Arthur Murray & Typhoon Texas

The boys started their week attending their CC Challenge Orientations.  Henry's was more of an introduction to the challenge years, what to expect, etc.  Josiah's was filled with kids who are going into their third year, so it was a bit more relaxed.  They did go over all the projects for the year.  Josiah's reading schedule is quite intense.  He has a book a week for the better part of both semesters.  The focus is American Literature.  To keep the theme consistent, he's also doing American Government and Economics.  I think my most favorite project of the year is second semester - they have to do a cost-of-living analysis.  How far does your dollar go?

The next evening, the kids attended dancing lessons.  One of the moms in our homeschool group started taking Arthur Murray dancing lessons with her husband.  She set up a one-time class for our group with the idea of starting a homeschool group if there was interest.  Caroline was very excited to go.  I thought Josiah would be interested, but when I asked him, he said he already knew how to dance.  Even still, I signed him up.  Henry was a firm no until he went to his orientation and discovered who had signed up for the class.  Then, he was all-in.  In fact, he was the first one ready.  They learned bits of different dances - two-step, swing, and salsa.   They were lined up, danced for a minute, then rotated partners.  The instructors were very good at explaining what to do.

It was much harder than they expected, but they put in a good effort.  We talked about it the whole drive home.  Caroline thought it was going to be dancing without a partner.  That would have been her preference.  One child said they were glad it wasn't 'hip dancing.'  I asked, "Do you mean hip hop dancing?"  No.  Hip dancing - where you have to put your hands on their hips.  Henry can be a bit of a germophobe, so he had to go wash his hands afterwards - too many hands were touched.  Josiah thought it was merely okay.  

The day after dance, we headed to a water park, Typhoon Texas, with Josiah's Challenge 1 group.  Siblings were invited.  Since we found a shaded table by the wave pool, that's where the kids started out.  The wave pool was more pool than wave, so they quickly moved on to the Snake Pit - the slides behind them in the picture.  Then I didn't see them for a good 90 minutes.  They traveled together to the bigger slides.  Hungry bellies were what finally brought them back to our table.  Shockingly, Josiah ordered chicken fingers.  He was pleased by the quality of chicken.  Caroline, too, enjoyed the chicken, while Henry opted for a cheeseburger.  Soon after the food was eaten, Henry said he felt sick.  It was likely due to too much sun and dehydration.  He, however, blamed it on the American cheese on his burger.  I have taught him that American cheese is fake cheese, so Henry said it was because he ate the plastic cheese.  He hung around the table for well over an hour while the big kids went to more slides. 

Meanwhile, Caroline went with a friend to the lazy river and they checked out the little kid area.  It took Henry a while to recuperate.  He really wanted to go home, but we paid good money for the tickets, so he just hung out in the shade.  For the remaining three hours, he only stepped in the lazy river.  He and I did it together and it was pretty fun because it had a faster-than-expected current.  The big kids disappeared for the entire afternoon.  Caroline was hoping to do the drop slide with them, but she had to settle for me.  We walked the four flights up and then I walked back down to be her videographer.  She said she got nervous and let a few people go in front of her.  I was trying to keep track of her from a distance, so I was happy I captured her slide.  Once she got off, she got right back in line again.  On our way back to our table, she tried the one slide she hadn't tried earlier in the Snake Pit.  After a long six hours at the park, we finally went home.  Josiah and Caroline were fans of the park.  Henry gave it a, Meh... He wants to go back to Great Wolf Lodge because it is indoors and no suntan lotion required.  They were beat by the time we made it back home.  Showers, food, and bed were the name of the game.  

The next morning the boys had their Bible study.  Afterwards, Josiah spoke with the leader, Chris, and came back to the car saying he had set up an interview.  He wants to volunteer to be a Core Group Leader on Sunday mornings in the fall.  Basically they are table leaders who facilitate the discussion and keep it on topic.  So, that afternoon, Josiah went in for his first interview.  He originally came downstairs dressed in his Beatles shirt.  And then he was sent back upstairs.  Chris was the leader doing the interview and Josiah has been friends with him since joining the KSM in 6th grade, so there was a familiarity from the start.  Although, he was still nervous not knowing what would be asked.  He was up there for about half an hour and came back with an application.  He said all went well, but had a hard time remembering specific questions that were asked.  

Henry and I finished the week attending Day 2 of our Latin Workshop.  They had Around the World with Latin vocabulary and Henry made it back to his seat first, so he won.  He was given a post-it note trophy which he cherished immensely.  It was a very helpful workshop, but long.  Six hours of Latin.  Henry had mentally checked out by lunch. 

Henry was up early Saturday morning, so he joined us on our trip to get mulch.  He's a good helper and wanted to do all the heavy lifting.  Our new shrubs appreciate the shield from the heat.  

It could be said that the Norman Rockwell moments have been on the decline now that the kids are tweens and teens, but walking downstairs and seeing Caroline reading made my heart happy.  Just a perfect summer picture.  

We are ten days out from the start of school.  It's getting very real!