August is always a big month. We rush to do a few last summery things, the back-to-school doctor and dentist appointments, and gather up the school supplies.
Boardwalk trip on one of the last lazy days before school starts:
Henry showing off his new little penguin (Mom can't resist a penguin), Jack showing off his new axolotl gill headband (he also has a tail). They are, perhaps, just a bit spoiled.
Playing some of their favorite arcade games, Henry snowmobiling, Jack racing cars:
Jack and Henry have gotten really good at one arcade game we've nicknamed "the fish game." The goal is to harpoon fish and other sea creatures, and the more weight you haul in, the more tickets you win. The boys work together to harpoon the great white shark (it takes two people, one to eliminate the shark's "bodyguard" sharks, one to harpoon the big guy) for 35 tickets each time and work toward the grand prize of the sporadically appearing jellyfish for 500 tickets. This game is inexpensive to play and it's resulted in them having enough tickets at the end of any arcade visit to get basically whatever they want from the ticket redemption shop.
Serious business at the fish game:
Jack shows off his new volleyball:
Jack likes to watch the beach volleyball players on our way to and from the Boardwalk. I believe there's a beach volleyball summer camp he can try beginning at age nine.
Jack decks out his stuffies with his beach sunglasses, volleyball, and axolotl gear:
Happy Birthday!
Jack enjoys his giant birthday maple bar:
Henry shows off his giant birthday bear claw (with a bite taken before the picture could be):
Back to School
Before we knew it, summer was over and it was time to go back to school.
Obligatory first day of school pictures:
Some of Jack's writing from back-to-school night:
Under "I don't like..." it says "spiders" "ramen" and "mom gets sick." It hurt my heart a little to see that one. I tend to get sicker than the rest of the family with every disease the kids bring home. As I type this, I'm on week two of still coughing and losing my voice from an illness that caused only the slightest sniffles for the rest of the family.
Jack's drawing of some things he likes - rainbows, penguins with TNT and a bunny with TNT:
I hope to have some pictures of Henry's work next month.
Visit from Grandma and Grandpa
Jack and Henry open birthday gifts, which included an art project...
...and money!
Henry is delighted by the money, Jack is equally delighted by the ribbon (which he put on his head):
A new stuffie is added to the decked-out club - seal with birthday ribbon hair:
The boys really wanted to go out to dinner at Shadowbrook to celebrate their birthday like their friend Bascom did, so we took Grandma and Grandpa with us. The experience wasn't amazing, but I think the boys were happy that they got to do something "fancy." Boys being fancy:
Grandma got the boys hooked on blackjack...
...so they returned the favor and got her hooked on the tablet game Township.
Part of playing Township is assigning your town a name. For awhile, Henry's was "the only place to get a better job." I asked him about it and he said he thought it was a good name to lure people to his town.
Grandma and Grandpa also delivered a treasure trove of early reader books from my sister-in-law Brooke. It's been a fantastic resource for the daily reading the boys have to do for homework this year. Here I look over a Level 4 Ninja Turtles book with Jack (he's not quite at that reading level yet, he's more of a Level 2 soon to be Level 3, but is rapidly improving):
Henry still struggles a lot with reading and has been attending supplementary reading groups at school. He's working really hard, but is still only consistently reading Level 1 books.
Eager to get out of the house to their desired activity, Jack helps Henry get ready:
Henry on his throne (where he perches to watch Steve play computer games):
Halloween Early Preview
Henry presents our Halloween early preview. Henry as banana:
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