Friday, July 13, 2012

104 Days of Summer: Visit a Nature Center

Mr. G has been working on his 104 Days of Summer Vacation again this year using this list as a starting point for ideas. We rejected a few off this list like play post office and make a cereal necklace as he informed me he is now MUCH too old for such baby activities (wah) and injected a few extras like see a play, go to a baseball game and camp out on the trampoline so that the total was 104 excellent summer fun activities. Any time he comes to me saying "I'm bored" (aka I want to watch TV), we pull out the list and look for something to check off.

Today was supposed to be my laundry catch up day, but I woke up with a sore throat and wasn't really feeling like doing anything. Mr. G was feeling left out because his older brothers were hanging around the computer playing Tobuscus videos and didn't really want him around. He came to me with tears and grumps, very near a meltdown. I had him bring me the list off the fridge and I made a few suggestions. Nature Center caught his eye. Honestly I was really hoping for Kids Plan Supper. The older two boys said they didn't want to come (having a highschool aged kid has it's perks) so Mr G and I headed off to the local Wildlife Refuge.

Through the lens of the monocular
Little Blue Heron - a first for us!

The Observation Building Pond

This hawk/eagle/osprey gave us quite a show!

He was circling and diving into the pond after something.

Kestrel

Egret

Gold Finch


This grasshopper chirruped on the mic and gave us the giggles.

Practicing for his "Big Year"?

We THINK this was a Great Blue Heron


Wood Duck and ducklings

 
Grasshopper

After spending over an hour watching all the excitement of summer at the refuge, we headed back to town for an extra treat.

Cappuccino Supreme/Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

Raspberry Sorbet
(Sorry for all the wonky picture. I can't seem to fix them. Have I mentioned how much I do NOT love Blogger's photo system? )

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Summer 2012

What a summer! It seems like it is flying by and with us starting school the 30th of this month, it is really going to be gone fast! We spent the better part of June in a flurry of camps and activities and then rushed headlong into a busy beginning of July. Luckily, I was very kind to myself and made sure that mid July was free of scheduled activities. There are things I'd like to do with my "last" two weeks of summer (like redo my laundry room which is a non-functional mess), but we'll see if I have the time to after getting things cleared up for the start of the school year.

Here is what we've been up to:



Horseback ride from Hades

Camping


Campers at Smith Lake


Flame thrower 12 packs boxes

Growing a garden



Seeing Princess and the Pea

Cub Scout Day Camp

Family Reunion


Turtle Farm







Mustache


104* Days at Fort Lazy Pants

Austin in Robin Hood the Musical



Nashville Zoo
















Dino Walk at Nashville Zoo











Sparklers: Better Late than Never!


Finally! RAIN!