Ben's turn

And then Wednesday night was Ben's high school band concert. Ben is in the top band. They meet during 'zero hour', aka before school at 6:30 am. Ben made it as a freshman, which isn't very common. I was not able to attend his concert because we were double-booked that night, so Charles took the photos and the video. Charles hasn't practiced with my camera very much, so I can't really post what he took... But I can share this picture I took of Ben before the concert.

Jon's concert band concert

It was concert week, back at the end of May. Monday night was the Jazz band (see previous post) and Tuesday night was the middle school concert bands. Here's Jon:I do have a video clip of the band playing, but it's a little long, so I'll spare you.

Jon Plays Jazz

Here's Jon at his Jazz concert. I have tried to upload this clip four times, and finally had to cut it down in size. So you don't get to hear the two solos that came after him. Sorry. Jon's was the best, of course. :)

Late April to Early May

Look, I'm almost caught up!
Greg earned his Webelos rank and his Arrow of Light and crossed over to Scouts at the April pack meeting. Since Charles is the 11yo Scout leader he was the one to greet Greg when he crossed over. It's a small patrol--just Greg and one other boy.
I love Father/Son campout! I get to have peace and quiet, and the boys get to have fun outdoors. You can see by Tim's face just exactly how much fun they have!

Nate's birthday party

Nate has a best friend who is 6 weeks younger than he is. His mom and I decided to take the two of them to Legoland in Schaumburg for their birthday party. It was the perfect place for two 6 year olds.

The entire Magnificent Mile (downtown Chicago) was done in Legos. Amazing. There's a bit of it in the photo above.
Quinn and Nate got to be the helpers. The explorer told them they had to be strong and brave to protect us. He had them practice showing how strong and brave they were.
We saw two 3D Lego movies (Bob the Builder and one with wizards).
The boys built their own cars out of Legos and raced them on the tracks.
After a potty break...
we headed to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner which both boys loved. It was a great day, with two great little boys.

January through April

Ben ran track. He ran the 800 meters, running a fairly consistent 2:23 to 2:28 at each meet. Here he is passing up another runner. Go Ben!
Tim earned his Bobcat and was awarded it at the Blue & Gold Banquet. Here he is bobbing for a donut. It was such a hectic day that I forgot to get the boys dressed in their uniforms!

Before... After... Yes, Ben's braces came off.Nate celebrated his sixth birthday!
That same night, Jon was the murder 'victim' in the school play. He 'recovered' in time for a big final scene. He sure was tough in this part! I wouldn't want to mess with him.
Easter egg hunt at the Worltons.
Greg's 11 birthday, celebrated after den meeting. The next night he went to his first troop meeting.

Red Oaks

On 12/30, we decided to take a family hike. The weather was unseasonably warm (had to be close to 50 degrees) and it was a perfect day for a winter hike. The river had big ice chunks floating down it, which made for a good time watching.
Red Oaks has the only natural cave in all of Illinois. It's tiny, and barely qualifies as a cave, but the boys enjoyed "exploring it". Greg is nearly at the back of the cave in the above photo.Then the boys spent quite a bit of time picking up ice chunks and throwing them in the river, smashing them, and/or 'skating' on them.

It was loads of fun!