Lis and the boys took a quick trip to Waynesboro to see everyone including Deke and the girls. We hope to get back to Waynesboro one more time before the end of the summer.

Since Lis and the boys are going to Virginia tomorrow, we decided to go to the beach today even though there was a slight chance of rain. First we went to Fort Macon and we found a few new shells, a couple of hermit crabs and a starfish. Sam wanted to bring the starfish home but we vetoed that idea. We did get Dad some water to clean his crystals with too. After that we went back to the real beach with the lifeguards and Alex tried out his new boogie board. Sam and Mom continued to look for shells and dad took some photos. At some point in time, Lis and Sam had wandered off down the beach and it started drizzling. By the time they got back and we got everything together it was pouring and everyone was making a mad dash to the shelter/bathrooms. Needless to say we were all soaked by the time we got back to the car. Overall we all had fun and are settling in to watch a movie (after Mom and Dad clean all the sand out of the car!).

Before we went to the beach today, we stopped by the doctor’s office for Sam’s checkup. We got some good news from the doctor today, Sam grew 2 1/2 inches (58″ tall) over the last year and didn’t gain any weight! Everyone had a good time today at the beach. We had great weather ahead of the pending storm… 82 degrees, Sunny and a nice wind off the coast. 🙂

Gung Gung came down to visit with the boys before heading off to England in a few days and we took the time to celebrate Sam’s birthday and Father’s Day all in one shot. Sam got a small fish tank and fish from Nana and Gung Gung, an Erector Set from Uncle Les and Aunt Laurie and a pair of neon green Dr Dre/Monster Headphones (so he can be as cool as his brother) from us. Gung Gung got a car care kit for his Bristol and Rod got some Jayhawk stuff – cool chair and lunch box. We also had a nice dinner and then watched the movie, ‘Jack Reacher.’ We all had a great time seeing Gung Gung and Sam wants to say Thanks! to everyone.

So we took Mom’s old computer and fixed the hard drive so the boys could play each other online (Minecraft – a silly Lego like game). Of course they both had to have a pair of headphones w/mic to be able to talk to one another as well. Alex has Mom’s computer in his room and Sam uses the one down in the fireplace room. Alex also found one of his school friends online and they stay up late at night talking on Skype. The boys have been online so much that Lis is having to encourage them to do their chores.

Sam had a little accident the other day at the pool. He was swimming up to the edge to get on the ladder and cracked his tooth. Today, Mom took Sam to the dentist (Coco) and he fixed him all up. When I asked him how the dentist went today he said it was awful… “they had all these fancy tools they stuck in my mouth.”

Sam had his Awards Program on Friday and he received his ‘B’ Honor Roll award from Mrs Hill. Unlike the last couple of years he did not receive the Citizen’s Award for his class. Sam seemed quite disappointed when they didn’t call his name, but then at the end of the program he did get a little surprise. This year for the first time they issued a President’s Award and Sam won the Award!!! The President’s Award is for the student that shows the most citizenship in his age range. So there are two awards, one for grades 1-3 and one for 4-6. Sam was chosen the best citizen in the 3 grades(4-6)! Sam was very happy and Mom was very proud as the parents sitting around her all congratulated Sam. 🙂

Sam had the last game of the season today and they lost 6-2. Apparently this team had been scoring 10-12 goals each game so holding them to 6 was pretty good. Not to mention we got 2 goals ourselves. Sam got some acknowledgement from the coach today about his defensive play and holding his own against the bigger boys. Sam even got a little dirty and a couple of small scrapes after taking a couple of tumbles on the field. The Soccer Party was held at Pizza Inn and all the boys got a trophy and a certificate – coach said that he hopes Sam comes back for the fall season. No photos of the game today, but we did get a quick one of Sam accepting his trophy.

Mom decided to redo the garden in front of the house so on Wednesday she somehow recruited Dad to help. We removed all of the weeds, found some stepping stones in the backyard we weren’t using an bought about $25 worth of mulch to spread around and voilà a brand new front yard. The last photo is of Nana’s boxwood basil that we will bring up the next time we visit.

While Mom is working in the yard, Farley is guarding the front door…