Part 1 of the Powell Visit...

 I am at the library right now  (I was when I first started this post...We have been busy, busy, busy so I am now playing catch up.  the Powell's got here on Jan. 1st and were here until 16th) while Jake, Sam, and Anika are learning about aerodynamics and Saku is in a writers class at the library.  I love living in a town that embraces all their homeschoolers!  Tina and her family (minus Allen) are still here (have been since New Year's Day) and we have been enjoying their company.  They leave tomorrow (Jake and I are driving with them up to DC to get Mom and Dad's car and do a little sight seeing. 

 Jake welcomed them with a drawing on our chalkboard.  The people on the South side are saying "Does it snow here?" and the other person says, "Not really."  Gotta love Jake!

Saku and Sam spent a few nights at our house and were always ready to start the day with Lego's.....

...followed by jumping on the trampoline.

Everyone has been enjoying Nee/Grammie's story time.

And we have even worked in some school!  Anika and Jake had fun with Family Math one morning after Anika came home from Seminary.  She doesn't usually get to go (she Face Time's with her Seminary class at home), so she has been enjoying going to our Ward's.

Jake and Anika went to Jake's classic book club and had fun discussing Treasure Island and having a book scavenger hunt while Obi Wan Kenobi (Jake gave the Powell's a bag of his old clothes and his old Halloween costume was in the bag), other wise known as Ben....

...Sam, and...

...Saku enjoyed the kids section at our library.

We also enjoyed free Frosty's at Wendy's thanks to Nee's coupons

And a quick trip to the park in ch-ch-ch-chilly weather.  We had a couple of days of weather in the teens in the morning and in the 20's or low 30's during the day.  That is cold for the South!

More homeschooling....

...and some jumping and playing in the cold...

Learning to walk..

Lunch at Olive Garden before heading into Concord Mills to buy the Lego Store out!!!!

After the Lego Store at Nee and Papa's house there was some serious building going on!

Anika spent a few nights at our house too.  They worked together on a winter wonderland build for Lego Club.

Lego Club!

More of their visit to come...

Powell Family: Part of what you missed of the Lego Cousin Club on our side of the screen...

On Friday we tried to have our first official "Lego Cousin Club" with the Powell's via Google chat or one other thing I can't remember the name of right now because it is to late to think to hard...Neither worked.  Long story short: we could see them but they couldn't see us....


So, Powell's, here is a little of what you missed and what we saw on our side of the screen.

 Jake was all set up and ready to show his cousins all the mini robots and the "mech" that could be transformed to work with the 4 original Ninjago Ninja's.

Jake was his normal adorable and psyched  self.  Love that we found a tough shirt for him.  That is what Aaron called red and navy blue shirts when he was a little boy. :)

 He had a whole army of mini robots. 

They even had clever names.  I think the guy with the black ball head was "bomb's away"  and he is a "swapable".  He can change the bottom part of himself out with another swapable to create a new robot.  The robot's name would then change to half it's original name and half the name of the robot he got a part from.

 And here is Ben explaining his very impressive, made right on the spot, awesome robot!  Great job Ben! :)

Saku I am soooooo sorrrrrry to tell you that the pictures I snapped of your robot minis and vehicles, with awesome (...what are those things that go on trucks that you pull stuff with...my mind has gone blank?!?!) towing capacity came out blurry.  They were very awesome! The fact that they pictures were blurry just remind me how you are always moving at top speed. :)

Sam your robotic vehicle is so coooool!  Jake is anxiously awaiting the time in his Robotic Engineering class that he gets to build something that is actually robotic.  They had to learn all about cams, and structure, and axles before they can break out the battery pack.  And for some reason I can't get these words to go next to your picture...so your picture is under the words!  Not sure why it does that...

That is what you missed on our end (and now the words are beside the picture and that is where they will stay!...).  I would say Jake could show you his stuff at the next Lego Cousins Club meeting, but I am sure a good deal of them are no longer together. Lego's are rearranged on a daily basis in our house. You remember the awesome set ya'll chipped in with Nee and Papa to get Jake a couple of years ago (a medievalish set with 2 buildings)? The blacksmith shop is still built, but the inside has currently been changed into a science lab. :)

 When is the next club meeting and what is our theme?  You guys pick this time. :)

Markers+ cousins=fun outside in the hot, HOT, heat.

Some how I forgot to post these pictures from last week:

Ketchup Post:: And this is the rest of the story...

Nice ketchup picture right?  That my friends is a picture of a perfectly roasted and slightly burned (just  the way I like it) Ballpark frank, which in my opinion are the best hot dogs ever.  Summer is just not summer without hot dogs roasted over an open flame...with Heinz ketchup on them of course...and again: I am not endorsing their politics just their amazing ketchup.  I am endorsing it unofficially of course because they have no idea I have ketchup (get it catch up) posts on Tuesdays.  I am sure if they did they would send me a life time supply of Heinz ketchup that I would happily accept. :)
Any way this weeks catch up post is on the rest of our 3 week vacation to NH/VT.  Here are a few pictures and  words of the rest of our trip...or at least the parts of it I remembered to take pictures of.

 We all had fun opening the  boxes from Amazon full of books and games.  It was like Christmas in July.  As I just typed July I thought it in my head like a Southern person would pronounce it.  You know...like Jew-lie.  See I am so a converted Southerner.   I read a couple of their new books while I was there and even took one home with me to finish. I am done with it and it was great.  I am putting it in the mail tomorrow Tina. :)

 We washed, sanded, and painted doors, walls and baseboards.

 Here we are getting ready to roast the hot dogs on the first camp fire at Tina and Allen's new home.  It just so happened to be Allen's birthday too.  Not a bad way to celebrate.

Tell me that doesn't look absolutely amazing.  It only would have been better if we had some of Papa Harmon's famous hot dog chilli. 

 This is a picture for Mallory, my cousin.  She has the most adorable picture of her yellow lab Dakota looking up at her while she took a picture of her in her first snow.  Mallory has reenacted the picture now that Dakota is bigger.  We had spent the previous night with Mallory, Nicole, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Gary...and of course Dakota and saw the sweet pictures again.  This is Jake's version...on a hot day in July with no snow....But if he were a dog I am almost positive he would be a yellow lab. :)

We needed a picture of us together and the only way I could hold it (along with the stuff in my other hand) and push the button, was by holding it upside down.  It is better upside down than it is right side up, so I thought I would just leave it that way.

Grampa Smith and Aunt Shelia came over to see the house and have lunch with us.  I did manage to snap a couple pictures while they were there.  I forgot to take any pictures on lots of other occasions when we saw relatives so I figured I better take some the day before we left!

 We decided to go to the local yummy pizza place for dinner on our last night and the boys were very excited that there was a TV right above us that had the Disney channel on...Looks like even Aunt Tina was enjoying Phinneus (sp?) and Ferb.

 I wanted to take a picture of the TV to show what they were so mesmerized by and talk about perfect timing!  I love that it says "Your're Watching TELEVISION".  They totally were watching TELEVISION...as if they had never watched it before.  And there was no sound so how exciting can it really be?

After that we went and had some "wicked good" ice cream.  For those who don't know: even though the rest of the nation...and possible the world, stopped using "wicked" back in 1986 New England (especially NH) never stopped and as far as I can tell don't plan on it any time soon!  I like it NH.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.  Everything else from the 80'sis coming back so I am sure wicked will too.  In fact I am going to to my personal best to get in going here in SC again!