A New Trumpeter

A few weeks back Logan went to an event at school that allowed him to try all the possible instruments he could play in the school band or orchestra.  Logan went to the event thinking saxophone, saxophone, saxophone.  

He thought for sure he was going to be the next Kenny G.

  

We were both surprised when he liked the trumpet best. 

He has been practicing nightly and is doing a wonderful job (not that I'm bias as the mother of this wonderful child).  

Girl Scout Weekend

Amanda and I joined her new girl scout troop for an organized camp out.  As I'm sure you can tell from the photos she (and I) had a blast.  

She spent a lot of time Saturday afternoon making "swaps".  This was our first experience with them so I'm sure most you you haven't heard about them either.  They are little crafts attached to safety pins that you swap with other girl scouts.  The experienced campers had hats full of swaps but since Amanda doesn't like hats she decided to wear her treasures on her bandanna.  

Back at the cabin the word was "glow sticks".  The girls decorated every available bed rail, stair tread, and door knob.  They did the decorating during day light hours but when we returned after dark the whole cabin glowed.

What a cutie!

The whole troop in front of their cabin.

Party time at the lodge with karaoke and dancing.  

It doesn't matter how old you get.  Balloon chasing is always fun.

 After dinner we washed our mess kit and hung it on the fence to dry... everyone else had mesh bags to put their kits in, but we were newbies and didn't bring a bag.  Amanda got very creative and solved our problem!

After dinner it was time for the pinata.  This group of girls wacked this adorable pumpkin until he exploded in a mess of jewelry and candy. 

 Candy Treasure!

 In the morning they had to hunt for their breakfast.  The staff had hidden cereal boxes, yogurt containers, orange juice bottles and bananas round the camp ground and the girls had to seek it out.  Their treat for successfully finding breakfast was a doughnut on a string.

This wasn't a health nut camp out to be sure because shortly after their breakfast dessert they enjoyed campfire S'mores.  

 YUM!

Family Night at the Royals

Tub Lovin' Dogs

While there isn't much to report about my human monkeys since school started, these four legged monkeys have been very entertaining.  We've been taking walks in the neighborhood, drives around town, and lots and lots of tubbies!  This monstrous bath tub in our master bedroom will hold two golden retrievers and me for a y'all come bath party.  And let me tell you, these cuties love their water!

 Time to get clean!

Laboring on Labor Day

Mark off another project from our long list....  Lawn Renovation Complete!

When we purchased this house Eric immediately put a lawn renovation on the To Do list.  This yard had been neglected for years and was over run with weeds.  After spending several weeks getting the sprinkler system back up and running it was time for the major re-seeding project.

By the time I thought to take some photos it was getting late, but the kids even pitched in to help us out.  Amanda helped get the clippings into the bags and cleaned the driveway.

 Logan was in charge to getting the very full bags to the curb for recycling.

It looks ugly now, but in a few weeks it should fill in nicely.

 A cute little white cat watched us from the window.  I'm sure he was wishing he could help us out.

The next morning Eric rented this nifty piece of equipment.  It dropped seeds as it verticut the lawn. It was hot work, but went fairly fast.

I've been working on lots of other projects around the house too.  I'll have to do a before and after post soon to show you our progress.