Ayers Family Fun

Gracie was helping in the kitchen - she helped Grandma make Mississippi Mud - Dad's favorite!

One of the grandkid's favorite things to do at Grandma & Grandad's house is to get in a big game of HIGHLY competitive Wiffle ball. The old folks against all the grandkids. It was mostly just Byron and Grandad against the kids. Although Daniel always likes to be on his Dad's team (he hates to lose)! They played until everyone was completely sweaty and worn out. Of course Byron and Wayland would NEVER admit to being tired! It is funny to watch because they are all SO competitive! Guess it runs in the family.

Rooftop School

Did you ever have assigned seats in school, or have a teacher that made you sit boy, girl, boy, girl? I hated that. We decided that today we would have school on the roof of the playhouse. They can get to it pretty easily by climbing the limbs of the tree the treehouse is in.

We are still working on hiking 2 miles a day. There are lots of woods and two pretty good parks within two miles of us, so that makes for a good destination. The dog really struggles.

Ally should be completely finished with her quilt soon. It was supposed to be a twin size, but I think it will be more like queen. She chose all the fabrics (her favorite things) and has done it all by herself, by hand until the last bit, when I convinced her to use the sewing machine. She is excited about her sewing class at the homeschool co-op, she really has a great teacher. She is also taking a literature class, theater, karate, cross-country, and a science lab class.

Hiking

Gracie in color -coordinated hiking gear. Skirt and all.

Ally and Abby taking the lead.

Abby is SO out of shape. We are going to have to get her moving 2 miles a day.

We have really been working on dog training this weekend, and Abby is doing really well! We were even able to let her off the leash for a good bit of the hike, and she stayed right with us. We are working on training her to a whistle.

Hiking Gear

We went to Academy and found some great hiking boots that all the kids loved! We are gearing up for our big hiking trip in Arkansas (cue banjo music) in September. We will be primitive camping and hiking all week. The kids all have backpacks and hydration packs, but this will be the first time they have really had to pack in a good amount of stuff on a hike. We are getting ready and trying to get the boots all broken in before the trip. We did two miles this morning and the dog had the hardest time of all. It seems she has become a lazy, house dog. We are going to have to work hard to get her into shape.

Byron and I laughed, poor Daniel will be wearing these hiking boots forever, as the girls pass theirs down. Hope he likes them.

Just your typical school day

Everybody's working hard in their own spots. Ally studying hard at the school table.

Gracie likes to be away from everyone else at the table. She keeps reading ahead everyday -she is loving history this year.

Even Daniel is focused and working steadily. Wow. What great kids.

Then, there is reality. I walked around taking some pictures, then walked back in the room to find this... Oh well.

Happy Birthday, Max!

Max and Nana are in British Columbia, Canada this week having a great time playing, being outdoorsy, and camping. They've been playing at Glacier National Park in Montana, who knows where they are headed next. As we say in our house, "You never know with Max and Nana!" Unfortunately, his cell phone charges are HUGE for an international roaming fee, even IF we could get a good connection - so we didn't want to call him to wish him a Happy Birthday. But they still check their email as they travel. So, we planned a special posting on the blog just for Max! He's older than dirt! (As he always says!) We LOVE you Max, Lots and Lots!

Just playing around with Smilebox. Pretty interesting site - not near as cool unless you pay the $40.00 a year to subscribe, but pretty neat. I'd like to play with the neat scrapbooks you can make. It seems to view this you have to push play, then close the smilebox ad, then push play a second time.

Can you see it?

Can you see it? We have these terrible HUGE caterpillars all over the garden. Oh well, it is about time to pull it all up anyway. I'd like to plant a fall/winter garden with greens and spinach, but I have so many bugs in this little garden plot, I'm not sure it would be very successful. These caterpillars are tomato hornworms, by the way. If they turned into a decent butterfly or something I would keep them for a science project, but they bore underground and come out a pretty nasty looking moth, so I think we are going to pull 'em off and smash 'em. Gross. Good project for the kids.

First Day of School

Students coming to school - minus the hairy one.

My Class Rocks! We covered the classroom doors so the students couldn't see all the changes on the walls until the first day! They also had a new blue desk that was very popular. It is nice because it gives us a place that that rowdy, wiggly students can go to give the others some peace.

Ally - 6th grade- Middle Schooler!

Gracie the 3rd Grader!

Daniel the big 1st grader!

Six Flags over Texas

We had some fun cousin time Friday! Ally went to a cousin Katelyn's sleepover and played Laser Tag & younger cousin Sidney came with us for a sleepover, then we all went to Six Flags with cousin Elana also! The kids all had free tickets from a reading program. It was a VERY HOT day, but we still had a great, sweaty time. The younger ones went with me, while Ally and the braver few went with Aunt Allison to ride all the wild rides.

Daniel decided to ride the Titan with Ally- which is a HUGE 25 story rollercoaster (you can see it in the background). Daniel didn't bat an eye. When Ally asked him if he wanted to ride it, he said, "But it doesn't even go upside down!" He seemed to show no fear, although he told me later he prayed that he wouldn't die.

Gracie and Sidney squinting in the hot sun! Gracie did very well and had a wonderful time at the park, although in her mind the memories will be tainted by the memory of puking in the car on the way home.

She did not enjoy the Bobsled, but she rode a lot of adventurous rides without complaining.

Daniel is so witty!

Looks can fool ya -

She only looks innocent and sweet! We thought she was growing up and calming down! We thought we were moving out of the puppy phase! Do dogs get the terrible 2's? At 8 months old? She has been a terror lately. We must not be giving her enough attention. She grabs anything that she knows is valuable and runs with it trying to get the whole family to chase her! Then TODAY - she jumped onto the trampoline and busted into the screen surrounding it, tearing a huge whole in it. She ate part of the screen, then she started working on the pad that covers the springs. She ripped huge strips off the pad and ate the inside cushion. All this in less than 10 minutes! She just went out to go to the bathroom. She is only like this from 7 to 10am. Then she sleeps, resting up for the next day's destruction.