Family time

Yesterday we took the kids to the Blanton Art Museum specifically to look at their collection of Greek and Roman art. They have a great collection of casts, as well as Greek painted vases, and "MONEY!" (Griffin's excited exclamation when he saw the gold coins). As we were walking up to the museum, I was asking the kids what sort of symbols they expected to see see in the art (like a lightning bolt for Zeus, owl for Athena, etc). Rhys loves this kind of quizzing game, so I expanded on it and started asking them to tell me everything they knew about the different Gods. Rhys really enjoys mythology, but I was surprised at just how much he knew. Avery has been reading a lot on the subject recently and has turned into our resident expert. When I got around to asking Avery about Ares, she summed him up nicely, stating bluntly, "Ares is a total punk." Ha!

After the art museum, we decided to walk across the street to the Bob Bullock Museum to see what was playing at the IMAX. We bought tickets for the African Adventure 3D film, then called Nonnie (who works across the street) to invite her to meet us for lunch in the cafe. As if two museums, a lunch out, and an IMAX movie weren't enough, when we got home Caroline came to babysit so Bill and I could go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's rare that Bill and I are both home and off from work on the same day lately, so we took full advantage of this opportunity. What a fun day!

Harry Potter Week

Originally uploaded by Lexy L.

Anyone that knows us knows that we are all huge Harry Potter fans. I credit the first Harry Potter book as being what really set Avery on the road to being the avid reader that she is. When she first was learning to read, it was a bit of a chore, and she didn't enjoy practicing. Her whole attitude about books changed when she set her sights on reading Harry Potter. She read book 1 in December of her Kindergarten year and hasn't turned back since. I can't even begin to count how many times she has read and reread the whole series.

Besides my appreciation of the Harry Potter books for inginiting the spark in Avery (and millions of other kids around the world), the books have really captured all of our imaginations. We have spent hours as a family talking, debating, and speculating about Harry's future. It amuses me to hear of people fearing the books and declaring them evil -- these same books that have brought families together, fostered a love of books in kids and grownups alike, oh, and that pesky little fact that the main theme running through all the books is love triumphing over bad. But, I digress....

So, with great excitement, we have been counting down to the release of the final installment. In the past week, we saw the movie for book 5, went to Avery's Harry Potter discussion/writing group, and made our final predictions. On Friday, we went to the midnight book release party with friends and managed to get our book home by a little before 1 am.

We spent all day Saturday taking turns with the book, and I ended up staying up until 2 am to finish it. Avery was not thrilled that I finished first, but was appeased when she realized that she wouldn't have to share the book with me anymore. She finished it this morning. Next up is Bill, who is dying with anticipation (and fear that we'll give something away before he finishes it!).

Retired, at age 8

It's been almost two weeks since Avery's last day of gymnastics. Her decision to quit was not an easy or lighthearted one, in fact, it was the hardest life decision she's had to make to date. She agonized for weeks, and we're really proud of her for coming to the decision she feels is best.

Since the beginning of the year, gymnastics has seemed to have lost its luster for Avery. Whereas she used to gladly miss other activities to go to practice, in the past several months, she's been feeling like she's missing out on too many other things. She was up to 13.5 hours a week in the gym, and the hours only increase with each level. She really loves the sport, so we looked into other gyms to see if we could find one that offers less hours. Unfortunately, at all the other gyms we looked into, Avery would be a level higher than what she was at her current gym. So the hours would increase to even more than what she was doing. When it became clear that another gym wasn't an option, Avery had to decide whether she'd finish out the year and compete Level 4, or just call it quits now.

Avery worried and talked and thought about her options for weeks, until I finally suggested that she try making a pro and con list. She did, and her list was overwhelmingly in favor of quitting. The only drawbacks were that she would miss her friends and that she would be sorry to not get to compete, which she really loves. But, as she pointed out, "Those five meets really don't seem worth all those months spent at the gym."

I told her that she didn't have to go back for a last day if she thought it would make her too sad, but she really wanted to say goodbye to all of her teammates. She seemed to have a really good practice and really enjoyed herself. She was a bit teary in the car on the way home, but she wasn't regretting her decision. Now that it's been almost two weeks, she can definitely say that she's glad she's not going anymore. She misses the actual gymnastics part though, and really hopes to join a regular class in the fall. She's determined to keep both her skills and her fitness level, and she has been practicing and conditioning daily!

We're all excited to see what the future will bring for Avery. I'm personally relieved that she won't be spending her childhood in the gym. I'm excited for her to try some new things when she's ready. For now, though, she's really enjoying her time off. She hasn't had this much free time in years!

The sun! The sun!

Originally uploaded by Lexy L.

After weeks of rain, the sun finally came out today! The kids were beyond thrilled and spent several hours outside on the playscape today. Avery has been lamenting the waste of these "few, precious hot days" (apparently she doesn't remember how long Texas summers are). It probably won't take but a few days of sun and 95+ degree temps for her to remember!

It's all Greek to me

Today Avery set down the book she was reading, turned to me, and said with a sigh, "Boy, I need to catch up on my Greek!"

I'm thinking this may need to be an outsourced subject. Greek isn't a subject in this homeschooling mama's repitoire!

*Avery was reading The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan. She finished it today and loved it...perfect timing for tomorrow's book signing with the author at a local Barnes & Noble.