Solar Eclipse

We had plans to be in the path of totality today, however those did not work out.  We had a nice relaxed day at home watching some butterflies emerge and running outside to check on the eclipse.  

The eclipse glasses (thank you, Poppy) did not quite get flush to Eric's face (with his regular glasses) the way we would like, and too much sun would get in.  So we made a viewing tool to help block the sun.  :) 

And of course the kiddo is reading between viewings.  Why wouldn't he be? 

Sweet gi-mo

Our little Gizmo (lovingly called Gi-mo often) was exhausted after his 10 days at the boarder.  He loves going there, but crashes when he gets home.  All day playing with other dogs wears you out!

These are pictures of our sweet baby when we got back from Arkansas.   So sleepy!

Mud Island

On our way to Arkansas, we made a stop in Memphis to walk around Mud Island.  Robert had some work to do, and Eric and I knew we could walk around catching some Pokemon.  Robert and I never went there when we lived in Memphis.  I wasn't even sure what to expect.  But we had a great time (very hot, but great).

When your mom is a science teacher...

You get to observe lots of fun life cycles.

First observation of the semester - caterpillars.

Swimming like crazy

Summer is our busy swim season.  The boy swims both morning and night.  People are always surprised that we have so little free time in the summer.  It's because the boy loves his water, and we love the boy, so we take the boy to the water.

This video is at the 13 and up practice for state.  Eric is the second from the top.  I know none of you ever get to see him swim.  I can't post whole videos on here most of the time, but here is a practice dive.

Our summer swim season was not our favorite.  Three of our 5 meets got rained out.  But, we spent a couple of hours sitting in the rain each time before it was called.  So, yucky and disappointing.  However, Eric got the coaches' award for his age division, so we were proud of him. 

At district, his relay teams both came in second.   He will go to state in both of those.   He got 6th in his other two events.  However, I am most proud of his 100 Individual Medley.  Even though he got 6th and did not qualify for state in it, he swam it faster than he ever has before - 1:25.26.  So proud of him!

Bible Bee

I am so proud of this fella.  He has chosen to do an 8 week study for the National Bible Bee this summer.  Just for fun.  He is so fantastically amazing!  I love his heart for the Lord.  His diligence.  His desire to learn.  He is such a great kid!

He has been working and studying and is in the 5th week already.  I could not be more proud of him.  

Silly school time

I love that our school still includes play.  And I love that I have a rockin' awesome boy that isn't afraid to play.  We had a game to demonstrate how cougars and deer affect each other in the wild.  A cougar card had to land on 3 deer to survive.  If so, you could add another cougar to represent another generation.  And you doubled the deer that survived each time as well.  This boy was determined to have the cougars overtake the deer population.  :)

I know that's a lot of pictures.  But it's these days that I will always cherish.  These simple days at home.  With my boy.  Doing our school thing.  Man I love these days!