Long Draw Fishin' Trip

The fish weren't bitin' at all, the lake was already covered with dead bugs.

Dad and I were the only ones to catch a fish.

Cooper had an absolute blast!

Imaginations . . . .

She found a picture and created an outfit to "match."

Any ideas of who she is supposed to be? (The yellow shirt is supposed to give her a blond ponytail.)

Vacation

We are back from our yearly trek to Galena. This year we actually came home wishing we could have stayed longer! A rare finish for us. I guess that means it was a productive vacation.

Here are a few of our weekly highlights:
1. Our previous tours of the Galena hospital were over-rated. This year, we decided to keep it quiet, leave the ambulance at home and actually relax this vacation. We are happy to report NO broken bones and NO stitches. Lots of band-aids - but no emergencies!

2. "Slug [snail] shells smell like cow poop." That little piece of trivia is courtesy of Carra.

3. Sunfish prefer the pretzels over the corn and rice squares in Chex Mix. Finally! Someone to eat the pretzels left on the bottom of the bag!

4. Galena is small town, country folk so everyone "waves" to you as you drive by raising their pointing finger. Carra wanted to know why daddy was giving everyone the #1 finger when we drive . . . . at least it was better than another finger . . . .

5. Carra has perfected the belly-flop!






6. I know all our pictures are of the kids in the water - but then, that is all we did!

7. The kids discovered that I have a remote for my camera. They aren't allowed to touch the camera - so they had fun with the remote instead!

8. The frogging stance is important to the success of the hunt. Only having a kitchen strainer to capture the frogs is somewhat a letdown though. It didn't work well. . . but he kept trying!

9. While Carra perfected the belly-flop, Brice perfected the flip.









10. Buff floats.







11. The fishing lesson. Lasted about 10 minutes. The lines tangled and fishing was over . . . .

12. If Owen is given the right tools, he can conquer anything. Give him a life jacket - and he has no fear of the water (eventually). He became known as Owen "I'm doing it" Powers because he was so excited to be swimming in the deep end with the big kids.

We also went for a walk one evening. Armed with 2 ball point pens and a flyswatter he joined us as we went "hunting". Apparently we were looking for lions, giraffes and elephants. Fortunately, we didn't see any in northern Illinois. Probably just the wrong time of the year.

cdo

I found this on my friend Mark's site . . . I'm still giggling . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNTI BRANDI!!!!

Here are the family birthday greetings:

Happy Birthday, Aunt Brandi,
Your mother dresses you funny
and you walk like a duck.

Love, Carra Goose


Happy Birfday to you,
You wiv in a zoo,
You wook wike a montey,
and you smewl wike one too.

Love, Owen

Can't you just feel the love?

(Mikayla and Brice are not around to give greetings today. I know they send their love!)

What we love about summer . . .

Summer School!

I signed Mikayla and Brice up for classes in summer school through our local school district. We registered late, so they only got into one class that they wanted. It was worth it. They had a blast!

Brice did Art 3D. I paid $6 for him to go every morning and paint, plaster, glue, and mache to his hearts content. They made the mess. They cleaned up the mess. We were all happy!

He can be seen here with his projects. Do you notice the snake on his shoulder? Buff's favorite project is the black belt karate guy. He wants to put it in his office.


Mikayla did a drama class and they actually put on a play in 4 weeks time. There was lots of practicing, excitement and jitters. Of course, she did great!

Here she is holding up some "clothes" she designed for the emperor. She has many hidden talents.

They are very excited to try it all again next year.

Roses for Momma...

Here are a couple of pictures mom took of her roses! She liked how the rain drops glistened in the sun!

The 4th

Finally, a week and a half later - here is my fourth of July post . . .

Here is what we love about the fourth:

The free flags . . .

The free ice cream . . .
(he is officially sick of my camera - he rolls his eyes and won't look at me)

The parades . . .

All the walking . . .
(it was early so she was still smiling)

The loot . . .

Oh, and the fireworks - but I didn't get a picture . . . .

Giggles!

I was going through my camera and came across these two pitures of Carra and Hudson! I couldn't help but crop them and show just their giggle. These have become mom's favorite pictures and now she wants pictures of all her grandkids giggling!



Doesn't Carra look like mom?!

You can't help but smile too! :o)

Flowers and a story . . .

Today my dear husband sent me flowers. It is a rare occurrence and a wonderful surprise. They were also appropriately timed . . . I was on the phone talking/ venting to him about my most current parenting struggle. He was tenderly counseling me on my response and my needed reaction. Getting the flowers just then was like getting the greatly needed hug! (Love the sunflowers!)

But that is really not the true intention of my post. As excited as I was to get flowers, I was more amused by the delivery . . .

Carra and Owen had just asked if they could go out and run through the sprinkler - and I said "yes." Owen did not feel he was appropriately dress so went on a search for his swimming trunks (it's swimming lesson week - they were all in the laundry) while I continued to talk to Buff on the phone upstairs.

Apparently he was in the process of changing out of his clothes and into the swimming suit when the doorbell rang . . .

Yep, it appears that he answered the door in ONLY his t-shirt. By ONLY, I truly mean ONLY.

I think the delivery lady was "exposed" to a lot more than she bargained for . . . .

Crazy Gramdpa

Crazy grandpa decided to take Cameron's dirt bike for a little spin around the back yard... and a spin did he take! His first lap, he wiped on the leach feild. His second trip, he ran smack dap into the tree!

Well, crazy grandpa was hot and wanted to take a dip in the pool along with everyone else... and a dip did he take!

The things they say . . . .

I was fixing lunch today and asked the kids to clear off the playdoh toys from the table so we could eat. One particular (older) child, feeling the need to impress the other co-workers, decided to show off a bit of playdoh trivia "knowledge".

"Did you know that people eat playdoh in order to survive in the wilderness?"

Okay, I don't know a whole lot about hiking and survival, but I'm not sure playdoh is at the top of the list of things to pack on a trip. But if you think you are ever running the risk of being bored or hungry when you are heading out into the wilderness - apparently it is worth packing . . . . anything that can serve a dual purpose can be handy to have around . . .

Oh, the things we say to impress others . . . . . I'm still giggling . . . .

Peek-a-boo!

best buds

Byren, the workin' man

Standing tall!

I yuove you papa!

This is a hold up!

Summer Fun

Park and Rec T-Ball!

What is it? (UPDATED)

I found this growing in my "flower" garden. I didn't plant it - does anyone know what it is? For all I know, I have been nurturing a beautiful weed!

UPDATE:
The flower is called "Love in a Mist" - and I stand corrected - I did plant it . . . . My dear friend called me and reminded me that she helped me plant seeds last summer. How clever of me. Isn't it beautiful?

The things they say . . .

Owen comes to me and gives me a progress report on Mikayla and Brice . . .

"Mom, Taywa and Brice are in the house watchin' 'Houses on the fairies.' (interpretation: "Little House on the Prairie)

The ark

Today, the kids and I were in Wal-mart when another deluge of rain passed overhead. We have had so much rain that we have reached record flooding all over the area.

As we were standing in the checkout line, a Wal-mart employee passed by us. He was a young kid looking to get a rise out of his fellow employees working around him.

As he walks by us he states loud enough for 2 or 3 lines to hear, "Hey, has Moses arrived with the ark yet?"

While everyone chuckled at the comment, the kids and I (and the people in our checkout line) got an even bigger laugh at the thought of Moses showing up with the ark!

He had no idea how funny he really was!

Summer Fun . . .

Mud Puddles!!!