Dinosaur Camp

Finally, another blog entry. Yeah, I've been lazy and forgetting my camera. Luke did Dinosaur Camp at COSI this week and he loved it! I'm so happy that one of the counselors took pictures.

Here Luke is painting dinosaur eggs with two boys from IC, Brendan and Ben.

 They also got to explore the exhibits. This is inside the submarine at the Oceans display.

On the last day, they built their own museum. Here Luke is waiting for us to arrive, so he could show us all of his creations.

Thank you, Poppy and Nan, for a wonderful birthday gift! What a great week!

On to martial arts camp this week!



Dysart Woods

On Saturday, we went to Dysart Woods to hike. Dysart Woods is 50 acres of preserved old-growth forest. It's one of the only places where you can see what Ohio would have looked like before people got here. Ohio University takes care of it and uses it as a bio-lab. I had read enough to know that the hike would be challenging. They don't clear fallen trees and do everything they can to keep the forest undisturbed, so the trail is narrow and sometimes hard to follow.

 Matt is not a huge fan of toddler backpacks, but he agreed that it was a darn good thing we borrowed one for this hike! Thanks, Melissa! 

 There were tons of fallen trees to climb over. The red diamond on the log shows the trail. Sometimes, you really had to hunt for them. It was Luke's job to keep us on track.

 There were also quite a few scary bridges to cross. Yes, we crossed this bridge!

 To be honest, the ravine below was only a few feet deep, but it was still pretty cool!

It was a long 2 mile hike with very steep inclines and decline over tough terrain. By the last half, Michael was exhausted, so Matt ended up carrying two kids. When we finally reached the end, we were so hungry and exhausted that we just ate lunch right there in the parking lot rather than looking for a picnic spot. Hey, it was a grass parking lot anyway and we were the only people around.

Beaches

One of the reasons we chose Barkcamp was because it had a swim beach and my kids love the beach (maybe someday they'll actually go to an ocean one!). We went Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, but I only took pictures on Friday. It was a nice, clean little beach on a quiet lake with no gas motors allowed. On Saturday, there were lots of people, but it didn't feel crowded like at Alum Creek or Delaware.

On our way back, we went to Salt Fork State Park, which we visited a few years ago. It has a much bigger beach. Unfortunately, a colony of geese appears to have settled nearby, so the beach was kind of yucky. The kids still had fun, but I much preferred Barkcamp. I told Matt that I bet when I looked back at the Salt Fork post from 2008, Luke would be wearing the same bathing suit that Justin wore all weekend. He was. Luke was 3 in 2008. Justin is 15 months.

Camping Trip

This weekend we went camping at Barkcamp State Park in Belmont, OH. I know to most folks it wasn't "real" camping, but I come from a completely non-camping family and it's going to take me a few trips to figure out how to be "camping mom."

 This was our campsite. It was a Camper Cabin site. Inside, there were 4 bunks and a mini-fridge, plus some wall outlets, so we could have a fan, etc. Then there was a covered picnic area and a fire pit. The latrines and water was a short walk away. It was perfect for what we needed, mainly somewhere with a place to put a pack n play for Justin and the fridge was helpful because our cooler isn't great.

 Thankfully, it wasn't very hot the first night. The boys loved roasting marshmallows. Justin went to sleep fine in the pack n play at first. But once everyone got settled in the cabin, we had a VERY rough night. Justin kept waking up crying and screaming (teeth? diaper rash? who knows.). Matt and I got zero sleep. Luckily, Luke and Michael seemed to sleep through a lot of it. I was afraid we bothered other campers, but the sites on either side of us were vacant and the folks further down were mainly in rv's anyway. It was certainly not an ideal night.

This is Justin at 6:30am the next morning, none the worse for wear.  

We had to pack so much baby gear and beach supplies, that we didn't have room to bring many games, so the boys had to create their own entertainment around the campsite. They invented a game they called Road Rally where they loaded the strollers with stuffed animals and then ran around like crazy people. 



I am pleased to report that the second night was much smoother. Justin fell asleep at 7pm. The older boys were exhausted from a very full day and went to bed at 8pm without much argument. Matt and I didn't even bother trying to get the tempramental fire restarted when it went out and just went to bed at 10pm. Every slept like logs. In fact, Luke slept like such a log that he fell out of bed at 2am which woke Justin, but Justin babbled himself back to sleep and nobody got up until 8am this morning!

We really like this and may do it again with the same kind of site in the fall. By next summer, we should be ready for tent camping!

Having Three Boys Means . . .

 . . .having a perfectly good couch that no one sits on properly.

4th of July

After several years of attending 4th of July parades, this year we were all in one! Yes, all the Ponesses marched in the Westerville Independence Day Parade.  For some reason, Westerville starts its parade at 1pm rather than first thing in the morning. That made for a very hot parade.

Matt and Michael marched (or rode) with the Blendon-Westerville Little League. Michael loved waving at everyone and kept telling Matt "Look, we know them, they are waving at us."

 Luke, Justin and I walked with Koguryo. It was a small group at this parade because most of the teens were in the various marching bands and lots of folks were out of town. Luke marched, cartwheeled, kicked and jumped for 2 miles in 90 degree heat. Master Circle's wife was driving the jeep and she thought Luke was awesome and looked like Koguryo's very own drum major.



 Justin rode, whined, poured water on himself and collected flags as the bigger kids got tired of carrying them. He had six by the end. It was a LONG parade. I barely made it. Then we were off to dinner with at the Martinezes, which I didn't take pictures of because I still felt terrible from the parade and Justin was a wreck. However, by 8pm, back home, Justin had recovered a bit, so we did this:

 We drove to a field with several hundred of our closest friends to watch the fireworks. They were AWESOME!! Thumbs down for a miserable parade, Westerville, but thumbs up for great fireworks!

Luke was 4 before I let him stay up for fireworks. Michael was 3. Here is the napless 15-month-old thirdborn at 10pm eating a lollipop the size of his head.

Looking for Eagles

The boys have been very interested in bald eagles since their trip to the zoo last week. This morning, we went to Highbanks to look for the Bald Eagle Family that lives there. We think we saw one flying high in the sky, but the nest ended up being too far a walk for us today. We are going to do several short hikes around town this week to try and get the boys ready for our camping trip next weekend.

Summer!

And then there were two . . .

Due in large part to a promotion from Koguryo that allowed Michael to earn free classes by donating some books, we've decided to let Michael start attending Tang Soo Do once a week. Luke goes 3-4 times a week, but that is a bit much for a 4-year-old and Michael still has his heart set on playing soccer this fall, too. So, for now, he'll tag along with Luke on Tuesdays and start working towards his Master White belt. He did great in class, remembering to say "Yes, Sir!" and to say "Koguryo" every time he bows. He already knows some of his combinations thanks to help from Luke. We are very excited to have another martial artist in the house!

Days of Awesomeness--Part One

I feel like the Fates have been conspiring against me, not letting me blog. My computer keeps crashing. I lost the camera (now found). Our a/c is out, so sitting around our hot living room on the computer is unpleasant. And Justin is sick. And every time I sit down, there is another kid crisis.

But, man, we had an amazing time this past weekend. Sharleen, Eli and Sadie came to stay with us. We hadn't seen them in two years. The kids fell right back in together even though Michael and Sadie were teeny tiny when the Sperles moved to Minnesota. The kids all slept (or didn't sleep) on the floor of the boys' room. Every morning they got up and hung out with Matt and then we were off on some wild adventure.

 Catching fireflies the first night.

Then, off to the Birthday Bash in Johnstown.

 Year 6 of the EBC Kids!

 Next Day, at the zoo, making friends with a flamingo.

And trying to get everyone in one picture (almost did it, missing Lola!)

And there was more! I wish I had more pictures, but I misplaced the camera while I was packing up to come home from the Birthday Bash and didn't find it until today and I didn't get any good shots with my phone or bloggie. I will post pictures of our day at the park and Audobon Center once someone else does, so I can steal them! And I'm hoping Sharleen got some of our kiddos just hanging out.

I just don't feel like any blog post could do justice to the great time we had. The kids were great. The days were great. The evenings were especially great--catching up with Sharleen on our own a couple of nights, with Cheryl one night and then with most of the moms at a MNO (thanks to Matt for watching all of the kids). It was just a spectacular visit and I am so happy that the Sperles made the trip to come see us! I hope they do it again and we will need to come their way one of these summers, too.

Promotion

Luke finally got his full Orange belt tonight! Woo hoo!

So, he was able to add his half-orange belt to his new belt display that he got for his birthday. What a perfect gift! Thanks Graham Family!

mini-golf

So, I've figured out how the places on Groupon make their money. People like me buy Groupons and then forget to use them. But I remembered that I had one for mini-golf, so today we went.  The boys loved it, although Justin didn't want to stay in the stroller.

 

Michael's swing was a bit unorthodox, but he did pretty good anyway.

Justin kept tossing the golf balls onto the holes.

Matt, Luke and Michael also tried the batting cages because we got some free tokens. I made them do the slow pitch softball. Those machines have always freaked me out, but Luke and Michael actually got a few hits.

Mentoring

Luke passed his belt test earlier this month, but there is almost two weeks between the test and the belt ceremony (enough time to order the belts). Even if they pass, students cannot move up in their curriculum skills until they formally receive their belt. Luke hates this "dead time" while he's waiting for promotion because he has to repeat material he already knows. I think Master Circle knows how much he hates it, too. Today, he let Luke "instruct" two of his junior classmates in their terminology.  As I've mentioned, Luke has a mentor on the Black Tigers, so it was nice for him to have the experience of being a mentor himself. The belt ceremony is Thursday evening, so he doesn't have much longer to wait!

Happy Father's Day!

Super Hero Party

Luke and Michael went to Jackson's birthday party today. Luke went as Shark Boy.

Monkey Boy Michael hanging out in the trees.

They chased villains (Jackson's cousins who, it turns out, went to IC!).  They ate cake. They climbed trees and battled. It was a great party!

Tiny Hawk

 This week was Michael's Skyhawks Sports Camp. Attending the camp was his birthday gift from Poppy and Nan. I had to choose between registering him for the 4-7 yr. old half day Mini Hawk camp or the 3-4 year old one hour Tiny Hawk camp. I decided to go with Tiny Hawks because I remembered Luke breaking down at age 4 and not being able to handle a 3 hour camp (we dropped out of VBS after 2 days). Good call. Michael enjoyed the camp and had lots of fun, but he was totally DONE by the end of one hour. Oh my goodness, there were so many tantrums and breakdowns and kids who wouldn't leave their mommies. It was a riot. But Michael loved the small basketball hoops and soccer goals and playing "What time is it, Mr. Fox?"

At the end of camp today, Michael got a certificate. He was very proud because he knows Luke gets certificates at martial arts.

Luke, Justin and I spent the week hanging out at the park. Daddy was able to join us a couple of days. Justin loved wandering through the parking lot. Luke and I especially enjoyed watching my friend Cheryl's daughter, Daniela at the other end of the park. She was attending the "real" all day SkyHawks camp. She looked like she might have been the youngest at her camp and she was the only girl! Every time I looked over, she was kicking a goal or making a basket wearing her pink sunhat and sunglasses.  She totally rocked. I didn't get a picture of her, but I'm sure there are some up on her mommy's blog! 

Trouble

Three kids and this is the first time I've had one do this. Of course, it's the heaviest one! On the other hand, who am I to discourage Justin from learning how to unload the dishwasher?

Buddy Day!

Luke brought Michael to Buddy Day at Koguryo this week. Michael had such a great time and can't wait to start Tang Soo Doh for real. Mommy and Daddy say not until after soccer season in the fall, once Michael officially hits 4 1/2.

Ready to Home School

NOT!!! But I did take out a bunch of dry beans and pasta the other day and let the kids fill bottles using tweezers. Supposed to help fine motor skills or something. Kept them occupied a little while. Why yes, Michael IS wearing a monkey towell on his head.

Kings Island videos

Here is a quick clip of the Parasauralophus at the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. Michael liked it, but was also a little nervous.




At about 7:30pm, I walked Justin around until he fell asleep. I thought he was out for good. About 8pm, we got ice cream. Next thing I know, Justin is pushing his blanket aside, sitting up in his stroller and calling "mo!" which is his catch all "give me something to eat" phrase.