We brought Anthony and Drew home with us from the Family Reunion. They’ve had a busy summer with a drive (geocaching!)  from Texas to New York for a Lawn Family Reunion, visits with other relatives, a quick trip back to Texas for another trip to North Carolina with their Boy Scout troop for camp, and back for the Larson Reunion. After all that, we couldn’t let them lie around enjoying Heath breezes.  We went around the corner to Birch Glen Stables for their first riding lessons. We learned there is more to horseback riding than getting on the horse.  They learned to groom the horse, and they learned that Joe and Joan pay a lot of attention to their horse’s health. Misty has asthma, but she is being treated and checked.

Since Drew turned 12 this month, he got the first lesson.  This sure looked like fun!

Anthony had a pretty good time, too.  Will they get more riding lessons in Sienna Plantation?  Maybe!

The boys won’t be here for the Heath Fair, but they wanted to get entries ready.  We needed the resources of The Art Garden! Anthony will enter this in the String craft category. It looks more interesting than I thought it would when he began.

Drew’s project took a lot of thought about design and engineering,  but Space in a Box is a 3-D experience.  We did all this at The Art Garden’s Open Studio  which is every afternoon from 2-4 pm. Jane Wegscheider has not only tons of art materials and Beautiful Junk, she knows how to tease out an idea and project from a child’s imagination. I kept biting my lip to keep from saying, “You could do this. . . . or this . . . . or this . . . .”  Jane is not directive, but she is encouraging and helpful with teaching techniques that will help a project take form.

Needless to say, we do a lot of reading, and a visiting friend who could not entice the boys away from their books, commented on their devotion to the written word.  Anthony had to read a very fat book (Endymion Spring) in two days so he could return it to the library. I gave him Great Expectations ( abridged) for the ride home. Drew is reading his birthday book Science Fair by Dave Barry!

And so, Farewell. But maybe we’ll visit  –  and see what’s in bloom in Texas in October.