School's out! Visalia here we come!

School got out and we left for Visalia.  This has become our summer break tradition.  We love it.  It's low-key and fun; just what we need after a busy school year.  It's also when the frogs hatch at the retention pond near Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Tiny frogs are out all over the place.  Such great entertainment for our five kids.  Seth even got in on the catching this year.  Ruby like to watch, but didn't want to touch.

Bob came out with us for the weekend and then flew home and we stayed a few more days.  We went to the waterslides and the movies and lots of parks.  It was a great visit.

Lollipops and Naked Guys

Today's after-church activity was to make Jolly Rancher lollipops.  Place a number of Jolly Ranchers on a tray, place them in an oven at 250 for 5-10 minutes, take them out and then press a stick into the melted candies.  The kids thought these were the best things ever.

The second activity is probably a little less common in our neck of the woods.  In other areas of Vegas people pay good money to witness a show like the one that was put on here today.  You get your show for freeeeeeee.  Naked guys flexing their muscles. 

It all started when Aaron came up and flexed his bicep for me.  Jean thought it would be a good thing to visually document his shirtless 6-year old body and that he would appreciate it later in life.  We 'progressed' from there. . .

Welcome to the gun show!  Ka-pow!

These guns are of such a high caliber they need a carry & conceal permit. 

Commence the six-gun salute!

Kissing the guns

A little arm wrastlin' never hurt nobody

Our Little Bird Ruby

We have a little bird named Ruby.  She eats like a bird.  She talks like a bird.  She is as light as a bird.  We think she's a parrot because she can repeat several words.  She has no feathers and doesn't fly so well though, so she must be some kind of rare, flightless/featherless parrot.  A one of a kind - rare indeed.

Ruby loves to be near Jean when she's pecking away on the computer to fix a website.  The two of them have worked out a compromise that allows Jean to get some work done and to allow Ruby some mom time.

Here are some photos of their agreement. . .

Beleive it or not, this arrangement works out pretty well for both parties.  Jean gets some work done and Ruby feels like she's getting some attention.  All sides are satisfied. 

I've tried it a couple of times, but it's kind of hard to see the monitor. I know, I know - I'm a woos. I guess I haven't evolved to meet the demands of the ever-fluid working-from-home environment. 

Jean's got some mad working-from-home skills!

2011-2012 School Year

So the kids do this thing called school.  They went to it and did well this past year (2011-2012). 

Big Kids - Last Day of School 2012 

If they didn't we wouldn't tell you about it and you might not see the kids when you come over because they'd be locked in the shoe closet. 

Danny surviving a near photobomb from classmate and random lady

Danny finished the fourth grade with Mrs. Sanders.  He was able to get himself on the A/B Honor Roll for the year.  We're thinking he paid somebody off.  Danny also worked hard and earned his Nevada Citizenship Award.  Now, they just don't hand these things out like candy.  The award requires the student to identify all counties, county seats, past and present governors, recite the state song (Home Means Nevada), etc.  Danny enjoyed playing with his friends Jordan, Linden and William.  He was also in the GATE program and enjoyed going to it every week.  His favorite games were basketball and four-square.

Rachel had so many awards she ran out of hands

Rachel had Mrs. Cupit (yeah, just one letter off from having a teacher with a bow and arrows and hearts while flying through the air) for third grade.  Rachel made it her second year in a row on the A Honor Roll.  Rachel loved to play 'circle ball' and look for ladybugs.  We're not sure how you play circle ball, but she enjoyed it.  She too was in GATE and enjoyed her weekly classes.  One of her favorite things was learning how to write in cursive.  Her class friends were Ashley Rider (on the storm), Kalee Hoo (What?  When?  Where?  Why?) and Amanda Elliot (ET phone home).  Sorry, I had to add the parenthetical comments for those.

Aaron was taller than his teacher . . . when she was kneeling

Aaron was a big time, full-day kindergartner with Mrs. Gourley.  Aaron liked to participate in running races and playing on the playground equipment.  He became an amazing reader, but especially liked math.  At the end of the year Aaron stated in the kindergarten program that he would like to be a teacher when he grows up.  He was the recipient of some citizenship award, but never fully disclosed all of the details about this award (we had to learn about it from some of his classmates).  His best buddies were Tyson, Brody and Toree.  Yes, the last one is a girl.  A girl that wants to be a hair stylist when she grows up.  His first like.  Awwwww.

 

Tradition!

Tradition! - Fiddler on the Roof

As Tevye sang:  Tradition.  Tradition.  Diddle dooodle dooodle doo.  Tradition!  Ok, so maybe he didn't sing the diddle doodle do part;  that's my attempt at giving words to instruments.  I think this entire movie is imprinted in my memory along with others like Chariots of Fire and Heaven Can Wait and Tron.  You can guess which one I was always trying to get mom to put in the old VHS machine.  My winning percentage as an elementary school-aged kid was low.
Jean and I have made a concious effort over the years (Jean more concious than mine;  mine just happen because I'm a creature of habit) to develop family traditions.  Sunday is filled with our traditional ritual of attending our three-hour block of church meetings.  If the Cox family were a car, it would come standard with 'Sunday Church Attendance' option.  That's the basic model.

Map of the Cox Family Sunday Afternoon Walk

One additional bell and whistle that the Cox family engineers have added over the years is an afternoon walk.  Now this isn't just some ordinary walk.  This is the 1.2-mile (optional 1.4-mile route) Cox Family Sunday Afternoon Walk complete with the harvesting of 'bo-hogs', a ritualistic slapping of a red, diamond-shaped traffic sign that sits at the northern terminus of Clayton St.

Photo of a Bo-Hog

Red Yucca Plants

Bo Hogs, you ask?  Well, those are seed pods that you might find on the red yucca (Hesperaloa Parviflora) - just not on many plants along our walking route.  Sorry, HOA.  You may have guessed that Bo Hogs is not Latin.  It's Sethin.  Seth is really good at creating names for things that he doesn't have the vocabulary for quite yet.  We pluck them off and use our freshly harvested Bo Hogs as arm-launched missiles.  Most of us return uninjured.  Some of us never return.

Dried-Out Weapons Cache of Bo-Hogs

Ruby Making the Walk Official

The mid-point of our walk is marked with road signs that sit on a pole right behind a series of jersey barriers.  The lowest sign is a red, reflective square that is rotated 45-degrees.  You could say it's a Ruby-red diamond.  Our tradition is that everyone, including the short ones, touch the red diamond before we turn around to return to our home.  So far we have only had one conscientious objector and he was summarily ridiculed and scorned for his position on sign-touching.

Rachel, the Sign and the Sheep Mountain Range

We also do some non-motorized off-roading along the way.  It's a dad-powered double stroller occupied by Seth and Ruby.  For some odd reason the sidewalk in two different places immediately transitions to small, red landscaping rocks, making for a bumpy but exciting ride.  Ruby in particular gets amped up about this portion of the walk and announces the off-roading by exclaiming "(Here it) Comes!  Comes!"

So the next time you're in Vegas and want to experience an authentic Cox Family Sunday, come on over for our afternoon walk and enjoy the tradition.
"Without traditions our lives would be as shaky as . . as. . . a fiddler on the roof."  -Tevye

Seth's Playgroup

Seth joined his first playgroup this year. We don't have any boys his age in our ward, but luckily there are a bunch in the next ward and we have a good friend there who set us up. There were usually about 4-6 boys in the group. Seth had a great time. A few weeks ago, one of the moms arranged for the boys to go to the fire station. Seth got all into it. Sometimes he can be a little cautious about new things, but he was the first one to climb up in the fire truck and he loved spraying the big hose.

The Future

In her homework, Rachel was asked to write about how you see yourself in the future.  This is what she wrote:

In the future, I see myself  as a billionare, and also training dolphins and doing dolphin shows for more money. But, behind the greatness, come responsibilities.  I have to buy lots of securety cameras for my mansion, and I have to train the dolphins. I will live in New York, with 5 children and a husband. I will have 3 girls and 2 boys. But even though I'm a billionare, I have to always spend money. Last week, I bought my family 8 pets. Imagine how much money I have to use to buy food!!