Art Camp.....by JJ

I had art camp this week. My class was about making a board game. My board game is a battle in medieval times. It is the villagers -vs- the knights. You battle with dice when you come across another player. And you try to get to the other side of the board. It is a two person game, although I made a lot of pieces out of a play dogh like thing. And I even made my own dice. But I also have dice from the store too. All the buildings on my game are 4-D. I cannot wait to play my game. I think everyone will really like it. Art camp was really fun. I like art. I am going to do another camp this summer about making 3-D rockets.

Metabolic Meltdown.....by Billy

Twice now, I have done metabolic meltdown at the WC. It is kind of a class, but it is not in the room where classes usually are. We meet in between the pool and the track where there is a lot of different equipment to use. It is different every time, but what we have done when I went is similar to this: What we do is work hard doing different exercises for 2 minutes. Then we recover for 1 minutes. In that 2 minutes though, you never jog, you SPRINT; you never walk; you SPRINT. And in that two minutes you never rest. You are working the WHOLE TIME. It is a lot of fun, and it really gets a 10 year old like me into shape. It helps me train for the Young Marines PFT. It also helps me with the fitness challenge JJ and I are doing with Mickey and Minnie this summer. I really like Metabolic Meltdown, and I think everyone should try it. Adults and kids can do it. Although I think I am the youngest who has ever done it....or at least I was in the classes I did. I do not know if JJ can do it, but he was at art camp all week so could not anyway. Minnie is going to take me a lot all summer when we are not on vacation. Then in September when I have my next Young Marine PFT, I will improve my scores a lot!

BBC - The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. By JJ

Yesterday was Boys Book Club. We went to a museum in Dayton, VA that had Civil War stuff because the book was about the Civil War. The book was the Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. I liked it, sometimes it was funny. But, it is not the best book I have ever read. The museum had other stuff too. Then we went to Oakdale Park. The museum was really fun. But the park I liked the most. We played 'Civil War'. We also did a trivia game from the book. Billy and I tied for first. We won a lottery ticket (scratch off). But, we do not know if we won any money because mom cannot figure it out. I love Boys Book Club.

Great Wolf Lodge....by JJ

We went to Great Wolf Lodge with our friends last week. It is a hotel with a big water park inside. It is in Williamsburg. There is also an arcade and bowling and other things. We did not do bowling. My favorite ride was the funnel one. Do you like funnels. There were a lot of other slides I liked too and a wave pool and a lazy river. It was really fun at Great Wolf Lodge. While we were there a derracho hit and the power went out for a few hours. It was not scary. We just explored the hotel. I love Great Wolf Lodge.

Camp Horizons Ropes Course.....by JJ

We went to Camp Horizions to do the ropes course with the Boys Book Club. It was really fun.

We did the big swing and the zip line. The bad thing about the zip line is you have to climb across a wire to get there.

The swing is where there is a rope tied to one tree and a pully tied to you to pull you up high on the tree. Everybody else pulls you up. Then the person doing the swing pulls a chord and he swings around. I loved it!

Mom even did it....but she did not go as high as me!

The Waterpark....by Billy

Yesterday, I went to the water park with my friend AB and JJ. They had a high powered water gun mounted on the top of the waterpark playground area and I sprayed everyone. One person got mad and came up to punch me, but I sprayed them again. I also went on the rides. The lazy river was very fun too. While we were there, we got dippin dots, which is one of my favorite snacks. The water park is really fun.

This is AB, me and Jake after archery class which we also take together. For some reason, Minnie took no pictures at the water park. That is really weird!

Division II Field Meet...by Billy

Over the weekend, I went to a Young Marine Camp. It was a field meet. Wed did stuff like tug a war and dodge ball. We didn't do very good in the competition as a unit because we had a lot younger team than most other units. But, it was still fun. On the first night, we got 8 hours of sleep but the second night, I only got about 5 or 6 hours because they woke us up to practice drill and to pack our gear before we went to 'chow' (breakfast). The food there was terrible but they made us eat it all and practically everyone got sick.

You are probably thinking I had a terrible time at camp, but no that's the kind of things I like.

In Young Marines, I am a private (which is the lowest rank) but I am working on ranking up to PFC this summer. I am in Division II (there are 8 divisions). Later this summer, I am going to another encampment where we will do stuff like hiking and shooting.

Catching up!

Billy and JJ went a little dormant this spring due to all our activities! But, it is now summer so expect to hear a lot out of the boys. To catch up from out last post through to now, a few highlights...

Billy and JJ continue to be really active in Cub Scouts.....JJ just finished his Wolf year, and is headed into Bears. Billy is now a second year Weeblo. They have both worked hard on belt loops and pins this year....earning 8 loops and 7 pins. They have a goal of earning 4 more this summer of each.

Hiking Season is well under way. Here we are with our good friends on a mother's day hike on Humpback Rocks

Billy has joined a group out of Winchester called the Young Marines. He started in April and has progressed from a recruit to a private. His goal is to rank up at least once this summer. He has already attended a two night field meet with the group this summer.....and has a 4 day encampment in August.

We spent Memorial Day at Smith Mountain Lake with the Good Time everything club. It was awesome!

JJ had a great second grade year. He was selected for the Citizenship Award for the boy in his class, as well as PE Student of the Year. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. G at field day the last week of school.

Billy is now an elementary school graduate. Here he is with his main 4th grade teacher, Ms. K at graduation. He was selected to introduce the guest speaker for graduation. He spoke in front of about 250 people and did a wonderful job!