Astros Baseball

Highlights from what may just be Coley's last season of baseball... It's a sport that he really enjoys, but isn't all that great at so we've had fun watching him just go out and have fun.

His team only won a few games this year, but they were great friends and had a wonderful coach who let Coley pitch!

Here's a great shot of Cole and Gavin. As usual, Cole strugged at the plate.

But man can my brother steal bases! What a fun season. Thanks for all the great times we've had watching you from the sidelines, Cole.

Homecoming!

Mom signed up to work concessions for the wrestling club at the big game this year so she said we could go. She also said Coley could bring a friend IF they promised to let me tag along.

He gave her an "are you crazy?" look and said "of course, Mom!?"

I love my big bro and I love his friends.

And I'm pretty sure they love me.

Animal Control

When you find something weird around our house, there's really only one guy to call and that's Bryce. There is no icky sticky, slimy or scary animal that kid won't grab! Here we are holding Chloe's geckos named Echo and Repeat.

And here he is holding the frog he reached down and plucked outta Chloe's pool when Mr. Siler called for his services.

A praying mantis he caught for his buddy Aaron's bug report.

and the world's biggest, hungriest caterpillar that he insisted on hand feeding for 3 days.

If that giant brain of yours ever fails you, kid, you have a bright future in pest control!

Fitting Right In

Now that Miss B. is all healed up and getting stronger and more confident every day, we are getting to see her playful puppy side! For example, she LOVES romping around with our buddy Mort Mort! She fits right in.

Well maybe she doesn't fit everywhere.... 

In true little sister fashion, she can drive the big guy a little nuts. Luckily, she's still scared to go upstairs or in the basement so he has plenty of places to go and hide :)

Tropical Storm Coley

It's hurricane season everywhere, including inside Coley's school binder! This is what it looks like on any typical 5th grade day. Mom asked him what the point of the "homework, take home and leave at school" folders was and he said "Oh, Mrs. Torgersen likes them in there Mom."

This week's spelling contract.... You can imagine how this makes our neat freak mom feel!

Me n' My Girl

I'm not as big a fan of dogs as Coley is, but this girl is so sweet, even I can't help but cuddle up every now and then!

Post Party

After Mom convinced the hotel to let us check in at 10:30 so she could swim, shower, and take a nap, we went back out to the post party. Of course, Dad found the shooting booth.

and we loved the shooting booth!

and we were GOOD at the shooting booth!

Next, we tackled the giant indoor pirate ship for a good solid 45 minutes of climbing.

Then we went over to the Children's museum and played with bubbles.

Even the big guy got involved!

Then we went through this weird house/maze and found a giant toilet!

who doesn't climb right in when they find a random giant toilet??

this couldn't possibly lead anywhere weird...

Don't worry, I made sure B went first.

We did show up on the other end! The Children's Museum in Columbus is amazing!

We even did a little jump rope.

There was a pretty cool little "house" that got smaller and smaller. It reminded us of Alice in Wonderland so we had to check it out.

On a 90 degree day, it was a welcome bit of shade.

The only way Mom and Dad got us out was by telling us it was time for the truck drawing.

The first 3 schmucks whose names were drawn weren't there so the 4th gal won. Once again, it wasn't Mom so she'll have to run it again next year.

Run Mama Run!

It's time again for Mom's annual race! She was hoping to do a little better than last year, but had to reset expectations when the weather report showed 95% humidity and about an 85 degree temperature at race time.

She was a little disappointed, but we were PUMPED because she said runners would be happy to get squirted with water!

B made a sign too.

And we had a B L A S T!

And Mom didn't do as poorly as she thought she would. She did add a minute to her time and got 3rd place instead of 2nd, but she didn't die either so it's a win!

Vandy Boys

You know Bryce and I are pretty much joined at the hip. Mom is a pretty big extra behind the scenes, but the big man isn't always as attached. Not lately though! We found a video game that he loves too and the 3 of us love to hole up and play together in all of our hunky, shirtless glory :)

A Boy and His Dog

Once upon a time there was an amazing young man who decided to leave the hustle and bustle of our crazy life. He took a very few belongings and went to live all by himself in the woods. He was kinda happy out there on his own learning to live self sufficiently, but he got a little lonely and he knew that his family (especially his sister who loved him fiercely every single day of her life) worried about him out there on his own. So God sent this young man a Guardian angel in the form of a little teeny black lab puppy. The young man fell helplessly in love with the pup, and he named him Bernard. Over the next 8 years, the man and the pup grew up together in the woods. They had so many adventures and they saved each others lives over and over again. The man's family didn't worry as much knowing that Bernard was protecting him in the woods and the man didn't feel alone.

Eventually, the man met a princess who also lived in the woods. The man and the princess fell in love and got married. Of course Bernard was along for every step of the ride. He never left the man's side, and came to be the guardian of the princess and her son as well. They were all so very happy together in the woods.

Then one day, the man and his princess noticed their big strong pup moving a little slower. He was still at their side, but maybe not as quickly as he used to be. They came to realize that their angel was going to leave them soon, so they doubled up the time they spent with him and they tried their best to show him how grateful they were to him and how much they loved him.

Soon the morning came when Bernard didn't come after the man called him in. The man's heart broke, but he knew Bernard wouldn't let him down if he just kept calling. So he called and called with all his strength and eventually the old black dog came walking back out of the woods. The man sat down and held his angel's head on his lap and thanked him once again for being so good and not going off to die alone without him.

Bernard gave him one last kiss and laid his big strong head down in the man's lap and went to sleep forever.

The man buried him underneath a giant oak tree and it's said that his sister could feel his heart break over a thousand miles away. So great was his sorrow at losing his best friend that the man feared he may never recover, but his wise princess reminded him that Bernard's job was finished and it was time for him to rest. She was here to love him and stay by side now, and the man knew she was right.

Now, if you ever want to feel a love pure and true, you can go to an old oak tree in the woods to sit near the plaque shown above and feel the strength of a boy and his dog.

The story above is about our own Uncle Noodle and his dog Bernard.

It's no secret that we love our pups here in Vandyville and it's true that Mom swears she could feel her BFF's heart break. She cried for 4 days so we can only imagine how sad Uncle Noodle must be.

The plaque is our gift to Uncle Noodle and we can only hope it helps a teeny tiny bit.

There's something so special about a boy and his dog. If anyone can appreciate that, it's we boys!

Big Hits

I had a pretty rough night on the ball diamond. First I got hit by a ball in the arm, then I hit myself in the face with a foul ball! As a Vandy boy, I knew better than to cry. I was just mad that I didn't get as cool a mark on my face as Coley did when HE got hit!

Not too bad though.

It'll take a whole lot more than that to stop me!

Tame Animals

The highlight of the trip was the Dolphin show because while Mom stayed down below and tried to keep the rowdies out of the dolphin tank, I got to go up and sit with Jax and his Mom in the tame section.

No mom, I don't know how you got so lucky!

Jay Strong

So Mom signed up to chaperone our zoo field trip. Unfortunately, she got the rowdiest group possible!

For our group shot, she told us to line up with the gentlemen she felt sure would be seeing us out.

We were ALL over that place. Mom's standards quickly went from "deliver a quality learning experience" to "keep them alive."

Elliot ended up soaked in shark tank water, Zayden kept disappearing and Ethan got in a fight with a kid from another group!

Meanwhile, Mom and I plodded along filling out our homework sheet. I think she must've hugged me and apologized for calling me wild/immature 1,000,000 times.

Mom told Mrs. T that she really should disclose the groups when asking for volunteers going fwd. I think she may have had regrets! :)

Seriously, this is what my classmates looked like most of the day.

And this is what Mom looked like.

She did manage not to hurt anyone, so we're calling it a win.

And I really did win, because she called Dad and told him they could never yell at me again because she now knew how bad they COULD have it.

Even the Orangutan couldn't bare to watch.

And to put it all in perspective...

My classmate Zayden (pictured here after convincing the caricature artist to sketch him for free) had a blue rubber bracelet on his arm. It said "Jay Strong."  Mom asked "Who is Jay?"

Z: "Oh that's my brother."

Mom: (thinking he has cancer or something awful) "Oh no! What's wrong?"

Z: "He's in Juvie."

Mom: "Uh.... Juvie?"

Z: "Yep!"

Mom: "Oh.  well...  Um.. How long is he there?"

Z: "2 years. He stole my mom's car so he'll be there until he's 20."

Mom: "Ah. Okay. Well then...  Um...  Stay Strong!"

So, you know...  You just never do know what other kid's lives are like. Mom and I both left the zoo a whole lot more grateful for the family we have.