Bath Time?

A Little Game

David pitched to E until he finally hit the ball, then I chased E around the yard a few times until he safely made it back home. Our little game only lasted a few minutes, but we sure enjoyed ourselves!

Out for a Walk

We had originally planned a beach day, but at 10:00 it was only 64 and none of us really wanted to suffer the cold on the lakefront for a couple of hours. So we opted for a hike in the woods. Going for a walk in the woods with some friends just was NOT enough time with them so we invited ourselves over for more quality time at their house. It was so nice of Mrs. S to even feed us lunch!! And as if that wasn't enough fun, we're already planning another playdate next week, although we're hoping for warmer weather and a beach day. We're working hard to cram every bit of fun into the last month of summer vacation, anything else on the list we haven't accomplished yet? There's only a month left to get it done!

Another Zoo Adventure

We were just at the zoo on Tuesday with family, but we were invited to go again today with some friends. Last night when I checked the weather, there was a chance of rain. This morning when I checked again, the weather app said 60% chance. Scattered showers. After a few text messages back and forth, we decided to try it. Despite the looming clouds and a few sprinkles, we met at the zoo with our rain gear and kids in tow.

We lasted an hour before we took shelter for lunch. Another discussion ensued, stick around or give up? We decided we'd go to the far end of the zoo to see the giraffes and then we'd go home. When we got to the rhinos (almost but not quite all the way to the giraffes), it started really raining. For real, no more sprinkles, rain. And we all started running, constantly looking around to make sure we hadn't lost any kids (SEVEN of them!), then running, telling the kids not to poke someone's eye out with that umbrella, keep up, GO!

By the time we got to the car we were all soaked from head to toe, laughing and the kids were saying, this was the BEST day of my life! (Archer) And, this was the BEST zoo venture EVER! (Shelly)

We certainly didn't plan it that way, but it made for fantastic memories of a zoo trip we won't soon forget!

Visiting Vacationers

I have a lot of pictures that I want to share, but getting them off the camera, onto the computer, picking my favorites... too much work right now, too late at night.

Anyway, let's just day the last two days have been exactly what "summer vacation" is all about for the kids. (And the moms just try to keep up.) Leah brought her clan to town for a visit!! SO GREAT!! Monday was all about pool time. That was it, and that was more than enough. All of the typical stuff happened - "Mom watch this!" and "Walk don't run!" and "Stop splashing the little kids" and you get the idea. We were all wrinkly by the time we got out, completely exhausted and that was so much fun!

Tuesday was all about cramming in as many activities as possible into one short summer day. Zoo (birds attacking Leah), beach (just the sand, not allowed in the water), Sugar Shack (cause kids can never have too much sugar!!), playground, mad dash back to HC for supper with Denise and Lulu, and somehow there was more pool time squeezed in there too.

Thousands of thanks to Mam-aw and Bampa for hosting the party and feeding us all, you guys are such great sports!

P.S. Leah, you were such a great sport about feeding those birds! Even though they came uninvited and landed on your back when you wanted nothing to do with them. Just think, Hailey will only remember the part about how cool you were when you took her to feed the birds. :)

Day 3

Homesick
Packing
Breakfast
Archery & BB Gun rush
More packing
So homesick...
Finally, we're outa here!
(No pics, phone is dead)
Culver's for lunch
Reunion at home
Showers
Nap
Home cooked meal
All is back to normal again

I haven't showered, haven't brushed my hair or slept in a bed. I'm covered in layers of sweat and bug spray, food and dirt, one on top of the other, mixed together and sneaking in everywhere. From my ears to between my toes, I'm dirty, and Archer's the same . We're covered in camp. It's going to be good to get home, but being here, spending time with him and all these Scout friends, it's been so awesome!

Day 2

Cooled off in the night (halelujiah!)

Potty in the outhouse (bad news)

Breakfast

Hot

Archery!

Some other stuff

Another minor injury (Archer hurts his toes every time he goes in the water?)

Bugs

Food

More other stuff

Walking a LOT

Hawk & arrow throwing

Food (banana boats?)

Sooo hot

Rest time (yeah right)

Waiting forever for more food

Chapel (singing loud Amazing Grace with Mary)

Huge campfire, skits, sing alongs, flag retirement

S'mores

Bedtime soon?

Whittling circle (Cub Scouts do the best stuff!!!)

Day 1

Caravan & carpool from home

Hot

Swimming check (Arch swam farther than I've ever seen before! so proud!)

Minor injury

Capture the Flag (huge field, too many kids to count)

Hungry

Pizza & orange drink

Feet tired

Tiny tent (air mattress! fan!)

Boys next door (set up tent all on their own!)

Lots of mosquitos & horse flies (ouch)

Bedtime PLEASE bedtime!! (boys STILL talking...)

Goodnight!

In All Directions & Catching Up

There's a whole lot of planning that's required for one simple little weekend at Cub Scout Camp. Phone calls, text messages, notes on the calendar, check the calendar again, check the packing list four hundred times...

Tomorrow Archer and I will go to camp, Grandma Sue will come watch the other two until VBS starts and Shelly will go there, then Grandma will take E home with her. David will pick up Shelly from VBS and E will stay with Grandma until Saturday. Shell and Dad will have some special time together at an art studio painting a canvas and who knows what else. E will have some special time with Grandma, and Arch and I will be... I have no idea what we'll be doing, except this. It will be REALLY hot out, and we'll be outside all day long, baking in the sun. We get to sleep in a tent two nights in a row, enjoy camp food, and who knows what else. After about a hundred trips in and out of the house to pack more and more stuff in the trunk of my car, I'm already exhausted and we haven't even left yet! It should be a great weekend, my only small bit of sadness is that we'll each be off in different directions, E south with Grandma, Shell north to the art class, and Arch to the west at camp.

On another note, four of us spent the morning at the beach today with some friends, together, first overheating in the sun, then freezing in the water, back and forth until finally, at 1:00, the kids were "STARVING!!" and we had to get back to our air conditioned houses and food.

This week Shelly has been at VBS with her cousins while I hang out with the boys. On Monday we had another archery lesson. E enjoyed watching for blackberries along the trail as Archer tried out a range we hadn't seen before. This archery thing is kinda fun!

We also went to school to help with some weeding and playing in the sprinkler, followed by a visit to a friend's house for some playing in the mud, I mean more sprinklers.

Pictures courtesy of Mary

There was a visit to the office to water the new shrubs (brought back a LOT of memories for me doing the exact same thing when I was pretty close to Archer's age!), followed by a trip to DQ.

Way last week (I can hardly remember it) we went to the Pack Movie Night with all the other scouts. There were water games, great food, a piece of Swiss cheese on the pavement (?) and finally, we all settled down for the movie in the parking lot. Followed by a screaming loud game of "Cheese Touch!!" (you and I would know it as tag, you'll have to watch "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" to know what that's all about).

And finally, here are a few catch up pictures that I never got around to posting before...

Back in May, Archer had his spring concert, Bampa Bampa (that's Grandma and Grandpa, of course) came along, it was a bit rainy that day.

Thanks for the pics Bampa!

When we took our little road trip to the farm, David caught this nice fish, I was only just a little envious after spending the whole time reeling in weeds. :)

I guess we've been just a little busy over the last week or two?

Stargazing & Building Blocks

Today I took the kids up to Bampa Bampa Howt in HC, we met Denise and Lulu there and played in the water for a bit, E said "An Nee-tee WAT!" about a hundred times. Archer said "Mom WATCH!" a hundred and two times. Shelly played with Lulu, and Lulu clapped her hands and splashed the water around. Then, the Big Discussion ensued. Are we going for a run? Who's coming? Who's biking? Do we have helmets?

Eventually everyone found their shoes (except the littlest two) and we gathered in the driveway... wandered out to the street... took off! Archer pulled E in the bike trailer, Shelly peddled alongside Arch. Aunt Nee-tee pushed a stroller and the rest of us (that's Bampaw, Mamaw, and Mom/me) just jogged. And chatted, and listened to the kids' chatter. It was a great run, we hardly noticed the two and a half miles that passed. The whole afternoon was all so casual, so relaxed and so enjoyable.

Tonight, well after bedtime, I was taking the garbage out to the street and paused to look up. The stars, shining faithfully down on us, so clear and bright tonight. And its not too hot or too cold, and I had noticed that Archer was still awake on the couch. I went in and told him to wrap up in his blanket and come with me. "Why?" he asked me at least five times, but I just told him to come with me. We went out and I laid down on my back on the driveway. He laid down with his head on my tummy and we talked. We talked about stars and airplanes. I asked Archer, do you think, twenty years from now when you're twenty eight, I mean twenty nine... Do you think you'll remember tonight? "Um... maybe not." Yeah, maybe not, but maybe yes.

Its so easy to let the opportunities slip by. This afternoon, I considered calling Denise to cancel the thing in HC, I was soooo tired and so behind on everything. But I didn't want to miss seeing her and catching up. Tonight it would have been fine to notice the stars and come back in, kiss Arch goodnight one more time, and go to bed. It was better not to cancel, even though I was a little tired. It was better to sneak Archer out of the house at the end of the day for a few minutes just the two of us. I'm so glad I didn't let the To Do list get in the way of building up the relationships with people I love. Even if we don't remember all the exact details of what happened today, they're more building blocks in the foundation of our relationship together, and those blocks are priceless.

Thanks for the picture Bampa!

 

More Each Day

Elijah is growing in leaps and bounds, right now we are noticing how he can open doors on his own, he knows his left foot from his right ("yet foot! yet shoe!, yite foot, yite shoe!"), he copies us much more often that we'd like... Make one slip of the tongue and he'll repeat it word for word for the next half hour. Or more.

I love that we can understand him more, but sometimes its still a struggle. He asks for a drink ("dint") and we don't remember the code. Don't get us started on lemonade - Its SO HARD to remember that "em-ay" is a type of drink and not him saying Amy, or just letters of the alphabet for that matter.

He wants cereal ("see-ah") and we can't figure him out. There are certain things, though, that we definitely get. "Bampa Bampa howt!" That means we're going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, he knows it, shouts it to the world, and announces to us when we've arrived at Bampa Bampa howt.

"Wan Shew-ee" or "Wan Ah-ter", he's looking for his playmates, his comforters, the ones who take care of him when Mom and Dad aren't around. There's "pay wii" and "pay game" and "pay Ah-ter", all of that means he's looking to play.

He's so careful to try to say everything correctly but of course we don't understand and then he crosses his arms, stomps his feet and scowls at us. "NO!" he shouts, and we desperately try to decode him. Can you show me? Can you point to what you want? The learning is always continuing - we learn to understand him as he comes closer to saying words that we'll recognize. And every new word that's clear is celebrated, we all laugh and tell each other, did you hear what E just said? Which eggs him on to repeat the newly discovered word a hundred times more. Its so incredible to watch, and be part of it, and it all just happens in everyday, boring daily life. It makes the boring little things seem just a little bit more exciting.

Stories

After our trip to Old World Wisconsin, we spent the night in Madison, and then went to visit Nana. Our schedule was a little different than hers, and when we arrived we were ready for lunch, but she'd already eaten. We took her out for lunch anyway, and she ordered apple pie while the rest of us had pizza. (And maybe shared her pie.) We visited, the kids played with Nana's toys, and we shared lots of stories.

After that, on to Grandpa Shorty's farm, where the kids roamed the yard, investigating the heifers and taking turns on the swings. More stories shared - did you know that the farm house where Grandpa raised his family had no running water when he bought the farm? Did you know that Grandpa dug out the basement of that house, to make room for a furnace? (Reminds me of when Nana told me about her dad digging a basement in the house she lived in as a girl.) So, while Grandpa shared stories with David and me, our kids were out and about, making new stories of their own. At one point, Archer ran into the kitchen and asked for a plastic container. To catch fireflies. Who is this kid? He's afraid of bugs!

Something about the country air changes a person, my kids began the quick transformation from city to country kids and as they ran in and out of the house, showing off their prizes (captured fireflies), I was so happy to be in this place of stories. Stories from our past, creating stories for my kids to tell their kids someday, stories for their future.

The next day the story-making continued, Dad took us to Hidden Valley for a little fishing trip. Archer caught about a hundred (or maybe just fifteen) little bluegills and sunfish, David caught a nice sized large mouth bass, and I caught a lot of seaweed. A lot. When I got tired of cleaning the weeds off the lures, I announced that we were done and we went back to Grandpa's to see what E and Shell had been up to with Grandma. Of course, E had no clothes (too HOT!) and the kids faces were red from running around outside. More snacks, more visiting, and then David and I came home. The kids stayed behind for a few more days of fun. And story making.

David's Pictures

A few moments to spare and the kids' willingness to stand where David told them, and my talented husband came up with some beautiful pictures.

 

Back in Time

Today we celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary by taking a trip back in time. As we packed up the car and drove away, I started reminiscing about ten years ago today. "Right now (10:00 in the morning) I was sitting in my Dad's truck in my wedding dress, waiting to walk down to you." David said, "In the air conditioning." Yes, nice and cool in the truck, while David waited outside in the garden. It was SO hot that day, but I don't remember the heat. I remember finally, the time came and I got out of the truck, walked with my parents and bridesmaids through the gardens in my big white dress. Then, down the little path, my sister and friends ahead of me. My parents by my side. We rounded the corner and there, in front of me, my love. More friends and family were there, but my eyes were locked on David. There he was, so calm and handsome, our brothers beside him, and he stood waiting, smiling at me. I walked towards him, took his hands, and we sealed the deal. We vowed in front of everyone to stick together forever, and now, ten years later, I can't believe its been ten years!

 

Today we visited Old World Wisconsin. We had such a great time visiting the different houses and barns, the store, wagon maker's shop, blacksmith shop, the weaver's house and the farm animals. We learned so much, and even got to try a few chores. The kids tried washing clothes, making cedar shingles, cleaning out flax to make line (thread), watching fiber being spun into thread, watching the loom in action, grinding rye for flour, mowing grass... I may have left out a thing or two. All along the way we kept talking about Laura Ingalls stories. Remember when Almanzo's father made shingles? Remember when Laura's mom made straw hats? See those hats?

Almost all the little girls we saw were walking around in sun bonnets and I couldn't resist, we picked one out for Shelly and she wore it proudly for the rest of the day. Archer got a water canteen and E got a little wooden toy. 

As we were leaving, there was a couple getting married in front of one of the big barns. The women in their beautiful dresses, the men in tuxedos, and their family and friends all seated, watching them promise to spend the rest of their lives together.

Today, as we celebrate our tenth anniversary, I can't believe all of the amazing things that have happened in our lives since we made our own promises ten short years ago. Here we are, older and wiser (haha!), three beautiful kids have joined our journey, and we're still going strong. Praise God, from whom ALL BLESSINGS FLOW. He has give us SO MUCH, blessed us beyond measure, and no words can say how thankful I am to be in this exact place where we are today.

Shout for joy to The Lord, all the earth. 

Worship The Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that The Lord is God.

It is he how made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

~Psalm 100:1-3

 

Happy Independence Day!

We were out the door by 6:45 to get to HC in time for the big event... The Firecracker Four. Again. Last year was nearly a disaster, when it was 90 in the shade at 8:00 in the morning, and I hadn't been training at all... well, I finished, but just barely.

 

This year, my family came to support me (thank you SO MUCH David!!) and it was only 75, and I've been doing a little running... I cut 7 minutes off my time and finished much more comfortably. I even offered to run back to Grandma and Grandpa's with the kids. They walked, so I did too. I'm so thankful to my family for their support, Mom was kind enough to slow down for me so I wouldn't be running alone. 

We had some pool time and then lunch in HC before coming home for a nap. Then, off to the fireworks with Aunt Kim and the cousins.

 

We got a great spot and fully enjoyed the lights and crashing booms, the kids were awed and excited and finally.... finally we are HOME. Whew. And the whirlwind of weekend activities is just beginning!