Providence Parade

The Saturday before the actual 4th of July, our neighborhood has a small parade.  It's fun to see what people come up with each year as they ride through the streets.  The kids love catching candy and t-shirts and we love that we can snag the perfect, shady spot right down the street from our house.  It's a great start to the patriotic season!

2015-08-29_0001.jpg

Summer Swimming: Front Pool

The kids and I walked over to the pool this evening for a quick swim before dinner and to try out our new underwater camera.  It's lots of fun - and a new challenge - to capture Sam swimming under water and Evie "1-2-3 jumping".  We spend enough time at the pool in the summer, it's nice to have images to document our days here.  Sam is warming up to the water nicely; he remembers a lot of what he learned in swimming lessons last summer and is even trying some new things like underwater handstands and cannonballs of the edge of the pool.  Evie just likes to jump, jump, and jump some more.   I think they'll both be swimming like little fishies before long! 

Helping Hands

After our snow cone outing, we came home to get the house picked up and dinner started.  I asked Sam to water the flowers on the front porch, one of his chores (which we're calling "helping hands" time) that he completes for me in the summertime.  Before too long, I heard some giggling and cackling and found these two on the porch, not watering plants, but each other instead.  Needless to say, when they finally came in they were soaked but very happy!

Snow Cones

We met up with some photography friends for Bahama Bucks snow cones.  Boy are those things good!  Sam shared his black cherry with me and Evie ate her usual snack - peanut butter crackers.  Both kids enjoyed the ring game.  Sam got the ring on the hook a couple of times - not too bad!

(thanks to my friend, Kimie, for the picture of me with the kids!)

Father's Day

Gram and Pops gave Brian and Sam tickets to a Roughriders game for Brian's birthday last spring.  Pops and Andrew got tickets, too, and they all decided to go to the Father's Day game.  The weather looked very iffy at first, but it cleared out just enough for the game to continue as scheduled.  Sam got to play catch on the field with Brian before the game, and that was exciting for sure.  The game went into extra innings and they played pretty late into the evening.  The guys decided to call it a night before the game ended, so they missed the fireworks, but it was still a fun evening for all our baseball-loving boys!

Before they left for the game, Sam gave Daddy and Pops a Father's Day activity that we had completed at home that morning.  He had to write down how old they were, what their favorite foods and colors were, and tell what he enjoyed doing the most with each of them.  His correct (and sometimes incorrect) answers were a big hit!

Happy Father's Day to all!

Dallas Zoo

Our first big outing this summer was to the Dallas Zoo.  We picked Gram up at her house early in the morning, then caught the DART train which dropped us off right at the zoo entrance.  Riding the train was half the fun of the day!  We watched the conductor turn on the wipers when it started raining, Gram pointed out where Uncle Andrew works, and we saw where Daddy works, too.  And Sam liked when we went through the long, dark tunnel!  My favorite part was when we passed through downtown Dallas and got to see some of the tall buildings.

First stop at the zoo - the penguins!  Some were swimming, and some were posing for the camera!

The elephants were out today and very active.  They scratched against the rocks, chewed on a branch, and drank water with their trunks.  I could watch them all day.

Another animal we could have watched all day long - the giraffe.  This sweet little one walked over to us several times and even let Gram and I pet her knobby noggin.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch then had to find shelter under a patio umbrella while we waited out a quick sprinkle.  While we were waiting, Sam saw a tiny snail on a fence post.  The things he finds! 

Sam imitating a chimpanzee's "happy face".  Looks similar to Sam's own "hungry face"!

We found ourselves back at the penguin pool again and they put on a little swimming show for us.  

The flamingos were cool, as always, and after watching them stand on one foot and snooze for a while, we headed over to the reptile and amphibian house to take a look at all things slimy and slithery!  Sam darted all over this building.  He really enjoyed these animals.  We were all amazed at the size of the Burmese Python.  His tank was pretty dark so I don't have a picture, but wow, was he big!

We stopped by the macaws to gather our stuff before walking to catch the homebound train.  One of my animals made it all the way through the zoo, but my other one - the wilder animal of the two you might say - gave in to sleep toward the end.  The train ride home gave us all a chance to rest after our big day.  A wonderful first trip of the summer!

Spin Art

We started our summer with some spin art.  Best ten bucks I've ever spent!  We tried watercolors, markers and acrylic paints.  Each one was beautiful in its own way.  So much fun!

Fountains

First day of summer spent at the fountains.  The kids were in HEAVEN!

This image is my favorite of the series.  Amidst all the activity, he stopped to share some of his crackers with her.   Love.

Endings

Today is Sam's last day of Kindergarten.  He's having mixed feelings about it, as am I.  Yesterday he shared with me some feelings of unease.  "Everything is ending," he said.  "Baseball is over, school is over, I feel like my life is over".  It was strange to hear him talk so maturely about these changes, although knowing Sam it probably shouldn't have surprised me - he's never had trouble expressing his feelings.  He wasn't at all dramatic about it, just contemplative.  We talked about all the things that will begin this summer, now that other things have ended, the best being pool season!  He still insisted he wished it was the middle of the school year, not the end.  I'll have to remind him of that next year when he grumbles about getting out of bed on a Monday morning!

Congrats to Sam on a great Kindergarten year.  Next stop - first grade! 

But first...SUMMERTIME!

Thinking Like an Artist

I had just finished feeding the kids breakfast when I felt it coming on...the energy shift.  Sometimes Sam has a difficult time transitioning from one event to another.  The downtime in our day, whether it is two minutes or two hours, often leaves his mind and its ever-spinning gears without something to focus on.   A negative energy settles over the house that I can immediately sense, and others who know Sam really well can often feel it coming on, too.  It's like when the wind chimes clink in the breeze in a disaster movie - you know that's your clue a tornado is on its way.   

The older Sam gets the more obvious it becomes that his mind craves more stimulation than what can usually occurs organically throughout the day, and he needs help redirecting the energy that comes from these downtimes into something positive.  So, ideally, (though often not possible) it's best to stay a few steps ahead of him and have things prepared for him to do, even if it's just throwing a few riddles at him or playing a game of "questions".  It calms him and gives his brain something to do.  

edit-0859.jpg

Thank goodness it was sunny and dry when I looked out the window after breakfast.  He needed more than just something to read or learn about today - he needed to get outside, and Evie and I did, too.  It's been a very rainy spring, and since Sam and I had not practiced photography together in a couple of weeks, the plan was a no-brainer:  take a walk - to Lake Providence this time - with our cameras in-hand to see what can we find!

While we were getting ready I suggested to Sam that he have something specific in mind to work on while he walked and photographed.  My idea was to make sure he had a clear subject in mind for each photo; a flower pot, a tree, a neighbor, etc.  He replied with OR!  I could photograph different textures I see along the way and when we come home you could guess what they were and we could make a texture collection!

Ummm, yeah!  That's waaay better than my idea.  Let's do it!

So off we went, Evie with her baby, baby stroller, and bunny purse filled with baby's bottles, and Sam and I with our cameras, bending over taking photos of grass, puddles and concrete.  I'm sure we looked like quite the crew walking through the neighborhood!  

Sam's eye for texture was really good, and he'd get excited about the textures I spotted for him as well.   Strangely enough, he found a piece of sandpaper on the sidewalk by the lake - how perfect was that?  We also found some clams on the shore, which totally made his day.  He brought home twelve clams, one seashell and one lucky penny, and made up a song about being Sam the Clam Collector.  He kept saying this was the best day of his life.

He was so proud to show me each picture he captured on our texture walk.  And he was open to the photography advice I gave along the way, like when I reminded him to slow down, keep his breath still and watch for his focal point when shooting.  It's amazing how many "keepers" he gets when he takes his time.  

Sam Straka, age 6

My favorite image of his from today was of this snail.  It was one of those itty-bitty snails and it was sliding through a small, muddy patch in someone's landscaping.  How Sam saw it I don't know.  He has that radar for all things creepy-crawly that little boys seem to possess.  

When we got home, Sam observed his critters for a while, arranged them in an old Tupperware bowl, found the perfect spot for them in his room and drew them a picture.  When Brian got home from work they read an article about clams and watched some YouTube videos to learn where they come from and how to cook them.  They even saw a video of a clam licking salt off a kitchen counter!  It was a fun morning, with the clam-collecting being the highlight, for sure. To see the rest of the images from Sam's texture walk, go to his gallery or click here.