It has been a summer of manga and musicals. Nut Brown discovered manga at the library this summer and he and Bobo and Rosebud read manga all summer. Nut Brown and Bobo memorized all the words to Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog and Hamilton. There was much mutual singing which would break out whenever there was conversation. One or the other of them would quote a lyric and they would just go on from there.
Here are some of the other things we did this summer:
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Looking in amazement at the phenomenon of water falling from the sky. They were reaching out the window to catch it in their hands. And of course there are mushrooms when it rains! Notice the multitude of rubber bracelets on D's wrist. He collected them at his Texas school and wore them every day for several months to use as a fidget. Sometime in August he took them off.
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| Walking along the Ma & Pa Trail downtown. The boys are singing. |
Fourth of July parade downtown. There were a lot of marching bands. Also a float celebrating the fact that our county declared independence from Britain three years before the rest of the country.
Hiked out to Kilgore Falls, the tallest free-falling waterfall in Maryland. We didn't come prepared to wade, and the kids went home completely soaked!
Enrolled kids in school for next year. Nut Brown and D are in the same school building, so after D finished, he and Rosebud and I shot his rubber bracelets at targets in the hallway while waiting for Nut Brown to resolve his class schedule.
Went to the county fair. Checked out the livestock and fired squash out of squash launchers to win prizes. We also watched draft horses drag weights in a contest. Rose Pink and I liked that best, but the younger kids got restless.
Celebrated Mr. Brown's birthday. Nut Brown energized the planning for it and made a pinata. We tried to make it a surprise but
We went on a tour of a potato chip factory, which was cool. They gave us chips hot off the line, which were tasty! That evening some friends came over for a treasure hunt that led to the pinata, followed by pound cake topped with brain-shaped jello.
We picked up several bags of obscure potato chip flavors at the factory, and Rose Pink gave Mr. Brown a big bag of some more. He was literally covered in chips!
The next was our family birthday. We went out for a fancy dinner per tradition, and chose a seafood restaurant in Havre de Grace so we could eat crab, which is a big thing in Maryland. Unfortunately it turns out that none of us really like crab. Mr. Brown's salmon was amazing though.
Spent an afternoon at Hammerman Beach on a lake in Gunpowder Falls State Park. It was a perfect day and we had a good time.
Picked huge blackberries at a you-pick and made blackberry jam. The blackberries were amazing fresh and the jam is good too!
Celebrated Nut Brown's birthday. Mr. Brown and I did not get as many celebrations of Nut Brown accomplished for his birthday as we felt that he deserved, because he is awesome and amazing. He finished summer off by passing the test to and getting his learner's permit.
On to school! Three kids in three new schools. Maryland is full of kind people, so we are not worried. Nut Brown and D are actually in the same building, and they are walking to school. Rosebud catches the bus to the elementary school. She is stoked and very excited. We went to the open house, and met her teacher, who is named Miss Hershey. Rosebud mistakenly called her Miss Reese - something to do with chocolate anyway! She started writing a review of her elementary school as soon as we got home and gave it five stars even before the first day of school.
Here we go into fall!
