Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime

I can not believe that in one week... SUMMER '09 will be over... :(

There are a few earlier posts of what we did this summer, but as I look through the pictures, here are a few more things!

Oh what do you do in the summertime when all the world is green...

1. Nicholas and Christopher joined the Four-Eyes Club:


2. Help Mom make delicious treats:


3. Bust up the mailbox:


4. Go to VISA Championships (see Jonathan Horton):


5. Visit 6 Flags Over Texas:


6. And just lay around and listen to Books On Tape:

Emma On Bike

Remember this... Emma Lee at 2 Years

Well... take a look at THIS!

The Tiger Bike (as it is known) was purchased for Benjamin in 1999. It was a $99 "top-of-the-line" Schwinn bike! (He was our 1st child and the 1st child ALWAYS gets the BEST! wink wink) It was purchased with training wheels.

When Ben was able to ride it, another bike was purchased for Ben. The Tiger Bike was passed down to Zach... passed down to Nick... passed down to Chris... passed down to Emma! (that's a lot of "Passing Downs!")

With all these "passing downs" you can only imagine the state of the training wheels - NO TREAD nearly by the time Emma got to it! Last week we went for a ride and they were falling apart and I kicked them back into place. (I kept thinking to myself "quit being so tight and go get another pair for your ONLY daughter" but since she's the last one, WHY?)

We got back to the house and we tried to take them off but we couldn't get them off. When Glenn came home, he took them off. I kept contemplating "buy" or "don't buy." "Buy" or "don't buy!" The next morning we went back outside and looked over the situation. I asked her to try it without training wheels... she did and Wa La!

Now, take a look at THIS picture...




She is BIG TIME and I think she knows it! Watch Out - here comes Emma Lee (with big brothers on each side)!

Snow Cone Lady

After we dropped Nick off at gymnastics, the rest of us headed to the Library. We collected some good books and went over to visit the Snow Cone Lady!

Once again, Christopher snowed us all and ordered a mint, pink lemonade snow cone. I gave him "the look" and he quickly changed his order to rootbeer and green apple. I gave him another look and he was dumb-founded!

"What do you want me to get?" he kindly asked.

"Something that will not make you barf!" I was quick to reply.

He ordered a redhot with cream... like cinnamon. He loved it! I know, I know I should just let the kid get what he orders! But those just sounded way too gross!

The Drive-In

A few months back I read an article in a Frisco Flyer magazine that comes monthly (free in the mail). It spoke of the drive-in theatres of long ago. It was a very fun article with nostalgic items of the past.

At the end of the article it highlighted The Galaxy Drive-In Theatre in Ennis Texas. I checked out the show and show times and up was Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (one we have not seen) and Night At The Museum: Battle At The Smithsonian (one we HAVE seen and loved). What could we want more - A DOUBLE FEATURE with TWO GREAT MOVIES.

The only problem: showtime is at dusk (after 9) and Ennis Texas is 21 miles South of Dallas. We are about 20 miles NORTH of Dallas. Then we have to travel THRU Dallas - another 20 miles (it seemed, but probably not THAT long).

Long story short - we arrived home at 2:30am. I don't think the boys ever stayed up that late before. Emma and I slept through the 2nd feature in the back of the truck. (We brought a blow-up air mattress.) But Those Thomas Boys have TRUE Thomas Genes: they will stay awake through any movie and not even get a bit tired and fall asleep. Oh No Way!

Thomas Reunion 2009

Glenn has 1 older brother (Eldon) and 1 younger brother (Brent). He also has 4 sisters that are younger than him. All the siblings are married and most of them have kids. So, it's a lot of fun to get together. And when we do ALL get together, it's a FULL HOUSE!

The summer of 2003 found us ALL packing our bags and going to Aspen Grove Family Camp in Utah. It was a lot of fun! In 2006 we returned back and had even more fun. But, we found out that even though it was so convenient (meals are ready, clean-up is done, housing/bedding is provided, etc.) we really didn't find our families much together. We all kind of did our own thing and there wasn't too much interaction between all of us.

So, for 2009, we decided to have our own Thomas Family Family Camp in the mountains of Arizona. Hats off to a wonderful SIL who planned most of the adventure, we ate GREAT, we had fun doing dinner duty (only twice in the week), we had fun activities and we had fun being together - All 35 or so, of us! It was Fun!

We had a creek about a 1/4 mile from the cabin. Most of the older kids could be found in the stream hunting for crawdads. (They brought them home, boiled them and ate them.) About 2 miles up the stream there was a swimming hole. Near the cabin was a 3-story tree house. Each day found us doing water balloons. There was ping-pong, foosball, pool... One afternoon we shot guns. We drove the Rhino all around the property and beyond. There was crafts (t-shirts and bracelets). We also had a talent show. Card games and board games galore! We did rockets and water balloon launchers. There was a scavenger hunt, pinatas, hair braiding and all sorts of other stuff. We also did bike rides and lots of hiking/walking. There was the diligent (5am) morning exercise crowd doing runs, walks and biking.

Here's a few pictures:

Mo Tab

A few months ago, in church, it was announced that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would be doing a Central States Tour this Summer. Included would be the cities of Omaha, St. Louis, Denver, Norman and a few others. Glenn and I glanced at each other. We ALL just love listening to the choir! Yes, we all gather to watch Music And The Spoken Word.

So, yesterday afternoon, we went! Oh, I wish they would come visit each Summer!! We would be there. The boys were just amazed at the size and sound of this group of people (360+). We all enjoyed the versatility of the music they presented (songs of the land, hymns, theatre, etc.) There were piccolo, bagpipe, flute and organ solos. There were BYU Favorites (Betelehemu and Cindy-my favorite). The handbell choir did a few numbers too (Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing).

It was held at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman OK - home to the Oklahoma Sooners (as in Boomer Sooners). Norman is straight North from our home, under 3 hours. Since the concert was at 7:30 and lasted till 10, we stayed at a fancy hotel and jumped on the beds and ate ice cream! We were able to visit one of the Norman Wards this morning and came home this afternoon. All Is Well! All Is Well!

Awards, awards and more awards

Emma and I have had a busy week. It all started last week when Emma graduated from preschool. Next year she will be doing preschool over again, but we are going to call it pre-K. That just sounds much more important. She had a GREAT time with her friends. We started out with six children, but one moved to UT and another boy was quite a bit older and went off to "other opportunities" at Christmastime.


At the end of last week, Zachary had his Awards for 4th Grade. He received 3 of the 4 medals that are given for the TAKS testing (Texas Academic... something or other). He missed the 4th medal by 1 point. He also received the Math Magician Award.



This week started out with an Awards ceremony for Christopher on Monday. Christopher also brought home the Math Magician Award. I think he also brought home the BIGGEST smile too in his Kindergarten Class.



Nicholas did not surprise anyone... he came home with the Awesome Athlete Award in 2nd grade!

And Benjamin closed the doors on his Elementary Days at Pink Elementary. Off to Griffin Middle School in the Fall. He's very excited! He is registered for two advanced classes (one in Math and the other in Language). He was able to receive all 4 of the TAKS (Texas Assessment... or something like that) Awards (reading, math, science, writing).

Just a side note regarding Ben: He received the Ravenous Reader Award for his love of books. He really read lots of books, so many that he didn't do his homework for a week and his book priviledge was taken away. Someday he'll tell us the complete story!

All the brothers received Honor Awards (As) for their performance during the year. Glenn and I sure have a lot to be thankful for. We have hard-working, fun-loving, handsome-looking sons! And they sure are NICE too! Great job Boys!