Exploring Nature: Bugs! **UPDATED**

Jammy found some cool bugs in the tree. What are they???

Nice discovery, Jammy!

These give Mom the heebie-jeebies!

**UPDATE** Mom has super smart friends who informed her that this is a bunch of baby Aurilus Cristatus or "wheel bugs." She found some matching wheel bug pictures on youtube.

Wake Forest: Texas Roadhouse

 Jammy and Macho went to Texas Roadhouse for the first time when Jammy's school had a dinner/fundraiser. Both boys made good use of the unlimited peanuts (in the bucket on the table).  The waitress also offered unlimited bread, but Mom made Jammy stop eating bread after his third dinner roll. The food may have been good, but the boys were so full of bread and peanuts by the time it arrived, that they had to take their meals home to eat later.
It was a fun place to hang out - lots of interesting signage and taxidermy, plus the activities and information on the kid menus might be the best Mom has ever seen. Oh, and line dancing.  All of the waitstaff did a big line dance, and Macho ran over and joined them.

 

Jammy wanted to see what was on the hidden end of that goat.

Macho colored every square inch of his educational kids menu (each menu featured a different state).

Jammy was rockin' his complimentary cowboy hat . . . 

. . . when he realized that if he put it on backwards, it was an Indiana Jones hat!

The Tumble Gym

Jammy and Macho love The Tumble Gym.
Jammy wanted to do parkour like his biggest brother, the Conman, so Mom signed Jammy up for parkour lessons at The Tumble Gym.
It didn't take long for Macho to decide that he wanted in on this parkour stuff, too.  The trouble was that the parkour class was FULL of a bunch of wild and crazy 6-8 year olds. 
So, Mom signed Macho up for a 4 year old gymnastics class that was being held at the same time as parkour.  The problem with that gymnastics class is that it is FULL of 3-5 year old girls.  Macho could hardly believe it when he finally got to take a lesson and he had to sit with the girls!
Jammy's parkour teacher is very impressive.  He's like "the crazy little kid whisperer." He's agreed to let Macho try the parkour class with the big boys next week.  Mom's fingers are crossed.
Here's some videos of Jammy trying something new and eventually nailing it.
And here's a video where one can see why it is hard to teach Macho anything.  He will do what the teacher asks, when she asks him, if she is watching, but he really doesn't care about improving his gymnastic skills.  What he really wants to do is get across the beam faster than anyone else.
(He did do well at preschool today, though.  Mrs. C.'s plan looks like a good one.)

MVP Sports Factory

Jammy and Macho have been taking a soccer class once a week at MVP Sports Factory.  There were not enough 3-year olds for them to hold a 3-year old class at that time, but Coach Mark let Macho try the big-kid class with Jammy.

It's an indoor soccer field, so class is held independent of the weather.

Coach Mark is awesome!  Macho is not compliant by nature (just ask his swimming teacher), but Coach Mark knows just what to do to keep him in line with the big kids.

Holding Park

Macho was early for his swimming lesson, so he killed some time on the playground at Holding Park.  It was pretty fun stuff!  The park has lots of shade, so it's feels nice and cool.

Holding Park is on a one-way street, and there is not a lot of parking during swimming lessons.

E. Carroll Joyner Park

Macho took Gramma out to E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road, Wake Forest, NC, for a walk.  It is a nice big park with three miles of paved trails.  There is no playground equipment, but there are a few big, green bench-style swings along the trails.

And they have some old log buildings where Jammy and Macho like to play.

There is a garden that was FULL of butteflies.

The bathroom is nice and new, designed with families in mind. :)

Holding Park Pool

It was "stinkin' hot" outside today, so Jammy (6) and Macho (3-1/2) wanted to go swimming.
There is a great, little, public pool in Holding Park near downtown Wake Forest. From the road, the kids had to go down the big, steep stairs to the bottom floor of the building to enter the pool.
No checks or cards are accepted, so Jammy and Macho brought CASH ONLY!!!
$3 per kid
$4 per adult
No coolers are allowed.
There is a concession stand, but they sell NO WATER.

Jammy and Macho felt pretty safe in the pool because it was not too crowded, and there were three lifeguards on duty.  

There is a slide and a diving board in the deep end of the pool. Jammy tried the slide, but decided that it wasn't his favorite thing.  He can swim, but the deep, deep water still makes him a little bit nervous. Jammy and some other middle-sized kids had a lot of fun in the shallow water, diving after these:

 

Macho was happiest to spend his time either jumping to Mom from the edge of the pool or checking out the pretty lifeguard.