August 2009

We had a very exciting month in August. The first week of the month Jackson and his good friend John attended a Magic Camp. The campers were able to learn a new trick every day of camp. While parts of the camp seemed a little weird to me (I think magic is more appealing to boys!) they both had the best time and said it was their favorite camp of the whole summer! Here are a few pictures from the last day of camp when the boys got to perform their favorite trick from the week:

Jackson is explaining his trick to the audience

Performing his trick on one of the camp counselors

The very next day after camp ended, we drove down to Orlando for an impromptu Disney trip. We had surprised the boys a few weeks earlier with this trip. Although I wouldn't recommend August as a great time to visit Florida (unless you LOVE heat and humidity), we got a GREAT deal on accomodations and a free dining plan. This was our third Disney trip and Tod and I swear each time we aren't going back any time soon. As it turns out we have been 3 times in 2 1/2 years so the boys don't even believe us anymore! We always have a great time. Anyway, since we've been a few times we didn't take too many pictures Well except for Austin doing the Jedi Training Academy which is his dream come true. Battling against Darth Vader was a huge deal for him. You see, Austin doesn't just like Star Wars, he is obsessed with it. About a year ago, he went through a phase where he wanted everyone to hum the Darth Vader song of doom everytime he entered a room. Needless to say he took his Jedi training very seriously!

Warming up the light saber

In front of an Imperial Walker

Waiting for the training to begin

The big battle

After a successful completion of battle

The boys playing around

Jackson

Jackson doesn't always appreciate Austin's silliness (as you can tell here)

Landfall Lazers 2009

Well another year of summer swim team has come to its end. What an awesome season the boys had. We moved to a new pool this summer and were rewarded with phenomenal coaches and teammates. Our swim team was one of the smallest in town (only 60 kids total and we were lucky to have 40 at any given meet!) but we still managed to win quite a few meets. The benefit of a small team is the individualized instruction that the kids get and the bond that is shared with the coaches. The boys had a great year swimming and posted some really strong times throughout the season. We are so proud of them!!!!

First heat ribbon of the season at the 8 & under meet

Austin's first heat ribbon at 8 & unders.

Coach Clayton convinced Austin to flex his "guns" for the camera!

Chowing on some good grub from the kids' buffet after the awards ceremony!

The 7 and 8 year olds

Coach Brian with the 6 & unders

Austin

Austin gets his bobble head trophy and ribbon from the championship meet

Fourth of July 2009

We had a great fourth of July this year. We celebrated with our close friends, the Howards. Before the festivities officially started, Jackson invited Finn (the Howards' oldest child) over for a lemonade stand. I figured it would be a good opportunity for them to learn a little about profit margins (can't tell I was a banker in my previous life, can you?). They spent about an hour setting up, making their sign, and overseeing the manufacture of their lemonade! When they finally got started, I headed out to check on them and saw that they were MAJORLY overcharging for this lemonade. A 5 ounce dixie cup was going for $1.50. I calmly explained to them that they would NEVER sell lemonade at that price and suggested they lower their price. They declined. I at least convinced them to use larger cups if they were going to charge that kind of price. They agreed. I went inside to round up some larger 12 ounce Solo cups. When I returned less than 3 minutes later, imagine my surprised when they had already made $20. Some benevolent neighbor had stopped by and bought a few lemonades, gave them a $20, and told them to keep the change. I lost all credibility at that point. Still, they agreed to upsize their cups. Two hours laters, when the novelty of the stand had worn off, they shut down the operation, but not before they made nearly $45.

Later, when the rest of the Howard clan arrived we grilled out burgers and had a few cocktails on the back porch while enjoying some beautiful weather. Finally, the sun went down and we headed out for some "legal fireworks". In North Carolina, the only fireworks that are legal are the kind that don't leave the ground (despite the fact that our neighbors showed us up with some illegal contraband!). We all had a blast!

Look carefully. How many grown men does it take to light a firework? Two, apparently!

Happy Birthday Jackson!!!

When we returned from our Annual Ocean Isle Beach trip, it was time to celebrate Jackson's 8th birthday. I cannot begin to believe that it has already been 8 years since we were blessed with such a sweet, kind, thoughtful boy. Imagine our surprise when we invited 7 of his closest friends for a backyard party and the party turned WILD! Jackson decided he would have a backyard water party. We put out the inflatable waterslide, blew up over 100 water balloons, put out buckets and buckets of water for the boys to fill their soaker guns. How bad could it be right? The weather was hot (perfect for a water party) and we had a relatively small crowd. The party started at 4:00 and by 4:15 Tod and I were really scared. These boys were WILDER than I have ever seen any group of children. We endured an hour of this choas before I announced that the pizzas had arrived and hoped that everyone would at least sit for 5 minutes. Didn't happen. I think they shoveled down nearly 4 pizzas in less than 3 minutes and were back at it again. The next hour proved to be even more wild than the first. We finally stopped them all and allowed Jackson to open his presents (which we don't normally do during the party itself). When all was said and done, no one was hurt and I think they all had a GREAT time. Tod and I are still recovering! Here are some pictures!

Another Catch - up Post!

Well, I promised myself I would not put myself in a position to need to do another "hodgepodge" "catch me up on the blog" post. Yet, here I go again!!! Since school got out for summer last month, the Durst family has been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! We have been having the best summer ever but there has been little time left to blog!

Well to back up to the last week of school, Jackson's class participated in Field Day and also had an end of the year party. Here are some pictures from that:

Jackson watching as his relay team performs at Field Day

Jackson's turn in the relay of this silly race!

Jackson playing a version of Hot Potato with a football

Cooling down with a snow cone at the End of the Year Party

Waiting for his turn on the inflatable slide

Down he goes!!!!

Waiting for another station's activity

Even Austin got a turn

The Saturday after school got out, we headed down to Ocean Isle Beach for our annual trip with my parents and my sister and her family. We all have a great relaxing week but the kids seem to have an especially good time. Unfortunately, I didn't that too many pictures that week (guess I was busy reading on the beach!). Here are a few from the week, though:

Holly Tree Talent Show

About a month ago, Jackson came home very excited because Holly Tree Elementary was having their first ever Talent Show. Now as exciting as this sounded, I wasn't entirely sure why Jackson was so excited. As much as I adore him and think he is so special, I wasn't sure exactly what his talent would be. I was also surprised that my normally shy and quiet child was thinking he was going to get on a stage and perform. He went on to tell me that he was going to do magic for his talent. Hmmm.. Interesting, I thought to myself. I went on to explain to him exactly how these talent shows worked and that there would be an actual audience there and that he was going to be on a stage with LOTS of people watching him. He nodded and wasn't dissuaded at all.

We spent much of the following month practicing and rehearsing. His friend, John Tripp (who also loves magic) agreed to be his assistant. Finally, we narrowed the performance down to two tricks (each child was limited to 2 minutes on stage since there were over 90 children who wanted to perform) and he memorized a script. After doing very well at rehearsal, we could not wait for the actual performance night. Jackson was scheduled to go on stage halfway through the second act so there was plenty of time for me to get nervous for him. But when his time came, he marched himself right up onstage and did his act perfectly. My hands were shaking so bad I could hardly hold the camcorder to record him but he was not nervous at all. In fact, none of the children who performed seemed nervous to perform in front of what must have been over 300 people. Lots of people have come up to me since the show and told me how cute they thought the performance was. Mostly, though, I am just so proud that he had the courage to get up and do something that he has never done before!

Jackson introducing John as his assistant