few arguments over who was going to pick the movie for the ride back, they got along great. Thanks, Dan for sharing your pass with us, we had a great time!

Owen playing putt-putt.

I guess we need to work on his form.

Riley playing putt-putt with Ethan watching.

Three silly boys.

Three Muskateers

You wouldn't believe how many shots I have like this with none of them looking at the camera. At least Jake and Ethan are smiling in this one, better than my two managed to do for the camera.

My 3 Guys and Me....no more?

As most of you probably already know, I may need to change the name of my blog pretty soon. We are expecting a 5th member to our family next March! We are very excited about our new addition. Riley and Owen were very excited when we told them the news. I think the newness has already worn off for them. I'm guessing it probably won't be till March when the reality of it all really hits them. Riley wants another brother, and Owen would like a sister. Actually, Owen would like twin sisters, he said that way our family will be 'even' with boys and girls. We'll have to wait and see. I'm about 6 weeks along now and it won't be till 20 weeks before we know the sex of the baby.

So far my pregnancy is going great. I've always loved being pregnant and have been blessed with very easy pregnancies. I'm praying this one will be no different. Knowing that this will likely be our last, I'm trying my best to savor each moment of this pregnancy. I know it will go by all too fast.

Owen's prayer as I was tucking him in a few nights ago, "Thank you for God, Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and thank you for our new baby. Please help our new baby to come here in 2 days. Amen." I couldn't help but giggle at his request and had to explain that it was important that the baby grew inside Mommy for 9 months before he or she came out. I'm not sure he understood, he seemed a little disappointed but again 9 months will be gone before we know it.

The boys have been camping this week with my parents and Jacob in Parrott. It sounds like they've had a great time. Four-wheeling, collecting fire wood, playing in the irrigation system of the neighboring sod farm and even swimming in the neighbors pool. Mom said one night as she was cooking dinner, Jacob came inside and asked her if they could just stay 100 more days. Owen chimed in and said, how about 1000 more days! I think that must be some indication of how much fun they have there. They are on their way home now and should be here in the next hour or so. I'm anxious to see my 2 monkeys and get some hugs and kisses!

Lance and I have enjoyed the quiet time at home this week. Lance has finished washing our deck with a pressure washer and then with a deck wash. Now he has to let it dry for several days before sealing and staining it. What a job! Today we both worked in the yard. Cut grass, ran the weed eater and I actually got a lot of planting done. I put 4 rose bushes in the ground that Mom had given me for Mother's Day and also 10 azaleas that I've had even longer than the roses. It feels good to have that all done.

I'll try to post at least weekly updates as I have pre-natal visits and changes in my pregnancy. My next appointment isn't until July 29th.

Guitar Lesson

Tonight was a first for us.  Riley began guitar lessons.  Santa brought him a 'real' electric guitar for Christmas.  We really thought it would be an interest for a week or so after Christmas and then become more or less a toy.  We were wrong.  He is very into it and has been begging for lessons and says he plans to ask Santa this year for an acoustic guitar.  For his birthday we told him we'd get him signed up for lessons, so tonight was his first one.  

It's only a 30 minute lesson.  His teacher is the minister of music at a nearby church.  He was recommended from a friend and is very reasonable as far as cost.  We are sort-of trying this out for a month and we'll see how it goes and how serious he really is about it.  His teacher seemed great, very patient and talked on his level but also was very informative.  He started with the first and second string and with the first and third fret.  Riley was all grins and has been anticipating this for a week or more.  The last thing they did was play Mary Had a Little Lamb.  Granted the notes had 5-10 second pauses between them, but he did hit them all.  I think we'll be hearing that song all week since that is his homework for 10-15 minutes a day.  His teacher warned him that his fingers would be sore but he'd have to work through that to make them tough if he wanted to learn to play.

As soon as we got home, he had his guitar back out of it's case and was practicing.  He tried a few of the exercises the teacher taught him and then proceeded to find a spiral notebook.  I had no idea what he was about to do, but he drew the 6 lines for the 6 strings and proceeded to start writing his own song.  His music looked exactly like the music his teacher had given him, only in his 1st grade handwriting.  It was complete with 'o' for open string notes and '1' and '3' for fret's 1 and 3, each drawn on the appropriate strings.  It looks like we'll be into this for more than this first trial month.  

I'm so excited that he is genuinely interested in music and his guitar.  It's not anything we ever pushed on him or even encouraged, yet he has completely requested all this and persued it on his own.  I love seeing him grow and getting glimpses of what the grown up Riley might be like.  Who knows, we might see him up on a stage someday with that guitar around his neck.