Day 217: Books, boxes, and roller coasters

Ok, not everyone got on roller coasters today, at least not the physical kind.  But Keturah and Justin got to with Grandma and Grandpa at Holiday World!  Holiday World is a big theme park/water park, in Santa Claus, IN.  Yes, a town called Santa Clause.  They have a campground nearby called "Rudolph's Campground" or something like that.  Benaiah and Justin went with Grandpa and Grandma years ago and stayed in a tent there.  But this year, Justin was big enough to do all the rides and rode many of the coasters multiple times.  Keturah got to ride the dolphin on the carousel they had.  She's following in her mommy's footsteps of liking horses and dolphins.  I do not try to heavily influence it, but she does know that I love both.  They got to stay overnight at the hotel next to Denny's that we stayed at 4 years ago.  You see, we were going to visit Holiday World as a family in September 2011.  We drove down there (3 hrs from here) and stayed overnight in a hotel, but early the next morning as we were getting ready to go to the park, I got a phone call from my dad's nursing home that he had taken a turn for the worse.  He had been placed in a nursing home that summer and he wasn't doing well.  We decided it was best to go ahead and drive back to Indianapolis so I could be with him.  He died two days later.  We promised to make it up to the kids by going first thing the next spring when the park opened.  And we did in May of 2012, right before we headed to Canada.  On that trip, it was a huge deal for Benaiah, age 10, to be doing all the big roller coasters.  Fast forward 4 years and now Justin can do them all and LOVES it!  It was a great mini vacation back then and now.   (I write that down so that the kids will know this part of Momma's story.)

Justin, Keturah, and Grandma at Holiday World eating Dole Whips.  And no, I did NOT coordinate their outfits like this.  I honestly didn't even check their overnight bags, but did remind them of what to bring.  Cuties!

Meanwhile, Benaiah decided to spend a little more time with the rest of us today, so I was able to get some pics of him and Abishai.  It's so fun to see a little guy looking up for approval of the big guy, and remembering that the big guy was that small once upon a time.  Benaiah also helped me bring the boxes of books I am finished sorting through back to the garage and rearrange the garage's contents so we have more space between the van and the wall of boxes.  And I prepped Justin and Keturah's homeschool planners for this next year today.  Now I just have piano books to pull out, science books to put on a shelf, and to decide on what character curriculum to use.  I really want to focus on character studies this year, and I have plenty of material to work with.  And then I need to order a couple of math books.  I chip away at it a little every day and the pieces always come together in plenty of time before school starts.  I'm starting our year officially on Aug. 29th b/c that's when co op starts.  I may or may not start our history, math, and character study that same week.  Typically I wait until after Justin's birthday on September 9th.  We'll see.

Whatcha doin' big brother?

Yes, Abishai did this all by himself.  Can't wait to show this one at his wedding someday!

Brothers from the same mother.

Benaiah handed Abishai a chip, and then Abishai handed it back because he wanted dip on it!  THEN he ate the whole chip!  That's one way to get some carbs into him.  He doesn't like bread, rice, or crackers.

Abishai handed me my shoes to go out this evening, so yes, I did wear these to the in laws.  I barely noticed that they were different shoes because they are both flats.

The kids thinks he can dance.  This is the stuff that keeps us laughing through the tough times.

Tickle time.

Benaiah was 1/3 the size he is now when we got Socks.  He now weighs 3x as much as Socks.

Walking around G'pa's big backyard (trying to avoid dog poop, too).

Man Child

Doggie has been quite depressed and still doesn't eat much, so we made sure we played with him today.

Little and Big

Running just like Justin used to, just a blur.  

All kids love playing in the car, but this one decided to sit for his playtime.  The rest stood up.  He talked and talked about it.

Baby legs.

This picture just makes me really laugh aloud.  What's wrong with this picture and the one above?  Oh yeah, big guy on little vehicle and little guy in big vehicle.

Trying to get up the driveway without using too much effort.