I think Declan's second favorite present came in the weeks before his birthday. Dan took the boys out and bought a couple of simple bows and about 2 dozen arrows (he didn't forget the targets either!). He then came home and set up 2 seven foot stacks of straw, with targets attached, and began teaching the kids how to shoot. After several false starts (from ALL of us) the kids were hitting the (broadside of) the barn in no time. It was only after seeing arrows stuck in the wood and into the aluminum siding did Dan realize it would have been better to put the targets on the SIDE of the barn where the walls are all concrete!
Once the kids had the hang of it, he added a 2 foot bucket to the top of one stack and than a hollow pink pumpkin basket on top of that. Then Dan issued his challenge: Anyone who could knock Mr. Pumpkin off the top (from a good 100 yards away) would get their own individual new bow. Well, Declan was the first to rise to the challenge. His trick: persistence. He simply stayed outside and shot arrow after arrow until he managed to knock the pumpkin down (long after everyone else had moved onto other activities). He then came inside and convinced the others to go back out and try too. By the end of day 1, Dan owed 3 out of 4 new bows!! Add these to the 2 he bought initially and now we pretty much have a full set! Now if we can only teach them to hit moving targets maybe we can get rid of the woodchucks digging in our yard! - J
