JJ the swimming machine!

JJ made huge strides in his swimming today! He is able to swim about 20 yards on his own in the deep water now....AND he goes down the slide and swims to the side unassisted! I told him I was so proud of him...and he should be proud of himself. Here is his response..
"I am proud of myself...really proud..but I was so scared at the top of the slide that I almost peed my pants. But I didnt!"

A mission at the River....

To find rocks for sling shots! And once that was complete, the rest of the trip from Billy's perspective......


We had a great time at the river. We got to jump off rocks into the river. We walked down a path to the dam. When we were on the path, we heard a loud noise and then a huge branch fell like 5 feet away from us on the path! When we got to the dam, we were able to shoot our sling shots. The dam was falling down, so we shot our rocks at it...I even got one rock into the hole where we think some animal might live.

The river ROCKS!

Mickey's Pool

The other day we went to Mickey's pool (Editor Note: A pool in a town nearby that Mickey's company built last summer). There is a tugboat slide there that is really cool. There is also a lazy rive there that is really awesome. We went across the lilly pads lots of time and I tried to do the swimming test to go in the deep end, but the lifeguards would not let me finish because they said my backstroke needed work. I did not like that very well. It was a really hot day (102 degrees) and we were there all day, so the bad thing is when I got home that night, I got really sick (Another Note: We actually thought he had a trace of heat exhaustion). I had a great time at Dad's Pool




From JJ - I like the tugboad the best, and I also liked the tunnel slide that was dark red and I even tried the lilly pads. The lazy river was fun and Billy carried me around so I would not drown. Mickey's pool is so fun. Can we go back sometime?

My Father's Dragon

Yesterday, we went to the Arboretum for Boys Book Club. We read My Father's dragon this time. In the book, Elmer goes to Wild Island to rescue a dragon. We got to have a scavenger hunt where we found a dragon at the end too. We went over bridges and under bridges and I went through a creek. I did not like this book very well because it was not real. But everyone else liked it a lot.

Separate Coasts

For a few days last week the whole country separated Mickey and Minnie from Billy and JJ. The former were in Northern California while the later at Virgina Beach. Pacific...Atlantic.

Listed are every one's respective top 5 memories from their trip:

Mickey and Minnie
5) Lombard Street
4) China Beach
3) Napa Valley
2) Couples Massage
1) Sonoma County

Billy
5) The comfy beds at the hotel
4) Swimming in the pool
3) The view of the ocean from our hotel room
2) The hot tub!
1) Riding the big waves in the ocean...I LOVE the beach

JJ
5) The hotel swimming pool
4) The condo swimming pool
3) Chesapeake Bay Beach...not the other one where the waves were too high for me!
2) I am glad I did not see any ghosts even though I looked really hard for like 200 of them.
1) Chuck E Cheese especially a ride I got to ride on that went up really high in the air and Nana did not want me too, but I did!

BBC Boxcar Children

Yesterday, my Boys Book Club met at the Lavender Farm. We got to pick some lavender and see lots of cool animals like bunnies, goats and tiny horses. Then we talked about our book which was The Boxcar Children. I think almost everyone liked the book, I know I did. We all thought it would be cool to live without parents...me because I could stay up as late as I want to! When we left, I got a cool lavender wand in the shop. I had lots of fun at BBC. My book club is so cool!

Minnie's View from the top...

combining 3 of my favorite things...

#1 My hometown
#2 Photography
#3 A great memory with JJ and Billy!

Our trip to the Heart of it All!

For the 4th of July, we went to our Mom Mom and Pa's house in Ohio! When we were there, we went to the waterpark with my cousins and we raced on a slide! We also rode our bike in the parade! Me and JJ won a first place ribbon and $20 for the bike decorating contest. I got first place a few years ago too...and I have gotten second place a lot in the parade contest. I have decorated my bike for 5 years in a row!

We also had a lemonade stand and made lots of money. There was a very big street fair uptown. I got on a very scarey ride with my cousin called Pharroh's Fury. It looked like a big pirate ship that went really really really high in the air!My cousin was in the dunk tank and I got to dunk him alot! The fireworks were also very very very very nice!

I had a great time on the 4th of July...except one bad thing. Me and JJ won 4 goldfish at the fair and the next day they all died!

JJ's Top Five in Ohio

#5 Dragon Rollercoaster
#4 Silly House
#3 Ferris Wheel
#2 Doughnut Hole Place and Whits
#1 The Waterpark