2nd Annual Harrison Firefly Catching Contest

The winner....by a tie: Billy and JJ with 14 each in 10 minutes! We even had a catch-off of 2 minutes, but by that time it was too dark and they each only got 1. So, we agreed on a tie for the year. Poor Mickey and Minnie...their eyesight is so bad, they have trouble catching the fireflies. It stinks getting old.

Art Class - by Billy

I am going to art class this week. Our teacher is Mrs. N. She is my teacher at SSES too. We are learning printing. We are printing a bunch of stuff. We are going to print a tire and print on a t-shirt. I picked out a blue t-shirt to print on. We also play games and have snack time. We will show everyone our stuff on Thursday. Our class is near the old farm bureau.

Rocktown Bike Trails

By Billy.....

Today we went to the Rocktown Bike Trails at Hillendale park. It was hard to bike because there are rocks all over the trails. I was able to do all the jumps at the trixs park and it was very fun. Some of the jumps were almost straight up so you need to have a lot of momentum. I loved it. Mom signed me up for a mountain biking class that starts in August. That will be great.


Hillendale Adventures...by JJ
At Hillendale, they have a trix park for bikes. I scratched my knee there in a bush. I wiped out. I fell into the plants. I went all around the trix park at least 5 times without stopping, and that is hard. I like to ride my bike there.

The Revolt!!!!

Billy and JJ staged a revolt today!!! As I got out their journals to write today, I mentioned to Billy about creating longer sentences and not just sliding by with the bare minimum. That seemed to set him off!! He launched into a tirade about how this was his summer vacation...and he should not be expected to do more school work than he actually does at school each day. JJ backed him up 100%. He added he would be 'okay' with writing the blog every day if I actually paid him.

What do you think, Billy and JJ fans....is their mom too much of a slave driver? I am actually thinking of making them write 2 posts a day now for the 'attitude' they gave me. Further, I told them....there goes their dream of being homeschooled .... there is no way they could 'cut it' my school if they are revolting after less than 2 weeks of summer!

After a bit of a standoff...they finished their posts for today:

The Hyena - by Billy

We were driving back from swim practice today and we think we saw a hyena. It ran right in front of our car It looked just like one to us...but how could it have gotten here? We can't figure out what else it could be, because nothing that lives around here looks like what we saw. (We googled coyotes, and foxes to compare). I guess it could have gotten on a boat or something. Maybe on an airplane. It couldn't have swam across the ocean so it had to have gotten on a ship or an airplane or it might have escaped from a zoo. I'm kind of excited that a hyena might be in h-burg. It could have been something else, but I am still convinced it was a hyena!

How Jessie is a good dog - by JJ

She licks me. She is afraid of the vacum cleaner. She barks at strangers because I think she wants to protect us. I think she would bite them if they did. I like to hug her. I like it when she rolls over to get her belly rubbed. I love her. I am glad she is my dog. But, sometimes she jumps on people which is not good.

BBC 3.0 - The Water Park

We had our first BBC meeting yesterday at the Water Park. We discussed the book Fake Mustache....thus the pictures:


From JJ:
We went to our book club called Boys Book Club. We talked about our stories we wrote and then we played. My story was about the Medieval times. We went on the lilly pads a lot and in the wave pool. We did the sprinklers some and also the body slides. We went on the tube slides alot...expect not the one that is all dark. I will do that next time. We went to the hot tub too and on the small slides. And, we got dip n dots for a snack. The water park is great. I wish I owned the water park

From Billy:
The water park was fun. I played with my friend, 'Dis' alot. We did the lazy river. We also did the water slides. I went as far as you could go (6 Feet!!!) into the wave pool with the waves turned on and I treaded water for 5 minutes. The lazy river was fun. Dis and I did it about 8 times. We were at the water park with Boys Book Club. It was fun. R.S was there too so we played with him some, and Big B too. I got a great strawberry slushy for a snack. My favorite part was the wave pool. I won a lot of tickets at the arcade. We went to dinner with some friends after and it was also fun. The whole day was really fun.

BBC - Assingment #1

Our first Boys Book Club meeting is tomorrow. We are very excited. The book we read was Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger....and it is set in our hometown. For their first assignment, the boys had to come up with an outline for their very own story to be set in the burg. Here is Billy and JJ's take:


The Battle of the 'burg by Billy.

Billy would use the actual name of the city and have he and JJ as main characters in the story since his book is 'realistic fiction'. This story is set during the Civil War, and it will happen across the street from the new playground, since that is really where the original battle took place. If he had to write a synopsis for the back cover of his book, here is what he would write:

The battle of the burg was fought in the burg. Two of the soldiers are JJ and Billy H. They're running out of ammo and food and there is only a few of them left. They are surrounded by Yankees, and what is that? A gunshot? Will they make it out or will they fall like so many others?

King Arthur and the 7 Knights - by JJ

JJ has set his story in Medieval Times. He has chosen this because he thinks that time period is interesting. He would change our town to Excalibur because that is a real town during Medieval times. He would not use names of anyone he knows or base any characters on anyone he knows because....'they did not exist in Medieval Times'. He would set his story partly in the Tea House and partly in Asbury Church because it looks like a castle.

Here is JJ's Synopsis:
Sir Lancelot** goes into the forest. He discovers a village and goes back to tell King Arthur the news. But, on the way back, he gets attacked by the villagers of Canterbury (the village he discovered). A big fight happens. Tristan dies. Garwin gets injured but all the other knights help to eventually win the battle.

**Not to be confused with JJ's BFF Sir Lancelot....different people entirely.


So, what do you think....should either of these stories be published. Should either be made into a movie? Are you on the edge of your seats wanting more? Maybe with enough fanfare, Billy and JJ will write the whole books over the summer.

Looking forward to the Water Park...by JJ

We have a book club called Boys Book Club. We are going to the Water Park to talk about the book we read (called Fake Mustache). Then we will play. We will do the lily pads and the wave pool and the huge water slide. That one can have 3 people on it. We can also do the sprinklers and the lazy river. And there is a baby pool. We are going on Wednesday. It will be fun.

Camp...top 5

Billy just got back from Church Camp last night and had a great time. He kept a journal during his time there, but has chosen just to list his top 5 things for Billy and JJ: 5) The dams in the river 4) Mud Pit 3) Duke the dog 2) Rockwall 1) The zip line

Jessie...by Billy

Jessie is awesome. She barks a lot. She likes to play. We love her. She likes to bite. We wrestle with her. She wins sometimes. She doesn't understand the concept of tapping out. She is about 7 months old. Whe is brown, black and white. We call her 'friendy'. It is a friendiful day outside. **Note from Minnie....That Billy is smart. I asked him for 10 sentences for his blog and that is what he gave me...nice and SHORT sentences. No wonder we do not homeschool....he would outsmart me at every turn. I think I am going to have to change my instructions....to number of words, or to length of time he is to write. To be continued.....

A Billy-free Weekend

Billy is off at Church Camp....for 3 whole nights. JJ has taken to refer to this time as his 'billy-free weekend' and has been looking forward to it for a number of weeks!

This is our conversation at lunch today:

Me: So, how is your Billy-free weekend going

JJ: Great!

Me: Don't you miss him at all?

JJ: No, not at all. He is so bossy and I am glad to not have to play his games for once.

Me: Now, he plays your games sometimes....I have seen you play Winnie the Pooh a lot.

JJ: Yeah, but he always wants to be Tigger....with a machine gun!

I am going to Camp - by Billy

I can't wait for camp. It is going to be fun. It's a church camp, and it is over night. We get to go to bed at 10:30!!! They have a zip line. We get to hike. I am going to keep a journal there. It is an hour ride there and back. We have a church thing every morning. I am leaving tonight. I am gonna be tired. We will have rest time every day. My friend 'A' is coming. I am going to miss everyone.

How we got Jessie-by JJ

My dad gave us a note at Christmas that said you can get a dog. We got one two days later. Jessie is a sweet dog. She is a mutt. She loves to play with her Aunt Meatball and Uncle Peabody...they are Nana and Pop's dogs. Jessie and me are spending the night there tomorrow. Meatball likes to chase and bite Jessie. Jessie licks my dad's bald head at nighttime. Jessie is outside right now.

New Market Battlefield and Route 11 Potato Chips

The following is by Billy:

New Market was fun. We ran around 'the field of lost shoes' playing army. It is called 'field of lost shoes' because the cadets from VMI charged there and it was muddy so they lost their shoes. This was a battle in the Civil War. The cadets were very young and some of them died in the battle. We went through the museum and saw some cool stuff, like: a movie, cannons, maps and uniforms. They did a good job with the museum. We saw a lot of things in the book, Ghost Cadet that we are reading to talk about. After the battlefield, we went to Route 11 Potato Chip factory, it was just a few minutes away. We saw how they make and bag the chips and got to try a bunch of different flavors. They were good. My friend 'dis' and JJ's friend, 'Sir Lancealot' went with us!


And from JJ:


New Market is a Civil War Battlefield. We went there with my friend 'Sir Lancealot' and my brother's friend, 'Dis' came too. We saw the battlefield. I think it would be better if they would have left all the bullets and guns and hospitals on the battlefield. We did see the one of the hospitals they left in the house beside the battlefield. It was funny when we left to go to the Potato Chip factory, the road we wanted to go on was locked and blocked off and we kind of got lost. At the potato chip factory, we tried some different chips. One was VERY spicy. I got the barbeque chips.

Camp...by Billy

I am going to camp this weekend with our church. It will be for 3 nights. It is just for kids. Camp will be fun because it has ziplines and other adventurous things, and you get to spend the night there. It is called Head waters. My friend A is coming. I have some other friends that are coming to. I will write all about it on Billy and JJ when I get back.

The National Zoo - by JJ

My class went to the Zoo. We saw snakes. We saw monkeys. They had a great gift shop. I saw cool things like flamingos and other cool birds. This kid mooned me when mom was in line for drinks. He got in trouble. His mom said, 'That is it. I am bringing to school. I am bringing you home. And nothing else. I covered my eyes. The zoo field trip was fun.

School's out for the summer!

Last day 2012 Presenting the coolest 2nd and 4th graders ever!

We celebrated with a slupree, and a scavenger hunt previewing our fun for the summer. (Good thing Jessie was such a help). Lucky for you, it will all be documented right here on Billy and JJ!

VA Beach!

We had a great long weekend at VA Beach over Memorial Day with Pie and her pretty kitties! It was almost perfect, except we all got really bad sunburns:( Here are Billy and JJ's Top Five: Billy: 5) Riding his bike 14 miles in 1 day 4)Building a sandcastle 3) Pie's cats...and their 'catitat' 2) The raft on the ocean 1) Jamestown/Yorktown JJ: 5) The pool 4) Yorktown 3) Jamestown 2) Hunting Ghosts at the Cavalier 1) The cat scratching William Minnie: 5) Running/riding at the Boardwalk 4) Sunsets at the beach 3) The Virginia Zoo (esp. the orangutangs and monkeys) 2) Jamestown...lots of history 1) No agenda to keep and fun memories with Pie

Mickey: 5) Finding Rosie's long lost mom at the zoo (who knew...a Red River Hog!) 4) The tick bite 3) Finding the end of the running trail 2) Jamestown/Yorktown 1) Ghost Hunting!

You cannot out run a bear!

Our most recent hike was awesome....and long (5.5 miles of continuous streams and waterfalls), but maybe too long for JJ who grumbled alot...and accused us of tricking him into 'doing a marathon'! He also told us that it was a 'complete waste of his time'! that was right up until about 1/2 mile from the end, where we encountered a BEAR on the trail. Luckily, we received valuable advice from a fellow hiker.....'Bears can run 35 miles/hour, so you cannot outrun a bear' And, we do not have proper equipment for climbing trees, so we better be quiet and call the park rangers to have them tranquilize the bear." Mickey had another idea....he and our brave warrior dog scared the bear off (much to the disgust of said fellow hiker)....later, we all had the same idea. Fellow hiker guy was right....we could not outrun the bear, but we all agreed we could have outrun him:) At that point, the hike became a great use of his time because he could then tell his buddy, Sir Lance-A-Lot all about it at school the next day!