Glimpses of August 2012

Chick-fil-A's Father Son Football Night

I'm not sure what a bull has to do with football, but our boy sure enjoyed the ride.

Sleepover and Go-Carts

Our daughter enjoyed riding go-carts and having a fun American Girl themed sleepover with a dear friend this past month.  While riding go-carts with her friend's dad, our daughter discovered that he drives faster and crazier than her stomach can handle.

Feeling woozy

Happier now

Credit for go-cart photos goes to Yard Sale Mommy.

Flexible Families Flee Fire

Our church community group planned a family picnic social after church one Sunday.  During the church service, the light in a sign caught fire and set off the church fire alarm.  Over a thousand (?) people were evacuating the church when the firetruck arrived.  Our daughter felt some anxiety over all the commotion, but our son was just thrilled to see the firetruck.  It also began raining heavily outside during the evacuation, so we changed our picnic plans and met at a couple's house instead.  

When the rain subsided to a drizzle, the boys finished up their Sunday School lesson while taking a spin around the block in the hosts' Cadillac Escalade.

We had to remind our son that this smaller car is closer to his target price range.

New Paint

We gave our house a little facelift this month.  We changed the exterior color from creamy white to a more trendy shade called "Forest Khaki".  Our contractors also applied a darker stain to our deck to better coordinate with the new exterior paint. It went from "Redwood" to "Auburn Brown".

We also changed the interior paint colors to a darker cooler color called Whispering Wheat along the halls and stair cases.  The entire third floor got a fresh coat of paint along the stairwell, trim, shelving, and ceiling.  The walls were a drab creamy color when we bought the house.  Now they are a much more soothing blue color called Antique Silver.  Here's a small corner of the newly painted 3rd floor playroom.

Lego Loot

Our daughter participated in a market research study for the Lego company.  She spent two hours giving her opinion about various Lego Friends sets and marketing materials while being video recorded and watched behind a hidden window wall.  As a token of appreciation for her time, she received a new Lego Friends Vet kit and a nice wad of cash.  I'm all for this kind of child labor.

Olympic Training

Our daughter continues her overly ambitious dreams of becoming an Olympic gymnast. When she goes to the pool, she salutes the imaginary judges before vaulting into the pool.

When I walked up stairs to our recreation room and saw my aerobic step in front of our SpudBag, I wondered if our daughter had been practicing for the vault.

When I asked her about it, she demonstrated her "vault" moves. 

That's when I knew she desperately needed gymnastics training.  So I signed her up for some basic tumbling classes.  During the first class I knew I never had to worry about her coach dropping her since he is almost twice her height and probably at least four or five times her weight.  He calls himself "Bear" which is a perfect name considering that he is as big as a bear on the outside but as gentle and sweet as a teddy bear on the inside.

Tumbling Class

Back walkover

She also asked me to begin training her in overall fitness, so I've been letting her join me for Yoga and post-activation potentiation (PAP) workouts.  She does fine with the workouts, but my plantar fasciitis wasn't quite ready for the PAP legs work, and I'm paying dearly for it now.

Working out together on the 3rd floor before the painting commenced

Rainbows and Sunsets

We often had late afternoon thunderstorms as the sun began to set this past month.  These timely storms produced fabulous double rainbows in the sky that would fade into the sunset.

View from here on August 8, 2012