Brothers

Benjamin prayed hard for a baby brother.  Now that he has one, they are best buddies!

 They play cars.

 

 They wrestle.

They play in the tub.

 

 

 

 

 They honestly have a good time playing with each other.  What a blessing it is for the two little boys to have each other!

 

 

Our First 5K

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Our stake Relief Society sponsored a 5k run/walk this year. They had us set goals to work toward the 5k, and tied that into using the atonement in our lives. We all decided to participate. My mom and I decided to walk (although I did run a little bit at the beginning and end), Kim and Leilani decided to run, and Emily was undecided when we started the race.

I decided that I had to go to the bathroom before we started (and dragged Emily with me), but by the time we got back, the walkers had already started (they staggered everyone's start time - walkers first, then run/walkers, and then runners)  So, Emily and I had to run a ways to catch up with everybody.  She did fine, but I was out of breath by the time we caught up.

When Aunt Tricia caught up with us later (with the run/walkers), Emily decided that she wanted to try running the rest of the way.  So she went off with Aunt Tricia.  I don't know if she made it without stopping, or if she had to walk a bit.

Leilani started in the last heat with the runners.  She finally passed us about 2/3 the way through the race.  She only had to stop and walk a few times.

We took Robert with us, because my mom thought she would walk better if she could push the stroller.  He enjoyed being outside and walking with us.  We all finished the race, and even ran the last little bit at the end.

We were proud of ourselves!  It felt really good to say we did it, and it felt really good to do it.  I think we will all probably do it again someday.

Benjamin's Baseball

Benjamin just finished baseball season. He played on a 2nd grade team, and it was their first year of coach pitch (last year they hit off a tee).   He is a good little athlete, and he loves to be out there playing.  It really doesn't matter to him which position he plays, although he really likes to play pitcher.

He has learned how to play every position.  His coach was very good about switching them around and making sure they knew what they were doing.

Benjamin likes playing catcher too, but he decided it was too hot to wear all the gear in the heat wave we were having this year.

This year Benjamin decided that he liked to slide.  Grandpa Bevans was able to get a video of him sliding into home plate.  Many of his teammates liked to slide into 1st base, but Grandma Bevans quickly convinced Benjamin that was NOT how to play the game!  :)

I discovered that boys play ball very differently than girls - I have only see my three girls play before this.  Boys are much more aggressive, and there is usually more action.  At this age, the girls just run the ball in from the outfield and hold it up.  Not the boys!  They throw that ball in from the field and try and get an out.  They don't stop playing until there is nothing left to do except wait for the next batter to hit. 

It was a good season, and thanks to a good coach, Benjamin improved a lot.  Can't wait for next year!

Tall Ships Sailing

We went on a field trip through Oregon Connections Academy (Leilani's school) to Coos Bay to go on what they call "tall ships."  They are sailing brigs.  The one we went on was "The Lady Washington."  It was used as "The Interceptor" (Bristish ship) in the movie, Pirates of the Carribean. 

Waiting to board the ship.

Waiting to sail.

When we started our trip, the sails were not down and ready to go.

As soon as the trip was underway, the kids started to learn how to help hoist the sails, and how to tie knots and loop the ropes for the rigging.

The video shows one of their first lessons.

The crew was very patient with the kids, as they taught them how to sail.

 

 

 

Once the sails were up, the kids were divided into three groups to learn about sailing, trade, navigation, etc.

 In the navigation section, they learned to read charts,

 how to use a sextant to navigate by the sun and starts,

 how the compass was able to roll around and stay upright on the rolling seas,

 and how to plot how fast you are going and in which direction you are going.  They also learned that only the ship's captain or officer could navigate, because they were the only ones with education...and you use a lot of math and science to navigate a ship.

This kind of ship is steered with a tiller instead of a wheel, so they learned some of the pros and cons of that too

Robert decided to sleep during the classes, which made life a little easier.

 In the next section they learned about the life of a sailor.  This tilly bag was all a sailor had to put his personal items in for years at sea.

 They learned how to splice broken rope,

 and how to use a metal pick like tool to undo knots.

 They were not impressed with the hardtack,

 or the salt pork,

but they were impressed by the rope crafts...

 and the carvings on whale bone that the sailors did.

 They learned that the sailors were uneducated, so they didn't have numbers on the cards that they played with - they didn't know that 7 meant seven.  They would just count the pictures on the card to know how many were on it.

 They were glad to find out that the sailors did carry toothbrushes with them sometimes.

 The last section was on trade routes in the 1700's and 1800's.  They sat inside the ship for this part.

 

 

 

They learned that the sailors on this ship would trade copper, guns, jewelry and pots to the Indians on the west coast of North America for the furs of sea otters (there are no more in Oregon...they were all trapped out), beaver, etc. and then take them to China.  In China they would trade for tea.  Then they would sail back to the east coast (most often Boston) and sell the tea to the people living there.

 

This is what the tea looked like.  It was pressed into an embossed brick, and then broken apart when they sold it.  I had no idea that was what it looked like.

When the lessons were over, we returned to the top of the ship to prepare the sails for the end of the trip and docking.

 The sailors climbed the rigging to take in the top sails.

 The kids worked down below.  By this time, they knew what they were doing, and didn't need the help of the crew.

It was a great day!  Very fun and very educational.  It was well worth the drive down to Coos Bay, and I hope we get to do it again sometime.  I would recommend it to anyone!