Rounding out July

And here, in my daily questo to make progress on getting caught up with the blog, are the remainder of our good photos for August. Stay with it to the end for an adorable, if grainy, video of Charlie displaying his new favorite track (as of July 31, at least).

Our little model... with a farmer's tan. From Hollands at Home 2012

A science experiment: baking soda, vinegar and food coloring. From Hollands at Home 2012

Doodle is impressed with introductory chemistry. From Hollands at Home 2012

This picture of Charlie and Lucy is probably our best from a Sunday afternoon at the beach. From Lake Michigan

Now that's a serious pretzel. From Hollands at Home 2012

Charlie's main purpose here is modeling the pants. From Hollands at Home 2012

A great, genuine Jack smile. From Hollands at Home 2012

Jack's new headphones (plugged into nothing... From Hollands at Home 2012

Model Rockets

On July 15, an incredibly sunny, pretty darn hot Sunday, Jack's Cub Scout Pack had a model rocket launch event. It was his first time with this experience. The night before, Kristie did the initial assembly, and we spray-painted it black. She was pretty unsure the thing would work, but I'm happy to report each of his three launches was a remarkable success. They had Boy Scouts on hand to stuff the rockets with something and attach the fuses (larger for each successive launch), then other older Scouts near the launch area to assist and supervise the actual firing.

Jack was incredibly proud of his rocket (they went super high and flew amazingly far) and also very well behaved during the entire event. He waited patiently as the older Scouts and adult leaders helped and followed every last instruction. Kristie was amazed to learn her construction skills were sufficient to endure three launches. She was even impressed when I told her our rocket was among the better looking entries from am aesthetic standpoint. A big win all around.

Preflight den photo. From Scouts

Sizing up the mechanics. From Scouts

Postflight inspection. From Scouts

Observing the reconstruction. From Scouts

Preparing for launch two. From Scouts

Blastoff! From Scouts

Readying for final launch. From Scouts

Thumbs up. From Scouts

To infinity and beyond! From Scouts

More July photos

And here we go with the photo dumping period. The first few are from what has become an oddly annual summer tradition at our house — raking the leaves from the tree by our driveway. Not all of the summers have been in this incredibly dry (see the backyard grass in later photos); in fact, I seem to remember 2012 being especially wet, or maybe it just rained a lot on days I was supposed to play softball. But as it relates to this particular tree, the only thing the drought did was accelerate the summer leaf drop. In the past it's usually a mid-August event, but these pictures are from July 8.

Now we have three little helpers. From Hollands at Home 2012

Leaf piles in July! From Hollands at Home 2012

"Don't worry guys, I got this." From Hollands at Home 2012

We also were lucky enough to have How stay with us for a couple of days in early July. I'm trying now to recalculate when all she was here and what all we did, but the closest I can come with any certainty is remembering she and Kristie took Jack and Max to the pool on a Monday evening. We were supposed to all go together, but Charlie took a late nap so I offered to stay home. Fortunately Kristie brought the camera.

From Hollands at Home 2012

From Hollands at Home 2012

The pool pictures are from July 9, and these next shots are from July 11, a Wednesday. That must have been the day Pop came out to bring How back to Fulton. And shortly after his truck arrived in the driveway, our boys were in the back trying to be cute. I simply could not choose between these first two photos of Max, so you get to see both of them.

From Hollands at Home 2012

From Hollands at Home 2012

Jack goes for the full-length shot. From Hollands at Home 2012

From Hollands at Home 2012

Guess who got to push How on the swing From Hollands at Home 2012

Marble madness

A few years ago, Jack got a marble race for some holiday occasion. There is one at How's house. Ours is a little less sturdy, but still has provided a great deal of fun over the years. But never, until earlier this summer, had the boys had the thought of using the basement stairs as a construction component. I was quite impressed at their ingenuity, and really glad Kristie captured the moment with pictures. I am including three photos because I really like the different looks the guys have in each one. The first one shows off the structure the best, the second is an absolutely magnificent picture of Jack, whom we rarely photograph in such an honest moment, and the third photo displays their mutual pride at their handiwork. Thanks for indulging me and sorry for the delay.

From Hollands at Home 2012

From Hollands at Home 2012

From Hollands at Home 2012

The next morning

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Max spent the night at Pops & K's house with Aunt Kim. So he was there the next morning when I showed up for work, and later Kristie and Jack came down for lunch and then our sad goodbyes before Kim flew back to California. I don't exactly have any super awesome stories from the sleepover itself, but I did arrive to see Max helping Kim make some fancy pancakes. We have some good photos from past Kim and Jack kitchen experiences, so it was neat to see that tradition extend to the Doodle.

Vegan pancakes! From Pops and K's

Time warp...

Dec. 21, 2008. Kim likes to cook in this shirt. From Pops and K's

... back to the present.

Two boys, two MacBooks, what else do we need? From Pops and K's

Hide and seek — with a sheer curtain. From Pops and K's

Among Charlie's hobbies: 1. Playing ball with Maggie. 2. Being incredibly cute. From Pops and K's

See? Adorable. From Pops and K's

Driveway tennis, one of Jack's favorite things. From Pops and K's

The long goodbye. From Pops and K's

Hey lady, leave me alone. Can't you see I'm playing tennis? From Pops and K's

The Bug Hunt

Taken on the same night as the photos in the previous post, behold these three award-winning short films concerning two young men and their quest to capture illuminated insects. And make sure you're in a comfortable seat, because these are not as brief as you might hope.

Kim's visit

All right, I'm going to get serious about catching up on my photo posting. All of these are from a July 1 dinner at Pops & K's House when Aunt Kim was in town, including an early celebration of K's birthday. It was a Sunday night, so Jack had Summer Wonders the next morning. But we let Max spend the night, which meant baths at the end of the day for him and Charlie. I'm sorry it took nearly two full months to post these. Charlie looks so much older now...

(From left) Kim, Maggie, Matt From Pops and K's

Charlie loves cupcakes. From Pops and K's

Baseball is easier when Uncle Matt carries you. From Pops and K's

Libertyville Slugger. From Pops and K's

Toddler strut. From Pops and K's

Where do you think you're going? From Pops and K's

Airplane! From Pops and K's

Playmaker. From Pops and K's

Capturing the moment. From Pops and K's

You'd think Uncle Matt could outrun a four-year-old. From Pops and K's

Family photo. From Pops and K's

This one didn't work out so well. From Pops and K's

Brother hug. From Pops and K's

Twin time. From Pops and K's

Angry Charlie + Maggie Photobomb = Awesome picture. From Pops and K's

Tub time. From Pops and K's

Computers are fun. From Pops and K's

Passing along sad news

If you are not connected to me via Facebook or following my prayer blog, you may not know my grandmother, my dad's mom and my last surviving grandparent, died Friday morning at the nursing home she'd lived in for about seven years. I've written about it a fair amount over on the other blog, though here is a link to the post I wrote late Friday. Or, if you have about twelve and half minutes and a box of tissues, please watch this memorial slideshow I put together: