Vacation - again . . .

Okay, I have now been home long enough for something new to happen in my life that I can blog about . . . after one last post about vacation.

These are just a few of my favorite highlights of the week:

Fishing

One of the highlights of our week away was the small crescent shaped pond filled with sunfish. We took Grandpa and Grandma Hawk with us for the first few days and Grandpa shared his love for fishing with the kids.

It was a great way to fish for the kids because every cast brought in a sunfish. Mikayla caught 13 in about 1/2 hour. Of course, they threw them back in, so it was probably the same ones over and over again. Not very smart fish, I guess. (You know, I there there is a spiritual lesson in there somewhere! That could preach!)

As Grandpa was leaving he stated, "Well, I can die in peace now knowing that another generation will carry on my love for fishing." ;0)

Owen's first fish!

Poor Carra never managed to reel one in.
Every time she tried, the fish just ate her worm.
She was a very good sport about it!

With that tongue, who needs worms?!

"I think Owen went in over here . . . . "
(With that life jacket on, we could call him "Bob")

Brice's first catch. It was very exciting!
He fished every day and probably caught a dozen a day -
and every one was just as exciting as the first one!

Okay, they aren't fishing, but the paddleboat was another highlight!

Grandpa sharing his wise words of wisdom
"Brice, look around you before you cast -
hooking Grandpa doesn't count!"

One hours work!
(Notice there is even a bass on there!)

Lessons learned

Lessons we learned while on vacation:

1. Heart Attack Hill is just as dangerous going down as it is coming up!

We arrived, unloaded the bikes and away Mikayla and Brice went to go exploring. They were back 5 minutes later (walking) each with injuries. Mikayla broke her arm (yes, I am serious) and Brice lost a pound of flesh from his right arm. We have decided that we are leaving Mikayla home from now on. She has this thing about visiting the Galena emergency room! (Last time we were there, she required stitches on her forehead).

2. Always wash your hands after handling tree frogs! If you touch your eyes before doing so, IT BURNS and you will think you are going blind!!!!! Both Brice and Carra experienced this. It was not a pretty sight (No pun intended!).

3. "If you go to bed with sunglasses on, you won't have to shut your eyes to sleep because the room will already be dark!" Carra, you are so smart!

4. Taking a two-year old on a vacation where you intend to rest, read and relax, is like packing your own mosquitoes when you go camping. You do a lot of jumping and swatting - and there is always this annoying noise . . . . !

5. Peacock "droppings" look somewhat like human "droppings." Owen is still convinced that Buff had issues out on the front deck!

6. If you step just right in the mud, you will never see your shoe again. . . . Poor Mikayla. They were her favorite shoes too!

7. When ordering "chicken tenders with cheese curds", speak slowly. Otherwise you will end up ordering "chicken terds." Ewwwww, Carra!

8. If positioned just right, I swear a squirrel can look just like a turtle sitting in the middle of the road! Of course, I can never prove my point - because Buff ran over the poor thing. (I think he was laughing too hard).

9. If you pee just after you step out of the pond, your "pee is hot!" Thank You, Owen for this little tidbit of trivia.

10. If you intend to sneak a toad home in the truck, inform the toad of the plan and to not hop out at the first rest stop. It kind of ruins the secret.

And so, we are happy to report that the only casualties of our trip were the poor squirrel (or was it a turtle?), a bird (Buff hit him too), a toad (he was too close to the door and didn't quite fit under the door) and about 200 flies (I love the invention of the fly swatter!).

You write the caption . . . .

A friend took this picture this week.

You write the caption . . . .

Raindrops

Pictures

A friend in church had a baby (it has become an epidemic) and I asked her if I could experiment with my camera and take pictures of her little guy. He was about 2 weeks old and a sweet little man. Quite amazingly, he didn't sleep at all for me (so he was a little wiggly).

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I think what I learned is that I have a LOT to learn!

At the rate our church is reproducing, I think I should have another chance to learn more soon!!

If you want to see some of the pictures, you can visit their family blog.

Wednesday

Today we are getting ready for vacation (coming next week). Okay, Tina is getting ready for vacation - everybody else is busy doing whatever it is they do to make a mess.

This morning the kids decided to make a mess/ play with the bubbles. Besides realizing that the bubble mixture can make for a slippery floor - and therefore creating a fun recreation of running through the living room and then sliding across the dining room floor, here is what Brice did with the bubbles:



Also a funny story:

As we came out of the grocery store, it was raining a light shower. We ran across the parking lot and it took a few seconds for me to unlock the doors to the truck. As I grabbed Owen from the cart, he whined, "Hurry, Mommy, I'm melting, I'm melting!"

Yeah, right, Mr. Sugar and Spice and everything nice - oh wait, that's for little girls . . .

Tough girl

Mikayla is the newest member of the Powers family to show signs of the "tough Powers gene".

As legend goes, all of the Powers men have stories of enduring great amounts of pain at sometime in their lives. They usually have something to do with power tools, horses and even dentists.

Mikayla has always shown signs of being allergic to pain - until today. She went to the dentist to have a cavity filled and they asked her if she wanted it numbed. She said "No, if my dad can do it, I can. Besides, I want to be able to eat lunch when I get home." And she did it. She says it hurt a little. (Yeah, right)

Buff is very proud of his little girl. I think she is nuts!

To good to be true?

I am having a moment here. I just have to share.

Owen is two and a half. All three of my older children have not potty trained before the age of 3 and the entire process was long and rather nightmarish.

I have been introducing Owen to the potty gradually and randomly. I figure there is not much reason to take it all seriously because the others didn't have much interest at this point - so neither will he. Well. . .. That doesn't appear to be the case . . . In the last 4-5 days Owen has surprised us by running into the room screaming "I godda doe potty!" as he is ripping off his diaper and heading for the bathroom. Yes, we are giddy.

Now all that being said - he has yet to go stinky in the potty. There still may be a nightmare yet to come. Hey, I'll take whatever progress I can get!

Doesn't this story just make YOUR day???

Bedtime

If you need a good laugh, I came across a good video about kids and bedtime! I know I can relate!

HT: Justin Taylor

Birthday bash

It was Buff's birthday last week and so the kids and I planned a fun little surprise for him. We invested in 4 cans of silly string (trust me - it was an investment - that stuff is expensive!), an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (it's tradition) and some balloons and streamers.
When Buff walked in the door, the kids covered him with the silly string, well, at least Brice did - Carra and Owen chickened out.

Buff took the rest of the string and covered Brice with it. Yes, the string was everywhere (do you notice the floor behind Brice?) and it was a little tricky to clean up. Oh, well, it was worth it!

Morning surprise

I am officially behind on posting! I just uploaded my camera and realized I have a lot to share! I have pictures from Buff's birthday surprise, lots of kid adventures and more! Maybe I'll try for one a day.

Today I have to share my morning surprise. Anytime the girls have a sleepover, Mikayla loves to prepare a surprise breakfast for Buff and I. The downside of these surprises is that she generally is doing it at 1 a.m. - as was the case last night. I'm sure everyone will need a nap today.

Elaine spent the night with Carra and Mikayla. They spent the night (morning???) in the tent (in the living room). A real tent - not a blanket tent. Yes, we are cool parents aren't we? (actually it takes 5 minutes to set up and we don't have fights about who knocked it down. We just have to dump out all the popcorn in the morning.)

This morning I woke up to this wonderful breakfast planned for me . . . .



The menu is rather difficult to see, but we had lots of options at bargain prices! Seriously, Denny's could learn a lot from this! The back even said we didn't have to pay money! In the end Buff went to work early, so the kids used the set up to play restaurant and eat their breakfast. It was a nice gesture though. Thanks, Mikayla and Elaine!

I was just reminded of how sometimes I tell my children very obvious things that they already know... Our shower is in the basement, and I told Cooper "go downstairs, wash fast and get dressed." He then asked me, "Why would I wash slow and walk back upstairs naked?" Good question, Cooper, I guess you know what you're doing. :)

"If you want to be happy for an hour - take a nap.
If you want to be happy for a day - go fishing.
If you want to be happy for a month - get married.
If you want to be happy for a year - inherit a fortune.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime - help others."

-Old Chinese Proverb

Hudson's Quote of the Day

Today we were hanging out in the family room and the kid's were playing with toys when Hudson announced "I hate my life...it's too spankable!" I'm not sure where this came from, considering it's actually been a very long time since his life has been spankable. Oh, well, who knows how his sweet little brain works. :)

Happy Birthday, Buff

Happy Birthday, Buff!!!!!

Here is a short trip down memory lane . . . (I don't have any kid pictures of him unfortunately!)

The man I fell in love with! Personally - I think it was the hair that I couldn't resist.

Love the glasses! Bug eyes!

One of your finer moments - hey, you were doing dishes - the way to any woman's heart!

Now, I don't think there are too many pictures of me around for him to get even (I usually take the pictures). Mom, you stay out of this!!!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!

MOOAH!