A new school (sort of) and a new grade!

And so, a quickly as it started, summer ended this morning as Brant started second grade!  

Let me take a minute to talk about how much Brant has grown this summer.  Physically, yes, he's grown a ton.  As in he's going to be taller than me by next summer (most likely) and he's taller or as tall as most of his class, and he's almost a year younger than most.  But let's talk about independence and responsibility.  

We've been doing chores for a while, but we've been really consistent over the last few months.  But that's not even it.  Take this morning, for example:

I was the lucky teacher to pull early morning duty on the first day, so I told Brant we HAD to leave the house at 7.  He had the choice to sleep a bit later and have Daddy drive him, or to go with me.  Explaining that he was going to have to go to the gym with me and such, he agreed.  He set the alarm clock we bought him this summer, for 6 am.  

He got out of bed at 6.  Got dressed.  Put on shoes and socks, tied said shoes, even though the laces gave him trouble.  Then, as I was getting ready, he got out the biscuit he wanted for breakfast, microwaved it.  Got out our lunches I had made the night before, and then got our lunch bags.  By this time, I was ready, I made my coffee, wrapped up a few things and we headed out.  Notice, no where did Daddy do anything.  Daddy and Henry were still asleep!!  Quite the accomplishment to get out the door and not wake them!  

We both had an awesome day at our school, newly (as in last night) named The Burlington School.  We've merged with a high school, and opportunities abound.  We may have thought we had a lot going for us before, you should see us now! 

Happy first day smiles! For once! Usually he's not so excited

Complete with his breakfast in hand.  

Gosh he's getting big!

Cramming in the summer fun: The NC transportation museum

Last Tuesday we decided to try and cram in one more day trip for the summer. Seeing that a traveling Blackbeard exhibit was visiting the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, we packed the boys up for the day.

We started off by arriving just in time for a train ride.  Well, actually we had to wait a few minutes, but it was ok. 

Brant made friends, and gave him the benefit of his train expertise. 

Did you hear that?  The whistle just blew!

Backing into Barbour Junction station

Now Brant had made friends with this other little guy, who wanted to sit with him on the train.
You know the little guy from the Polar Express who know it ALL?  yes. well, that was this guy.  

Views from the train

Brant decided to change seats along the way...he exerted his independence and sat several rows back from us

The Southern engine that pulled our train

Flying pirate flags!!

After our ride, we headed down to check out the Blackbeard exhibit.

But not before walking on the rails

So the exhibit...well.  It wasn't the biggest, but it was pirates. And real pirate stuff at that.

Arrrgh

Hoist the Blackbeard flag!

It didn't take us long and we headed out to see the rest of the grounds.

The newest part of the museum.  The budget has been slashed, so it's not complete, but we could go in and see the progress

And then to the roundhouse..

Running the rails

Special delivery in the mail car!

A quick stop in the gift shop to play, and buy a new book...

We soon headed out to eat our picnic lunch and, soon, tired boys in tow, we headed home.  Just the right amount of fun!

The Great Kool-Aid Play-doh experiment

As many of you may know, I like Pinterest.  I've got multiple boards that are FILLED with great ideas, many destined to be Pintrosities, but on there none the less. 

We love to make homemade play-doh.  It's something about the creation of it and the boys adding the ingredients that makes it just so much more fun.  And the color choices as well.  

So, the thought of Kool-Aid play-doh was appealing!  And I knew it would smell good too.  So, off we went. 

Using the website as the guide, we were super excited of the possibility of all the great colors!

Off we went!

The boys, ready for action!  Cousin Noah joined us for the fun

Yes.  I know, my son.  Noah agrees, crazy cousin.

Pouring in the Flavor-Aid.  Cherry flavor.  Now, the fact that we had Flavor-Aid may have
influenced the outcome.

"Let me help, Brother!"

The addition of the water made the color appear

Having fun with the finished product.   As you can see, the color was more pink. 

So, we tried another flavor.  Lemon, in fact.  It did nothing.  It was flour colored. So I added the grape.

It ended up a great purple color.

Noah made a shark

Henry enjoyed the play-doh, learning to roll and squish it. 

And then, he tasted it.  While it smelled like cherry, it obviously didn't taste like it!

Hannah distracted him from the bad taste!

And a ride up high always brings smiles!!

So, while not a complete PinFail, it wasn't a complete success.  We wonder if it was the difference with the drink brands.  We shall try again, it was still lots of fun!