August 2004
Tuesday
the 31st. Ben seems to have recovered from his doctor's visit and
shots yesterday. He and Jackson spent some time this afternoon in the
front yard with the sprinkler. I can't believe Summer is almost over.
Monday the 30th. Benjamin had his fifteen month checkup this morning. He has lost a little weight now that he is running and climbing all day long, but that's normal and he is in great health. He is around the 65th percentile for both height and weight now.
Sunday the 29th. I can't
believe that call against the Hokies last night. Oh well, we looked good
for two and a half quarters. Maybe we'll knock around more ACC teams
this fall than I thought we would. Jackson and I went to the Sunday
matinee and saw Garfield. Jackson had really liked the commercials and it
was pretty funny. I wish they could make a kid's movie without four letter
words though. That just drives me crazy.
Saturday the 28th.
A day on the farm in Virginia for the boys. They dug potatoes, ate
watermelon, skinny dipped in the creek, and ate lunch at
Hama's house.
Jackson didn't really enjoy getting dirty as much as Benjamin did, but they both
had a good time helping out.
Friday the 27th. Benjamin is
fifteen months old today! In the photo of the boys in the dining room, Benjamin
had climbed into the chair
next to Jackson, who was coloring, all by himself and started signing "more", so we gave him
some Sponge Bob cereal.
Check out Ben's latest thing - The Trash Can Game (2.3MB) - Aug04
Thursday
the 26th. This photo is what I saw when I came home from work one day
this week. Jackson was dressed as a "spy". Amy felt really
bad yesterday and today. And Jackson apparently suffered some of the flu
like symptoms today too. Hopefully everyone will be healthy by tomorrow.
Wednesday
the 25th. This sunrise photo is in honor of Amy and Timmesa who have been
getting up at 5 everyday to walk and run. Personally, I don't see to many
sunrises. I only saw this one because Zorro's
barking woke me up. It seemed very pretty to me, but I don't know, maybe
they all look like that.
Tuesday the 24th.
Happy Birthday Grandma Sue! Here are some
Benjamin pictures from his weekend visiting Grandma.
Monday
the 23rd. Jackson started week 2 at pre-school and did great.
Amy said that he ran up the steps to his classroom. These photos are from our
weekend at Grandma Sue's. Jackson was thrilled to spend an evening with
his cousin
Lexi at Sue's house.
Sunday
the 22nd. We stopped by Winston-Salem on our way home from Colonial
Heights for this month's Dinner Club at
Mike and Brooke's house.
Saturday the 21st. After I got out
of the river yesterday and Jackson got out of pre-school, we headed to Colonial
Heights for a much anticipated visit with Grandma Sue. It had been longer
than normal since our last visit and the whole family missed her. Today I
took photos of some of the hummingbirds that keep Sue company on the front
porch. I called the little one with the white stripe bossy because
he would chase the other birds away.
Friday
the 20th. Jeff and I had an awesome time kayaking on Dan River
this morning. We rented two
Liquidlogic
Saphire Trekreational Kayaks from
Dan River Canoe Co
and made a 5 mile paddle with just superb weather. Blue herons flew out of
the old fir stands, rock cliffs, and bamboo bordering the river and followed us
as we floated downstream. And even though we started early, the sun
warmed things up enough to take a float outside the boat. Check out all
the kayaking photos on the paddle page.
Thursday
the 19th. Brooke and
Landon gave Amy and the boys a visit today.
Landon was walking all over the place at lunch time.
Wednesday
the 18th. Today was the first day of school for Jackson's pre-school.
He is in Mrs. Golding's four year old/three day a week class at Central
Methodist. (Click HERE to see Jackson on his
first day of school last year.) This is his
second year of pre-school and he did really good, although
Mom still had to hang around for a little while. It was also our good friend
Samuel's first day at pre-school. He has Jackson's favorite teacher from
last year, Ms. Caviness. From the picture Jeff sent us, it looks like
day one
took a lot out of him.
Tuesday
the 17th. Jackson met his friend
Cassell McMillian this morning at McDonalds and played for a couple of
hours. He then got to see Cassell again at the Central Methodist
Preschool open house this evening. Cassell and Jackson will be in the same
class this year. Jackson also got to see many more friends from last year,
including buddies Brock and
Stephen.
Monday
the 16th. August is halfway over, so let's catch up on some photos
we've taken this month.
Sunday
the 15th. We celebrated Papa's 60th birthday with a picnic and hike at
Cumberland Knob. The two mile hike along the
Gully Creek Trail starts at an elevation of 2885 feet, then drops 800 feet over
the first mile before climbing straight back up on the second mile, crossing the
creek a half dozen times at the bottom. Not bad for a crowd that included
a one year old in a stroller, a three year old, a four year old and a six year
old. Click here to see
all the photos from Cumberland Knob.
Saturday
the 14th. Jackson went to Dylan Gallimore's seven year old birthday
party at the skate center this afternoon. Then the whole gang went across
town to hang out with the Eads kids.
Friday the 13th. Amy and the boys took a walk to my office this morning, which is always a nice treat.
Thursday the 12th. Happy
Birthday Matthew Eads. Matthew had a very fun party at Chuck E Cheese.
Click HERE to see
all the photos from tonight.
Wednesday
the 11th. It rained a lot today. That's not a big deal unless
you were riding your motorcycle. Ben took a nice long nap this afternoon
and Jackson played on the train table. It has
been re-introduced now that Benjamin is old enough to enjoy it. After
dinner, Jackson and I visited his Great-Aunt and Uncle, Dianna and Ronald White,
in Fancy Gap. It was really foggy and Jackson thought it was pretty cool
to be standing in the middle of a cloud.
Tuesday
the 10th. This
photo is of Abby Boyd, Jackson and Benjamin's third cousin from Christiansburg,
VA. And like Jackson, Abby is four years old and a Hokie fan. We
can't wait for the ACC football season to start. Go Hokies!
Monday
the 9th. Per Jackson's request, today was a "stay-at-home-all-day day".
He stayed in his pajamas and didn't have to go outside all day long. But
even though he wanted to stay home, he still wanted to see his friend Samuel.
So Sam obliged and came over to play and paint.
Sunday
the 8th. We went to Cumberland Knob at mile
marker 217 on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a family picnic and hike. The
weather was nice and cool, making it a great day to be outside. Click here to see
all the photos from Cumberland Knob.
Our old friend,
Mike Joyce, (and I'm putting stress on the
word old) turned 35 today. We joined Joel, Kerri, and their baby
girl, Rami, at Mike, Brooke, and Landon's house for a cookout celebrating the
event. A couple of firsts last night; Rami ate her first popsicle and
Benjamin played the harmonica for the first time.
Saturday the 7th. While Amy
and Megan enjoyed our nice weather strolling on
Main Street, Jackson, Ben, and I went to Brock Heck's
4 year old birthday party.
Jackson loved the water slide ( I know he went down it a thousand
times). He, Brock and Stephen, who will
be in Jackson's class this year at Central, really enjoyed playing together.
Benjamin spent most of the party talking to everyone, but did talk me into a
couple of trips down the slide. After we left Jackson said he really liked
Brock's grandpa (he spent a lot of time in the water playing with the boys).
Click
here to see
all the photos from Brock's party.
Friday the 6th. On a nice cool
morning at the
playground, the boys ran into friends Brock,
Samuel, and Dylan. Then this afternoon the kids went to
Caleb and Isabelle's house to
play.
Thursday
the 5th. Today was the first day of school in Mount Airy. For
us, living next to the elementary school, that mostly means a lot more traffic.
But next year it will take on a whole new meaning.
Wednesday the 4th. Big news
today, as of last night, Deana and
Martin are engaged! Amy took the boys to Chuck E Cheese in
Winston-Salem today.
Tuesday
the 3rd. Samuel and Matthew stopped by this afternoon to play in the pools
and the sprinkler with Jackson.
Benjamin signed "more" tonight at dinner each time he ran out of food. I was very proud because I only started showing it to him last night. And he said "thank you" each time I gave him a bite.
Monday the 2nd. Benjamin has
started turning his jibber jabber into real phrases. When he wants to hear
his favorite song, he points to the
stereo and says "Old-Mac-Don-Ald." He carries a VHS tape to the VCR and says "I want Elmo."
He says "Thank You" when you give him something and "meow" when he sees
Frankie. Some of his other vocabulary words are ball, duck, mama, dada,
poop, go-go-go, and no-no-no.
Sunday
the 1st. Ben is also going to sleep in his crib and
sleeping ten hour nights there. This is one of Amy's recent
accomplishments and it is awesome. I am knocking on wood as I write.
