Virginia {Days 1 & 2}

Three years ago, 9 year old Braylen flew with me to Monterey, CA. You can read about it here. We met my mom there, and spent a long weekend with family attending my cousin's wedding. Mom and I realized how much fun that was, so we thought--what can we do with Kaleb when he's 9? We decided on 3 requirements our location must meet in order for this to be a parallel--yet different--experience for Kaleb. First: there must be an ocean. Second: it should be reasonably close to another family member, so Kaleb can meet more of his relatives. Third: it needs to have fun places to visit. :)

We decided on Norfolk, Virginia! We also decided to include my dad this time. What a TREAT! I wish my parents lived close to us and could share our everyday moments. But since they can't--this is how we've chosen to strengthen our family ties and create memories that will last. I feel so blessed to go along on these trips!

Kaleb and I flew out on Thursday, connected with my parents in Chicago, and flew together to Norfolk. Oh, how much fun we had! Kaleb doesn't remember flying when he was 1 and 3, so this was all brand new to him. Some things he said on that first plane ride:
"Do we have a game trail yet?" (He meant to say "contrail.")
"We're climbing in altitude!"
"Absolutely amazing!"

We rented a maroon Nissan Altima, which Kaleb started for my dad every single time. The push-button start was a huge hit with him. :) We let Kaleb choose our supper that first night. If you know Kaleb well, you'll know what he picked. Pancakes! We found an IHOP close to our hotel, and he was in heaven. I thought the hot tub back at the hotel felt heavenly.

our first night, checking out downtown Norfolk and the USS Wisconsin

Day 2 of our trip took us to Norfolk Botanical Gardens. For 3 years we've been watching an eagle nest online. Wouldn't you know, the nest is located in these gardens? (one of the many reasons why we chose Norfolk.) Kaleb LOVES eagles. He always has. This past spring, the female eagle in this nest we like to watch was hit and killed by a plane. :( It was so sad, especially since she left 3 young eaglets behind. While touring the gardens on Friday, we found the tree with THE nest in it. How cool to see it with our own eyes, after watching it online for 3 years! The male eagle has been recently spotted with a new female, so maybe there will be eggs in the nest next year after all.

the eagle nest

Mom & Dad at the base of the tree

Kaleb and me standing at the eagle's tree

We saw much more than the nest. Crepe Myrtle trees, flowers, fountains, sculptures, waterfowl, and even some palm trees. I didn't know Virginia has palm trees? We rode a boat and a tram, but mostly we walked. And walked. :)



Kaleb and Grampy on the tram

some trees were beginning to turn colors

We had the best sandwich ever...Carolina BBQ pulled pork and slaw. It was so good it didn't even come with sauce.

here's one of those palm trees

my mom and me standing by some pink azaleas :)

Kaleb, deep in thought

After the gardens, we drove to Virginia Beach for Kaleb's ocean experience! He loves playing in waves, so I was pretty sure he'd love the ocean. He loved it all right! We planned on wading, since I thought the water would be too cold to swim in. Well...Kaleb had other ideas. He loved splashing in the waves so much that I let him take his shirt off and swim in his shorts! If we knew it would be that warm on Friday we would've brought our suits! Oh well. When he was done, Mom bought him a towel and a pair of shorts. Ironically, they were swim shorts. :)

Feeling good in his dry clothes, we had supper at the boardwalk and then went back to our hotel. Kaleb went swimming in his new suit and the rest of us soaked in the hot tub. It felt like our own personal pool room, since nobody else ever used it when we were there. We all agreed that if we were able to order the events of our day, we would have ordered them to be just as they were. It was a perfect day.

And that's all for now. Days 3, 4, and 5 will be for my next post.

The Rest of September

We have a BIG weekend coming up. I've spent many days preparing for it, but details will have to wait until my next post. :) For now, we're wrapping up the end of the soccer season. We're having parent-teacher conferences at school. We're busy with weekend football games and visits with friends. Life is good and very, very full!

I love the tongue in his cheek. Such concentration!

Aaron is on the Blue Lightning team this fall. He's had a blast playing soccer. Lately his favorite position is goalie. He attacks the ball and falls on it naturally! One of his teammates complimented him on how good of a goalie he is. This boy, K, is such a nice kid. When I told Aaron that K has 9 older sisters his response was, "Oh, trad-e-gy!" (tragedy) "That must be why he wants to play soccer. So he can hang out with a group of boys for a change!"

Braylen's had fun playing soccer too. I admit, it sure is a change to watch 7 year olds play soccer and then watch 12 year olds! Braylen's strength has always been his speed, and he keeps getting faster. His kicks are bigger too, as he can kick the ball way past midfield when he plays goalie. He's made a few new friends in middle school who happen to be on competitive soccer teams. More pressure for him to join. I know he'd excel in it, but our decision remains unchanged. Recreational soccer is a good fit for our family. It gives our boys 6 weeks of games, and allows us to do other things too. Like hunting, parades, and church activities, to name a few. Speaking of parades...

We enjoyed the annual pancake feed at the fire station last weekend, followed by a parade! Shawn and Rebekah and their kids joined us for the day. The day couldn't have been more perfect. Perfect weather and fun times for all. Derek and Shawn took Braylen and Devyn out to set up a tree stand. Kaleb played with a friend in the afternoon, while Rebekah and I each took our youngest children and went shopping. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to have Aaron at the mall with me. Really! He's such a persistent little shopper! He told me he only likes three things at the mall: soap, ordaments (ornaments) and candles. :) Good thing we had plenty of those things to look at on Saturday. When Kaleb heard his list of three things he said, "All I like at the mall are cookies." :)

Last but not least, today I went to Aaron's first Reader's Theater. I remember doing this with Braylen and Kaleb in first grade too. :) Aaron was the narrator, while the other kids in his reading group read parts of a Johnny Appleseed script. That explains the pot on the boy's head in my photo. :) All 3 of our boys had excellent reports from their teachers at conferences this week. Middle school could not be going better for Braylen. I feel very blessed and thankful for that. He ran the mile this week in 7 minutes, 11 seconds. And he actually looked forward to it. That must come from Derek's side! :)

Now...it's time for our BIG weekend!!! :)

A date with my son

I love date nights with Derek. I wish we had one every week. But last Friday I went out with someone else...Kaleb. :) This time with him could not have been more perfect. Hamburgers & Sprite, unlimited bowling, go-kart rides, & mini-golf. What a perfect mother-son date night! It's like our park and rec department created this night just for the two of us. While we were bowling, I enjoyed looking across the lanes at all the other mom & son pairs. There was much noise and laughter, and it felt good to be part of it. Kaleb didn't bowl his best game, but he had a rocking good time driving the go-karts. He likes to tell people he won every single race, no matter which kart he drove. We even won when I drove the double-seater. Kaleb coached me from his seat. "Floor it on this straight-a-way, Mom! Take the inside lane in this turn!" I thought of him as my own personal crew chief, riding shotgun. We had the mini-golf course to ourselves, since most of the others chose the inside course. Again, Kaleb gave me lots of encouragement and golfing tips. I'm thinking one of his gifts is encouragement.

For one evening, I had Kaleb all to myself. And he had me. No brothers to fight with. Or compete with. No meal for me to prepare. No need to spread out my attention. It was a night to do nothing but enjoy my son. Kaleb summed it up best when he said, "This is the best day of my life so far!" Mine too. :)

Soccer & Stuff

This year all 3 boys are playing soccer. That means Derek and I do plenty of driving around town for practices and games. We haven't quite figured out how 2 parents can be at 3 different places at the same time... As busy as it is, I LOVE being a soccer mom. :) I like to watch our boys attack the ball, learn the art of passing, and it's really fun to watch them score goals. Kaleb kicked a nice one into the corner of the net on Monday. Afterwards he described it in detail to Aaron, who missed it because he was playing his own game that night. Fun games like that one make all the busy days and nights worth it.

I hope to feature Aaron and Braylen's soccer teams in future posts, but this one's all about Kaleb. He's on the Maroon Cobras this year. Last week his game was all tied up at halftime, and then they got smoked in the second half. Kaleb played with his whole heart, even in defeat. (That's what I was told, since I was at curriculum night.) This week his team won 7-0, and he scored twice. I don't think I'll ever forget his smile on the field. It sure helped boost his spirits to have a game like that one.

This is the team that has lots of Carsons, Kalebs, Cales, and Kegans. Those poor coaches get all tongue-tied when it's time to make substitutions. Grandma and Grandpa have made it to a few games, which helps us out when we're watching multiple games at the same time. I think this soccer season is fun, and we're only half-way through.

I have another photo flashback. Aaron, like his brothers once did, had his 1st grade outdoor education field trip this week. I went along this time, since my goal with Aaron is to attend the field trips I missed with Braylen and Kaleb. The 1st graders rotated through 4 stations to learn about insects, rocks, an archaeological dig, and Indian life inside a tepee. Aaron's favorite part was the dig. He sure was excited to "find" two bones all by himself. He also liked the obstacle course set up to mimic the life of migrating birds. I liked the tepee experience, for no other reason than it got me out of the cold wind for a bit! Here's the photo flashback.

Braylen's 1st grade outdoor field trip

Aaron's 1st grade outdoor field trip

I like to compare how they look at the same age. Aaron reminds me of Braylen in many ways. I think that might be why the two of them often struggle to get along. They're two of a kind. But we love them uniquely. Tonight I'm taking Kaleb to a mother-son night at our local activity center. All the bowling, go-carts, and mini-golf we want! Derek plans to take Braylen and Aaron turkey hunting. I think I got the better end of the deal on this cold September day. :)