Summer Fun

Summer is just flying by; Bug Hunter goes back to school in a MONTH, and that makes me sad (honestly, it's the thought of having to get up at 5:30 again every morning; ugh and bleech). But we're trying to make the most of our days while we still have some down time. Here's what went on this past week:


I WON tickets to see Jonny Diaz at The Strand, a renovated movie theater on the Marietta Square! The local Christian radio station was giving them away via email, and I snagged a pair. My sweet neighbor Diana went with me for a girl's night out, and it was lovely. I'd heard Jonny's song, "More Beautiful You" on the radio a time or two but didn't know much about him. He has a great voice, plays guitar, writes amazing songs, and he's funny while giving a great testimony between songs. Go here to get to his MySpace page and watch the video of "More Beautiful You".



The Bug Hunter decided that he wanted to become a human bird feeder. I looked out the back deck door and saw him sitting there, and I realized there was something on his head. Closer inspection revealed that he had a chunk of suet resting there in hopes that birds would actually land on him to eat!


The girls next door came over to play, and I heard thumping and dragging noises. They dragged the tub with Bug's old wooden train set up from the playroom and spent a looong time creating a village. I was just about to try and sell the train; glad I let it sit for a little while longer!

I got new running shoes for me and for the Bug, so we've been walking/jogging/whining our way around the roads in the neighborhood over the past few days. We(he) discovered a field that was loaded with "June bugs"; over 2 days, he's caught 35 of those critters. When I was a child (Dark Ages.. I know), we used to tie a string to one of their legs and fly them around. Bug was intrigued at the thought, so we tried it the first day and it worked well. Yesterday, the girls came over and spent hours leashing and flying their "motorized kites". When a beetle would get tired, it was set free and a new "motor" was attached to the line. Lots of screaming and giggling ensued as the flying beetle would swerve and dive directly towards one or more of the kids. At one point, Bug was holding the line, and the beetle began to fly around his head. As you can see from the photo, he got a little "wrapped up" in the situation! This was a true "hands-on" experience that all of the kids loved! (and yes, I realize that in each of the last 3 pictures, my son was not wearing a shirt. He HAS shirts; he just doesn't like to WEAR them).
Bug Hunter and Handsome Hubby went back to the lake where the ginormous catfish was caught and fished yesterday, too. They caught a couple of bream, but no monster fish made an appearance. Still, it's nice to be able to grab a pole and a tackle box and walk 1/2 mile to a nice little lake; we're blessed to be in the middle of so many natural outdoor FREE activities. Right next to the lake is a fenced pasture with donkeys, emus, llamas, and sheep; it's almost like a private petting zoo. And at the other end of the road, there's a horse farm that also has a menagerie of pot bellied pigs, snakes, kittens, rabbits, and other assorted creatures. Is it any wonder that the Bug Hunter STILL doesn't have a video gaming system of any kind? I'm hoping that we can keep it that way for at least a little longer.
If you have any ideas for fun summer activities, I'd love for you to leave them in the guestbook. (We've already got water balloon fights and slip n'slide fun going on; I just haven't been brave enough to put my camera in the position of getting soaked yet). What else can we do before summer slips away?