Ralph; Celebrating 11.5 years!

Ralph spent his 11.5 year "birthday" on Friday heading to a boy scout campout for the weekend - this photo is when they returned home on Sunday.  Ralph likes the campouts but the hours after he returns can be a bit rough as he is usually sleep deprived and needs his space for awhile. So far the campouts seem to get hit with rain and thunderstorms.

He is currently a "Scout" and working on his "Tenderfoot" rank. He has earned 7 merit badges so far: chess, pulp and paper, canoeing, orienteering, 1st aid, swimming, and railroad.  He earned service hours this summer volunteering with the Lincoln Municipal Band again - handing out programs and collecting donations at their summer concert series.  He also volunteered with St. Monica's again during their Amazing Chase.  We were at a clue - participants would have to find our location and figure out their next stop based on a clue we had posted on a wall.

Ralph . . .a middle schooler!  CRAZY!

Middle School seems to be going ok . . . .there was a period of adjustment getting used to the new teachers and their personalities.  It seems like he has a conflict with one of them; a good chance to learn what it is like to work out people of different personalities.  He is able to complete his homework in the "homework club" he does after school.  He had the chance/choice to participate in 4-5 different clubs each day and he chose to do "homework club" to make sure he has time to do his homework.  He has been assigned a chromebook that he brings home everynight to charge.  I have not seen him do any homework let alone any homework on actual paper.  We do receive weekly updates of his grade and can log into our account and look more frequently if we prefer.

Ralph's newest "thing" is visiting friends on his own.  He'll leave the house without a plan and stop by various houses until he finds someone that can play.  I realize most kids do get to experience this a bit sooner but none of his friends are in our development and he either has to cross a busy street OR travel on a stretch of road that doesn't have a side walk.  The 1st week of school he walked from school to a friends house four of the days and that started he quest to go to friends' houses.  He has four friends he frequently checks on and another he has landed at a time or two.

Ralph has continued to embrace the "turtle" nickname at basketball and has more green tshirts than a person should have.  If it's a Tuesday (and any other day he will be going to basketball later that day) you can bet Ralph will come downstairs dressed in a green tshirt.

Ralph has become a little less picky in his eating.  He still prefers cereal for his meal of choice but will eat what is served without complaining most of the time - and sometimes he just complains he'd rather have cereal even if that isn't a choice.  The other week we had a pulled pork in the Instand Pot for lunch - he had another sandwich for supper that same day, lunch the next day, and another meal.  That kind of surprised me.

First day of School 2019-2020

The week before school there was a readiness night for Ralph - the new Middle Schooler and a Back to School Night for Henry to see his new classroom and meet the teacher. 

At school readiness night Ralph had his finger scanned for the lunch program, picked up his schedule, found his locker, figured out his locker combination, found his classes, and met some teachers.  His morning classes are all in the same hallway; the afternoon classes are a bit more across the school.  I later realized some parents took photos of their kids opening their lockers . . .that didn't occur to me but I did snap a photo of him in a class and he presented me with this look?!

Ralph wanted to vist Kahoa's Back to School night but had to help at a scout event at another school SO . . .we ended up at Kahoa in the afternoon so he could "walk the halls" as he put it.  He seemed to venture to about every class to check with the teachers.  They finally returned to the media center.  I left for a few moments and came back to find Ralph missing.  He ventured to a nearby room that was recently turned into a kindergarten room with a new teacher to Kahoa. He was talking to her, asking her about Kindergarten.  I later told him that was nice of him to go talk to her . . .He said "she looked sad".  Aaawwww . . . .

Henry, Mike, and I returned later to meet his teacher and officially see his class and find his desk.

The first day of school came.  The boys obligated with the traditional 1st day of school photos . . .and then got their chance to pose on their own.

Middle School starts at 8 am;  Elementary school starts at 9 am SO . . . Henry and I dropped off Ralph and experienced the choas of school drop off.  Yikes!  We dropped off Ralph and headed home for a bit.


Henry and I headed to Kahoa after awhile and took the traditional picture outside school and headed to the 4th grade door and waited until the bell rang.

After school Ralph made the trek to Koaha . . .I thought this was him giving me a dramatic interruption of how rough and long his day was.  He really just didn't want his photo taken.  He stopped at the Kahoa Marquee - our meeting spot - and waited until Henry was out of school while I waited at the door.

Henry then "snuck' up on Ralph!

Yogurtini was the choice for the 1st day of school/after school treat.

July 4th!

What can I say about this holiday?

Uncle Nick visited.

The boys had a bit too much freedom in picking out their fireworks - they need a budget next year but they had a good time lighting off their picks. 

We visited grandma and grandpa on in the afternoon/evening on July 3rd and 4th.

We spent July 4th in Waverly watching the parade.

After the parade and a picnic lunch the boys visited the Waverly Pool and participated in the coin toss.

Summer Roadtrip!

(still in development - need to add photos)

The trip to Minneapolis was super quick and not the official family vacation.  We ended up in Chicago in late July.  The goals was a vacation we could drive to and attractions we could use our Morrill Hall membership to enter without paying extra fees.

We left Lincoln around 8 am on Tuesday, July 30.  We arrived at our hotel in time to take a little walk over to Lake Michigan THEN we took a longer walk than most wanted to do to a used book store and stopped for supper at XX on the way back to the hotel.

On Wednesday we drove to the Field Museum and were there for the 9 am opening.  I really can not describe the size and enormity of the building; there were different species to more animals I could have ever imagined.  After lunch we headed over to the Adler Planetarium around 2:15 pm. 

Leaving the Planetarium we walked to a nearby sandy spot for a little play time.

Supper at ???


On Thursday we drove to the Museum of Science and Industry and was there for their 9:30 opening.  Again, enormous in size.  We left around 4:30 pm and drove to Gurnee, Illinois for the night.

On Friday morning we ventured to Jelly Belly in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin.


Then onto Kenosha, Wisconsin were we visited the XX Museum, had lunch at XX, and then walked up the step to the top of a lighthouse. 

On Saturday we stopped by the John Deere Historic Site where we happened upon a tractor show similar to a car show.  Folks from around had brought their tractors for others to see and enjoy.  The Historic Site had a blacksmith shop - the blacksmith made a nail for us and we watched them make a coat hook. Ralph enjoyed staying behind and watching them at work.  From there we stopped in Moline, Illinois at the John Deer Pavillion and then made our way a community pool in Muscatine, Iowa (they had slides) and then to a new Drury Inn in Coralville, Iowa to spend the night.

Sunday, after breakfast we headed back to Lincoln.

Summer Day Camps 2019

The boys ventured out of their comfort zone a bit this summer and tried some different day camps they have not done before.

Henry attended three wrestling day camps at Nebraska Wesleyan put on by Competitive Edge Sports.

They both attended a 3-day camp at the Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center - it was titled "Adventures Camp".  Among other "things" they practiced was using an atatl.

They both attended day camps at Lincoln Lutheran - a rockets camp in the mornings and a survival camp in the afternoon one week.  The folks at Lincoln Lutheran were complimentary of the boys and their behavior towards each other.

They attended a day camp at the Lincoln Community Playhouse with a long time friend.  They were part of the cast of Willy Wonka Kids at the end of the two week day camp.  Ralph was a "camera crew member" and part of the "oompa loompa" ensemble.  Henry was a "boom mic operator" and part of the "oompa loompa/squirrell" ensemble.

Ralph attended SAIL camp for his 3rd summer. (its always hard to know where to sit at an orchestra concert).

They spent two separate weeks at Southeast Community College's Child Development Center.  I'm pretty sure this will be Ralph's summer there and possibly Henry's.  Ralph will be entering a new stage of opportunities next summer having completed 6th grade.