We started out the summer with a trip to Destin as a special reward for Stephen’s diligence in striving to become a “Memory Master.”
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| Though the dolphin cruise fit in nicely with our Island of the Blue Dolphins and Nim’s Island unit studies, |
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| Gary reminded me: “You know, Brandy, it doesn’t HAVE to be about learning…” |
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| The weather was too chilly to swim, so we improvised… |
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| and I found out I’m allergic to the sun, so we improvised there as well. (As a side note, I’m not mad here. For some reason I’ve looked like this ever since I taught high school math in the public school system.) |
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| Fortunately the boys never tried to climb the balcony rails at the condo. So, everything was hunky dorey, except for the sun-sational allergic reaction I had. But at least now I know that there’s no point in me even trying to get a tan. (I already knew that, thankyaverymuch.) |
After returning to Tennessee, Stephen helped Gary build Levi’s new tricycle.
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| Just look at the sheer joy on this face! |
Then, two boys braved a bucking bull at the rodeo. According to David, “Falling off was the best part.”
After Gary left for South Korea, we visited the Granville Heritage Days. We had 20 minutes to spare before everything started shutting down. At least the ride there was exciting – we passed about 50 classic cars on the way. (Yes, they were LEAVING when we were ARRIVING because sometimes I get things together at the last minute to do something. As my mom always says, “Better late than never!”)
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| I’m not sure how much “heritage” we discovered, but we really enjoyed the “antiques.” |
A couple of trips to the movies…
…had me wondering what in the world I was doing taking a two-year-old to the movies. But Stephen and David loved it and told me they didn’t even notice Levi… (What do you mean you didn’t notice Levi?!?!? )
And the Hackberry Emperors, Great Spangled Fritillaries, and 13-year cicadas ushered in the beginning of the super-hot summer months.
Which brings us to my birthday. Though Gary was on the other side of the world, the boys did some really special stuff for me. Due to size limitations and other bloggy quirks, we’ll pick up there on the next episode of our three-part mini-series “Summertime Stories,” written especially for Gary, the most amazing husband/daddy in the world – who loves and supports us so much, even when he’s 10,000 miles away…
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| …on the Ocean Rig Poseidon, his home away from home. |