The Wright Monument and Cape Hatterras Lighthouse

While we were at the Outer Banks, NC, we took a trip to see the Wright Monument.  Well, just Adam and I did, with my father in law and brother in law, no one else was interested.  Adam has spent a good part of the last year reading about flight and its discovery and how it works now, and so he was VERY interested in going to see the Wright monument and museum.  We went and listened to a speaker tell about the Wright brothers and they had a working model of their first plane.

Then they had an area in a field marked off where they took off and landed- the first 3 attempts and then the final successful attempt.  It's pretty amazing that man has been around for SO long and finally in the early 1900's they were able to figure out how to fly.

 On the top of a nearby hill, they have a monument.  The Wright brothers used the hill to launch gliders when they were figuring out wing shapes and dimensions, but when they first flew, they flew right on the ground.  Back then, it was not grass covered, it was full of sand dunes.

 They also have a sculpture of the first flight.  It was pretty cool.

 Later that day, the same crew, minus me and and Adam but with Nate and Michael went and saw the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.  It is the tallest lighthouse in the United States.  They climbed almost to the top.

Michael was the photographer.

End of School Year Post

Another school year has come and gone.  Nate finished Kindergarten.  He had Mrs. Powell, and we just loved her!  He learned so much this year and made a lot of friends.  I think she was a fantastic teacher.  I really cold tell a lot of things that he learned from her.

 Ellie had Mrs. Garza and Mrs. Kriegbaum.  She also had a great year.  She made lots of friends with all the girls in her class and did her first Envision project.  She seemed to really enjoy school and did really well- getting straight A's and E's all year.

 Michael finished his last year at elementary school.  He had Mrs. Upshaw.  She is probably my favorite teacher of all time.  He really grew and expanded this year in her class.  He was the secretary for the school in student council.  In addition, he was in school and honor choir.  At the last honor choir assembly of the year, he had a solo.  He also did Safety Patrol- where every few weeks he would go to school early and help the students unload from their cars. He also was a special helper in his class, anytime someone needed help with powerpoint or the computers, they would call him and he would happily help them...even the teacher.  All this while getting straight A's and E's- he definitely is a superstar.

 Adam also finished strong.  He played the trumpet this year and did well at it.  He was in advanced classes and managed to get all A's with the exception of two little B's.  He of course got all E's.  He is excited to move to junior high next year, I am sure it will be a big step for him. He is now in the stage where he doesn't like pictures-go figure.

For now we are going to enjoy the {slightly} less busy summer.

Jiu jitsu Camp

The first week of summer, we signed the boys up for jiu jitsu camp at the gym that Michael and Nate normally go to.  The boys were less than excited about that.  They thought that I was ruining their summer.  I thought it would be fun, they had a lot of games and fun things planned.  They also had a special anit-bully program that was designed by the Gracie-Barra family.  On the last day, they had a demonstration of all the techniques that they learned in the anti-bully class.  It was a good program, they gave the kids scenarios of what a bully would say or do to them, and then practiced a physical action that would get them out of the situation and in control.  While they did the action, they would say, "I don't want to fight!"  It seemed really useful to them, I hope they never have to use those skills, but I am glad they have them.

 

 Here are all the kids in the camp:

 My boys:

Michael and Adam demonstrating one of the moves.

Another demonstration.

In addition, they also got two hours of jiu jitsu training and grappling every day.  After they were so unhappy to go the first day, they came home and said they had fun.  They were dragging by the end of the week, but overall I think they really enjoyed it.