1. A Visit from a Friend. Grayson met Joey about 4 summers ago at our annual church camp. Joey is from Oklahoma, but he and his siblings come to Colorado Springs every year to visit his aunt. I just love how he and Grayson have connected–with so much in common. The other cool thing is that Joey will call from time to time and talk Pokémon, video games, and whatever else comes to mind. They are often on the phone for an hour before I have to tell them it’s time to hang up. Since the boys have aged out of our church camp, we make sure that we schedule a get together while he’s in town. They had a great time playing in the pool, having a nerf battle, and just being goofy boys.
2.Firepit Project. We decided to add a firepit (actually it’s more like a fireplace) to our patio and Super Rockstar thought it might be a fun project for he and the boys to take on. “Fun” might be the wrong word for how this project has gone. The boys have groaned and grumbled every step of the way and Super Rockstar has done the bulk of the work. Plus, the rock we chose for the exterior was much harder to put on than he anticipated. So, when it came down to it– I don’t think he has had much “fun” either. I think it turned out great. And even though the boys grumbled and complained–they did learn to use several tools and the process of planning, measuring, figuring out and building something from scratch.
3. Stuff to Do When There’s Nothing to Do. Our summer break is just about to draw to a close. Throughout the past few weeks we’ve done a lot of family fun things, but the boys have also found a lot of stuff to do at home. Grayson built an enormous Lego Star War MTT. He looked at pictures and then figured out the construction all by himself. It took him several weeks to finish, but he did it. Beyblades are his current passion. I can’t keep up with all the names and how many arenas he has–I just know they have taken over his room. Morgan has busied himself with trying to earn money–mowing the lawn, laundry, and many other household projects. If it needs done and it pays money–he’ll do it. He also really enjoys his YouTube time–he has several favorite Youtubers he follows.
Also, there’s been A LOT of battles in our home–Nerf battles: I will be finding nerf bullets under furniture, behind curtains, and odd nooks and crannies for years to come. Pool Noodle battles: this was what they defined as their designated “exercise time”. Super Rockstar was happy to join in on this one. Water balloon battles: This usually took place in the pool and involved a lot of strategic covering with the pool floats and was combined with water gun battles.
And then there were visits to our neighborhood parks. We’ve been coming to these parks for nearly 12 years now and I can remember when they could barely climb onto the monkey bars and how I spent endless time pushing them on the swings. Sob. I’m ok. It’s fine.
4. Cave of the Winds. For our last summer “hurrah” we decided to visit one of our local Colorado Springs tourist attractions–Cave of the Winds. Back in the spring, Super Rockstar’s band SofaKillers played an outdoor gig there was a raffle for various prizes–one of which was a free cave tour. Grayson won this and we’ve been planning to go ever since. Our friend Trip Uhalt is the Marketing and PR manager at Cave of the Winds and when we told him we were ready to use Grayson’s prize, he set us up for a full day of fun. Our first stop was the Discovery cave tour (they also offer a Haunted Lantern Tour). Our guide was great–very friendly (as was the whole staff at Cave of the Winds), knowledgeable and fun.
Our next stop was an adventure for Super Rockstar and Morgan–they tried out the Terror-dactyl ride. It’s a bungee jump type ride where you are seated in a chair lift that is dropped from ropes straight down 150 feet into the canyon and then you swing back and forth as it draws you back up. Super Rockstar and I did this one together a few years ago. Once per lifetime is plenty for me. And Grayson got enough thrill from just watching. Be sure to watch the videos.
Our final adventure was the Pioneer Package of outdoor fun. It includes several challenges including: The Wind Walker Challenge Course (a ropes climbing course). Grayson and I stuck mostly to the lower level, but Super Rockstar and Morgan did the entire upper level–including a section where there is nothing but a deep canyon right under your toes. That was a big nope for me.
The Geronimo’s Leap which is where you step up several pillars as they get higher and higher. At the top you leap off while your safety harness catches you and lowers you down.
Then there’s Cliffhangers Climbing Wall–I admit I didn’t attempt this. I was still quaking from the ropes course, but Super Rockstar and the boys did great on it.
And then finally, a ride on the Bat-a-pult–you shoot out over the canyon in a ski lift type chair and then get drawn back. I loved it.
It was just a fantastic day and we can’t thank Trip enough. If you’re in the area–be sure and visit Cave of the Winds, you’ll have a blast. Trip is also is a comedian with the Oxymorons Comedy group. They do wonderful stand up and improv shows (kind of like ‘Who’s line is it anyway?’). Their shows are clean and if you like to laugh–you’ll want to catch one of their performances.
6. My Favorite Memes of the Week.
As always, I would love to hear from you. I hope you have a great week!