How has it been almost a year already?

Where has the time gone? It was almost a year ago the last time I posted, and boy has so much happened in that year.

L had his last 2 camp outs as a Cub Scout, D transitioned to a Junior scout, we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary, Adam was in an accident where it was him on a bicycle versus a car (I would say he won, because he had minimal injuries considering he was hit by a car), I had a road trip to Michigan for a girl's weekend where our car decided the transmission was done, the kids and I took our first flights in an airplane (mine to San Diego with my best friend), the kids and I took a 10 day trip to Maui to visit my mom and her husband, Adam had to have hand surgery to correct damage done from the accident, I took another road trip to Ohio to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday, we had to buy a new car, school started again (4th and 5th grades), many many afterschool programs, I started to work at the school, science fair projects, Girl Scout cookie season, Circle the State with song choir, pinewood derby, and so much more!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the past year. I hope to be better about posts this next year.

L running in the Running is Elementary Race

May the 4th celebration at the library

 

Mother's day winery hopping

My first ever flight, with my best friends to San Diego

D's 9th birthday party

L's 10th birthday party

Scout night with the South Bend Cubs

12th wedding anniversary

D dressed as Hermione at a Potter library event

My girls weekend in Michigan

Kids first ever flight, 10 days in Maui

On top of the volcano

 A shark sighting at the beach

First day of 4th and 5th grade

Seeing Ruth Bader Ginsberg talk at ND

I was able to meet the wonderful author, Jen Lancaster, at a local event.

D had Girl Scout archery camp

It was a very Potter Halloween this year for our family.

We took our annual Christmas trip to Chicago.

We both got to go on the annual 4th and 5th grade ski field trip.

L's science fair project.

L won 3rd place in the entire pack for Pinewood Derby this year. 

D was able to sing in a multi-school choir

Rain gutter Regatta 2015

It is the fall season again, so in the Cub Scout world that means... Rain gutter Regatta! Both kids wanted to race yet again this year, and went with animal themed boats. And once again they did all the work themselves, from sanding, design, paint, and sails.

For the last 2 years, our den only had 2 boys race which meant L was automatically bumped into the top 10 finals. Well this year we have added 2 new boys to our den alone, and they were amazing competition! L was picked to be an example of how to race at the start of the meeting. Our Pack has basically doubled this year, so we have many boys that have never done this before.

And after every leg of the race, the boys are encouraged to show good sportsmanship by shaking hands and congratulating each other on a job well done.

After our den was done, because it is so small compared to many others, we had the siblings race. This is the Pixie race, but brothers or sisters of any age can compete. With such a huge range in ages, it can often be difficult to match up.

D was very excited to come in 2nd place this year, while L came in 4th in his den. He was disappointed of course, but a great sport to the rest of the boys.

We ended the night with snacks, awards, and a den was awarded the spirit stick. The spirit stick was given to the Tiger Cubs for showing amazing sportsmanship. And you can see in this picture the very neat captain's ship wheel that Adam made for the race. It was very cool, and was able to turn and everything!

Scout Night at the Cove and L turns 9!

Every year the local baseball team has a Boy scout and Girl scout night where you are able to get a ticket to the game, watch fireworks, run the bases, camp in the outfield, watch a movie on the big screen, and have donuts in the morning. We have gone the last 3 years now (2014, 2013) and always have a blast! This year just so happened to be the night before L's birthday, so he woke up on the field 9 years old. What a special treat!!! So that morning of the game, we gave him an early gift, his new hat and neckerchief slide for becoming a Webelo.

 The Remax Balloon showed up during the game!

My 2 very similar guys!

 Running the bases

We woke up on the field, headed home to clean up, then got on with the day. Toys R' Us was having a free Lego build, it was suppose to be the Jurassic Park gate, but our store never got the shipment. Instead they had build your own Lego kit. We headed out to the car and found this cool car outside for photos!

 L picked the Golden Corral for his special meal because "the kids in class raved about it and said they have a chocolate fountain"! We also headed to the mall to get his free loot, and participate in a free healthy kids summer program!  Back at home we all took a nap, then he got to open his gifts from us. A Pokemon shirt, small Lego set, a set of Harry Potter themed books, and D gave him a Ducktails video game.

And we ended the night with his requested double chocolate cake, and vanilla ice cream.

Cub Scout community projects

For 2 years now, our scouts have taken part in a Trash Bash at a local park. We head over, collect trash for a few hours, and then they reward us with a hot dog cookout. Not too bad! This year, Adam really wanted to do something else. So he contacted the South Bend parks department and together they came up with this project. A flagstone wall had been falling down and was in disrepair at Leeper Park. This area is close to the fragrant garden for the blind, and also in a historic part of the park. Adam was also able to have 2 local companies to donate the stone that we needed to help fix the wall.

The day arrived, and it was cold, rainy, and very muddy!! We had a great turn out of families to come and help. We started by raking all the leaves away from the wall, collect and fallen stones, and then dig out the rest of the stones and wall. It was heavy dirty work, but it went really well considering the weather.

By the end of the day, the wall was finished. It was a dry stack wall, meaning no mortar to hold the stones in place. It is not a pretty wall right now, but it is a fixed wall. We also had some leftover stones to leave with the parks department so that if they need to, they can add them to the wall.

The next day, the sun came out and dried out the mud. We were able to come back and clean up the mess we made. It didn't take too long, but it felt great to be able to do this.

After we were done on the 2nd day, the kids had a blast exploring the park more. We come here many times a year, but there were things they never looked at.

They took a time to relax on the steps of the Pierre Navarre log cabin in the park.