First day of 3rd grade...

Just a quick picture of Hayden on his way to 3rd grade this morning. His class is now upstairs so he is moving up in the ranks!

Goodbye Summer....

Today was the last day of summer vacation for Hayden and me. Tomorrow we head back to school. So we decided to drive over to Hershey and hang out at Chocolate World for a few hours. We took the Chocolate Tour ride (about our 10th time on that!). It takes you through the process that they use to make all their yummy treats and then they always give out samples of their newer candies as you get off the ride. Then you can shop in the Hershey store for pretty much anything Hershey, including lots and lots of chocolate and candy. Of course, we can never leave without buying our favorites as well as their newest creation.

Then we drove over and met Todd for our annual "night before the first day of school" dinner out.

Now it's off to bed with visions of school in our heads!

The saga continues...

Hayden has been waiting for months for August 15th. The new Star Wars:Clone Wars came out and he has been so excited to go see it. On Saturday we headed to the theater for opening weekend. Not too crowded, but it is the animated version of Star Wars so there is not quite the following that the movies had. But he enjoyed it and that's all that matters!

As you can see, the boys got out the light sabers for a pre-movie duel on Friday evening. Yes, that is Todd as Darth Maul. Then Hayden did his jedi pose, of course wearing his Clone Wars shirt, before we headed to the movie. Saturday evening they took the duel outside and were joined by Hayden's friend, and our neighbor, Eliza. It was quite a sight to see them all running around the yard with the light sabers!

Start your engines...

If you know much about NC, then you know that NASCAR is BIG down there. We have visited Lowe's Motor Speedway several times during our visits, but this time we hit the Speedpark so the boys could do some driving of their own.
You'll see Hayden, with Todd behind him, driving the first track. Then they drove the next one together.

We all played the miniature golf course, then Hayden and Todd hopped on the bumper boats to cool off.

Takin' a dip...

We just got back from visiting our family in NC. Hayden practically lived in the pool and we joined him every day as well. It is so warm down there that the pool feels like a warm bath, no matter what time of day it is. However, there was a hint of autumn in the air as it cooled down some while we were there. As you can see, Hayden was feeling pretty silly down there.

Jelly Beans anyone?

The Jelly Belly RV was at our local Wegman's store today, so of course we had to stop. Just a few pics of the RV and Hayden with the inflatable jelly bean.

Saturday outings...

Just a quick pic from what has become our Saturday evening outings. We all head over to the driving range and hit balls for an hour or so. Hayden seems to have a real interest in golf, however we are trying to teach him that golf is a "slow" game, not a race. We have never seen anyone go through a bucket of balls as fast as he does! But if you know Hayden, you know that he doesn't do slow very well! He is also a fan of Tiger Woods, of course. So much so that the only Gatorade that he wants to drink is the Tiger formula. Who knows, maybe he will turn into a pretty good golfer and hit the course with his dad every weekend!

Our after the range treat is Rita's for dessert. They serve frozen custard, italian ice or gelatos or shakes made with both. It is awesome and I can't believe it took us so long to try it. We are now hooked. For our Colorado connection, I don't think they have made it your way yet. May I suggest franchise?! If not, we'll add that to our "to do" list when you come this way for a visit!