June

We started the month in Starr while Daron was in Canada for work. The boys went to VBS. Rory got sent home the first day for crying after he got split up from Lizzy. They were going to let him join her when he got upset so I asked him on the way home why he didn't just do that if it was what he wanted. He waited awhile and then said, "How would you feel if you had to go in after everything was started and say, Hi, I'm Rory." I guess he had a point. Silas loved VBS because he was with Lacy and the other 4th graders and had a grand time dominating all the games with a two year age advantage. I was in charge of drop-off one day and Lacy was navigating. She told me to look for the King Kong sign as a marker. I thought this was hilarious because the "King Kong" sign was right next to sign pointing the way to the actual place we were going.

We were also reunited with some of our old chicken gang and Nox made new friends.

 

 

 

• We got Nox's DNA test back. He is 15 breeds, with the top ones being Pit Bull, Australian Shepard, Miniature American Shepard, and Chow Chow.  
• The neighbors let us share in their blueberry bounty. 
• A friend gave Rory and I tickets to Shrek the Musical. 
• We got to meet one of my favorite illustrators, Matthew Cordell, through our library. 
• We visited Hannah's new country club job in Summerville and saw Auntie Conn. 
• We also met baby Jack!

 

 

Indiana Jones

Rory is seven! We had an Indiana Jones party! It was a whirlwind, but fun! Here is the run down from start to finish.

First, the cousins are called to help Indiana in his quest for the stolen "Peacock's Eye" diamond. They must gear up at headquarters and head to Egypt.

 

In Egypt they had to cross the hieroglyphic pathway without stepping on any false stones. The secret word? Indiana! They had the genius plan to test stones with a snake Lizzy brought along which saved them many a false step. Once across the path they had to swap the idol for a sandbag without knocking over the stand. I was disappointed with how quickly Ian managed this and they were off to the jungles of Peru.

 

Peru provided poison blow darts from the natives and they had to hit all their targets to make it through the jungle. Also I rolled a giant exercise ball down the hall to try to hit them before they could rescue their hat and clear out of the way.

 

In India they had a dinner reservation with the Maharaja. On the menu was roasted beetles, eyeball skewers, baby snakes, and chilled monkey brains for dessert. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the Pankot punch was poisoned! They had to burst balloons to find the antidote and make their way to Morocco.

In Morocco they had to brave a bug infested cave to search for the Peacock's Eye among some raiders' hidden stash of gold. Alas they were too late and had to hop a plane to China (not Lao Chi Air!). I have never utilized under our back porch for a party before, but it might have been my favorite part.

China was an obstacle course over a snake pit (Why did it have to be snakes?!), across a ninja course, along a grass-is-lava rock path, through a tunnel and ending at a postcard puzzle where they had to figure out their final location by choosing the postcard with the unique stamp. The stamps came from an escape box I had done with friends and they had no patience for details so they just visited every location marked around the yard and picked the one they thought would be easiest to excavate. They weren't wrong. 

 

The archaeologists went to work digging and the Peacock's Eye was recovered along with gems, coins, fame, and glory!

 

Then it was dinner, presents, and this amazing cake and ice cream!