End of Summer 2009

So much happened at the end of the summer this year! The boys were both in ball (Clayton in T-ball, Brent in coach pitch) and they both had team pictures done. I wasn't able to get Brent's the day they did it, but I got Clayton's. Below is his team with their medals:

In July, they had their tournament for TKD and this is the picture taken in class of the trophies that were won that day:

In August, some friends of ours from church went with us to Salem and we spent some time fishing and driving around the farm. Sooo much fun. Brent, of course, was the best fisherman of the day! He caught something nearly every time he cast his line into the pond. Below is a pic of the first fish he got to keep that day and the three boys with their stringer of fish at the end of the afternoon.

This was the ONLY fish I caught that day. That is NOT my kind of fishing! LOL However, it was made-up-for by the fact that I *did* catch a snapping turtle. :-D We were able to get it out of the pond and Terry and Ron cut it's head off. (Science, anyone??? LOL) The kids were fascinated by the fact that even after its head was removed, the turtle would still continue to walk when turned over onto its feet. :-) Ya gotta love those involuntary muscles and nerves!

Terry made us all clean up brush from around the pond before we were able to fish. LOL If we hadn't, there would have been too much brush to even get to the pond bank in order to fish! So at the end of the day, I had the kids stand in front of their brush pile with their fish so I could get a picture. Then in the back of the truck, Brent wanted a closeup shot of his stringer of fish, since he caught all but 2 of them! LOL

After we got done fishing, we decided to go see the cows. Clayton and T were standing up in the back of the truck looking through the cab out into the field. LOL Just too cute not to take a picture of them! Then later, while we were parked and talking about the cows and feeding them some cubes, I got a shot of the boys sitting side-by-side on the tailgate of the truck.

On Sunday, we left right after lunch and headed back home for Pew Packers/Bible Bowl practice. Obviously, the weekend was a success, cuz Clayton was just *wiped out*, which is evident by how he was sleeping, even after the other three kids had climbed over him to get out and go inside! LOL

Summer Zoo Trip with the Youth Group

Back in July, the youth group at church took a trip to the zoo in St Louis.  What fun!  It was a loooong day, but the kids had a blast!  This was their pose of silliness on the way up there.

When we were almost done with all the walking we were gonna do, we were in the middle of a section of the zoo that only had 'one way' out.  We decided to sit and rest for just a bit and the kids decided to get their maps out and try to figure out 'how to get us out of here'.  LOL  Course, we knew there was only one way to go, but it gave us an excuse to take a break!

At the very end of the day, we were by the gate and they wanted to climb on the seal statue.  I thought a nice pic was in order!  LOL  So here they are....looking exhausted but still having fun.