Picnic At the Weaver's

Could it be summer without at least one visit to the Weaver Homestead?  

This summer we have been lucky to be treated to two Weaver Picnics.  In July we were invited to come over and play before Dr. Weaver's Model T Club meeting.  

Will has already told us that he would like his first car to be a Model T so he was thrilled with the rides in the full-size and mini-Model T's and everyone was excited to help make (and help eat) ice cream in the tractor-driven ice cream maker.

 Just a couple weeks later, Dr. and Mrs. Weaver hosted a Resident Picnic- even more fun because tractor rides and Model T rides and ice cream making was shared with wonderful friends. 

A Great Big Midwest Welcome to our First Year Residents, Jean and Zach! 

Heart you guys!

Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!

Hello, Beautiful!

I cannot wait for you to get in my tummy!

A Sparkley 4th of July!

We had a small (and hot) 4th of July celebration.  

The hardest part was waiting for it to get dark enough.  But when it finally did, we sparkled sparklers until we could sparkle no more.

Then we watched a dramatic and fiery miniature tank battle.  Very loud and smokey!

Happy Birthday USA! 

(is it fall yet?)

Kindergarten Graduation

A tremendous Thank You to Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Budd for a wonderful year!

To all our school buddies- see you in the fall!

Memorial Day

The Worthington Memorial Day Parade did not disappoint this year!  

The guys got the excitement going with a little bubble blowing and flag waving.  Then we were treated to an awesome, patriotic parade of color guards, veterans, vintage cars, marching bands, scout troops, clowns, roller derby teams, and even a kettle drum band!  

My dad and Rick were both wearing their Navy hats and several people took the time to thank them for their service.  

Patriotism always gives me goosebumps!

We cooled off with the traditional trip to Graeter's Ice Cream afterward, then home to run around in the sprinkler! 

 Let the Summer begin!

Right to Read Week

This year's theme was Medieval Times and the week got off to a busy start with the family cake decorating contest.

Our cake was based on a really cute book called  

'When a Dragon Moves In' 

about a boy who builds the perfect sandcastle at the beach and a dragon moves into it.

The rest of the week was a flurry of wearing knight costumes to school (A Day For a Knight), Medieval Feasts, and a family movie night ('Robin Hood').  

Friday night was the Medieval Festival  featuring Maypole dancing, crown-shaped cookie decorating, (no joke) fire juggling, and (Soren's favorite) writing with a feather quill...

 just like Harry Potter.

 We are so lucky to have such a neat, creative, energetic librarian at St. Mary School to organize such amazing events.  

Thank you, Mrs. Ruefle!

Patriot's Point

On our last day in Charleston, we went to Patriot's Point and soaked in some maritime history. We toured the USS Yorktown, a retired Aircraft Carrier, and got to talk to the boys about some of our adventures in the Navy.

Rick gave the boys a tour of the galley, where his Naval career began, and where we also found a recipe and the ingredients for 10,000 chocolate chip cookies.

I tried to interest them in the dental operatories and the operating room.

Will wanted to know if there was a piano and a TV on board. Interestingly, we found both in the Chief Warrant Officer's Mess.

We took a break for lunch at the Chief's Mess.

When we had had enough of the surface Navy, we walked across the street to the Cold War Era Submarine Memorial and we showed the boys the names of the boats Rick and Grandpa had served on.

I've only really ever been on board submarines before, when my dad's boats would host dependents' cruises. I never went to sea when I was in the Navy. I couldn't get over how big and roomy the aircraft carrier was- there was even an escalator so the pilots could get to the flight deck with all their gear.
Strangely, I couldn't stop humming the 'Top Gun' theme.