Nature at Gram and Pap's

We just read an excellent book for book club called Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. I learned many things from this book, but one of them was the importance of my children to experience nature. Our children's generation is so different from how we grew up. I used to go with my cousin Jason down to the creek and search for things, or hide in the woods across the street from our house. Now we don't dare let our kids go out without us because of "stranger danger". We don't have a very big yard but at least we have a garden that we plant each year and the kids can learn from growing vegetables, and we have plenty of bugs! I love my parent's house because of all the land they have. Sunday we ate the first batch of corn from my Dad's garden. (We would have had some earlier, but he has had a problem with racoons this year.) After dinner the kids and adults were having a fight with the bad apples that had fallen, and Hayden helped to shell Pap's lima beans. Then while we were sitting there, a fox goes walking across their property! That was the first fox the boys had ever seen. Of course I had my camera at the ready! Hayden and Connor always find frogs at the pond and toads in the yard too. And my Dad has a hummingbird and a finch feeder near the patio that they feed on while we are nearby. I would love to find a house that has lots of land and nature around so that my kids can experience what we were able to experience. I LOVE this picture!!!!!

The birthday party

The boys had a great time with some of their friends and family on Sat.. Hayden's friends that came were Vienna, J.J., Harrison, Zane, Grace (well, Grace was Connor's friend too!). Connor had Nikki Bowman from church and Will and Ewan were there too but didn't do too much because their just barely one. The first activity was a type of pin the tail on the donkey only it was Spider-Man and Elmo. Then we had the kids make necklaces out of Fruit Loops, and then had a contest to see who could eat them the fastest. Harrison won, Vienna and Hayden tied for second. But they all did a pretty good job. It was fun to watch them. Hayden requested a red velvet Spider-Man cake, Connor got a strawberry Elmo cake. After they ate cake and opened the presents from their friends (which they loved them all-Thank you!), we went outside in the oppressive heat to bust open the Pinata and then get in the pool. Only the kids had their swimsuits on, but I guess Josi looked really hot because Dave decided to throw her in the pool without her permission! She got out right way but at least she was cooler than the rest of us! I suppose this is going to become a tradition because last year at the party Mike decided to throw me in the pool (with my cell phone in my pocket!). Ewan decided he was going to bond with nature (with a little help from his Daddy). Jamie took it really well. As soon as she saw him she got out her camera. That's what you always do as soon as something happens, isn't it?! Connor got a really cute tricycle from my parents which he loves because he can reach the peddles. After the party we met Jamie, Andy, Dave, Josi and the kids up at Laurel Lake to cool off a little more and let the adults swim. Actually, Dave and Andy were going to go kayaking, but they got stopped by the park ranger for not having proper registration so they had to take the boats out. We felt really bad for them.

By the time we got home and had dinner, I was tired. I was glad the next day was Sun. and we were going over to my parents for dinner. A day of rest! No more birthday parties for another year!

Hayden turns 6

So many personalities!

Each year when we go to the beach I take time to contemplate things. I always write a letter to Hayden for his birthday about how he has changed in the past year. I always put this letter in the scrapbook, but I thought this year I would also post in on my blog.

Hayden-I can't believe how much you have changed this past year. It seems like you've grown about 5 inches, you seem so tall and your legs are so long.

You grew a lot in preschool this past year and are ready to head off to kindergarten (I can't belive I'm a mother of a 6 yr. old!). Your math skills are amazing-you can already do a lot of addition and subtraction (in your head!) and you are fascinated with learning. You've even gotten excited about reading. We've started reading longer chapter books to you like Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. You are really enjoying that. Your coloring and drawing skills are incredible, you have such an imagination! I hope you keep drawing and don't get the fear that it's not good enough. You are also very witty.

You've also learned a lot about money this past year. I think you're learning the value of it. I'm impressed at how well you can count money already and it's exciting to see you work so hard to earn it. You've been helping us clean the bathroom and just last week you got excited about doing the vaccuuming. It's especially nice right now while Mommy is pregnant!

Your favorite thing right now is Spider-Man (along with every other 5 and 6 yr. old!). Sometimes you talk about other super heroes, but it's mostly just the red and blue guy. Your birthday party will be Spider-Man and that's all you asked for as a present.

You are such a great big brother. You are always helping Connor to do something and most of the time you guys do well playing together. It's cute to hear and see you guys scream and run around and jump on couches together. Connor really looks up to you and I know your new brother or sister will also. You are a great example to them.

Primary has been a wonderful experience for you. There are several songs that you have dubbed your favorites and you always remember what you learn in your class. When we read the scriptures together or have our home evening lesson, you often can tell the story before we read it. I can tell your little testimony is growing and I am grateful for that. You will need it as you go off to school and have to make good choices on your own without us there. Your dad just gave you a blessing to start school and one of the things he mentioned was that you will be a leader and an example to the kids around you.

One of your big accomplishments from last year happened at the beach this week. You realized how much fun it is to get in the ocean and jump in the waves-what a breakthrough!

I look forward to this next year of growth and accomplishments, I know there will be many. You are at an exciting time in your life when you start to realize how much there is to learn. I love you more each day and am so grateful to be at home to spend them with you.

Love, Mommy

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Virginia Beach

A week at the beach-Ahhhh! What more can be said! We've been looking forward to this vacation all summer, and it was just about as great as we had hoped. There were a few setbacks, but one thing we were very grateful for was the weather. The only time it rained was Thurs. overnight, which was nice because it helped cool down the temperature on Fri. We didn't have any major sunburns either, which was amazing.

One of the most exciting things that happened this year was Hayden's breakthrough-discovering what fun it is to get in the ocean and jump the waves. He made this discovery on the first day too, so all week he wanted to get in. Connor wasn't as convinced this year, but he did okay.

By Weds., Connor just couldn't wait to get back to the cabin to take a nap. After a walk with Daddy along the beach, he came back drooling on Mike's chest and slept like that for almost two hours. What a good Daddy! Mike said he didn't mind though because he was able to read. They have some big fish sculptures that the boys liked to climb. They also put in a playground on the beach this year. We went in the morning before it got too hot.

Weds. was Hayden's birthday. What a great place to spend it! He and Daddy got up early that morning and walked along the beach to collect seashells. They found some good ones. I've enjoyed this tradition since I was little, but being pregnant I couldn't afford missing the sleep. Next year.

We had mini cupcakes for Hayden so that he could blow out a candle. He'll get his birthday cake at his party. It's a little hard to keep a cake while you'[re camping! We went out to dinner that night after Hayden opened his presents-Spider-Man of course! The restaurant we went to had a magician that did tricks with the kids and made balloons. You can't really tell by this picture, but he made a guy riding a motorcycle for Hayden. It was pretty impressive. The restaurant also gave Hayden a necklace and sang to him. He felt special.

One of the setbacks was the food wasn't very good. That was really disappointing for me because 1) I look forward to good seafood at the beach each year, and 2) we haven't gone out to eat since I got pregnant and sick, so this was supposed to be a fantastic meal.

Since we were camping, we had to roast marshmallow Peeps! How appropriate that Connor was wearing his Chick Magnet shirt! The other big setback happened early Fri. morning when I woke up to either food poisoning or a bad case of the stomach flu. The campground only has public restrooms, so each hour from 3 a.m. on, I had to walk in the rain to have another episode. By 8am I was pretty exhausted, and, after giving me a blessing, Mike took me to a Patient First clinic. They gave me two bags of IV fluids and some nausea medicine. I felt a bit better after that and ready to sleep on the trip home.

We had planned to go out to breakfast at IHOP Fri. morning, then stay at the beach for a few hours, get our traditional ice cream cones to say good-bye to the beach, then leave for the drive back late afternoon. Well, because of my illness, all they got to do was get ice cream and take a quick walk on the beach while I slept in the car. Then because we left around 1pm., the traffic was horrible and we didn't home until 9pm.

Knoebels

I think this picture of Hayden captures the joy in a child's face at an amusement park. I was thoroughly pleased with this picture since Hayden is starting to get an attitude towards getting his picture taken. We were all riding the Ferris Wheel for this picture. I was excited to see Connor riding a couple of rides with his big brother.

Hayden enjoyed playing the games more than the rides this year. I think that's because he likes getting prizes. This game Connor wanted to play too, and he won a big prize for getting the ball in a red cup. He's got a good arm! This is a picture of one of the cabins that you can rent out on the campground. I especially wanted other Brandt's to see this and wondered if we could look into renting a cabin next summer for the reunion? I'll send out an e-mail with more info.

Pool Friends

I guess it was about a week and a half now that we had Jamie and the boys with us at the pool. They had a lot of fun together and Harrison and Zane got Hayden excited about going under the water again, which ultimately has helped him swim better. He doesn't even use a floaty in the pool anymore! Zane and Harrison were brave enough to try the slide by themselves, but we just couldn't convince Hayden that it's a lot of fun. Connor liked feeding Ewan his snack. Let's hope he's as helpful with the baby!