Caleb is having his first week of first grade. He is thrilled to see his friends and meet his teacher, Ms. Alexander. We are so proud of Caleb's enthusiasm and confidence, he seems like such a grown up boy. Contrary to his parents opinons that he wear a "collar" shirt on the first day of school, Caleb insisted on his new t-shirt with fighting Judo guys and the caption "HI YA! Nice to meet you!". Samuel is unhappy with the change and keeps walking to the front door and saying, "Let's go get Buddy! Let's go to school and get Calebee, I want to talk to him!" Sheri is excited to have some time alone with Samuel, and is planning activities and outings to keep him entertained. Now if Samuel would take a nap, perhaps we could get the house organized again. Outdoor activities are currently restricted to the morning because of unbearable heat. The drought has now caused city wide water use restrictions. Tonight I carried buckets of the boys bath water out to pour on my shrubs. The back lawn looks like a giant bed of straw and we've lost one bush in the front. Today there was a quick rain storm that completely missed our neighborhood- as usual. We anxiously await some indication that autumn exists.
Saturday, Owen and Caleb had an epic end of the summer adventure. They started the day with a cave tour at Longhorn Cavern then went Kayaking and cliff diving at Inks lake. They stayed up late for a star party at Canyon of the Eagles Observatory. Caleb was able to see the Milky Way for the first time. I think there may have been some ice cream eating somewhere along the way as well. Yesterday we all kayaked at Inks Lake. All four of us in the same kayak! We were able to boat right up to Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Turtles, and ducks. Owen defeated his fear of heights for good when he jumped off of the top of a cliff. Caleb and I stuck with a lower cliff that was just extreme enough for a six year old (and a not so extreme mommy). Samuel floated around in a life jacket on his back. I would let go of him and he would grin from ear to ear. We were never brave enough to put Caleb in a Kayak at 2 years old. I was so proud of Samuel. He sat so still and just looked around with wonder. Maybe next time Caleb and I will tackle the high cliff jump and I will release my grip on Samuel long enough for him to paddle around on his own.
Once upon a time, there was a man. He bought a bag of chocolate gold coins. When he tried to eat one of the last ones he discovered it was real. He kept trying to buy things with the coin that were just for him. Every time it would turn back into a chocolate coin. When he finally bought something for the good of his whole family, it didn't turn back. He passed on the bag of coins to his sons and wife and the same thing happened to them too. Then one night something very strange happened. Giant ants came into the house and took the gold coins. The next morning they woke up and discovered the missing gold coins. They spotted the giant ants that had taken them in the middle of the night and ran after them.
CHAPTER 2
THE ANTS
The ants had made the coins and put them in the bag. They thought the man’s family was going to destroy the coins. The ants were bringing the coins back to their queen who was the one in the colony that had made the coins. These ants and their queen had not always been giants. One day, their mound got hit by an asteroid. The asteroid was made of a substance that had never been discovered on earth. This mound was by a sidewalk in downtown Austin, Texas. Many people lived there. The people were frightened more than they could ever imagine. They were terrified when the asteroid hit the ants and they grew humongous- as big as cars. All the people thought that the ants were Fire Ants, a type of ant that bites and swarms when their mound is touched. The terrified people evacuated out of the city. The people didn’t know that the mutant ants were friendly, so they ran away as fast as they could. The ants were left in a deserted city. They were mad that the people had left the city.
CHAPTER 3
THE MAN THAT STAYED
The ants soon discovered that one person had not evacuated the city. This young man loved Austin and didn’t want to leave.He was not afraid of the ants because they had never killed or even touched one per person.He was an expert on ants an entomologist. .He figured out that the giant ants were not Fire Ants, but another kind of ant which is harmless to humans.The queen ant had become magic when the asteroid hit. There was a part of the asteroid that had magic on it because it had been from a planet where aliens had put a spell on it.The queen of the ants knew that humans loved two things: gold and chocolate.She made gold coins and put a spell on them so that some day she could reward the one man who had not evacuated the city.The ants went underground for many years.People slowly came back to the city.They had forgotten all about the ants.The people repaired the city and everything went back to normal.
